Postmodernism and Satan’s Mind, Part 3

“Get Thee Behind Me, Satan” by Ilya Repin (1895), Source Virtual Russian Museum https://rusmuseumvrm.ru (PD)

We resume our examination of postmodernism as that worldview reflects Satan’s mind, in particular the adversary’s attitude toward free will and the value of the individual [1][2].

Rejection of Individual Identity
A. The Lie

“People exist primarily as members of groups.  Identity is primarily collective [3A].”

-8 Tenets of Postmodernism

B. Satan’s Reason for the Lie

“When He [God] talks of their losing their selves, He means only abandoning the clamour of self-will; once they have done that, He really gives them back all their personality, and boasts (I am afraid, sincerely) that when they are wholly His they will be more themselves than ever.”

-CS Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

C. The Truth

“‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you…’” (Jer. 1: 5).

This claim by postmodernism is characteristic both of fascism and communism – the far right and far left.  The individual is insignificant; the state is supreme.

We can, of course, as individuals devote ourselves to a cause greater than any single individual.

But God is infinitely concerned with the fate of the individual.  St. Augustine is thought to have said, “God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.”

Cultural Determinism
A. The Lie

“Individuals are shaped by cultural forces. Language in particular determines what we can think, trapping us in a ‘prison house of language’ [3B].”

-8 Tenets of Postmodernism

B. Satan’s Reason for the Lie

“Suspicion often creates what it suspects.”

-CS Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

C. The Truth

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3: 28).

The implication here is that we are incapable of communicating (or empathizing) with those who may have grown up in a culture different from our own.  Like many of Satan’s lies, this is at best a half-truth, its purpose being to foster division among us.

We are admittedly shaped by cultural forces, and language has its limitations.  Culture is not, however, the only force shaping us.  Nor are we condemned to be imprisoned by culture.

While its operation in light of God’s foreknowledge has long been debated, free will is among God’s greatest gifts to mankind [4].  We may freely choose to love God…or not.  As CS Lewis says of God in The Screwtape Letters, “He cannot ravish; He can only woo.”

Satan would not be so benevolent.

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[1]  Wikipedia, Postmodernism, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmodernism.

[2]  Britannica, “Postmodernism”, https://www.britannica.com/topic/postmodernism-philosophy.

[3A – 3C]  Quizlet, “8 Tenets of Postmodernism”, https://quizlet.com/6266751/8-tenets-of-postmodernism-flash-cards/.

[4]  Wikipedia, “Free will in theology”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_will_in_theology.

This series concludes next week.

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