Despite my best efforts, of late I have once again become entangled in a series of arguments with my friends and colleagues concerning what amounts to a defense of a postmodern-Christianity. Even the term "postmodern" is inherently fraught with dangerous connotations, and I hesitate to use the word too much, but I believe it is a fairly accurate word, as long as we can agree on certain terms that it does and does not embody. For the purpose of today's entry, I will focus on one.
Taken from the preface to A Postmodern Reader, which is a collection of philosophical essays on the subject, the editor hits at a point that I find critical to such a discussion. He writes, "If one of the messages of the postmodern is that cultural values are always local and particular, and not universal and eternal...." He comes to certain conclusions, but I believe for the purpose of my defense, the simple statement that truths (yes, the "s" is there on purpose) are localized within specific communities.
I am aware that there are some buzz-words in the last paragraph that sets some of your radars off: "No such thing as eternal!", but hear me out. Throughout the centuries philosophers have struggled with notions of Truth and Beauty, and even the most valiant efforts have ended in frustration, because it these do not seem to be things that can be applied across a universal spectrum apart from setting cultural/communal norms to govern what is good or bad, right or wrong.
The Christian community is just that, a community. We have agreed upon certain principles to govern us - namely biblical morality. We have shaped all in the image of a Judeo-Christian understanding of God, and if we are willing to acquiesce to the notion that our understanding is still just that, OUR understanding, based upon perceptions ascertained through the imperfect human lenses of ourselves, then we can live and worship with definite senses of Truth, Beauty and Goodness.
The problem seems to come when we try to work our understanding of such things into universals. We come up with clever excuses why polygamy was allowed in ancient times, apparently approved by God then, but only for a limited time, and we rest comfortably that we are in the right. Murder is wrong, but not in the case of Just-War. Lying is sin, but not if it protects one's family from danger. The very fact that we cannot consistently hold to any ethic should not leave us disconcerted, though; rather, it should cause us to further embrace the very postmodern notion that Truth may be less definable than we hope. God is not castrated; he is mysterious and largely unknowable in any perfect sense.
Just some thoughts.
Taken from the preface to A Postmodern Reader, which is a collection of philosophical essays on the subject, the editor hits at a point that I find critical to such a discussion. He writes, "If one of the messages of the postmodern is that cultural values are always local and particular, and not universal and eternal...." He comes to certain conclusions, but I believe for the purpose of my defense, the simple statement that truths (yes, the "s" is there on purpose) are localized within specific communities.
I am aware that there are some buzz-words in the last paragraph that sets some of your radars off: "No such thing as eternal!", but hear me out. Throughout the centuries philosophers have struggled with notions of Truth and Beauty, and even the most valiant efforts have ended in frustration, because it these do not seem to be things that can be applied across a universal spectrum apart from setting cultural/communal norms to govern what is good or bad, right or wrong.
The Christian community is just that, a community. We have agreed upon certain principles to govern us - namely biblical morality. We have shaped all in the image of a Judeo-Christian understanding of God, and if we are willing to acquiesce to the notion that our understanding is still just that, OUR understanding, based upon perceptions ascertained through the imperfect human lenses of ourselves, then we can live and worship with definite senses of Truth, Beauty and Goodness.
The problem seems to come when we try to work our understanding of such things into universals. We come up with clever excuses why polygamy was allowed in ancient times, apparently approved by God then, but only for a limited time, and we rest comfortably that we are in the right. Murder is wrong, but not in the case of Just-War. Lying is sin, but not if it protects one's family from danger. The very fact that we cannot consistently hold to any ethic should not leave us disconcerted, though; rather, it should cause us to further embrace the very postmodern notion that Truth may be less definable than we hope. God is not castrated; he is mysterious and largely unknowable in any perfect sense.
Just some thoughts.
Boy you're not joking about a can of worms...! I think your post is definitely thought provoking and will most likely be the fodder of many conversations around the house today but I am not ready to say I agree with any of your philosophies.
Are trying to get your readers worked up??? You trouble-maker!
I like this post. A lot. I'll be thinking about this one for a long time and will comment again when I get my thoughts together. If I tried to lay out my thoughts right now they would be incomplete and jumbled.