Jesus Is the Bridge Ministries

Key Verses: Ecclesiastes 1:9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

1 Corinthians 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.

Postmodernism began as a philosophical movement, primarily in France, starting in the early seventies. It has since taken hold in the social sciences, and is taught as a valid interpretation of reality in many colleges and universities. Essentially it says that the modern age, which began with the Renaissance and reached its peak with the Industrial Revolution, has now passed, and should be rejected. In its place, postmodernism proposes intuition in place of the scientific method and reason, chaos instead of order, and subjective reality in place of objective reality. There is no external reality, these thinkers say, only the perception of that reality that exists in our minds. Postmodernists propose to "deconstruct" existing theories, writings, and beliefs, and show that they are all based in fallacy. Experience is everything; experiment is meaningless.

This would seem to have little to do with Christianity, since it involves the challenge of one worldly philosophy by another one. What the world thinks and does, though, inevitably affects the church, and challenges our continuing ability to witness effectively. The "ism" of modernism that has had the most devastating impact on the church is secular humanism, with its insistence that the methods of science leave no room for a God who cannot be seen, measured, or quantified. Postmodernists also say that there is no God, but the reason is that there is no objective reality outside of what we perceive. They would also say there are no moral absolutes, only what each of us perceives as being right and real. One example given is homosexuality; since men perceive of other men as fulfilling the female role, and women, other women as filling the male role, this is a valid perception of reality.

Carried to its ultimate conclusion, postmodernism is anarchy, with each person being a law unto him or herself. This was what happened in Israel during the time of the Judges (Judges 17:6, and others), and God describes such people as fools (Proverbs 12:15). The philosophy is a very dangerous one, and may well result in the kind of utter chaos that opens the way to the Antichrist, who will offer order in place of chaos. Since this is another tool in Satan's arsenal, God's people should become familiar with it, and what it means for us in the years to come.

Jesus Is the Bridge Ministries

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