From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia John Frame
John Frame
John M. Frame fornia campus, and as of 2007 he holds the J. D. Trimble
Chair of Systematic Theology and Philosophy at Re-
formed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida.[3]
Frame married Mary Grace Cummings in 1984, and
has two sons, Justin M. Frame and John A. Frame. He
also has three stepchildren: Deborah, Doreen, and "Skip".
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.
Relations to other scholars
Frame is known for his critical view of historical modes
Era Contemporary of theology, including his criticism of scholars such as
David F. Wells, Donald Bloesch, Mark Noll, George Mars-
Region United States
den, D.G. Hart, Richard Muller, and Michael Horton. One
Born 1939 of his most well-known articles in this vein is titled
"Machen’s Warrior Children", which was originally pub-
Tradition or Calvinist, Van Tillian, presuppositionalist
movement lished in Alister E. McGrath and Evangelical Theology: a Dy-
namic Engagement (Paternoster Press, 2003).[1] A more re-
Main Epistemology, presuppositional apologetics, cent example is his review of Michael Horton’s book
interests ethics, systematic theology, christian
Christless Christianity.[2] In 1998 Frame engaged in a
worship
student-organized debate with then librarian D.G. Hart
Notable Multiperspectivalism concerning the regulative principle of worship.[3] Frame
ideas has used Doug Wilson’s home-schooling materials with
Influences Cornelius Van Til, John Calvin, Herman his own sons.[4]
Dooyeweerd, Gordon Clark, Alvin Plantinga,
Geerhardus Vos, Edmund P. Clowney,
Meredith G. Kline, Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. Multiperspectival epistemolo-
Influenced Vern Poythress, Richard L. Pratt, Jr., Douglas gy
Wilson, Wayne Grudem, Kevin Vanhoozer,
Esther Meek Main article: Multiperspectivalism
Frame has elaborated a Christian epistemology in his
John M. Frame (born 1939, Pittsburgh, PA) is an American 1987 work The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God. In this
philosopher and Calvinist theologian especially noted for work, he develops what he calls triperspectivalism or mul-
his work in epistemology and presuppositional apologet- tiperspectivalism which says that in every act of knowing,
ics, systematic theology, and ethics. He is one of the fore- the knower is in constant contact with three things (or
most interpreters and critics of the thought of Cornelius "perspectives") – the knowing subject himself, the object
Van Til. 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 know-
Biography ing one of these, one actually knows the other two, al-
Frame received degrees from Princeton University (A.B.), so. His student and collaborator Vern Poythress has fur-
Westminster Theological Seminary (B.D.), Yale Universi- ther developed this idea with respect to science and the-
ty (A.M. and M.Phil., though he was working on a doctor- ology. Reformed theologian Meredith Kline wrote a cri-
ate and admits his own failure to complete his disserta- tique of this view, explaining that Poythress and Frame
tion),[1] and Belhaven College (honorary D.D.)[2]. He has had used multiperspectivalism in ways that had led to se-
served on the faculty of Westminster Theological Sem- riously incorrect conclusions in regards to the relation of
inary and was a founding faculty member of their Cali-
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia John Frame
Kline’s position and Greg L. Bahnsen’s on covenant theol- Frame has stated that Intelligent Design is "as scien-
ogy (more specifically theonomy).[5] tific, and just as religious, as" neo-Darwinism.[6]
Presuppositions Irrationalism
Non-Christian thought, in Frame’s view, also is charac-
As a former student of Van Til, Frame is supporter of terized by irrationalism because inevitably the finite and
the presuppositionalist school of Christian apologetics. fallen human mind cannot fully capture all of reality into
He defines a presupposition as follows: a man-made system. On this position, at the point in
A presupposition is a belief that takes precedence which the non-Christian rationalist realizes that they
over another and therefore serves as a criterion for cannot account for everything, they engage in what
another. An ultimate presupposition is a belief Francis Schaeffer called an "upper story leap."
over which no other takes precedence. For a As a brief example, Frame uses the epistemology of
Christian, the content of Scripture must serve as Kant, who taught that the categories of thought that are
his ultimate presupposition.... This doctrine is necessary for our understanding the world around us,
merely the outworking of the lordship of God in such as causality, logic, time, space, and order, are struc-
the area of human thought. It merely applies the tured by our minds and imposed upon the things we ex-
doctrine of scriptural infallibility to the realm of perience. In order to be rational and make sense out of
knowing. (Doctrine of Knowledge of God, 45) life we must assume, or presuppose, these notions. Be-
cause we cannot empirically verify these categories by
Rationalism and irrationalism touch, smell, sight, etc. they must be thought of as creat-
ed by and arising from our minds, thus ordering and pro-
in non-Christian thought viding the criterion for those things that we can empir-
Frame, developing the thought of his mentor Cornelius ically verify. This led Kant to conclude that if we are to
Van Til, has asserted in both his Apologetics to the Glory of think of anything at all we must think in terms of every-
God and his Cornelius Van Til: An Analysis of His Thought that thing being caused by something logically and temporal-
all non-Christian thought can be categorized as the ebb ly prior to it. This led to a fairly deterministic view of
and flow of rationalism and irrationalism. mankind.
