Modernism The philosophy of modernism was the underlying worldview that produced the “Enlightenment” period of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. As liberalism permeated the church, it sought to bring the traditions of the church into a closer relationship with Roman and Greek secular philosophical views. It devalued the supernatural and the objective standards of God’s moral laws. Instead, modernism exalted the reason of man. Man, therefore, apart from divine revelation could through reason alone obtain “truth,” even divine “truth” and establish a moral code for society. This pursuit inevitably led to seeking a “utopian” world order. The promise, however, was short lived. It was the fruit of this philosophy that produced the French Revolution. The goddess of reason replaced the self-evident truth of the Bible and heads literally rolled as the guillotine ushered in the reign of modernism. Modernism spawned other ideologies and political systems as well. All of them, without exception, have been destructive to man’s existence. Communism, Fascism, and Nazism, to name a few, all embraced aspects of modernism to justify their brutality in their pursuit of world domination. Post Modernism With the abject failure of modernism, instead of humbling ourselves and returning to the God of all truth, mankind jumped from the frying pan into the fire. Because modernism could not address nor satisfy the deep needs of the human soul, it left a destructive void. The starvation of the soul and the moral bankruptcy it produced, paved the way to our present era and the philosophy of post-modernism. This new philosophy rejected the claims of modernism that mankind is progressing by the use of rationality and reason. These were merely cultural biases masquerading as science. Thus, post modernism embraced pluralism, relativism, diversity, tolerance, and multi-culturalism, which characterizes much of our contemporary society. According to this worldview, there is no such thing as objective rationality, reason, or reality. These are myths that plague the minds of men. Post-modernism rejects any notion of a reliable, objective, or universal standards. Since there are no moral absolutes, making judgments are no longer necessary nor welcomed. Written words have no meaning other than what the reader subjectively desires them to represent. Reality is in the mind of the beholder. Opinions, no matter how absurd, carry as much value as evidence. This ineffectual mentality is known as deconstructionism. It has been with us since the turbulent 1960s. Based upon post-modernism, modern man is left to his own devices to try and make sense of the human condition. It promotes the idea that each individual can construct their own truth system, which is no better or worse than any other, regardless, if it agrees with corresponding reality or not. Whatever floats your boat, gets you through life, and works for the individual will suffice. The mantra of the day is “I’m ok, you are ok, and everybody is ok, ok?” If this is true, where is the long awaited Nirvana? How do we account for all the suffering, misery, death, and decay that still stalk men and drive them into the abyss of despondency, despair, and destruction? Beyond this, if everyone is a law and god unto ourselves and through our subjective reasoning determine ultimate reality, why is our Lord and Savior hanging on a cruel cross? If everyone is OK, why is Christ suffering and pouring out His lifes blood. Why is He not OK? The answer is found in Isaiah 53:5, 6. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way;And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Turn from your sin, trust in Christ, and receive the salvation of your soul. No philosophy, religion, worldview, or mans reason or lack thereof can grant eternal life. Apart from Christ, you may exist, but you do not LIVE!!! Jesus came that you might have LIFE and LIFE more abundantly! Believe the Good News and LIVE!!!
Posted on: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 15:44:33 +0000
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