Postmodernism and Christianity

A lot of people think that postmodernism is always the enemy of Christianity, but that is an oversimplified scenario. Postmodernism has many ideas that can be combined with Christianity. One may view it as a problem, but it can be a resource for Christian philosophy, Christian mysticism, Christian apologetics, and even for the understanding of the Bible.

Postmodernism as a Multidimensional Phenomenon

The first thing we need to understand is that when we talk about postmodernism, or postmodern philosophy and postmodern critical theory, we are not talking about a unified and single phenomenon. We are talking about a movement in contemporary culture and thought that is extremely complex and multidimensional.

Postmodernism is not just one monolithic thing, and I wrote a paper about it many years ago titled “Postmodernism: What is It, and What is Wrong with It?“. It is very difficult to make an essentialist definition of postmodernism, because if there is one thing that postmodernists tend to be against, it is rigid definitions and clear-cut categories. They do not believe in these essential standards.

On the contrary, one of the hallmarks of postmodern thought is vagueness. Postmodernists emphasize that words and concepts are vague, elastic, flexible, and have a certain kind of fluidity. Vagueness is in itself not enough to define postmodernism, because many philosophical skeptics and analytical philosophers of language also emphasize vagueness. Still, vagueness and closely associated terms can be a very good starting point for talking about postmodernism and Christianity, because oversimplified, fundamentalist conceptions of postmodernism must be avoided. Only then can we understand the connection between postmodernism and Christianity, and how Christian philosophy can use, apply, and appropriate the best insights from postmodern philosophy and culture.

The crucial thing here is that postmodernism is often misunderstood, because people have a very shallow and sloppy understanding of what it is. If you want to understand postmodernism, you must study the works of great postmodern thinkers, such as Lyotard, Foucault, Derrida, Bauman, Richard Rorty, Cornel West, James K.A. Smith, and Graham Ward. Some of these thinkers are Christians, namely Cornel West, James K.A. Smith, and Graham Ward. I would also like to emphasize studying Gianni Vattimo, who is an extremely liberal, Catholic Christian, but also a very interesting thinker.

Postmodernism Against the Enlightenment and High Modernity

When we talk about postmodernism, we are talking about a very broad and flexible term that must not be defined in too narrow a way. Yet, we can say that postmodernism is a critique of modernity from within. By beginning with this definition, we have a very good starting point for appropriating postmodernism in a Christian way, because if there is one thing that has been a problem for Christian mission and apologetics in the western world, it is the superstitious belief in secular modernity and its false presuppositions.

Postmodernism systematically questions those radical and rationalist assumptions from secular modernity. You can read more about this in my book, Christian Notebooks on the Power of Eternal Victory. It is already published in Norwegian under the title of Kristne Notatbøker Om Den Evige Seierens Kraft, and it is hopefully going to be published in English in 2025 or 2026.

One of the most important things you can understand about postmodernism is that it is a critique of authority. According to the Routledge Critical Dictionary of Postmodern Thought, edited by Stuart Sim, there are three fundamental features of postmodernism to the extent that it can be defined. These are admittedly vague, but still interesting dimensions that must be mentioned: The first is that postmodernism is a critique of authority. The second is that postmodernism is a critique of foundationalist epistemology; the idea that there is a foundation that you can trust. The third is that it is a kind of skepticism. Much of this comes from the study of the philosophy of language: Wittgenstein, Derrida, Quine, Richard Rorty, and many others.

When we talk about postmodernism as a critique of foundationalism, this is based on very serious philosophical work. You cannot just throw out a lot of slogans in a public debate and think that you have understood it. In addition, skepticism is crucial for understanding postmodernism, because skepticism follows from and is connected to the two other points.

I hope that was not too much of an unclear, postmodern, multidimensional way of presenting it, but it should make some sense at least. The point here is that postmodernism rejects the foundations of secular thought and secular civilization, but that does not mean that postmodernism has overthrown Christian thought and the Christian foundations for our civilization. That is one of the reasons why there is a philosophy of religion and a Christian movement within postmodern thought, which is summed up in Radical Orthodoxy, but also in many other movements.

