John Frame

Dr. John M. Frame (born 1939) is an American philosopher and a Calvinist theologian especially noted for his work in epistemology and presuppositional apologetics, systematic theology, and ethics. He is one of the foremost interpreters and critics of the thought of Cornelius Van Til. Image File history File links JohnFrame. ... Image File history File links JohnFrame. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... A philosopher is a person who thinks deeply regarding people, society, the world, and/or the universe. ... In an unadorned church, the 17th century congregation stands to hear the sermon. ... Theology is reasoned discourse concerning God (Greek θεος, theos, God, + λογος, logos, word or reason). It can also refer to the study of other religious topics. ... Epistemology is an analytic branch of philosophy which studies the nature, origin, and scope of knowledge. ... Presuppositional apologetics is a school of Christian apologetics, a field of Christian theology that attempts to (1) present a rational basis for the Christian faith, (2) defend the faith against objections, and (3) attack the alleged flaws of other worldviews. ... Systematic theology is the study of Christian theology organized thematically (as opposed to historically, as in Historical Theology or Biblical Theology - according to some uses of the latter term). ... Ethics (from Greek ἦθος meaning custom) is the branch of axiology, one of the four major branches of philosophy, which attempts to understand the nature of morality; to define that which is right from that which is wrong. ... Cornelius Van Til Cornelius Van Til (May 4, 1895 - April 17, 1987), born in Grootegast, the Netherlands, was a Christian philosopher, Reformed theologian, and presuppositional apologist. ...

Biography

Frame received degrees from Princeton University (A.B.), Westminster Theological Seminary (B.D.), Yale University (A.M. and M.Phil., though he was working on a doctorate and admits his own failure to complete his dissertation), and Belhaven College (D.D.). He has served on the faculty of Westminster Theological Seminary and was a founding faculty member of their California campus, and as of 2005 he teaches at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida. Princeton University, incorporated as The Trustees of Princeton University, located in Princeton, New Jersey, is the fourth-oldest institution to conduct higher education in the United States. ... A Bachelor of Arts (B.A. or A.B.) is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course or program in the arts and/or sciences. ... Westminster Theological Seminary is a Reformed Christian graduate educational institution with campuses located in Pennsylvania, and Texas and programs of study in New York City, London, and Seoul. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... Yale University is a private university in New Haven, Connecticut. ... A masters degree is an academic degree usually awarded for completion of a postgraduate or graduate course of one to three years in duration. ... A masters degree is an academic degree usually awarded for completion of a postgraduate course of one or two years in duration. ... This article is about the thesis in dialectics and academia. ... Belhaven College is a college in Jackson, Mississippi that was founded by the Presbyterian Church (USA) but that is independently run by a Board of Trustees. ... Doctor of Divinity (D.D., Divinitatis Doctor in Latin) is an academic degree. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 3rd 410,000 km² 402. ...

Frame is well known in Reformed circles for his many books, chapters, and articles. He is also a classically trained musician and a critic of film, music, and other media. The Reformed churches are a group of Protestant denominations historically related by a similar Zwinglian or Calvinist system of doctrine but organizationally independent. ... Classical music is a broad, somewhat imprecise term, referring to music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of, European art, ecclesiastical and concert music, encompassing a broad period from roughly 1000 to the present day. ... Film refers to the celluloid media on which movies are printed. ... Music is an art, entertainment, or other human activity which involves organized and audible sound, though definitions vary. ...

Multiperspectival epistemology

Frame has elaborated a Christian epistemology in his 1987 work The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God. In this work, he develops what he calls triperspectivalism or multiperspectivalism which says that in every act of knowing, the knower is in constant contact with three things (or "perspectives") – the knowing subject himself, the object of knowledge, and the standard or criteria by which knowledge is attained. He argues that each perspective is interrelated to the others in such a fashion that, in knowing one of these, one actually knows the other two, also. Epistemology is an analytic branch of philosophy which studies the nature, origin, and scope of knowledge. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Knowledge is information of which someone is aware. ...

