I knew postmodernism was everywhere. I just didn’t know it had made it to Corbin, Kentucky. But apparently it has, via the minister at Steele’s Chapel Christian Church. Being somewhat laid back here in the Commonwealth, the latest and trendiest philosophies seem to arrive here about a decade after they are "old hat" in the rest of the world. But just in case you are in similar circumstances, this month our club considers . . .
Postmodernistically Strange
Jonathan Huddleston, "Confessions of a Postmodernist"
The Christian Standard
September 12, 2004
"I am a postmodernist" Jonathan tells us. It sounds a bit like what they say at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. I suppose that is the "confession" mentioned in the title. I would have thought that the confession would be more along the lines of "I am a Christian." Call me pre-modernistic.
In light of his "good" confession, let us call Jonathan "Postmodern Jon." (I hope he won’t be offended, but it really does have a nice lilt to it if you say it out loud.) He is worried about the nature of truth. He doesn’t like the phrase "absolute truth" even though he uses it several times after rejecting it. He tells us that "No mere words deserve to be called absolute truth." Jesus is the truth, says Postmodern Jon, but not "mere words." Do any "mere words" deserve to be called "truth"?
I am at a disadvantage here, because I have to appeal to the "mere words" of scripture. Even so, I notice that the Apostle Paul refers to what we call the Old Testament as "the very words of God." (Romans 3:2, NIV) This same Paul also said that he spoke "words taught by the Spirit" and that these expressed "spiritual truths."
I don’t want to be so certain of my conclusion here as to offend any sensitive, doubting postmodernists who might be listening. But it appears to me that, according to scripture, it is true (sorry to use that term) both that Jesus is the Word of God AND that some "mere words" are the word of God. Would I be using logic too rigorously for postmodernists if I conclude that the words of God are just as "true" as the Word of God? Would the very words of God be true in such an unfailing way as to justify the designation "absolute"? Don’t get me wrong - I’m just asking.
Then there is the matter of "experiential morality." This means "We want to see morality lived." Well, I think almost all of us want to see "morality lived." But that, of course, is a little vague. What "morality" does Postmodern Jon, along with the rest of us, want to see "lived"? I’m going to hope that it is the morality described by those "very words of God" we mentioned earlier. Some of those "very words of God," are - and I really hate to use dirty words here - moral truths.
Postmodern Jon complains that "many Christians insist on protecting an untarnished ideal rather than transforming a painful reality" for things like marriage. I really hate to bring up logic because we are trying to deal with postmodernists here, but this is what we call a "false choice." That is, there is nothing mutually exclusive about BOTH "protecting an untarnished ideal" AND "transforming a painful reality."
Finally, and I am going to try to be as kind as I can here, we come to the most convoluted part of Postmodern Jon’s article where he talks, nonsensically I am afraid, of "trusting in doubt." He even says, "We doubt everything, including our own doubt." Put alongside this the claim "The gospel to postmodernists, who doubt all things . . . must be Someone we can trust." [Italics are in the original.]
I assume this is supposed to sound very clever, something like "the sound of one hand clapping." Instead, it just sounds like nonsense. If you truly doubt everything, then there is no one you can trust. If there is Someone you can trust, then you do not truly doubt everything. I’m sorry if that sounds like those horrible people who demand a verdict, but there is no getting around it without trashing the mind God gave you.
Postmodern Jon says, "I cannot express my faith in rational argument." It is amazing then to find that the Someone Postmodern Jon says he trusts (even though he doubts everything) once said this:
Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. (Matt. 12:25-28, NIV)
That, my postmodern friends, is a very elaborate hypothetical argument that Jesus directed at people to help them believe in Him. (Maybe some of those horrid apologists Postmodern Jon complains about are a little closer to Jesus’ technique than we first thought!)
Sometimes people need to think carefully about the meaning of words before they use them. Postmodern Jon steps into this problem when he says that postmodernists "were disillusioned by idols called ‘absolute truth’ (flawed human knowledge)." So truth is an "idol" and if you think you know any of it, you are just wrong. There - take that you nasty modernists!
It would be so much easier to be a postmodernist and a Christian if Jesus had kept His mouth shut. For He said things like this: "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:31-32, NIV) I don’t know about your Bible, but mine is full of words which are the teaching of Jesus. And Jesus, Who presumably knows what He is talking about almost as much as any postmodernist, says that His teaching is truth that can be known. Maybe He was talking only to pre-modernists and modernists.
Postmodern Jon also worries that "We often hear that salvation rests on faith, not doubt; certainty, not wavering." Keep in mind that it was the Word Who spoke these words: "Stop doubting and believe." He said this after He encouraged the Apostle Thomas to perform one of those horrible, rational-empirical tests to prove that He was alive.
No, Postmodern Jon, we are not going to "send you to your room" as you keep saying. But you should beware of those "vain philosophies" spoken of by the Apostle Paul. You are trying to stand on one, and it is sinking beneath your very feet! Try this: put your Christianity first, and let your postmodernism fall by the wayside onto the dung heap of history where it belongs.