Frame asks where we can find moral responsibility
Rationalism and freedom in Kant’s scheme. He argues that Kant be-
lieved that while we couldn’t prove that man was a re-
In this context Frame defines rationalism as any attempt
sponsible moral agent we must nevertheless act as
to establish the finite human mind as the ultimate stan-
though this were the case. Philosophers have described
dard of truth and falsity. This establishing of the au-
these as Kant’s "two worlds" – the world of nature (which
tonomous intellect occurs within the context of rejecting
leads to determinism), and the world of freedom (where
God’s revelation of himself in both nature and the Bible.
responsibility is found). Kant himself spoke of the "starry
A rationalist, in this sense, states that the human mind is
skies above" and the "moral law within", and although
able to fully and exhaustively explain reality.
Kant did not deny the regularity of the natural world and
Yet, when Frame speaks of "exhaustive explanations"
the reality of humanity’s "moral motions," his philoso-
he does not mean these systems seek omniscience.
phy could not bring these two worlds together. Frame
Rather, He means that the history of non-Christian
concludes that Kant made the "upper story leap" to irra-
thought (though, admittedly, his focus is Western phi-
tionalism by asserting the truth of something with no ra-
losophy) is the history of various attempts to construct
tional justification. Thus, in Immanuel Kant, Frame finds
systems that account for everything (a distinctive meta-
both rationalism and irrationalism.
physic, epistemology and value theory).
Likewise, according to both Frame and Van Til, every
According to Frame, examples of attempts to explain
non-Christian system contains what Jacques Derrida calls
reality are found in Plato and Aristotle’s Form/Matter
"alterity", that is each system contains the very princi-
dualism; the debate between the nominalists and the re-
ples for its downfall. They all "auto-deconstruct."
alists 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 du- Worship and music
alism, Spinoza’s God or nature, and Leibniz’s monadolo-
Frame has written two books on worship and music. Th-
gy, Plotinus’ "The One" and his teaching on emanation,
ese have provoked controversy as Frame interprets the
the British empiricists’ attempts to limit knowledge and
regulative principle of worship (which he subscribes to)
possibility to that which can be empirically verified,
in a non-conventional manner. Frame regards contem-
Kant’s worlds of the noumena and the phenomena, and
porary worship music, musical instruments and liturgical
Hegel’s dialectic.
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia John Frame
dance as permissible, which has brought him into con-
flict with some Reformed theologians who regard them
References
as forbidden in worship. [1] http://www.frame-poythress.org/frame_articles/
2003Machen.htm
[2] http://www.frame-poythress.org/frame_articles/
Selected works 2009Horton.htm
• Introduction to Presuppositional Apologetics Part 1 [3] http://www.frame-poythress.org//frame_articles/
• Introduction to Presuppositional Apologetics Part 2 1998HartDebate.htm
• Van Til: The Theologian, 1976 (available online) ISBN [4] http://www.frame-poythress.org/frame_articles/
0-916034-02-X 2007WilsonReview.htm
• Medical Ethics, 1988 ISBN 0-87552-261-0 [5] A Paper Pursuant to the Faculty Forum of February
• Perspectives on the Word of God: An Introduction to 28, 1986 at Westminster Theological Seminary in
Christian Ethics, 1990 ISBN 0-8010-3557-0 California. Meredith Kline
• Evangelical Reunion, 1991 (available online) ISBN [6] Is Intelligent Design Science? John M. Frame.
0-8010-3560-0
• Apologetics to the Glory of God, 1994 ISBN 0-87552-243-2
• Cornelius Van Til: An Analysis of his Thought, 1995 ISBN
External links
0-87552-245-9 • Frame-Poythress.org - the writings of Frame and
• Worship in Spirit and Truth, 1996 ISBN 0-87552-242-4 Vern Poythress.
• Contemporary Worship Music: A Biblical Defense, 1997 • Biography at Monergism.com
ISBN 0-87552-212-2 • Third Millennium Ministries offers audio, books,
• No Other God: A Response to Open Theism, 2001 ISBN articles, essays, and lecture outlines by Frame, his
0-87552-185-1 like-minded colleagues, and his students.
• Salvation Belongs To The Lord: An Introduction To • Going to Seminary Interview - A video interview
Systematic Theology, 2006 ISBN 1-59638-018-7 with John Frame about the benefits and deficiencies
of seminary training.
Theology of Lordship series Persondata
• The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God, 1987 ISBN Name Frame, John
0-87552-262-9
Alternative names
• The Doctrine of God, 2002 ISBN 0-87552-263-7
• The Doctrine of the Christian Life, 2008 ISBN Short description
978-087552-796-3; portions available online Date of birth 1939
• The Doctrine of the Word of God, 2010 ISBN Place of birth
978-087552-264-7, outline available online Outline
Date of death
Place of death
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia John Frame
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