The normative perspective

Frame suggests that in all acts undertaken by humans there is some standard that serves as a guide, and that guide tells people what is the proper subject of inquiry, what actions they should pursue and avoid, what the universe is really like, and how knowledge should be sought. In his view, the marketplace of ideas is full of worldviews competing for the allegiance of each individual, and for some people, final allegiance to a system is due to sense experience, emotions, or political affiliation, while for others it is their particular religious tradition (Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Bahá'í Faith, etc.) or secular philosophy (empiricism, rationalism, Marxism, postmodernism, etc.). Whatever serves as a person's final authority, Frame says, functions as his or her normative perspective. The deepest visible-light image of the cosmos. ... A world view, also spelled as worldview is a term calqued from the German word Weltanschauung (look onto the world). The German word is also in wide use in English, as well as the translated form world outlook. ... Politics is a process by which collective decisions are made within groups. ... Fishers of men; Oil on panel by Adriaen van de Venne (1614) Religion (see etymology below) is commonly defined as a group of beliefs concerning the supernatural, sacred, or divine, and the moral codes, practices, values, institutions and rituals associated with such belief. ... The word tradition, comes from the Latin word traditio which means to hand down or to hand over. ... Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people, with around 14 million followers (as of 2005 [1]). It is one of the first recorded monotheistic faiths and one of the oldest religious traditions still practiced today. ... Islam (Arabic: ; ( (help· info)), submission (to the will of God)) is a monotheistic faith, considered one of the Abrahamic religions, and the worlds second-largest religion. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Seat of the Universal House of Justice, governing body of the Baháís in Haifa Israel The Baháí Faith is an emerging global religion founded by Baháulláh, a 19th century Persian exile. ... This article concerns secularity, that is, being secular, in various senses. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Empiricism comes from the Greek word εμπειρισμός, a noun meaning a test or trial. The -pir- is ultimately related to the -per- of the Latin words experientia and experimentum, both of which mean experiment, and from which our words experiment and experience come. ... Rationalism, also known as the rationalist movement, is a philosophical doctrine that asserts that the truth can best be discovered by reason and factual analysis, rather than faith, dogma or religious teaching. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Postmodernism is a term describing a wide-ranging change in thinking beginning in the early 20th century. ...

Christians such as Frame believe that God has verbally revealed himself to mankind in the Bible for the purpose of providing everything people need for life. In this view, Frame suggests, God’s inspired word serves as the criteria by which all truth claims are to be checked, and God’s word dictates to humanity who he is, the true nature of the world around us, and who people are in relation to God and the world. Thus, for Frame as for Calvin, the Christian Scriptures serve as the lens through which one ought to see and evaluate everything, and even in knowing the Bible, he suggests that one knows both the world and himself (and, conversely, in knowing them both one comes to know Scriptures better). Michelangelos depiction of God in the painting Creation of the Sun and Moon in the Sistine Chapel This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and derived henotheistic forms. ... For information on the last book of the New Testament see the Book of Revelation. ... The Bible (Hebrew תנ״ך tanakh, Greek η Βίβλος [hÄ“ biblos] ) (sometimes The Holy Bible, The Book, Good Book, Word of God, The Word Scripture), from Greek (τα) βίβλια, (ta) biblia, (the) books, is the classical name for the Hebrew Bible of Judaism or the combination of the Old Testament and New Testament of Christianity (The... Biblical inspiration is the doctrine in Christian theology concerned with the divine origin of the Bible and what the Bible teaches about itself. ... Human beings are defined variously in biological, spiritual, and cultural terms, or in combinations thereof. ... John Calvin (July 10, 1509 – May 27, 1564) was an important French Christian theologian during the Protestant Reformation and is the namesake of the system of Christian theology called Calvinism. ... A lens is: a part of the eye an optical device that may be used in a camera or in a telescope; see lens (optics) or Category:Lenses. ...

The situational perspective

With the situational perspective, Frame refers to the facts of reality or the objects of knowledge. With this perspective in mind, he says one must acknowledge the details of history, science, and evidences for various beliefs, and yet, science, history, and the evidences can never to be interpreted in a fashion that ignores or sets aside the binding nature of the normative perspective. Viewing things from Frame's situational perspective, one looks for how the normative persepective is expressed in everyday life. Wikimedia Commons has media related to: History For other senses of this word, see history (disambiguation). ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Science For the scientific journal named Science, see Science (journal). ...

