Self-Deception and the Apologetic of Despair in Pascal, Kierkegaard, and Bahnsen

One Of The Helpful Approaches Of A Christian Apologist In The Present Anti-Christian Climate Is An Apologetic That Presses The Unbeliever To Admit That Their Views Lack Hope And Lead To Despair. Though Many Unbelievers Deny The Despair And Prefer To Deceive Themselves, One Influential Author Views Self-deception As Fundamental To The Human Condition And Non-culpable. However, Christians Must Expose Self- Deception As Evil—a Product And Species Of Sin—seek To Root It Out Of Themselves, And Lead Others To The Hope Of Dealing With Life Truthfully. This Essay Helps Christian Apologists By Utilizing The Analysis Of Self- Deception By Greg Bahnsen And Shows That The Older Accounts Of Blaise Pascal And Søren Kierkegaard Accord Well With Bahnsen’s Approach. KEYWORDS: Blaise Pascal, Søren Kierkegaard, Greg Bahnsen, self-deception, apologetic of despair, presuppositional apologetic, sin, history of apologetic, apologetic method