The Gagging of God: Christianity Confronts Pluralism
by D.A. Carson
Zondervan. 640 pp.

A Peculiar People: The Church as Culture in a Postmodern Society,
by Rodney Clapp
InterVarsity Press. 251 pp.

Two Cities, Two Loves,
by James Montgomery Boice
InterVarsity Press. 279 pp.

The Death of Truth,
ed. Dennis McCallum
Bethany House. 288 pp.

Scholars tell us we are now at the end of a cultural shift that will bring us to a fully postmodern world. Christianity is no longer the dominant contributor to the ethos of Western society. Postmodernism is now, by its sheer pervasiveness, informing and forming our culture. Once an academically centered exercise, postmodernism has overtaken modernism as the pervading philosophical worldview, spinning off influence in the far reaches of everyday life while eluding firm definitions. Four new books from evangelical publishers—The Gagging of God by D. A. Carson, A Peculiar People by Rodney Clapp, Two Cities, Two Loves by James Boice and The Death of Truth, Dennis McCallum, general editor—try, in similar and some surprisingly dissimilar ways, to come to terms with these changes.

Before we can fully enter into a discussion of these books, we must attempt to define the two key terms. Modernism and postmodernism are worldviews. A worldview, as James Sire has defined it, is a “set of presuppositions (or assumptions) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously) about the basic makeup of the world.” The authors under discussion are all agreed on three main aspects of modernism. First is an absolute confidence in the powers of human reason to discover the Truth; the modernist understanding of Truth being universal and absolute. Second is an emphasis on the sufficiency of the individual intellect to discover this Truth—the self is autonomous and freed from the need of help from any authority. Third is an optimistic view of the progress of man. He goes forth confident that each day a little more of the Truth is being discovered, making progress and the good of mankind inevitable. The postmodern worldview, in contrast, is best understood as a rejection of all three of the above aspects, though the first two are the most severely criticized. Postmodernism challenges both the modernist quest for universal truths and their confident claim to certain knowledge of those truths. Or, as Os Guinness writes, “Where modernism was a manifesto of human self-confidence . . . postmodernism is a confession of modesty, if not despair. There is no truth; only truths. There is no grand reason; only reasons.” We must keep in mind, however, that those opposed to postmodernism do not necessarily embrace all of the modernist claims. Or that those opposed to modernism embrace postmodernism.

All the authors agree that we are indeed far along in this shift from a Christian to a postmodern world and that Christians must seek to understand how they should respond to this shift. In addition these books seek to renew the debate about Christian participation in culture: In a radically changed culture which no longer shares (or even pretends to share) most of their basic principles, should Christians focus their energies on themselves becoming more truly Christian in the world or on making the world more Christian?

Next we turn to a more detailed discussion of the books. What is the best answer to the Christians and culture question? Where do we find the most balanced views of modernism and postmodernism? Which book is best able to defend its position against the criticism of the others?

Rodney Clapp in A Peculiar People sees the Church as standing apart from culture, as actually being “its own culture.” Since the postmodern shift draws a more obvious line between Church and world, he sees it as a boon for Christians, whom he believes were overdue to make the distinction between themselves and their world. On the other side we have James Boice in Two Cities, Two Loves who views Christians as responsible to participate in and work for the transformation of culture, though he is careful not to make this their primary concern. For him, the shift toward a fragmented, postmodern society is something Christians must fight against. McCallum and the contributors to The Death of Truth reject a cultural transformation through politics, yet they lament long and loud the changes in culture which they attribute to postmodern philosophy. Because of this they foresee only disastrous consequences from the postmodern shift. Carson in his book, The Gagging of God, is easily the most scholarly of the four. He is cautious but also willing to survey the current landscape for a qualified embrace of the good wherever he finds it. Some elements of postmodern philosophy give him pause, yet he appreciates the postmodern critique of modernism.

Boice’s subtitle, Christian Responsibility in a Crumbling Culture, betrays assumptions of what Clapp would be tempted to call “retrenchment.” Retrenchers, according to Clapp, pine for a bygone Christian hegemony and view culture as a monolithic entity which Christians are obliged to try to influence. However, because he recognizes political maneuvering as a dead end, Boice does not fit Clapp’s description of a classic conservative retrencher. Boice sees the postmodern shift as an opportunity for the Church to regain its focus. Here he is very much in agreement with Clapp. Yet his acceptance of the shift is only for this pragmatic moment because he ultimately believes Christians have a binding responsibility to shape culture. This is why, after rejecting the power politics of the Religious Right, he proposes that Christians instead seek to influence “those at the top of our society who are manipulators rather than the manipulated . . . these are the leaders that Christian thinkers must engage. It is here the battle must be won.” Clapp’s book, however, is an extended critique of this view that the Church has a responsibility to shape culture.

