The New Testament is postmodern

In the previous issue, James Toews argued that the Bible, while complex, is designed to be read and understood by ordinary people. Here he describes the first of three reasons why we, living in Canada in 2004, can understand what was written in the New Testament.

In 1970 Alvin Toffler wrote a book entitled Future Shock. The title proved prophetic. We live in a world that is changing with stunning speed. What happens to people when they have more information than they can assimilate? We live in just such a world.

For some years now the monolithic power of that “Judeo–Christian–Islamic” worldview has been collapsing in Western society and we and our children are being bombarded with a kaleidoscope of ideas. Some come from other cultures, some from different times, and some are recent innovations. And we are facing “future shock” and “information overload.” Everything keeps changing. Where are the good old days when you could assume you know whom you are addressing at a town hall meeting? At least we should all be able to agree on a basic moral code, right? Wrong! Not anymore.

Welcome to the “postmodern” world! And welcome to the world of the New Testament! When Paul wrote his letters to the churches of Asia Minor he was writing to people who lived among a kaleidoscope of ideas. There were Epicureans who lived on the simple principle that pleasure should be maximized. There were Stoics who lived for justice and honour. There were the Greeks who worshipped culture and the Romans who worshipped power. There were the Jews who worshipped one God and there were innumerable folk religions with pantheons of gods, goddesses, demons and familiar spirits.

Three hundred years later that would change. Christianity was suddenly transformed from being a persecuted sect to the world’s state religion. Within a generation, the religious chaos of the New Testament times disappeared and Christian teachers no longer had to justify their faith to pagans and atheists. Religious groups still found plenty to argue about, but the central premises of Christianity were taken for granted. And so it remained in western culture until relatively recently.

This was not Paul’s world. A town hall meeting in Rome was not a simple place to stand up and make an argument. And so when Paul wrote to the Church in Rome and said, “I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome. I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile” (Romans 1:14–16), he was making quite a statement.

The New Testament is designed to give direction in a world full of conflicting, changing and confusing ideas. In its context some of the ideas were ancient, some were cross-cultural, and new ones kept emerging from the earth like mushrooms. The New Testament does not presume a culture that worships a loving God. It does not presume that everyone believes in God. It does not presume a moral code based on the Bible. It does not even presume a just moral code founded on some optimistic form or natural justice. In this sense it was a world just like ours. When you read the New Testament, keep that in mind. It makes a difference. The New Testament is more postmodern than most of us are.

Also in this series

• Part 1: Mysterious, ancient, complex – and understandable
• Part 3: For skeptics, cynics, Gen-Xers
• Part 4: The outcast’s guide to survival

James Toews is pastor of Neighbourhood Church, Nanaimo, B.C.