Postmodernism

I'm currently reading 'A New Kind of Christian' by Brian McLaren. It takes the form of a fictional narrative between two friends, and is described in the blurb as 'a wise and wondrous approachfor revitalizing Christian spiritual life and Christian congregations.

I'm going to summarise what I've read so far, partly to make it all stay in my brain, and partly because I bet there are a few people out there who are as confused about postmodernism as I am and it my be helpful...

The modern world can be described as a period in history, roughly AD 500-1500. There are several characteristics of this era, such as conquest and control, for example from Columbus's explorations to the Western European world conquering areas such as philosophy, culture, economies, languages, religion and technology. The modern era was also an age of analysis, making the universe knowable and controllable through science. Absolute objectivity is important in the modern era, and what was still unknown was thought to be ultimately knowable. There was the highest faith in human reason to replace all mysteries with comprehension. It was an age of debate, dialect, argument and discussion, and also of individualism (as conquest and control is pursued, individuals are left disconnected) and consumerism.

To understand the term 'postmodernism', it's helpful to see 'modern' in terms of an historical age rather than meaning that which is in the present. So to be postmodern doesn't mean to be anti-modern or non-modern, it simply means to have experienced the modern world and to have been changed by the experience to such a degree that one is no longer modern. The postmodern era could be said to have started around 2000.

Before the modern era, there was the medieval era. The transition from medieval to modern was marked by some significant changes. For example, there was new communication technology in the form of the printing press. There was a new scientific worldview when Copernicus asserted that the earth is not the centre of the universe. A new intellectual elite emerged (people such as Galileo, Newton, Bacon) which challenged church authority and introduced a new epistemology (way of knowing). There was new transportation technology in the shape of the sailing ship which made the world seem smaller. There was also the decay of an old economic system and the rise of a new one, new military technology and a new attack on dominant authorities with a defensive reaction (notably the Protestant Reformation).

There are similar changes being seen today, indicating a change from the modern era to the postmodern. We have improved communications in radio/television/internet, new scientific ways of seeing the world and ourselves (eg post-Einsteinian theories of relativity, and theories such as expanding universe unsettling the modern, stable view of modern science). Postmodern philosophy is challenging existing elites. Air travel had greatly intensified the integration of world cultures, we have new economic structures including e-commerce, new military technology and a decline of institutional religion as it is attacked by secularism, materialism and urbanism.

Understanding this can give us a different perspective on Christianity today. To the Christians of medieval Europe, we would not be considered Christians, simply because we don't believe in things that were fundamental to their faith. For example, we don't believe that kings rule by divine right, we don't believe that God created a universe consisting of concentric spheres of ascending perfection, and we agree with Copernicus that the earth rotates around the sun.

All this leads to an important question: Is it possible that we as moderns have similarly intertwined a different but equally contingent worldview with our external faith? Is the modern version of Christianity destined to become a medieval cathedral? Our peers have already crossed the line into the postmodern world, but, wanting to be faithful to our Christian upbringings, so thoroughly enmeshed with modernity, few of us have. We need to venture ahead in our faith and learn to practise our faith and devotion to Christ in the new emerging culture of postmodernity.

So that's what I've read so far... and I have to admit it's hugely challenging to me, comfortable in my modern, absolutist faith. And also slightly scary - has my worldview contaminated my faith? Is it holding me back? How do we separate faith from its intertwined worldview?

At the same time, this book is proving to be an exciting journey. I've often felt that my faith is archaic compared to the views of my non-Christian friends, so maybe it would be an exciting challenge to be able to 'catch up' with my postmodern peers and make Christianity relevant to a postmodern world. Maybe more thoughts on this and the rest of 'A New Kind of Christian' in later posts.