RESEARCH PAPER FOR THEO 525
on
THE BIBLICAL WAY TO ADDRESS POSTMODERNISM
THEO 525 DLP (fall 2008)
Systematic Theology I
Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary
Jeffrey R. Musgrave (ID# 225429)
December 10,2008
Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................ . 3
Is Postmodern Theology an Oxymoron? . ................................................................................. 3
A Definition of Christian Theology . .......................................................................................... 3
Defining Postmodernism .......................................................................................................... .. 4
Can Theology be Synthesized with Postmodernism? .. ............................................................ 5
The Effects of Postmodern Thinking on the Church . .............................................................. 6
Postmodern Influence on the Christian View of Truth . .......................................................... 6
Postmodern Influences on Worship . ......................................................................................... 8
Postmodern Influences on Preaching and Teaching . ............................................................. 10
When the Culture Defines the Church .................................................................................... 11
Speaking to Postmodern Culture with Biblical Theology ..................................................... 11
Recovering Truth in a Relative World ..................................................................................... 12
Intellectual Challenge or Spiritual Penetration ..................................................................... 13
The Church in the 21st Century .............................................................................................. 13
Conclusions . .............................................................................................................................. 14
3
Introduction
Theology has been referred to as the queen of the sciences. In more recent times, its right to
rule has been challenged by the rise of postmodern thought. The increasing acceptance of
postmodern ideas have led many to ask if traditional theology can coexist with postmodern
thinking. Can theology be expressed in the language and concepts of postmodernism without
losing its meaning? There are two possible outcomes. Either theology can be adapted to speak
to postmodern life in postmodern terms or it cannot. If it cannot make its assertions in
postmodern terms and remain meaningful, as many have concluded already, then another way
must be found. Since theology cannot speak in postmodern terms without losing its credibility,
this paper will show that the best way for theology to address postmodern people and thought is
to remain true to Scripture and two thousand years of Christian witness.
Is Postmodern Theology an Oxymoron?
In order to understand the difficulty of communicating theology in a postmodern climate, it is
necessary to examine the two component parts of the equation. Once the two individual parts are
understood correctly, it will be confirmed that the two are mutually exclusive as commonly
understood and defined.
A Definition of Christian Theology
According to Millard Erickson, a good “basic definition of theology is 'the study or science of
God,'”1 which is good as a simple statement, but does not capture the full range of what Christian
theology is. Christian theology is necessarily based in Scripture as its foundation. In its nature
then is the idea that God has revealed Himself to mankind in propositional communication.
Francis Schaeffer asserts that it is not unreasonable to say that God has communicated His nature
1 Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology: Second Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1998), 22.
4
to man in a way that man can understand; the same way that men communicate with each other.2
For theology to remain true, it cannot be separated from its Biblical foundation and it must take
the Bible as a whole into account.3 Christian theology's prime objective is to communicate truth
about God to all of humanity in a way that can be understood. It is not meant to be a purely
academic exercise for scholars in their towers. This objective actually sets the stage for the issue
at hand. Because postmodern thought is real and pervasive in the world of today, theology must
find a way to bring forth the truths of God in a way that can be understood by postmodern man.
The problem with this communication is the gulf between the meaning of the terms of traditional
Christian theology before the modern and postmodern eras and those same terms since
modernism began its transition into postmodernism.
Defining Postmodernism
One of the biggest problems with attempting to define postmodernism is the fact that it resists
definition by its very nature. The Cambridge Companion to Postmodern Theology notes it
thusly:
Those who attempt to define or to analyze the concept of postmodernity do so at their
own peril. In the first place, postmoderns reject the notion that any description or
definition is “neutral.” Definitions may appear to bask in the glow of impartiality, but
they invariably exclude something and hence are complicit, wittingly or not, in politics. A
definition of postmodernity is as likely to say more about the person offering the
definition than it is of “the postmodern.”4
This caution is not to be taken lightly. In fact, Vanhoozer goes on to despair that a definition of a
postmodern position is all but impossible and instead elects to refer to postmodernism as a
2 Francis A. Schaeffer, The Complete Works of Francis Schaeffer: A Christian Worldview, Vol. 1, A Christian
View of Philosophy and Culture, (Westchester, IL: Crossway, 1982), 99-100.
