INTRODUCTION

 The subject that I have been assigned for this lectureship program is “Postmodernism.” Postmodernism is a term that is perhaps relatively new to many Bible-believing people.  In fact I would suspect that if you were to announce that you would be preaching on the subject of postmodernism, few if any would have an idea of what you would be discussing.  Yet the topic of postmodernism is an important subject that Christians need to become more familiar with, because the term is descriptive of the way more and more people are reasoning today, even within the religious world.

What is postmodernism?  Postmodernism is a term that can be somewhat hard to define in a nutshell.  In fact in obtaining an understanding of postmodernism, it is important first to know that the term does not describe any particular doctrine, so much as it describes a mindset of a particular era.  Historians, philosophers, theologians, and many others use the terms pre-modern, modern and postmodern to help them navigate through large blocks of time and thought.  The postmodern era represents the block of time and thought that we are now living in today.  Illogical thinking, relativism, and obsession with tolerance are some of the characteristics of those who could be described as postmodern.  Although our lecture will focus pre-dominantly on the postmodernist era, it is helpful in this study to briefly introduce the basic tenets of each of these three time periods to gain a complete understanding of our subject at hand.

Life in the pre-modern period was dominated by a belief in the supernatural realm, by a belief in God, and His activity in human affairs.  Since this period of time covered a span prior to the invention of the printing press, ending sometime in the fifteenth or sixteenth century, commonly held truths about the universe, the contents of the world, and even theological teachings were handed down by a handwritten copies of precious books.  Additionally, oral instruction was a significant form of teaching provided by those who were in positions of authority.  During this time frame, the traditions of the Catholic Church were passed down to church members who blindly accepted what they were taught as God’s truth.  So called truths were rarely questioned by the average man.  The pre-modern period is often characterized by today’s man as an era in which the world was backward and somewhat inferior to modern society.  Thus modern man saw the movement from the pre-modern period into the modern era as a refreshing step into greater enlightenment in his quest for knowledge and truth.

The modern period began sometime in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.  The newly invented printing press became a valuable tool for reproducing materials and making information more readily available to the masses.  New inventions and discoveries were commonplace during that time.  Better telescopes and microscopes allowed men to “unlock the secrets” of the universe.  In the eighteenth century the progress of science accelerated so rapidly that it appeared as if science would soon be able to explain everything.  Many believed that there were no limits to the power of human reason, operating with the data of sense perception.  In contrast to the basis for receiving truth in the pre-modern era, the modern period differed in that truth was labeled as such only if it could be proven to be true. Many of the philosophers and theologians of the modern period sought to devise a religion that could incorporate all of the considerations and discoveries of the modern age.   A main tenet of modernism was that human reason, armed with scientific method, was the only reliable means of attaining truth and knowledge about religion and the universe.  Though modern man believed that he had found the source of determining truth through the five senses and scientific methodology, in reality modernism gave birth to much unbelief and skepticism regarding the claims of the Bible.  Many spiritual battles were fought against the modernists during the modern age due to their affirmation that truth could only be ascertained through the five senses or by scientific methodology.  Attacks on the inspiration of the Bible, the miraculous element of biblical teaching, and even the deity of Christ Himself became a few of the battlegrounds for modernists and Bible believers.  Many brethren within the church such as Alexander Campbell, J. W. McGarvey and other stalwarts of the Faith fought off the attempts of the modernists to lead astray the body of Christ during their lifetimes.  Although there were certainly some casualties along the way, for the most part the church was able to overcome the fiery darts of modernists and the modern era.

Yet Satan has never been content with the capture of a few souls of fallen comrades; and with the diminishing influence of modernism in the twentieth century came a new wave of attacks that are as serious, if not more serious than the assaults of the modern era.  What Satan was unable to do with some through the deception of modernism, he has been able to accomplish with others via postmodernism.  Keen observers have witnessed a gradual shift within religious thought that mirrors the shift of secular society itself.  Religious bodies that once were once known for their modernist positions are now moving toward a postmodernist disposition.  What is especially alarming is that members of the Lord’s church who once fought tooth and nail against modernism are now seemingly falling head over heels for the postmodernist agenda, which is nothing more than an agenda to deny a standard of absolute truth for all men.  Whereas the agenda of the modernist was to affirm that truth could be known, but that truth could not be determined apart from scientific methodology, the agenda of the postmodernist is to deny the very premise of absolute truth itself. 

The shift from the modern era to the postmodern era, according to many postmodernists, was due to the “erroneous assumption” that there is such a thing as "objective truth."  Gene Veith in Postmodern Times writes,

Modernists would argue in various ways that Christianity is not true.  One hardly hears this objection anymore.  Today the most common critique is that “Christians think they have the only truth.”  The claims of Christianity are not denied; they are rejected because they purport to be true.  Those who believe “there are no absolutes” will dismiss those who reject relativism as “intolerant,” as trying to force their beliefs on other people.  Postmodernists reject Christianity on the same grounds they reject modernism, with its scientific rationalism.  Both Christians and modernists believe in truth.  Postmodernists do not. 

