{"id":36402,"date":"2024-03-06T11:37:30","date_gmt":"2024-03-06T19:37:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=36402"},"modified":"2024-03-06T19:08:39","modified_gmt":"2024-03-07T03:08:39","slug":"confronting-postmodernism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/confronting-postmodernism\/","title":{"rendered":"Confronting Postmodernism"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c7\">In 2016, the Oxford English Dictionary\u2019s word of the year was\u00a0<span class=\"c10\">post-truth:<\/span>\u00a0\u201crelating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.\u201d<sup><a id=\"ftnt_ref1\" href=\"#ftnt1\">[1]<\/a><\/sup> In that same year, the people around the world from all political and religious beliefs watched with mourning as unbelievable stories were aired for all to witness. However, post-truth thinking about our politics and religion had already been the air we breathed. What made everything after 2016 different than before? Why, in 2017, did it take the #MeToo movement for thousands of women to speak up and no longer be silent about the sexual and physical abuse they suffered from powerful and perverted men? Celebrities around the world declared that speaking \u201cyour truth\u201d is a powerful tool. \u00a0As Rebecca Mclaughlin says in\u00a0<em><span class=\"c10\">Confronting Christianity<\/span>,<\/em> \u201cThe truth of a sexual assault is undoubtedly personal: it is in an important sense \u201cyour truth.\u201d But if that truth is not also objective, it is a lie.\u201d<sup><a id=\"ftnt_ref2\" href=\"#ftnt2\">[2]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<p class=\"c8\" style=\"text-align: center\"><strong><span class=\"c9\">What is Postmodernism?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"c7\">In listening to and reading Stephen\u2019s Hicks\u2019 work,\u00a0<em><span class=\"c10\">Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucalult<\/span><\/em>, I learned that his favorite definition of postmodernism is, \u201cskepticism toward meta narratives.\u201d<sup><a id=\"ftnt_ref3\" href=\"#ftnt3\">[3]<\/a><\/sup><span class=\"c0\">\u00a0He believes that the academic world and culture are being attacked by the philosophies of Postmodernism:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"c17 lst-kix_ngsut211qe2d-0 start\">\n<li class=\"c7 c11 li-bullet-0\"><span class=\"c0\">Skepticism<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"c7 c11 li-bullet-0\"><span class=\"c0\">Values are Subjective to individuals or groups<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"c7 c11 li-bullet-0\"><span class=\"c0\">Power can be amoral<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"c7 c11 li-bullet-0\"><span class=\"c0\">Postmoderns don\u2019t have connections to words.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"c7\">What is Postmodernism? \u00a0Postmodernism is, \u201ca comprehensive philosophical and cultural movement. \u00a0It identifies its target\u2013modernism and its realization in the Enlightenment and its legacy\u2013and it mounts powerful arguments against all of the essential elements of modernism.\u201d<sup><a id=\"ftnt_ref4\" href=\"#ftnt4\">[4]<\/a><\/sup><span class=\"c0\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"c7\">Hicks\u2019 concern is that Postmodernism asks is there any truth at all? \u00a0Think about the women who have spoken out about the sexual harassment and abuse. Ultimately, they are honored for speaking up about\u00a0<span class=\"c10\">THE TRUTH<\/span>, not just\u00a0<span class=\"c10\">their truth<\/span><span class=\"c0\">. Or, conversely, the danger of when our university students are told there is no truth rather than being taught to challenge historical truth\u2013just like their own professors experienced when they were learning. Postmodernism challenges us to ask the question, Am I looking for truth?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"c8\" style=\"text-align: center\"><strong><span class=\"c15\">What is Postmodernism\u2019s Relationship to Literature and the Creative?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"c7\">Even though Hicks believes that the greatest current threats to free speech in relation to Postmodernism come from within our colleges and universities, I am surprised by the courageous authors who rise up against the powerful forces and voices and speak about the truth. \u00a0Take for instance, Beth Allison Barr\u2019s\u00a0<em><span class=\"c10\">The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth<\/span><\/em>. Barr is a professor at Baylor University. Her book moves the conversation about biblical womanhood being submissive wives, virtuous homemakers and joyous mothers beyond Greek grammar and into ancient, medieval and modern church history. \u00a0Rather than writing with a postmodern mentality about women\u2019s roles and identity from a \u201cvalues are subjective\u201d interpretation, Barr flips the Christian narrative about Patriarchy on its head. She writes, \u201cPatriarchy wasn\u2019t what God wanted; patriarchy was a result of human sin.