Thursday, November 4, 2010

Postmodern Christianity: Living Out the Truth

Introduction

The 21st Century has been a time which has issued in new perspectives, ways, and traditions in which society and specifically the Church has come to grow and develop. The ability for us as people to comprehend what the concept of truth is about and if it exists, is something that has caused a great deal of controversy and new movements of thought. The modern standpoint that truth is “out there” and that human beings can find these absolutes and essentials; including that we can prove the existence of God is troubling and challenging to postmodernists. According to James K.A. Smith, postmodernism can be understood as the “erosion of confidence in the rational as sole guarantor and deliverer of truth.” Smith continues by arguing that claims of absolute truth are extremely dangerous and he along with many other postmodernists have a deep suspicion of science, in particular “modern science’s pretentious claims to an ultimate theory of everything.”[1] Smith, Levinas, and others believe that the goal of postmodernism is to break down the falsities of modernism and return people to the greatest religious experiences of life which include awe, wonder, and mystery.[2] When focusing on postmodernism it is extremely important to understand the concepts of hermeneutics and appropriation. According to Merold Westphal, hermeneutics or interpretation encompasses the study of how we interpret things and whether or not one can get to some sense of truth and/or understanding of what the author intended.[3] There are a number of key aspects of hermeneutics that impact the interpretation, some of which will be examined later on. In addition, Westphal states that appropriation involves borrowing, specifically the barrowing of traditions, ideas, and culture from another group of people. The great importance to focus on in terms of appropriation in light of hermeneutics is its potentiality for a key impact on the world--application. Appropriation in this sense requires us to ask ourselves what we might learn from the texts at hand and how might these texts change our lives.[4] So what does this all mean in terms of the Church in the 21st Century and applying postmodernism toward better understanding the world from a religious studies perspective? In order to tackle this extensive and difficult question, it is vital to examine some major topics to get a better idea of how postmodernism and hermeneutics can play a role in the study of religion, the Church, and a developing Christian world. Therefore, some of the overlying topics to be addressed include a focus on the impact of embedded traditions, the idea that we are always located somewhere in our attempts of understanding, the notion that different traditions have different conceptions of rationality, understanding how the meaning of reason differs from one community to another, what is God saying to us in terms of the scripture and the Church, what it means to practice the Word, and inspecting what it means that “The Bible tells me so.” Within these topics certain controversial issues will be focused upon to gain a better perception of what it means to do postmodernism from a religious studies lens and in the 21st Century Church. These issues include discussing what the Kingdom of God is and where it is found, women’s rights, specifically ordination, some of the ills of the Church hierarchy, and deconstruction: rebuilding a new working Church. By examining postmodernism in response to the 21st Century Church from a religious studies disciplinary perspective, one will be able to see how hermeneutics and appropriation are vital pieces toward producing a world that is founded on the Gospel message of Jesus; to love God with one’s whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love neighbor as oneself.

