Apologetics

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Weathering the Postmodern Storm
(By David Yuen)

(Note: This work was originally published in the Jul/Aug 2003 edition of the "Spring of Life" newsletter)

Part I: Eyeing the Storm

Usually when an average person hears the term of “Postmodernism”, one often thinks about art or even an architectural style of a certain age. Several years back, this type of association would not only be valid, but in many cases it would be extremely accurate. But ever since the past few decades, the meaning behind postmodernism has greatly expanded itself and it has become a common (and an often ambiguous) philosophy that is more widespread than anyone could ever realize. In fact, it has literally become the storm of the century.

Originally beginning as a term to refer to an art movement,1 postmodernism finds its roots as a reaction against its predecessor of modernism, which was a belief system founded upon rationalism and objectivity.2 Though there is still some debate of when the meaning of postmodernism first began to diversify, its influence on mainstream culture has been gaining great momentum throughout the late 20th century to the point where it has become a popular mindset that can be applied to a myriad of different things.3 Ultimately, it is this mindset that threatens the very foundation of both Christianity and truth today.

Ever heard the expression, “all truth is relative” or that “there is no such thing as absolute truth”? Several years ago, throughout many universities and academic institutions, Christianity was continually attacked for being “unscientific” and based more on superstition rather than the factual “truth” given by the academia. But in today’s society, ironically enough, Christianity is now coming under fire, not for being unscientific, but now for just claiming to be true period. Why the sudden shift? This is all due to the growing influence of the postmodern ideology. All in all, the very heart of postmodern belief lies in the idea that truth is relative and that each individual decides for him or herself of what the truth really is.4

Generally this basis of postmodernism stems from the idea that all humans are in fact only products of their culture, thus lacking any ability to think or exist independently from the mentality of their society and upbringing.5 Hence, what an individual would consider as reality or the “objective” truth would actually be a “social construct” or paradigm created by his society,6 namely by the society’s dominant group or way of thinking.7 Ultimately, knowledge and truth are “constructed”, not discovered and because reality can only be seen through the lens of cultural programming, reality as it really is can never be perceived at all. In the end, people cannot believe in something because it is true, but rather something only “becomes” true only when people begin to believe in it.8

Through the eyes of a postmodernist, any claims of possessing the absolute truth is actually a means to obtain power and dominance over others by simply alienating or “marginalizing” those who would disagree with their system and by excluding their views from all that is considered valid.9 To the postmodernist, anyone who believes that people can discover absolute truth is not only dangerous, but also extremely naïve and would easily be seen as both a “totalizer” and a “dogmatist”.10 So as a result, what would be the ultimate solution to this problem for postmodernists? Rather than attempting to control others with one’s own beliefs and ideas of “reality”, everyone should accept and “tolerate” all other beliefs as though they were as equally valid.11 This concept of recognizing other beliefs as equally true is known as “philosophical pluralism”, which is one of the key components of the postmodern belief system.12

Overall, this mentality has saturated nearly every facet of today’s secular culture and can be clearly seen in today’s redefinition of “tolerance” and the growing and open use of “political correctness”. In the past, when a person was considered to lack tolerance or to be intolerant towards another, it would mean that the person was excluding another simply for being who they are (i.e. in terms of race, gender, etc.). But now, with the recent infusion of postmodern ethics, just the very act of disagreeing with another’s beliefs would instantly be branded as committing something “intolerant” and wrong.13

Furthermore, with the sudden rise of political correctness and its aim to embrace everyone’s voice, it has become the new morality to openly include the voice of the “marginalized” groups, while hypocritically justifying the open criticism of the “dominant” one (i.e. Christianity) in order to remove them from “power”.14 As a result, in this day an age, it has suddenly become “okay” to openly criticize anything that is remotely Christian, but practically unacceptable and even despicable to merely disagree with any other belief that isn’t.

