David Wells marks a difference between postmodernism and postmodernity. “As we try to understand our contemporary world, it is necessary, I believe, to distinguish between postmodernism and postmodernity. The former is the intellectual formulation of postmodern ideas on the high end of culture. It is their expression in architecture, in literary theory, philosophy, and so …
Ah, Realism
“Apologists for contemporary television often appeal to its realism–the predictable last line of defense for bankrupt artists.” [Thomas Hibbs, Shows About Nothing, (Dallas, Tx: Spence Publishing Company, 1999), p. 150.]
Relativism As Medicine
So I come to the end of my review, taking the last three chapters together. McLaren is coming in for a landing here, and these three chapters can be managed in one setting. In these last chapters, McLaren explains why he is depressed/yet hopeful, why he is emergent, and why he is unfinished. In case …
Multiple Reflections
“In the absence of the old distinction between high and low art, sophistication now involves witty commentary on pop culture. Art has narcissistically turned in upon itself as if there were no reality independent of it. Or better-art reflects life but life itself is now indistinguishable from pop culture. The nihilism underlying such a world …
Just Go Home
A little boy with his loyalties intact is one who might think his sister is ugly, but he will not countenance any other boy outside the family saying so. McLaren has this backwards. Whenever outsiders are around, he has a desperate need to put distance between himself and his people, and this is the chapter …
Scribes Haven’t Changed
I shouldn’t really be surprised anymore. McLaren devotes the chapter entitled “Why I Am Fundamentalist/Calvinist” to a detailed explanation of why he is not a fundamentalist or a Calvinist. Not surprisingly, in order to make this case, an old workhorse in the debate against Reformed folk is brought out of the stables and made to …
Sneaking Standards Back In
“The need of most human beings to believe in a moral universe is proof for Nietzsche that lies and self-deception are essential conditions of human life . . . . But there is a tension in Nietzsche between an amoralism that repudiates all objective standards and a distinctively hierarchical kind of thinking that ranks souls …
Check It Out
My son Nate wrote a review of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe for Books and Culture. That review is now on-line and can be found at the Christianity Today site here.
Growing Up in Harmony
Our Father and gracious God, we look to You now in the great name of Jesus Christ our Lord. We know that apart from Him, we could not even approach You, still less celebrate in Your presence. We are grateful for forgiveness of sins, and we are grateful for the resultant fellowship around this table. …
God Rest Ye Merry
Advent marks the beginning of the ecclesiastical year. As we approach yet another celebration of Christmas as a people, we need to recall how to celebrate such days as the people of God. If we are not careful, we will stumble—perhaps to the right and perhaps to the left. For the weapons of our warfare …