APOLOGETICS continued the same experiences are to be found in various systems seems to be strong indeed, and has scared many a stu dent away from an emphasis on the subjective, even though pure rational and sense-empirical attempts neces sarily lead into relativism. Once one has realized, however, that the total question can be effectively considered only from the inside, from an existen tial point of view, the main difficulty disappears. A pure objective, Carte sian, intellectual approach from the “ outside” to the question of religious experience, such as used by W. James or Brightman, would necessarily also lead into relativism. If we agree, however, that a metaphysical truth cannot be apprehended from the standpoint of a mere spectator, but would have to be apprehended through personal experience, then theoretical relativism has to give way to practical absolutism, which for the Christian means the Christ-experi- ence. In purely theoretical, rational terms the problem may never be solved, in practical terms it receives an existential solution. That this is not a complete solution is readily ad mitted, but if a complete rational solution would be possible, we would not be dealing with faith. The only claim made is that this seems to be the .way of coming closest to the solu tion of a basically unsolvable question in pure rational terms. It is certainly not self-evident as to whether the law of contradiction can be asserted independently of God or not. This point could be debated for the next hundred years. The impor tant thing is that there is something we can know. Van Til writes: “ It is only when the Holy Spirit gives a man a new heart that he will accept the evidence of Scripture about itself and about nature for what it really is. It is true further that for the accept ance of that revelation it is again upon the testimony of the Spirit that we must depend.” And Camell: “That which enables a sinner to see God’s word as true is the inward work of the Spirit.” Is the inward work of the Spirit ineffable? If so, we know nothing about it. And yet both Scrip ture and experience testify as to the reality of the Holy Spirit indwelling the transformed believer. We as Evangelical Christians ac cept the Bible as the inspired Word of God. But also here the tendency to over-conceptualize factual reality has already shown its destructive tend ency, resulting in a wishy-washy, backboneless and powerless type of Christianity. One of the basic trends in life is to gradually shift the em-
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