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Chapter 14
Evangelical Imperatives
Discussion Guide
- Again, this section is important for Christians, so we have more than
one week planned.
Week 1: Accommodation Temptation
- In the first two sections of this chapter, McCallum claims Christians
today are being tempted to down-play the absolute nature of truth because
it is unpopular. Have you seen any evidence of this?
- Go over each of the following examples cited by McCallum, and say
whether you have seen evidence of postmodern tendencies among evangelical
Christians in that area. What are the similarities and what are the
differences? What does the Bible teach on each?
- ¨ Excessive reliance or hope placed in evangelical political power
Yes, No
Similarity:
Difference:
Biblical teaching:
- ¨ Evangelicals, especially youth, believing that truth is relative
Yes, No
Similarity:
Difference:
Biblical teaching:
- ¨ Experience-centeredness. Placing experience as the final goal or
authority instead of truth
Yes, No
Similarity:
Difference:
Biblical teaching:
- ¨ Negative portrayals of "head-knowledge" in favor of "heart-knowledge"
Yes, No
Similarity:
Difference:
Biblical teaching:
- ¨ Word-faith doctrines that stress believers faith bringing about
any outcome they desire
Yes, No
Similarity:
Difference:
Biblical teaching:
- ¨ Postmodern victimology. People believing victims' stories must always
be believed without question
Yes, No
Similarity:
Difference:
Biblical teaching:
- ¨ Claims that interpretation of Scripture always depends on tradition
Yes, No
Similarity:
Difference:
Biblical teaching:
- ¨ New demands for "respect" for others rather than love
of others
Yes, No
Similarity:
Difference:
Biblical teaching:
Week 2: Assessing Postmodernism
- McCallum covers several positive insights advanced by postmodern thinkers.
Look at the list below and discuss whether you see any practical use
for each insight.
- ¨ Without the infinite-personal creator God of the Bible, knowledge
and reason do indeed become uncertain
- ¨ People are more subjective than they like to admit
- ¨ Our culture can, and often does, blind our eyes to truth that
is obvious to other cultures, and which, in retrospect may also
be clear to us
- ¨ People are social beings, and our social or cultural setting
shapes and informs our values and thinking
- ¨ Blind faith in our legal status quo is unwarranted.
- In his critique of postmodernism, McCallum makes the following charges.
Discuss each--which do you feel are appropriate, and which are more,
or less important? Which ones speak to you? Which ones might be useful
in trying to persuade postmodern thinkers? Finally, can you articulate
the Christian rebuttal for each point? (If you can't remember, look
in the book)
- ¨ Their attempt to deny the validity of reason is itself based
on reason.
Appropriate
Important
Speaks to me
Useful for persuasion
Christian rebuttal:
- ¨ They exaggerate when they claim people are prisoners of their cultures
and their languages.
Appropriate
Important
Speaks to me
Useful for persuasion
Christian rebuttal:
- ¨ They exaggerate the difficulties involved in scientific objectivity
and neutrality.
Appropriate
Important
Speaks to me
Useful for persuasion
Christian rebuttal:
- ¨ They exaggerate the difficulties in translation and interpretation
of texts.
Appropriate
Important
Speaks to me
Useful for persuasion
Christian rebuttal:
- ¨ They try to deny the self, but this is always self-contradictory.
Appropriate
Important
Speaks to me
Useful for persuasion
Christian rebuttal:
- ¨ Postmodernists exaggerate the differences in how people understand
words until all language is a prison house preventing us from understanding
other people's "realities.
Appropriate
Important
Speaks to me
Useful for persuasion
Christian rebuttal:
- ¨ While supposedly giving us a new way of coming together in the world
(based on relativism and "respect") postmodernists actually
foster division.
Appropriate
Important
Speaks to me
Useful for persuasion
Christian rebuttal:
- ¨ They falsely claim that Hitler, Stalin and Mao were violent because
they believed in absolutes or metanarratives.
Appropriate
Important
Speaks to me
Useful for persuasion
Christian rebuttal:
- ¨ Postmodern substitution of power for truth contains a threat of
future oppression, especially for minorities.
Appropriate
Important
Speaks to me
Useful for persuasion
Christian rebuttal:
- ¨ Minorities' only hope for fair treatment is that society becomes
convinced that there is such a thing as right and wrong in the objective
sense.
