From: Darrell128@aol.com Date: Mon, 19 Feb 1996 03:01:31 -0500 NR #1996-018: Apologist and Theonomist Dr. Greg Bahnsen Passes Away Leading Christian apologist and thenomist Dr. Greg Bahnsen died in St. Joseph Hospital in Santa Ana, California, on December 11, 1995, from heart failure six days after an aortic valve was replaced. It was the third time he had to undergo valve replacement surgery. In addition to the five books on theology and ethics which appeared during Bahnsen's life, three books on the defense of Christianity (including the long-awaited Van Til Reader) will be published posthumously. NR #1996-018: For Immediate Release Apologist and Theonomist Dr. Greg Bahnsen Passes Away by Rev. Steve M. Schlissel c 1996 Christian Renewal Distributed by United Reformed News Service (January 8, 1996) URNS - I first met Dr. Greg L. Bahnsen on the phone. I was emerging from a rather rigid conception of the supposed dispensational structure of God's revelation and dealings, attempting to grasp that most capricious of all religions, the Reformed faith. I was hungry for truth. My chosen method in the pursuit of it was to contact people who had a reputation for understanding it and then "bother" them until they explained it to me. Bahnsen was not "bothered" by my call. He expressed sincere, pastoral concern and a genuine interest in helping me, and Messiah's Congregation, to make a smooth and stable transition into the Reformed faith of our fathers. He became a personal tutor, instructing me in the apologetic of Dr. Cornelius Van Til and the theology of the Westminster Confession and Catechisms. From that phone call in 1983 until today, eight years after his passage to "Abraham's bosom," our Father in heaven used Greg to feed me, and a great number beside. Bahnsen's contributions to the Kingdom and church are significant. An ordained minister serving the Orthodox Presbyterian Church for the last twenty years, he had wide-ranging opportunities to serve Christ. After receiving (simultaneously) the M.Div. and Th.M. degrees from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Bahnsen went on to earn a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Southern California, choosing for his dissertation topic a philosophical analysis of the concept of "self-deception." He chose this topic because it would complement, even fill a space, in the comprehensive Christian apologetic of Van Til. Van Til was more than appreciative of Bahnsen's gifts and calling; he told me that Bahnsen was the right man to succeed him as chair of apologetics at Westminster. Bahnsen had a special gift from God in bringing illumination to some of the thorniest theological problems. At times it seemed as if his mind would drape over a dark problem and dissolve it into light. For the last several years he served as the scholar-in-residence at the Southern California Center for Christian Studies and his tapes were distributed by Covenant Tape Ministry. He travelled around the world preaching, debating, lecturing. Often when he lectured, that wonderful look of "Now I understand!" 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 normativity and applicability of God's Law (theonomy), Bahnsen's first love, in my humble opinion, was apologetics. In fact, his love for God's Law was intimately related to his passionate desire to defend and promote the cause of the entire Word of God, and glorify the name of the God of the Word. In addition to the five books on theology and ethics which appeared during Bahnsen's brief sojourn, three books on the defense of Christianity (including the long-awaited Van Til Reader) will be published posthumously. Born on September 17, 1948, Bahnsen died in St. Joseph Hospital in Santa Ana, California, on December 11, 1995, from heart failure six days after an aortic valve was replaced. It was the third time he had to undergo valve replacement surgery. Greg was far more conscious of the possibility that he might not recover than his friends and loved ones would allow themselves to admit. The Lord's Day before his surgery he preached a message that left his entire congregation in tears (cf. Acts 20:38): "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Bahnsen is survived by his parents, Virginia and Robert, four adult children, and two grandchildren. After his death, Virginia Bahnsen told me, "When he got to heaven, surely Calvin and Van Til looked at Greg and said, 'Right on!'" The legacy of Bahnsen will doubtless continue to yield fruit for generations to come. May it all be in accord with that single overriding passion of Bahnsen's life: That the name of Christ would be magnified in all the earth. Amen! Cross-References to Related Articles: [No related articles on file] Contact List: Southern California Center for Christian Studies/Covenant Tape Ministry PO Box 18021, Irvine, CA 92713 * O: (800) 553-3938 Rev. Steve Schlissel, Pastor, Messiah's Congregation 2662 E. 24th St., Brooklyn, NY 11235 * (718) 332-4444 ------------------------------------------------ file: /pub/resources/text/reformed: nr96-018.txt .