PASTORING IN THE POSTMODERN ERA 1999 NARBC Preaching Seminar Jack K. Willsey Definition of Postmodernism Defining postmodernism is very difficult. Perhaps the only common element in the majority of definitions which have been offered is that it is the rejection of modernism. By modernism is meant the period introduced by the Enlightenment (c. 1650-1800 A.D. [some argue that the modern period is from the French Revolution to the fall of the Berlin Wall, c. 1689-1989]). Modernism is characterized by such elements as: 1. Emphasis on rationalism and foundationalism: Certain truths are self-evident and may be discerned accurately by the human mind apart from cultural influence (Cartesian/Baconian objectivity of reality). 2. Emphasis on the individual as epistemologically competent: The individual s knowledge has priority over that of the group in value and decision-making. 3. Emphasis on the objectivity of language: Words represent reality as conceived in the mind of the speaker or writer. Reality may be known and communicated in human language. 4. Emphasis upon logical dualism: All truths are non-contradictory (Based upon the law of non-contradiction = Nothing can be both A and non-a at the same time and in the same aspect; and the law of the excluded middle = Everything is either A or non-a [Every proposition is either true or false]). 5. Emphasis upon optimism: Belief in the goodness of knowledge and progress. Scientific advance and the human mind will make human life better and better. 6. Emphasis on metanarrative: One may construct a universal story which explains all of reality. Reality may be viewed accurately from a God s-eye view as an integrated totality; a totalizing discourse. (In the secular realm, the endeavor of scientists to develop a theory of everything is the prime example of this concept. Christian Theology is also an example of metanarrative.) 7. Emphasis on the scientific method as the only valid means of knowledge: All valid propositions are falsifiable (testable) = logical positivism. Jean-François Lyotard: Simplifying to the extreme, I define postmodern as incredulity toward metanarratives. 1 1 Jean-François Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, Theory and History of Literature, 10, trans. Geoff Bennington and Brian Massumi (Original French edition, 1979; English edition, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1984): xxiv.
2 Stanley J. Grenz: Whatever else it may prove to be, postmodernity is the questioning of these theses [of modernity]. Postmodern thinkers have given up the assumptions that reason has no limitations, that knowledge is inherently good and that we can solve all our problems. In response to the compartmentalization characteristic of the modern worldview, the watchword of postmodernism is holism the desire to put back together what modernity has torn asunder. But of great significance for us is a related far-reaching change now transpiring. Postmodernism questions the radical individualism to which modernism gave birth and which has formed a hallmark of modern Western culture. 2 Pastoral Implications of Postmodernism Postmodernism represents such a radical departure from the cultural presuppositions of modernism that pastoral ministry is affected in many ways. All of us are influenced in some ways by postmodern thinking, just as we have been by modernism. The so-called Buster Generation, or Generation X, however, epitomizes the characteristics of postmodernism. Some of the most important of these are: 1. Emphasis upon the subjectivity of all knowledge: All knowing and all means of knowing are culturally and personally conditioned. Absolute, transcendent truth does not exist (or if it does, it is not epistemologically accessible). Absolute non-truths do not exist. Nothing can be absolutely denied. Humans are not capable of perceiving and knowing transcendent truth if it does exist. Claims to know absolute, transcendent truth are misguided and arrogant. Any attempt to teach others what one knows is ultimately futile and may be subversive. 2. Emphasis upon the group: Individual knowledge is suspect; the corporate knowledge and tradition of one s group is more reliable. Useful knowledge comes through tradition, not individual perception. Useful knowledge is achieved through group dynamic, not through an authoritative leader. 3. Emphasis upon the interpretive nature of language: All words are interpretations of other words, thus words do not represent reality, but opinions about reality. The Bible is a collection of human interpretations of other interpretations, not objective truth. Any one interpretation of the Bible has no more validity than any other. History cannot be known, thus the historical narratives of the Bible represent the viewpoints of the writers, not what really happened. 2 Stanley J. Grenz, Revisioning Evangelical Theology: A Fresh Agenda for the 21st Century (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 15.
