8/12/2019 1996 Issue 1 - Greg Bahnsen: A Good and Faithful Servant - Counsel of Chalcedon

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Few

sad

events

inmy life

have

struck

me as hard

as

the

December 11, 1995, death f

Dr. Cireg L. Bahnsen,

my

teacher,

mentor,

and

friend

. I

had long known of his '

congenital heart defect and

his

increasing health

problems.

But

I had seen him, by the

,grace of Ciod, weather many

physical storms

over

the years .

Now, however, (jod

in

His

all-wise

providence

hascaUed

Cireg home to

glory.

s a believer in the '

sovereign Christ of Scripture"

whom

Cireg loved

and ,'

whose will he

vigorousiy

promoted" I have to

remind myself that Paul's

testimony

in

Philippians

1 has two-sides, both

being glorious.

In

applying Paul's

under Cireg Bahnsen

for

two

years at

Reformed

Seminary

in

the

late

1970's. The

three

theologians who have most

influenced

my

personal

life

,

biblical

faith

, and pastoral

practice

are:

John Calvin,

Cornelius Van

Til

, and (ireg

Bahnsen

. They have shown

me that Calvinism is

Christianity come into its own.

And I praise Ciod

for

their '

ministerial

labors.

Paul tells us

of

the victory

associated

with Christ's

entry

into heaven. At that

glOrious

covenantal nature

of

Clods

dealings with

man.

I

can

thank the writihgsof O. T.

Allis and Loraine Boettner, as

instrumehts'in the hand

of

'

Ciod, for initially showing' T e

the light and glorY of reformed

theology

. these

encourage4.

my

disrriissal

'

of

dispensationalism and sparked

in mea desire to

seek a

reformed

theological

education.

n 197{11 transferred' o

Reformeq Seminary

in

Jackson, MississiPpi. And

as

, p ~ v i ~ e ~ c e w o u l d have

it,

I was

there

for

almostthe

entire

tenure

of

Bahnsen with that

institution. But those

two years were

of

dramatic

life-changing

and

comments

to

Cireg's

c;:;================ ministry-encouraging

untimely departure, my

immediate thoughts and

hQpes

were

on

the one

side:

to

'

remain in the flesh is

more

needful for you (v. 24).

Cireg

's

continuing ministry had been

so significant in my own'

personal spiritual growth and

pastoral ministry " and not just

mine but

many,

many others.

Consequently, I had to

struggle

to recognize the greater truth '

for Cireg

himself:

to

be

ith

Christ

is far

better

(v

. 23) .

Cireg has now heard those

glorious words

of

Christ:

"Well done, thou good and

faithful servant.'

I thank Ciod that, by His

providence, I was able o study

event He

poured

out abundant

,and glorious gifts upon men

(Eph.

4:8ff).

One

of those

important

gifts

for the

ongoing

life

and ministry

of

the Church

is

the,gift

of

teacher

(Eph.

4:11). I count Cireg Bahnsen

as

one

of

the great gifts

of

(iod to

the Church in our

tirne.

He

Will be

sorely

missed.

In

my circuitous route

to

reformed theology and the

Presbyterian pastorate, I had

come out

of

a dispensational

household,

through

a

dispensational

college

(Tennessee

Te

mple College)

and seminary (Ciract,

Theological

Seminary), to the

growing conviction

of

the

8 f THE COUNSEL of Chalcedoll f

January

February,

1996

consequence because

of

Cireg

Bahnsen.

Whenl

firsfenrolJed

n

a

Bahnseh

class

, I

admit

that I was noipie

ased:

I was

becoming knoWn as

fable

tennis player of sorts at RTS . I

was spending lnuch

tiine in

the Whife House on theRTS

I

campus challenging fellow

students in this

SP9rt.

But upon

entering Bahnsen's class I

found

rigorous

demands

for

more

diligent

study

laid on

me.

At

first these

were frustrating;

I had fared well with

an

average amount'

of

effort. Now

aU that had changed.

Bahnsen's approach to '

academic

instruction

reqUired

8/12/2019 1996 Issue 1 - Greg Bahnsen: A Good and Faithful Servant - Counsel of Chalcedon

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great

effort

of

the

student. for anyone who would would

like to

relate just one

Table

tennis would

have to

promote qod's Word anecdote regarding

his

wail.

according

to

the Pauline

remarkable cognitive abilities.

But thank

qod

for

the

directive in . 2 Corinthians

While

he,

R. 1. Rushdoony,

mind-expanding,

10:

4-5

.

qary DeMar, Joe Morecraft,

ministry-altering

experience Over

the

years

it has

been Byron

Snapp, I

and others

Initially

I

resisted

Bahnsen's my

joy

and

privilege to

have were

speakers at

the 1994

unusual

positions

of qreg stay

in

my

home

on

Chalcedon Christian

postmillennialism

and several occasions, to

have

him

Leadership

Conference, we

theonomic ethics. In fact, I

set

proclaim

the

Word

of

qod in

witnessed his

remarkable

about

to

challenge those

my two

pastoral charges,

to

intellectual powers. During

positions

among my

fellow

co-author a book with him, one of the question and

students. But

anyone who has and

to

appear on the same answer

sessions

someone

e x p e r i e n ~ d Bahnsen's platform with him

at

asked the simple

question:

instruction,

however,

"Dr. Bahnsen, what

knows

that

he

was so

version of Scripture

careful in

his

'

do you use

and

presentation,

so

logical recommend?"

qreg's

in

his argumentation,

response

sounded

as

so

biblical

in

his

if he were reading a

foundations,

and so well-prepared

lecture

forceful

in

his

on

tex

tual critical

conclusions that all theory, linguistic

hope

of

credible ana

lysis

, and

resistance

was futile. I conferences. And

to

continue interpretation theory. He went

eventually was swayed

by his to

grow

under his ministry.

