THE CHRISTIAN AFRIKANERS - The Works of F. N. Lee

he declared, riddled with the ungodly philosophy of pragmatism. That should disqualify CalvinCollege, in the opinion of any Calvinist anywhere in the world, from picking up the torch andcarrying it further!Strauss has written many books. He also wrote a critique of Dr. D.J. Malan's doctoral dissertationon A Critical Study of the Philosophy of Stoker from the Point of View of Dooyeweerd. And Straussseems to agree with Van Til in his appreciation of this doctoral dissertation.Says Strauss: "He who wishes to bypass the human selfhood in his faithful acceptance of revelationis engaged in putting an end to man's subjective (but not his subjectivistic) faith. Only the completeself-surrender of man to the central Scriptural basic motive, effects a radical conversion in the rootof our existence by Christ's directedness towards the heart. It is not revelation which engages inphilosophy, but it is man, and from his full selfhood under the control of some or other religiousbasic motive."Christian philosophy and the special sciences would only be grounded in subjective religion if it orthey exalted the full selfhood of man (whence all acts of thought arise) to the Archimedes' point ofphilosophy. So therefore Dooyeweerd writes, 'the Archimedes' point of philosophy is chosen in thenew root of mankind in Christ -- in which, by regeneration, we participate in our reborn selfhood."Here, Strauss is siding with the Van Til of 1940 against Potgieter. But at this particular point, andwith much respect, I myself side with Potgieter and with the Van Til of 1980 -- against Strauss andagainst the Van Til of 1940.Another very famous figure in modern South Africa, is Professor Adrio König, Professor ofSystematic Theology at the University of South Africa. UNISA you probably know, is the biggestcorrespondence university in the whole world. Now Adrio Koenig has written a number of goodbooks: I Am That I Am; and Here Am I; and also a very powerful eschatological book called OneWho Is Stronger. The latter is a vindication of the strength of Christ in this world, here and now,over Satan and the demons.Writes König: "When Paul in Colossians 2:15 uses the word 'triumphing' for Christ, it means thatChrist has conquered and bound the evil powers and is now marching victoriously throughout theworld. The only other time Paul uses this word triumphing (in Second Corinthians 2:14) is in theexpression, 'Christ causeth us to triumph.' There too it means that the worldwide mission is Christ'sgreat triumphal procession throughout the world -- to give everyone everywhere the opportunity tosee that Christ has conquered the enemy so that they too can begin rejoicing and celebrating thevictory together."That is the deepest meaning of the Church's missions. This is the meaning of Paul's declaration inSecond Corinthians 2:14 -- 'Christ always causes us to triumph' (or, translated a little more clearly,'Christ always causes ourselves to participate in His own triumphal procession'). The devil and hishordes have been demoted. Humiliated, all they can do is to run along like little dogs -- behind themissionaries, in Christ's worldwide victory march!"König also tells us that another connection should be indicated -- the connection betweenRevelation twenty and John 12:31. "Now here too," he says, "there is first of all an agreement in thewords. Derivatives from the same Greek word are used. John 12:31 declares that the devil is castout; and in Revelation 20:3 it is declared that he is cast into. This similarity of the word 'cast,' inboth places, however, goes much further -- especially if one compares the context in which the twopassages occur."