Thus, without an understanding of the world, Frame says, one cannot rightly understand or apply Scripture to his or her life. For example, an argument against abortion might run:

1. Murder is a sin.
2. Abortion is murder.
3. Therefore abortion is a sin.

In Frame's scheme, the first point provides us with a normative command from the Bible, which serves as a timeless moral principle. But in order to arrive at the conclusion one needs to know whether or not abortion is really the taking the life of an innocent, unborn person, which requires use of the situational perspective. One must consult medical examinations of the nature of a fetus, the law of biogenesis, and the abortion procedure itself, since without this crucial information one could never know whether the person was faithfully applying God’s word in one's life. Sin has been a term most usually used in a religious context, and today describes any lack of conformity to the will of God; especially, any willful disregard for the norms revealed by God is a sin. ... Morality, in the most strict sense of the word, deals with that which is regarded as right or wrong. ... See drugs, medication, and pharmacology for substances that are used to treat patients. ... Fetus at eight weeks Foetus redirects here. ... Biogenesis has two meanings. ...

The existential perspective

With the existential perspective, Frame draws attention back to the person doing the knowing because, he says, individuals bring their personal dispositions, temperaments, biases, presuppositions, and life experiences to every act of knowing. A problem common to all epistemological endeavors is that if one tries to formulate a true-to-life epistemology, one apparently must examine each and every action performed, but formulating every action into propositions for evaluation is quite tricky. For this reason, the Enlightenment model of epistemology viewed the knowing enterprise as something hampered by human subjectivity and sought an objective mode of knowing that excludes Frame's existential perspective. Frame notes that the search for a purely objective knowledge is not only impossible, but also idolatrous. States Frame: Enlightenment may refer to: Enlightenment (concept), a concept in mysticism, philosophy and psychology For the Hindu religious concept of enlightenment, see moksha For the Buddhist religious concept, see Bodhi, Satori, Nirvana, Great Perfection For the Yoga concept of enlightenment, see Yogic Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment, a period in European...

"Sometimes we dream fondly of a “purely objective” knowledge of God--a knowledge of God of freed from the limitations of our senses, minds, experiences, preparation, and so forth. But nothing of this sort is possible, and God does not demand that of us. Rather, He condescends to dwell in and with us, as in a temple. He identifies himself in and through our thoughts, ideas, and experiences. And that identification is clear; it is adequate for Christian certainty. A “purely objective” knowledge is precisely what we don’t want! Such knowledge would presuppose a denial of our creaturehood and thus a denial of God and of all truth." (DKG, 65)

Integration of the perspectives

Frame argues that in order to appreciate the richness of the human knowing process, one must see that every instance of knowing involves these three perspectives. Esther Meek, following Frame's model closely, calls these perspectives the rules, the self, and the world, and emphasizing the existential perspective, she states, "Knowing is the responsible human struggle to rely on clues to focus on a coherent pattern and submit to its reality." Knowing in this sense is thus the process of integration by which one focuses on a pattern by means of various clues in the world, one's body-sense, and the norms for thinking. For the martial arts related meaning of Pattern see Tae Kwon Do and Kata (Karate). ...

Through this integration process the clues take on greater significance such that they are no longer seemingly disconnected occurrences, but rather meaningful portions that make up a greater reality. Yet, it is claimed, the pattern or integration, once achieved, retroactively throws light on the "clues" that made it up. The particulars retain their meaningfulness, but it is enhanced and transformed. These patterns now shape the knower, because, ideally, they connect her with a reality independent of herself. One comes to see the fullness of the pattern when its truth is lived in (or "habited"), thus extending one's self out into the world by means of that truth.

Much of this pattern-making process is inarticulatable, but Frame and Meek believe this more-than-words aspect of epistemic acts cannot be ignored because he sees it as crucial in the common, everyday process of knowing.

Presuppositions

As a former student of Van Til, Frame is supporter of the presuppositionalist school of Christian apologetics. He defines a presupposition as follows: Presuppositional apologetics is a school of Christian apologetics, a field of Christian theology that attempts to (1) present a rational basis for the Christian faith, (2) defend the faith against objections, and (3) attack the alleged flaws of other worldviews. ... Apologetics is the field of study concerned with the systematic defense of a position. ...

