1.) A value placed on science, reason, and Logic.
2.) This movement was believed to end misery, superstition and religion.
3.) Built on Objective truth.
4.) Some of the negative results of Modernism - The rationality of death camps, World War I and II, Hiroshima, and the advent of totalitarianism for many countries. Many of these ills were attributed to Enlightenment of Science and progress.
5.) Theological implications - An appeal to universally agreed truth. All truth is God's truth. This means that the use of Classic Apologetics became extremely prevalent. Many theologians also had an optimistic view of the world (Post and Amillennialism) were taught in the most prestigious religious institutions like Princeton.
The Shift to Post-Modernism
1.) After the death of Men like Hitler, Nietzsche, Mao, and Stalin the age of Reason was challenged and the void was filled with Post-Modernism.
2.) The loss of Reason brought loss of anything Sacred.
3.) There became a shift to Subjective truth.
4.) Based on Language and expressed in art.
5.) Theological implications - D.A. Carson wrote "The Gagging of God" which identifies the difficultly of communicating in a world with pluralism in science, culture and hermeneutics. This means that subjectivity gives every person a individual reference to reality which is independent on any objective or absolute.
Timeline of Modernism to PostModernism and the men who contributed to that shift.
| Karl Barth | c.1925 | fideist approach to theology brought a rise in subjectivity |
| Martin Heidegger | c.1927 | rejected the philosophical grounding of the concepts of "subjectivity" and "objectivity" |
| Thomas Samuel Kuhn | c.1962 | posited the rapid change of the basis of scientific knowledge to a provisional consensus of scientists, coined the term "paradigm shift" |
| Jacques Derrida | c.1967 | re-examined the fundamentals of writing and its consequences on philosophy in general; sought to undermine the language of western metaphysics (deconstruction) |
| Michel Foucault | c.1975 | examined discursive power in Discipline and Punish, with Bentham's panopticon as his model, and also known for saying "language is oppression" (Meaning that language was developed to allow only those who spoke the language not to be oppressed. All other people that don't speak the language would then be oppressed.) |
| Jean-François Lyotard | c.1979 | opposed universality, meta-narratives, and generality |
| Richard Rorty | c.1979 | argues philosophy mistakenly imitates scientific methods; advocates dissolving traditional philosophical problems; anti-foundationalism and anti-essentialism |
| Jean Baudrillard | c.1981 | Simulacra and Simulation - reality disappears underneath the interchangeability of signs |
Summary - The modern era brought forth science and reason, but lacked elements of compassion and empathy because of the stringent adherence to empirical evidence. Post-Modernism gave rise to spirituality, subjective beliefs and sensual expression. Postmoderns see arguments as propaganda, yet there is the ability to show others your position by living out what you believe.
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