Appropriate
Important
Speaks to me
Useful for persuasion
Christian rebuttal:
- ¨ Postmodern race and feminist theorists explain that racism is the
result of modernistic belief systems rather than selfishness born of
innate sin.
Appropriate
Important
Speaks to me
Useful for persuasion
Christian rebuttal:
- ¨ They also project racism and sexism only as problems for whites
and men.
Appropriate
Important
Speaks to me
Useful for persuasion
Christian rebuttal:
- ¨ Postmodernists claim that people who think they know better than
someone else are arrogant, but the truly arrogant are those who create
their own unquestionable truth.
Appropriate
Important
Speaks to me
Useful for persuasion
Christian rebuttal:
Week 3 Evangelical Imperatives
Postmodern vs. Christian Views on Truth and Reason
- McCallum says, "When we let feelings and experience follow after
truth, they take their God-given place in our walks--blessings from
God for which we should be grateful." What does "follow after"
mean in this context? What would it mean to have experience "go
before?"
- McCallum says, "When we deny reason, we automatically deny truth."
Is this necessarily so?
- Have you ever heard an evangelical Christian question whether reason
applies to the things of God?
- What do you think of one who holds that reason applies part of the
time, but not all the time?
- Have you ever felt personally embarrassed by the absolute truth claims
of Christianity? If so, what should you do?
- Do you think the church today is too "left-brained?" Or
do you agree with McCallum that most Christian people are insufficiently
sophisticated in their theological thinking?
- McCallum thinks, "Reason is reliable, but not sufficient.
As biblical Christians, we believe reason can tell us much about the
world, but not everything. We also need revelation." Can we hold
to knowledge that goes beyond reason without denying the validity of
reason?
Postmodern vs. Christian Views on Culture
- Missions experts are concerned today about "contextualization"--adapting
Christianity to other cultures, and avoiding exporting western cultural
features to other non-western cultures. How would you differentiate
between postmodern views on culturally constructed reality and appropriate
biblical contextualization?
- McCallum says, "Christians have no debate with the observation
that people usually adopt their culture's point of view. Our problem
is with the postmodern position that they have no choice in this, because
they are imprisoned in the reality constructed by their language and
culture. We must reject cultural determinism." Do you agree with
this? Why, or why not? What difference would it make if we adopted one
or the other view on this question? Can you think of any biblical material
on Christ and other cultures?
- "The truth stands over culture, as its judge, not under
culture as its product." Give some examples of how this statement
might work in real life.
Postmodern vs. Christian Views on Language
- In any literary text, interpretation is unavoidable. How, then, can
Christians claim texts have objective, fixed messages we must discover?
- Under reader-centered postmodern hermeneutics, readers are free to
generate new meaning in biblical texts. Therefore, McCallum claims,
"they are in the position formerly occupied by God--that of revealer
and source of truth." Is this statement too hard?
- Discuss the difference between interpretation and application
of Scripture. How does this distinction relate to the idea of reader-response
hermeneutics?
- McCallum says, "Postmodernists aren't wrong in everything they
say, but their fundamental thrust is completely wrong and incompatible
with biblical Christianity." Is this statement too strong? Why
or why not?
Facilitator's Guide for Evangelical Imperatives
- Again, this section is important for Christians, so we have more than
one week planned.
Week 1: Accommodation Temptation
- In the first two sections of this chapter, McCallum claims Christians
today are being tempted to down-play the absolute nature of truth because
it is unpopular. Have you seen any evidence of this?
For those who are readers, check out Christian Apologetics in the
Postmodern World, Philips and Okholm, Ed. (IVP 1996) and see which
of the contributors from this evangelical conference at Wheaton College
were influenced by postmodern ideas.
- Go over each of the following examples cited by McCallum, and say
whether you have seen evidence of postmodern tendencies among evangelical
Christians in that area. What are the similarities and what are the
differences? What does the Bible teach on each?
