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Postmodernism: Navigating Truth & Reality in a Fragmented World

Explore the rejection of absolute truth and the challenges faced in sharing the gospel in a postmodern culture. Discover the shifts from premodern to modern views and the implications for theology and philosophy. Dive into the complexities of rationality, knowledge, and meaning in a society that questions traditional narratives.

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Postmodernism: Navigating Truth & Reality in a Fragmented World

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  1. Postmodernism “To say of what is that it is, or of what is not that it is not, is true.” ARISTOTLE METAPHYSICS 1077B26

  2. What Are We Talking About & Why? What? • A worldview that rejects the existence of absolute truth Why? • For reasons of morality. How ought one to live. Are there moral absolutes and duties? • Evangelism, how can we share the gospel in this culture? • Theology, can we know anything about God?

  3. Premodernism • Church Hierarchy • Access to Truth is Mediated by the Church • Scripture • Tradition • Society Cf. Postmodernism101, 23-37

  4. Modernism • Reformation • Sola Fide, Sola Scriptura • The Role of Politics • Divine Rights  Scientific understanding of humanity • The Role of Philosophy • Foundationalism [Descartes] • Faith in the power of reason is the central pillar of the modern worldview. • The Role of Science • The Copernican Revolution Cf. Postmodernism101, 23-37

  5. “The Pale Blue Dot” “Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.” Carl Sagan, from a Public Lecture delivered October 13, 1994, at Cornell University

  6. The Role of Science

  7. PostmodernismMetaphysical Realism The existence of a theory-independent or language independent reality The notion that there is one way the world really is [and] The notion that the basic laws of logic [identity, non-contradiction, excluded middle] apply to reality

  8. PostmodernismRejection of Absolutism • All thought is historically and socially conditioned. • A rejection of dichotomous thinking [there is no objective truth, no God’s eye view of things]. • Real/unreal • True/false • Rational/irrational • Right/wrong • Virtue/vice • Beautiful/ugly

  9. PostmodernismRationality & Knowledge • Rationality—objectivity is impossible • Knowledge—a construction of one’s social, linguistic structures, not a justified, truthful representation of reality by one’s mental states.

  10. PostmodernismAntifoundationalism Postmoderns reject foundationalism and there is no quest for epistemic certainty or justification. The quest is misguided because people do not need certainty to live their lives well. Cf. Postmodernism101, 30-31

  11. PostmodernismAntiessentialism & Nominalism • Antiessentialism • There is no distinction between essential and accidental properties • Being human is essential to Socrates • Being five feet tall is not essential to Socrates • Nominalism • Nothing is literally the same from one moment to the next. There is a denial of universals, rather names for groups of things. • The redness of an apple

  12. PostmodernismMeaning, Interpretation, & Self • Denial of authorial meaning • There is no book of Romans. Rather, there is a Lutheran, Calvinist, Catholic, and Marxist book of Romans. • The Self • Not an individual, a bundle of social roles Cf. Postmodernism101, 67-85, 87-101, 103-122 [also for reference to Language]

  13. Puff, the magic dragon Lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist In a land called Honah Lee

  14. Postmodernism—Metanarratives Cf. Postmodernism101, 150-154

  15. PostmodernismThe Problem of Historical Knowledge • History is not objective • History is only reported from a bias perspective, thus cannot be trusted as truly objective. • Winners write history. Cf. Postmodernism101, 139-156

  16. What Does This Meanfor Christianity?How Should Christians Respond?

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