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26. Where is the wise? (1 Corinthians 1:20)
As we have repeated in different ways many times, the procedure of presuppositional apologetics is one of comparing whole worldviews. We don’t build the “house” of Christianity block by block, but rather we compare the whole system of Christianity with the whole system of an unbeliever. It’s true that we can talk with an unbeliever about one thing at a time, but regardless of the subject, we aim to show the unbeliever that it’s impossible to make sense out of anything without the Christian worldview. Over the years I have discovered this fact can’t be overstated. Very often after I show someone - believer or unbeliever - that an unbelieving worldview can’t make sense of: logic, science, morality, physics, maths, matter, sense experience, language, personal identity over time, sin, redemption, or whatever the illustration may be. But then they turn around and ask “but what about this or that problem?”
If a worldview can’t make sense of language, it can’t ask about anything; it’s over. As an apologist if I show the absurdity of unbelief, my job is done. The choice is now between Christ or absurdity, and the unbeliever who can’t account for the foundation of language or logic has nothing to say. Sure I might take another illustration but it’s just that - an “illustration.” I am not building the Christian worldview; it has already been delivered as a package deal, as a whole system. One of my teachers once put it this way: “Sometimes you go hunting and you find a bear. You take aim and shoot, but the bear is still coming at you. Well, shoot again! Some bears take more than one bullet.” With that in mind, let us look at some examples of different worldviews with illustrations of how they are wanting.