{"id":25756,"date":"2020-02-06T19:55:06","date_gmt":"2020-02-07T03:55:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=25756"},"modified":"2020-02-06T19:55:06","modified_gmt":"2020-02-07T03:55:06","slug":"the-mandorla-as-opposed-to-the-mandalorian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/the-mandorla-as-opposed-to-the-mandalorian\/","title":{"rendered":"The Mandorla (as Opposed to the Mandalorian)"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rosseau to Foucault,\u00a0<\/em>Dr. Hicks wants his reader to understand the dangers of postmodern thought and of its ends being nihilism, socialism and chaos, to name a few.[1]<\/a> Here I thought I was more postmodern than modern because of my Generation X affiliation, my love for the coffee scene and holding a tinge of uncertainty and mystery. But I had not considered seriously what Hicks purports to be these dangers here.<\/p>\n

Hicks is a professor at Rockford University and his project is in part to remind society that ideas have consequences. And that to ignore, or worse, embrace postmodernism\u2019s premises is costly. He breaks down the root system of the movement and critiques its greatest contributors.\u00a0I found several of the charts in Explaining Postmodernism<\/em> to be instructive. The Enlightenment Vision chart points to freedom, wealth, material goods, and health that would in turn lead to the ultimate pinnacle of happiness and progress.[2]<\/a>\u00a0It was insightful, especially after going further and reading how he sees postmodernism attack (or redefine?) these very goals. There were several other tools gained, along with a much needed overview of the history and constructs of modernism and postmodernism.<\/p>\n

This is such a mammoth topic and I wondered where to go with it. I wondered if mandorla<\/em> may be a path for me to take?\u00a0Last week with Dr. Lenard Sweet, he spent a good part of a day lecturing and pontificating about mandorla. It is the intersection of two equal circles, as shown below. It is the almond-shape space of overlap that can be seen in framing many medieval Christian artworks and has a rich, diverse historical background.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Dr. Sweet said multiple times, \u201cOrthodoxy is paradox. If you are only hearing one thing, you aren\u2019t hearing Jesus.\u201d We need to hear the other side of the issue, coin or story, which feels like it is getting more difficult to do in our age.<\/p>\n

Early Christianity used the mandorla to convey Jesus\u2019 humanity and divinity. In my own journey, I see its use in a myriad of ways. Not the least is with action and contemplation. I think of Taylor\u2019s assertion that the premodern Church \u201cinhabited the tensions\u201d within orthodoxy instead of resolving them like modernism attempted.[3]<\/a>They lived in the almond I guess you could say.\u00a0It is not a watered-down syncretism but a way of holding and living in paradox.<\/p>\n

So back to Hicks and the challenges of postmodernism. I may be stretching the limits of the mandorla metaphor but I wonder if there is a small application here. Are there contributions from both modernism and postmodernism that are worth considering and holding? To only give credence to one side would mean that we miss hearing the other. What does modernism say to Christians? What does it lack? The same should be considered from postmodernism.<\/p>\n

As an example for me of the difficulties, I share one of Hicks’ contradictions from postmodernists:<\/p>\n

They say that Western capitalist countries are cruel to their poorer members, subjugating them and getting rich off them, but they know very well that the poor in the West are far richer than the poor anywhere else, both in terms of material assets and the opportunities to improve their condition.[4]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Are these kinds of statements right or wrong with one clear winner? Either choose modern or postmodern? Which group cares about the poor more? How can we hear from both sides? I know Hicks has a clear winner and motive in his writing but what of the thoughtful Christian leader living in this complex world? Is there a tension to hold here or must a side be chosen? Perhaps the danger too is if we choose to align or identify ourselves with either framework more so than the upside-down Kingdom of God. And increasing my self-awareness of areas this may be happening in my own life is proving challenging.<\/p>\n

Somehow Jesus is “above” both of these philosophies and I cannot help but wonder how I can learn from each while keeping Jesus firmly in the center of my vision.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

[1]<\/a> Stephen R. C. Hicks, Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault <\/em>(UK: Ockham\u2019s Razor Publishing, 2011), 14-5.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Hicks, Explaining Postmodernism<\/em>, 13.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Charles Taylor, A Secular Age<\/em> (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2007), 31-3.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Hicks, Explaining Postmodernism<\/em>, 185.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rosseau to Foucault,\u00a0Dr. Hicks wants his reader to understand the dangers of postmodern thought and of its ends being nihilism, socialism and chaos, to name a few.[1] Here I thought I was more postmodern than modern because of my Generation X affiliation, my love for the coffee scene […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1764],"class_list":["post-25756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-hicks","cohort-lgp9"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/118"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25756"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25756\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25768,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25756\/revisions\/25768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}