3 Erickson, Christian Theology, 23.
4 Kevin J. Vanhoozer. "The Cambridge Companion to Postmodern Theology." The Cambridge Companion to
Postmodern Theology. Cambridge University Press, 2003. Cambridge Collections Online. Cambridge University
Press. 02 December 2008
<http://cco.cambridge.org/uid=2451/extract?id=ccol052179062x_CCOL052179062X_root>
5
“condition”.5 But having noted the inherent difficulty, a definition is needed in some form for an
intelligent discussion to take place. For the purposes of this discussion, postmodernism is a
system that rejects objective knowledge and/or metanarratives. Postmodern thinking is
“decentered” and “situated,” which is to say that it doesn't accept a common ground or universal
approach to truth, but rather a localized version of truth which is actually determined at a
personal level.6 From this brief attempt to pin down a simple definition of postmodern belief, it
should already be apparent to the reader the inherent difficulty presented in “adapting” theology
into postmodern terms.
Can Theology be Synthesized with Postmodernism?
This brings up an important question upon which this whole discussion will either succeed or
fail. Is there a way to communicate theology in postmodern terms so that it doesn't lose its
meaning in the process? There are certainly those who would say yes. In the last few decades,
many efforts have been made to discuss theology and its various aspects in modern and
postmodern language such as it is. One of the problems that has been encountered in this process
is the resistance of postmodern thinking to dealing in concrete concepts that are universally true.
What has often happened to those who seek to rework and reword theological concepts to a
postmodern audience is that the theologians doing the work have become postmodern as well.
This has had disastrous consequences for the field of theology as the battle for truth is now being
fought amongst those who should theoretically be on the same side of it. The ways in which
postmodern thought has infiltrated the church were predicted by many before it happened and it
is illustrative to look at the warnings of some of these prophets of the modern church. Francis
5 Ibid., 4.
6 Paul J. Lokken, “Word, world and a postmodern theology of law,” Word & World 21 no 3 (Sum 2001), 290, in
EBSCOhost [Database online] ATLA, accessed December 1, 2008.
6
Schaeffer noticed these trends beginning over 30 years ago and noted that it was nothing new. In
fact, he accused theology of saying things that were already being said by philosophy and other
intellectual disciplines and pretending that they were the first to come up with the ideas.7 Wells
echoes these sentiments in God in the Wasteland, saying, “evangelicalism has bought cultural
acceptability by emptying itself of serious thought, serious theology, serious worship and serious
practice in the larger culture.”8 The effects of adapting theology to postmodern viewpoints has
been largely negative and arguably unsuccessful.
The Effects of Postmodern Thinking on the Church
The ways in which postmodern thought has influenced theology and Christian practice has
been well documented by many scholars already. This work will take a narrow focus on three
primary areas of influence and the consequences that each have suffered. The areas considered
here are the view of truth in the church, the view of worship in the church and the view of
preaching and teaching in the church.
Postmodern Influence on the Christian View of Truth
In reviewing the claims of some postmodern theological arguments, it is apparent that one of
the first ideas that falls on the chopping block is in fact the idea of absolute or objective truth.
The central truths of Christianity, that God exists, and has communicated with man, come under
fire in postmodern thinking. This is the reason that Francis Schaeffer's well known trilogy of
books bear the titles that they do: The God Who Is There, Escape from Reason, and He Is There
and He Is Not Silent. In the opening sentence of The God Who is There he states, “the present
chasm between the generation has been brought about almost entirely by a change in the concept
7 Shaeffer, The Complete Works of Francis Shaeffer Vol. 1, 9.
8 David F. Wells, God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams (Grand Rapids, MI:
Eerdmans, 1994), 27.
