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Truth Decay: Defending Christianity Against the Challenges of Postmodernism
Binding: Paperback
Author: Douglas R. Groothuis
Manufacturer: InterVarsity Press
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Features:
Average Rating: 4.5
Total Customer Reviews: 11
List Price: $16.00
Our Price: $10.88
Sales Rank: 252307
Product Description
The concept of truth as absolute, objective and universal has undergone serious deterioration in recent years. No longer is it a goal for all to pursue. Rather postmodernism sees truth as inseparable from culture, psychology, race and gender. Ultimately, truth is what we make it to be. What factors have accelerated this decay of truth? Why are people willing to embrace such a devalued concept? How does this new view compare and contrast with a Christian understanding? While postmodernism contains some truthful insights (despite its attempt to dethrone truth), Douglas Groothuis sees its basic tenets as intellectually flawed and hostile to Christian views. In this spirited presentation of a solid, biblical and logical perspective, the author unveils how truth has come under attack and how it can be defended in the vital areas of theology, apologetics, ethics and the arts. "Truth Decay is an impressive defense and reminder of some things evangelicals have always known but which have been recently questioned. . . . Even at those points where I disagree with Groothuis, I share his underlying concerns and convictions." C. Stephen Evans, Professor of Philosophy, Calvin College "Written with brilliance and clarity that is highly unusual among both defenders and critics of postmodernism." James W. Sire, author of The Universe Next Door "Groothuis makes a solid, illuminating contribution to the ongoing debate among Christians about how to defend the gospel in a culture where the concept of objective truth is under siege." Philip Johnson, author of The Wedge of Truth "Powerful, thorough and timely, Truth Decay stands squarely in the face of the Gadarene rush to the postmodern abyss. Groothuis deserves careful reading and repays it amply." Os Guinness, author of Time for Truth
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Users Product Reviews: |
Product Review Summary: Truth Decay Excellent treatise on the errors of postmodern thinking and rationale in the church. Highest recommendation for anyone who wants to know that truth still exists and is not a manufactured reflection of our culture!
Product Review Summary: Truth Exists. You want Truth? Not sure there is such a thing? Are you willing to engage all your reasoning faculties and use the simplicity of Logic? Then this book is for you, and all who wonder where and what Truth might be. Truth clearly exists and is neither subjective nor fictitious. You have only to follow Groothuis's detailed explanation to see the light (and the light of Christ will outshine all other).
Product Review Summary: Stupendous book Dr. Groothuis, though perhaps somewhat unknown to many presently, certainly will be remembered as one of the 21st centuries best apologists. His insights into the non-christian philosophies and worldviews are incomparable and extremely helpful. His warnings against the effects of television are convicting and true. All in all, a great book.
Product Review Summary: Good content; a little dry The author covers the erosion of truth in our culture very thoroughly, but it can get a bit dry and repetitive at times. It's full of good examples of truth decay that is going on all around us today.
Product Review Summary: Sad... Even if one is sympathetic to Groothuis's broad concern, one can't help but be disappointed with this text. This book is a bad regurgitation of other bad and reductive non-readings of `pomo'. Groothuis depends way too highly on secondary (and sometimes tertiary) sources. It escapes me how a former reviewer could call this work `scholarly.' I suppose if one considers Logic 101 tinged with the usual fundamentalist `defender of the Faith' rhetoric and aura (which hovers over every page), then this could be called `scholarly.'
The big problem I found is that even when Groothuis offers defensible criticisms, his alternatives end up being just as problematic as the positions he criticizes. For all his advocacy for a correspondence theory of truth, his tone betrays a penchant for certainty and formal coherence. He falls into the problem of the relation between thought and `reality,' representation to presentation, the role of language, and so forth. No doubt God comes to save the day with all these problems, yet on the very justificatory terms Groothuis advocates for, God escapes the measure of correspondence and becomes its condition of possibility. In other words, God becomes a structural metaphysical function which `saves' Groothuis's truth from the skeptic. The problem, however, is that Groothuis wants truth to be absolute, universal, and accessible to all, yet he is dependent on a moment (i.e. faith) which, by definition, retains a trace of contingency or `objective' undecidability.
Groothuis's more ethical concerns are where I am more sympathetic, but again, here his polemics and non-reading of the people he criticizes drowned out whatever constructive points he offers. Groothuis practices the same type of irresponsible reflection that some of the `pomo' Evangelical's do: uncriticality. Here, philosophy and reflection - whether Modern or postmodern - becomes a means to simply confirm and justify a complacent status quo, rather than challenging and transforming the status quo. The challenge presented in this book is for a nostalgic return to the good old days of Christendom.
Jesus did not come to `save' our metaphysical systems, but to redeem us and this world. That redemption is not contingent upon accurate representations as Groothuis seems to think. It is madness to the Greek (i.e. the logician) and a stumbling block to the Legalist (i.e. moralistic hypocrites). The task is not to make the faith less crazy or more socially repressive. As James tells us, the measure of `true' faith - and here I will grant a type of reference - is that we `attend to the widow and orphan.' Kerygma without service is dead, a worse lie than any humanism. Perhaps if we began `proving' our faith, that is, manifesting its truth in radical service and justice - we could actually demonstrate the truth to which we testify. I guess it is much easier to `defend the faith' with bad arguments which only convince the already convinced, than to `live the faith': serve the people no one gives a hoot about. After all, in the latter case one cannot fancy oneself a hero in quite the same way.
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