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here is a noticeable stirring pulsing through the theological world as theologians are exploring what their 'science' might look like in a world filing for divorce from Modernism. These
theologians are accepting the fact that the nature of rationality is changing
and they are asking questions like: How might theology look if the idea of
propositional, objective truth is removed from the table? Could you really do
‘actual theology’ in this setting? Doesn’t theology require metanarrative and
objective truth? Reflecting on the state of theology vis-à-vis a postmodern
world Stanley Grenz says:
“…there is much evidence
[in fact] that suggests that the postmodern context has actually been
responsible for the renewal of theology as an intellectual discipline after a
period of stagnation under the weight of modernist demands concerning the
acquisition of knowledge.”[1]
Grenz contends that
the proliferation of new theological approaches (i.e. constructive postmodernisms,
postmodern dissolutions, post-liberal theology, theologies of communal praxis,
etc.) has actually been demonstrably invigorating for the general theological
task.[2]
Now, don’t get me wrong. I heartily
applaud the work of theologians who are trailblazing through the postmodern
landscape to stake out a claim for theology. My only question is, might there
be another way? Must we abandon
ourselves to a postmodern world? Is there any value in retaining a realist
perspective of truth and the world around us? Perhaps I am a bit of an old
soul, but many of my intuitions still seem to coincide with the metaphysic of
the ancients. I still find myself drawn toward the notion of an objective
reality accessible by reliable rational faculties.
Nevertheless, I am not fool enough to
disregard the data that argues for the relativity of rationality. I get that
diversity is an undeniable feature of the world. I get that the modern
foundationalist project failed itself. I get that contemporary intellectual
sensibilities are rushing towards alternative perspectives on the nature of truth.
I just wonder if my only recourse is to abandon myself to the
current or can I make a choice to swim towards a protruding rock.
At the end of the day, maybe there is not
even a choice to be made. Maybe all people are so cultured that my illusion of
a choice between these alternatives is actually a delusion. Maybe my localized group of
compatriots just tells a modern story and I therefore have modern intuitions –
making me just another player in the inescapable postmodern world I now
inhabit.
3 comments:
Dave -- I wonder what view of truth you think "the ancients" had up and running? and does it correspond to anything we now have? in other words, does your post equate "metanarrative," "objective truth," "realist view" with their perspective, and is this fair? is Augustine's view of truth represented by your phrase about there being an "objective reality accessible by reliable rational faculties" -- or does that sounds a lot more modern than him? Just some questions for exploration. Perhaps you will find that some ways of imagining truth under the postmodern regime recover aspects of human person/truth/world that modernity had quite impoverished.
So, basically what I find appealing about the ancient world is that they did not doubt their ability to access "reality - at least those ancient thinkers that I've become familiar with. I like the issue you bring up about method (?) of access. Sure, I think Augustine might have had a significant place (motivation, sustaining force (?), etc.) for love when it came to his epistemology. However, that is a bit peripheral to my interest. I am most fundamentally interested in how the ancients truly believed that they could talk about "objective reality" qua "objective reality". They believed that their faculties provided them with true knowledge of the external world. This is something that theologians operating within a postmodern framework have passed up on in lieu of preference for "constructivist" perspectives on reality (i.e. language, etc.)
So, I don't think that the postmodern turn has been a pure recapitulation of ancient thought (or even an acquisition of some of their methodological approach). Perhaps it has received some things, but it is a new beast -built on the foundation of the ancients and moderns for sure, but definitely operating within alternative parameters.
So, this blog is a bit of a meditation on what the options are nowadays for theologians. Are conceptions of an "accessible" reality truly on the edge of extinction? If so, should we try to save them or is abandonment of this approach almost a necessity these days?
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