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SELF-DECEPTION AND THE APOLOGETIC OF DESPAIR IN PASCAL, KIERKEGAARD, AND BAHNSEN

by THEODORE G. (TED) VAN RAALTE in Vol. 6 No. 1 / Apr 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.35285/ucc6.1.2020.art6



One of the helpful approaches of a Christian apologist in the present anti-Christian climate is an apologetic that presses the unbeliever to admit that their views lack hope and lead to despair. Though many unbelievers deny the despair and prefer to deceive themselves, one influential author views self-deception as fundamental to the human condition and non-culpable. However, Christians must expose self- deception as evil—a product and species of sin—seek to root it out of themselves, and lead others to the hope of dealing with life truthfully. This essay helps Christian apologists by utilizing the analysis of self- deception by Greg Bahnsen and shows that the older accounts of Blaise Pascal and Søren Kierkegaard accord well with Bahnsen’s approach.

Keywords
Blaise Pascal, Søren Kierkegaard, Greg Bahnsen, Self-deception, Apologetic Of Despair, Presuppositional Apologetic, Sin, History Of Apologetic, Apologetic Method
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Other Articles in
Vol. 6 No. 1 / Apr 2020

Editorial: The Way We Live Now by Paul Wells
The Areopagus Speech and Contextualization: Some Hermeneutical and Exegetical Considerations by Flavien Pardigon
Shared Presuppositions? The CAMEL Method and the Insider Movement by John Span
Missiological Implications of Conscience in Present-Day Roman Catholicism by Reid Karr
Cults and Conscience: Apologetics and the Reconfigured Conscience of Cult Members by H. G. STOKER
Solidarity in the Fall: An Essay on Self-Deception by ANDRÉ GESKE
Self-Deception and the Apologetic of Despair in Pascal, Kierkegaard, and Bahnsen by THEODORE G. (TED) VAN RAALTE
Does Our Lord Ask Too Much? A Neglected Issue in Apologetics Today by WILLIAM EDGAR
God Intended It for Good: Re-forming Evil by YANNICK IMBERT
Edwards: Ethics for Both the Vulgar and the Learned by PAUL HELM
Progress and Protest in Late Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Presbyterianism by CHAD VAN DIXHOORN
Young Age Faith in Light of Developmental Psychology by G. JONKER VENTER AND H. G. STOKER
Interview with Os Guinness by PETER A. LILLBACK
Schaeffer's Apologetics by JERRAM BARRS
Newbigin’s Missionary Ecclesiology by ARJAN DE VISSER
Book Review: Flavien Pardigon. Paul Against the Idols: A Contextual Reading of the Areopagus Speech by JEONG KOO JEON
Book Review: Elijah Hixson and Peter J. Gurry, eds. Myths and Mistakes in New Testament Textual Criticism. by THOMAS HAVILAND-PABST
Book Review: John V. Fesko. Reforming Apologetics: Retrieving the Classic Reformed Approach to Defending the Faith by ANDRÉ GESKE
Book Review: Paul Helm. Human Nature from Calvin to Edwards by MATTHEW J. HART
Book Review: Jordan Peterson. Twelve Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos by ALISON WELLS
Epilogue: Pastoral Principles Pertaining to Pestilence and Providence by PETER A. LILLBACK