Quick Take: Postmodernism

What is it?

Postmodernism is a worldview that developed in reaction to the modernist movement. It rejects the existence of objective truth and the ability of scientific and technological advancement to bring about human progress. Instead, postmodernism maintains that anything perceived to be true is merely created by culture. Science, religion, or any other means of understanding the world is just one method of making truth but cannot be considered more valid than any other approach.

Thus, what someone believes is true about themself is merely a collection of social constructs added to the blank slate of humanity. Any disparity in the world is seen as an imbalance of power where dominant groups impose their cultural constructs on the oppressed.

The first wave of postmodernism was not concerned with remaking society. However, future iterations of postmodernism sought to reconstruct society by demolishing systems of power and deconstructing the language used to propagate oppression. This desire spawned applied postmodernism, also known as critical theory.

What is a biblical view of it?

God is truth itself (Jn. 14:6), and so all truth is objective and finds its source in Him (Is. 45:19). Thus, two contradictory statements, such as God is one and God is many, cannot both be true because God never contradicts Himself (Num. 23:19). Postmodernism, though, claims that there is no external source of truth—rather, each person determines what is right for themself. For this reason, postmodernism is a false worldview since subjective truth cannot exist in a world created and sustained by God (Col. 1:17).

God has revealed what is true by giving us the Bible. Since all Scripture is inspired by God (2 Tim. 3:16), everything in the Bible is objective truth (Ps. 119:160) and remains true through all generations and for all cultures (Ps. 119:89). Therefore, the Bible is the standard by which we determine what is right.

The standard revealed in the Bible can be understood by all people regardless of age, gender, education, or any other distinction (2 Tim. 3:15, Deut. 6:6–7, Ps. 119:130). While not every teaching of Scripture is easy to grasp (2 Pet. 3:16), all people are expected to study and grow in their understanding of God’s inspired Words (2 Pet. 1:19).

God’s Word teaches us that a person’s identity is not merely a collection of social constructs. Instead, God crafts each person in His image, either male or female (Ps. 139:13-14, Gen. 1:27). Sadly, though, that image is marred by a sin nature (Rom. 5:12). As a result, individual sin is behind all oppression and any other human evil (Ezek. 18:20).

While sin originates in the hearts of individuals, at times, a society can be marked by particular sins that manifest in dominant cultural norms and are sometimes even legally sanctioned (Ecc. 3:16). Thus, a Christian should be concerned with providing for the most vulnerable and seeking justice for the truly oppressed (Js. 1:27, Is. 1:17). However, Christians also recognize that only the Gospel of Jesus Christ gives us freedom from the ultimate oppression: slavery to sin (Rom. 6:6). Thus, the Gospel must be central to anything Christians do since a Christian’s identity is in Jesus Christ above all else (1 Cor. 9:23, Rom. 8:1-2, 10:12, Gal. 3:28).