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POSTMODERNISM
Stanley J. Grenz
William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
Grand Rapids, Michigan / Cambridge U.K.
© 1996 Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
2140 Oak Industrial Drive N.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49505 /
P.O. Box 163, Cambridge CB3 9PU U.K.
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Grenz, Stanley, 1950–
A primer on postmodernism / Stanley Grenz.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8028-0864-6 (pbk.: alk. paper)
1. Postmodernism. I. Title.
B831.2.G74 1995
149—dc20 | 95-39733 |
| CIP |
a visionary Christian
dedicated to developing leaders
for a postmodern world
1. Star Trek and the Postmodern Generation
4. The Rise of the Modern World
5. The Prelude to Postmodernism
6. The Philosophers of Postmodernism
7. The Gospel and the Postmodern Context
“Would you come to Charlotte, North Carolina, October 26–28, 1993, to be one of about a dozen participants in a ‘think tank’ on ministry to ‘baby busters’?” asked Tom Hawkes of Leighton Ford Ministries.
“You’ve got the wrong person,” I protested. “I’m an academician, not a practitioner.”
“That’s exactly why we want you to be there,” came the response. “We practitioners need you to help us understand what postmodernism is all about.”
“Postmodernism.” This was not exactly a new word in my vocabulary. Indeed, in two of my books I had already raised the question of the shape of evangelical theology in the emerging postmodern context. But the upcoming meeting in Charlotte launched me into a concerted effort to come to understand what—if anything—this term actually means.
The Charlotte experience triggered the idea for a book, a “primer” to assist students, church leaders, youth workers, and even colleagues in understanding the attitude or mind-set that is becoming increasingly prevalent in North America, especially (but not exclusively) on university campuses. Preliminary telephone calls to several publishers (including Jon Pott at Eerdmans Publishing Company) and follow-up discussions at the American Academy of Religion gathering (November 1993) netted keen interest in the project.
Meanwhile came a suggestion from Prof. David Dockery that I present a paper at the Southeastern Regional meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, scheduled to be held on the campus of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in March 1994. The Charlotte experience provided the foundation for an essay, “Star Trek and the Next Generation: Postmodernism and the Future of Evangelical Theology.”
This essay appeared in our Regent College quarterly journal, Crux (30/1 [Mar 1994]), and evoked an astounding response. It has since been reprinted several times, including in the collection of essays from the ETS meeting, The Challenge of Postmodernism: An Evangelical Engagement (ed. David S. Dockery [Wheaton, Ill.: BridgePoint, 1995]).
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About A Primer on PostmodernismFrom the academy to pop culture, our society is in the throes of change rivaling the birth of modernity out of the decay of the Middle Ages. We are now moving from the modern to the postmodern. But what is postmodernism? How did it arise? What characterizes the postmodern ethos? What is the postmodern mind and how does it differ from the modern mind? Who are its leading advocates? Most important of all, what challenges does this cultural shift present to the church, which must proclaim the gospel to the emerging postmodern generation? Stanley Grenz here charts the postmodern landscape. He shows the threads that link art and architecture, philosophy and fiction, literary theory and television. He shows how the postmodern phenomenon has actually been in the making for a century and then introduces readers to the gurus of the postmodern mindset. What he offers here is truly an indispensable guide for understanding today’s culture. |
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