This is an article written after giving further thought to the definition of "postmodernism" given by the likes of postmodernist Leonard Sweet and other Emerging Church promoters. My article refuting Sweet's attempt at defining and legitimizing postmodernism can be found here:
Ding Dong, Ding Dong, Wake Up Leonard Sweet! by Sandy Simpson, 11/27/05
It dawned on me that the enemy is certainly behind the postmodern paradigm, and especially behind those who want to buy into this ridiculous world view instead of roundly refuting it. Contrary to the egotistical claims of postmoderns that they are on the cutting "edge" because of their subjectivist, relivitist, existential view of reality, this concept was foisted upon the universe and world by Satan himself before the world was created. Let's go through what we know of Lucifer from the Biblical records. I think you will see clearly that Satan was the first postmodernist. He was WAY ahead of his time.
Lucifer In Heaven
Isaiah 14:12-15 How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High." But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit. (NIV)Satan was created a blameless angel but with freewill like the other angels. He was the anointed guardian cherub in heaven. He walked on the holy mount of God among the fiery stones. He was called the "morning star, son of dawn". Yet Lucifer was not satisfied. He did not like the fact that God was being worshipped and he was not. This was just not fair. In Lucifer's view there was intolerance in heaven. After all, he was the most beautiful, most powerful angel there. If God was worshipped as God, then Lucifer must be a "god" also. So Lucifer said to himself, "I will ascend ... I will make myself like the Most High". Lucifer became the first New Ager by saying "I am God." He became the first postmodernist by failing to grasp objective reality, and instead embarking on an interpretation of the facts that suited his purposes. We can look back on these events and wonder how Satan could have possibly thought, for even a moment, that he could be God. But then we have millions of people on EARTH today who also claim to be God. Foolishness is not the domain of Satan alone. But he is the father of it, and the father of anyone who says they are a "god" in lieu of the facts of the objective truth that there is only ONE GOD, YHWH eternally exisiting in Three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 8:6, Eph. 4:6, Matt. 28:19, Gal. 4:6)! The moment the thought of "godhood" and rebellion blossomed in Lucifer's mind, he was sentenced to death. So too are all who sin against God without repentance. The issue is not one of fairness, it is one of recognizing objective truth. For the postmodernist truth is relative, subjective, a thing to be manipulated, a thing that moves and flows with time and space. To God, and to any true follower of Jesus Christ, this is foolishness. God set the rules, they are objective truth, and they must be followed. This is His universe, not that of Satan or anyone else. Yet the very first man and woman committed the same postmodernist sin as Lucifer did.Isaiah 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! (KJV)
Ezekiel 28:14-16 You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones.
Rev. 12:4-9 His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days. And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down— that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
Revelation 20:2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.
The Serpent In The Garden
Genesis 3:1-7 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’" "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.Unable to sway God with his arguments and attitude, Satan was cast down to earth taking one third of the angels of heaven with him in rebellion. Not satisfied to corrupt many angels, Satan now saw the opportunity to pawn off his New Age mysticism on Adam and Eve. He used the Hegelian dialectic and praxis, and started the dialog with a question. Posing questions that lead to a predetermined conclusion is a typical device used by postmodernists. Satan questioned whether God really said what He said. Maybe they had just heard it wrong. But the real postmodern question lurks beneath: "How could God make a demand like that on you? Is it really fair? Has God really given you freewill? I thought you had all your options open?" Eve should have told the Serpent to take a hike at this point, but the diaprax had captured her imagination. She gave the right answer, but failed to send the Serpent away for daring to challenge God. Then Satan did his most famous dance around the truth. He gave a heaping dose of truth with just enough hell in it to change the lives of human beings forever. if they would accept it. Satan was also the first heretic, laying error alongside truth. It was true that Adam and Eve would not die physically on the spot. It was not true that they would not die because they would, both spiritually and eventually physically. It was true that their eyes would be opened after eating the fruit. What Satan failed to tell them was that their eyes would only be opened to evil. They already knew Good. What they did not know was Evil. But the biggest lie, slipped into the middle of Satan's diaprax, was that "you will be like God". Adam and Eve were made in the image of God. They were already like God in sinless blamelessness. Not only would they not become like God, they would be separated from God with no way to atonement except by repentance and the shedding of blood. They would destroy the nature God had wanted for them by putting on a sin nature. They would be estranged from God (Ps. 58:3) and desperately wicked (Jer. 17:9) from that point on! Satan is still selling this diaprax today. The postmodern generation thinks they can get closer to God, have a relationship with God, through the "apple" of New Age practices. They think they can reform God in their own image, in fact they believe they are little gods. But they have been fooled by the first postmodernist, Satan.
The Devil And Cain
John 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.Jude 1:11 Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.
