Mapping Postmodernism: A Survey of Christian Options

Rating:
Summary: Relativism disguised as Christian thought
Review: It is unfortunate that such pseudo-philosophical and pseudo-intellectual drivel gets passed off as either Christian or thinking. Greer's book is riddled with drastic oversimplification of complex philosophical and historical questions, with blatant misrepresentations, and self-defeating denials of the possibility of absolute truth and a-cultural or a-historical observation. Don't people like Greer ever stop to consider that their conclusions apply to their own claims? If it is "impossible to divest oneself of one's culture and historical moment," as Greer asserts (p. 37), then this impossibility extends to Greer himself. Consequently, his claim is merely an expression of his culture and historical moment. Therefore, his claim is not absolutely true. And, if this claim is not absolutely true, then it is not absolutely true that it is impossible to divest oneself of one's culture and historical moment. Don't people like Greer ever stop to think that they are doing the very thing they claim can't be done? Doesn't Greer realize that he is purporting to make a trans-cultural, a-historical claim about all claims? If Greer's book is a mapping of postmodernism, he seems to have followed the map to the point of imbibing postmodern relativism. If anyone is interested in mapping postmodernism, my recommendation is that you should locate a different map.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book on Postmodernism
Review: This is one of the best books on postmodernism that I have read in recent months. Greer is both informative and innovative as he surveys the contours of different Christian responses to postmodernism and offers his own suggestions toward a proper repsonse.

The book opens with two introductory chapters, one on the "dark side of absolute truth" and the other on ecumenism. Greer's treatment of the misguidedly modernistic evangelical understanding of absolute truth is excellent and erudite. Especailly helpful about the chapter on ecumenism was simply the fact that it was there. Most books on postmodernism do not recognize the ecumenical questions are raised by the postmodern debate. Greer is very helpful simply by bringing thi issue up.

The bulk of the book is in four chapters where Greer deals with different responses to postmodernism. He discussed 1) Foundational Realism as exemplified by Francis Shaeffer, 2) Post-Foundational Realism as exemplified by Karl Barth and progressive evangelical theologians, 3) Post-Foundational Anti-Realism as exemplfied by John Hick, and 4) Post-Foundational Middle-Distance Realism as exemplified by George Lindbeck. These discussions are, for the most part excellent. Greer shows decisively how Shaeffer attempted ot defeat modernism with the tools of modernism and thus sabotaged his own case. His chapter on Barth left something to be desired, as he really spent very little time on Barth. His critique of Hick was good, though I think it could have been extended in some ways, particularly showing how Hick is truly a modernist at heart. The chapter on Lindbeck was very good, as it showed how evangelicals make many mistakes by attempting to read Lindbeck soley through his "The Nature of Doctrine" rather than considering his other writings.

The book concludes with two chapters revisiting the issues raised in the first two. Greer revisits the concept of absolute truth and does what so few evangelical theologians have sucessfully done, ground truth solely and completely in God. Thus he argues that God is truth itself. Therefore since God is personal and animate, being both plural and singular (Trinitarian), so also is truth. This moves us beyond the tyranny of absolutism to an understanding of truth as dynamic, personal and pluriform. This does not lead to relativism however, because God, though being plurality is also unity. Thus truth has limits, but it is more dynamic and multivalent than has been recongized before. This is where the book really gets good. Greer could have speny a little more time on the explcitly trintarian nature of truth, but his case is superb nonetheless.

The second chapter reengages the issue of ecumenism. Greer shows how a dynamic theistic account of absolute truth allows us to have a more dynamic ecumenism that is not forced to surrender true doctrine for the sake of unity or surrender unity for the sake of absolutist dogma.

The book concludes with a series of questions and closing reflections on what this new paradigm might look like. The only criticsm I really have is that Greer calls his paradigm "post-postmodernism." I found this simply too cliche and silly. Trinitarian would have been a better term that goes beyond the definitions of modernism-postmodernism.

There is also an appendix with helpful definitions of different paradigms in the modernism-postmodernism debate and a gloassary of terms that will doubtless be very helpful to many readers.

Ultimately, this is an excellent book on postmodernism that is neither reactionary or uncricitcal. Many of militant evangelical reactionaries (Douglass Groothuis, David Wells, Millard Erickson) and enthusiastic affirmers of postmodernism (Stanley Grenz) will benefit from Greer's balanced and erudite work on this important issue.