by Ben Huot
Many people of my parents generation and many Evangelical Christians are perplexed about Postmodernism.
First, they fight the term and ask how can something be after the modern as that is often used as a term for the present. Postmodernism is a continuation of Modernism as well as a rejection against it (more about this second part later). The word Modernism in philosophy is often equated with the Enlightenment and the two branches of philosophy that arose out of it - Rationalism and Empiricism. And Rationalism is another philosophical term that means something different than the common usage. To not be a Rationalist is not being irrational, illogical, or nonsensical but rather it means the person doesn't belong to a specific school of philosophy, which may very well mean that the person is actually more logical.
The second common reaction is to ask then whatPostmodernism means. The simple answer is that it is a shift in world views from one dominated by a belief in a common set of values, like: that democracy is best for everyone, the idea of perpetual linear progress in society, the idea of the supremacy of Western culture,and the idea that Science answers all our problems (this is the one it keeps) into one dominated by skepticism and atheism, where there is no dominant world view, except doubting anything that sounds like an absolute.
It is common thinking amongst many Christians that this puts Christianity in a negative light and this is bad for the spread of the Gospel. This is because they were taught theology from an Enlightenment perspective. They think that having more people claim to be Christian and to be agnostic or sympathetic to Christianity without having any personal faith is a good thing. They think that having more money and higher numbers of church members puts Christianity in a better position.
But there is a Christian response to this, that goes back to what the Bible really says and this has been around for 150 years, but Christians are just now seeing it in a neutral or slightly positive light. The Christian answer to Postmodernism is Existentialism. When a Christian stops fighting about proving God rationally and says that salvation is a mystery while still advocating being born again, they shift from being the status quo rich white men in power and become a minority and can attack the establishment by attacking their weakness - Science.
The Bible is a direct opponent of Science in addition to the occult. I am not talking about rejecting technology and becoming Amish, but rather that we attack prejudices that are advocated by people who see Science not as a creative process but as a world view. It is not about questioning the existence of the material world all together, but it is about fighting the things that Postmodernism acknowledges as absolutes, while at the same time supposedly rejecting absolutes. There is a commonly accepted idea in Postmodernism and this is about the supremacy of Science to be our savior in place of Christ.
This is what the rich white men are really about - they believe that Scientific proof means that something is absolutely true but Biblical ideas only might be true. This has reached deep into the Church and it comes from Christians not understanding what Science is about. And this is the establishment's goal and it is the way of the world, not of God. Christians need to confront and expose the lies that are perpetuated as fact through the Scientific establishment be it corporations, the media, the school system, or the Church itself.
The final step is to embrace the positive aspects of Postmodernism that agree with Christianity, including: multiculturalism and diversity, seeing life as cyclical, and supporting the individuality and complexity of people, Christian or not.