Current Worldviews

Studying Niebuhr’s types is important because it gives one a basic overview of how Christians react differently to the world around them. However, this only gives one a partial view of applying theology to culture. In addition to understanding how Christians respond one must also understand the issues that culture is facing. How does the culture think and what causes them to think that way?

There are a variety of worldviews that are present in this today’s society, but for the sake of focus and brevity, only two will be discussed. The most recent two large schools of thought have been modernism and postmodernism. Some argue that modernism has passed, supplanted by postmodernism. This view is even supported by the name “postmodernism” which literally means “after modernism.”

Modernism

First, what is modernism? Modernism rejected the certainty of Enlightenment thinking, along with the belief in a Creator. It saw society accelerating towards desctruction and meaninglessness, undermining much of the certainty in society.[1] This movement began the process of moving religion from part of everyday life to something more private, more out of public discussion.

The rejection of the supernatural caused people to look for scientific and rationalistic explanations for everything, though it held to the idea that one can know truth and that universal and absolute truth still existed.[2] However, the path for finding these truths moved from theology to the scientific method. Modernism gave rise to several different worldviews, including Darwinism, Marxism, fascism, socialism, communism, and theological liberalism.

Near the end of the 20^th century, modernism was on its way out, giving way to postmodernism. Most of the worldviews proposed by modernism had been found wanting and were discredited.[3]

Modernist Theology

Modernism affected theology as well. Some theologians who subscribed to modernistic theory began to view doctrine as secondary to culture. They sought to synthesize culture and doctrine together, believing that “doctrine was inherently divisive and a fragmented church would become irrelevant in the modern age.”[4] This gave way to a Christian pragmatism, allowing the results to justify whatever needed to be done. While the aim of the modernist theologians was to bring the church up to date with the culture, the movement opened the door to moral relativism and theological liberalism.

The modernist theology emphasized brotherhood and experience to the detriment of doctrinal differences, believing that doctrine should be “fluid and adaptable.” They wanted unity among the denominations and didn’t feel that theology was something worth fighting over. Many people during that time, including church leaders, ignored any kind of warnings about this kind of activity since it came from inside the church.[5]

Postmodernism

Postmodernism is defined as “any of a number of trends or movements in the arts and literature developing in the 1970s in reaction to or rejection of the dogma, principles, or practices of established modernism.”[6] Some view it as a replacement to modernism, while others state that it is an extension of modernism. Postmodernism differentiates itself from modernism by rejecting the idea that absolute truth exists or can be discovered. It represents a move from the rationality and scientific method of modernism to more irrational thinking and skepticism.

To the postmodernist, objectivity is an illusion, and anyone who speaks with conviction about a particular belief is considered arrogant and naïve. Postmodernism holds that everyone is entitled to their own truth.[7] Naturally, this goes against the theology of the Bible in which truth is absolute. Christ said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6, NKJV).

The Postmodern Church

In the church, postmodern thought has given birth to the Emergent church movement. One issue that some take with this movement is the abandonment of certainty, that doubt and skepticism are lauded as humility. John MacArthur writes, “The Emerging postmodernists have blurred the line between certainty and omniscience. They seem to presume that if we cannot know everything perfectly, we really cannot know anything with any degree of certainty.”[8]

MacArthur further points out that by undermining the certainty of truth, the postmodern church introduces doubt and qualms about every teaching of scripture. Any plainly stated convictions are taken as arrogance.[9]

Theology provides the surest way for Christians to contend with the culture. Any outside influence that seeps into Christian theology weakens the purity of the faith.[10]

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[1] eNotes.com, “Modernism: Introduction”; available from http://www.enotes.com/modernism/introduction; Internet; accessed 9 October 2009

[2] John MacArthur, The Truth War: Fighting for Certainty in an Age of Deception (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2007), 9

[3] Ibid., 10

[4] John MacArthur, Ashamed of the Gospel (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1993), xv

[5] Ibid.

[6] Random House, Inc., “Postmodernism”, available from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/postmodernism; Internet; accessed 9 October 2009

[7] MacArthur, The Truth War: Fighting for Certainty in an Age of Deception, 11

[8] Ibid., 22

[9] Ibid., 155

[10] R.C. Sproul, Essential Truths of the Christian Faith (Carol Stream, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, 199), 156