Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Signs of the Times: modernity and post-modernity




It’s a cliché to state that the world today, compared to fifty years ago, is a vastly different place.  In western societies a lot of changes can be related to a shift in human thinking.  Often this shift is described as a move from modernity to post-modernity.  This move seems to affect all areas of life.

European nations saw themselves as culturally superior to other people groups.  Especially racial differences were studied with scientific rigor to support the notion that, “We are best; down with the rest!”  Today it is appalling for most of us to read about the study of eugenics (the promotion and protection of ‘our good genes’) and how it was used as a rational ground for the abuse or extermination of people groups of (presumed) inferior standing.  And yet, Nazi Germany was not alone in this approach, for the study of eugenics was embraced by many western nations.* Both the pretentious status of scientific research and the belief in one’s own group’s superiority are characteristic for modernity.  In anthropology class we learned about the rampant ethnocentricity of the past, while we noticed how many modern researchers drifted to cultural relativism.  This latter -typically postmodern- approach refuses to condemn any cultural ceremonies or traditions.  So, they would argue that we have no right to condemn cannibalism, female circumcision or child abuse if they are integrated into a culture not our own.  We may be appalled, but that would be merely the result of our western prejudices and the underlying Christian roots.

“Science rules”, or so claims Bill Nye, the science guy.  Until recently science and technology were the new gods of western society.  Many Canadian schools  still use a science textbook that starts the unit on “Weather & Climate” with a picture of the god Zeus in front of a tornado.  The accompanying text suggests that primitive societies were scared of natural powers, which were ascribed to angry gods.  Today, in our modern societies we no longer need to believe in gods that control the weather.  Modern man has scientific knowledge to understand the laws of nature.  Indeed, over the last century or so, westerners have been bombarded with the doctrine that Faith and Science are incompatible approaches.  Only science can lay claim to verifiable and objective truth, whereas faith is based on subjective speculations, which result in disagreements, troubles, and war.  This religion-like faith in one’s own objectivity and the power of human reason to attain to the truth were characteristic of modernity.  Now, most people realize that “scientific truth” is pregnant with personal biases and cultural presuppositions.  Although most westerners are still addicted to the newest technological toys, postmodern netizens (citizens of the virtual global village) no longer believe that science will bring heaven on earth.  The radical postmodernists even argue that we cannot have any meaningful communication, for each of us would attach our own unique meanings to the words used.  This trend, however, is bound to self-destruct.  Why should we try to understand philosophers who strongly argue that nothing can be understood?  Such thinking must lead to the abolition of education and the collapse of the modern civilization.

As Science lost its lofty status as the guardian of the objective truth, Christian apologetics gained confidence.  Scholars carefully built up case after case of evidence that pointed to the reliability of the New Testament.  Even many secular historical scholars today admit that there is good historical evidence that Jesus Christ died on the cross and was raised on the third day!  They must be amazed that there is more (and more reliable) historical material about Jesus of Nazareth than about most emperors of Rome!  And yet, just as this material was becoming available, people lost their interest in finding truth.  It seems that Satan had already switched his strategies. Until recently, Christianity was denied a place among those who hold the truth, while now the western world shrugs its shoulders and replies, “What is truth?”

D.A. Carson, in his book “The Gagging of God” (chapter 3) reminds us that the breakup of modernity is not all bad.  “Christian thinkers have often mistaken their own tradition with the sum of all truth.  Theology can become an agent of political correctness; Christian institutions can become corrupt; preachers can ratify the status quo, even when reformation is urgently needed.  If deconstruction helps some to overthrow the hegemony of mere traditionalism, let us be thankful!”
Conform to the modernist mindset, churches often suffered from denominational pride. Some would take pride in their piety, others in their purity of doctrine, and yet others in their charismatic gifts or care for the less privileged.  In the churches where doctrine was of the greatest importance, there was great emphasis on and confidence in human reasoning.  Systematic theology was embraced as tool to package the biblical teachings in a neat framework of dogmas, which should be passed on through the generations to safeguard the true doctrine as the essence of the genuine church.  Just like the secular scientists of the time, there was an optimistic attitude towards human understanding of the biblical truth.  Although reformed churches formally subscribed to “sola scriptura”, in practice the Scriptures had to be read and interpreted through the lens of ancient creeds, like “the forms of unity”.  Over time, their primary purpose of world-wide missions often became the conversion of churches and Christians to the reformed faith.  The prevailing mindset seemed to be, ‘It may be of some value to be a Christian, but if you’re not reformed, you are either misinformed or just not a real Christian.’  

