CIM Briefing Papers
C.I.M. Outline #58
Author: Bill Crouse
POSTMODERNISM: A NEW PARADIGM
I. Introduction
Over the last several months you may have heard someone
use the term "postmodern," or "postmodernism." You also
may have heard someone say something about a "paradigm
shift"(see below). Postmodernism is a new way of looking
at reality that is becoming strongly entrenched in all areas
of our culture. A previous briefing paper (#52) on
Deconstructionism was a more in-depth critique of a
specific postmodernist movement as it affects a particular
area. (See also briefing papers #50, and #54 on
Existentialism and Fascism for related insight).
In light of this apparent paradigm shift, Alasdair MacIntyre,
philosopher and author of After Virtue, believes we may be
entering a New Dark Ages as dramatic as the one that
plunged the Roman Empire into intellectual and spiritual
darkness. He is only one of many who are saying this. Kevin
J. VanHoozer says: "This crisis---which at its root is a
crisis of epistemology and theology---may well be the dusk
before the `night of nihilism' and a new Dark Ages." God and
Culture, p.2.
II. Defining the Terms
A. Premodernism: In the West, this was the Christian era,
beginning shortly after the New Testament was written.
It was a period characterized by orthodoxy, creeds,
dogmatism and tradition with no clear line of demarcation
between the material and spiritual worlds.
B. Modernism: Modernism is synonymous with the humanist
philosophy of the Enlightenment which began in the 17th
Century, and according to some, ended with the fall of
communism. In its very basic summation it was a
movement that was optimistic about discovering
universal truth that would explain all of life. Some of
the major tenets of modernism:
1. Rationalism: Because of the belief that there is a
correspondence between our minds and the world it was
believed that truth or principles existed that could be
used to explain all of life. Knowledge was objective
and good, its increase certain. It was believed that
laws of logic had independent existence like the laws
of the universe.
2. Freedom: Only a truly autonomous man was free to
discover truth. Being in bondage to superstition,
religion or political tyranny prohibited man from
acquiring and experiencing the truth.
3. Progress and optimism: With the Enlightenment and
its ensuing movements there existed an unbridled
optimism about the human capacity ("Onward and
upward." Note: Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was a hymn
to the glory of man) to discover truth leading to
governmental and social advancement. In other words,
there was absolute faith in human rationality.
4. Immanence: The emphasis of the enlightenment was
away from the spiritual and the transcendent. This led
to the secularization of society(secular humanism) that
we have witnessed in the Twentieth Century. A good
indicator of this shift from the transcendent was the
subjects of the great paintings. In the Modern period
the subject became predominantly nature scenes. There
was no intrusion from the spiritual world, i.e., no
people with halos, angels or demons.
C. Paradigm Shift: A paradigm is one's model for
interpreting reality. It is similar to worldview. A
paradigm shift is a transitional period where a culture
jettisons one worldview for another. Postmoderns
frequently use the term "metanarrative;" it too, is
synonymous with paradigm.
III. The Reaction against Modernism
It is always difficult to pinpoint the beginning of the
reaction against Modernism but the giant that kindled the
conflagration and whose shadow we predict will be cast
even into the next century is Friedreich Nietzsche (1844-
1900). When he declared "God is dead" he was making a
statement of such significance that it escaped most of his
contemporaries. It was not until the middle of the
Twentieth Century that the existentialist philosophers saw
the full ramifications of the death of the Judeo-Christian
deity. If this kind of eternal, transcendent god does not
exist then neither does the possibility exist for the meaning
to existence. In other words, if there are no universals
there is no meaning for the particulars of life. Or, as
Francis Schaeffer used to say "true truth does not exist." By
the late 60's and 70's the reaction against Modernism
became quite strong and at times violent.
IV. The Major Elements of Postmodernism
"Postmodernism" refers to what comes after Modern. It
suggests an era or, maybe even more accurately a mood, that
succeeds Modernism or the Enlightenment. After two world
wars and two holocausts, postmoderns no longer shared in
the optimism of the past that reason would provide a
foundation for human progress.
