© 2006 by Heath White

Published by Brazos Press
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.brazospress.com

Ebook edition created 2012

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of the publisher and copyright owners. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

eISBN 978-1-4412-3478-0

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Acknowledgments

Why Read about Postmodernism?

Premodern and Modern Minds

The Postmodern Turn against Reason

Truth, Power, and Morality

The Self

Language and Thought

Inquiry and Interpretation

Culture and Irony

History and Hope

Epilogue

Notes

For Further Reading

Acknowledgments

Eric Sanzone inspired me to write this book; I hope he enjoys it. The manuscript was a long time gestating, and I owe much to the generous assistance of others. Drafts of the manuscript were read and critiqued by Steve Cox, Mel Piehl, Mark Schwehn, Michael Straight, Sandra Visser, Jeff Zalar, and the students of my fall 2004 postmodernism class at Valparaiso University: Karl Aho, Tim Alles, Rachel Carnes, Matt Gotzh, Jon Hallemeier, Bryant Isaacson, Mark Koschmann, Erin Maloney, Tami McDunn, Jeff Murphy, Isaac Schoepp, and Kathryn Veryser. My earnest desire is that this book gives back as much as has been given to it.

Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain that build it.

Why Read about Postmodernism?

I wrote this book because I kept hearing the words “postmodern” and “postmodernism” thrown around in Christian circles. I would read about postmodern church services, or apologetics in a postmodern age, or that we can’t compromise with postmodernism. At the same time, I kept running into Christians who wanted to understand these discussions but couldn’t, because they didn’t know what postmodernism was. Other acquaintances of mine knew something about postmodernism and wanted to think more deeply about what it meant for contemporary Christianity but couldn’t, because their knowledge of postmodernism was lightweight, sketchy, or confused.

Here, I thought, I could help. I am a professional philosopher and a Christian, and I wrote this book to help my fellow believers understand and grapple with postmodernism and some of the issues it raises for Christianity in the twenty-first century. I have tried to explain postmodernism, what it is and where it came from, at a reasonably deep level. My hope is that Christians who want to think intelligently about postmodernism and its consequences for the contemporary church will be helped by what’s said in these pages.

Although I have a great deal of sympathy for, and attraction to, the high-church denominations, it will be clear before long that my own ...