Interpreting Postmodernism

Abstract

"The era of postmodernism is still upon us, and no part of our theologies or ministries have found exemption from its influence. Indeed, perhaps now more than ever before Christians are recognizing the responsibility imposed upon us to respond to post-modern and post-enlightenment challenges greeting us at the doorsteps of our homes and churches. And yet, even now, years after names like Jacques Derrida and Hans-Georg Gadamer have become almost commonplace, many well-intentioned people still tend to assume their challenges (which are admittedly guided by obscure and mysterious terminology) to be entirely esoteric and reserved only for those ivory-tower thinkers who rarely get their hands dirty with “real life” affairs. This is clearly an unfortunate and perhaps even dangerous belief when, in truth, the contrary is the case. Since the death of modernism many new developments have become very practical or “hands-on” in response to the legacy of the Age of Reason, especially as worked out in contemporary hermeneutics (the theory of interpretation). Contemporary hermeneutics encapsulates many of the fundamental postmodern challenges facing this as well as the next generation of Christians"