- ¨ Excessive reliance or hope placed in evangelical political power
Yes, No
Similarity:
Difference:
Biblical teaching:
- ¨ Evangelicals, especially youth, believing that truth is relative
Yes, No
Similarity:
Difference:
Biblical teaching:
- ¨ Experience-centeredness. Placing experience as the final goal or
authority instead of truth
Yes, No
Similarity:
Difference:
Biblical teaching:
- ¨ Negative portrayals of "head-knowledge" in favor of "heart-knowledge"
Yes, No
Similarity:
Difference:
Biblical teaching:
- ¨ Word-faith doctrines that stress believers faith bringing about
any outcome they desire
Yes, No
Similarity:
Difference:
Biblical teaching:
- ¨ Postmodern victimology. People believing victims' stories must always
be believed without question
Yes, No
Similarity:
Difference:
Biblical teaching:
- ¨ Claims that interpretation of Scripture always depends on tradition
Yes, No
Similarity:
Difference:
Biblical teaching:
- ¨ New demands for "respect" for others rather than love
of others
Yes, No
Similarity:
Difference:
Biblical teaching:
Week 2: Assessing Postmodernism
- McCallum covers several positive insights advanced by postmodern thinkers.
Look at the list below and discuss whether you see any practical use
for each insight.
- ¨ Without the infinite-personal creator God of the Bible, knowledge
and reason do indeed become uncertain
- ¨ People are more subjective than they like to admit
- ¨ Our culture can, and often does, blind our eyes to truth that
is obvious to other cultures, and which, in retrospect may also
be clear to us
- ¨ People are social beings, and our social or cultural setting
shapes and informs our values and thinking
- ¨ Blind faith in our legal status quo is unwarranted.
- In his critique of postmodernism, McCallum makes the following charges.
Discuss each--which do you feel are appropriate, and which are more,
or less important? Which ones speak to you? Which ones might be useful
in trying to persuade postmodern thinkers? Finally, can you articulate
the Christian rebuttal for each point? (If you can't remember, look
in the book)
- ¨ Their attempt to deny the validity of reason is itself based
on reason.
Appropriate
Important
Speaks to me
Useful for persuasion
Christian rebuttal:
- ¨ They exaggerate when they claim people are prisoners of their cultures
and their languages.
Appropriate
Important
Speaks to me
Useful for persuasion
Christian rebuttal:
- ¨ They exaggerate the difficulties involved in scientific objectivity
and neutrality.
Appropriate
Important
Speaks to me
Useful for persuasion
Christian rebuttal:
- ¨ They exaggerate the difficulties in translation and interpretation
of texts.
Appropriate
Important
Speaks to me
Useful for persuasion
Christian rebuttal:
- ¨ They try to deny the self, but this is always self-contradictory.
Appropriate
Important
Speaks to me
Useful for persuasion
Christian rebuttal:
- ¨ Postmodernists exaggerate the differences in how people understand
words until all language is a prison house preventing us from understanding
other people's "realities.
Appropriate
Important
Speaks to me
Useful for persuasion
Christian rebuttal:
- ¨ While supposedly giving us a new way of coming together in the world
(based on relativism and "respect") postmodernists actually
foster division.
Appropriate
Important
Speaks to me
Useful for persuasion
Christian rebuttal:
- ¨ They falsely claim that Hitler, Stalin and Mao were violent because
they believed in absolutes or metanarratives.
Appropriate
Important
Speaks to me
Useful for persuasion
Christian rebuttal:
- ¨ Postmodern substitution of power for truth contains a threat of
future oppression, especially for minorities.
Appropriate
Important
Speaks to me
Useful for persuasion
Christian rebuttal:
- ¨ Minorities' only hope for fair treatment is that society becomes
convinced that there is such a thing as right and wrong in the objective
sense.
Appropriate
Important
Speaks to me
Useful for persuasion
Christian rebuttal:
- ¨ Postmodern race and feminist theorists explain that racism is the
result of modernistic belief systems rather than selfishness born of
innate sin.
Appropriate
Important
Speaks to me
Useful for persuasion
Christian rebuttal:
- ¨ They also project racism and sexism only as problems for whites
and men.
Appropriate
Important
Speaks to me
Useful for persuasion
Christian rebuttal:
- ¨ Postmodernists claim that people who think they know better than
someone else are arrogant, but the truly arrogant are those who create
their own unquestionable truth.
Appropriate
Important
Speaks to me
Useful for persuasion
Christian rebuttal:
Week 3 Evangelical Imperatives
Postmodern vs. Christian Views on Truth and Reason
- McCallum says, "When we let feelings and experience follow after
truth, they take their God-given place in our walks--blessings from
God for which we should be grateful." What does "follow after"
mean in this context? What would it mean to have experience "go
before?"