3 4. Emphasis upon the political agendas of all language: All human communication is for the purpose of manipulating others for the benefit of the speaker or writer. Attempts at persuasion are politically motivated the preacher has a personal agenda. Knowledge is a source of power, so the preacher is attempting to exert power over the listener. Denominational loyalty is a form of political oppression (since no group has a superior claim on truth). 5. Emphasis upon holism: Truth cannot be viewed unilaterally, but must be seen from diverse, even contradictory viewpoints. Social position, race, ethnic identity, gender, etc., provide different and equally valid viewpoints from which to view truth. Logic-based discourse is merely playing word-games and evidences politically motivated manipulation. Topics must be considered as wholes, not fragmented into diverse parts. 6. Emphasis on pessimism: Science and the human mind have produced weapons of mass destruction and ethnic purging, while not solving the problems of hatred, hunger, and disease. Offers of simple solutions to life s problems are suspect. Progress is not necessarily good and change is not necessarily a solution, so new programs and new ideas may be viewed with suspicion or lack of enthusiasm. 7. Emphasis on relativism (including multiculturalism and religious pluralism): Each group has its own metanarrative and none is superior to any other. Religious pluralism is both good and reasonable. No truth claim has superiority over any other. One s group is enriched by a multitude of viewpoints presented in a noncompeting way. Attempts at refuting others viewpoints are immoral. 8. Emphasis upon emotion and intuition as ways of knowing: The act of knowing is holistic, not restricted to logically defensible propositions. Truth is discernible directly by intuition and emotions. Perception of truth is individual and may not be critiqued by others methods. The whole person is involved in perception of truth, not just the intellect. Contradictory ideas may exist within a single worldview. It is important to note that technology has not been rejected by most postmoderns, even though the scientific method which produced them is viewed with suspicion. Indeed, some of the more theoretical thinkers in computer-based communication (the digerati ) are both nihilistic and postmodern, while working in a binary (logic-based) environment. For this reason, some cultural commentators refer to this era as hypermodern, rather than postmodern. Also, as some writers have pointed out, the postmodern view of the extreme subjectivity of knowledge is in many ways a more
4 radical individualism than that of modernism. In fact, if carried to its logical conclusion, the postmodern view of language and epistemology may result in solipsism. Pastoral Responses to Postmodernism Much about postmodernism amounts to a helpful corrective to the faults and extremes of modernism. However, the central concepts of postmodernism strike at the very heart of Christian truth. Postmodern thinkers utterly reject logocentrism, the authority of the word. Christianity is specifically grounded upon the authority of God s revelation in human language. A natural implication of that authority is that other claims to truth are wrong. Therefore a very real and vitally important conflict exists between Christian belief and postmodern philosophy. Since regional and ethnic factors help shape a society s culture, generalizations are at best flawed, but perhaps some of the following ideas may be worth considering. 1. Incarnation of truth is the believer s best tool for communication of truth in a culture of suspicion. Modeling speaks to the whole person and gives intuitive context to the meaning intended by the "preacher. 2. Christian love is the best refutation of suspicion. It is impossible to overcome the concept of political agenda with arguments they are inherently self-defeating, but self-sacrifice by the believer validates the story of Christ s vicarious death. 3. Pragmatic realism is a characteristic of all people, regardless of philosophical conviction. Even the most postmodern (deconstructionist) writers expect readers to understand what they intend to say. Life would be impossible without recognition of shared understanding. One may build upon that fact in a nonthreatening way. 4. Biblical authority is not based upon the frailty of human language as a tool of communication, but upon God s revelatory act. God is the determined communicator and the very real problems of language have been overcome by His sovereign act of self-revelation. The minister of God s Word must take care not to take that authority upon himself, but to allow God to speak through His Word. 5. Degrees of certainty should be acknowledged when discoursing on truth. Some convictions are more certain, and thus more central, than others. Humility in this area is very important in avoiding the appearance of arrogance or political motivation. 6. Sermons which are shaped by the literary structure of the biblical text may help avoid the appearance of manipulation. At the same time, this approach will in many cases be a truly biblical substitute for the story approach of the postmodernist and the excessively topical approach of the modernist. 7. Holistic approaches to truth may satisfy the postmodern desire for multiple perspectives. It also overcomes the very real defect of modernism, which