The Good and the Bad in Postmodernism

Merold Westphal, a very distinguished Fordham philosopher, a deeply Christian man and a great philosopher, says that there are two things you need to keep in mind when you deal with Christianity and postmodernism. First, there is both a yes and a no to postmodernism for Christians. Second, postmodernism must be re-appropriated and reapplied by Christians in a deeply Christian way.

When we talk about postmodernism, we are talking about something that might have a dangerous impact, but it is also very dangerous to overlook its positive elements. That oversight leads to a fundamentalist, negative, reactionary, and old-fashioned view of culture. Westphal explains that if we re-appropriate postmodern thought, it can actually be highly useful.

A similar claim has been made by Zygmunt Bauman, the leading sociologist analyzing postmodern society. He says that postmodernism should neither be celebrated nor totally rejected. This is postmodernism in a nutshell.

Postmodernism does not command you to believe in everything it says. If you engage with postmodern philosophy, postmodern thought, and postmodern critical theory, then you have a radical critique of secular modernity. That does not prove, in itself, that Christianity is the truth, but it shows how much we need the Christian revelation.

Postmodernism and Christian Apologetics

Even the greatest academic theologian today, Alister McGrath, recognizes this point in his book Mere Apologetics. More and more conservative Christian thinkers are understanding that postmodernism has something important to offer, because if postmodernism succeeds in undermining secular modernity, that shows us how desperately we need Christianity.

As I said, this does not in itself prove that Christianity is true. However, it might remove one of the biggest obstacles for many people to be Christians. Postmodernism has given us very good reason to believe that the new atheism, the Enlightenment philosophy, and the so-called neutral analytical philosophy are mythologies. If we can show that these things are mythologies, then that can open the door for the return to Christianity. As Wittgenstein writes, “An entire mythology is laid down in our language.” Wittgenstein emphasizes that all worldviews are based on language-games, a form of life and premises grounded in a certainty that is unargued. This has inspired many postmodern thinkers to criticize the Enlightenment and secular modernity as something ideological, mythological, and rooted in social constructions and historically conditioned practices.

Post-secular philosophy is promoted by the Radical Orthodoxy Movement, led by John Milbank, Catherine Pickstock, Graham Ward, and James K.A. Smith. Smith communicates the Radical Orthodoxy Movement to a broader group of readers, summed up in slogans such as “to be truly postmodern is to be post-secular” and “modernity is a myth disguised as scientific truth.” See James K.A. Smith’s books Introducing Radical Orthodoxy: Mapping a Post-secular Theology and Who’s Afraid of Postmodernism.

This critique of the Enlightenment and secular modernity is a very frank thing, and it is very important.

When we talk about postmodernism, we are talking about something which attacks one of the greatest enemies that the Christian church has ever had: the superstitious belief in secular thought, secular fundamentalism, and the Enlightenment’s absurd idea that everything is moving toward progress and becoming better and better, if we just make a secular society, base ourselves on secular philosophy, and concentrate on science and technology.

Postmodernism, Christianity and the Rejection of a Neutral Starting Point

I am not against science and technology, and I am a super-mega funky big fan of philosophy. I am a professional philosopher, and I have devoted my entire life to philosophy. However, I believe that there are good reasons to believe that philosophy can never be neutral.

As James K.A. Smith points out in his brilliant book Who’s Afraid of Postmodernism?, postmodern thought can help us regain an understanding of the crucial importance of Augustine’s slogan, “I believe in order to understand”. This was also reformulated in the Middle Ages by Anselm of Canterbury: “Fides Quaerens Intellectum”, which means “faith seeking understanding”.

James K.A. Smith clearly highlights the point that there is no neutral ground, and that is what postmodernism has shown. Through extremely advanced and sophisticated analysis of language, history, culture, social constructions, and social institutions and how they shape and mold our thinking, postmodern thinkers have shown that it is extremely improbable to believe that secular philosophy has obtained and discovered an absolute neutral and common ground.

On the contrary, we have seen this demonstrated again and again in the works of Nietzsche, Foucault, Derrida, Deleuze, Lyotard, Richard Rorty, Cornel West, James K.A. Smith, Milbank, Ward, and Catherine Pickstock. The last four of these are Radical Orthodoxy thinkers, and Cornel West strongly sympathizes with the Radical Orthodoxy movement.

