The only proof for the existence of God is that without God you couldn't prove anything.
Cornelius Van TilRead
Agnosticism is epistemologically self-contradictory on its own assumptions because its claim to make no assertion about ultimate reality rests upon a most comprehensive assertion about ultimate reality.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Agnosticism contradicts itself by asserting that nothing can be known about ultimate reality while making a claim about it.
In this quote, Cornelius Van Til argues that agnosticism, which is the position of being uncertain about the existence of ultimate realities such as God or the divine, is fundamentally contradictory. This contradiction lies in the fact that agnostics claim they cannot know anything about ultimate reality, yet this assertion itself is a definitive statement about the nature of reality, which includes knowledge claims that they simultaneously deny. Thus, he highlights the philosophical inconsistency inherent in agnosticism.
Themes
AgnosticismKnowledgeRealityContradictionPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about belief systems, one might quote this to highlight the philosophical flaws in agnosticism.
More from Cornelius Van Til
All quotes βTo admit one's own presuppositions and to point out the presuppositions of others is therefore to maintain that all reasoning is, in the nature of the case, circular reasoning. The starting-point, the method, and the conclusion are always involved in one another.
Cornelius Van TilRead
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