Postmodern Reformed Dogmatics: Reformed Theology and the Postmodern Turn -- By: John R. Franke

Journal: Reformation and Revival
Volume: RAR 13:1 (Winter 2004)
Article: Postmodern Reformed Dogmatics: Reformed Theology and the Postmodern Turn
Author: John R. Franke


Postmodern Reformed Dogmatics: Reformed
Theology and the Postmodern Turn

John R. Franke

At the beginning of the twenty-first century the intellectual milieu of Western thought and culture is in a state of transition precipitated by the perceived failure of the philosophical assumptions of the modern world spawned by the Enlightenment. This transition has been marked by the emergence of postmodern theory and its thoroughgoing critique of the modern quest for certain, objective, and universal knowledge along with its attempt to engage in new forms of conversation in the aftermath of modernity. One observer notes that when we survey “the panorama of contemporary thought it is evident in field after field, in discipline after discipline, that a significant critique of modernity has arisen along with a discussion of a paradigm change. The upshot is that the kind of change under discussion is not incremental or piecemeal, but structural and thoroughgoing.”1

While this intellectual and cultural transition has produced significant questions and concerns for the discipline of theology, it is certainly not unprecedented. The expression of Christian thought has taken shape and has been revised in the context of numerous cultural transitions: from an initially Hebraic setting to the Hellenistic world; from the thought-forms of Greco-Roman culture to those of Franco-Germanic; from the world of Medieval feudalism to the Renaissance;

from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment; from the developed world to the third world; and currently, from a modern to a postmodern context. Throughout this history Christian theology has shown itself to be remarkably adaptable in its task of assisting the Church in extending and establishing the message of the gospel in a wide variety of contexts. At the same time, theological history also provides numerous examples of the inappropriate accommodation of Christian faith to various ideologies and cultural norms. This checkered past confirms the vitality of Christian theology while warning of the dangers of too closely associating it with any particular form of cultural expression. If we are to faithfully and appropriately address the opportunities and challenges presented by our shifting circumstances, we must understand the nature of the cultural transition that is occurring as well as its significance for the theological discipline. In short, we must come to terms with the challenge of doing theology in a postmodern context.

One common response among Christian thinkers to the emergence of postmodern thought has been to view it primarily as a threat to Christian faith. Catholic theologian Richard John Neuh...

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