APOLOGETICS ON THE POSTMODERN CAMPUS
LCMS CAMPUS MINISTRY STAFF CONFERENCE
NEW ORLEANS, LA
12-15 JULY 2000

  1. What is apologetics?

    1. I Peter 3:15

    2. Traditional approaches to apologetics

      1. Evidentialism
      2. Presuppositionalism
      3. Fideism

    3. The goals and limitations of apologetics

  2. Apologetics in the context of Postmodernism

    1. What is Postmodernism?

    2. The contrast between the "modernist" and the "postmodernist"

      1. "A massive intellectual revolution is taking place that is perhaps as great as that which marked off the modern world from the Middle Ages" (D. Allen, Christian Belief in a Postmodern World, 2).
      2. The scientific rationalism of the Enlightenment presupposed a foundation of objective truth. Postmodernism argues that truth itself is a "construct." Gene Veith notes "Modernists did not believe the Bible is true. Postmodernists have cast out the category of truth altogether. In doing so, they have opened up a Pandora's box of New Age religions, syncretism, and moral chaos" (Veith, Postmodern Times, 192-193).
      3. Modernists valued unity; postmodernists value diversity.
      4. Modernists looked for a universal framework of knowledge; postmodernists question all "totalizing" or "foundational" systems.
      5. Modernists emphasized the individual; postmodernists emphasize the culture.
      6. Modernists sought order; postmodernists prize disorder.

    3. Characteristics of Postmodernism

      1. Meaning, morality, and truth have no objective existence. "Principles are preferences."
      2. Individuals are wholly shaped by cultural forces. Every culture constructs its own reality.
      3. Denial of the transcendent. There are no absolutes.
      4. All human institutions and relationships are reduced to expressions and masks of the primal will to power.
      5. Reason is rejected in favor of emotion.
      6. A new world order of cultural pluralism is envisioned as the mode of communal existence.
      7. Tolerance is the supreme virtue. "Those who question the postmodern dogma that 'there are no absolutes' are excluded from the canons of tolerance."

    4. Key apologetic issues

      1. Relativism
      2. Reality
      3. Reason

    5. The place of the church in shaping an apologetic to Postmodernism

      1. Confessional faithfulness
      2. Catechetical clarity
      3. Liturgical integrity

  3. Resources for study and use in campus ministry
    Allen, Diogenes, Christian Belief in a Postmodern World: The Full Wealth of Conviction. Westminster/John Knox Press.

    Beckwith, Frank, and Koukl, Greg. Relativism: Feet Firmly Planted in Mid- Air. Baker Book House.

    Braaten, Carl, and Jenson, Robert (editors). Either/Or: The Gospel or Neopaganism. Eerdmans.

    Carson, D.A. The Gagging of God: Christianity Confronts Pluralism. Baker Book House.

    Dockery, David (editor). The Challenge of Postmodernism: An Evangelical Engagement. Baker Book House.

    Groothuis, Douglas. Truth Decay: Defending Christianity Against the Challenges of Postmodernism. InterVarsity Press.

    Guiness, Os. Dining with the Devil. Baker Book House.

    Guiness, Os. Fit Bodies Fat Minds. Baker Book House.

    Hamann, Henry. On Being a Christian. Northwestern Publishing House.

    Hinckley, Paul. "The Future of Tolerance: In Honor of David Scaer" in All Theology is Christology: Essays in Honor of David Scaer. Edited by Dean Wenthe et al. Concordia Theological Seminary Press.

    Lee, Philip. Against the Protestant Gnostics. Oxford University Press.

    Leffel. Jim. "Understanding Today's Postmodern University" @ http://Xenos.org/essays/pomouniv.htm

    Lundin, Roger. The Culture of Interpretation: Christian Faith in the Postmodern World. Eerdmans.

    Matzat, Donald. "Evangelism in a Postmodern Age" in Convention Proceedings-60th Regular Convention. The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

    Oden, Thomas. After Modernity...What? Zondervan.

    Phillips, Timothy and Okholm, Dennis (editors). Christian Apologetics in the Postmodern World. InterVarsity Press.

    Schmidt, Alvin. The Menace of Multiculturalism. Praeger Press.

    Senkbeil. Harold. Dying to Live: The Power of Forgiveness. Concordia Publishing House.

    Senkbeil, Harold. "Generation X and the Care of Souls" in Mysteria Dei: Essays in Honor of Kurt Marquart edited by Paul McCain and John Stephenson. Concordia Theological Seminary Press.

    Senkbeil, Harold. Sanctification: Christ in Action. Northwestern Publishing House.

    Sire, James. The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog. InterVarsity Press.

    Veith, Gene Edward. Postmodern Times. Crossway Books.

    Veith, Gene Edward. The Spirituality of the Cross: The Way of the First Evangelicals. Concordia Publishing House.

    Wells, David. God in the Wastelands: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams. Eerdmans.

    Wells, David. Losing Our Virtue: Why the Church Must Recover Its Moral Vision. Eerdmans.

    Wells, David. No Place for the Truth-Or Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology. Eerdmans.

    For additional material on postmodernism check out these websites:

    Another helpful resource for addressing postmodernism with campus ministry/congregational groups is the video Here We Stand: Postmodernism featuring Gene Veith, Don Matzat, and Paul McCain. This video is available from Lutheran Visuals, 10466 Plano Road, Dallas, TX 75238. Telephone: 1-800-527-3211.


    -John T.Pless
    Concordia Theological Seminary
    Fort Wayne, Indiana
    VII.11.2000