Kornelis Ites van Til (1895 - 1987)

Born 3 May 1895 in Grootegast, Groningen, Nederland

Ancestors

Died 17 Apr 1987 at age 91 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

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Biography

Cornelius van Til is Notable.

• Kornelis Ites van Til was born on May 3, 1895 in Grootegast, the son of Ite van Til and Klasina van der Veen.

Birth

• Registration Date: May 3, 1895 Grootegast. Birth Date: May 3, 1895. Place of Birth: Grootegast. Name of Child: Kornelis van Til. Gender: Male. Father: Ite van Til. Age of Father: 36 years old. Occupation: Landbouwer. Mother: Klasina van der Veen.^[1]
• AlleGroningers Geboorteregister Grootegast 1895, Aktenummer 46. Birth of Kornelis Van Til.

Also Known As

Better known in the United States (where he lived most of his life) as Cornelius Van Til.

Education

Graduated from Calvin College in 1922

ThM from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1925

PhD from Princeton University in 1927

Family Life

He was married to Rena Klooster in 1925 and they had one son, Earl, who died in 1983. Van Til is survived by a grand-daughter, Sharon Reed of Valencia, PA. ^[2]

1930 US Census

Name: Cornelius Van Til

Birth Year: abt 1895

Gender: Male

Race: White

Birthplace: Holland

Marital Status: Married

Relation to Head of House: Head

Home in 1930: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Street address: Jefferson Street

Ward of City: 34

Block: 146

House Number in Cities or Towns: 623

Dwelling Number: 505

Family Number: 797

Home Owned or Rented: Rented

Home Value: 62.50

Radio Set: No

Lives on Farm: No

Age at First Marriage: 31

Attended School: No

Able to Read and Write: Yes

Father's Birthplace: Holland

Mother's Birthplace: Holland

Language Spoken: Dutch

Immigration Year: 1905

Naturalization: Naturalized

Able to Speak English: Yes

Occupation: Teacher

Industry: Seminary

Class of Worker: Wage or salary worker

Employment: Yes

Household Members:

Name Age

Cornelius Van Til 35

Rena Van Til 34

Earle K Van Til 1 10/12 ^[3]

Social Security Death Index

Name: Cornelius Vantil

SSN: xxx-xx-7178

Last Residence: 19118 Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

BORN: 3 May 1895

Died: Apr 1987

State (Year) SSN issued: Pennsylvania (1951) ^[4]

Find A Grave

Birth: May 3, 1895

Grootegast, Grootegast Municipality, Groningen, Netherlands

Death: Apr. 17, 1987

Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, USA

He was born in 1895 as Kornelis van Til (= of Bridge) in the village Grootegast, in the northwestern part of the Dutch northeastern province Groningen, the sixth of eight sons of dairy farmer Ite van Til (36 y) and Klasina van der Veen.

The Van Til family were members of what we know as the Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland. These people had separated from the state church in 1834 under severe stress and at times persecution. Initially they were barred from worshiping in formal church buildings and had to meet in barns and public buildings. The Van Tils were godly people.

In 1905, at the age of ten, he emigrated with his parents and brothers to Highland, Lake County, in the utter northwestern part of Indiana.

Cornelius van Til was married to Rena Klooster, born on 24 July 1895 in Illinois, on 15 September 1925 in Crown point, Lake County, Indiana. The couple had on 4 July 1928 one son and they named him Earl C.

In April 1940 Cornelius Van Til (44 y, teacher at a seminary), his wife Rena (44 y) and their son Earl C (11 y, born in Michigan) lived at a rented home in Abington Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. In 1935 they resided at a rural place in Delaware County, in Pennsylvania too.

Son Earl passed away before his father died, in August 1983. Earl left his father a granddaughter, named Sharon Reed. Van Til's wife, Rena, passed away in January 1978, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Van Til outlived her by nine years, passing away on April 17, 1987, Philadelphia at the advanced age of 91 years, about two weeks short of his 92nd birthday. He had lived a rich life, and had made many contributions to the religiously conservative Presbyterian and Reformed faith.

He was the first of his family to receive a higher education. In 1914 he attended Calvin Preparatory School, graduated from Calvin College, and attended one year at Calvin Theological Seminary, where he studied under Louis Berkhof, but he transferred to Princeton Theological Seminary and later graduated with his PhD from Princeton University. He began teaching at Princeton Seminary, but shortly went with the conservative group that founded in suburban Philadelphia Westminster Theological Seminary, where he taught for forty-three years of his life. He taught apologetics and systematic theology there until his retirement in 1972 and continued to teach occasionally until 1979. During his 51 year tenure at Westminster Theological Seminary, van Til also served as an ordained minister in an Orthodox Presbyterian church in the Philadelphia area, and in that denomination, he was embroiled in a bitter dispute with Gordon Clark over God's incomprehensibility known as the Clark–Van Til Controversy in which, according to Van Til's pupil John Frame, neither man was at his best and neither quite understood the other's position.

So, Cornelius Van Til became in the USA a well-known Christian philosopher, Reformed theologian and presuppositional apologist. See for detailed info on this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornelius_Van_Til and http://presupp101.wordpress.com/tag/van-til/

Family links:

Parents:

Ite Van Til (1858 - 1945)

Klazina van der Veen Van Til (1859 - 1930)

Siblings:

Reinder Van Til (1882 - 1966)*

Henry Van Til (1884 - 1957)*

Samuel Van Til (1886 - 1928)*

Raymond Van Til (1888 - ____)*

Nick Van Til (1891 - 1967)*

Cornelius Van Til (1895 - 1987)

Jacob Van Til (1898 - 1974)*

Sydney Vantil (1904 - 1970)*

*Calculated relationship

Burial: Unknown ^[5]

Resources

• William White, Jr., Van Til : defender of the faith : an authorized biography ISBN 0840756704
• E. R. Geehan (editor), Jerusalem & Athens: Critical Discussions on the Philosophy and Apologetics of Cornelius Van Til, a Festschrift, ISBN 0875524893
• John Frame, Cornelius Van Til: An Analysis of His Thought ISBN 0875522203
• Greg Bahnsen, Van Til’s Apologetic: Readings and Analysis ISBN 0875520987
• Jim S. Halsey, For a Time Such as This: An Introduction to the Reformed Apologetics of Cornelius Van Til, (1976) Philadelphia, Penn : Presbyterian and Reformed.
• Rousas John Rushdoony, By what standard? : an analysis of the philosophy of Cornelius Van Til, (1959) Philadelphia, Penn : Presbyterian and Reformed (Reprint by Chalcedon Dec 2003) ISBN 187999805X

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornelius_Van_Til
• http://www.theopedia.com/cornelius-van-til
• http://www.wts.edu/about/history/founders/corneliusvantil.html
• http://www.vantil.info/articles/obituary.html

1. ↑ Bronvermelding: Geboorteregister 1895, aktenummer 46, Gemeente: Grootegast, Periode: 1895.
2. ↑ http://www.vantil.info/articles/obituary.html
3. ↑ Source Citation: Year: 1930; Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: 2120; Page: 39B; Enumeration District: 0446; Image: 377.0; FHL microfilm: 2341854; Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002.; Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626, 2,667 rolls.
4. ↑ Source Citation: Number: 196-26-7178; Issue State: Pennsylvania; Issue Date: 1951; Source Information: Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2011.; Original data: Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File. Social Security Administration.
5. ↑ Created by: Peter Hakze; Record added: Sep 21, 2013; Find A Grave Memorial# 117433440; URL: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=117433440

• Geboorteregister Grootegast 1895, Aktenummer 46

Acknowledgements

• Arlene Renkema
• X75579