5 fragments truth through selective analysis. For example, biblical anthropology which recognizes the inherent unity of humans as body-soul beings, is both biblical and multiperspectival. Recognizing and respecting the fact that people learn, understand, and respond to truth with the whole personality, not merely the intellect, is another example. Perhaps the ultimate theological example would be viewing the transcendence and immanence of God in a holistic way, instead of separating them conceptually. 8. Awe in worship, which engages the whole personality in the experience of the presence of God, may be a necessary corrective to the cold intellectualism of modernism and the naïve, uncentered emotionalism of postmodernism. Instead of the anthropocentric worship advocated by so many in evangelical circles today, a truly theocentric worship may create a focus which establishes a basic point of contact with the rest of truth. Select Bibliography on Postmodernism There is an immense and growing literature on almost every conceivable aspect of postmodernism, including its influence on the arts, literature, education, hermeneutics, science, sociology, psychology, religion, etc. The following are offered as convenient suggestions for helpful sources of reliable information and are not necessarily better than many other available titles. Books Anderson, Walter Truett. Reality Isn't What It Used To Be. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1990., ed. The Truth about the Truth: De-confusing and Re-constructing the Postmodern World. New York: G. P. Putnam s Sons, 1995. Appignanesi, Richard and Chris Garratt. Introducing Postmodernism. New York: Totem Books, 1995. Dockery, David S., ed. The Challenge of Postmodernism: An Evangelical Engagement. Wheaton: Victor Books [Bridgepoint], 1995. Erickson, Millard J. Postmodernity and Theology. In Christian Theology, 2d ed., 158-174. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1998.. Postmodernizing the Faith: Evangelical Responses to the Challenge of Postmodernism. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1998. Grenz, Stanley J. A Primer on Postmodernism. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1996.. Revisioning Evangelical Theology: A Fresh Agenda for the 21st Century. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1993.
6 Lakeland, Paul. Postmodernity: Christian Identity in a Fragmented Age. Guides to Theological Inquiry, ed. Kathryn Tanner and Paul Lakeland. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1997. McCallum, Dennis, ed. The Death of Truth. Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1996. Middleton, J. Richard and Brian J. Walsh. Truth Is Stranger Than It Used To Be: Biblical Faith in a Postmodern Age. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1995. Veith, Gene Edward, Jr. Postmodern Times: A Christian Guide to Contemporary Thought and Culture. Wheaton: Crossway Books, 1994. Articles Bartholomew, Craig. Post/Late? Modernity as the Context for Christian Scholarship Today. Themelios 22 (January 1997): 25-38. Dembski, William A. The Fallacy of Contextualism. Themelios 20 (May 1995): 8-11. Fitzgerald, Thomas. The Future of Belief. First Things (May 1996): 23-27. Goetz, David L. The Riddle of Our Postmodern Culture: What Is Postmodernism? Should We even Care? Leadership 18 (Winter 1997):52-56. Livingstone, David N. High Tea at the Cyclotron. Books and Culture 2 (January/February 1996):22-23. McQuilkin, Robertson and Bradford Mullen. The Impact of Postmodern Thinking on Evangelical Hermeneutics. Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 40 (March 1997):69-82. Olson, Roger E. Postconservative Evangelicals Greet the Postmodern Age. Christian Century 112 (May 3, 1995): 480-83. Ryken, Leland. Bible Stories for Derrida s Children. Books and Culture 4 (January/February 1998): 38-41. Reid, Robert Stephen. Postmodernism and the Function of the New Homiletic in Post- Christendom Congregations. Homiletic 20 (Winter 1995): 1-13. Shrader, Rick. The Church in the Postmodern Era. Baptist Bulletin 64 (December 1998): 23-26.