The Christian theory of knowledge is rooted in the very character of God. God is, in the succinct words of Van Til, the infinite and eternal self-contained tri-personal Creator of the universe.1 And this God has chosen of His own volition to sovereignly reveal Himself to His creation. The matter of epistemology cannot be discussed apart from addressing the matter of “revelation,” both the possibility and process of, by God’s independent, divine initiative. This is really the same starting point as that of Van Til when he wrote, “We have constantly emphasized the concept of God as being basic to everything else a Christian believes.”2 And the same is true with regard to the question at hand, namely, true knowledge and the possibility of knowing.
The theory of knowledge cannot be addressed apart from the theory of being (ontology), for our knowledge will be true knowledge only to the extent that it corresponds to the character of God and the knowledge of God as revealed in the Scriptures. But let it be said first of all that the possibility for even grappling with the issues of reality and knowledge are rooted in the fact that God is a revealing God, and He has taken the initiative to reveal Himself to man. This is first seen in Genesis 1:28. After having created man in His own image (1:26- 27), we read, “God said to them….” God could have created Adam and Eve and then left them helplessly to themselves without a divine interpretation of reality. But rather, as can be seen throughout Scripture, God’s relationship with humanity is depicted as initiatory through the process of divine revelation, which amounts to divine interpretation.
For us today, that divine revelation is in the Bible. It is the key to unlocking all the true knowledge with regard to God and man. It is the interpretive basis for the four key categories of epistemology. These are, according to Van Til, as follows: (1) God’s knowledge of Himself; (2) God’s knowledge of the world; (3) man’s knowledge of God; (4) man’s knowledge of the universe.
The Bible is the record of God’s revelations to man, the greatest of which came in the person of Jesus Christ. The question of epistemology is meaningless apart from Jesus, for in Him are hidden “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2:3). Jesus is “the light of the world” (John 8:12). He is “the truth” (John 14:6), despite what Christian apologist, Hardy writes, when he asserts, “truth…is not a person; it is a property of sentences.”3 Jesus, the Truth, came that He might “reveal” and “explain” God (John 1:18), and hence interpret correctly “being” and “knowledge.”
Ultimate Tests for Truth
The traditional tests for truth are inadequate. Human reason, being finite and fallen, cannot be primary or ultimate. Instead, we champion the biblical tests for truth as ultimate. These constitute the Christian apologist’s epistemological arsenal and starting point for vetting truth from error. And they are the same tests of truth that Jesus wielded, along with His apostles and even the Old Testament spokesmen for God Almighty. They are as follows: (1) God determines what is true (Rom3:4); (2) the Holy Spirit determines what is true (John 14:17; 16:13; 1 John 5:13); (3) Jesus determines what is true (John 14:6); (4) Scripture determines what is true (Ps 119:160; 2 Tim 3:16-17); and (5) the gospel determines what is true (2 Cor 4:3-6; Col 1:5).
These tests for truth parallel the earlier ingredients for a biblical definition of truth. This is intentional. Unlike traditional apologists who want to create a false dichotomy between a definition of truth and a defense of the truth, the Bible and Jesus never allowed such an artificial distinction. Van Til properly diagnosed a fatal flaw in the traditional model of apologetics in that it routinely made epistemology and ontology mutually exclusive and independent of one another. But they are not. Jesus identified Himself as, “I Am” (John 8:58). That is the most concise, yet potent and complete explication of an epistemological reality (Jesus was self-consciously aware and knowledgeable of who He was; He had self-attesting knowledge of Himself as eternal God) ever articulated. And it was based on the greatest ontological reality in the universe—the very being and essence of the eternal God-man. With respect to truth, epistemology and ontology cannot be separated, but are inextricably united.
