Haase_UZ_x007E_DTh (2).pdf - South African Theological Seminary

More documents

Recommendations

Info

One way this manifests in postmodern culture is the fresh embrace of Hinduistic reincarnation beliefs, a way to appease the conscience, without actually having to deal with sin in any immediate sense. Westerners also routinely go to Eastern countries (e.g., Katmandu, Nepal) looking for answers in their personal, spiritual quest. The reality they sometimes discover is that pantheistic cultures are often quite corrupt. People raised in Western cultures seldom realise how profoundly their worldview has been impacted by the Judeo-Christian sense of morality -- all rooted in biblical imperatives. This construct provides the individual the potential for one or many more chances to be and do good, earning one’s way to Nirvana. The postmodern approach accords well with postmoderns on their quest for ‘selfactualisation.’ We “shouldn’t be surprised by the growth of pantheistic spirituality today. It fits in with the aspirations of the postmodern soul. People want something spiritual to answer the heart-cry that secular humanism could not meet. Pantheism provides an answer without violating the quest for a life without submission to objective realities like a supreme God, a strict moral code, and an infallible Bible” (Ajith Fernando, in Carson, 2000:135). Pantheistic cultures do not bow the knee to any supreme ‘god.’ This accords perfectly with the postmodern penchant for anti-foundationalism. Fernando identifies a key reality about Eastern religions and philosophies, that there is no true holy god, only ‘gods’ who are holy in much the same way the early Greek gods were ‘above’ humanity, but hardly holy like the God of the Bible. The gods of Hinduism were morally neutral, and they are often seen to be doing things that we consider quite unholy. The emphasis in Those spiritualities is not so much on holiness in the sense of moral purity as on holiness in the sense of spiritual power -- of power over the mind, over the body, over anxiety and circumstances. We have seen that even in Christian circles when there is an emphasis on spiritual power, sometimes there is a tendency to neglect teaching on moral issues (Ajith Fernando, in Carson, 2000:134). Fernando adds that with such religions the focus is “self; evil is reinterpreted and thus emasculated; and any notion of judgment imposed by a personal / transcendent God 188 University of Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal, <strong>South</strong> Africa
whose wrath has been and will be displayed, is utterly repugnant” (Carson, 1996:41). The mystery religions, then and now, promised “cleansing to deal with guilt, security to face fear of evil, power over fate, union with gods through orgiastic ecstasy, and immortality” (Escobar, 2003:78). Many of the new religions in the West are either directly, or indirectly, products of the early Theosophist movement. By their own definition, Theosophy is a worldview that gives meaning and purpose to life. Theosophy claims to provide “ancient wisdom,” and supposedly has been around since time immemorial. It is a path, or way of life that further claims to lead to peace and selfless service. Theosophy emphasises unity and inter-connectedness of all life, the basic oneness of all species on earth and of all peoples. Adherents say it should be philosophically understood, not blindly accepted. Adherents also claim it is not a religion, and that its concepts and ideas are found in all major world religions in various ways. Theosophy, which literally means ‘divine wisdom,’ forms probably the most influential source for today’s New Age spirituality. It combined elements of the Western esoteric traditions with Buddhist and Hindu concepts, creating new spiritual myths about a brotherhood of ascended masters, the lost years of Jesus, and offering the universal wisdom of the world’s faiths (Clifford, 2003:8). The movement really gained momentum following the publication of The Secret Doctrine (1888) by Helena P. Blavatsky (1831-1891), a Russian-born, psychic and medium, and one of the co-founders of the Theosophical Society. In the book she quotes from Plato, Confucius, Guatama Buddha, Jesus and others, weaving a tapestry of some cosmological spiritual intelligence, claiming a vast potential still to be revealed through future cycles of evolution. According to the Theosophical Society of Australia, the universe is progressively unfolding latent spiritual powers, satisfying our need to belong to something greater than ourselves. Life’s inequalities are consequences of karma, the law of balance and harmony, which helps us understand life and why things work as they do. Through the process, they claim, we gain perspective about the continuum of many 189 University of Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal, <strong>South</strong> Africa
Page 1 and 2:
1 POSTMODERNITY: IMPACT AND IMPLICA
Page 3 and 4:
3 Key Terms Postmodern, postmoderni
Page 5 and 6:
5 An Apologetic Response 115 Compro
Page 7 and 8:
killed massively in the name of goo
Page 9 and 10:
9 together in an eclectic, rather d
Page 11 and 12:
