I have been deep into Rothbard and hoppe, but being a Christian I am not able to map their beliefs to my assumptions. What is the easiest Van Til read? I’m interested
That's actually a tough ask. Van Til thought in Dutch and didn't always translate well into English. Most of his books are quite difficult. (He could've learned a thing or two from Rothbard how to be crystal clear, concise, and engaging--even hilarious.) I think I've read slightly more Rothbard than Van Til, but I've read quite a bit of both.
If you want to read Van Til himself:
- check out "My Credo" https://reformed.org/apologetics/my-credo-by-cornelius-van-til/ - essay length, but doesn't get into his underlying arguments
- I think the most accessible of his books is _The Defense of the Faith_ (skip Oliphant's intro)
Probably the best "popularizers" of his thought are John Frame and Greg Bahnsen. Bahnsen's _Van Til's Apologetic: Readings and Analysis_ does a great job clarifying Van Til's thought. Frame's _Apologetics to the Glory of God_ is, well, not that great IMO--but many think it's excellent, so you might find it helpful too.
I'm not too proud to admit, though, that probably the most practical little book on his method is Richard Pratt's _Every Thought Captive_. I think it was written as a high school Sunday School curriculum, but it was immensely clarifying for me--lots of diagrams to explain things--and I'm a visual learner. I read it after having waded through a dozen of Van Til's books, so that may have helped, but I think it's probably my #1 recommendation ( 😅 ). @Dikaios1517 may have some thoughts on this too... there's at least one other nostr-fella who's into Van Til, but I can't remember who at the moment (feel free to remind me, whoever you are).
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That said, I think Hoppe's approach is very useful if the aim of the conversation is limited to politics/economics and the NAP, etc. It's just that it cannot account for itself on the metaphysical level--like Van Til's apologetic, it's transcendental and uses a kind of 'synthetic a priori' (which is genius and hard to beat), but--to use Van Til's terminology--it relies on the "borrowed capital" of Christian Theism. (And the sublime irony of that terminology is not lost on me! Ha!)
If you want to read Van Til himself:
- check out "My Credo" https://reformed.org/apologetics/my-credo-by-cornelius-van-til/ - essay length, but doesn't get into his underlying arguments
- I think the most accessible of his books is _The Defense of the Faith_ (skip Oliphant's intro)
Probably the best "popularizers" of his thought are John Frame and Greg Bahnsen. Bahnsen's _Van Til's Apologetic: Readings and Analysis_ does a great job clarifying Van Til's thought. Frame's _Apologetics to the Glory of God_ is, well, not that great IMO--but many think it's excellent, so you might find it helpful too.
I'm not too proud to admit, though, that probably the most practical little book on his method is Richard Pratt's _Every Thought Captive_. I think it was written as a high school Sunday School curriculum, but it was immensely clarifying for me--lots of diagrams to explain things--and I'm a visual learner. I read it after having waded through a dozen of Van Til's books, so that may have helped, but I think it's probably my #1 recommendation ( 😅 ). @Dikaios1517 may have some thoughts on this too... there's at least one other nostr-fella who's into Van Til, but I can't remember who at the moment (feel free to remind me, whoever you are).
---
That said, I think Hoppe's approach is very useful if the aim of the conversation is limited to politics/economics and the NAP, etc. It's just that it cannot account for itself on the metaphysical level--like Van Til's apologetic, it's transcendental and uses a kind of 'synthetic a priori' (which is genius and hard to beat), but--to use Van Til's terminology--it relies on the "borrowed capital" of Christian Theism. (And the sublime irony of that terminology is not lost on me! Ha!)
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