Once upon a time, Postmodernism was a buzzword. It was a new kind of belief system ~ though it would have rejected such a definition. It pronounced Modernism dead or at least in the throes of death. It was a wave that swept over the church promising to wash away sterile, dogmatic and outmoded forms of church. But whatever happened to postmodernism? Some regarded it as the start of an important historical transition from the modern era to something new, different, promising. It was hailed as a significant paradigm shift.

The 1960s saw widespread student anti-war, anti-establishment protests and the emergence of a counter-cultural hippie movement, rejecting traditional values. People began to critique Modernism and found it had not delivered the utopia it had promised and that it never could. The process of deconstruction moved outside the precincts of academia, and the idea that Modernism was an impoverished way of viewing the world became more popular.

New forms of art and architecture emerged which reflected a radical departure from conventional forms. Conceptual and installation art “evolved“ and, I think, culminated in works like Tracy Emin’s “Unmade Bed” with the detritus of contemporary life strewn on the floor. The nature of aesthetics had changed.

Artists were ransacking, recycling, scavenging to present a latent form of Dadaism.^[1] In literature, there was an insurrection against worn-out perceptions and a new postmodern perspective emerged.

As time went by Postmodernism become a more conventional than controversial theory and academics clashed about whether Modernism was a failed project or a project that needed reformation. The consensus view was that Modernism was kaput and it was a thorny question as to who was and was not Postmodern. By the end of the 1980s the terms were multiplying: post-Postmodernism, Supermodernism, Hypermodernism, Neo-modernism, Anti-modernism, Altermodernism.

During the 1990s, Postmodernism got swallowed whole by all the things it had spawned: multicultural art, feminist projects, politicized photo-works, and installations about gender, race, ethnicity, etc.

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London hosted a major design exhibition (24 September 2011 – 15 January 2012). This was the first in-depth survey of art, design and architecture of the 1970s and 1980s, examining one of the most contentious phenomena in recent art and design history. It showed how postmodernism evolved from a provocative architectural movement in the early 1970s (ignoring postmodern philosophy and literary criticism which predates the 1970s) and rapidly went on to influence all areas of popular culture including art, film, music, graphics and fashion.

What this exhibition unintentionally conveyed is that the subversive movement, which had seemed to be an earth-shattering, paradigm-shifting movement, was now categorized as just another trend, like Hippies, Punk or Goth. For this reason, many people think Postmodernism has disappeared.

At the outset, Postmodernism boldly announced the end of the Modern tradition. It was a new quest for significance, meaning and belonging. Now some people think it is a philosophy that has passed its “sell-by” date. But this is what happens ~ the radical fringe becomes the dominant view. The profound concept becomes a matter of shadows. Also, that is exactly how Postmodernism ended up. It is not that it has disappeared rather it has become mainstream and has been integrated into all aspects of life, including the Christian church. The art and literature which was bewilderingly impermanent, idiosyncratic, devious and questioning has become absorbed into mainstream culture. It is no longer conspicuous but is nevertheless present.

Those who suggest that Postmodernism is dead and crying out for a decent burial are naïve. Courses in Postmodernism are featured in the prospectuses of many western universities. Until recently, I taught a course entitled “Preaching Christ in a Postmodern Culture” ~ a course which I designed, based on my book of the same title.^[2]

At secular universities, such courses include postmodern fiction in English departments. But postmodernism also features in sociology and philosophy departments. However when one looks more closely, one finds that many of these English literature courses, for example, are comparative in as much as they are designed to explore the relationship between postmodern and contemporary fiction. This indicates that postmodern fiction is a particular genre that relates to a particular period in the past.

Perhaps Postmodernism has lost some of its creative impetus, but its effects are permanent. It is not that Postmodernism is no longer relevant, rather it is a building block in an ongoing super-structure of thought. As such, it is something that is built upon rather than discarded. Many people still believe in postmodern ideas. Many academics will not relinquish their love of the eminent Postmodernist, Foucault. Some say there is a compelling case to be made that Postmodernism is dead by looking outside the academy at current cultural production.

But in the cultural marketplace novels, films and music may not claim to be Postmodern but the legacy of Postmodernism nevertheless influences many. People outside academic circles may not be talking about Derrida, Foucault, Baudrillard etc. but in reality, they are influenced by these seminal thinkers in profound ways.

The twentieth-century was a century of change, and the pace of that change has accelerated in the twenty-first century. Technology, politics, travel, globalization, the media, and many other forces continue to change the world in which we live. Whether we get on a plane and fly to distant places, stay home and watch T.V., have dinner in an ethnic restaurant, or surf the internet, we encounter different cultures every day. Whatever we do, we are continually reminded that our view of the world is but one of many perspectives.

With the emergence of multicultural societies comes interaction with different belief-systems and religions. Values like mutual respect, tolerance and a dislike of dogmatism have become key operating concepts in society.

Underlying all these changes is a change in worldview, and this change is affecting every area of life. It changes the way we think and the way we process information. It influences the way we believe and what we believe. It alters the way we make decisions and the way we set our values and priorities. The world is transitioning from the Modern era to the Postmodern era. Such changes only occur every few hundred years or so, and when they do, they have far-reaching effects. It fundamentally alters the socio-political, religious and psychological landscapes.

