Postmodern Times: A Christian Guide to Contemporary Thought and Culture Volume 15

by Gene Edward Veith Jr.

Book Overview

The modern era is over. Assumptions that shaped twentieth-century thought and culture, the bridges we crossed to this present moment, have blown up. The postmodern age has begun.

Just what is postmodernism? The average person would be shocked by its creed: Truth, meaning, and individual identity do not exist. These are social constructs. Human life has no special significance, no more value than animal or plant life. All social relationships,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0891077685
• ISBN13: 9780891077688
• Release Date: February 1994
• Publisher: Crossway
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

THE WESTERN WORLD AT STREET LEVEL - AND HOW IT GOT THAT WAY

Veith is perhaps the most poignant and well spoken writer I've ever read. Couple that with his mastery of this subject matter and its relevance, and you have one outstanding book. Five years ago, after growing unease at the disjointed, illogical, and - to me - inexplicable moral/ethical state of America, I consciously set out on a quest to understand the causes behind it. This was not the first book I read, but it was (and is) the best. Veith delves deep. He deftly paints a relevant history, and in it reveals the psychological/philosophical roots of our modern 'crisis of meaning' (or in fact the lack of meaning). The story he tells so fits the world I've seen while working the streets of NYC for 15 years, and so jives with previous reading that reading it was pure excitement. I heartily recommend this book to anyone who wishes to understand the 'why' behind the apparently happenstance moral morass in which we as Americans, and Westerners find ourselves today.

best intro to postmodernism & the world of shifting thought

Well written introduction into the current world of thought. Vieth's excellence is in his approach from a Christian viewpoint as well as surveys such broad fields as literature, theology, art. architecture, and politics.Veith confirms that he is apt to be a critic of postmodernism by his research and reading in each of these areas. I found his analysis of postmoderism's inroads into literature, art and architecture as extremely informative and revealing to me. This would serve as basic reading on the subject. Libraries everywhere would be well-served to have this volume on the shelf.

Another excellent Turning Point title.

In daily conversation I notice the tenets of postmodernism cropping up all the time. People who have no idea what "postmodernism" is are nonetheless deeply influenced by it, mouthing its words, speaking its assumptions, believing its claims because they have been so deeply inculcated with it without even realizing it. I don't think people realize just how distinctively different a philosophy of epistemology it really is, compared to historical norms. That said, Veith's book is a good introduction to the subject, and worthy reading for every person who is seeking a well-rounded education. From a Christian perspective (more specifically a Lutheran, not protestant, one) Veith traces the rise of Modernism from a biblical worldview, and the inevitable transformation from Modernism's empty claims to certainty to Postmodernism's notorious uncertainty and relativism. Between the two Veith charts a path that seeks to avoid the errors both of pompous Modernist dogmatism and Postmodernist denial that truth can be reasonably ascertained.Veith's book conveys understanding and insight, if not a straightforward guide to helping others out of the morass of Postmodernism. Ultimately Postmodernism fails because it is so internally inconsistent (how can one argue rationally for it if rationality itself is suspect?) Rather than point to the internal inconsistencies, I suspect a better route will be to present a positive epistemology that is more consistent than the Modernist ideology that Postmodernists abandoned; in short, the biblical worldview.

A Great Beginning

Dr. Veith's own spiritual travels from non-Christian through Evangelicalism to his current Lutheran orthodoxy, as well as his academic background, make him a great source for beginning to understand the end of the so-called Modern Era and the Postmodern Era which appears to be replacing it.Veith gives a broad view of the origins of Postmodernism, an often chilling view of the new (non-) thinking. He possesses a light touch in dealing with often heavy philosophy and he challenges Christians and society in general to find effective means of communicating with postmodernists and of dealing with the excesses and perceived liabilities of Postmodernism.The careful reader will be given new eyes with which to view the surrounding world and will have opportunity to take advantage of Veith's wisdom in dealing with the challenges of Postmodernism. Area pastors think so much of the book that it is going to be the topic of discussion at our next year or so's monthly meetings. From this beginning, we hope to sharpen our own perception and better focus on a Christian response to the current spirit of the times.

A provocative look at our relevant faith

Like other reviewers, I experienced quite a bit of frustration the first time I read this book; I was looking for a much more specific methodology to apply in communicating my faith relevantly to my generation. Instead, Veith gives us a synopsis of the major features of the postmodern worldview (or system of thought and belief) within the context of the premodern and modern worldviews, shows how it influences the general populace's perspective of historic Christianity, and challenges us to find the cultural opportunities it presents.Vieth is cautiously hopeful. He recognizes postmodernism's potential weakness for despair; when a person believes that all truth is relative and indiscoverable, they will quickly loose hope. He also correctly identifies the dogma of absolute tolerance as intolerant.Nevertheless, his hope springs in part from the fact that Christ was no stranger to the use of image and story to communicate the Gospel; living (as Vieth contends that we do) in an increasingly post-Christian culture, we are able once again to communicate the fundamental tenets of Christianity through allegories, parables, and pictures. Postmodern thought's ability to embrace paradox without tension leads postmodernists to instinctively understand certain aspects of our faith which the material, clinical mindset of the modern era has failed to adequately illuminate.This book is no condemnation of postmodern thought, nor is it a postmodernist's apology; Vieth makes the distinction, for instance, between postmodernism and postmodern thought patterns, and posits that the latter lends itself to authentic, historic Christianity. He begins with the premise that the Christian faith is a timelessly relevant embodiment of truth (not the exclusive domain of modern Western thought), meaning that it will speak relevantly to any system of thought, and concludes that postmodern thought is no more alien to Christ's message than is the receding modern worldview. I have read and re-read this book, referenced it countless times, and it has aged well on my shelf. While the first third of the book has proven to be the most helpful section (as of yet), five years of re-reading and a brief encounter with the author leads me to conclude that "Postmodern Times" is offered without agenda as a well-informed perspective on the challenges and opportunities postmodern thought poses for Christ's followers today.