Embeddedness in Traditions

To begin with, when attempting to uncover hermeneutics and the Church as a community of believers there must first be a conception of what shapes and colors our interpretation experience. In other words, it is significant to pay attention to what Hans-Georg Gadamar argues, that “we are always located somewhere,” and that we arrived there at a given point in time because of the traditions we have participated in.[5] Before tackling specific issues that plague society and the Church, this idea on traditions and what affects our way of doing hermeneutics must be addressed. Does one take a fundamental and protestant approach toward interpreting a text, specifically the Bible? Or does one take a more Catholic way of doing hermeneutics where one does multiple readings and finds multiple interpretations? With regard to the issues and topics that will be discussed in this paper, the latter will be the approach toward hermeneutics and addressing issues in the Church. In addition, Gadamar wants us to understand that we carry presuppositions into each text and we must be aware of what these prejudices are. This is important because our prejudices shape our readings and understandings of what each text means. The various presuppositions include one’s culture, traditions, language, background, and beliefs. Gadamar further explains the hermeneutic circle which he says is the idea that our prejudices and background affect the way we interpret, and the way we each interpret he argues will create new prejudices.[6] Gadamar says we have been subjects of “thrownness”—that all people are thrown into a tradition and position in the world which we didn’t create and cannot control.[7] The traditions that impact my interpretations include my active membership in the Catholic Church, the English language which I speak, growing up in a small rural white dominant and middle class town, and being a major in religious studies. All of these presuppositions and the American and Catholic tradition have an impact on how I have come to interpret things from a number of lenses to get a few different meanings. Gadamar and Merold Westphal also speak about prejudice against prejudice. In other words, modernity wants us to escape prejudices; however we cannot escape the fact that we see a particular way. Furthermore, Gadamar agrees that prejudices are harmful and unfortunate as they cause war, hatred, and other ills in our world, but prejudices are the only lens that we have in the context in which we live.[8] Therefore, Gadamar and Westphal urge us to work with our prejudices so that we can get positives out of them by first understanding the limitations that exist. Moreover, what Gadamar means by understanding is miracle—sharing in public meaning and discourse. He argues that the communication and shared discussion of us interacting about something—the reading and applying together of something in which we will never completely figure out, is where truth is found. This is why Gadamar’s idea of truth is much different and why it is equivalent to voices to be listened to.[9] The goal in all of this in terms of why it is important to do hermeneutics to do truth—having shared discussions and interacting with a text, is to then to understand why the conversation about the text takes place so that it can be applied where it works.[10] Overall, this stresses the idea of Gadamar that the way to interpret is to play, perform, practice, and have an interaction which will have meaning—an event of being. Gadamar says that truth is a performance which becomes a translation (hermeneutics), which then can lead to appropriation and practicing of the Word.[11] This background information will be helpful for better understanding possibly why I will take certain approaches, have various outlooks or discussions, as well as shaping the concepts of my interpretations, appropriation, and interactions toward various issues in the Church. In essence it will help one realize why an open mind is necessary for deciding where and how one can love in this broken world. Therefore, in belonging to the Catholic Church community, I, unlike many, tend to interpret some things not uniform with the teachings of the Church and thus not always in direct agreement with the Pope. It is not merely to disagree for the sake of disagreeing, but to challenge myself and others to apply that which we read, learn, and understand so that change and productivity take place.

Always Located Somewhere

Furthermore, as Gadamar’s hermeneutics emphasizes, we are constantly located somewhere and have come to this point because of our previous experiences. When speaking about my discipline and how being a religious studies major has located me within the history of religion, it is clear to say that I have been well versed in the diversity of religion. By taking a vast range of courses in the foundations of religions, Theology, Catholic and Christian Studies, Judaism, Asian religions, Native American traditions, as well as others which have encompassed new religious movements and the Occult in American Religion, I have gained new incite and understanding into how people throughout the world view God, faith, and religious tradition. With that said, these courses which have covered a great multitude of diverse material have helped me to understand what my Catholic faith is about and how it is similar and different than the other faith traditions of the world. However, what has hindered me has not necessarily been the material that I have been exposed to, but the interpretations and viewpoints taken be the various professors who have taught each individual course. Due to the fact that each professor has at least a slightly different view and interpretation, this has impacted me consciously at times and subconsciously when it comes to my interpretation of other religions and texts. For example, my professors’ approach toward women’s ordination has shown me a new way of looking at this topic through a different lens. This has led me to believe strongly that women should not be oppressed by the Church, which does not allow them to become priests; an issue to be discussed later on in detail. The traditions of my culture and background, as well as my discipline of study have impacted my interpretations. They have made me realize that we cannot overcome our own prejudices, yet we can strive to put them aside when doing hermeneutics, appropriation, application, and postmodernism. It has helped me also understand that multiple interpretations do exist as different traditions, religions, and concepts of rationality, as well as what is ethical exist in this diverse world.