A presupposition is a belief that takes precedence over another and therefore serves as a criterion for another. An ultimate presupposition is a belief over which no other takes precedence. For a Christian, the content of Scripture must serve as his ultimate presupposition.... This doctrine is merely the outworking of the lordship of God in the area of human thought. It merely applies the doctrine of scriptural infallibility to the realm of knowing. (Doctrine of Knowledge of God, 45)

Rationalism and irrationalism in non-Christian thought

Frame, developing the thought of his mentor Cornelius Van Til, has asserted in both his Apologetics to the Glory of God and his Cornelius Van Til: An Analysis of His Thought that all non-Christian thought can be categorized as the ebb and flow of rationalism and irrationalism. Rationalism, also known as the rationalist movement, is a philosophical doctrine that asserts that the truth can best be discovered by reason and factual analysis, rather than faith, dogma or religious teaching. ... The philosophical movements of irrationalism and aestheticism were a cultural reaction against positivism that took place during the early twentieth century. ...

Rationalism

In this context Frame defines rationalism as any attempt to establish the finite human mind as the ultimate standard of truth and falsity. This establishing of the autonomous intellect occurs within the context of rejecting God’s revelation of himself in both nature and the Bible. A rationalist, in this sense, states that the human mind is able to fully and exhaustively explain reality. For information on the last book of the New Testament see the Book of Revelation. ... The deepest visible-light image of the universe, the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. ...

According to Frame, examples of attempts to explain reality are found in Plato and Aristotle's Form/Matter dualism; the debate between the nominalists and the realists over the status of universals and particulars, and the "all is... [fire, water, atoms,etc]" of the pre-Socratics. More examples would include Descartes' Mind/Body dualism, Spinoza's God or nature, and Leibniz's monadology, Plotinus' "The One" and his teaching on emanation, the British empiricists attempts to limit knowledge and possibility to that which can be empirically verified, Kant's worlds of the noumena and the phenomena, and Hegel's dialectic. Plato Plato (Greek: Πλάτων, Plátōn) (c. ... Aristotle (Ancient Greek: AristotelÄ“s 384 BC – March 7, 322 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher, who studied with Plato and taught Alexander the Great. ... It has been suggested that Combative dualism be merged into this article or section. ... Nominalism is the position in metaphysics that there exist no universals outside of the mind. ... Philosophical realism refers to various philosophically unrelated positions, in some cases diametrically opposed ones, which are termed realism. ... The Pre-Socratic philosophers were active before Socrates, who exerted tremendous influence on later thought. ... René Descartes René Descartes (IPA: , March 31, 1596 – February 11, 1650), also known as Cartesius, worked as a philosopher and mathematician. ... Baruch Spinoza Benedictus de Spinoza (November 24, 1632 - February 21, 1677), named Baruch Spinoza by his synagogue elders and known as Bento de Spinoza or Bento dEspiñoza in the community in which he grew up. ... Gottfried Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (July 1, 1646 in Leipzig - November 14, 1716 in Hannover) was a German philosopher, scientist, mathematician, diplomat, librarian, and lawyer of Sorb descent. ... Monadology (1714) is one of Leibniz’s works that best define his philosophy. ... Plotinus Plotinus (Greek: Πλωτίνος)(ca. ... Emanationism is a component in the cosmology of certain religious or philosophical systems that argue a Supreme Being did not directly create the physical universe, but instead emanated into different spiritual powers that created the world. ... Empiricism comes from the Greek word εμπειρισμός, a noun meaning a test or trial. The -pir- is ultimately related to the -per- of the Latin words experientia and experimentum, both of which mean experiment, and from which our words experiment and experience come. ... Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (April 22, 1724 – February 12, 1804) was a Prussian philosopher, generally regarded as one of Europes most influential thinkers and the last major philosopher of the Enlightenment. ... In the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, a noumenon or thing in itself (German Ding an sich) is an unknowable, indescribable reality that in some way underlies observed phenomena. ... A phenomenon (plural: phenomena) is an observable event, especially something special (literally something that can be seen from the Greek word phainomenon = observable). ... Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (August 27, 1770 - November 14, 1831) was a German philosopher born in Stuttgart, Württemberg, in present-day southwest Germany. ... Broadly defined, Dialectic (Greek: διαλεκτική) is an exchange of propositions (theses) and counter-propositions (antitheses) resulting in a synthesis of the opposing assertions, or at least a qualitative transformation in the direction of the dialogue. ...

