Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Michael Goheen
Trinity Western University
Langley, B.C.
Ephesians 4:14-15
Then we will no longer be infants,
tossed back and forth by the waves
and blown here and there by every
wind of teaching and by the cunning
and craftiness of men in their deceitful
scheming. Instead speaking the truth
in love, we will in all tings grow up into
him who is the Head, that is Christ.
What is postmodernity?
This word [postmodernism] has no
meaning. Use it as often as
possible.
New cultural period
Failure of modernity?
New worldview?
Postmodern Challenge
Postmodernity is skepticism toward
big cultural stories of progress.
Simplifying to the extreme, I define
postmodern as incredulity toward
metanarratives (J-F. Lyotard).
Failure!
Impotence of Idols
Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved
it? Or an image that teaches lies? For he who
makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes idols
that cannot speak (Habakkuk 2:18).
Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands
of men. They have mouths but cannot speak,
eyes, but they cannot see; they have ears, but
they cannot hear, noses, but they cannot smell;
they have hands but they cannot feel, feet but they
cannot walk; nor can they utter a sound with their
throats. Those who make them will be like them,
and so will all who trust in them (Ps.115:4-7).
Postmodern Challenge
Postmodernity is skepticism toward
big stories of progress
Postmodernity is a challenge toward
a rationalistic view of humankind
Non-rationalist dimensions of
humanity suppressed by rationalism
Body
Emotions
Senses
Subconscious
Desire, passion
Religious
Imagination
Instinct, intuition
Postmodern Challenge
Postmodernity is skepticism toward
big stories of progress
Postmodernity is a challenge toward
a rationalistic view of humankind
Postmodernity is a protest against an
objectivist view of knowledge
Modern worldview . . .
Stories of progress
Rooted in confident rationalistic
humanism
Science tool to enable man to
achieve goal
PERSONAL
Feelings
Imagination
Subconscious
Gender
Class
Race
Change in knowledge
Certainty to uncertainty
One truth to pluralism
Objectivity to relativism
Postmodern Challenge
Postmodernity is skepticism toward
big stories of progress
Postmodernity is a challenge toward
a rationalistic view of humankind
Postmodernity is a protest against an
objectivist view of knowledge
Postmodernity is the triumph of
economism and consumerism
Creeping consumerism
Once established, such a culture of
consumption is quite undiscriminating
and everything becomes a consumer
item, including meaning, truth, and
knowledge.
-Philip Sampson
Consumption of experiences
From rock music to tourism to
television and even education,
advertising imperatives and
consumer demand are no longer for
goods, but for experiences.
-Stephen Connor