Gregory Lyle Bahnsen (; September 17, 1948 – December 11, 1995), credited in most of his books as Greg Bahnsen, was an American

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

philosopher and

Christian apologist Christian apologetics (, "verbal defense, speech in defense") is a branch of Christian theology that defends Christianity. Christian apologetics have taken many forms over the centuries, starting with Paul the Apostle in the early church and Pa ...

. 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 Presbyte ...

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. 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 Auburn is a city in King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington, United States (with a small portion crossing into neighboring Pierce County, Washington, Pierce County). The population was 87,256 at the 2020 United States ...

, and grew up in

Pico Rivera, California Pico Rivera is a city located in southeastern Los Angeles County, California. The city is situated approximately southeast of downtown Los Angeles, on the eastern edge of the Los Angeles basin, and on the southern edge of the area known as the ...

. In youth he was beset by a number of medical difficulties, the most serious of which was a lifelong

platelet Platelets or thrombocytes () are a part of blood whose function (along with the coagulation#Coagulation factors, coagulation factors) is to react to bleeding from blood vessel injury by clumping to form a thrombus, blood clot. Platelets have no ...

problem that made it difficult for him to stop bleeding, a condition similar to hæmophilia. 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 Cornelius Van Til when in high school. While attending Westmont College he began writing for the Chalcedon Foundation of Rousas J. Rushdoony and soon came to admire the latter's strong Calvinistic convictions. In 1970 Bahnsen graduated ''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' from Westmont College, receiving his B.A. in philosophy as well as the John Bunyan Smith Award for his overall

grade point average Grading in education is the application of standardized Measurement, measurements to evaluate different levels of student achievement in a course. Grades can be expressed as letters (usually A to F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), percentage ...

. From there he went on to

Westminster Theological Seminary Westminster Theological Seminary (WTS) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian theology, theological seminary in the Reformed theology, Reformed theological tradition in Glenside, Pennsylvania. It was founded by members of the faculty of Prince ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, 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 For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and ...

and

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

, as well as the William Benton Greene Prize in apologetics and a Richard Weaver Fellowship from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. His next academic stop was the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

(USC), where he studied

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

, specializing in the

theory of knowledge Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called "the theory of knowledge", it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowledg ...

. In 1975, after receiving ordination in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, he became an associate professor of Apologetics and Ethics at Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS) in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...

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

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", a ...

, and

presuppositional 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 res ...

. He lectured to a broad range of

evangelical Christian Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

groups at many colleges and conferences, not only throughout the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, but also in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

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

apologetics Apologetics (from Greek ) 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 recommended their f ...

, theonomy,

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

(such as

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

, and

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

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

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms and ammunition by civilians. Most countries allow civilians to own firearms, bu ...

, and

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

). Bahnsen had a number of public 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 ...

including

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 in the United States. Early life and activism Born in Japan in 1949 to Fr ...

, Gordon Stein, 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 an argument that attempts to prove the existence of God by appealing to the Necessity_and_sufficiency#Necessity, necessary conditions for the Subjunctive possibility, possibility of expe ...

(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 (NZARH) was established in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1927. The Association promotes rationalist movement, rationalism and secular humanism principles. The principal aims are stated as the fol ...

, as well as in essays posted on the Secular Web.

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. ...

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 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians 20th-century American Presbyterian ministers American Calvinist and Reformed theologians American male non-fiction writers American religious writers Calvinist and Reformed philosophers Calvinist and Reformed writers Christian apologists Christian reconstructionism American critics of atheism Dominion theology Orthodox Presbyterian Church ministers People from Auburn, Washington Presbyterians from Washington (state) University of Southern California alumni Westminster Theological Seminary alumni Westmont College alumni Reformed Theological Seminary faculty

Early life and education

Later life

Death

Works

See also

References

Further reading

External links