Truth or Consequences: The Promise Perils of Postmodernism

by Millard J. Erickson

Postmodernism. The term slowly filtered into our vocabularies about three decades ago and now permeates most discussions of the humanities. Those who tout the promises and perils of this twentieth-century intellectual movement have filled many a bookshelf. And in a previous book, Postmodernizing the Evangelical Responses to the Challenge of Postmodernism, Millard J. Erickson provided his own summary of several evangelical responses--both positive and negative--to the movement. Now in this book Erickson offers his own promised in-depth analysis and constructive response. Erickson addresses these issues with characteristic discernment, clarity and evenhandedness, neither dismissing the insights of postmodern thought nor succumbing uncritically to its allure. An important book for all who are concerned with commending Christian truth to the culture within which we live.

Genres: Theology, Philosophy, Christian

335 pages, Paperback

First published September 25, 2001

About the author

Millard J. Erickson (PhD, Northwestern University) has served as a pastor and seminary dean and has taught at several schools, including Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Western Seminary (Portland and San Jose), and Baylor University. He has also held numerous visiting professorships, both in the United States and internationally, and is the author of many books. Erickson lives in Mounds View, Minnesota.

Reviews

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a sense, I never recovered from reading this text in seminary. It was so compelling and influential in my life that I made the decision to switch my degree program from Master of Divinity to a Master of Arts in Philosophy of Religion. Erickson shows the peril of adopting the spirit of the age in putting the locus of a text's meaning upon the reader instead of the author of a book, whatever the book might be. He shows the fallacy of taking the hermeneutical approach of influencers like Foucault, Derrida and Nietzsche to name a few. If you're troubled by "that's just your interpretation," you'll benefit from reading this text.

[Brandon Elrod · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great, in-depth overview of postmodernism.