A. There is no metanarrative, no objective base for
critique. There is no one (true) worldview that explains
all of life. There are only "stories," or "narratives" that
are valid only within a community. Knowledge is wholly
subjective and is the result of culture and language. You
can never be wrong about what you believe. ("Don't think,
just let it happen.") There is no universe, only
multiverses.
B. The repression of the past must be righted. All speech is
a political power play; it must therefore be monitored and
regulated. Since speech is oppressive you should
communicate in other ways such as via physical instincts
and bodily manifestations (have you seen any rock music
videos lately?) Words are replaced by images. (Books to
TV, DOS to Windows!).
C. We should become a society of inclusion, tolerance, and
multi-culturalism. As a result there is emphasis on
differences. This has led to what some are calling the
"new tribalism."
D. Man is an extension of culture, i.e., a denial of the
individual self. Humans are social constructs; they are
socially determined. Hence a modernist sees the group as
more important than the individual.
E. One of the prime virtues of human beings is their ability
to interpret. For a PM everything is a text, and only
subjective interpretation is possible. One can never know
the intent of the author. We never arrive at universal or
objective knowledge. But while we can never know the
author's true meaning, you can be sure that the author's
words are meant to have repressive effect. This explains
the trashing of the western canon of literature.
F. For the most part the PM denies transcendence. While
there is some talk of gods they are generally referring to
the gods within (immanence). The PM mentality makes for
a fertile ground for new age religious movements.
G. Because of the above belief in immanence PM are ardent
activists for the environmental movement. Rather than
conquer nature they believe humans (their term) should
cooperate with nature. And because of their opposition to
rationalism and modern science there is an increasing
wackiness to this movement (all creatures of the
evolutionary ladder have equal rights!).
V. What to Expect from the Postmodern Era
A. Hostility and Intolerance: While tolerance is proclaimed
as one of PM highest values they are often incredibly
intolerant, particularly of those holding Christian beliefs.
They refer to such believers as "totalizers," or
"absolutists." Another example of PM intolerance: on many
state university campuses a student can be severally
disciplined for something as simple as inappropriate
laughter. Speech and behavior codes are strictly enforced.
Political correctness on most college campuses often
takes precedence over academic integrity.
B. Irrationality and Irony: Since a PM is likely to think
unsystematically we should not be surprised to find that
they often hold to ideas that are mutually contradictory.
For example, Veith, in his book (see below), gives the
example of a person who declared that he held to the
doctrines of the reformed faith but also believed in
reincarnation. Often PM make their case when the facts
are either totally absent or in contradiction to their
conclusions. To a traditionalist they will appear bizarre
and even humorous. Critics like Rush Limbaugh make a
good living pointing out these inconsistencies with his
own brand of humor and satire. (Christians must
remember, however, that PM are very serious and
inappropriate laughter in their presence will not advance
the Gospel.)
C. Hostility to Modern Science: Since for a PM beliefs are a
function of the will, they deeply resent the imposition and
intrusion of modern science which represents the epitome
of modernism. The modern scientific establishment is of
course utterly appalled by the rise of superstition and
new age beliefs. A good current example is the increase
of interest in folk medicine.
D. Inconsistent Relativism: PM often call for justice to
groups that have been victimized, but to call for justice
assumes some standard of right and wrong. PM rail
against traditional standards (mainly Judeo-christian
ethics) that claim to be universally true, but in their
place are new absolutes that they actively try to apply to
all. Bill Watkins in his book, The New Absolutes
eloquently demonstrates the impossibility of relativism.
E. Increase in Violence: Lawlessness and violence are the
obvious result of ethical relativism. A few years ago
Harvard U. had a huge problem with books being stolen
from the library. In the discussion, faculty were hesitant
to do anything to stop the theft less they be guilty of
imposing their values on the student. Question: Was that
attitude itself not communicating a value?