\u201d<sup><a id=\"ftnt_ref5\" href=\"#ftnt5\">[5]<\/a><\/sup><span class=\"c0\">\u00a0 Her work takes on opposing traditions by taking her readers through history, all of history, and argues that biblical womanhood isn\u2019t biblical but arises from clearly defined historical moments. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"c7\">Beth Allison Barr\u2019s book is an example of a modern day Christian thinker who uses a deconstructive approach<sup><a id=\"ftnt_ref6\" href=\"#ftnt6\">[6]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0to her argument by constructing a new narrative based on truth. Hicks claims that deconstructionists level all meaning and value but from the many Christian or Christian seeking books published since 2007<sup><a id=\"ftnt_ref7\" href=\"#ftnt7\">[7]<\/a><\/sup><span class=\"c0\">, I would argue there is value when an author reconstructs their belief systems\u2013rather than just deconstructing. When authors and thinkers approach issues with intellectual questions and curiosity with great difficulty, ultimately reason and faith tell them (and us) that the world in which we live reflects a coherent ordering. \u00a0What have been your experiences with reading books like these?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"c8\" style=\"text-align: center\"><strong><span class=\"c9\">How Might Postmodernism Poison Our Conscience?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"c7\"><span class=\"c0\">In quoting Nietzsche, Stephen Hicks captures the heart of the confrontation when it comes to words:<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"c8\" style=\"text-align: center\">\u201cWhen would they [the men of ressentiment] achieve the ultimate, subtlest, sublimest triumph of revenge? Undoubtedly if they succeeded in poisoning the consciences of the fortunate with their own misery, with all misery, so that one day the fortunate began to be ashamed of their good fortune and perhaps said one to another, \u2018it is disgraceful to be fortunate: there is too much misery!\u2019 But no greater or more calamitous misunderstanding is possible than for the happy, well-constituted, powerful in soul and body, to begin to doubt their right to happiness in this fashion.\u201d<sup><a id=\"ftnt_ref8\" href=\"#ftnt8\">[8]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<p class=\"c8\" style=\"text-align: center\"><strong><span class=\"c9\">What light does this shed on THE truth, not just YOUR truth?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"c7\"><span class=\"c0\">The central claim of truth on which our faith in Christ is solid or weak is that Jesus was physically raised from death. \u00a0We actually have historical evidence for this truth. \u00a0The problem with postmodern authors who use words to deconstruct Christianity or their own faith stories is the fruit it is bearing from such philosophies: people beginning to doubt their right to happiness. In using the word \u201chappiness\u201d, I am referring to our restorative relationship to God. Too much skepticism, despair and confusion might be what is threatening culture and the academic world on a quest for The truth. \u00a0What writers do you read who are wanderers and seekers whose journeys end with their hearts saying Yes to God? \u00a0As I finished the book by Stephen Hicks, I found myself thinking about Romans 1: 21, \u201cFor although they know God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened.\u201d \u00a0As leaders and writers of words, may we never exchange the Truth about God for a lie.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"c7\">\n<hr class=\"c13\" \/>\n<div>\n<p class=\"c5\"><a id=\"ftnt1\" href=\"#ftnt_ref1\">[1]<\/a><span class=\"c1\">\u00a0\u201cPost-Truth Adjective &#8211; Definition, Pictures, Pronunciation and Usage Notes | Oxford Advanced Learner\u2019s Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.Com.\u201d Accessed March 5, 2024.