"Reformed Epistemology.†Unpublished Manuscript from 1925
Handwritten, 135 pp. [Van Til Papers, WTS Archives]
Van Til’s Th.M. thesis written under C. W. Hodge, Jr. at Princeton Theological Seminary. This paper became the basis of what was later entitled The Metaphysics of Apologetics [1932.G], and The Survey of Christian Epistemology [1969.F]. Note that C. W. Hodge, Jr.’s doctoral dissertation was The Kantian Epistemology and Theism. Philadelphia: MacCalla and Co., 1894.
1. Introduction (Bibliography) 2. Idea and Right of Systematic Epistemology 3. History of Epistemology in General 4. Christian Epistemology in General 5. Catholic Epistemology 6. Lutheran Epistemology 7. Arminian Epistemology 8. Reformed Epistemology in General; Adamic Consciousness 9. Reformed Epistemology; Non-Regenerate Consciousness 10. Reformed Epistemology; Regenerate Consciousness
“We rejoice that especially through the doctrine of the Holy Spirit and of common grace, Reformed theology was able to construct an epistemology that is true to the ’principium speciale.’ It alone does justice to the concept of sin; it alone does justice to the biblical notion of perseverance of the saints. So may we never lose those principles. May we lose our weaknesses, and mutually and simultaneously develop the doctrines of the Holy Spirit, of common grace and of original sin.â€