Perhaps this discussion will be unfruitful unless someone is willing to define their terms. What is postmodernism? What is modernism? What is “flexible”? What is “multicultural”? What is “ultra-conservatism”? What is “conservativism”? What is “fundamentalism”? Defining one’s terms in discussions like this is often very helpful.

Brett,

How about we be in the world and not of it, as regenerate Christians indwelt by the Holy Spirit seek to be salt and light to this dieing world instead of taking on ANY of it’s worldviews and influence the culture and community with a CHRISTIAN worldview.

Which I do concede to a small extent may be informed by the world around us like Paul suggests, but to just to jump headlong into a worldview and ideology just because that is what is “cool” at this point is time is ridiculous honestly…

I seek to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and see the lost saved, and if I am being obedient in that I believe the community atmosphere you so champion will be a natural overflow of the regenerate Bride of Christ and not some secularist influenced, academic created worldview that has sought to throw off the old shroud of black and white and be more “flexible” and more “multicultural” as a lot of PM’s like to say…

Let’s just follow the God of the Bible and not some movement. Following a movement is extremely dangerous and can lead you right off a cliff.

I am not singing praises of postmodernism. I know the postmodern mind leans towards relativism…which is its biggest downfall, especially to a modernistic mind which sees everything as black and white. However, postmoderns tend to value community, something that moderns do not. Christianity is more of a communal religion than a private relationship, and postmoderns welcome this.

Okay you say, then lets go back to premodernity. Well then, lets go back to having people tell us everything to do and believe. Lets go back to having a pope system and take his word as equal with God’s. Lets go back and let tradition interpret scripture for us…not using it as an aid, but using it as THE authority. Lets completely deny ALL experience and emotion, even though these are things God gives to us and ways he teaches us. Lets go back to having the lay people uneducated and ignorant and suppressing many truths from them b/c they don’t fit in well with our system.

Bottom line, there was never a golden age. There was never a time period when all was fine and dandy and all sought God. Postmodernism is not the problem, the problem is sin and a lack of Jesus Christ in the lives of individuals.

1.) James K A Smith – Who’s Afraid of Postmodernism

2.) Crystal Downing – How Postmodernism Serves (my) Faith

3.) Stanley Grenz – A Primer on Postmodernism

4.) Heath White – Postmodernism 101

They’ll give you a good idea of how Christians can apply positive aspects of postmodernism to the faith as well as critiquing some of the other negative aspects.

Blessings,
Bryan L

Postmodern Christianity can be conservative or liberal. You’re simply misunderstanding the use of the language.

Postmodernism is as you stated, an time in which relativity (among many other things) is predominant.

However, a Christianity that exists in this time, ie. Postmodern Christianity, is simply a people who are Christian in this time period. A postmodern Christian book is a book by a Christian from a Christian perspective speaking into the postmodern culture we live in.

We must, as Paul did in the Hellenistic period, be able to address our culture from where it is.

I tend to be ultra conservative (in the vein of Bob Jones as stated above.) Yet I attend Mars Hill Bible Church and love Rob Bell dearly. I probably wouldn’t do things as he does them, but then I don’t have his passions and gifts either. I pray for him had have long before he became nationally known. I trust him in God’s hands.

MJH

I honestly can say that I respect your opinion and thank you for the good conversation. As we all know iron sharpens iron. I too strive to be humble and earnestly seeking the truth, and in that honestly seek not to be condemning, rude, or judgmental. I say all that to say, I still see issues that concern me about Bell, and I HAVE read his books. along with the whole Nooma stuff..

Brett,

You tip your hand by calling people like Denny ultra conservative fundamentalist…if He (myself included) is ultra conservative fundamentalist, who would you call just the conservative fundamentalists? Or who would you call just the conservatives? because I promise you this, if you think Denny is an ultra conservative fundamentalist, than I would hate to hear what you call those that go to Pensacola Christian and Bob Jones…

Second of all, if you know your own vocabulary, you cannot be both Postmodern and Christian…
In their very essence Postmodernism is a strive towards the relative (mostly in the realm of morality and truth) and Christianity is a strive towards the Certain (absolute truth)…kinda wierd how you would say a postmodern Christian book…that is where the rub is..I don’t think one can consistently hold both a postmodern and Christian worldview.
It is also somewhat entertaining to think about the fact that most Postmoderists would say the meaning lies with the reader in which your comments about portions of books should not bother you because context is with the reader and not the writer… just some observations.

I feel the exact same way bro. I could have cared less about Bell until I heard my fundamentalist pastor bashing him from the pulpit calling him a heretic (funny thing is, I asked him questions after the sermon and he had never even read the book! Just some review by a conservative dude…funny how that works some times). Then I read the book, and actually took some good things away from it.

Also, the examples my pastor gave (as with Denny as well) seemed to sound a little different in context when I read them (funny how that works too!). It’s funny how heretical you can make an author sound by quoting a sentence or two out of context. I could easily do this with John Piper or his like.

So, thank you ultra conservative fundamentalists for being so anti-Bell that you have probably caused his book sales to double and have introduced me to a gifted man of God. Maybe I need to write a postmodern Christian book so reformed conservatives can post warnings on their blogs about how heretical it is and I can become rich off of it b/c all it does is peak people’s interests and they go out and buy the book!

Good day