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Postmodernism presents a challenge to the Christian view of epistemology. What are some practical ways you, as a Christian educator, can respond to this challenge?
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Postmodernism holds to subjectivity- that reality is always changing and truth is not absolute. As an educator in Christian education I can respond to that by affirming truth. Teaching students that there is absolute truth (God’s law) and not following that truth has consequences. As a teacher of history, my curriculum is full of opportunities to show kids how mankind has deviated from God’s law and thus created hardship on themselves and others.
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Post modernism present a challenge to a Christians view of epistemology becasue people desire to define for themsleves things God has deisgned for a purpose. As a Christian educator, you must be anchored in scripture so you can point studetns back to the truth of what we can know from the Word.
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Postmodernism says that your truth may not be my truth. What you value may not be what I value. As a Christian educator, I am responding to these statements by using God’s Word, truth, to help them see there are absolutes in the world God created. We can know truth and understand our value by taking God’s Word, understanding it, and applying the truths to our lives. Feelings come and go – God’s Word stays the same.
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Postmodernism is based according to each individuals beliefs and feelings. This presents a challenge in that beliefs and feelings (especially those of young impressionable minds can go through many thoughts, feelings, beliefs within a day). Yet, God and His Word is our constant. He remains true and unchanging. His Word will remain when all other things have failed and passed away.
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Postmodernism theorizes that absolute truth doesn’t exist, reason cannot be trusted for scientific discovery, science and technology are tools of oppression, human nature is subjective, and language is not concretely anchored to an objective meaning. Christian educators must be thoroughly equipped with knowledge of God’s Word to combat these age-old poisonous beliefs. God has given us ways to observe our world, using our minds to process, understand and conclude objective truths. We teach our students that God reveals Himself as a knowable, personal savior, who has created the universe with natural laws that cannot by rejected nor ignored. We use the scientific method to test and prove theories, to establish the certainty of our ideas. We can check if our feelings are reliable sources of fact-finding.