Different Traditions…Different Concepts of Rationality

When examining the traditions of religious studies and how they have shaped my conceptions of rationality, it is central to realize that although I have been well versed in numerous faith traditions, all of these are viewed and comprehended through a Catholic-Christian lens. My interpretations would probably be much different if I were of a different faith tradition and if I were studying religion at a non-Jesuit school. With regard to the Catholic perspective and the courses of Theology and Christian studies, this tradition has helped inspire me to desire to learn more about the Church, the mission and role of what it means to be a real disciple of Christ, and how one can make a change in the world by coming together with others in the community through love and service. What it means to be rational from my perspective is different than the tradition of one who is Native American. A Native American student could take the same classes and study with the same professor, yet his/her background would color the way he/she views the material and especially with regard to “hot topic issues.” Even further, my conceptions of justice are certainly different than many others who did not study religion because they had not been taught the numerous ways that people from all over the world view justice and what it means to be good and ethical. With that said, I have an advantage in appropriating or borrowing whatever views of justice that I feel are best for my situation and the Church and then can apply these. This is what Paul Ricoeur argues is the most important piece of interpretation. Ricoeur does not believe that we can ever get to what is the truth. Therefore, I must not focus on whether one religious tradition’s outlook on justice is the true way, but instead as Ricoeur argues I must barrow the message after interpreting and apply it where and when it works.[12] The way that I can see that these conceptions have held my field’s perspectives back is only in terms of the Church’s teaching and tradition. By this I mean that there are certain things as a Catholic that I am “obliged to be faithful to.” Yet, due to the diversity, learning, and appropriating from different traditions I have some altering viewpoints and beliefs. For example, the Church teaches that homosexuality is wrong. However, after studying and taking classes on religion and science, I can better understand that being gay is not necessarily a choice but is the way one is born. As a result, I have realized that maybe we should pay less attention to homosexuality as a matter of right or wrong, but focus more on the genuine and real love that two people share together in relationship which is vital to their humanity.

Meaning of Reason: From one Discourse to Another

From a religious studies perspective, when it comes to speaking about the meaning of reason, one should try to perceive the meaning of life. Certain disciplines such as business marketing, the arts, mathematics, and others might not be so concerned with such a philosophical and faith based topic of what the meaning and reason for life is. However, each religious tradition has some kind of stance in terms of life’s meaning and why we are here on this planet. In the Christian context, the meaning of life is to be in constant relationship with God and one another, namely to love God and love one’s fellow people. The concerns of postmodernism directly apply to the meaning of reason of one who studies religions. It is essential in this context for one to view how the world is changing and that we must adapt when and where necessary. The fundamental and overarching Christian perspective that life is about living through love and service of God to advance the Kingdom on earth and then to receive the Kingdom in the world to come remains. However, what is different is the approach taken from one discourse to another. With that said, business and math majors probably are not focusing on how one can “spread the Word,” as someone who takes interest in Catholic Theology may be. Rather, they may try to use their skills and business techniques in a loving and ethical manner in a world that is filled with cheaters and people who take advantage of others to advance themselves. The meaning of reason and doing postmodernism as a religious studies major, specifically when addressing various views of the Church, is vital toward perceiving how hermeneutics and appropriation impact my studies and how my studies impact me doing postmodernism in the 21st Century.

What is God Saying to Us?

In this section the notion of whose community and which interpretation will be further discussed. In other words, knowing what type of community the field of religious studies researches and maintains is important. The type of community that my department studies is based on faith. Although the faith traditions vary immensely, as was discussed before, they are all based on faith traditions. However, let us look at this idea of whose community and which interpretation from the Christian-Catholic tradition. When asking ourselves what God is saying to us, we mainly delve into the Canonical text known as the Bible. The issue of hermeneutics comes to full extent when trying to interpret and understand the meaning of the Bible, what the authors intended, what is right and wrong, and what the sound teaching of the faith community is. These are not easy and based upon ones interpretation, scriptures are used in ways that seem contrary to the Gospel message at times. Although, how can we truly know what this holy text means? The answer I have concluded to give is that we cannot know and are not able to understand fully the truth, yet we can in a sense do/produce the truth. We can continue to constantly do hermeneutics which is necessary and the first step toward appropriation. Then by applying where it works the loving and selfless message of Jesus and all that is beneficial to our specific communities can be lived out to better the people and world in which we live. As Westphal emphasizes, the text—Biblical scripture affects the author and the author in return affects the text; both thus having an effect on the reader.[13] Furthermore, Dilthey and Schleirmacher argue that we should do deregimalization—apply interpretation to all texts, but also all contexts, culture, subjects, and things in life.[14] The dogmatic literature tells Christians on a regular basis many “do’s” and “don’ts,” what traditions we must follow to be faithful to the Church, but most importantly what we can do and how we can love to share the love of the Son with all people and in all things. Certainly, God speaks through the Holy Scripture, yet we can also hear the voice of God in the communication we have with one another, through prayer, and through our service to the “un-loveable.” Overall, it is difficult to say fully and with complete accuracy what God is telling us to do. Gadamar disagrees with the psycholgism stance that through a text we can actually know what was in the author’s mind and therefore know what God is saying. He also argues that we don’t have access to immediate truth either and that hermeneutics will be relative to one’s time and culture.[15] We can attempt to read the Word and try to understand, but we may never truly or fully know. However, by doing what we think is right and what helps the entire community and humanity at large, our hermeneutics can be good and result in positive action. This leads us to the next concept of practicing the Word.