The postmodern perspectivist epistemology (theory of knowledge) goes back to Nietzsche and the idea that there is no neutral perspective on the world.

Nietzsche said that we always look at the world through a perspective and a certain number of prejudices. There is no neutral ground. There is no neutral perspective. Your perspective on reality will always be based on your personality, and your historical and social contexts. While Nietzsche was trying to unmask these secular assumptions, he was an apologist for Christianity without understanding it himself. The idea that you can never be neutral gives very good reasons to appreciate the Christian idea that faith, hope, and love are the foundations for knowledge, understanding, wisdom, and insight. All wisdom and knowledge has a personal and existential foundation. This is something we learn from both existentialism and postmodernism, and for me this is a deeply Christian thought rooted and grounded in Jesus Christ and the Bible.

The idea of Hume, Kant, Voltaire and a lot of other Enlightenment philosophers was that you can be totally neutral. The detached subject could stand there as a kind of super scientist or some kind of super philosopher, in a meta-position that goes beyond all kinds of historical, personal, existential and social constructions. Hume and Kant deceived a lot of people, and then came the logical positivists and a lot of people in the analytical philosophy movement who actually thought that they were totally neutral.

However, Nietzsche said that you always look at the world through a perspective and your personality. This is why Nietzsche said explicitly that all philosophy is autobiography in disguise. All philosophy is shaped by your personality and your existential commitments, according to Kierkegaard. You find this point in the works of Nietzsche, and it is also really coming up in postmodern thought.

For instance, Steven Connor, a leading thinker within postmodernism and professor at the University of London, says that the postmodern theorists do not believe that you can be totally neutral. Connor explains that if you claim that you are totally neutral, that is itself not a neutral position. It is a hopeless thing. You end up with a contradiction in your thinking if you claim that you can be neutral; the claim that you are neutral is so far away from being neutral, if you understand the philosophical and theological assumptions involved in this claim.

These assumptions can often be implicit, even unconscious. There is no neutral ground. As both Alvin Plantinga and Ludwig Wittgenstein have emphasized, the regress must stop somewhere. Both will admit that religious and Christian people start from a different perspective and a different starting point, with different foundations and a different conceptual framework, than secular people do.

Postmodernism, Existentialism, Christian Thought, the Magical and the Need for Passion

Another very interesting thing about postmodernism and Christianity is found in the works of Zygmunt Bauman and James K.A. Smith. Zygmunt Bauman says that in the postmodern, mystery is given back its dignity. Bauman explains that the deep emotions and the affections are given back their dignity. Many of the Enlightenment philosophers, along with a lot of natural scientists, had a strong tendency to think that the emotions were something that often just disturbed you.

However, postmodern philosophy, as well as postmodern culture, has put a premium on the deep emotions. Passion is a resource. You can also find this in existentialism, you find it in Kierkegaard, you find it in Sartre, and you find it in many great poets, writers, musicians, and artists. In the postmodern world we believe in this. We believe that passion is a good thing.

We believe, as Sartre says, that “the deep emotions are the magical transformation of the world”. That part of existentialism has lived on in postmodernism, even though there are some big differences between existentialism and postmodernism. And as Bauman explains, the magical, in a broader philosophical and metaphysical sense, has been given back its dignity in the postmodern.

The Enlightenment philosophers, with their vision of detached reason, did not really believe in the full-blown naturalism of today, but they were extremely skeptical of claims about miracles and supernatural Christian religious experiences. They tried to change the culture by putting an emphasis on the immanent instead of the transcendent, on the natural and secular realm instead of the supernatural, religious, divine realm.

When I say religious, I am not talking about some kind of natural religion that Kant tries to invent in his very limited head. Instead, I am talking about a religion that is a divine revelation. The Enlightenment philosophers did not believe in this. Nevertheless, in the postmodern realm, in the postmodern movement, and in postmodern thought, we have a re-appreciation of that which is magical. We have a re-appreciation of that which is comprehended through personal, existential commitment and passion; through the deep emotions.