7
of truth.”9 One of the first truths that is questioned by postmodern man is in fact the existence of
God Himself. For theologians wishing to be postmodern the question can also be seen as one of
whether God is who He has always been thought to be.10 In postmodern thought, even truths that
were generally accepted regarding the universe are in play because no universal truths are
acknowledged as real or true either.11 What becomes of truth in this culture? It degenerates into
nonsense. In trying to define the postmodern understanding of God's law, Lokken falls into
absurdity:
The law so received as artifact is far from a self-evident object, as modernity contends,
but in a postmodern way is open in that it constantly presents itself ever anew and
productively in a multiplicity of ways, lending itself to a fecundity of interpretations, all
of them potentially truthful from the standpoint of the wholeness of some legitimate
perspective. Thus, the truth of a law is never finished. Further, we as interpreters of the
law, as a second horizon, are also never finished. 12
Here truth as a universal concept has clearly been superseded by an appeal to the individual
interpretation of truth itself. He goes on to explain that God's law becomes an “empty
generality” when one attempts to apply it so that the law has no meaning whatsoever until or
unless it is experienced personally.13 And this is not an isolated belief in postmodern theology.
In his critique of Reginald Stackhouse, Richard Davis shows that Stackhouse came to the
realization that none of the things he believed by “faith” could be verified independently in such
a way that another person couldn't dispute them in true postmodern fashion. Because of this, he
came to the point that he could no longer consider his own faith to be objectively true and instead
9 Shaeffer, The Complete Works of Francis Shaeffer Vol. 1, 5.
10 Richard B. Davis, “Can there be an 'orthodox' postmodern theology?” Journal of the Evangelical Theological
Society 45 no 1. Mr 2002: 111-123. Database online. ATLA; accessed December 1, 2008. 114.
11 Lokken, “Word, world, and a postmodern theology of law”, 290.
12 Ibid., 294.
13 Ibid.
8
felt the need to hold it subjectively without any claim to universality of its truth.14 In pushing
these logical gymnastics to their foregone conclusions, Davis comes to the realization that the
truth of God for postmodern theologians boils down to a symbolic construct. God is conceived
of on an individual level and found to be whatever that person decides Him to be.15 This is
confirmed by Schaeffer's observation that postmodern theology cannot give any answers in the
realm of facts or knowledge as truth because it insists on destroying the foundation of that
knowledge as based on any objectively observable truth either from history or the universe
itself.16 Therefore, the end result of postmodern influence in the area of truth is to undermine or
disregard it completely.
Postmodern Influences on Worship
Jesus once said, “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”17
Having seen the devastation that postmodern theologians have brought to the concepts of truth as
God has revealed it, it is easy to understand that worship in spirit and truth is a tricky proposition
in a postmodern frame of mind. Postmodern worship in the church has taken some
characteristics that are immanently predictable. One of the problems is that worship is more
focused on the individual worshipers and their “felt needs”. Churches are attempting to pattern
their worship services to meet the demands of the majority. This leads to battles over music
styles and presentation quality rather than theological content in the music or even the
participation of the congregation.18 It is a reflection of the self-centered nature of postmodern
14
15
16
17
18
Davis, “Can there be an 'orthodox' postmodern theology?”, 116.
Ibid., 121.
Shaeffer, The Complete Works of Francis Shaeffer Vol. 1, 101.
John 4:24 (New International Version)
Marva J. Dawn, “Worship for postmodern times”, Lutheran Theological Journal 42, no. 2 (August 1): 68-76.
http://www.proquest.com/ (accessed December 1, 2008).
9
thought and has been observed that more and more contemporary “Christian” songs are
indistinguishable from secular love ballads. A point in case would be songs like, Every
Heartbeat, made popular by Amy Grant some years ago. The first verse uses the words
testimony and witness in speaking about the singers “one and only”. The chorus says that “every
heartbeat bears your name” without specifying who the “your” is and the second verse proceeds
to a story of a boy and girl falling in love.19 Some have labeled this trend as “God is my
girlfriend” music.20 It has even found its way into modern hymnbooks. The newest hymnals put
out by Lifeway press contain songs that could be sung by anyone in love, like Draw Me Close.
Not only is God's name nowhere to be found in the song, it includes phrases like, “to feel the
warmth of Your embrace”.21 Fortunately, the word Your is capitalized in the lyrics or one might
never know that God is being sung about here. With the meaning left completely up to the
singer in a postmodern setting, these songs ultimately lose any concrete meaning.