<\/span><span class=\"c1\"><a class=\"c2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com\/us\/definition\/english\/post-truth?q%3Dposttruth&amp;sa=D&amp;source=editors&amp;ust=1709757099900709&amp;usg=AOvVaw3Mqe_AK34i3wMD9_VMMhE6\">\u00a0<\/a><\/span><span class=\"c16 c1\"><a class=\"c2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com\/us\/definition\/english\/post-truth?q%3Dposttruth&amp;sa=D&amp;source=editors&amp;ust=1709757099900958&amp;usg=AOvVaw2w5MZRtJPBALa1EzzXyrok\">https:\/\/www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com\/us\/definition\/english\/post-truth?q=posttruth<\/a><\/span><span class=\"c14 c1\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"c5 c6\">\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"c5\"><a id=\"ftnt2\" href=\"#ftnt_ref2\">[2]<\/a><span class=\"c1\">\u00a0McLaughlin, Rebecca.\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"c10 c1\">Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World\u2019s Largest Religion<\/span><span class=\"c14 c1\">. Crossway, 2019. P. 51.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"c5\"><a id=\"ftnt3\" href=\"#ftnt_ref3\">[3]<\/a><span class=\"c1\">\u00a0Hicks quotes Jean-Francois Lyotard in\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"c10 c1\">Jordan B. Peterson &amp; Stephen Hicks: Philosophy and Postmodernism<\/span><span class=\"c1\">, 2021.<\/span><span class=\"c1\"><a class=\"c2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v%3DOiOkf2Mn7iA&amp;sa=D&amp;source=editors&amp;ust=1709757099901611&amp;usg=AOvVaw3uaL-obppULK1cNewcDjHz\">\u00a0<\/a><\/span><span class=\"c1 c16\"><a class=\"c2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v%3DOiOkf2Mn7iA&amp;sa=D&amp;source=editors&amp;ust=1709757099901740&amp;usg=AOvVaw3Sm_WOfrZcVg0qbchbYUTz\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=OiOkf2Mn7iA<\/a><\/span><span class=\"c14 c1\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"c5 c6\">\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"c5\"><a id=\"ftnt4\" href=\"#ftnt_ref4\">[4]<\/a><span class=\"c14 c1\">\u00a0Hicks, Stephen Ronald Craig. \u201cExplaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault.\u201d Roscoe, Illinois: Ockham\u2019s Razor Publishing, 2011.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"c5 c6\">\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"c5\"><a id=\"ftnt5\" href=\"#ftnt_ref5\">[5]<\/a><span class=\"c1\">\u00a0Barr, Beth Allison.\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"c1 c10\">The Making of Biblical Womanhood<\/span><span class=\"c14 c1\">. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Brazos Press, 2021. \u00a0P. 5.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"c5 c6\">\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"c5\"><a id=\"ftnt6\" href=\"#ftnt_ref6\">[6]<\/a><span class=\"c14 c1\">\u00a0According to Stephen Hicks, deconstruction theory says that no work has meaning. Any apparent meaning can be transformed into its opposite, into nothing, or revealed to be a mask for something distasteful. \u00a0The postmodern movement contains many people who like the idea of deconstructing other people\u2019s creative work. P. 199<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"c5\"><a id=\"ftnt7\" href=\"#ftnt_ref7\">[7]<\/a><span class=\"c14 c1\">\u00a0I am thinking of Rachel Held Evans, Peter Enns, Sarah Bessey, Jackie Hill-Perry. \u00a0Who I question are authors like Peter Rollins, Rob Bell, and at times, Diedre Riggs. \u00a0This is something I would like to explore when there\u2019s time.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"c5\"><a id=\"ftnt8\" href=\"#ftnt_ref8\">[8]<\/a><span class=\"c1\">\u00a0Nietzsche, Friedrich.\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"c10 c1\">The Will to Power.<\/span><span class=\"c14 c1\">\u00a0Edited by Walter Kaufman and translated by Walter Kaufman and R. J. Hollingdale. Vintage 1968. Genealogy of Morals, 3:14.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 2016, the Oxford English Dictionary\u2019s word of the year was\u00a0post-truth:\u00a0\u201crelating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.\u201d[1] In that same year, the people around the world from all political and religious beliefs watched with mourning as unbelievable stories were [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":180,"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":[3094,474,395,1766,3095,275],"class_list":["post-36402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-postmod","tag-me","tag-postmodernism","tag-stephen-hicks","tag-too","tag-truth","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36402","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\/180"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36402"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36409,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36402\/revisions\/36409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}