Andrew Callender

Society today largely holds that there are no absolutes, nothing we can be sure of. There is no absolute right and wrong, good and bad, true and false; each community, and ultimately each individual, has his own views and values, all of which are true for that person. This assumption is the basis of "post-modernism", which has for the most part replaced "modernism". Postmodernism is largely a hopeless view of the world, as it denies any possibility of ultimately reaching the correct understanding of the world, man, or even one's own self. The vast majority of Americans subscribe to it, at least in certain areas. One of the biggest of these realms is the matter of religion. "Maybe Christianity is true for you, but it just doesn't work for me. What matters is who I conceive God to be, that's what's relevant for me." Yet Jesus spoke in absolutes, giving commands intended for all who heard, and describing the realities of human nature and of God's nature. Orthodox Christianity and postmodernism are mutually contradictory, for a very simple reason. Christian faith is based on the absolutes that postmodernism denies: God, humanity, sin, and redemption.

Postmodernism does not itself deny the existence of God. Indeed, it allows people to believe in whatever God or gods they feel most comfortable with, including even the Christian God if that "belief system" best "meets their needs". The question of whether these gods actually exist is left wide open - the emphasis is placed on the beliefs of individuals. If you believe that God exists, then He does - for you, but not necessarily for me. This is, of course, entirely foreign to the Christian doctrine of an eternal God Who really and absolutely exists, whether or not anyone believes in Him.

Though it would try to deny it, postmodernism does have a few absolutes. One of these is that man is "the measure of all things" - a statement is true if and only if someone believes it. Thus postmodernism places man at the center, not the God or gods whose reality depends only on whether or not one believes in them. Man creates God in whatever image best suits his needs now, and never absolutely in any particular image, since each image is individually determined. Postmodern man is enthroned as God. The other half of this, of course, is that each person's beliefs are equally true, since obviously they are true for that person alone. My belief in God is just as true for me as John Q. Atheist's belief in no God is true for him. For one person to seek to persuade another of anything at all is simply an attempt to seize power over that person, to impose one's own beliefs on another.

This is, indeed, the only sin that postmodernism admits. "Traditional" lists of sins such as stealing, lying, murder, and the like are outdated. A serial killer's gruesome murders are simply the product of his personal beliefs, which are just as true for him as society's belief that gruesome murders are wrong. He has done nothing wrong, since he simply followed his own beliefs. In fact, if he believes that murder is a positive good and does nothing to achieve that good, then he has sinned (in postmodern eyes) by going against his own beliefs. The one unforgivable "sin" is to persuade others. Such attempts are, as I said in the last paragraph, nothing more than attempts to impose one's beliefs on others. Seeking to convince someone amounts to an act of war. Of course, this is (especially) true of religious persuasion. The evangelist is as great a criminal as the serial killer. My religion is as true as anyone else's, but not a bit more so; to share the gospel with someone in the hope of changing his beliefs is to force my beliefs on him.

Christian orthodoxy conflicts with postmodernism on virtually every point. Postmodernism is a "big tent" worldview - any possible belief is welcomed, as long as it doesn't seek to push any other beliefs out into the cold. Yet Christianity insists on taking over the tent. Christianity insists on an absolute right and an absolute wrong; it condemns the wrong and commands the right. All other beliefs are to be examined in the light of Christianity and discarded if they conflict. Christianity is not very "accepting" of postmodernism. Nor is postmodernism particularly welcoming to Christianity - to insist that absolutes are real is considered nonsensical, to insist that any particular belief is the only correct one is a faux pas at best and a crime against humanity at worst. Jesus asked, "How can light have fellowship with darkness?" We might well ask, "How can Christianity have fellowship with postmodernism?"