Postmodernism and the Emergent Church
‘And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ (John 8:32 ESV) There is a group of supporters that believe in postmodernism. ‘Postmodernism is a philosophy that says absolute truth does not exist.’ (Zavada) The emergent church comes from and is a direct product of the belief of postmodernism.
‘Postmodernism is the belief that denies the ability to know things for sure.’ (Slick) Postmodernism denies the traditional beliefs of the church. A good example of this would be the postmodernist belief that there are many ways to heaven.
Jesus said, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’ (John 14:6 NIV) Postmodernism is a view that denies modernism. Modernists believe that absolute truth does exist and operate in objectivity. Postmodernists believe that some things are wrong for certain individuals and not wrong for others. ‘Postmodernism reduces Christianity to the level of opinion.’
The emergent church is a movement that embraces postmodernism.
’ In verse 4 the Bible goes on to say, ‘that they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned unto fables.’
There are aspects to these movements that do render interpretation impossible. An example of an aspect of these movements that renders interpretation impossible would be the difference in theology from church to church. Theology would be different from church to church due to everyone having their own interpretation of the Bible. Due to everyone having their own interpretations that means the church would have to be accepting of all the different interpretations. There would be no set way for the church to operate making interpretation impossible.
These movements have a great influence on the church today. I believe that they are impacting the church in a negative way. They cater to everyone’s beliefs and they do not stand for anything. This allows for people in these churches to live any way they see fit. An example of this would be homosexuality which is clearly spoken against in the Bible. These movements are allowing people to come up with their own interpretations of the Bible. People having their own interpretations of the Bible causes division in the church.
In Mark 3:25 Jesus said, ‘If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.’ (NIV) These churches are changing what it means to find Salvation and are saying that there are many ways to get to heaven. Jesus said in John 14:6, ‘I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Postmodernism and the emergent church are closely related to each other. Postmodernism is an idea that helped create the emergent church. These movements are dangerous because they change the very essence of what it means to follow Christ.
