Editing Presuppositional apologetics (section)

{{Short description|School of Christian apologetics}}
'''Presuppositional apologetics''', shortened to '''presuppositionalism''', is an [[Epistemology|epistemological]] school of [[Christian apologetics]] that examines the presuppositions on which worldviews are based, and invites comparison and contrast between the results of those presuppositions.

It claims that apart from [[presupposition (philosophy)|presuppositions]], one could not make sense of any human experience, and there can be no set of neutral assumptions from which to reason with a non-Christian.{{Sfn | Frame | 2006}}  Presuppositionalists claim that Christians cannot consistently declare their belief in the [[Necessary and sufficient conditions#Necessary conditions|necessary existence]] of the [[God]] of the Bible and simultaneously argue on the basis of a different set of assumptions that God may not exist and Biblical revelation may not be true.{{Sfn | Sproul | Gerstner | Lindsley | 1984 | p = 183}}{{Failed verification | date =July 2013}} Two schools of presuppositionalism exist, based on the different teachings of [[Cornelius Van Til]] and [[Gordon Haddon Clark]]. Presuppositionalism contrasts with [[classical apologetics]] and [[evidential apologetics]].

Presuppositionalists compare their presupposition against other ultimate standards such as [[rationalism|reason]], [[empiricism|empirical experience]], and [[subjectivism|subjective feeling]], claiming presupposition in this context is:
{{blockquote|a belief that takes precedence over another and therefore serves as a criterion for another. An ultimate presupposition is a belief over which no other takes precedence. For a Christian, the content of scripture must serve as his ultimate presupposition…  This doctrine is merely the outworking of the 'lordship of the Christian God' in the area of human thought. It merely applies the doctrine of scriptural infallibility to the realm of knowing.{{Sfn | Frame | 1987 | p = 45}}}}