Greg L. Bahnsen (September 17, 1948 – December 11, 1995) was an American Reformed philosopher,

apologist Apologetics (from Greek , "speaking in defense") is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics and ...

, and debater. He was a minister in the

Orthodox Presbyterian Church The Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) is a confessional Presbyterian denomination located primarily in the United States, with additional congregations in Canada, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico. It was founded by conservative members of the Presbyter ...

and a full-time Scholar in Residence for the Southern California Center for Christian Studies (SCCCS). He is also considered a contributor to the field of Christian apologetics, as he popularized the presuppositional method of

Cornelius Van Til Cornelius Van Til (May 3, 1895 – April 17, 1987) was a Dutch-American reformed philosopher and theologian, who is credited as being the originator of modern presuppositional apologetics. A graduate of Calvin College, Van Til later receive ...

. He is the father of David L. Bahnsen, an American portfolio manager, author, and television commentator.

Early life and education

He was the first born of two sons of Robert and Virginia Bahnsen in Auburn, Washington, and grew up in Pico Rivera, California. In youth he was beset by a number of medical difficulties, the most serious of which was a lifelong

platelet Platelets, also called thrombocytes (from Greek θρόμβος, "clot" and κύτος, "cell"), are a component of blood whose function (along with the coagulation factors) is to react to bleeding from blood vessel injury by clumping, thereby i ...

problem that made it difficult for him to stop bleeding, a condition similar to

hæmophilia Haemophilia, or hemophilia (), is a mostly inherited genetic disorder that impairs the body's ability to make blood clots, a process needed to stop bleeding. This results in people bleeding for a longer time after an injury, easy bruising, ...

. He also had heart trouble which came to light only during his first college admissions medical exam. Raised in the

, he actively participated in religious activities. He first began reading the apologetics of

when in high school. While attending

Westmont College Westmont College is a private Christian liberal arts college in Montecito, California. It was founded in 1937. History Ruth Kerr, owner and CEO of the Kerr Glass Manufacturing Company, established the school as the Bible Missionary Institute in ...

he began writing for the

Chalcedon Foundation The Chalcedon Foundation is an American Christian Reconstructionist organization founded by Rousas John Rushdoony in 1965. Named for the Council of Chalcedon, it has also included theologians such as Gary North, who later founded his own organiz ...

of Rousas J. Rushdoony and soon came to admire the latter's strong Calvinistic convictions. In 1970 Bahnsen graduated '' magna cum laude'' from Westmont College, receiving his

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in philosophy as well as the John Bunyan Smith Award for his overall grade point average. From there he went on to

Westminster Theological Seminary Westminster Theological Seminary is a Protestant theological seminary in the Reformed theological tradition in Glenside, Pennsylvania. It was founded by members of the faculty of Princeton Theological Seminary in 1929 after Princeton chose to ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, where he studied under Cornelius Van Til. The two became close friends. When he graduated in May 1973, he simultaneously received two degrees, Master of Divinity and

Master of Theology Master of Theology ( la, Theologiae Magister, abbreviated MTh, ThM, or MTheol) is a post-graduate degree offered by universities, divinity schools, and seminaries. It can serve as a transition degree for entrance into a PhD program or as a sta ...

, as well as the William Benton Greene Prize in apologetics and a Richard Weaver Fellowship from the

Intercollegiate Studies Institute The Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) is a nonprofit educational organization that promotes conservative thought on college campuses. It was founded in 1953 by Frank Chodorov with William F. Buckley Jr. as its first president. It sponsor ...

. His next academic stop was the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

(USC), where he studied philosophy, specializing in the

theory of knowledge Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Ep ...

. In 1975, after receiving ordination in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, he became an associate professor of Apologetics and Ethics at

Reformed Theological Seminary Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS) is a theological seminary in the Reformed theological tradition with campuses in multiple locations in the United States. Founded by conservatives in the Southern Presbyterian Church, the Presbyterian Church i ...

(RTS) in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the capital of and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, along with Raymond. The city had a population of 153,701 at t ...

. While there, he completed his studies at USC, receiving his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in 1978. Bahnsen's four years at RTS were fraught with contention, centered around his particular version of theonomic postmillennialism.

Later life

One of the original pillars of Christian Reconstruction, Bahnsen was a leading proponent of

theonomy Theonomy, from ''theos'' (God) and ''nomos'' (law), is a hypothetical Christian form of government in which society is ruled by divine law. Theonomists hold that divine law, particularly the judicial laws of the Old Testament, should be observed ...

postmillennialism In Christian eschatology (end-times theology), postmillennialism, or postmillenarianism, is an interpretation of chapter 20 of the Book of Revelation which sees Christ's second coming as occurring ''after'' (Latin ''post-'') the "Millennium", ...