Another writer by the name of Kappelman has well illustrated the evil influence of postmodernism that we are facing today.  He recounts a bizarre conversation with a college student at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania.  The female student said that she believed that truth was a matter of how one looked at things.  She then affirmed that two people could look at the same given situation or object and arrive at different truthful conclusions.  Kappelman notes,

When she was pressed on her beliefs concerning reality, the inconsistencies of her philosophy were evident. She stated that everything was a matter of opinion or one's personal perspective. When asked if this belief extended to physical reality, she said it did. She said that a person could look at something in such a way as to alter reality. 

The example of the existence or nonexistence of her car was raised. She said that if she believed that her car was not in the parking lot and if another person believed that it was, it could be possible that it actually existed for one person and not for the other. When one first hears something like this, it sounds as if the person who maintains this position is joking, and could not possibly mean for us to take him or her seriously. However, the sad and frightening truth is that this individual is very serious. 

This young woman is representative of a large part of our Western culture, men and women who tend to think unsystematically. The result of this way of thinking is that people often hold ideas that are logically inconsistent and contradict each other. The result is that persons professing to be Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jews, or even atheists are given equal degrees of credibility. Truth has become a function of personal preference, not correspondence to objective reality. 

Unfortunately this young college woman does not represent an isolated number of people today.  We are seeing this ideology of relativism growing in popularity within and without religious circles.  Sadly, the same contradictory thinking that prompted the young woman to affirm that her car could exist and yet not exist at the same time is also surfacing in the religious thinking of people across this country as well.  Certainly we are seeing such illogical reasoning flowing into the body of Christ that has long stood firm on the reality of objective truth and every man’s amenability to it.  The spiritual consequences of such contradictory thinking are devastating.  Kari Kwok has written,

A direct consequence of the postmodern objection is to deny the existence of any objective and universal moral law or value. Any claim to such universal moral laws or values is social construction that causes oppression. Therefore, if there exists any moral law, it can only be found within a local community throughout its own narratives... 

A number of years ago brother Thomas Warren debated Dr. Anthony Flew regarding the existence of God.  One of brother Warren’s strong arguments was that if there is no absolute lawgiver, there can be no absolute law.  If there is no absolute law, then the European world owed Hitler and his thugs an apology for forcing their moral position on him and his regime, when he began to exterminate Jews living in Germany.  Brother Warren argued that Hitler was simply observing the moral law found within his local community. 

Anthony Flew, who had fought for Britain against Hitler in the war, could not refute brother Warren’s fine logic.  Yet if what postmodernists today affirm is true, the denial of objective and universal moral law, then truly the European world does owe Hitler an apology for their “oppressive attempt at social construction” within the community of Germany.  This example of the ludicrous and illogical position that postmodernists must assume to be consistent with their agenda presents them with an undesirable possibility.  On the one hand, postmodernists are uncomfortable with the Holocaust, yet on the other hand they have a hard time making any moral judgments about it.  If they do, they are abandoning their god of relativism and tolerance, and the affirmation of every person’s right to possess “his own” truth. 

From a religious perspective, perhaps this phenomenon was most recently illustrated following the 9/11 attacks on the Trade Center in New York.  All over this country we began to see people from all theological persuasions preaching and practicing tenants of postmodernism in the name Almighty God.  Thousands of people who claimed to follow Jehovah participated in joint prayer and worship services with people who believed in and followed after gods other than the one true God Jehovah.  I shall never forget the picture that I saw of Rubel Shelly taken from a Nashville newspaper where he and others huddled together with an Islamic religious leader while having a group hug and prayer.  Keep in mind that the Islamic leader denies the deity of Christ and considers Jesus a mere man who was inferior to Mohammed.  My questions are, “Was Rubel praying to Jehovah or Allah?” and “Was the Islamic leader praying to Allah or Jehovah?”  Postmodernism affirms that the prayer of Rubel Shelly and of the Islamic leader were both valid and of truth.  If Rubel Shelly is not the poster child of postmodernism in the church today, I do not know who else could be, for advocates of postmodernism have no problem with one affirming that Jesus can be “a way” so long as He is not “the only way.”  He can be described as a great teacher so long as His teachings are not imposed on those who prefer or believe something else.   In fact the greatest taboo for the postmodernist is to affirm that someone else is wrong.  Postmodernists pride themselves in their tolerance of others.  Indeed they are very tolerant, as Rubel Shelly demonstrated in his joint prayer service with the Islamic infidel.  They are tolerant of practically every position and belief, except one.  They are intolerant of dogmatism.  To the postmodernist, dogmatism is an evil and oppressive mindset that must be combated. 

