Haase_UZ_x007E_DTh (2).pdf - South African Theological Seminary

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constructs and doctrines are allegoricalized, making all things ‘nothingness,’ or
meaningless. So-called ‘higher powers’ become ‘gods’ that mankind can shape as suits
his/her whims. In this milieu of nothingness, James W. Sire asks: “Why should anyone
believe anything at all” (Sire, in Carson, 2000:94).
All this ‘meaninglessness’ is similar to the higher stages of Hinduistic selfrealization,
where the lines between good and evil are completely blurred. At all levels of
Hinduism, there is a works-righteousness emphasis. If you do well, you may be able to
escape the endless cycle of samsara. For the higher castes, however, self-realization and
the Brahmin oneness of all things means that good is evil and evil, good. There is no
motivation to be moral, which is reflected in the highly immoral behaviour of the higher
caste priests (Koukl, 1993). Where reality is only Maya, or illusion, where there is no
motivation to do good, or even to attempt to differentiate one from the other, where
nothing really matters -- man inevitably reverts back to pursuing his own self interests.
From this sprout the carnal creeds: “do unto others, before they do unto you,” and “grab
all you can in this life, because that’s all there is.” This is why postmoderns generally
‘get along’ so well with Eastern philosophies, which routinely blur lines and leave man
the creator of moral constructs and his own world.
The Slippery Slope
Francis Schaeffer warned for decades of the growing postmodern pluralistic climate
in the West. He argued, among other things, that without antithesis, truth would fall
apart, as indeed it has -- especially regarding morality. Schaeffer noted how the embrace
of the Hegelian dialectic of thesis, antithesis and synthesis, had done so much to
undermine truth and absolutes. Schaeffer said “Christianity demands antithesis, not as
some abstract concept of truth, but in the fact that God exists and in personal
justification” (Schaeffer, 1990:47). If we embrace synthesis, not antithesis, we are left
University of Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa