THE GOAL OF POSTMODERNISM

(Post by: Lilly Hobbs)

This week, I am finishing my Philosophy college class, and as I did with many of my writings from my Government class, I am going to share a paper with you that I recently wrote for class. It addresses the topic and issue of Postmodernism, and its goal to dismantle Christianity by overturning traditional standards. I pray this opens your mind (as it did mine) to the influence the enemy has on our culture. The enemy has his fangs so deeply rooted in our culture, and I believe Jesus is calling us to go to war with Him against this evil that threatens many precious souls.

Postmodernism Paper

Postmodernism, in Western philosophy, is defined as a late 20th-century movement distinguished by its broad skepticism, subjectivism, or relativism; a general suspicion of reason; and an acute sensitivity to the role of ideology in asserting and maintaining political and economic power (Dunigan, 2020). The concept is primarily a reaction that is opposed to the intellectual assumptions and values of the modern period in the history of Western philosophy, which would have been around the 17th through the 19th century. The doctrines characteristically associated with Postmodernism can reasonably be explained as the uncomplicated denial of general philosophical viewpoints during the 18^th century Enlightenment.

Present revolutions have changed the direction of modern history. There are, really, three revolutions currently taking place, a revolution in science being one of them. The second is a revolution in philosophy, which aims to overturn traditional philosophic thinking, and lastly, there is a revolution in communication (Catorce, 2013).

Scientific thought has proven incorrect on multiple occasions. There was even a time when some people in the scientific world were convinced that the world was flat. It did not matter how confidently they believed and taught it to be true –– their position was still completely faulty. Modern secular science goes against a literal six-day creation, despite the fact that God clearly reveals this truth (Broggi, 2018). Many are troubled by the fact that Universities are suddenly turning experiential rather than rational. In our world today, youth especially, determine what is true by means of sight and not by means of critical thinking. Young people are not often challenged as to what they think regarding their worldview. God, however, has designed us with ears to listen and minds to think with conscience. We were made to think about how we think. At our present time, communication is purely visual and makes our eyes listen without the use of our conscience. Most of the intellectual battlefields today are on college campuses, where students’ deep convictions about race, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation and their social justice antipathy toward capitalism, imperialism, racism, white privilege, misogyny and “cissexist heteropatriarchy” have bumped up against the reality of contradictory facts and opposing views, leading to campus chaos and even violence (Shermer, 2017). This point goes hand-in-hand with the previous. Unlimited influence of technology has made critical thought obsolete. The evidence can be clearly seen when looking at my own generation. Young people are reliant upon social media, not only for communication, but for news and the truth. Many feel as if the media is trustworthy.

It is indeed the goal of Postmodernism to dismantle Christianity by overturning traditional standards. While Postmodernism may propose harmony and community, it is done at the expense of eliminating morality and the things we know to be good. While it seeks inter-relatedness and interdependence of all things, the end result is uncertainty (Catorce, 2013). Postmodernism teaches that the Bible is not something unique or distinct from all other books, and that the Laws of God are mere suggestions, or just another way of looking at reality. I cannot and will not believe in Postmodernism because I believe that the ONLY Absolute Truth is the living Word of God. The spiritual, the mental, the emotional, are all realities that the physical world simply cannot explain, but the Word of God does! It is a constant in a world that is consistently changing. The principle of relativity now expressed in arts, architecture, philosophy, economics, politics, language, literature, and texts will eventually produce a Post-modernized youth culture (Catorce, 2013).

After studying Postmodernism, I believe that Evangelical Christians should respond to it by asking two simple questions… Is the Word of God Absolute Truth, and are we willing to let people believe the lie that we are simply shaped by our culture and that there is nothing unique about mankind? If the answer to question one is yes, and the answer to question two is no, then we cannot compromise the things we know to be right and true by agreeing with Postmodernism thought.

SO WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE?

= Which of the three revolutions have you encountered the most?

= What are you going to do differently?

References

Broggi, C. (2018, August 24). Postmodernism. Answers In Genesis.

https://answersingenesis.org/world-religions/postmodernism/

Catorce, I. (2013, January 04). Post-Modernism and Its Influence on the Church. Asbury

Theological Seminary. https://asburyseminary.edu/elink/post-modernism-its-influence-in-the-church/

Dunigan, B. (2020, September 04). Postmodernism. Britannica.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/postmodernism-philosophy

Nash, R. (1999). Life’s Ultimate Questions: An Introduction to Philosophy. Zondervan.

Shermer, M. (2017, September 01). The Unfortunate Fallout of Campus Postmodernism.

Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-unfortunate-fallout-of-campus-postmodernism/