Postmodern Christianity as Reverse Gnosticism

Consider,

Gnosticism holds a hyper-platonic worldview that says all flesh is bad.

Salvation for them involves escaping mortal bodies.

Salvation is gained through knowing the correct secret knowledge.

Dualistic worldview that undermines creation.

Put words in the mouth of Jesus to make thier beliefs more plausible.

Only use the parts of the Scriptures that they like.

There you go. A caricature of Christian Gnosticism.

You know, it’s funny how much that resembles much of modern Christianity. Which brings me to postmodern Christianity.

Postmodern Christianity rejects Platonic worldviews and values the spiritual as inseparable from the bodily.

Salvation for them involved both spiritual and physical dimensions, with ressurection, not disembodiment as the end.

Salvation is gained by following in the path of master Jesus, not in secret knowledge.

Creation is valued and protected.

Let Jesus speak for himself, unfiltered as much as possible (even by Paul! Gasp!)

Wrestle and struggle with all of scripture, even the uncomfortable parts like Leviticus, Joshua, and Mark.

So there you have it. The best of postmodern Christianity compared with a caricature of gnostic thought and modern Christianity. Fair? No. Funny? Kinda, yeah.

Optimistic Chad

Chad really really hopes things are going to turn out ok. He loves his wife - with the passion of 1000 exploding suns, and is a diligent, but surely mediocre father to his brilliant and subversive children. He likes Chinese food.