Post-Modern

[Woody]

Why is the buzz word 'postmodern' placed in such negative terms? I haven't looked up the definition yet. But it is so often one that bring chills down ones spine the way it is used. I am just wondering is it warrented?

[Gail]

Faithly speaking, I think it conjures up visions of questionings and a non-belief in absolute truth. This in turn could lead to a lack of faith.

[Woody]

Thanks Gail.

But isn't questioning a good thing. If they were not questioning .. I would worry.

[Gail]

Questioning CAN be a good thing. We are certainly admonished by the Bible to reason together and that calls for a certain amount of questioning.

But there is a point where we need to humble ourselves before the throne of God and at the foot of the cross. Otherwise our questionings will only go as far as mankind himself can answer. And faith in man doesn't reach very high...

I would say as the wise man in Ecclesiastes that there is a time to speak and a time to keep silent. If questionings without trust were allowed to dominate, then faithlessness just might be the result, especially if they were of the flavour of questioning God's authority or power.

Ponderings about science or deep themes- I'm all for that. I doubt that we would ever be able to catch up to God for depth of thought!

[Woody]

[CoAspen]

Here you go Woody, Maybe you can explain it better...I'm confused!!

Postmodernism

Postmodernism is a movement away from the viewpoint of modernism. More specifically it is a tendency in contemporary culture characterized by the problem of objective truth and inherent suspicion towards global cultural narrative or meta-narrative. It involves the belief that many, if not all, apparent realities are only social constructs, as they are subject to change inherent to time and place. It emphasizes the role of language, power relations, and motivations; in particular it attacks the use of sharp classifications such as male versus female, straight versus gay, white versus black, and imperial versus colonial. Rather, it holds realities to be plural and relative, and dependent on who the interested parties are and what their interests consist in. It attempts to problematise modernist overconfidence, by drawing into sharp contrast the difference between how confident speakers are of their positions versus how confident they need to be to serve their supposed purposes. Postmodernism has influenced many cultural fields, including literary criticism, sociology, linguistics, architecture, visual arts, and music.

Postmodernist thought is an intentional departure from modernist approaches that had previously been dominant. The term "postmodernism" comes from its critique of the "modernist" scientific mentality of objectivity and progress associated with the Enlightenment.

These movements, modernism and postmodernism, are understood as cultural projects or as a set of perspectives. "Postmodernism" is used in critical theory to refer to a point of departure for works of literature, drama, architecture, cinema, journalism, and design, as well as in marketing and business and in the interpretation of law, culture, and religion in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.[1] Indeed, postmodernism, particularly as an academic movement, can be understood as a reaction to modernism in the Humanities. Whereas modernism was primarily concerned with principles such as identity, unity, authority, and certainty, postmodernism is often associated with difference, plurality, textuality, and skepticism.

Literary critic Fredric Jameson describes postmodernism as the "dominant cultural logic of late capitalism." "Late capitalism" refers to the phase of capitalism after World War II, as described by economist Ernest Mandel; the term refers to the same period sometimes described by "globalization", "multinational capitalism", or "consumer capitalism". Jameson's work studies the postmodern in contexts of aesthetics, politics, philosophy, and economics.[2]

[Bravus]

Helping Cassie with her assignment at the moment, but will have something to say on this soon.

[Woody]

Looking forward to it Bravus. Hope you can explain the confusion.

[Bravus]

OK, just briefly, I see postmodernism in Lyotard's terms as 'suspicion of grand narratives'. 'Grand narratives' are ideas that claim to explain everything about life and the world. Marxism is one such grand narrative, that seeks to explain everything in materialist terms and in terms of class struggle and the means of production. Religions tend to be grand narratives too, with explanations for everything. Scientism can be a grand narrative as well.

(Side note: this form of postmodernism is not the same as an absolute relativism than believes all beliefs, values and ideas are of *equal* value. Some ideas are clearly 'better' than others. It simply asks 'better for whom?', 'better for what purposes?', 'better under what assumptions?')

To get back to Woody's question, I think a lot of the hostility and fear toward postmodern ways of viewing the world arise because religion, and in some ways particularly Seventh-day Adventism, has been understood by its adherents as inherently modernist. (Modernism, from the perspective of postmodernism, is the embrace of one or other grand narrative. Marxism, certain approaches to religion and scientism would all be seen as various forms of modernism.)

Personally, I don't think it's true that Christianity is essentially modernist. I think God transcends all our human schemes and ideas. A postmodernist may seek God's face in unfamiliar ways, while still seeking it.

Hope that's at least a little helpful.

[John317]

But isn't questioning a good thing. If they were not questioning .. I would worry.

Questioning is good but only if the questioner is listening for for answers and is sincerely seeking for truth. The problem is that many people don't want truth if it requires them to make changes they don't want to make. Jesus said this is the biggest reason people don't accept what He taught: they're not willing to do the will of the Father. John 7: 17,

Pilate asked, "What is truth?" But he wasn't willing to listen to Christ's answer, because he really didn't want to know the truth. John 18: 38.

[SivartM]

Questioning is good but only if the questioner is listening for for answers and is sincerely seeking for truth.

By which you and everyone else means, only if the questioner ends up with the same answers that I did.

[Woody]

Originally Posted By: John317

Questioning is good but only if the questioner is listening for for answers and is sincerely seeking for truth.

By which you and everyone else means, only if the questioner ends up with the same answers that I did.

I suspect you are right SivartM.

[John317]

Questioning is good but only if the questioner is listening for for answers and is sincerely seeking for truth.

Quote:

By which you and everyone else means, only if the questioner ends up with the same answers that I did.

No, it means only if God knows they are sincerely seeking for truth. We can't know that. God knows the mind and heart. Unless we see clear evidence to the contrary, we have to assume people are sincerely seeking for answers when they ask questions.