It is one of Zygmunt Bauman’s great achievements to make us aware of the fact that the magical and the mystical have regained their positive reputation in postmodern society and in postmodern thought. Bauman shows us that within the postmodern we better understand that human beings have a longing for the magical, the mystical, and the supernatural.

This had also been emphasized by C.S. Lewis, the great Christian apologist, who was a professor at both Oxford and Cambridge. Lewis emphasized strongly that we have a longing and need for the magical, the mystical, and the supernatural, and he found the solution for this in Christianity. That is one of the basic themes in his book series, The Chronicles of Narnia. It is not a coincidence that the series is so popular in postmodern culture and postmodern film.

We also find this in James K.A. Smith’s brilliant book Thinking in Tongues. He is one of the most prolific Christian philosophers of our time. He has won several prizes. Smith says that in postmodernism we believe in a passionate epistemology. He calls this “an affective, narrative epistemology”. Perhaps he goes a bit too far when he says that “we learn more from dancing than from deduction, and more from metaphors than from mathematics”.

But there is something to learn from Smith, because he says that in postmodernist philosophy and culture, we can understand this charismatic mystical dimension where you experience and understand reality through love, commitment, and passion. This is found in the works of Martha Nussbaum, the world’s leading moral philosopher, and appropriated in Philosophy of Religion by John Cottingham, a very distinguished British philosopher.

It is also found in the works of Esther Lightcap Meeks, who is in some ways a postmodern Christian philosopher when considering her book Loving to Know: Covenantal Epistemology. She says that “We do not know in order to love, but rather we love in order to know”. We are not just driven by information and abstract knowledge, but also by deep commitments and emotions, feelings (in the most constructive sense of the term), and practice.

Postmodernism, Christianity and Other Philosophical Connections

This goes back to Wittgenstein and the pragmatist school of philosophy, but it is also something that postmodernists are very much aware of. You learn the most important things from living your Christian life and from living your religious life. You find this in the works of Cornel West and Leszek Kolakowski.

We see a trend now towards re-appreciation of the whole human being involved in the quest for knowledge. This is also something that Christianity emphasizes, because Christianity says you must open your heart in order to gain that knowledge and wisdom you need in your head. You must live the Christian life in order to understand the arguments within Christian apologetics and Christian philosophical theology. You must be committed to God and following Jesus Christ in order to understand the Bible. That is also what the Church Fathers and the Christian mystics tell us.

I do not know if you get the full picture, but I hope you can understand that postmodernism can give us some vital resources for re-appreciating and understanding the Bible and classical Christian thought in a very dynamic, spiritual, passionate, and loving way.

To be a Christian thinker in a postmodern world is not just a problem, it is a privilege. We have resources that can benefit us when we try to live the Christian life, live Christian philosophy as a form of life, and communicate the Christian Gospel to other people.

Postmodernism is not necessarily a problem, but it can be a resource. Postmodernism appeals to the whole person. Postmodernism and postmodern culture have given us back the respect and the longing for the metaphysical, the supernatural, and for that which is so much more than secular fundamentalist epistemology, which goes far beyond the secular worldview.

What I am saying here is certainly not the full story, but I believe that you can combine a radical commitment to Jesus Christ, the Bible, the Church Fathers, and Christian mysticism with postmodern philosophy. That is what I have tried to do in my book Kristne Notatbøker Om Den Evige Seierens Kraft. The English title will be Christian Notebooks on the Power of Eternal Victory. I hope this can help people, because it is so exciting to be a Christian philosopher and study the great Christian thinkers.

It is so exciting to be a radical, Christian disciple and follower of Jesus Christ with your whole personality involved. Your whole existential commitment both at the emotional and intellectual level. And that is not the full truth about what postmodernism teaches us. There are other resources that are needed here, but postmodernism can dismantle, demystify, and demythologize the secular modern project.

You find this idea of demythologization and demystification in the works of Cornel West, mostly as a kind of social criticism based on Christian philosophy and the theology of liberation. However, one can also apply it to a more general and systematic critique of Enlightenment epistemology, metaphilosophy, philosophy of religion, and metaphysics in order to get a better understanding of the Bible and classical Christian thought. That is what I believe in. Cornel West has done a lot of interesting work when it comes to criticizing the Enlightenment, but we must also make the critique of the Enlightenment much broader and more rigorous.

