"It need not further be denied," argued James Orr, "that between this view of the world involved in Christianity, and what is sometimes called 'the modern view of the world' there exists a deep and radical antagonism." James Orr observed this 'deep and radical antagonism' over a century ago. Can we possibly fail to see it now?
As Christians, we are unavoidably engaged in a great battle of worldviews--a conflict over the most basic issues of truth and meaning. A worldview that starts with the existence and sovereign authority of the self-revealing God of the Bible will be diametrically opposed to worldviews that deny God or engage in what we might call 'defining divinity down.'
At the heart of this controversy lies the irreducible obstacle of biblical authority. As a matter of fact, it may be impossible to overestimate the true depth of postmodern antipathy to the Bible--at least to the Bible as an authoritative revelation from God.
Just consider what the modern secular mind confronts in the Bible. At the foundational level, the Bible makes a "totalizing" claim to truth. In the terminology of postmodern academic discourse, this means that the Bible claims to present absolute and non-negotiable truth that effectively trumps all other authorities. In an intellectual context of personal autonomy and individual self-expression, this appears to represent an unfair imposition of authority and a violation of the contract theory that lies at the heart of the modern experiment. We can 'contract' with the Bible to serve as a guide, but that contract is open to constant renegotiation.
And the Bible contains so much material that runs against the moral sense of a largely-secularized society. Let's just be honest and admit right up front that the Bible pulls no punches and leaves no room for a public relations effort to clean up the dust storm. The Bible begins with a straight-forward declaration of divine creation, complete with a divine design for every aspect of the created order. Then, we confront the creation of human beings as made in the image of God, and thus uniquely gifted and accountable as moral and spiritual creatures. And, we add, human beings are made male and female to the glory of the Creator. There it is--gender as part of the goodness of God's creation. This is no vision of gender differences as mere social construction. Marriage immediately follows as the divinely--designed institution for human ordering, reproduction, sexuality, and romantic fulfillment. Marriage--the union of one man and one woman--is presented as an objective reality constituted as a moral covenant with legal and moral boundaries, not as a contract to be made, remade, or unmade at will.
Then comes sin. The third chapter of Genesis clearly fails to meet muster in terms of modern psychotherapeutic expectations. Responsibility for sin is laid right at human feet; and the consequences of sin--downright repressive--are worse than draconian. Most troubling of all, sin is presented as something that tells the truth about us--not merely the truth about a sinful world system. From beginning to end, the Bible undermines the modern secular worldview at its very foundation.
Those first four words land like nitroglycerin on the modern mind: "In the beginning, God . . . . " From that point onward, everything flows from the fundamental reality of God's existence, power, and purpose. Creation itself is explained as the theater for God's own glory, even as human beings, male and female, are created in God's image. The institution of marriage is shown to be God's gift and command, not a sociological adaptation to prevailing cultural conditions. Humans are given responsibility as both stewards and rulers of the earth, ordered to subdue the earth to the Creator's glory.
Of course, to the postmodern mind, Genesis is hopelessly "speciesist" even as (to use their language) it presents a "totalizing meta-narrative of hegemonistic authoritarianism." In other words, it tells us in no uncertain terms that God is God and we are not, even as it reveals that humanity fulfills a special purpose for God's glory.
