"All things are what they are because of their place in the mind and purpose of their Creator." ~ Van Til
Translation: ESSENCE PRECEDES EXISTENCE.
Contra Sartre, Heidegger, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, de Beauvoir, and their ilk: there are norms of being and action that pre-exist our subjective existence. To reject this is the essence of anti-theism. Might as well reject gravity or one's need for oxygen because "I choose not to participate in that system!"
I understand why this might rub the voluntarists in the wrong way. But let's distinguish. Voluntarism is socio-politico-economic (on the horizontal plane between man and man)--not METAPHYSICAL (on the vertical plane between God and man). We can choose with whom we do business and enter into contracts with. But we may not choose what we are by nature. "A leopard cannot change his spots." Voluntarism also borrows the capital of this historic Worldview by appealing to such concepts as self-ownership and private property. Those are--like it or not--inherited from the "old" Western philosophy. You can't plug up the fountain and still expect to drink from its streams...
freeborn | ἐλεύθερος | 8r0gwg
npub1ak…r0gwg
2026-07-13 16:22:17 UTC
Author Public Key
npub1ak5kewf6anwkrt0qc8ua907ljkn7wm83e2ycyrpcumjvaf2upszs8r0gwgPublished at
2026-07-13 16:22:17 UTCEvent JSON
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"content": "\"All things are what they are because of their place in the mind and purpose of their Creator.\" ~ Van Til\n\nTranslation: ESSENCE PRECEDES EXISTENCE.\n\nContra Sartre, Heidegger, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, de Beauvoir, and their ilk: there are norms of being and action that pre-exist our subjective existence. To reject this is the essence of anti-theism. Might as well reject gravity or one's need for oxygen because \"I choose not to participate in that system!\"\n\nI understand why this might rub the voluntarists in the wrong way. But let's distinguish. Voluntarism is socio-politico-economic (on the horizontal plane between man and man)--not METAPHYSICAL (on the vertical plane between God and man). We can choose with whom we do business and enter into contracts with. But we may not choose what we are by nature. \"A leopard cannot change his spots.\" Voluntarism also borrows the capital of this historic Worldview by appealing to such concepts as self-ownership and private property. Those are--like it or not--inherited from the \"old\" Western philosophy. You can't plug up the fountain and still expect to drink from its streams...",
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