Jesus and Scriptural Apologetics
Jesus always used the above tenets as His tests for truth, without exception, when confronting unbelief. Most frequently He referred to the Scriptures as the final litmus test for truth and error. And not just strictly with believing audiences. Actually, Jesus used the Scriptures just as frequently with unbelieving skeptics. Traditional apologists give the impression that all unbelievers, today and in Jesus’ day, were agnostics or atheists. But an unbeliever is an unbeliever, whether one is a theist, moralist, polytheist, agnostic or atheist. They are all on equal footing before God—lost in the blinding darkness of their own sin. That is why Jesus addressed them all in the same manner, by the same standard of authority for truth—God’s Word, the Bible—written Scripture.
Jesus believed the Old Testament to be the authoritative Word of God. He was called Rabbi (John 3:2), and was therefore a master of the Old Testament, known in His day as the “Law and the Prophets” (Luke 16:16; cf. 24:27). Jesus believed the Scriptures, had Scripture memorized, taught the Scriptures, preached the Scriptures, obeyed the Scriptures, and fulfilled the Scriptures. They were the epicenter and circumference of His life, works, words and mission. One of Jesus’ favorite statements was, “It is written….” It was a phrase He repeated so often (thirty times in the Gospels) that it was second nature to His teaching (cf. Matt 4:7, 10; 21:13; 26:31; John 6:31, 45; 10:34, etc.).
For example, in Matthew 4:4 He rebuts the devil with the statement, “It is written,” [Gk. Γέγραπται, gegraptai]; this is a perfect passive indicative and means, “it stands written and is still in force.”4 The perfect indicative emphasizes ongoing, continuous results. “There is a grand and solid objectivity about the perfect tense, γέγραπται (gegraptai, ‘It stands written’). ‘Here,’ Jesus was saying, ‘is the permanent, unchangeable witness of the eternal God, committed to writing for our instruction.’”5 What was written in the Old Testament has a past completed action with ongoing, continuous results. In other words, Jesus was saying, “Even though the Scripture was written long ago, its truth is still absolutely binding, authoritative and sufficient for today.” The Old Testament Scriptures, although written long before Jesus preached, still remained binding and authoritative. By this phrase, then, Jesus was making an appeal to the authority of the Hebrew Scriptures as God’s authoritative word on any matter.
In Matthew 15:4 Jesus said, “For God said…” and then goes on to quote Exodus 20:12 and 21:17. Here is the most explicit statement of all showing that Jesus believed the Scriptures were the very words of God (cf. Mark 7:5-13). Other similarly emphatic statements that Jesus made regarding the authority of the written Hebrew Scriptures include John 10:35 (“the Scriptures cannot be broken”), John 17:17 (“Thy word is truth”), and when He said eleven times to His critics, “Have you not read…”—a phrase showing Jesus’ commitment to Scriptural authority as well as its perspicuity.
Whether bantering with well-educated, erudite religious Jews (John 8:41-59), skeptical syncretistic Samaritans (John 4), a Gentile woman (Mark 7:24-30), or a pagan Roman soldier (Matt 8:5-13), Jesus never resorted to Aristotelian syllogisms or sheer human wisdom to determine what was true or to seek common epistemological ground with unbelievers. His approach was always the same—He spoke spiritual truth—divine revelation—in an authoritative manner (John 4:19).6 He called people to believe in heavenly truth, which answered ultimate metaphysical questions, knowing that if they embraced His spiritual truth then it would set them free (John 8:32).
Sola Scriptura!
One of the main doctrines that traditional apologists undermine is the doctrine of “biblical sufficiency” or what the Reformers called sola Scriptura. Grudem says, “The sufficiency of Scripture means that Scripture contained all the words of God he intended his people to have at each stage of redemptive history, and that it now contains all the words of God we need for salvation, for trusting him perfectly, and for obeying him perfectly.”7 The time-tested doctrine of biblical sufficiency says everything we need to know is in the Bible—not everything that can be known. The Bible is enough! The classic New Testament text on sufficiency is 2 Timothy 3:16-17. The Bible is sufficient to equip or prepare every Christian “for every good work.” “Every good work” includes the work of apologetics. Everything we need to know about defending the faith (1 Pet 3:15), for advancing and defending the gospel, is in Scripture. Biblical apologetics entails “reproof,” “correction,” and “teaching.” 2 Timothy 3:16 says the Bible is “adequate” for such a task.
