We need to spend a little time mulling this phenomenon called Post-modernism. Now, “Post-modernism” is nearly undefinable. The word can refer to a school of philosophy, or of linguistics, or of hermeneutics, or of architecture, or of art. It can refer to contemporary American culture. And the meaning shifts depending on the context.
I’m not going to attempt a precise definition, but rather deal with Post-modernism at something of the popular or cultural level. And at that level, Post-modernism contends that there are no values — or more precisely, that true values cannot be known.
You see, “values” are a product of our culture. The Chinese have different values from Sub-saharan Africans, whose values are quite unlikely Fifth Century Christian ascetics. And values define what is right and wrong.
The Post-modernist would argue that American values have no particular privilege. They are not “true” just because we happen to believe them, just as the Chinese values aren’t true just because the Chinese believe them. Continue reading
, Danny Corbitt disassembles the psallo argument — thoroughly. Corbitt finds six different Greek words used for “sing” in the New Testament, and not a one means “sing a cappella.” Some can refer either to a cappella singing or singing with an instrument. Others always refer to singing with an instrument.
