- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: Crossway Books (Feb 15 1994)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0891077685
- ISBN-13: 978-0891077688
- Product Dimensions: 21.1 x 13.7 x 2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 318 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#265,058 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #35 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Religious Studies > Theology > Social Theology
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
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, all institutions, all moral values are expressions and masks of the primal will to power. Alarmingly, these ideas have gripped the nations universities, which turn out todays lawyers, judges, writers, journalists, teachers, and other culture-shapers. Through societys influencers, postmodernist ideas have seeped into films, television, art, literature, politics; and, without his knowing it, into the head of the average person on the street. Christ has called us to proclaim the gospel to a culture grappling with postmodernism. We must understand our times. Then, through the power that Christ gives, we can counter the prevailing culture and proclaim His sufficiency to our societys very points of need.
Ingram
Gene Edward Veith, Jr. introduces the reader to the foundational assumptions of postmodernism, the prevailing philosophical construct in the intellectual community, discussing the dire consequences for a culture which has abandoned age-old definitions of truth and meaning.
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE WESTERN WORLD AT STREET LEVEL - AND HOW IT GOT THAT WAY,
By
This review is from: Postmodern Times: A Christian Guide to Contemporary Thought and Culture (Paperback)
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.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Optimistic Outlook in Postmodern Times,
By Jim Liston (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Postmodern Times: A Christian Guide to Contemporary Thought and Culture (Paperback)
I learned from his interesting summaries and commentary on modern and postmodern thought, art, society, and religion. The author is optimistic on Christianity surviving and flourishing in postmodern times, after Christians fought their greatest battle of the 20th century and won against the oppressive Soviet puppet masters. In the conclusion, I was pleased to read the brief quotes from Solzhenitsyn's 1978 critique, delivered at Harvard, on the spiritual emptiness of Western culture civilization and how he implores Christians to begin a "spiritual blaze."
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent intro to postmodernism,
By
This review is from: Postmodern Times: A Christian Guide to Contemporary Thought and Culture (Paperback)
In this book, Gene Edward Veith offers a readable and insightful look at the worldview and effects of postmodernism, which dominates much of American culture.After first explaining the origins and characteristics of modernism, Mr. Veith then shows its decline and demise, leading to the fresh position of postmodernism. He highlights the heavy influence literary criticism had in the development of postmodernism, with deconstructionist theories reformulating how people thought about truth. This section I found particularly interesting, since I hadn't had much exposure to deconstructionism before. Having outlined the fundamental principles of postmodernism, Mr. Veith spends the rest of the book explaining how postmodernism is revealed in our culture and what to look out for. He explains the difference between modernist and postmodernist art and architecture. He observes the explosion of postmodernism in books, music, and television. He describes postmodernism's influence on politics, spirituality, and Christianity. Pretty much every sphere of life has fallen under some segment of postmodernism's shadow, and Gene Edward Veith exposes this fact in no uncertain terms. Mr. Veith closes his book with some practical suggestions on how Christians should interact with postmodernism. He notes that there is a degree of truth in what deconstructionists say, and it should be embraced as such. Christians should seize the true benefits postmodernism has brought in overturning modernism, and not throw them away with the system. But we must also watch for the negative effects of postmodernism, and the ways it subverts the gospel. This system of thinking is indeed quite dangerous, and Christians must be watchful, and cognizant of the peril. Do you want to understand contemporary American culture? its overriding philosophy? its danger? If so, this is the book for you.
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