Traditional apologists say the Bible is not sufficient for the work of apologetics, and that we cannot even use the Bible when beginning apologetics with an unbeliever. They say we need to begin with natural theology. They allege we can’t begin with gospel proclamation. We need to begin with philosophy and pre-evangelism. They say the Bible is not sufficient, for the Bible first has to be proven to be true in the mind of the unbeliever. Yet Jesus began His ministry from day one with gospel proclamation and the presupposed self- attesting authority of divine revelation: “Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel’” (Mark 1:14-15).
The Living Word of God
Traditional apologists tell us Scripture must be tested and scrutinized to verify its reliability as a source for truth. And supposedly it must be tested by sources external to the Bible, by independent “authoritative” sources, such as finite, fallen human wisdom. Biblical apologetics on the other hand says we use Scripture to test all things to see if they are true. As Paul the apostolic apologist declared, “Examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil” (1 Thess 5:21-22). And Paul’s authoritative standard by which he evaluated everything was always special revelation. For us today, that standard is Scripture, the Bible. John the Apostle said the same as Paul: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). John goes on to say that all things are to be tested by special revelation, the climax of which is the truth about Christ (vv. 3-6). God’s objective special revelation is the ultimate test for truth.
Traditionalists tell us human logic is absolute; God says His logic as expressed in His Word is absolute (Ps 119:89). Traditionalists tell us that we cannot know truth with certainty; God tells us we can know truth with certitude as we search the Scriptures (1 John 5:13). Sproul says human reason is preeminent; God says His reason is preeminent (Ps138:2; Isa 55:8-9). Craig says Scripture’s authority is secondary and “derivative”; God says Scripture’s authority is primary and inherent and that they are the very breath of God (2 Tim 3:16), the very incarnation of God’s thoughts and will. Traditionalists tell us the Bible must pass the test of historiography; God says His Word determines history, and the future (Isa 46:8-11).
Traditionalists tell us the Bible stands on equal footing with all other literature to be tested; God says His Word is eternal (Ps19:9). Traditionalists say that unbelievers must first accept the Bible before it does its work; God says Scripture does its work despite human resistance and ignorance for it is living and active. Scripture is dynamically creating (Ps 33:6), convicting (James 2:9), judging (Heb 4:12), piercing (Heb 4:12), being feared (Exod 9:20), being fulfilled (Isa 55:11), being obeyed (Ps 103:20), saving (1 Pet 1:23), sanctifying (Ps 105:19; 119:9), residing in believers (Ps 119:11), healing (Ps 107:20), illuminating (Ps119:18), counseling (Ps 119:24), feeding (Isa 55:1-3), reviving (Ps 119:50), sustaining (Ps 119:116), guiding (Ps 119), consoling (Ps 119:28), imparting joy (Ps 119:35), and teaching (Ps 119:71). The truth of Scripture is alive.
NOTES
1 Cornelius Van Til, The Defense of the Faith (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R, 1967), 9-13; cf. Stephen J. Wellum, Systematic Theology vol. 1 (Brentwood, Tennessee: B&H Academic, 2024), 786-794.
2 Van Til, Defense of the Faith, 42-43.
3 Dean Hardy, Stand Your Ground: An Introductory Text for Apologetics Students (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2007), 32.
4A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, 6 vols (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1933, 1960) v. I, 30.
5Norman L. Geisler, ed., Inerrancy (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1980), 15.
6J. Gresham Machen, Things Unseen: A Systematic Introduction to the Christian Faith and Reformed Theology (Glenside, Pennsylvania: Westminster Seminary Press, 2020), 47-48
7Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), 127
This article was adapted from Cliff McManis’s book, Redeeming Apologetics: Restoring Biblical Supremacy in Defending the Christian Faith (Cupertino, CA: With All Wisdom, 2025). You may read a PDF version of this book here. You may purchase a physical copy here.