Postmodern worship then is almost completely oriented around the worshipers rather than the
One who is to be worshiped. Wells speaks to this in his discussion of the weightlessness of God
in postmodern life. He says that in a postmodern, “psychologized” culture there is a
preoccupation with the love of God as reflected in the worship of that love perhaps combined
with an embarrassment or uneasiness at the holiness, truth or morality of God.22 Dawn offers
some insights on how the church has been influenced by postmodernism by suggesting a better
way to worship in a postmodern climate. The church must move away from singing “narcissistic
19 Lyrics obtained from website http://romantic-lyrics.com/le11.shtml, accessed December 2, 2008. Song lyrics
originally written by Amy Grant, Wayne Kirkpatrick, and Charlie Peacock
20 Bob Kauflin, Worship Matters, “Expressing Love to God”; available from
http://www.worshipmatters.com/2005/11/expressing-love-to-god-in-worship/; Internet; accessed December 2,
2008.
21 Baptist Hymnal (Nashville, TN: Lifeway Worship, 2008), song number 482.
22 Wells, God in the Wasteland, 114.
10
ditties” and toward songs that have “theological depth, biblical images and motivation to be
about God's purposes of witnessing, justice building, and peace making in the world”.23 Since
worship is about more than just the music that is sung in church, another key component of this
discussion is the effect of postmodernism on preaching and teaching in the church.
Postmodern Influences on Preaching and Teaching
The influence of postmodern thought on the practice of preaching and teaching is widespread
and insidious. In a world where two plus two does not necessarily equal four, courtesy of
“whole math” in the school system, it will be increasingly difficult to find pastors and teachers in
church who are willing to say that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life with authority and
conviction matched with worshipers and learners who can give their hearty agreement. What
happens in this climate is that religious truth becomes subject to the same thinking that allows
the answer to two plus two to be “creatively” determined. Postmodernism has given the church a
climate where truth is determined by the individual hearer or reader and God's Word has become
a casualty. According to Wells, this “captivity to our own selves” must be broken in order to
understand God's Word correctly.24 The postmodern influence on the church has yielded a body
of believers who still demonstrate and possibly confess traditional Christian orthodoxy, but who
have no firm basis for their belief that would hold up to scrutiny. Many in fact believe that the
Christian answer is only one of many and that other faiths with apparently contradictory beliefs
are also true.25
In fact, religion is becoming little more that a framework from which to make
decisions which benefit the individual. It is a religion which is “non-theological because it is a
23 Dawn, “Worship for Postmodern Times”, 76.
24 Wells, “Christian Discipleship in a Postmodern World”, 26
25 Ibid., 24.
11
religion in which God is distant, his truth is non-invasive, and Christian faith is non-particular.”26
It is this climate that allows Oprah to refer to herself as a Christian while simultaneously saying
that Jesus isn't the only way to heaven because that doesn't “feel right to her”. In fact the whole
idea of presenting teaching or preaching that are unapologetically Christian is now thought to be
a bad idea in some circles. The end result are events like “holiday” light shows put on by a
church to avoid the “stigma” of the word Christmas in the hope that they will draw more
unbelievers.27 Postmodern influence has intimidated many believers from a willingness to make
exclusive claims regarding Christ. Preaching and teaching are more a matter of perspective and
measurable effectiveness in a postmodern church than they are about communicating truth.
When the Culture Defines the Church
Many churches and parachurch ministries have become so concerned over influence from
postmodern culture that they have turned their primary focus to counter the influence of that
culture rather than making or training disciples as Christ commanded. Rather than seeking to
“strengthen those things that remain,”28 many are trying to weaken those things that they feel
may weaken believers. A survey of Jesus Christ's teaching in the New Testament doesn't reveal
any commands to “change the culture.” His commands to be salt and light go hand in hand with
the command to make more disciples. Light doesn't change the darkness; it overcomes it by its
presence. The more light there is, the less dark one can find. Perhaps the most dangerous
mistake made by the postmodern church is the attempt to change the culture outside the church
instead of becoming complete inside and reaching out to make more disciples. In some quarters,
26 Ibid., 29.
27 Truth Matters, “Topeka Bible Church Taking Christ Out of Christmas to Reach the Unbelievers”; available from
http://bloodtippedears.blogspot.com/2008/11/topeka-bible-church-taking-christ-out.html; accessed December 4,
2008.