Irrationalism

Non-Christian thought, in Frame's view, also is characterized by irrationalism because inevitably the finite and fallen human mind cannot fully capture all of reality into a man-made system. On this position, at the point in which the non-Christian rationalist realizes that they cannot account for everything, they engage in what Francis Schaeffer called an "upper story leap." Francis Schaeffer Francis A Schaeffer (1912–1984), an American Christian theologian, philosopher, and Presbyterian pastor, is most famous for his writings and his establishment of the lAbri community in Switzerland. ...

As a brief example, Frame uses the epistemology of Kant, who taught that the categories of thought that are necessary for our understanding the world around us, such as causality, laws of logic, time, space, and order, are structured by our minds and imposed upon the things we experience. In order to be rational and make sense out of life we must assume, or presuppose, these notions. Because we cannot empirically verify these categories by touch, smell, sight, etc. they must be thought of as created by and arising from our minds, thus ordering and providing the criterion for those things that we can empirically verify. This led Kant to conclude that if we are to think of anything at all we must think in terms of everything being caused by something logically and temporally prior to it. This lead to a fairly deterministic view of mankind. Causality - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... These laws of classical logic are valid in propositional logic and any boolean algebra. ... Watches are used to measure time Trying to understand time has long been a prime occupation for philosophers, scientists and artists. ... Space is a general or specialized concept of a local, relative, containing, or otherwise relevant area —where all objects within have a relationship with (the) space which follows various (theoretically) defineable rules. ... // Order may refer to: Religious Holy Orders, the rite or sacrament in which clergy are ordained The monastic orders, originating with Anthony the Great and Benedict of Nursia from circa 300 the military orders of the crusades the various chivalric orders established since the 14th century Honors Order (decoration) Legal... Determinism is the philosophical proposition that every event, including human cognition and action, is causally determined by an unbroken chain of prior occurrences. ...

Frame asks where we can find moral responsibility and freedom in Kant's scheme. He argues that Kant believed that while we couldn’t prove that man was a responsible moral agent we must nevertheless act as though this were the case. Philosophers, such as Ronald Nash, have described these as Kant’s "two worlds" – the world of nature (which leads to determinism), and the world of freedom (where responsibility is found). Kant himself spoke of the "starry skies above" and the "moral law within", and although Kant did not deny the regularity of the natural world and the reality of humanity’s "moral motions," his philosophy could not bring these two worlds together. Frame concludes that Kant made the "upper story leap" to irrationalism by asserting the truth of something with no rational justification. Thus, in Immanuel Kant Frame finds both rationalism, and irrationalism. A philosopher is a person devoted to studying and producing results in philosophy. ...

Likewise, according to both Frame and Van Til, every non-Christian system contains what Jacques Derrida calls "alterity", that is each system contains the very principles for its downfall. They all "auto-deconstruct." To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Selected Books

• Van Til: The Theologian, 1976 (available online) ISBN 091603402X
• The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God, 1987 (Theology of Lordship Series) ISBN 0875522629
• Medical Ethics, 1988 ISBN 0875522610
• Perspectives on the Word of God: An Introduction to Christian Ethics, 1990 ISBN 0801035570
• Evangelical Reunion, 1991 (available online for free) ISBN 0801035600
• Apologetics to the Glory of God, 1994 ISBN 0875522432
• Cornelius Van Til: An Analysis of his Thought, 1995 ISBN 0875522459
• Worship in Spirit and Truth, 1996 ISBN 0875522424
• Contemporary Music: a Biblical Defense, 1997 ISBN 0875522122
• No Other God: A Response to Open Theism, 2001 ISBN 0875521851
• The Doctrine of God, Theology of Lordship Series, 2002 ISBN 0875522637
• The Doctrine of the Word of God, Theology of Lordship Series, forthcoming; parts available online
• The Doctrine of the Christian Life, Theology of Lordship Series, forthcoming; parts available online

External links

• Third Millennium Ministries offers audio, books, articles, essays, and lecture outlines by Frame, his like-minded colleagues, and his students.
• www.frame-poythress.org publishes the writings of John Frame and Vern Poythress.