I recently fell in love with a new band called the O.C. Supertones. Unfortunately, like many things I discover they have long since been disbanded, e.g. Firefly, Arrested Development, almost any classic rock band. Using Last.fm is a good way to discover new music you might like, so randomly one day I'm listening and start hearing this funky ska-core rhythm, some horns come in, and the lead singer starts rapping about apologetics. Not just any apologetics, but presuppositional apologetics.
For those that don't know apologetics is the field of Christian thought that tries to present a rational basis for Christianity. After all Paul says we should always be "prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you." Lately I've been interested in presuppositional apologetics, especially the books written by Cornelius Van Til. One of my heroes, Francis Schaeffer, was one of his students and developed his own outlook on apologetics as a compromise between Buswell's evidentialist apologetic and Van Til's. To be honest I'm partial to Schaeffer's own outlook. He saw himself primarily as an evangelist and not as an academic. Schaeffer's view is called "Taking the Roof Off" as illustrated here:
So back to the O.C. Supertones. I've read that the lead singer, Matt Morginsky, is "reformed" and has given lectures on presuppositional apologetics, and it's obvious from his lyrics.
And here we stand
naked, barehanded futily prepared
for the blows to be landed.
Presuppositions is all you can stand on.
Can you twist their wrist
when they lay a hand on?
Learn how to fight
from words on a paper.
learn from the shoguns,
Bahnsen and Schaeffer.
Plus he mentions Schaeffer! I think I just found one of my new favorite songs.
I don't know anyone else that can rap so well about apologetics.
Kids in universities,
drowning in an ocean
of apostate philosophy.
We need apologetic instruction...
mental reconstruction.
Ignorance reduction,
to halt the mass abduction.
Evangelical mind
has been scandalized.
Wisdom and truth
have been vandalized,
by the unevangelized.
No truth in a world
that is randomized.
These lyrics are from a song called Grounded. In the song, Chase the Sun, the lyrics say:
My thoughts are like a circle,
with Jesus in the middle.
One thing Van Til argues is that if one argues accurately from Christian presuppositions it eventually leads to circular logic. But, their is nothing wrong with this, because he shows how the non-christian argues in a circle as well.
The chorus goes like this:
Throw your hands up,
throw your hands up high!
Tear the roof off and pull down the sky!
Chase the sun back to California,
tears in my eyes.
Tell me where you're from,
the mighty west side!
What's that? Tear the roof off, sounds a lot like Schaeffer's method of apologetics.
They made songs that speak on the benefits of knowing and memorizing scripture (something I've been working on this year), attacking the health and wealth gospel, and the struggle with doubting at times.
I was going to write a lot more on apologetics, but I'm not sure my feeble writing could do it justice, so far now I'll just provide some links.
On presuppositional apologetics: http://www.frame-poythress.org/frame_articles/2005Presuppositional.htm
Schaeffer's article A Review of a Review: http://www.pcahistory.org/documents/schaefferreview.html
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