ITS ORIGIN 

 Where did postmodernism originate?  The Bible teaches us that Satan is the father of all lies (John 8:44).  The postmodernist agenda is built upon deception; therefore, Satan surely is the father of postmodernism.  As the father of this ungodly philosophy of thought, he must naturally have sons and daughters under its influence.  When one looks around at our world today, it is easy to see those children who carry the family traits of their father, the devil. 

We have already noticed that the growing acceptance of postmodernism grew out of the modernist period within the last fifty years or so.  Yet it would be false to conclude that postmodernism is a brand new concept foreign to man prior to the twentieth century.  For example, even though modernism is often associated with a certain time period within the past few hundred years, forms of modernism certainly existed prior to the seventeenth century.  Even in New Testament times we find that there were those who “say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit…” (Acts 23:8).  The Sadducees held to a form of modernism, and thus modernism itself is not a new concept.  Solomon has rightly noted that there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9-10). 

The same is true of postmodernism.  A close examination of the Bible demonstrates that the roots of postmodernism extend back into man’s early history.  The Jews again serve as an example of leanings towards postmodernism.  As noted, postmodernism is basically a denial that truth is universal and binding upon every person.  It is a concept that preaches tolerance for every position except dogmatism.  It gives permission for the affirmation of so called truths that are contradictory and illogical.  The Jews often fell prey to these false premises. 

Consider that God instructed the Israelites to be dogmatic in the observance of His Law (Deuteronomy 12:30-32), which by the way demonstrates that God is not a postmodernist, since postmodernism opposes dogmatism.  The Jews were instructed by God that they were not at liberty to alter His absolute commandments (Leviticus 18:3-5; Deuteronomy 28:14-15; 4:2).  Yet despite God’s clear mandate for allegiance to His absolute truth, Israel often adopted an eclectic approach to faith and worship in drawing from the practices of the people in the land in which they dwelt (Judges 2:10-13, 17).  Furthermore, God demanded that they be intolerant and destroy the people in the land they possessed (Deuteronomy 7:1-6; 20:16-18), yet they were content to live in an integrated society of tolerance and allowed their pagan neighbors to exist within their communities.  Their failure to be dogmatic in their practice of faith, and their adoption of practices that were totally contrary to and inconsistent with the teaching of Jehovah reveals the early roots of what we today describe as postmodernism. 

ITS EFFECT ON CHRISTIAN FAITH

 Postmodernism truly has a negative effect on Christianity.  It robs the Christian of that which is essential to pleasing God – saving faith (Hebrews 11:6).  Saving faith is an objective response rooted in absolute truth that is binding upon every person from every culture and every time.  Saving faith is presented in Scripture as that which comes from hearing, and hearing from the word of God (Romans 10:17).  When one hears the word of God, faith is generated (John 20:30-31).  One recognizes the power and authority of God in one’s life, and one brings himself under the subjection and rule of Christ.

To the postmodernist, faith is the byproduct of a subjective standard – self.  Every man essentially becomes a standard of truth to himself, and he should not seek to impose his “version” of truth upon others.  Rather, he should seek to be inclusive and non-judgmental, since postmodernism affirms the validity of all beliefs equally, despite what sound reason and logic suggest.  Like the idolatry of the Old Testament, postmodernism has become a god to modern men and women.  Jehovah is dismissed with a wave of the hand, and His explicit teachings are presented as non-binding and unessential.  Man becomes a standard of truth to himself (Judges 21:25).  Man bows to himself.  He worships himself, and as Sanders notes, he therefore has the same religion as the idolaters, only his idol isn’t crafted out of wood. 

Postmodernism has already had a tremendous influence upon societal thinking.  We can clearly see it in many venues.  We are told that we must not be judgmental in the area of homosexuality, abortion, gambling, adultery, and other social evils.  We are told that we must be sensitive to those who engage in such behaviors, and not be dogmatic in our theological beliefs.  We are instructed by postmodernists that it is all right to affirm life, just don’t force a pro-life position on a woman who believes abortion is moral.  It is alright to affirm the marriage of a man and woman, just don’t disaffirm the right of two men to enter into that same arrangement.  Truly we can see the negative influence of postmodernism upon our society.  Yet, it is clearly evident that the church, too, has not remained unspotted from this plague of unbelief.  Sanders has noted,

We were not happy with who we were, so it became necessary – at least in the minds of some – to reinvent ourselves to be more appealing to the world.  We did not want to be embarrassed any longer in front of our denominational friends.  We began experimenting with our worship, looking for emotional experiences.  We began thinking that a new name would allow us to create a new image for our communities.  We began loosening up with a more inclusive posture, unwilling to make judgments on the pious unimmersed or those who played the instruments.  We relegated the controversial to opinion, taking the view that we could not be certain of Bible teachings.  We did not want to be seen as people who made narrow judgments…We became ashamed of what we were and became like the spiritual nations around us. 

