Mapping Postmodernism: A Survey of Christian Options

by Robert C. Greer

By now we've all heard the word postmodernism. Robert C. Greer helps us grasp the nature of the shifts in thinking and believing that are taking place in our world. More important, he helps us navigate the complex debate among Christians as to how best to respond to these new challenges. Astutely he maps four different ways Christian thinkers have recommended we respond. These alternatives are represented by four Francis Schaeffer, Karl Barth, John Hick and George Lindbeck. Greer warns that being merely for or against postmodernism is inadequate. He guides us across the terrain of alternatives along a path that leads neither back to the land of modernism nor to the wild frontiers of postmodernist relativism. Acknowledging the relative strengths and weaknesses of these options, Greer turns us to a thoroughly Christian theology that points beyond them to the true Subject who makes knowledge possible through the language of revelation and relationship with God. This book is an illuminating map for all those who feel lost in the maze of conflicting analyses of postmodernism and are looking for a faithful way forward .

Genres: Theology, Christianity

302 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2003

Reviews

[Giovanni Generoso · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was extremely helpful. I've never heard of Robert C. Greer before but I decided to read the book because it was endorsed by Bruce Ellis Benson at Wheaton College.

Greer basically spends the book assessing the "dark side of absolute truth." He critiques both conservativism and liberalism, as they both have an epistemology that is thoroughly modernistic. Greer ultimately lands on what he calls post-postmodernism. Before he states his conclusion, however, he offers four different approaches that Christian theologians have taken in relation to the current postmodern ethos:

1. Foundationalist Realism (Francis Schaeffer, D. A. Carson)
2. Post-foundationalist Realism (Karl Barth, James K. A. Smith, Miroslav Volf, and Stanley Grenz)
3. Post-foundationalist Middle-distance Realism (George Lindbeck, Hans Frei)
4. Post-foundationalist Antirealism (John Hick)

Ultimately, Greer lands on a hybrid between options 2 and 3. Basically, if you're an evangelical who embraces the triumphalism of men like John MacArthur, John Piper, Mark Driscoll, Paul Washer, and others, then you're going to have a hard time embracing Greer's conclusion. I personally think that Greer did a fantastic job of mapping how Christians should respond to postmodernism.

If you're struggling to make sense of what postmodernism is, then this is the book for you. It's extremely easy to understand, and very accessible.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frustrating book. Every thought has the same obvious conclusion (a more Roman Catholic/Eastern Orthodox vision of the church), but until the last few pages, the thought is always cut off. And in the last page it is treated as a "bite too large" leading to "choking and even death."

I underlined dozens of passages, scribbled protests into the margins of others.