Sunday Sermons
The History of Western Thought
The History of Western Thought
Pre-Modern Thought
To understand modernism and postmodernism, we must first start with the pre-modern. In the pre-modern phase of Western civilization, people believed in the supernatural. Individuals and the culture as a whole believed in either God or gods. In Athens the apostle Paul discovered an altar to “an unknown God” (Acts 17:23). “The Greeks had come to realize that there is a God, but they did not know Him. Their reason highly developed as it was, had to give way to revelation” (Postmodern Times, Gene Edward Veith, Jr., p. 30). We need to be impressed that pre-modern thought was not pure superstition or naïve thinking. Socrates reasoned that there must be only one supreme God, the source of all truth, beauty, and goodness. Plato, the disciple of Socrates, went on to develop classical idealism, the view that the particulars of this world owe their form to transcendent ideals in the mind of God. Aristotle reasoned that all causes must trace back to a First Cause, which itself is uncaused (John 1:1-3). Paul noted that various pagan poets had hit upon some spiritual truths (Acts 17:28). “For over a thousand years, Western civilization was dominated by an uneasy mingling of worldviews---the Biblical revelation, classical rationalism, and even the remains of native pagan mythologies. Often Biblical truth was compromised by human reason and pagan superstitions” (p. 31).
The Middle Ages: 500-1350 A.D.
“During the Middle Ages (A.D. 1000-1500), Christian piety, classical rationalism, and the folk-paganism of European culture achieved something of a synthesis. Medieval popular culture further obscured the gospel message, often keeping much of the old paganism under the veneer of Christianity, retaining the old gods but renaming them after Christian saints” (p. 31).
The Renaissance: 14th-16th Centuries A.D.
During the Renaissance, humanism rediscovered and reasserted the thinking of the Greeks; and the Reformation rediscovered and reasserted Divine revelation.
The Enlightenment: 18th Century A.D.
“The emerging sciences had their origins in the Biblical worldview that nature is the good and orderly work of a personal Creator and in the classical view that absolute rational laws govern nature. In the 1700’s the progress of science accelerated so rapidly that it seemed as if science could explain everything. Some saw no limits to the power of human reason operating upon the data of the senses. The age of reason, scientific discovery, and human autonomy, is termed the Enlightenment” (p. 33). Sadly, many during this time lumped Christianity with paganism and outdated superstitions. They argued that reason alone, may now replace the reliance on the supernatural. This does not mean that Enlightenment thinkers entirely rejected religion. Rather, they sought to devise a rational religion, a faith that did not depend upon revelation (i.e., the Bible). The result was Deism. According to the Deists, the orderliness of nature does in fact prove the existence of a deity, a rational mind that created the universe, but this God is no longer involved in the creation. According to this religion, human beings, armed with reason, are basically on their own.
Utilitarianism
Since the Enlightenment rejected Divine revelation as being the standard of truth and error and right and wrong, a new standard was found. Morality was now determined, not by what the Bible said, but by studying the effect of an action upon society. Therefore, stealing is wrong, not because the Bible condemns it, but because stealing interferes with the economic functioning of society. Something is good if it makes the system run more smoothly. Something is evil if it interferes with the system. Practicality becomes the sole moral criterion. This is the view that justified slavery, exploitive child labor, and the starvation of the poor, all in the name of economic efficiency. “Today this Enlightenment ethic is the view that favors abortion because it reduces the welfare rolls and sanctions euthanasia because it reduces hospital bills. Utilitarianism is a way of facing moral issues without God” (p. 34). The Bible rejects utilitarianism. First, sin is a violation of God’s law (1 John 3:4). Secondly, the human soul is far more valuable than any product or any economic system (Matthew 16:24-26).
The Social Sciences
As a result of the Enlightenment, the “social sciences” were invented. Sociology purported to explain human institutions;psychology sought to explain the inner life of human beings, all in terms of a closed natural system (that is, explaining human beings without divine revelation). Societies and economies were re-thought and re-engineered. “Under the assumption that all problems could be solved by human planning, various schemes of socialism arose. The most thoroughgoing attempt to remake society and human beings according to a rationalistic theory is Communism.
Another result of the Enlightenment was that many denominations compromised and sought to reinterpret the Bible according to Enlightenment dogmas, thus liberal “Christianity” was invented.
