Postmodernism is Your Friend
“Postmodernists are just wrong – they say there’s no absolute truth!” I said to my friend, Mark.
“I didn’t know Postmodernists felt that way.” he replied, confused. “Which philosophers have you read that say that?”
“Well…I, uh…” I couldn’t think of anything. “I’m sure I’ve heard that, somewhere. I mean, I think people say that.” I suddenly remembered that he was a philosophy major, and I was studying history.
“I disagree with those people,” he told me, ” I think that is an abuse of postmodernism.”
I never forgot those words. I had certainly heard people say that postmodernism is about not believing in any sort of truth, and plenty of people have tried to use it to oppose Christianity, but I discovered that these people were wrong and that the leaders of postmodern philosophy would be the first to disagree with them. So, what is the right way to understand it?
Postmodernism is best defined as follows: incredulity towards meta-narratives.
I know, that probably doesn’t help.
The idea is that a postmodern mind does not easily accept any truth. Is the world spiraling into chaos as each generation embraces more rebellious ways? Is science leading us to happier frontiers? Are we living in a more enlightened time than our ancestors, or have we lost something? A postmodernist does not accept any of these over-arching ideas (meta-narratives) and tries to find the truth without using any of these assumptions as a starting point. (Read here if you want more of the philosophical stuff. If you’d like to read a post that explains postmodernism with pictures of kittens then click here.)
Does this sound obscure and useless? Some people think so, and that’s fine. It’s also harmless to Christianity. In fact, no one learns the truth until they put aside their preconceptions and really question everything they’ve been told to see if it’s really true, and that’s at the core of postmodern thought.
Sound familiar?
“Test everything that is said to be sure it is true, and if it is, then accept it.” 1 Thessalonains 5:21
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Thanks for posting this. I certainly believe in Truth and am very much a Post-Modern Theologian. Not easily accepting truth is one thing, but not believing truth exists is completely different. Good thoughts Adam.
Thanks, Scott. I think a lot of folks in our churches are postmodern thinkers and don’t know it.
Well, I think the claim is about postmodernist individuals, not postmodern philosophers. It is Joe Average who says that espouses a combination of bastardized postmodernity and pluralism that’s the problem. That’s where you get people who say that religion is a personal opinion and no one should tell anyone else they are wrong because they are searching after a different truth. Go read some Katy Perry quotes and you will see what I mean.
But… There IS a meta-narrative. IF you read God’s story in scripture and come away with any other conclusion, you’re wrong.
I never thought about postmodernism in connection to 1 Thess. Very helpful, thanks!
Jon, we’re not opposed to the idea of a meta-narrative. It’s simply that a postmodern thinker won’t accept one before putting it through rigorous skepticism.
Cult leaders expect their followers to believe what they say at face value, but the Bible teaches us to test these claims before putting faith in them.
Good short blog, Adam. I hope you continue to write on the subject. The use of cats to explain postmodernism from a few years back is quite humorous!
It’s informative to read this at the same time as I am reading The End of Apologetics by Myron Penner. That book is quite a stretch to one’s mind.
I should add I also appreciate the statement by Mary Browne: “Preconceived notions are the locks on the door to wisdom.” When I’ve used this in my church in the past it’s made a few people upset. They weren’t ready to examine their own narratives.
“Preconceived notions are the locks on the door to wisdom.”
What a wonderful phrase!