In my early blogs I wrote about “the Centre of the Universe”.  In modernity we see our own nation or culture, or indeed our own church group as the centre of the universe: ‘We are the best; we have the truth!  Just listen to us, and don’t ask any critical questions in catechism class!’  Early on, I began to question those things that were presented to me as indisputable truths.  I had a lot of respect for the kid that first yelled that “The emperor walks in his underwear!”  So, I tried to look at issues from a new and fresh perspective.  I love to read Vinoth Ramachandra, who makes it his specialty to expose the myths of modern culture for instance in his book “Subverting Global Myths”.  I realized that we must also critically examine our life and doctrine in the church.  What are our blind spots and our idols?  What are our “shrines” that are more sacred than they ought to be?  Is it really God in Christ, who is at the centre of our church, our preaching, and our lives?

For those who follow my blog it shall be clear that it is my conviction that the church must stay clear of the excesses of modernity as well as postmodernity.  We must repent of denominational pride and doctrinal arrogance, while we continue to give leadership and guidance in an increasingly confusing reality.  We may see the truth as in a “foggy mirror”, but that is not to say that there is no truth or that we cannot discern any of it.  We can never lay claim to the pure doctrine, but we must not reject the need for an ‘asymptote-approach’ in our quest for a better understanding through the honest listening to God’s Word and Spirit.  

I already wrote about the damage of the New Hermeneutics (Shelob’s Web).  We have been warned that “We must test the Spirits to see whether they are from God” and that anything spiritual that contradicts the teaching of Christ and his apostles must be rejected.  Yet, in the postmodern church growth movement it seems that the postmodern approach to the Word of God is used to turn this around.  This is what “apostle” Bill Johnson tries to teach us: “Those who feel safe because of their intellectual grasp of Scriptures enjoy a false sense of security. None of us has a full grasp of Scripture, but we all have the Holy Spirit. He is our common denominator who will always lead us into truth.  Problem is, that he has just thrown overboard the very tool to test the spirits and thereby opened wide the door for other, deceiving spirits.  In the book “The Physics of Heaven”** big church leaders of today (like Bill Johnson) are trying to convince us that all Jesus’ miracles were done by him as human being only, not to prove that He is God.  Therefore, we can do the same things and raise the dead and all such things.   We must look at the New Age for techniques (which they stole from the church!) to help us to accomplish this.  To me, this sounds super scary (like Rev. 16: 14), but many Christians today get terribly upset if anyone dares to suggest that Satan has high-jacked the church growth movement of today. 

So, the church must go through this transition phase, and there will be fall-out.  Some will hold fast to modernity; they will lose their ability to reform and to address the public arena.  They will collapse into a holy huddle to worship the good old religion, but they will have lost the transforming power of the Spirit.  Others will embrace the change, throw out the baby with the bathwater, and focus more in blessing Babylon than on building the City of God.  Some will fall prey to the New Age, as they can no longer test the spirits to see whether or not they are from God.  May there be a large majority that seeks to hold on to the truth, avoiding the mistakes of the past and the new reality that is upon us.  Yet, if the great denominations are to fail and sink like the Titanic, we may have to plant new house groups as life boats for survival.

*BBC documentary: Scientific Racism: The Eugenics of Social Darwinism
**http://heavensphysics.com/