The Problem Specific to Christianity
The reason that Postmodernism becomes problematic
for non-pluralistic religions like Christianity is because of its
illogical proposition that there can be no valid absolute truth claims. Any
person, religion or belief system that would be so bold as to make an absolute
truth claim like Christianity is therefore deemed or condemned by postmodernism
as an invalid view because of its exclusivist truth claim(s). Monotheistic religions tend to do this by
their nature because they call people to believe in one God therefore making a
truth claim to a single deity or Godhead. Judaism, Islam and Christianity are by their very nature exclusivist.
Christianity is exceptionally exclusivist because in
its main underlying premises and doctrines, it makes exacting demands on
humanity and explains the reality of the universe and man’s place in it in
explicit rock-solid and unwavering terms. These are the enemy of the
postmodernist. Christianity shows that humanity is naturally sinful and fallen
in their natural condition due to Original Sin. It even shows that salvation is
not by works only through faith in God (even Islam and Judaism don’t believe
this). Although Postmodernism will acknowledge evil, the truth is they have no
suitable explanation of its origins, nor do they have a way to deal with it.
This is probably because it is hard for them to define and pin down in an
absence of absolute or objective truth(s) (Webber 40-41). Christianity believes that humanity is
incapable of any good without the involvement of the Holy Spirit or God as
described in the Bible. The Bible further ratchets-up the demands and makes
further absolute truth claims when it states that there is absolutely no way to
the Father or eternal life except through Jesus Christ and acceptance of the
Gospel which is the very essence of Christianity (Webber 31, 39-40, 43, 50).
Christianity is extremely exclusivist in its worldview and its means/path to salvation.
There is no pluralism here in terms of gods, paths to salvation or means of
redemption. There is only one way to salvation and it is explicitly spelled out
and literally demanded as entry to Heaven. As such Christianity is the virtual
antithesis of the postmodernist worldview and it is viewed negatively because
of this.
The Inclusivism of the Non-Christianity Crowd
Interestingly, those religions that are not
monotheistic, inclusivist, not dedicated to absolute truth claims but rather
have a plurality or pantheon of gods or focus on the individual “self’s/selves/
or no self” as paths to enlightenment tend to be more tolerated by a
postmodernist worldview (Newport 68-69, 84). We see the same in worldviews like
the Neo-Paganism or Ancient Nature Religions such as Druidism and Wicca due to the
wide variety of paths and variety of beliefs (pluralism). This appears to be
because of their “live and let live attitude” and complete lack of exacting
demands on the adherents other than the nebulous and nearly meaningless mantra:
“Do no harm”. This is because all of these religions allow for a plurality or
diversity of more than one possible truth. Because of this we tend to see
pluralistic religions (Bahai), religions focusing on many individual paths to
salvation/enlightenment (Buddhism) or religions that give off the appearance of
plurality and tolerance (Hinduism) thrive in Postmodern culture/society (Newport
68-69, 83-85). This is not to say that the religions have to be pluralistic in
the purest sense, they just need to appear to be. Although religions like Bahai
and Hinduism will claim to be monotheistic, this needs to be viewed as a
probable misuse of the term. Hinduism says God can take many forms but is
manifestations of one God. If anything Hinduism and Baha’ism appear to be henotheistic
which means that they believe in one supreme or a specially venerated god who
is not the only god or deity possible (“Henotheism” Merriam-Webster 2012). Baha’ism
on the other hand is pluralistic in its acceptance of many religion’s prophets
as all being manifestations or the One True God. Therefore, to call these two
religions monotheistic is a dubious assertion
The Real Hidden Danger of Postmodernism
The reason the aforementioned antithetical
relationship is so dangerous to Christianity is because postmodernism appears
to have run amok in the United States which is one of the most influential
entities in the world. It has also crossed over geo-political boundaries to
other countries but is appears to have jump over what amounts to theological/philosophical
boundaries also or the imaginary boundary between Church and State. It has
breached into not only our government but also our churches. If churches are to
be the last bastion of truth and even they are becoming polluted with this
pluralistic mindset of truth, where are people to turn? Where will truth be
found?
With no obvious anchor for truth, therefore no
anchor for morality to be based on, morality and truth are cut loose and left
adrift on an indefinable sea of uncertainty for both church and the culture. It
is because the real hidden danger of postmodernism to Christianity is that it
seems to deny the ability to know things for sure. It can even undermine the
construction or deconstruct language by stating that words can be interpreted
differently (Webber 23, Westphal 128). Because of this, the textually extensive
Bible becomes this ever shifting morass of ancient languages that would need to
be open to everyone’s subjective interpretations that are subject to the
reader’s presuppositions. This is exactly what we have begun to see in the
culture. Socialists come to the text with a “Social Gospel” style approach
where man needs to make the changes to usher in the Kingdom of God. Homosexuality
comes to the text with a favorable hermeneutic towards homosexuality and so on.
Due to these factors, the underpinnings of both moral and spiritual truth
become subject to question and opened perpetually to re-evaluation. This means
that the absolute truths or objective truths contain within the Bible
(Groothuis 67) then become forever suspect to a Postmodernist (Slick, paragraph
4).
For a Christian, this is an untenable premise. It
completely undermines the Christian at its core: The Scriptures and what
Scripture say about Jesus Christ. In a modern human civilization mostly founded
on the pursuit of truth through Scholasticism’s clear absolute propositions
about nature, time, space, God, predictability (i.e.: Christian-like belief)
there was structure and cogency. Now, as humanity drifts away from this there
is mounting confusion, disorder and therefore moral debasement resulting (German
983, Slick, paragraph 14).
These two beliefs / religions: Christianity and
Postmodernism, contradict one another and are therefore irreconcilable and nor
should they be reconciled on moral and spiritual grounds (Moreland 86). If they
are homogenized what will result is a modern from of syncretism (or moral
syncretism). Both cannot make claims to absolute truth at the same time.
Postmodernism may make most of its claims about subjective truth but by saying
Christianity itself cannot make its claims, it is trying to override another
faith that lives by absolute truth statements. It thereby oversteps its
supposed “subjective” bounds. Therefore, according to the Law of
Non-Contradiction and other logic arguments, one must abandoned the
Postmodernist religion as untenable.
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