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“Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore,” said Dorothy upon her arrival in Oz. The scenery had changed; the landscape was colorful; the air felt different. Dorothy was right. Kansas was gone, and now she found herself in a new world filled with exciting (and scary) possibilities.

Like Dorothy, evangelicals are beginning to realize that we are no longer in familiar territory. We find ourselves in a new world – one often described as “postmodern.”

But though most evangelicals agree that the scenery has changed and the philosophical landscape has been fundamentally altered, the definition of “postmodernism” remains unsettled. The prescriptions for evangelical engagement are often in direct opposition to one another.

Some would have us embrace the new postmodern world; others call us to resist. Philosopher Carl Raschke’s book, The Next Reformation: Why Evangelicals Must Embrace Postmodernity, encourages evangelicals to embrace the new postmodern critique as a way of returning to the fundamental insights of the Protestant Reformation.

Professor David Wells’ book, Above All Earthly Pow’rs: Christ in a Postmodern World, challenges evangelicals to stand against the postmodern wave as a way of being faithful to the historic doctrines of the Protestant Reformation. Both men see a return to Reformation principles as necessary for survival in this new world, but they are at odds in their assessment of the good and bad in postmodern thought.

Tomorrow and Wednesday, I will set forth a brief summary of both Raschke and Wells’ books. Then, on Thursday, I will reflect upon the points of agreement and disagreement between the two authors and conclude with some brief suggestions regarding the way forward for ministry in a postmodern context.

written by Trevin Wax  © 2009 Kingdom People blog

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