Haase_UZ_x007E_DTh (2).pdf - South African Theological Seminary

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e made clear so that men will heed it as the vehicle of the Spirit who convicts the world through its message (Montgomery, 1978:40). As mentioned previously, when the claims of world religions are compared, there are significant differences. Postmoderns are typically quite eclectic about religion, taking a pragmatic, ‘whatever works,’ approach. In response, the Christian apologist cannot convince all doubters that Jesus is the only way, but they can help define and delineate critical differences, making the issues clear. As Gary Habermas and Michael Licona suggest, “Jesus leaves no room for ambiguity. Jesus either rose from the dead confirming his claims to divinity or he was a fraud” (Habermas, 2004:28). J.W. Montgomery adds: The historic Christian claim differs qualitatively from the claims of all other world religions at the epistemological point: on the issue of testability. Eastern faiths and Islam, to take familiar examples, ask the uncommitted seeker to discover their truth experientially: the faith-experience will be self-validating. Unhappily, as analytical philosopher Kai Nielsen and others have rigorously shown, a subjective faith-experience is logically incapable of “validating God-talk” -- including the alleged absolutes about which the god in question does the talking. Christianity, on the other hand, declares that the truth of its absolute claims rests squarely on certain historical facts, open to ordinary investigation. These facts relate essentially to the man Jesus, His presentation of Himself as God in human flesh, and His resurrection from the dead as proof of His deity (Montgomery, 1991:319). J.W. Montgomery strongly cautions that the Christian response -- especially to relativists like postmoderns -- does not become limited to only presuppositionalism, or fideism. How many times and ways have God’s own retreated to the desert, both literally and figuratively, to avoid the challenges brought against the faith by a sceptical world This is avoiding the challenges, tough questions and doubts of our generation. Christianity does not benefit from assuming only the fideist position that some Christians and many other religions take. Faith per se, is a good and necessary 118 University of Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal, <strong>South</strong> Africa
component of the overall package, but one’s religious convictions still need to be built upon something of substance: there must be some substantive reason why you believe what you do. Under no circumstances should we retreat into a presuppositionalism or a fideism which would rob our fellow men of the opportunity to consider the Christian faith seriously with head as well as heart. Our apologetic task is not fulfilled until we remove the intellectual offenses that allow so many non-Christians to reject the gospel with scarcely a hearing. We must bring them to the only legitimate offense: the offense of the Cross. We must make clear to them beyond a shadow of doubt that if they reject the Lord of glory, it will be by reason of willful refusal to accept His grace, not because His Word is incapable of withstanding the most searching intellectual examination... When the Greeks of our day come seeking Jesus (John 12:20-21), let us make certain they find Him (Montgomery, 1978:41). While postmoderns seem to relish their relativistic and pluralistic position, I am not at all convinced that any of them truly wants the life-instability that attends their position. They too want something that goes beyond meeting a present need: they too want something of real and lasting value. Like all mankind, postmoderns want something real to believe in. Their doubts, like the doubts of peoples of all ages, are rooted in fear: mostly an uncertainty about the future and what happens at death. Other ideologies and religions attempt to answer such questions and quench these fears -- but only Christianity can fully answer and alleviate them all. Postmodern doubts about Christ and the Bible are hardly new. People have always doubted the validity of Jesus’ claims, and questioned the authenticity and authority of the Bible. Before the New Testament canon was even complete, heresies abounded, not least among them, Gnosticism. Jesus’ own disciples, who lived with Him daily for months, had doubts. Philip expressed His doubts about Jesus’ relationship to Yahweh, ‘the Father’ (Joh. 14:8-11). Those who first came to the empty tomb (cf., Luk. 24) could not believe He had risen from dead, though Jesus told them He would (Mat. 12:40). Thomas 119 University of Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal, <strong>South</strong> Africa
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1 POSTMODERNITY: IMPACT AND IMPLICA
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3 Key Terms Postmodern, postmoderni
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5 An Apologetic Response 115 Compro
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killed massively in the name of goo
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9 together in an eclectic, rather d
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11 Postmodernity: Impact and Implic
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13 heights” (Veith, 1994:30). For
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15 autonomy proper to human reason
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inviolability and Divine origin, th
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diminished” (Bosch, 2000:6). The
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‘god’ to keep and to save him.
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Occultism flourished among the Brit
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He was a passionate, powerful chara
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27 record reveals that the church o
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29 eliminating poverty, hunger and
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may simply transform the nature and
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Contrary to Christian notions that
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35 ‘modernize’ the nation. To b
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37 expression. This “first respon
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39 of his own awareness of God” (
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41 Existentialism understandably em
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depends upon our decision makes our
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group Socialisme et Liberte. During
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47 The Mind of Sartre Sartre’s vi
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ethical absolutes (Craig, 1994:67).
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51 Chapter II Postmodernity: The Es
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53 Postmoderns promote individualis
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meaning and language. The postmoder
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pointed out that science, far from
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59 Ferdinand de Saussure at the tur
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considers the Greek logos (i.e., λ
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63 models and then try not to subve
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marginalized and to the historical
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Page 71 and 72: 71 something akin to the virtual re
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Page 77 and 78: had been trapped. Through Nietzsche
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Page 81 and 82: elieve the conventions of modernity
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Page 87 and 88: 87 the second postmodern wave, whic
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Page 91 and 92: interpretation. It again gives sugg
Page 93 and 94: 93 There are three basic forms of (
Page 95 and 96: diverse immigrant populations becom
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Page 99 and 100: 99 but hardly in entirety. Keeping
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Page 109 and 110: 109 and the life. No one comes to t
Page 111 and 112: Those who truly know Jesus Christ a
Page 113 and 114: future was no longer heaven, but a
Page 115 and 116: 115 An Apologetic Response Beyond t
Page 117: uilding constructed on a shifting s
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Page 131 and 132: 131 Chapter VI Postmodernity and th
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Page 137 and 138: 137 Rome, ‘The Way’ (i.e., Chri
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Page 143 and 144: society. State authorities quite of
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Page 149 and 150: 149 Christendom West. For example i
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Page 157 and 158: 157 of Washington, D.C., have now d
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adherence overall declined from 86.
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171 (Johnson, 2004). Contemporary n
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173 The postmodernists undertook th
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deconstruction leads to a foundatio
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177 postmodernity has opened the do
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Pagans are usually worshippers of t
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most Catholics in Brazil. Many Musl
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which is one of the key factors tha
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185 1980:viii). For example, when t
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187 the higher religions. The pleth
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whose wrath has been and will be di
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in the movies, further fulfilling t
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to ancient Greek writings, the post
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195 more, the atoning work of Jesus
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197 to develop. Even after several
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199 excesses of scientism and reduc
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Carson, D.A., ed. (2000). Telling t
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Grudem, W. (1994). Systematic Theol
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McMichael, P. (2004). Development a
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207 Riss, R. (1988). A Survey of 20
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209 Bibliography of Electronic Sour
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211 Foucault, M. (1982). Truth, Pow
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Montgomery, J.W. (2002). Defending
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215 The University of Zululand Esta
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