Toward a Theological Understanding of Postmodernism, by Daniel J. Adams

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 20:02:05 -0000

Highlights and Sticky Notes:

Theologian Tyron Inbody compares it to "intellectual Velcro dragged across culture" which "can be used to characterize almost anything one approves or disapproves."(1)

Umberto Eco, himself classified as a postmodern writer due in large part to his novel The Name of the Rose, has written of postmodernism, "I have the impression that it is applied today to anything the users of the term happen to like."(2)

We might say that postmodernity is the condition in which late twentieth-century culture finds itself; postmodernism is a reflection upon that condition and a response to it.

The postmodern is, therefore, a movement which has arisen in reaction to the modernism of Western civilization.

the process of modernization continues to bring capitalism, urbanization, technology, telecommunications, and Western popular culture to virtually every corner of the globe.

the postmodern should not be considered surprising, for the postmodern is a way of recognizing that the world is in a period of transition. It is a world "that has not yet discovered how to define itself in terms of what is, but only in terms of what it has just-now-ceased to be."(6)

"unsecularization of the world."

In the words of one observer, people "have seen these. . . . false gods fail. So now we have the old gods coming back."(9)

as a re-enchantment of the world that modernity tried to dis-enchant."(10)

postmodernity is restoring the sacred.

religion lies at the very heart of the postmodern condition.

The postmodern era can best be understood in terms of four major characteristics: the decline of the West, the legitimation crisis, the intellectual marketplace, and the process of deconstruction.(12)

Today there is an attempt to recover the fragmented remains of these cultures as well as make certain that Western cultural hegemony comes to an end.

The first of these characteristics of postmodernity is the decline of the West.

he second characteristic of postmodernity is what has come to be known as the legitimation crisis.

In the postmodern era it is no longer taken for granted that development is unlimited or even that certain kinds of development are necessarily good.(15)

When previously held metanarratives are deprived of their authority, what follows is a plurality of values.

In Western culture this has resulted in a fragmentation of society into special interest groups based on ethnicity, religion, and economic issues.

this same fragmentation is taking place in the mainline denominations and in contemporary theology.(17)

With postmodernity, however, comes a momentous change; no longer can cultural and religious knowledge and value be effectively controlled by the intellectual and political elite. Satellite television networks, computers, and fax machines have made both censorship and control obsolete.

A fourth characteristic of postmodernity is what has come to be known as the process of deconstruction. Deconstruction is exactly what the meaning of the word implies; it is the taking apart of texts somewhat like the process of peeling away the layers of an onion.

Deconstruction seeks to examine a text from all possible perspectives so that individual bits of information are extracted and separated from each other.

Thus "deconstruction categorically asserts the absolute impossibility of attributing to any text one single ultimate meaning."(21)

This means that sacred texts, such as the Bible, do not have a single ultimate meaning nor are such texts necessarily authoritative.

that postmodernity is a socio-cultural state of being.

Without universal standards, the problem of the postmodern world is not how to globalize superior culture, but how to secure communication and mutual understanding between cultures.(24)

Things which are plural in the postmodern world cannot be arranged in an evolutionary sequence, or be seen as each other's inferior or superior stages; neither can they be classified as "right" or "wrong" solutions to common problems. No knowledge can be assessed outside the context of the culture, tradition, language game, etc. which makes it possible and endows it with meaning.

pluralism is perhaps the most obvious result of the postmodern condition, and deconstruction eschews all forms of ultimate meaning. It can be said, however, that "postmodernism arises out of the disillusionment with the modern ideals felt by European intellectuals after World War II."(28)

a rejection of classical metaphysical thought.

In theology this rejection of classical metaphysics has taken the form of a shift from deductive theology to inductive theology.

the second major theme which is a rejection of human autonomy.

heology does not "fall from the skies" but is constructed within a complex socio-cultural matrix.(31)

nonfoundationalism,(32) which seeks to disassociate theology from objective foundations such as Scripture, creeds and confessions, and ecclesiastical tradition.

A third theme in postmodernism is praxis, that is, serious concern for the practical ethical aspects of human life.

The fourth major theme is a strong anti-Enlightenment stance.

"Theologians are the last universalists"

Nonfoundationalism in theology would seek to minimize the importance of Scripture, creeds and confessions, and church tradition.

We must purify our minds of the restrictive Christendom-centered theologies that have blurred the universality of Jesus Christ. . .

It may be that the time has come for theology to move a bit toward universalism in an attempt to recover that delicate but ever so important balance.

Tags: postmodernism religion theology

Posted by: stech1

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Toward a Theological Understanding of Postmodernism, by Daniel J. Adams