11 Postmodernity: Impact and Implic
Page 13 and 14:
13 heights” (Veith, 1994:30). For
Page 15 and 16:
15 autonomy proper to human reason
Page 17 and 18:
inviolability and Divine origin, th
Page 19 and 20:
diminished” (Bosch, 2000:6). The
Page 21 and 22:
‘god’ to keep and to save him.
Page 23 and 24:
Occultism flourished among the Brit
Page 25 and 26:
He was a passionate, powerful chara
Page 27 and 28:
27 record reveals that the church o
Page 29 and 30:
29 eliminating poverty, hunger and
Page 31 and 32:
may simply transform the nature and
Page 33 and 34:
Contrary to Christian notions that
Page 35 and 36:
35 ‘modernize’ the nation. To b
Page 37 and 38:
37 expression. This “first respon
Page 39 and 40:
39 of his own awareness of God” (
Page 41 and 42:
41 Existentialism understandably em
Page 43 and 44:
depends upon our decision makes our
Page 45 and 46:
group Socialisme et Liberte. During
Page 47 and 48:
47 The Mind of Sartre Sartre’s vi
Page 49 and 50:
ethical absolutes (Craig, 1994:67).
Page 51 and 52:
51 Chapter II Postmodernity: The Es
Page 53 and 54:
53 Postmoderns promote individualis
Page 55 and 56:
meaning and language. The postmoder
Page 57 and 58:
pointed out that science, far from
Page 59 and 60:
59 Ferdinand de Saussure at the tur
Page 61 and 62:
considers the Greek logos (i.e., λ
Page 63 and 64:
63 models and then try not to subve
Page 65 and 66:
marginalized and to the historical
Page 67 and 68:
without essential foundations (Khan
Page 69 and 70:
maximum voluntary community agreeme
Page 71 and 72:
71 something akin to the virtual re
Page 73 and 74:
73 During the 1960’s, Foucault wa
Page 75 and 76:
generally agreed that his views wer
Page 77 and 78:
had been trapped. Through Nietzsche
Page 79 and 80:
Foucault also seemed to delight in
Page 81 and 82:
elieve the conventions of modernity
Page 83 and 84:
83 Will 'Po-Mod' Endure Ernst Gelln
Page 85 and 86:
85 referentially incoherent. That i
Page 87 and 88:
87 the second postmodern wave, whic
Page 89 and 90:
action. During the colonial period,
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
Page 97 and 98:
desperate population to believe tha
Page 99 and 100:
99 but hardly in entirety. Keeping
Page 101 and 102:
salvation. Here again we see how Go
Page 103 and 104:
103 and sick, conquered ignorance t
Page 105 and 106:
with relativism, pluralism and no a
Page 107 and 108:
107 our first love -- Jesus Christ
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 and 118:
uilding constructed on a shifting s
Page 119 and 120:
component of the overall package, b
Page 121 and 122:
irrelevant. The postmodernist, like
Page 123 and 124:
123 terminate this inquiry with the
Page 125 and 126:
consider the spiritual truths the B
Page 127 and 128:
people are to effectively participa
Page 129 and 130:
witness among the Gentiles, by usin
Page 131 and 132:
131 Chapter VI Postmodernity and th
Page 133 and 134:
Postmodernism enhances the process
Page 135 and 136:
135 Yet, with few exceptions, the W
Page 137 and 138: 137 Rome, ‘The Way’ (i.e., Chri
Page 139 and 140: were the changes made to the clergy
Page 141 and 142: of transforming it... Christendom i
Page 143 and 144: society. State authorities quite of
Page 145 and 146: “The subtle assumption of Western
Page 147 and 148: The church should instead take a Ch
Page 149 and 150: 149 Christendom West. For example i
Page 151 and 152: not know what it means to be indepe
Page 153 and 154: creative times has been, about doin
Page 155 and 156: 155 Ours is not a faith rooted in i
Page 157 and 158: 157 of Washington, D.C., have now d
Page 159 and 160: says, “Homosexual practice is inc
Page 161 and 162: the position held by the non-Wester
Page 163 and 164: 163 Chapter VII Postmodern Spiritua
Page 165 and 166: With the dawn of the Enlightenment,
Page 167 and 168: contemporary West look not to the c
Page 169 and 170: adherence overall declined from 86.
Page 171 and 172: 171 (Johnson, 2004). Contemporary n
Page 173 and 174: 173 The postmodernists undertook th
Page 175 and 176: deconstruction leads to a foundatio
Page 177 and 178: 177 postmodernity has opened the do
Page 179 and 180: Pagans are usually worshippers of t
Page 181 and 182: most Catholics in Brazil. Many Musl
Page 183 and 184: which is one of the key factors tha
Page 185 and 186: 185 1980:viii). For example, when t
Page 187: 187 the higher religions. The pleth
Page 191 and 192: in the movies, further fulfilling t
Page 193 and 194: to ancient Greek writings, the post
Page 195 and 196: 195 more, the atoning work of Jesus
Page 197 and 198: 197 to develop. Even after several
Page 199 and 200: 199 excesses of scientism and reduc
Page 201 and 202: Carson, D.A., ed. (2000). Telling t
Page 203 and 204: Grudem, W. (1994). Systematic Theol
Page 205 and 206: McMichael, P. (2004). Development a
Page 207 and 208: 207 Riss, R. (1988). A Survey of 20
Page 209 and 210: 209 Bibliography of Electronic Sour
Page 211 and 212: 211 Foucault, M. (1982). Truth, Pow
Page 213 and 214: Montgomery, J.W. (2002). Defending
Page 215 and 216: 215 The University of Zululand Esta
show all

Haase_UZ_x007E_DTh (2).pdf - South African Theological Seminary

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?