There are three new editions at frame-poythress.org:
A Fresh Look at the Regulative Principle John M. Frame
Review of Peter Enns’ Inspiration and Incarnation by John Frame
A Primer on Perspectivalism (Revised 2008) by John Frame
I’ve had a read of the Primer on Perspectivalism and I think it’s great! In it, Frame discusses knowledge, perspectives on knowledge and the application of perspectivalism to pastoral ministry, ethics, salvation, revelation, and the Trinity! Here’s a short little introductory sample:
“God knows absolutely everything, because he planned everything, made everything, and determines what happens in the world he made. So we describe him as omniscient. One interesting implication of God’s omniscience is that he not only knows all the facts about himself and the world; he also knows how everything appears from every possible perspective. If there were a fly on my office wall, my typing would look very different to him from the way it looks to me. But God knows, not only everything about my typing, but also how that typing appears to the fly on the wall. Indeed, because God knows hypothetical situations as well as actualities, God knows exhaustively what a fly in that position would experience—if such a fly were present—even if it is not. God’s knowledge, then, is not only omniscient, but omniperspectival. He knows from his own infinite perspective; but that infinite perspective includes a knowledge of all created perspectives, possible and actual.
But we are different. We are finite, and our knowledge is finite. I can only know the world from the limited perspective of my own body and mind. The effects of this finitude, and even more of sin, should caution us against cocksureness in our claims to knowledge. I am not saying that we should doubt everything. Certainly my limited perspective gives me no excuse to doubt that I have five fingers, or that 2+2 = 4, or that God exists. Our finitude does not imply that all our knowledge is erroneous, or that certainty is impossible. But we do, in most situations, need to guard against mistakes.”
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4 comments
Carlo says:
June 15, 2008 at 6:15 am (UTC 10 )
John was my professor at WTS in California, before he moved on to RTS in Orlando and he was and I’m sure still is an incredible teacher in the Van Til line of apologetics. Everything he writes is helpful and I count it a blessing to have sat under his teaching. I heartily commend folk to consider going to RTS to study with him, if they are considering the pursuit of formal theological education.
mark says:
June 15, 2008 at 2:51 pm (UTC 10 )
Carlo, that would have been an incredible privilege. I considered going over to the US to study under him, but was persuaded to study here for ministry opportunities in OZ. In saying that though, i’ve been blessed by John’s writing ministry (not to mention that of Van Til’s!) and would be very keen to see an uptake on these guys Christian thinkers here in Sydney!
PS – are you working in the ministry post study?
Your brother,
Mark
mark says:
June 15, 2008 at 2:51 pm (UTC 10 )
Carlo, that would have been an incredible privilege. I considered going over to the US to study under him, but was persuaded to study here for ministry opportunities in OZ. In saying that though, i’ve been blessed by John’s writing ministry (not to mention that of Van Til’s!) and would be very keen to see an uptake on these guys Christian thinkers here in Sydney!
PS – are you working in the ministry post study?
Your brother,
Mark
A Future Metaphysician says:
January 24, 2009 at 1:49 pm (UTC 10 )
I have JUST encountered Frame and Poythress and am stunned at the epistemological and ethical potential of their “perspectivalist” approach. I’d love to hear more about what they’re up to!