A Primer on Postmodernism

Stanley J. Grenz, A Primer on Postmodernism (Grand Rapids, Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co, 1996)`Postmodernism', `Deconstruction' and `Structuralism' are the buzzwords of the day for modern intellectuals, whether your focus is sacred or secular. I found this book when I was looking for a postmodernism introduction which would address an impact on Christian thinking. With a few reservations, this title is as good a starting point as many, but you will need a newer book with greater depth to really get some traction on the subject. I shall note the weaknesses and move on. First is the date of publication. For such a topic, 15 years is a lifetime in the intellectual activity of a hot ticket subject, even if the book's star players are no longer writing. Second is the book's point of view on postmodernism and Christianity. The writer's position is evangelical, and he is unwilling to let any of that point of view slip from his grasp in the final analysis. These aspects are offset by notable strengths. First, the author succeeds in offering an intelligible summary for the positions of four of the 20th century's most difficult thinkers, Martin Heidegger, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Michel Foucault, and Jacques Derrida. This admirable effort is preceded by a carefully crafted history of `Modernism'. The only thing one could have hoped for here is a few words on `pre-modernism'. To round out the picture, I will offer some thoughts to fill in the blank. The pre-modern view may be best represented by pre-Alexandrian Mesopotamia and Egypt, where the ruling paradigms were mythmaking, authority, divination, astrology, and numerology. Mythmaking was the precursor to Greek metaphysics. Authority was the father of Roman laws. Astrology and numerology were the parents of Greek mathematical science and astronomy. It is important to note that the modern world has not fully outgrown any of these tendencies, even if most have receded to the back pages of newspapers. Grenz astutely notes that the seeds of modernism were planted by several ancient Greek thinkers. He mentions Plato and Aristotle, but to these should be added the mathematicians such as Euclid and Pythagoras and the `natural scientists' such as Hippocrates and Galen. He also fails to note, therefore, that the power of reason did not die with the sack of Rome. It was adopted as a trusty tool in the Christian tool chest as early as 150 CE, and flourished in practice in the hands of all Christian doctors, most especially by the late medieval thinkers, Aquinas, Occam, and Duns Scotus. Indeed, modernism bloomed at the hands of the `Modern' philosophers, after the first successes of empirical theories which defied naïve experience and after Europe regained the leading role in doing new mathematics. The primary figures were Francis Bacon, Rene Descartes, Baruch Spinoza, John Locke, Gottfried Leibnitz, David Hume, and Immanuel Kant. As an aside, it's interesting to note that the primary `day job' for most of these men was in mathematics, the law, economics, ethics, and history. These are all `systematic' disciplines whose life blood is the modern point of view on the primacy of progress in knowledge based on empiricism and reason. To anticipate just a bit, I think it's important to say that a `pragmatist' would point out that modernism succeeded over previous world views because it was more successful. It worked better. Grenz identifies Friedrich Nietzsche as the fountainhead for postmodernism, a point I cannot dispute, as Nietzsche is certainly at the headwaters of Existentialism, the immediate precursor to `theoretical' postmodernism. But this raises an interesting observation. Nietzsche's original scholarly training was as a philologist, the same profession as The Brothers Grimm and J.R.R. Tolkien, the collectors and spinners of myth and fairy tales. This trend continues throughout the twentieth century. Martin Heidegger began as a theologian. Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault worked from the point of view of literary criticism. Richard Rorty's primary credentials are in teaching literature. Only Wittgenstein's work sprang from a systematic discipline, mathematical logic. Just as the `pre-modern' point of view never really died, in many disciplines, especially the sciences and law, the modern point of view is still alive and well, thank you very much. The irony is that `post-modernism' has breathed life into the virtually dead belief in and reliance on myth. No sooner have the theologians such as Rudolf Bultmann and Dietrich Bonhoeffer dismissed myth from Christianity and echoed Nietzsche's `God is Dead' motto, than Foucault, Derrida, and Co. have breathed life back into the old girl. I would suggest here that Grenz' including Thomas Kuhn's analysis of scientific development and the success of probabilistic quantum theory does NOT signal a death of modernistic science. Instead, today's physics is a demonstration that the modern model still works in science, even if the results are surprising. `Post-modernism' has been credited with several virtues for the secular world outside of religion. The most dramatic is to provide a theoretical framework for approaching all the world's faiths on an equal footing, and see where, for example, Hinduism and Buddhism may be better at some things, while the Abrahamic faiths may be better at others. Grenz is not willing to buy into these virtues of postmodernism, however much he is willing to see it as an ally in putting a new footing under Christian apologetics. While Grenz and postmodernism rejects the notion of both the objective truths of empirical science and the emphasis on Descartes' egoistic center, the human mind, he holds on to the faith in the absoluteness of Christian revelation. There are three aspects of Grenz' point of view I consider especially valuable for us today. The first is healing the dichotomy between the soul and the body, which has been vigorously criticized by contemporary Anglo-American philosophy, especially in Gilbert Ryle's book, The Concept of Mind. This is ironic because so much of Christian theology, from Paul to Luther, depends heavily on this idea. I would dearly love to see a Christian theology which was based on discarding this split. The second is the resurrection of the doctrines of Pragmatism as a means of determining meaning and truth. I am convinced that Christians should dust off their copies of C. S. Peirce and start reading. For one thing, James' epistle reads like a 1st century treatise on pragmatism, as in `what good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works?' The third virtue is the recognition of the multivalent sense and value of myth, stories, parables, and imaginative literature in general.There are very good reasons why we still read and learn from The Iliad, Aesop, Job, Hamlet, and The Brothers Karamazov, and why Kierkegaard wrote so many good fables!