Genesis 4:1-16 Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, "With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man." Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it." Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let’s go out to the field." And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" "I don’t know," he replied. "Am I my brother’s keeper?" The LORD said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth." Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me." But the LORD said to him, "Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over." Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. So Cain went out from the LORD’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.Who inspired Cain to kill his brother, committing the first murder? It was certainly Satan because the Bible states that he was a murderer from the beginning. Satan tempted Cain, and Cain gave in to his sinful nature. The temptation was one of postmodern sensibilities. The devil whispered in Cain's ear that God was being unfair. So what that God had shown that sin can only be forgiven through the shedding of blood by killing the first animals to make clothing for Adam and Eve? Surely Cain could chart his own path and worship God in his own way? Then Cain killed his brother and lied to God when asked about his brother. When confronted with the facts of their sins, postmodernists will, rather than confess and repent of them, often hide them under lies and justifications. The devil is the one who inspires lies, murder, false justifications, false teaching, rebellion and unrepentance.
The Devil and Jesus Christ
Matthew 4:1-11 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’" Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: "‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’" Jesus answered him, "It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’" Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me." Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’" Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.Notice the diaprax of Satan in his three attempts to tempt Christ. He tries to get Jesus to prove He has power by making Himself something to eat. This appeals to the humanity of Christ on the levels of body and soul. But for Christ to break His fast and use His Divine power after making Himself "nothing" (Phil. 2:7) in obedience to the will of the Father would have been the end of salvation for men. Postmodernism appeals to the mind and to the flesh and seeks to satisfy the desires of them, but is ignorant of the things of the spirit. In the second temptation Satan tries the same tactic, only this time he pulls Scripture from its context to do so. This is another mark of postmodernist teachers. They pull what they want out of context from Scripture to serve their own paradigm, their own agenda. Many postmodernists are fooled by this ploy because they don't bother to look up the biblical context to see if it is correct. They don't bother because critical thinking is not part of their daily existence. Facts really don't matter to them, it is how they feel about what they hear and how it fits into their sensibilities. But Jesus rejects this false argument because He is the author of the Scriptures and knows their context. He rejects this temptation with Scripture that is not taken out of context but used according to it. The third temptation is Satan's grandest attempt. He knows that Jesus is on a mission to save men from sin who believe in Him and must die in order to achieve it. Satan tempts Christ to take the dominion of the world from Satan who is called the ruler of the kingdom of the air (Eph. 2:2) the prince of this world (John 12:31). Jesus knows that "the whole world is under the control of the evil one." (1 John 5:19). So this was a real offer. Jesus could have the world now instead of going through pain and suffering if He will simply worship Satan. But Satan failed to realize this offer was not what Jesus wanted. He did not need the world, He wanted to save people. The world would be His because He created it (Col. 1:16). But this world would be destoryed.(2 Pet. 3:10) In the course of time the devil and his angels would be thrown into the lake of fire forever (Rev. 20:10). Satan's goal had been, from the time of his sin in heaven, that God would worship him. Like postmodernists, the facts did not persuade Satan. What mattered to him was that his personal agenda be fulfilled come hell or high water. In this case, come hell.
Satan, False Apostles, False Prophets And False Teachers
2 Corinthians 11:13-15 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.Finally, we have to deal with the issue of false apostles, prophets and teachers. False apostles pretend they are serving the Lord but actually they are serving their master Satan. They may not even realize they are serving Satan, but you can only serve one master (Matt. 6:24). Postmodernists do not realize that you cannot serve God if you are serving yourself and your own agenda your own way. Like Satan before them, they serve their own desires instead of God. Thus they end up serving the agenda of their master Satan. This never occurs to them because they believe that life is all paradox and oxymoron, that it is full of gray areas of truth instead of black and white truth according to God's Word. To the postmodernist life is subjective. God's truth is objective. To them truth is relative. To God truth is absolute. To postmodernists truth is existential. Existentialism is defined by the dictionary this way:2 Peter 2:1-2 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them— bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.
1 John 4:1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
A philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual experience in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards human existence as unexplainable, and stresses freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences of one's acts.God views existence just the opposite from this. What postmodernists fail to realize is that, behind half truths and heresy lies the work and kingdom of Satan. The postmodernist's paradigm is then completely in the domain of the evil one. It was begun by him and it is sustained and bolstered by his temptations. It is propagated by postmodernist false apostles, prophets and teachers whom true believers are to test because of the spirit of antichrist that pervades their teachings and actions. Postmodernists see no reason to test anything because they have been taught not to judge by false Satanic teachers. But God says that we are not to suspend our critical thinking, our minds that He created in us, rather to submit them to God and use them to test the spirits.
For a postmodernist to be saved they must be reprogrammed by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit to think correctly. Their world view must be entirely changed. This is why people like Leonard Sweet and other Emerging Church teachers are so dangerous. They cater to an evil mindset instead of attempting to change it through education in the Word. This is why we are living in the end times generation. The postmodern paradigm will bring in the reign of the Antichrist, Satan himself. We can only thank the Lord Jesus Christ that it will be short-lived and that the devil, the first postmodernist, will be put down forever.