It sucks.
I’m somewhat tempted to leave the post at that, but feel a little elaboration may be at least polite.
We are finite individuals. We cannot know completely, comprehensively. We can only know in part.
Modernism claims that we can know definately. That our knowing something to be true can be true, and right, and accurate.
I don’t believe that. Our finite, human perspective is so limited, so small, so warped, that how can any one human’s perception be absolutely comprehensively true? It could, in theory, be an absolutely honest viewpoint, but a small, finite, limited and warped honest viewpoint, nevertheless.
So then. Where does that lead us?
Claims of truth being relative.
Counter-claims by modernists that not believing in God as absolute truth absolutely denies you access to Him.
Declarations of nonsensical “Pan-Everythingism” as Francis Shaeffer would call it.
Refutations by absolute logic.
Definitions of logic as equally relative and therefore meaningless.
I dunno.
——-
There is a road, and along the road there are signs pointing along it. Some travellers wear green-tinted glasses and so say “The Signs are Green! Unless You Believe In the True Greenness Of The Signs, You Will Never Reach The Destination!”
Others have red tinted glasses, and so say exactly the same, “The Signs are Red! Unless You Believe In The True Redness Of The Signs, You Will Never Reach The Destination!”
Others wear glasses where the tint is red at the top, green at the bottom, yellow on the left, blue on the right, and purple in the middle. “It depends which way you hold your head!” They say. “Everyone has their own perspective on the signs. There is no absolute colour of the signs.”
I have several sets of glasses, and I can put them both on. Neither of them really fit my nose, but without them my sight is so poor I can barely see anything. Everything looks distorted, confused, and wrong when I wear the glasses, and I don’t want to settle on any one of them.
I want the sign maker to come, take my hand, and lead me to His home: the destination at the end of the road to which the signs point.
I trust Him. I don’t know fully where I’m walking, but maybe that’s enough.
6 replies on ““I don’t like being a Post-Modernist””
Sanity, the Penguin says hello.
Currently he’s being hung by a frog. One you and El Presidente gave me incidentally.
Nevertheless, he seems quite happy.
So does the frog.
“Everything looks distorted, confused, and wrong when I wear the glasses, and I don’t want to settle on any one of them.”
It’s interesting to think of traffic lights seen through red or green glasses. Some would never see stop and some would never see go. Wearing the old 3D glasses, with one eye red and one green would be very confusing.
Some people like to be told what to believe. Some like to tell others what to believe. Some like neither to be told or to tell others.
So often I think of the flat world, then the globe, then the belief of the earth rotating around the sun… then the realization that both rotate around a point somewhere along a line joining the centre of each object… what is the absolute truth?
None of the ideas help you appreciate a beautiful sunset or the glory of a sunrise.
Takes a while… like a cow chewing the cud. Further thoughts: http://godwordthink.blogspot.com/2009/05/is-emergining-church-echo-of-future.html
I think I understand what you’re trying to say. In any case its well written.
My comment would be to ask whether objective truth exists. If it does, even unattainable to mortals, should we not fight with all our might to know it?
Miss you dude
Stephane, Personally, I believe it does exist.
Question: does fighting for the unnatainable limit the resources we can muster to fight for the attainable?
If the attainable seems less high a calling, less noble, less pure, less perfect than the unattainable, is it not possible that our intellect has also been corrupted into desiring that which we should not have?
The knowledge of good and evil is not a bad thing to have, maybe, but it also might not be the fruit which God would have had us eat.
I miss you too, mate. Daniel C is visiting for a few months real soon. I don’t suppose you can join him? 😉
Apropos of nothing, I just noticed in my Blogger dashboard that this is your 200th post 🙂