What a sad, but true observation he has made.  Postmodernism is alive and growing within the body of Christ.  The desire to be accepted by those around us, coupled with a fervor to be like those around us is destroying the distinctiveness that is to be present in the Lord’s precious body (Matthew 5:13-16).  Many are willing to sacrifice the absolute and universal truths of the Lord in order to hold hands with those who will not bend their knee in subjection to the Lord’s teachings.  More and more preachers, elders and congregations are clamoring for doctrinal change, tolerance, unity in diversity, and other ungodly responses to a world that is hardened and has been greatly influenced by postmodernist thinking. 

HOW CHRISTIANS CAN DEAL WITH IT

Christians can not ignore postmodernism.  It will not go away by our silence.  It must be fought, as the evil of modernism was by our forefathers in previous generations. Every concerned church member needs to take a sober look at what the postmodernist movement has done to the precious body of Christ.  Soldiers of Christ need to arise and put their armor on and prepare to fight with every bit of spiritual fortitude they can muster for the battle that is now before us.  The souls of our children and future generations are at stake!    Every faithful Christian has a responsibility in this regard. 

Christians must first be informed.  We must gain an understanding of the postmodernist agenda in order to counteract its effects upon mankind.  We must be educated regarding the change agent movement that is helping to promote the tenets of this mindset.  We must study our Bibles (2 Timothy 2:15), be grounded in the truth (Colossians 1:23), and not be spiritual babes (1 Corinthians 3:1; 1 Peter 2:2) who are easily deceived by Satan’s devices (2 Timothy 3:13; Ephesians 6:4; 1 Peter 5:8).  Understanding, education, and biblical study are essential to being victorious over postmodernism.

Secondly, we must speak out (Ecclesiastes 3:7).  Modernism would have overcome the church in previous generations had members of the church failed to speak out.  If the Lord were walking the face of the earth today, he would surely speak out against this evil.  We are the mouthpieces of Jehovah today.  We must carry His message of salvation and be set for the defense of His Gospel (Philppians 1:17).  If we do not speak out against this wishy-washy and ungodly philosophy, who will?  We must speak and we must do it now!

Lastly, we can fulfill our duties in the kingdom.  Elders have a duty to fulfill.  Elders are to shepherd, protect (Acts 20:28-32.), watch (Hebrews 13:17) and rule (1 Timothy 5:17).  They need to take hold of the reins of leadership and not give Godspeed to those in the church that would lead us into postmodernism.  The church needs men of courage and conviction who will not approach leadership as a politician seeking re-election, who seeks to please everybody every time (Galatians 1:10).   Elders must rule well (1 Timothy 5:17) and blaze the trails for truth down God’s narrow path (Matthew 7:14) for others to follow.

Preachers must seek to counter the postmodernist agenda.  Preachers must not be swayed by postmodernistic thinking.  Evangelists need to assume the position given by God as herald of the Good News.  They need to help people see the ugly scars of sin and preach a distinctive message based on God’s absolute truths.  They must resist the temptation to be tolerant and affirming of error.  Love for the Lord and the souls of men demand that Gospel preachers stand in the gap (Ezekial 22:30) and reprove, rebuke and exhort with all longsuffering (2 Timothy 4:2). 

Christians in general have a responsibility to stand against postmodernism.  We are to follow the Old Paths (Jeremiah 6:16), and insist that our leaders lead us in them.  We must resist the change agents who would have us to become contradictory in our reasoning (Isaiah 1:18), illogical in our conclusions, accepting everyone, and every belief, and giving credibility to every conviction of man in order to fit the tolerant mold of the postmodern world (Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 6:17).  Yes, Christians must be like Christ; and despite what our postmodernist friends might affirm, the Lord was dogmatic (Matthew 5:18), uncompromising (Luke 16:18), and intolerant of every false way (Matthew 23:33).  So must we who follow in His steps hate every false way (Psalm 119:104).

CONCLUSION

Though postmodernism is probably a relatively new term for most Christians today, it will surely within the near future become as familiar as the term modernism was to the former generation.  And just as in the former generation, the way in which we deal with it will surely determine the extent of damage that Satan will be able to bring upon the body of Christ.  May we learn from the battles that were fought in the past, and may we with fervor and conviction face the great enemy Satan with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Gospel of saving truth.

 1  Gene Edward Veith, Jr., Postmodern Times, (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 1994) pp. 19-20.
 2 Todd Kappelman; http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/breakdwn.html
 3 Kari Kwock; http://www.vlsi.uwaterloo.ca/~khkwok/postmodernism/postmodernism.html
 4 Phil Sanders; Adrift, (Nashville, Tn.: Gospel Advocate Company, 2000).
 5 Sanders, 55. 
 6 Sanders, 113.