Crash Course in Presuppositional Apologetics: The Myth of Neutrality

The Myth of Neutrality in Presuppositional Apologetics

Hey everyone, welcome back to a crash course in pre-suppositional apologetics, and we're going to be talking about a very important concept today, and that is the myth of neutrality. And the reason I say this is very important, they're all important, but this is something that most Christians buy into.

I would say that the vast majority of Christians buy into the myth of neutrality, and it is idolatry, it is anti-biblical, and if you've been buying into it, then this video is definitely for you. I was buying into it at one point, and I've definitely seen the light on this one.

So here we go. The myth of neutrality. When arguing with a non-believer, typically one of the things they try to say is, let's look at this neutrally. In other words, I'll drop my presuppositions, you drop your presuppositions, and we'll come together on some kind of a neutral playing field.

Why Neutrality Cannot Exist Between Belief and Unbelief

The problem is, in Christianity there is no neutral playing field. Let me demonstrate this for you. Let's look at a couple of verses. Let's start out with 2 Corinthians 6 .14. There is no neutrality between the world of the unbelievers and the world of the believers.

One's light and one's darkness. And Jesus put it this way, he said that you're either for me or you're against me. You can either serve God, or you can serve man. You can't serve two masters. 1 John 5 .19 says we know that we are of God and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

So they have a different authority. They are in the power of the devil. James 4 .4, adulterers and adulteresses. Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

And Romans 1 .21 says for even though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations. Their foolish heart was darkened. And what does Paul tell believers and Colossians?

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. So you see, futile speculations and the philosophy of the world is what we're supposed to be avoiding.

But that's what we buy into when we buy into neutrality. Because we've made ourselves a judge. We've said, me and the unbeliever, both of us can judge for ourselves what the truth is. That's simply not the case.

We end up, instead of answering a fool according to his folly, we go into the folly with a fool. We become like him. So that is why we shouldn't be neutral with the unbeliever. Now there's also philosophical reasons that we can't be neutral with the unbeliever.

Common Ground, Conscience, and the Preconditions of Intelligibility

All facts are interpreted in light of a worldview. And creation itself demands a reference point in order to be properly understood. Rocks don't come with dates on them. The laws of nature don't come with explanations saying who made them and why they were made.

We interpret those things in light of our worldview. So if we throw our presuppositions out the window, there's no blank space. It's not like there's a void. That void is filled with the presuppositions of the unbeliever.

So we basically accept his presuppositions and then start arguing with him. And then essentially we play the fool along with him. And that is why neutrality is a myth. We don't reason with an unbeliever on his terms.

We reason using the Word of God, which has been revealed to us. Because that is the only logical, rational, and firm foundation we have to stand on. All other ground is sinking sand. So here's a question.

How do we reason with unbelievers? Because we are commanded to give an answer to everyone who asks, right? Well, the answer is very simple. Even though there is no neutral ground, there is common ground, you might say.

What do you mean there's common ground? Well, Romans 1 says that God has put into every man a conscience. Essentially, man knows the attributes of God. He knows God exists. The problem is he suppresses it in unrighteousness because he's darkening his understanding.

As John says, the light came into the world and men lived darkness. And so, essentially, when we're reasoning, we reason with what we already know that they know. They are relying on God every second of every day.

To do anything, you must rely on God. We examine that in some of the other videos. So we use what we know about them, essentially, to break through that worldview. We try to get them to prove their presuppositions to us.

Not using evidence, not playing the neutral game, but saying, how does your presupposition account for reality, the preconditions of intelligibility? How can we get logic and math and science and all the things we require to live out of your presuppositions?

That's how we reason with an unbeliever. And that's how Paul reasoned on Mars Hill. He assumed that they already knew about God. They were just worshiping Him in an inappropriate way, not giving Him the glory.

So, while there is no neutral ground, there is common ground.