In the book's preface, Grenz wrote that his goal was "to provide a foundational understanding of the postmodern ethos, especially its intellectual orientation." He accomplished that goal. But in the last chapter entitled The Gospel and the Postmodern Context he said, "Our task as Christ's disciples is to embody and articulate the never-changing good news of available salvation in a manner that the emerging generation can understand." (174.) To the extent Grenz attempted this task, his effort was less than successful.Grenz tries to maintain a modernist structure for Christianity while giving it a postmodern façade; and the thing does not hold together well. To begin with, he identifies Christians as "heirs of the Enlightenment." (172.) Since Grenz sees the quest to jettison the Enlightenment project of modernity as "foundational to postmodernism" (162), its odd that he has Christians inherit what the postmoderns want to throw away. While one man's garbage can be another man's gold, its still garbage to the first guy.Why Grenz embraces modernist principles in the first place is perplexing since he demonstrates that the Enlightenment was no friend to biblical Christianity in general and the Reformation in particular. He writes that the Enlightenment "permanently and radically disrupted the theological worldview created in the Middle Ages and honed by the Reformation" and "produced nothing more than modern skeptical rationalism." (61, 73.) Nevertheless, armed with Enlightenment principles, Grenz runs headlong at postmodernism. With "right thinking" and "correct doctrines" in one hand, and "Metanarrative" in the other, Grenz tries to deliver the old one-two punch to postmodernism. He writes that the Christian heirs of the Enlightenment "can affirm that right thinking is an important goal in the process of sanctification, for we are convinced that right beliefs and correct doctrines are vital to Christian living." (172.) And if that doesn't finish them off, this surely will: "There is a single metanarrative encompassing all peoples and all times"; Christians "claim to know what that grand narrative is" and it is "the truth of and for all humankind." (164-165.)Having thus pummeled postmodernism, Grenz is ready to make concessions and find common ground. He writes, "We must affirm with postmodern thinkers that knowledge - including knowledge of God - is not merely objective, not simply discovered by the neutral knowing self." (168.) But what postmodern thinker affirms that knowledge of God is possible, and then also affirms that such knowledge is objective (though not "merely" objective)? Grenz's attempted synthesis of modern and postmodern Christianity is not likely to find many takers among the emerging generation.Grenz erred by looking for a Christian heritage in the Enlightenment and accepting modernism's dismissive view of the Reformation and biblical Christianity. Reformers and pre-modernist Christians possessed and passed on the real treasure of Christianity: the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6.) In other words, they knew Jesus Christ and they knew him other than by hearsay. That is a message that people of any and all generations can hear and receive.

Grenz book is written in a very scholarly tone, but not so much as to render it useless to a person more accustomed to lay-speak. He omits nothing to make the read easier, but definitely write concisely, never diverging into redundant blabber.The only thing I would note about this book is that Grenz is a Christian Minister who openly rejects Postmodernism. The first chapter of the book and the last chapter focus on how Christians can minister and spread the gospel in the Postmodern era. Given this, he is amazingly neutral throughout the chapters between the first and the last. Essentially, if you are a Christian who is interested in spreading the gospel, you will find the entire book useful. If not, the middle chapters will be more interesting than the first and last.Nonetheless, Grenz's writing is phenomenal. If you want to know what Postmodernism is all about, this is the book for you.A final note: Grenz recommends that those completely unfamiliar with Postmodernism read the first chapter, then the last chapter, then go back to chapter 2 and read straight through from there. I would disagree extremely strongly. Just read the book from cover to cover, you will understand everything fine.

An excellent overview of the people and philosophy of this subject.

Great book, came quickly and in great condition.For the book itself while it doesn't delve super deep into the application of adapting evangelism for an increasingly postmodern world, the book is very well researched and gives the reader more than enough information, history and philosophy to understand the basics and where to go from there. Because it focuses on the history and intellectual movement, it remains relevant 25 years later as a great primer. I would certainly recommend it.

There are very good parts to this book, but bad ones as well. Grenz sums up post modern thinkers and their thought in a well ordered and concise way, however, he falls in love with their ideas despite his warnings of the dangers. All Christian thinkers should be aware that post modernism is derived from Marxist thought -- Lyotard, Derrida, Foucault and Rorty were all socialists or communists. This form of thinking exist to undermine or destabilize the meta narratives of capitalism and religion. Communists, ever since Marx, have always hated religion. As well, Grenz forgets to mention the most obvious point of postmodernism: its stunning irrationality. Post modernism attempts to say with a straight face, "Let me tell you how it really is, there is no truth." People who fall for this idiocy fall into socialism and cynicism. Further, as this is a primer for students, post modernism is really an appeal to young people to be hip. And that means to dress in black, blather away in a coffee house and affect a cool pose on campus. Meanwhile, for all the irrationality post modernism claims, i.e., to know that the world and truth can't be known, man is going to the moon and discovering cures for all kinds of diseases. The world defies such childish nonsense. Still, Grenz is enamored and one can only hope he is not a Marxist.

The discussion is vivid, clear and thought-provoking.its worth reading such a book before going through the real postmodern thinkers.Secondly, Grenz's connection of postmodernity and Chrisitan thought is insightful for every Christian in the age of postmodernity.