Voices of Dissent
The Enlightenment with all its emphasis upon unaided human wisdom sparked the reaction of romanticism. Whereas the Enlightenment assumed that reason is the most important human faculty, romanticism assumed that emotion is the essence of being human. The romantics exalted the individual over impersonal, abstract systems. Self-fulfillment, not practicality, was the basis of morality. Yet Jesus clearly did not believe that self-fulfillment was the basis of right and wrong (Matthew 16:24).
Romanticism
Here is the beginning of “getting in touch with one’s inner feelings”, of “becoming one with nature”. Enlightenment thinkers viewed nature as a machine, while the romantics viewed nature as “a life force”, but by saying “life force”, they did not mean the personal God of the Bible. The life force replaced God and served as the basis for this new secular religion. Romantics criticized “civilization”. They argued that children are born free and one with nature, but “society” then corrupts them. Primitive tribes consist of “noble savages” who live close to nature and are thus uncorrupted by modern technology and materialism. The romantics gloried the past. In romanticism, “self” became not only the Creator, but the Lawgiver. “This sort of romantic ethic manifests itself everywhere today—executives divorcing their spouses so they can have ‘trophy wives’; abortion advocates who argue that having a baby might interfere with a woman’s self-fulfillment; euthanasia apologists who believe that those unable to pursue a self-directed life of “quality” are better off being killed” (p. 37). We should be impressed that Paul did not see pagans as being “noble savages”, uncorrupted by technology (Romans 1:18-32). Rather, all have sinned (Romans 3:23), and everyone needs the gospel (Mark 16:15).
Existentialism
This is the view that there is no inherent meaning or purpose in life (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14; Ephesians 2:10). Therefore, meaning is not to be discovered in the objective world; rather, meaning is a purely human phenomenon, that is, the individual can create meaning for himself, however, this meaning has no validity for anyone else. “Existentialism provides the rationale for contemporary relativism. Since everyone creates his or her own meaning, every meaning is equally valid. Religion becomes a purely private affair, which cannot be ‘imposed’ on anyone else. Everyone inhabits his or her own private reality. ‘What’s true for you may not be true for me’” (p. 38). Or, “We disagree, but we are both right”. It used to be that only avante garde novelists or French intellects in cafes thought like this, but Existentialism has invaded the popular culture. It has become the philosophy of the soap operas, television talk shows, and such thinking dominates much of the political process and the legal system. Existentialism is the basis for postmodernism. Today we see Existentialism when abortion advocates call themselves “pro-choice”. To them, it makes no difference what the woman decides, only that she makes an authentic choice. Whatever she chooses to do is right—for her. Pro-choice advocates are not interested in any objective information that might have a bearing on the morality of abortion. Data about fetal development, facts about how abortions are performed, arguments about the sanctity of human life, all such objective evidence from the outside world is meaningless and in their thinking has no bearing on the woman’s private choice. According to this view of the world, “choice is God”.
Modernism
Much of the above would fit into the large category called “Modernism”. Modernism is simply where human reason (minus divine revelation) is king. Involved in this philosophy is the idea that we are “modern men” who can no longer believe in God or the supernatural. Modernists view Christians as ignorant, backward and naïve.
Postmodernism
The Enlightenment and the Modernism that grew out of it argued that there was only one correct answer to any question, which could be discovered by unaided human wisdom, from this followed the feeling that the world could be controlled. Human wisdom was king and could solve every problem. Postmodernism rejects the idea of an absolute right answer. In fact, some postmodernists argue that even a science like Mathematics may be only an arbitrary mental game instead of reflections of absolute laws of nature. The one thing to remember about postmodernism is the rejection of absolute truth. Postmodernism tends to treat Christianity as it would modernism, that is, both Christianity and modernism will be dismissed on the same grounds: They claim to be true. Jesus clearly taught that He had the truth (John 8:31-32; John 17:17; 14:6). One writer described it this way: “Modernism emphasizes purpose and design, postmodernism emphasizes play and chance. Modern establishes a hierarchy; postmodernism cultivates anarchy. Modernism values the type; postmodernism values the mutant” (p. 43).
Postmodernism and Culture
One of the first writers to coin the term “postmodernism” was the historian Sir Arnold Toynbee. In the 1940’s, he engaged in a study of the rise and fall of world civilizations. Based on his study of twenty-one civilizations, ranging from ancient Rome to imperial China, from Babylon to the Aztecs, he found that societies in disintegration suffer a kind of “schism of the soul”. They are seldom overrun by some other power; rather, they commit a kind of cultural suicide.
Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net/mdunagan@easystreet.com
