Postmodern Theology

Definition and Meaning

Postmodern theology is an umbrella term for various attempts to rethink theology within the late-twentieth-century intellectual current known as postmodernism. It does not refer to a single school. Rather, it designates several movements that share a critique of the modern conviction that reason alone can establish universal truth and that emphasize the influence of language, community, and tradition on knowledge.

This category commonly includes the following movements:

• Deconstructive theology, which draws on deconstructionist philosophy
• Radical Orthodoxy, which seeks to recover premodern patristic and medieval traditions
• Postliberal theology, which understands doctrine as the grammatical rules of the language used by a community of faith

Biblical and Historical Background

The term "postmodern" does not appear in the Bible. Those sympathetic to the movement emphasize theological humility, citing passages such as 1 Corinthians 13:11–12, which speaks of the partial nature of human knowledge. Critics stress the objectivity of truth, citing passages such as John 14:6: "I am the way, the truth, and the life."

Historically, the French philosopher Jean-François Lyotard's description of "incredulity toward metanarratives" in The Postmodern Condition (1979) is frequently cited. Jacques Derrida's deconstruction also exerted considerable influence. From the 1980s onward, theologians in the English-speaking world such as Mark C. Taylor, George Lindbeck, and John Milbank produced work moving in different directions. Some regard the movement as an attempt to move beyond both liberal theology and fundamentalism, each of which relied on modern reason. Others criticize it for relativizing truth.

Practice in the Korean Church

In Korea, postmodern theology has been introduced mainly through seminaries, academic societies, and translated works. From the 2000s onward, it reportedly began to be discussed in pastoral settings as well, alongside conversations about the emerging church. No general assembly resolutions specifically addressing postmodern theology are widely known.

• Theologians in denominations that identify with the Reformed tradition, such as the Hapdong, Kosin, and Hapshin branches of the Presbyterian Church in Korea, generally treat it critically, out of concern over the relativization of truth and the weakening of biblical inerrancy.
• Critical positions are also common within the evangelical camp. Some, however, draw on it as a resource for exploring approaches to evangelism and the missional church within postmodern culture.
• Progressive denominations such as the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea, along with some seminaries, tend to study it more openly, engaging the movement in connection with contextual theology, feminist theology, and related fields.