I through brief

discussions

of

presentations and adopted

his

am

thankful for

the

enonnous each of

these

factors

in

positions.

And I

have

never

influence

he has

had, and

for

choosing a version, then

regretted having done so.

the

large collection of tapes

suggested his own study

Intell

ectually,

he

taught

me

(over

1800) that are and will

preference:

The American

to

study and

to

think,

continue

to

be available and Standard Version of 1901.

pastorally

, he showed

me the

circulating

among

qo s

Moderator Joe Morecraft gc,>t

relevance of Scripture for

all

of

people. My only up after qregsat down and

life; personally, he encouraged

disappointment is that playfully rebuked him for not

me

to

stand

finn in

my

circumstances

did

not allow

being thorough enough il1 ,his

convictions and to trust

in qod

him time to

produce

more ' answer Who could think off

against

all

opposition.

Iwill

books.

the

top

of their head like that?

never

cease to

be amazed

at

I hope and

pray

that Who could respond

With

such

the

incredible breadth of

someone

will

see

that qreg's

insight and

clarity

as

hel

In my

knowledge he

possessed,

at the

notes

are

collected and

experience,

he was without

ease with which he could compiled as books. That his

peer in his intellectual abilities.

analyze and respond to lectures are transcribed

as

t is

my

unshakable

questions

and arguments, both articles. His teaching

ability

conviction

that qo s ways are

phi osophica lyand

was unsurpassed in my

right

and His wisdom

Scripturally. He ,

is

an example experience. In

this regard

I inscrutable.

Therefore,

I

January

February,

1996

THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon 9

8/12/2019 1996 Issue 1 - Greg Bahnsen: A Good and Faithful Servant - Counsel of Chalcedon

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humbly; even

if

sorrowfully,

accept

Ciods

providential

taking

of

Cireg Bahnsen from

toe earth. Ipray that we will

see

and experience

the

wisQ.om

of Qod in all ofthis with a

renewed

interest

in

Cireg's

tapes

and writings.

May the

Lord

bless Cireg's

legacy withfruit.Q

Apologist, Thconomist,

'vVarrioT, [-'riend

Steve M Schli el

I first met Dr. qreg L

Bahnsen on the

phone.

I was .

emerging from

a rather

fathers.

Cireg

became a

personal tutor, instructing

me

in

the

apologetic of

Cornelius

Van Til and the theology of

the

Westminster Confession

and Catechisms.

From

that

phone call

in

1983

until today;

our Father

in

heaven

used

Cireg to feed

me, and a

great

number beside.

Dr.

Bahnsen's

contributions

to

the Kingdom and church

are significant. An

ordained

minister serving the Orthodox

Presbyterian

Church

for the

last twenty

years,

Cireg had '

wide-ranging opportunities to .

serVe

Christ.

Afterrecelving

, '

(simit14lneously)

the

tv\

Div.

and Th. M.degrees from

Westminster Theologi\:al

Cireg's

gifts

and calling; he

told

me that Dr. Bahnsen was the

right man to succeed him as

chair

of

apologetics at

Westminster

.

It

has been rumored

that

when Dr.

Bahnsen

was

interviewed for the job of

teaching Apologetics

and

Ethics

at Reformed Theological

Seminal)' in Jackson, MS at

least one

of the

interviewers

emerged from the room dazed

by the brilliance of the mind

he had just encountered."

Cireg had a

special

gift

from

Ciod in

bringing

illumination

to

some

of the

thorniest

traditional theological

problems

(call Covenant Tape

MinisIJY

to

order the catalog

listing over 1,500 ofhis audio

tapes:

1-800-503-

. . , . . , . , . , . ,= 3938). At times it

seemed as if his mind '

'f....

>'

would

drape

over a

rigid conception of the

supposed

dispensational

structure

of

Ciod's

'

revelation

and dealings,

attempting

to grasp

that

most capaCious of

all

religions,

the RefoTmed

faith. I was

hungJY

for

dark

problem

and

~ ~ ~ i ~ i ~ ~ i l l ~

dissolve it

into light.

or

the last

several

years

he has served as

the

Scholar-in"

residence at the Southern

ruth.

My

chosen

method

in

the

pursuit 6f

it

was

to contact

people

who had a

reputation

fur understanding

it

arid then

"bother" them until they

explained

it

to

me.

Dr. Cireg

L Bahnsen was

not "bothered"

by

my

call.

He

expressed siilcere,' pastoral

concern and a genuine interest

in helping me, and Messiah's

Congregation,

to make

a

smooth

stable transition into

the Reformed faith of our

Seminal)' in Philadelphia,

Cireg

went on to

earn

a

Ph.D.

,

in philosophy

from

the

VnivetSity of

Southern

California,

chOOSing

for his

dissertation

topic,

a

philosophical analysis

of

the

concept

of

"self-deception." He

chose this topic because t

would complement, even

fill

a

space,

in

the

comprehensive

Christian apologetic

of

Cornelius Van

TiL

Dr.

Van

Til

was more than appreciative

of

10 THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon January February, 1996

California Center

fOJ Christian

Studies.

He

traveled

around

the

world preaching,

debating and

lectUring.

Often when he

lectured,

that wonderful

look

of

Now Iunderstand ,"

would

spread across

the faces

in

the room like the "wave" at

a

Pittsburgh

Steelers' home

game.

Though

often

most

closely

associated with the issue of the