Friday, June 24, 2005

Postmodern theology

As I've already indicated, finding a starting point when discussing postmodernism and theology is a slippery proposition. So where to begin?

AKM Adam, in What Is Postmodern Biblical Criticism? (Guides to Biblical Scholarship: Minneapolis: Fortress, 1995), 5, uses Cornell West's description of postmodernism. Adam writes:
  • Postmodernism is antifoundational "in that it resolutely refuses to posit any one premise as the privileged and unassailable starting point for establishing claims to truth."
  • Postmodernism is antitotalizing in that it "suspects that any theory that claims to account for everything is suppressing counterexamples, or is applying warped criteria so that it can include recalcitrant cases."
  • Postmodernism is demystifying in that it "attends to claims that certain assumptions are 'natural' and tries to show that these are in fact ideological projections."

What to make of this? Adam's description is functional and potentially fruitful. Can I find a better description of postmodernism?

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