Messages with tag - Postmodernism

Hendricks, Living By the Book, chapters 27 through 29

Epistemology is the study of knowledge. It attempts to answer questions regarding the origin of human knowledge, and considers especially how we can know with certainty. Epistemological answers are basic and necessary building blocks of any philosophy, worldview, or belief system. In fact, of the four major components of philosophy and worldview (epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and socio-­‐political thought), none can be adequately addressed until we answer the question of how we can know. Regarding metaphysics, for example, we can’t make legitimate assertions about the character of God or the existence of the human soul until we first address how such assertions can be verified or falsified. Further, unless we have a means for validating ethical prescriptions as either worthy or unworthy, we have no warrant for choosing one prescription over another – especially when we encounter apparently competing or conflicting goods. And if we have no mechanism for authentication, then how can we even arrive at a definition of what is good in the first place? Finally, in socio-­‐political thought, on what basis can we choose one system of government over another, or how can we determine whether a law is commendable? Without correct epistemological answers, there is no basis for our understanding or choosing one thing over another. In short, epistemology is really about authority, verifiability, truth, and certainty.

Imagine a person – we’ll call him Bob. Bob has just received the gift of consciousness. For the first time in Bob’s existence he is aware. Bob examines his surroundings and he finds himself standing in rolling sun-­‐drenched fields of dandelions under a beautifully clear mid-­‐day sky. Of course, Bob has no knowledge of what anything around him is or what any of it means, because this is the first time he has ever encountered any of these things. Bob begins to ponder. “Here I am, I suppose, now what?” Bob has to figure out how to answer that question before he takes his first step, lest he make the wrong assumptions and step in the wrong direction. He begins a quest to decipher the right understanding of who and what he is, and how he must proceed, but he isn’t certain of whether or not he has the right tools for the task. In fact, he isn’t certain of anything.

Are you aware you’re living in a war zone? A war zone of competing worldviews? Listen to this message to learn about two prominent worldviews that may be influencing you more than you know. The first of these is called Modernism, which stresses that reason and logic are all that were necessary to live a good life. This view was discredited by the devastation of the first World War. The worldview that followed it and is current today is called Postmodernism. Learn how its goal is to bring utopia to this world through social change. In contrast to these false worldviews is the biblical view that man is helpless to save himself, but God’s plan for mankind is to redeem him through Christ’s death on the Cross when we trust in Him. Finish this lesson with a study of who the “one another” in Ephesians refers to and the importance of the body of Christ called the Church.

During this message Dr. Dean referenced the book The Death of Truth by David McCallum.