Whereas James Boice’s philosophy is submerged, Rodney Clapp spends much of his book explaining (though not defending) the consciously postmodern philosophy behind his reconception of Christianity as its own culture. Along the way he gives his analysis of how the Church— through the windings of history and especially through its misconception of itself as the sponsor of Western culture—has lost sight of what makes it distinctive and prophetic. Clapp’s reconception of the Church as a counterculture was heartening for this reviewer as a member of a countercultural Christian community. On the other hand, Clapp’s philosophy, unlike his solidly biblical and prophetic vision for the Church, falls into the same error which he so carefully points out in other Christian arguments. He rejects the “sentimental capitulation” of liberal theologians whose strategy for interacting with the postmodern world is “to concede most of the game to it.” At the same time, in formulating his radical vision for the Church, he seems to consider it necessary to completely assimilate a Postmodern worldview. One of the book’s main insights is that the postmodern shift is not such a bad thing since it reminds us that no culture (past or present) in this fallen world is ever truly Christian. However, though the postmodern situation may help Christians to refocus on being their own distinct culture, it doesn’t seem wise (or even necessary for his argument) for Christians to uncritically accept the postmodern “answers.” Clapp’s “sentimental capitulation” on this crucial point mars an otherwise excellent book.

Swinging to the other end of the balance we have The Death of Truth where, on the back cover, we read, “Not since Charles Darwin confronted Christians with his doctrine of naturalistic evolution has the church faced a challenge for which it is so ill-prepared. We are witnessing THE DEATH OF TRUTH.” This is a little over the top even for a teaser. But, once inside the book, Dennis McCallum and the other contributors manage to raise the sensational tone to an even higher level. “Now, in the late twentieth century, we are caught up in a revolution that will likely dwarf Darwinism in its impact on every aspect of thought and culture: postmodernism.” Where circumspection would seem advised, exclamations, proclamations, and dire predictions abound. The Death of Truth contributors could learn from D. A. Carson, who, though he has cause for alarm, remains restrained in his assessment. “In my most somber moods I sometimes wonder if the ugly face of what I refer to as philosophical pluralism [postmodernism] is the most dangerous threat to the gospel since the rise of the gnostic heresy. . . . In a happier frame, I suspect that giving voice to such suspicions will sound much too dour—and in any case, the truth is that I am ill equipped to make such a judgment.” The benefits of this restraint are also apparent in Carson’s careful distinctions between issues and nonissues—distinctions which The Death of Truth does not make. As a result, The Death of Truth often goes beyond its stated goal of bringing “postmodernism . . . within the reach of people who have never studied it” and crosses the line into misinformation. An embarrassing example of this is where the New Age movement, along with films The Mission and Jurassic Park and rock bands Offspring and Green Day, are all lumped together under the ominously italicized rubric of postmodernism. This painting with a broad brush seems to promote less understanding among “the popular audience” than misunderstanding and a witch-hunting mentality. Replace the word “postmodern” with any number of substitutes—New Age, communism, secular humanism—and the results would be similar: another shadowy bogeyman for Christians to chase through the twilight of half-truths.

D. A. Carson’s The Gagging of God became the standard by which these other books were compared. His analysis of the roots of postmodernism in hermeneutics (textual interpretation) showed a firsthand involvement with the authors and issues that have shaped the debate. The book, despite its scope, has in many places remarkable depth as well as breadth. A strength for scholars but a weakness for the everyday Christian, Carson sacrifices a powerful and focused argument for this nearly exhaustive textbook approach. Also, aside from his excellent scholarship, one can’t help feeling dissatisfied with his vision for what Christians are to do in the postmodern world he so carefully dissects. Both Boice and Clapp’s call for the Church to more fully “be the Church” was biblically comprehensive and compelling. Why is it scholars are not often prophets?

To pick the best and worst from over a thousand pages in these four books is a little like being awash in the very postmodern diversity being discussed. Yet while the postmodernist can see no way to unity and meaning behind diversity, Christians have a rationale for understanding diversity. Even though the lack of a common vision of what the Church should be hinders a truly prophetic example of the kingdom of God on this earth, still we know God is not finished in our history. He is at work in every debate, every word, every book, and every action. Through Scripture and the Holy Spirit He continues to work in His people. And, though no one can claim to possess it entirely, He uses each element of diversity to draw us all to the Truth that is His alone.

Chris Harold