28 Revelation 3:2 (NIV)
12
the church has become so enmeshed with the culture around it that it is no longer possible to
distinguish the two.
Speaking to Postmodern Culture with Biblical Theology
There are several important lessons to learn from the church's experiences with postmodern
thinking both good and bad. Postmodernism has allowed the church to see some areas of
thought and action that were and are weak or insufficient. David Wells points out that one of the
positive understandings to be gained is the reminder that the Christian faith is not limited to a
single culture or area. The globalization that has accompanied modernism and postmodernism
has made it clear to Christians all over the world that there is a far broader way to look at the
faith than just the “Western” view that has dominated widely for many centuries.29 It is a terrible
indictment to realize how closely the church has tied itself to culture in the Western world when
people speak of Christianity as a “white man's religion.” Truly this is never what Christ intended
His Church to be. Based on the areas that have been examined for postmodern influence, what
are some prescriptive measures that the church can take in those areas to reclaim its status as the
salt and light that it is intended to be?
Recovering Truth in a Relative World
The biggest challenge for many may be holding the line on the idea of objective truth as
revealed by God and even as shown in nature. The truth of the Bible cannot be compromised if
Christianity and the church are to have any meaning in this postmodern world. Before any kind
of evangelism to a postmodern world can be accomplished, whether one-on-one or in a group
setting, the authority and truth of the Scripture must be both firmly believed and unashamedly
taught. Wells says that God must break each individual of the captivity to self and to subjectivist
29 Wells, “Christian Discipleship in a Postmodern World”, 32-33
13
authority over the Word of God, before anyone can hear it or understand it at all.30 In a sense,
postmodernism has helped the church in this task according to Wells, because they have affirmed
that the self-centered perspective a person brings to the text impacts their understanding of the
text. Christians can affirm this and open the door to talk about the influence of sin on human
understanding and the need for God to break those bonds.31 Schaeffer says much the same thing
about truth for the modern and now postmodern world. He says that the Bible can be affirmation
of God's existence and His truth at the same time. Science was originally based on the idea that
an organized creator made an organized creation. Those facts have not changed and stand ready
as a witness to objective truth.32
Intellectual Challenge or Spiritual Penetration
There seem to be two methods then suggested for confronting postmodern man with Biblical
truth which must remain foundational to the gospel message. Should it be an intellectual
challenge or should the church entreat God to change peoples hearts and minds with His Spirit?
Frankly, both will be needed to tackle the problem fully, but based on the individual case one or
the other approach may be a more effective starting point. Some people respond very well to
intellectual arguments and apologetic styles. People like Josh McDowell and Lee Strobel who
have come to know Christ through intellectual pursuit can speak to people who are open to that
type of witness. They also do a valuable job of maintaining the integrity of knowledge and truth
in the church. On the other side of the spectrum in many ways are ministries like Way of the
Master, whose primary method of reaching out with the truth of God's message begins in the area
of the conscience before necessarily engaging the intellect and apologetic defenses. Both are
30 Ibid., 26.
31 Ibid., 27
32 Shaeffer, The Complete Works of Francis Shaeffer Vol. 1, 100-101.
14
effective in their own right and neither of the approaches gives an inch when it comes to
upholding Biblical truth. The main challenge before the church in a postmodern climate is
maintaining God as the center of all that is done, believed, taught and preached.
The Church in the 21st Century
So what is the church to do in the 21st century to insure that it doesn't lose the witness of the
previous twenty centuries before it? Francis Schaeffer had some interesting insights that are still
relevant to the church today and beyond. He challenged the church not to operate on “the basis
of memory” of the past and long for the good old days, but to instead take the freedom that God
has given in Scripture to be salt and light to the culture in which it is found.33 The church must
be the polar opposite of the postmodern world. It must provide the alternative to the
hopelessness and muddled thinking that prevails in postmodern culture, by standing up for
objective truth and reason. The church cannot couch its arguments in the language of the
postmodern mind and hope that nothing is lost in the process, it must be willing to define and
explain what the truth is and why. These are not times for the faint of heart. As Paul said two
thousand years ago, “for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against
the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the
heavenly realms.”34
Conclusion
Finally, what is the best way for theology to address postmodernism? There have been many
different solutions proposed and even tried with mixed results. Based on the research for this
study and observation of the world around us, I would have to say that we cannot flinch or shrink
33 Francis A. Schaeffer, The Complete Works of Francis Schaeffer: A Christian Worldview, Vol. 4, A Christian
View of the Church, (Westchester, IL: Crossway, 1982), 87.
