Ministry in a Postmodern Context: 3HT610
Winter, 2016, Reformed Theological Seminary, Charlotte, NC
Instructor: David Owen Filson, Ph.D. candidate
E-mail: davidlovesdiane@mac.com
Mobile: 615-828-1517
January 25-29, 2016: Mon, 1-4pm; T, W, Th, 9:00am-4:30pm; Fri, 9:00am-12:00pm
I. Course Description & Objective
“What if God was one of us? Just a slob like one of us? Just a stranger on a bus, trying to make
his way home… like a holy rolling stone?” Singer Joan Osborne gets near the angst and
wandering to which the Church must minister in our postmodern context. What was once the
speculative and even reactionary fodder on the playground of the philosopher, is now the norm in
an ironically normless culture. This course explores what postmodernism is and how it emerged.
We will pay special attention the impact of postmodernism on hermeneutics, theology, and
preaching.
II. Texts
Required Texts:
Jim Belcher, Deep Church: A Third Way beyond Emergent and Traditional (Downers Grove:
IVP, 2009).
Timothy Keller, Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism (New York: Viking,
2015).
David F. Wells, The Courage to Be Protestant: Truth-Lovers, Marketers, and Emegents in the
Postmodern World (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008).
Recommended Texts
James Anderson, What’s Your Worldview: An Interactive Approach to Life’s Big Questions,
(Wheaton: Crossway, 2014).
D.A. Carson, The Gagging of God: Christianity Confronts Pluralism, (Grand Rapids:
Zondervan, 1996).
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Becoming Conversant with the Emergent Church: Understanding a Movement and Its
Implications, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005).
Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck, Why We’re Not Emergent: By Two Guys Who Should Be,
(Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2008).
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David Dockery, ed., The Challenge of Postmodernism: An Evangelical Engagement, (Grand
Rapids: Baker Book House, 2001).
William Edgar, The Face of Truth: Lifting the Veil, (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2001).
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You Asked: Your Questions. God’s Answers., (Geanies House, Fearn, Ross Shire, Great
Britain: Christian Focus Publications, 2013).
Millard J. Erickson, Truth or Consequence: The Promise and Peril of Postmodernism (Downers
Grove: IVP, 2001).
Millard J. Erickson, Paul Kjoss Helseth, and Justin Taylor, eds., Reclaiming the Center:
Confronting Evangelical Accommodation in Postmodern Times, (Wheaton: Crossway, 2004).
Frame, John M., A History of Western Philosophy and Theology, (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R
Publishing, 2015).
David B. Garner, ed., Did God Really Say: Affirming the Truthfulness and Trustworthiness of
Scripture, (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2012).
David & Jonathan Gibson, eds., From Heaven He Came and Sought Her: Definite Atonement in
Historical, Biblical, Theological, and Pastoral Perspective, (Wheaton: Crossway, 2013).
Andrew W. Hoffecker, ed., Revolutions in Worldview: Understanding the Flow of Western
Thought, (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2007).
Gabe Lyons, The Next Christians: The Good News about the End of Christian America (New
York: Doubleday, 2010).
Stephen J, Nichols and Eric T. Brandt, Ancient Word, Changing Worlds: The Doctrine of
Scripture in a Modern Age, (Wheaton: Crossway).
K. Scott Oliphint, The Battle Belongs to the Lord: The Power of Scripture for Defending Our
Faith, (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2003).
Myron B. Penner, ed., Christianity and the Postmodern Turn: Six Views (Grand Rapids: Brazos,
2005).
Vern Sheridan Poythress, In the Beginning Was the Word: Language – A God-Centered
Approach, (Wheaton, Crossway, 2009).
David Robertson, The Dawkins Letters: Challenging Atheist Myths, (Geanies House, Fearn, Ross
Shire, Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications, 2007).
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Ted Turnau, Popologetics: Popular Culture in Christian Perspective, (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R
Publishing, 2012).
Cornelius Van Til, Christian Apologetics, second edition, ed., William Edgar, (Phillipsburg, NJ:
P&R Publishing, 2003).
David F. Wells, No Place for Truth: or Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology, (Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993).
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God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams, (Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995).
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Losing Our Virtue: Why the Church Must Recover Its Moral Vision, (Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 1999).
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Above All Earthly Pow’rs: Christ in a Postmodern World, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
2005).
III. Evaluation
1) Exam: essay questions, 30%
You will be given a set of study questions at the end of the week. Your exam will consist of a
selection of those questions. This will be taken on campus in the library after the course, unless
you need to make other arrangements with the registrar.
Due date will be given first day of class.
2) Paper, 40%
Write an eight page (or so) paper on a specific way postmodernism impacts Christian ministry.
You could write on the way we read and interpret texts, the way we form and express our beliefs,
various aspects of theology (doctrine of Scripture, doctrine of God, atonement, etc.), preaching,
etc. If you are currently in or looking to pursue a particular ministry, such as youth ministry or
campus ministry, for instance, please feel free to indicate how your chosen paper topic applies to
your context.
Due date will be given first day of class.
3) Book Seminar Discussion and Analyses, 30%
During the week, we will devote a fair amount of time to discussion of the required texts in a
seminar format. The class will be divided into three groups. Each group will be assigned one of
the texts to read and lead seminar discussion the week of class. After our week is finished,
students will complete readings of all three books and write a four-page paper on each of the
required texts. These papers will emphasize theological analysis and critique, with an eye
toward ministry in the local Church. This means three papers – one on each of the three books
by Belcher, Keller, and Wells.
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Due date will be given first day of class.
IV. Course Schedule
Monday
1:00-4:00pm: Introduction to the Course: The End of All Grand Narratives
Overview of Syllabus
Who Wants a Worldview? – History of the Idea, Definitions, and Pieces of the
Worldview Puzzle
Tuesday
9:00am-12:00pm: From Modernity to Postmodernity
Madmen and Revolutionaries
1:00-4:30pm
Power Trios
Foucalt, Derrida, and Rorty
Truth, God, and Humanness
Seminar Discussion of The Courage to be Protestant, Sections I-III
Wednesday
9:00am-12:00pm: Theological Twists and Turns
Postmodern Impact on Hermeneutics
Postmodern Impact on Theology, Pt. 1: Historical Considerations
1:00-4:30pm
Postmodern Impact on Theology, Pt. 2: From Method to Atonement
Seminar Discussion of The Courage to Be Protestant, Pt. 2
Thursday
9:00am-12:00pm: Trajectories
Passe’ Postmodernism?
A Way Out and Forward: Grace for Ministry
Seminar Discussion of Deep Church, Pt. 1
1:00-4:30pm
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Seminar Discussion of Deep Church, Pt. 2
Discussion of Assignments and Exam
Friday
9:00am-12:00pm
Priority of Preaching
Seminar Discussion of Preaching
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