- This is primarily a matter of emphasis and interpretation. Emphasis
means, what occupies our minds? What do we talk about most? What do
we extol in our teachings?
- Interpretation means, what does it mean when I have not had much
spiritual experience lately? If lack of experience means I am away from
the Lord, then experience has become my definition of what true spirituality
is all about. This is especially true when experience has been lacking
for a relatively short time.
- Put differently, when experience is the goal of my walk with God,
I am no longer in line with biblical priorities.
- McCallum says, "When we deny reason, we automatically deny truth."
Is this necessarily so?
- It is, if by "truth" we mean objective truth--truth that
does not depend on my believing it to be true. Note that the notion
of objective truth is linked to the "correspondence theory of truth."
That is, my thought is true when it corresponds to external reality.
Note also that this is the Bible's own definition of truth.
- Have you ever heard an evangelical Christian question whether reason
applies to the things of God?
- What do you think of one who holds that reason applies part of the
time, but not all the time?
- Anyone who claims that reason does not apply to some part of his
own position is guilty of the logical fallacy called "special pleading."
He is pleading for a rule to apply to his argument that he will not
allow for other arguments. In other words, if we think reason doesn't
apply to some areas, we are forced to admit it may not apply to any
area. If so, we can no longer use reason to refute any argument.
- Have you ever felt personally embarrassed by the absolute truth claims
of Christianity? If so, what should you do?
- Discuss ways to soften the blow without compromising the truth. This
is called "tact" in communication, and many Christians could
use more of it.
- Do you think the church today is too "left-brained?" Or
do you agree with McCallum that most Christian people are insufficiently
sophisticated in their theological thinking?
- McCallum thinks, "Reason is reliable, but not sufficient.
As biblical Christians, we believe reason can tell us much about the
world, but not everything. We also need revelation." Can we hold
to knowledge that goes beyond reason without denying the validity of
reason?
- Yes, we can. Do you know how the copier in your office works? Perhaps
not. Do you know what the future holds? Definitely not. Yet neither
of these are incompatible with reason, or irrational. So, too, God may
be beyond our comprehension, but this does not mean he is irrational.
Postmodern vs. Christian Views on Culture
- Missions experts are concerned today about "contextualization"--adapting
Christianity to other cultures, and avoiding exporting western cultural
features to other non-western cultures. How would you differentiate
between postmodern views on culturally constructed reality and appropriate
biblical contextualization?
- Contextualization means we dress and speak in ways compatible with
another culture in order to bring them the universal truth of
the Gospel. Postmodernists deny there are universal truths.
- McCallum says, "Christians have no debate with the observation
that people usually adopt their culture's point of view. Our problem
is with the postmodern position that they have no choice in this,
because they are imprisoned in the reality constructed by their language
and culture. We must reject cultural determinism." Do you agree
with this? Why, or why not? What difference would it make if we adopted
one or the other view on this question? Can you think of any biblical
material on Christ and other cultures?
- The idea that people are conditioned by their culture flies directly
in the face of the notion of universal judgment. It also renders Christian
missions pointless. Consider how Paul, Abraham, Jesus and others defied
their cultures to set forward new understandings based on revelation.
- "The truth stands over culture, as its judge, not under
culture as its product." Give some examples of how this statement
might work in real life.
- This is a very important truth. How would we know that slavery was
wrong? Not by our slave owning culture, but by the principles in God's
word (I Corinthians 7:23 etc.)
Postmodern vs. Christian Views on Language
- In any literary text, interpretation is unavoidable. How, then, can
Christians claim texts have objective, fixed messages we must discover?
- Under reader-centered postmodern hermeneutics, readers are free to
generate new meaning in biblical texts. Therefore, McCallum claims,
"they are in the position formerly occupied by God--that of revealer
and source of truth." Is this statement too hard?
- Discuss the difference between interpretation and application
of Scripture. How does this distinction relate to the idea of reader-response
hermeneutics?
- Interpretation is a matter of what the author intended to communicate.
Application is a matter of how God wants to apply the word to my life.
The former is objective. The latter is subjective.
- McCallum says, "Postmodernists aren't wrong in everything they
say, but their fundamental thrust is completely wrong and incompatible
with biblical Christianity." Is this statement too strong? Why
or why not?
Send
a comment to Dennis
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