A Complete Understanding of Christianity

I believe in a combination of the Bible as the Holy Word of God, classical Christianity, and postmodern thought. That is what I try to do. That is what I live for. That is my calling. And I can tell you this one thing: When postmodernism emphasizes the magical, that goosebump feeling, that electric thing we can find in a Hollywood movie, a rock concert, or some kind of jazz or pop music that really blows your mind, that is not a coincidence. This is God’s plan. This is God’s intention. God wants to give you that mind-blowing experience. Christianity is not boring.

Christianity is of course about doctrines, the institutional church, the sacraments, the rituals, and the fellowship in the church, but Christianity is also about the mystical union with the Triune God. Christianity is about the mystical union with the Almighty Trinity. Christianity is about ecstasy, love, and experiencing God. Christianity is not just talking about God, but also experiencing God.

In the postmodern realm and in postmodern thought there is a re-appreciation of this dimension of life, both at the practical and theoretical level. That is why I boldly say with great pride and self-confidence that I am both a postmodernist and a Christian philosopher, mystic, and apologist that is a defender of the Christian faith. Thank you. I hope you understand what I am trying to tell you. The message is important and the intention behind the message is even more important.

Transcribed by dingruppen.no.

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Bibliography and Further Reading

Bauman, Zygmunt. Postmodern Ethics. Oxford, UK and New York: Blackwell Publishers, 1993.

Bauman, Zygmunt. Intimations of Postmodernity. Abingdon, Oxon, UK and New York: Routledge, 1992.

Cottingham, John. The Spiritual Dimension. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2005.

Foucault, Michel. The Foucault Reader. Edited by Paul Rabinow. New York: Vintage Books, A Division of Random House Inc., 2010.

Lightcap Meeks, Esther. Loving to Know: Covenantal Epistemology. Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, 2011.

Lyotard, Jean-François. The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. Translated by Geoff Bennington and Brian Massumi. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1994.

McGinn, Bernard. Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism. New York: Modern Library Classics, 2006.

McGrath, Alister E. Mere Apologetics: How to Help Seekers and Sceptics Find Faith. London: SPCK, 2016.

Murphy, Nancy. Anglo-American Postmodernity: Philosophical Postmodernism in Relations to Science, Religion, and Ethics. Boulder, Colorado and Oxford, UK: Westview Press, 1997.

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Beyond Good and Evil. Translated and edited by Marion Faber. Oxford World’s Classics. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Payne, Michael, and Jessica Rae Barbera, eds. A Dictionary of Cultural and Critical Theory. Malden, MA and Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013.

Rorty, Richard. Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.

Saugstad, Andreas. “Postmodernism: What Is It and What Is Wrong With It?” GO INSIDE Magazine, 2001.

Saugstad, Andreas. “Postmodernism and the Media.” GO INSIDE Magazine, 2001.

Saugstad, Andreas. Christian Notebooks on the Power of Eternal Victory. Translated by dingruppen.no. Oslo: Kolofon Forlag. Forthcoming in 2026 as Print on Demand on amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.de.

Saugstad, Andreas. Kristne notatbøker om den evige seierens kraft. Oslo: Kolofon Forlag, 2025.

Sim, Stuart, ed. The Routledge Critical Dictionary of Postmodern Thought. London and New York: Routledge, 1999.

Smith, James K.A. Introducing Radical Orthodoxy: Mapping a Post-secular Theology. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2004.

Smith, James K.A. Who’s Afraid of Postmodernism? Taking Derrida, Lyotard, and Foucault to Church. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2006.

Smith, James K.A. Thinking in Tongues: Pentecostal Contributions to Christian Philosophy. Grand Rapids, Michigan and Cambridge, UK: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2010.

West, Cornel. The Cornel West Reader. New York: Basic Civitas Books, 1999.

Westphal, Merold, ed. Postmodern Philosophy and Christian Thought. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1999.

Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Philosophical Occasions 1912–1951. Edited by James Klagge and Alfred Nordmann. Indianapolis, Indiana: Hackett Publishing Company, 1993.