Postmodernism is running rampant within today’s culture and it practically dominates every academic institution and college campus that is out there. But perhaps the worst aspect of this growing trend is that postmodern thinking has influenced everyone, including Christians. In a study done by George Barna (2002), a large majority of both adults (2 out of 3) and teenagers (4 out of 5), Christian and non-Christian, believe that there is no absolute truth, especially with regards to morality.15 Furthermore, in another survey done by Barna on religious syncretism, it was also found that larger proportions of born again Christians (including those who attend evangelical churches) agree with the idea that all religions are equally valid paths to the same god.16

Today, many postmodernists are attempting to deconstruct the Bible and reimagine the image of Christ into their own liking in order to squeeze Christianity into the postmodern mold.17 But according to John 14:6, Jesus proclaimed that, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.” As Christians, it is our responsibility to stand up for this truth and to proclaim the absoluteness of the Gospel amidst a world corroding into splintered relativity and moral ambiguity. Throughout the New Testament, Paul consistently encourages Christians to stand firm in the Word and in the book of John, Jesus encourages us to worship God in both spirit and in truth.

Ever since postmodernism first took center stage, it has taken some time for Christianity to notice its growing influence. But now that it has become prevalent, the means of overcoming the postmodern storm, for Christians, does not lie in running away from it or attempting to isolate oneself from it. Instead, Christians must learn to equip themselves properly with both the knowledge and the truth to brave its winds and to stand up against any of its intellectual assaults. By ultimately understanding the reasoning behind postmodernism, along with its flaws and weaknesses, believers can become more enabled to effectively share the Gospel even in a world that has become both hostile and disillusioned to the truth.


Notes
1Andy Crouch, “What Exactly Is Postmodernism?”, November 13, 2000, Christianity Today, Vol. 44, No. 13, Page 76, http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2000/013/8.76.html (June 2003).

2“Modernism vs. Postmodernism Chart”, http://nmc.loyola.edu/intro/postmod/table.htm (August 2003).

3Mary Klages, “Postmodernism”, 2003, http://www.colorado.edu/English/ENGL2012Klages/pomo.html (August 2003).

4-6Jim Leffel, “Postmodernism: The ‘Spirit of the Age’”, http://xenos.org/essays/relrev2.htm (June 2003).

7Bob Francis, “What is Postmodernism?”, 1999, http://www.wwcmagazine.org/1999/postmodern.html (June 2003).

8Last two sentences of paragraph referenced from Francis, “What is…”.

9-11Leffel, “Spirit of the Age”.

12Philip Ryken, “How Can Jesus Be the Only Way?”, March/April 1998, Modern Reformation, Vol. 7, http://www.modernreformation.org/mr98/marapr/mr9802onlyway.html (August 2003).

13Last two sentences of paragraph referenced from Leffel, “Spirit of the Age”.

14Francis, “What is…”.

15George Barna, Survey statistic by George Barna, 2002, Barna Research Group, LTD, http://www.barna.org (July 2003).

16George Barna as cited by Leffel, “Spirit of the Age”.

17Francis, “What is…”.


Bibliography
1.) Barna, George. Survey statistic by George Barna. 2002. Barna Research Group, LTD. http://www.barna.org. July 2003.

2.) Crouch, Andy. “What Exactly Is Postmodernism?”. November 13, 2000. Christianity Today, Vol. 44, No. 13, Page 76. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2000/013/8.76.html. June 2003.

3.) Francis, Bob. “What is Postmodernism?”. 1999. http://www.wwcmagazine.org/1999/postmodern.html. June 2003.

4.) Groothuis, Douglas. “Apologetics for Postmoderns”. 2000. http://www.gospelcom.net/ivpress/groothuis/TDChapter.html. June 2003.

5.) Klages, Mary. “Postmodernism”. 2003. http://www.colorado.edu/English/ENGL2012Klages/pomo.html. August 2003.

6.) Leffel, Jim. “Postmodernism: The ‘Spirit of the Age’”. http://xenos.org/essays/relrev2.htm. June 2003.

7.) Ryken, Philip. “How Can Jesus Be the Only Way?”. March/April 1998. Modern Reformation, Vol. 7. http://www.modernreformation.org/mr98/marapr/mr9802onlyway.html. August 2003.

8.) “Modernism vs. Postmodernism Chart”. http://nmc.loyola.edu/intro/postmod/table.htm. August 2003.

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