Definition of Modernism

Modernity was the philosophical framework marked by rationalism, scientific research, technological advancement and economic progress. Modernism was also the era in which evangelicalism as a movement came into being, grew up, and matured into what it is today.^[3] Evangelicals made it their concern to reach people with the gospel, understanding the mandate to “make disciples of all nations” (Mt. 28:19). In doing so, they wrestled with the Modern context in which they lived. In the course of the years, evangelicals devised strategies and organizational structures that they felt were adequate for the task.

Definition of Postmodernism

In the last decades of the twentieth-century, however, Modernism gave way to a new era and philosophy, called Postmodernism. As a philosophy, Postmodernism is strongly reactionary against Modernism. The search for objective truth is replaced with the celebration of subjective truth. As an era, Postmodernism is defined by the desire to create a society in which peoples of all cultures, races and belief systems can coexist peacefully.

So what?

Many evangelicals today are aware of this new Postmodern context, which is increasingly replacing Modernism. Having been conditioned to interact with Modernism for centuries by an exhaustive body of literature, and self-perpetuating organizational structures, many evangelicals have realized that something has fundamentally changed. We are confronted with radical changes in education, art, and entertainment. The result is that many Christians are confused and experiencing a sense of alienation from the world as they knew it.

Evangelicals understand that their witness needs to be credible and understandable to the people they are trying to reach. They had successfully contextualized the gospel for the Modern world and now face a new challenge, to contextualize it for the postmodern era. While Postmodernism has been changing the way people think, many evangelicals still try to reach persons with a Modernist approach to the world. This has caused a cultural breakdown in communication resulting in the increasing marginalization of evangelicals in society. Thus, the message of the gospel appears to be irrelevant, and it is consequently ignored.

Evangelicals need to understand how the world around them has changed. If we are to reach the people of our world with the gospel, we must understand that they no longer have a Modern worldview, but a Postmodern one, and we must understand what that worldview is. If we fail to do so, our message will simply be unintelligible to our audience.

Understanding Contemporary Culture

To reach Postmodern people, Christians need to understand their context once again, and need to know how to communicate effectively to Postmodern people. We need to understand Modernism and Postmodernism, to see how they are distinguished, and to explore how the gospel needs to be contextualized for the Postmodern era. The central question is: “What is Postmodernism, and how can Christians reach Postmodern people in the Postmodern world?”

The Purpose of This Book

The purpose of this book is to help Christians understand the Postmodern worldview and find ways to reach Postmodern people. With this in mind, we need to understand the Modern and Postmodern worldviews and how they are distinguished. Furthermore, we need to understand reasons why the Modern worldview is being exchanged for the Postmodern worldview. With an understanding of the Postmodern worldview, one can then seek to understand Postmodern people and the types of communication and community to which they might be receptive. Believers need to approach the twenty-first century with the same attitude that the apostle Paul had in the first century:

1 Corinthians 9:19-23

¹⁹ For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may gain more. ²⁰ And so to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to those under the law I became as under the law, though I myself am not under the law, that I might gain those under the law. ²¹ To those without law I became as without law, although I am not without law toward God but under the law toward Christ, that I might gain those without law. ²² To the weak I became weak, that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. ²³ But I do all things for the sake of the gospel, that I may become a fellow partaker of it.

Limitations

We will interact with a broad spectrum of opinions and approaches to the subject, but that interaction will not be exhaustive. This work is an introduction to the subject but for those who wish to read more a short bibliography is provided. While an in-depth study of Postmodernism as a philosophy, or the way in which Postmodernism influences society, would be fascinating, discussion of these will be limited to what is relevant to the central question of this book.^[4] The same goes for some of the tensions that the Postmodern worldview has with the Christian worldview. It would be very interesting to discuss all the implications of Postmodern thinking in relation to what Christians believe, but we will limit the discussion to what is important with regard to evangelism.

By Kieran Beville

SCROLL THROUGH THE DIFFERENT CATEGORIES BELOW

BIBLE TRANSLATION AND TEXTUAL CRITICISM

BIBLICAL STUDIES / BIBLE BACKGROUND / HISTORY OF THE BIBLE/ INTERPRETATION

EARLY CHRISTIANITY

HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY

CHRISTIAN APOLOGETIC EVANGELISM

TECHNOLOGY AND THE CHRISTIAN

CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY

CHRISTIAN DEVOTIONALS

CHRISTIAN FICTION

[1] Dadaism was a form of artistic anarchy born out of disgust for the social, political and cultural values of the time (1916-1923). It embraced elements of art, music, poetry and theatre. Essentially it was a European avant-garde art movement that flouted conventional aesthetic and cultural values by producing works marked by nonsense, travesty, and incongruity.

[2] Taught at Tyndale Theological Seminary, Badhoevedorp, Netherlands.

[3] There are many writers that support this idea: see e.g. Dave Tomlinson, The Post Evangelical (London, England: Triangle, 1995), 72; Stanley J. Grenz, 161; Alistair McGrath, A Passion for  Truth – The Intellectual Coherence of Evangelicalism, (Downer’s Grove, Illinois: Intervarsity Press, 1996), 166-73.

[4] For an in-depth study of how Postmodernism influences all aspects of society, see Dennis McCallum, ed., The Death of Truth (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Bethany House Publishers, 1996).