34 Ephesians 6:12 (NIV)
15
back in the face of this challenge to the faith. We need to insure that the faith we teach is
Biblically sound and unapologetically so. We must make sure that the truth we claim is backed
up by the life we lead or others will not take us seriously in this postmodern world.35 Most
importantly, the Church must know and understand that God is not shocked or surprised by this
development in our culture and world. His Word was given to us for such a time as this and His
Spirit works with us in this world to accomplish His plan. His command to the church is still the
same one that was given in Matthew 28 and His promise to be with us is still true. As Paul said
in Romans 3:4, “Let God be true, and every man a liar.” In a time when every man seems to
have trouble discerning the truth from a lie, we have a firm foothold that hasn't changed and will
not change. He is the same yesterday and today and forever.36
35 Schaeffer, The Complete Works of Francis Schaeffer: A Christian Worldview, Vol. 4, 96.
36 Hebrews 13:8 (NIV)
16
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Davis, Richard B. “Can there be an 'orthodox' postmodern theology?” Journal of the Evangelical
Theological Society 45 no 1. Mr 2002: 111-123. Database online. ATLA; accessed December
1, 2008.
Dawn, Marva J. “Worship for postmodern times”. Lutheran Theological Journal 42, no. 2
(August 1): 68-76. http://www.proquest.com/ (accessed December 1, 2008).
DiBernardo, Sabatino. “American Idol(atry): A Religious Profanation.” Journal of Religion and
Popular Culture 19 (Summer 2008): 1-16. Database online. UMI-Proquest; accessed
December 1, 2008
Erickson, Millard J. Christian Theology: Second Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic
1998.
Grenz, Stanley J. “Eschatological theology: contours of a postmodern theology of hope” Review
& Expositor 97, no 3 (Sum 2000): 291-377. Database online. ATLA; accessed December 1,
2008.
Hobson, Theo. “Rethinking postmodern theology.” Modern Believing 47, no 3 (Jl 2006): 10-20.
Database online. ATLA; accessed December 1, 2008.
Klemm, David E. “Toward a rhetoric of postmodern theology: through Barth and Heidegger.”
Journal of the American Academy of Religion 55, no 3 (Fall 1987): 443-469. Database
online. ATLA; accessed December 1, 2008.
Lokken, Paul J. “Word, world and a postmodern theology of law.” Word & World 21 no 3 (Sum
2001): 289-296. Database online. ATLA; accessed December 1, 2008.
Martini, Carlo Maria. “Teaching the Faith in a Postmodern World.” America 198 no 16 (May 12,
2008): 16-20. Database online. UMI-Proquest; accessed December 1, 2008.
Schaeffer, Francis A. The Complete Works of Francis Schaeffer: A Christian Worldview, Vol. 1,
A Christian View of Philosophy and Culture. Westchester, IL: Crossway, 1982.
Schaeffer, Francis A. The Complete Works of Francis Schaeffer: A Christian Worldview, Vol. 4,
A Christian View of the Church. Westchester, IL: Crossway, 1982.
Stanley, Timothy. “Speaking Credibly? Communicating Christian Particularism in Postmodern
Contexts.” International Review of Mission. (January 1, 2008): 21-20. Database online. UMIProquest; accessed December 1, 2008.
Towns, Elmer L. Theology for Today. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson, 2002.
17
Wells, David F. “Christian Discipleship in a Postmodern World.” Journal of the Evangelical
Theological Society 51, no 1 (March 1, 2008): 19-33. Database online. UMI-Proquest;
accessed December 1, 2008.
Wells, David F. God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams.
Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1994.