什么是前设护教学？范泰尔与巴恩森入门

核心论证 Core Argument

前设护教学（Presuppositional Apologetics）由哥尼流·范泰尔（Cornelius Van Til）发展，后由格雷格·巴恩森（Greg Bahnsen）推广，认为所有人的思想和推理都建立在某些前设（presuppositions）之上，而只有基督教的前设能够为逻辑、科学和道德提供一致的基础。无神论世界观无法解释逻辑规律的存在、自然界的一致性和道德的客观性——它必须在不自觉中"借用"基督教的世界观资源。 范泰尔论证说，传统护教学（如托马斯主义或古典证据主义）的问题在于它承认了非信徒的认识论立足点的合法性，试图在"中立"的基础上进行论证。但范泰尔认为不存在认知的中立地带——每个人的推理都被其最终前设所塑造。基督徒的前设是三一上帝已经启示了自己；无神论者的前设是自主的人类理性是一切知识的起点。 巴恩森在著名的"巴恩森-斯坦论辩"中展示了前设方法的力量。他向无神论者提出"超验论证"（Transcendental Argument for God, TAG）：如果上帝不存在，你连论证上帝不存在的能力都没有——因为逻辑、科学方法和道德推理都预设了一个有理性的、有秩序的、有道德目的的宇宙，而这些特征只能在有神论的框架中得到说明。 前设方法的实际应用是：不要试图在非信徒的前设基础上证明上帝存在，而是要揭示非信徒前设的内在矛盾，同时展示基督教世界观如何为一切人类知识和经验提供唯一连贯的基础。正如罗马书1:18-20所教导的，所有人在内心深处都知道上帝存在，只是在不义中压制真理。

Presuppositional Apologetics, developed by Cornelius Van Til and popularized by Greg Bahnsen, holds that all human thought and reasoning rest on certain presuppositions, and only Christian presuppositions can provide a consistent foundation for logic, science, and morality. Atheistic worldviews cannot account for the existence of logical laws, nature's uniformity, or morality's objectivity — they must unconsciously 'borrow' from the Christian worldview. Van Til argued traditional apologetics (Thomistic or classical evidentialist) err by conceding the legitimacy of the unbeliever's epistemological starting point, attempting to argue on 'neutral' ground. But Van Til maintained no cognitive neutral ground exists — everyone's reasoning is shaped by their ultimate presuppositions. The Christian's presupposition is that the Triune God has revealed Himself; the atheist's is that autonomous human reason is the starting point for all knowledge. Bahnsen demonstrated the presuppositional method's power in the famous 'Bahnsen-Stein Debate,' presenting the Transcendental Argument for God (TAG): if God doesn't exist, you wouldn't even have the ability to argue He doesn't — because logic, scientific method, and moral reasoning all presuppose a rational, orderly, morally purposeful universe, features only accountable within a theistic framework. The method's practical application: instead of proving God's existence on the unbeliever's presuppositions, reveal the internal contradictions of non-Christian presuppositions while demonstrating how the Christian worldview provides the only coherent foundation for all human knowledge and experience. As Romans 1:18-20 teaches, all people deep down know God exists but suppress the truth in unrighteousness.