May 5, 2007
Breakfast by: Darren & Annette

How Worldly Philosophies Influence the Church
presented by Richard Horlings

Three philosophical influences on our society:

1. Greek Philosophy
2. Modernism
3. Postmodernism

Greek Philosophy

1. Man is the measure of all things.
2. Man must fulfill his potential.

Modernism

Modernism has the following characteristics:

1. It focuses on rational, logical thought. It cannot accept anything it cannot understand.
2. It thinks that we have or can find all the answers.
   e.g. an optimistic attitude that mankind is capable of everything. This is the attitude which said, "Yes, we can build a railroad across Canada!"
3. It thinks that life/the world/society/science/economy, etc. is getting better and better.
   e.g. this is where evolution, Marxism, and the peace movement of the sixties comes from.
4. It believes in cultural superiority.
   e.g. observe saying like "Deutschland über alles"; "The sun never sets on the British Empire" etc.
5. has a very positive and optimistic view of mankind, (especially of western superiority.)
   e.g. Nazis; western USA: "The only good indian is a dead indian."

Postmodernism

Postmodernism has the following characteristics:

1. It is not so optimistic about human beings
   e.g. present day views on climate change.
2. It believes that there is no objective truth. (esp. a version of postmodernism called existentialism).
3. It believes that there is no basis for morals.
   e.g. Hence the acceptance of same sex marriage in our times.
   e.g. very open about sexuality
4. It believes that no person or group can claim any form of superiority over others. It promotes extreme toleration.
   e.g. acceptance of people from any race or religion. strong anti-racism, anti-discrimination sentiment
   e.g. Talk to the average person about religion. You will often hear that it does not matter what you believe.
5. It is extremely individualistic.
   • since there is no God, the individual stands front and center
   • it promotes extreme selfishness
6. Since it does not believe in any objective truth, it is open to acceptance of the paranormal (aliens, ghosts, etc.)
   e.g. interest in aliens, sci-fi, popularity of shows like X-files
   e.g. interest in bigfoot

Modernism and the church

How does Modernism influence the church? Modernism affects our churches in the following ways:

1. Our churches were formed in 1944 in a time of Modernist thinking.
   e.g. Kuyper had very rationalistic teachings like presumptive regeneration
2. two sentiments sometimes found in our churches: an attitude of superiority, and a judgmental attitude
   - As a result, the early immigrants often tried to keep to themselves and not interact with the world around them.
3. We often think that we hold to the truth unswervingly without erring. This leads to a very rigid way of thinking.
   e.g. the "How could somebody possibly see things differently than I do?" attitude.
   - does not even consider how someone else might think
4. This feeling of superiority leads to the cold feeling that we are often accused of having.
   e.g. Ever work for a rich person? Not all rich people are cold, but people who have an "I am rich" attitude are not the nicest people. We can be the same way.
   - we are indeed rich in all that we have, but this is not an excuse to be cold toward others
5. There is a resistance to change.
   - many want things to stay the same in church; no change
   - weariness of accepting other churches as sister churches

All of these are based on truth, yet contain a distortion of the truth.

• What aspects of these ways of thinking are true?
• Where does the distortion come in?

Postmodernism and the church

Postmodernism influences us in the following ways.

1. The newer way of thinking is such that it tries to avoid the distinction between true and false churches.
   e.g. the attitude that refuses to make judgments about other churches
   e.g. modern day ecumenism
   - does not see the concept of the antithesis: enmity between the seed of the woman and the serpent
2. It is open to many new ideas, and often does not see the need to test every spirit to see if it is from God because it does not consider God's Word to be the object, catholic truth.
   e.g. introduction of drums and guitars in many postmodernist churches
   - Such people are often impatient for change.
   - It pushes for change without asking why.
3. It appeals to human emotions rather than the Word of God.
   e.g. introduction of drums and guitars in many postmodernist churches
   - focus on whatever appeals to people as its standard
4. It pretends to be warmer than than modernist thought, because it is not as judgemental as modernism.
   e.g. the common attitude of not judging others. Today most churches do not practice church discipline.
   - In reality it is no warmer because it tends to let everyone go their own way. It dislikes admonitions, which, when done Biblically, are to be done out of love and lead to true unity among Christians.
   - Much of its warmth and excitement is often superficial.
5. Postmodernist Christians are more open to stories about angels, etc.
   e.g. I've noticed some of this in our churches
   e.g. I've also noticed a charismatic attitude towards prayer: If you pray for it, it will happen.

All of these are based on truth, yet contain a distortion.

• What aspects of these ways of thinking are true?
• Where does the distortion come in?

Now what?

• We have a church which has gone from being under the influence of a philosophy which says, "Man is the greatest." to "There is no God." Not good!
• Modernism is on its way out. We shouldn't spend all of our efforts fighting it. Why flog a dying horse?
• We ought not to seek a refuge in Modernism by holding to past ways without evaluation.
• Postmodernism is our biggest danger.
  • We must not buy into this way of thinking hook, line and sinker!
• our identity:
  • Our identity is that we serve Christ.
  • our church must not have the goal of holding on to our Canadian Reformed distinctives.
  • that doesn't mean that we can't have them, but we must evaluate their value in light of Scripture
  • We are different from the world, not part of the world.
  • We must seek to be influenced by God's Word, by the Bible.
  • We show our identity when we stand up to the world and stick to the Bible.
    • What is Canadian Reformed? To hold to Scripture in opposition to adopting the ways and ideas of the world.
    • simply going back to the old ways is not a solution. they were influenced by the world too.
  • We must show that we think differently than the world. We must try to understand and resist the entire Postmodernism mindset, not just its extremes.
    e.g. Postmodernism says that the husband cannot be superior to his wife. We can appreciate one aspect: the husband must not be a overbearing or harsh over his family, which I believe was often the prevailing view in the past. But the husband is not completely equal to his wife: Scripture still calls husbands to be leaders and to serve the family with leadership in a loving way. Wives must submit to their husbands in a loving way. We must stand up to the world by showing the world that in a truly loving marriage relationship authority functions for good, not for selfishness. By doing so, we show the world that we have a different, Christian mindset.
  • We must be a light unto the world: by standing up to the world's way of thinking, we will be light on a hill. We don't have to accommodate the world to witness to it, as postmodernism says. We must witness to it. We shouldn't be afraid to be different (without being silly).
• not easy, eh?
  • this requires vigilance
  • this requires thinking
  • Thinking is an important part of our task as Christians.