, and

presuppositional apologetics Presuppositionalism is an 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 ...

. He lectured to a broad range of

evangelical Christian Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

groups at many colleges and conferences, not only throughout the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, but in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. He published over 1700 audio tapes, videos, articles, and books. Greg Bahnsen's vocal advocacy of Christian Reconstructionism and theonomy was highly controversial during his lifetime, and a public disputation pertaining to theonomy led to his dismissal from the

in Jackson, Mississippi. In addition, he was known for his public debates on

apologetics Apologetics (from Greek , "speaking in defense") is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics an ...

, theonomy,

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

(such as Roman Catholicism, Islam, and

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in t ...

), and a variety of socio-political issues (such as

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

, gun control, and

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

). Bahnsen is perhaps best known for his debates with

atheists Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...

George H. Smith George Hamilton Smith (February 10, 1949 – April 8, 2022) was an American author, editor, educator, and speaker, known for his writings on atheism and libertarianism. Biography Smith grew up mostly in Tucson, Arizona, and attended the Unive ...

Gordon Stein Gordon Stein (April 30, 1941 – August 27, 1996) was an American author, physiologist, and activist for atheism and religious skepticism. Biography Stein was born in New York to Jewish parents, and from an early age took an interest in science ...

, and Edward Tabash. The debate with Stein marked one of the earliest uses of a

transcendental argument for the existence of God The Transcendental Argument for the Existence of God (TAG) is the argument that attempts to prove the existence of God by arguing that logic, morals, and science ultimately presuppose a supreme being and that God must therefore be the source of l ...

(TAG). In 1994 a controversy emerged after atheist philosopher Michael Martin was informed three weeks before a scheduled debate with Bahnsen "that Bahnsen would not debate unless Martin gave written permission to SCCCS to tape the debate" for resale to support SCCCS. Martin refused because "he did not want SCCCS to profit from his participation", while SCCCS refused to let Bahnsen debate without the debate being taped. The debate was canceled. Since that time Martin has responded to Bahnsen's use of TAG, doing so in his own debates with Michael Butler, John Frame, and Douglas Jones, and has published his "Transcendental Argument for the Non-Existence of God" in the journal of the

New Zealand Association of Rationalists and Humanists New Zealand Association of Rationalists and Humanists (or NZARH) is an organisation, established in 1927 in New Zealand for the promotion of rationalism and secular humanism. The principal aims are stated as: * To advocate a rational, humane, an ...

, as well as in essays posted on the

Secular Web Internet Infidels, Inc. is a Colorado Springs, Colorado-based nonprofit educational organization founded in 1995 by Jeffery Jay Lowder and Brett Lemoine. Its mission is to use the Internet to promote a view that supernatural forces or entities do n ...

Death

Due to his lifelong medical problems, Bahnsen had to undergo a third

aortic valve The aortic valve is a valve in the heart of humans and most other animals, located between the left ventricle and the aorta. It is one of the four valves of the heart and one of the two semilunar valves, the other being the pulmonary valve. Th ...

implant surgery on December 5, 1995. After the completion of the operation, serious complications developed within twenty-four hours. He then became comatose for several days and died on December 11, 1995, at the age of 47.

Works

* ''Always Ready: Directions for Defending the Faith'' () * ''Van Til's Apologetic: Readings and Analysis'' () * ''Theonomy in Christian Ethics'' () * ''By This Standard: The Authority Of God's Law Today'' * ''No Other Standard: Theonomy and Its Critics'' * ''House Divided: The Breakup of Dispensational Theology'' with Kenneth Gentry. * ''Homosexuality: A Biblical View'' () * ''Five Views on Law and Gospel'' (Chapter contribution) () * ''Foundations of Christian Scholarship'' (2 Chapter Contributions) () * ''God and Politics: Four Views on the Reformation of Civil Government'' (Chapter contribution) () * ''Theonomy: An Informed Response'' (2 Chapter contributions) () * ''Victory in Jesus: The Bright Hope of Postmillennialism'' () * ''Presuppositional Apologetics: Stated and Defended'' (Edited by Joel McDurmon.) ()

References

External links

Essays by Greg Bahnsen and other writers

Appointed for the Defense of the Gospel: The Life and Ministry of Greg L. Bahnsen
by Kenneth Gentry
Bahnsen vs. Stein Audio Debate transcribed

by John Frame * by Steve M. Schlissel

by John Frame

includes several articles written by Bahnsen * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bahnsen, Greg 1948 births 1995 deaths People from Auburn, Washington Presbyterians from Washington (state) Orthodox Presbyterian Church ministers American Calvinist and Reformed theologians 20th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians Calvinist and Reformed philosophers Christian apologists Critics of atheism Christian reconstructionism Dominion theology Westmont College alumni Westminster Theological Seminary alumni