F. Victimization: Everyone (with the exception of white
males) is a victim of these 5 great evils:
1. Sexism: PM do not limit the genders to just male and
female. At a recent world seminar they suggested
several genders!
2. Racism.
3. Specieism: discrimination of one species over another.
There are journal articles published on the rights of
bacteria!
4. Nationalism: one nation lording over another.
5. Religious bigotry: This evil probably evokes in the PM
the greatest reaction. This is especially true if that
religion claims to be true in the sense that it is true
for all mankind ("humans" to use the politically correct
term.), i.e. Christianity. This last evil is what prompted
Hitler's great hatred for the Jews--the fact that they
claimed their god was the one true god.
VI. The Danger of Postmodern Influence on the Church
A. The danger of deconstructing the Gospel. Various groups,
perceiving themselves as victims have deconstructed the
Gospel to fit their own perception of need. For example,
we now have "Black Theology," "Feminist Theology," and
others.
B. The threat to the church is that it will reduce the gospel
to emotionalism and fanaticism. Experience and feeling
are important but the postmodern emphasis is to abandon
truth and doctrine. We must never be satisfied with
spirituality without truth. Leith Anderson says:
"We have a generation that is less interested in cerebral
arguments, linear thinking, theological systems, and more
interested in encountering the supernatural.
Consequently, churchgoers operate with a different
paradigm of spirituality. The old paradigm taught that if
you have the right teaching, you will experience God. The
new paradigm says that if you experience God, you will
have the right teaching." A Church for the Twenty-First
Century, p. 20,21.
VII. Defending the Christian Faith and Preaching the Gospel in a
Postmodern Era.
Some Principles:
A. For a PM the claims of Christianity are rejected because
they claim to be true. Therefore, before Christians
discuss the historicity and truth claims of Christianity, it
must be preceded by a discussion of the nature of truth.
We cannot make Christianity's truth of no importance
because we are afraid it will divide. We must follow the
command of the Apostle (I Pet. 3:15) where believers are
exhorted to present the Gospel with gentleness and
respect and with a clear conscience. The Gospel must be
presented in deed and truth.
B. The Preaching of the Gospel must be inclusive. "God so
loved the world...(Jn. 3:16) means the message should be
preached to all tribes, tongues, genders, etc.
C. Be aware that although PM can easily be refuted with
logic it will not impress the PM. Remember, words and
rhetoric to the PM are a weapon of tyranny. It will
probably not be helpful to point out that PM write books
with words and logic! They will criticize you for being
oppressive but they have produced some extremely
oppressive codes of conduct.
D. Where there are true victims Christians should be among
the first seeking to right injustices.
For Further Study:
Allen, Diogenes. Christian Belief in a Postmodern World.
Dockery, David S. ed. The Challenge of Postmodernism: An
Evangelical Engagement.
Gaede. Stan. When Tolerance is No Virtue: Multiculturalism,
and the Future of Truth and Justice.
Grenz, Stanley J. A Primer on Postmodernism.
Lundin, Roger. The Culture of Interpretation: Christian Faith
and the Postmodern World.
McCallum, Dennis. ed. The Death of Truth.
Middleton, J. Richard, and Walsh, Brian. Truth is Stranger Than
It Used To Be: Biblical Faith in a Postmodern Age. (Note: this
purported evangelical book shows an alarming attraction to
postmodernism.)
Oden, Thomas C. After Modernity...What?
Oden, Thomas C. Two Worlds: Notes on the Death of Modernity
in America and Russia.
Phillips, Timothy R. and Okholm, Dennis. eds. Christian
Apologetics in the Postmodern World.
Thiselton, Anthony C. Interpreting God and the Postmodern
Self: On Meaning, Manipulation and Promise.
Veith, Gene Edward. Postmodern Times: A Christian Guide to
Contemporary Thought.
Watkins, William D. The New Absolutes.
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