Practice the Word

When taking a postmodern perspective and attempting to make changes to get things accomplished after appropriating, one must literally practice the Word. Previously, we discussed the Holy Scripture—the Bible and texts that are focused upon by Christians. The former is known as the Word of God. The way that the Word is spoken and thus proclaimed is in the action or practicing of the people. Therefore, in this section the focus will be upon the Catholic perspective of what it means to practice the Word. Certainly, a drastic difference in what it means to practice the Word exists between the two Christian traditions of Catholicism and Protestantism. For Catholics, practicing the Word seems to be more about doing hermeneutics to the Holy Scripture and taking the multiple meanings and applying it to life in order to love God and neighbor, as well as to be faithful to the Church. On the other hand, Protestants do hermeneutics and interpret the Word literally. Many Protestants believe there is only one way to interpret scripture and that is taking it for what it literally says. The danger and problem that exists here is that many times an over emphasis is on what it says, verses taking what is loving, good, holy, and beneficial and applying it—appropriating it so that these Christian qualities are lived out and shared with the world. The Catholic perspective of doing hermeneutics when coming in contact with the Word is more about being aware of the context. Therefore, one must take into consideration the historical context in which the text was written, the culture of the time the text was written, and the culture which is reading it today. These steps must be done in order that the text has meaning and value to those people who read it in the present age. Although a large emphasis in this paper is the importance of understanding the significant role that hermeneutics plays in how various faith traditions and communities interpret, as well as individual people’s interpretation of holy texts and the Bible, the focus here is on the importance of appropriation. According to John Milbank, a leader in Postmodern Critical Augustinianism, even postmodernism cannot prove that no single system of truth or religion is true. Milbank argues that we cannot know why a text such as the Bible was written or why God did what He did, but we can know what we will do based on what we read and how we interpret the text.[16] Therefore, what Milbank says is the most vital piece of hermeneutical appropriation is turning what we read into action. With this line of thought, does it really matter if what we are reading is true? Or, should we be concerned with issuing into our communities and Church that which is beneficial, that which works, and that which helps create a better world through the mystery of love? Moreover, Milbank wants to end the modern predicament of theology and wants us to be neo-modern not postmodern. The importance of Milbank in terms of practicing the Word is just that, “doing.”[17] Faith communities, whether Jewish, tribal African, Hindu, Protestant, or Catholic for that matter need to emphasize the “doing”— the practicing what is good and what the community stands for. The problem that exists when studying the discipline of religious studies is the lack of consistency with what is taught and that which is done—practiced. Much of this has to do with the way that the holy text is interpreted. For example, fundamentalist Muslims kill in the name of Allah and in the name of Jihad, however the Qu’ran, their holy text, does not permit the killing of anyone unless one’s faith is being directly attacked and the community is being threatened. The Qu’ran says, “Fight in the way of God those who fight you” (2:190). Another chapter goes even further to say that “permission (for warfare) is given to those who have been attacked and definitely wronged” (Qu’ran 22:38-39). With that said, one can see how hermeneutics can be done and negative appropriation and application can occur to attempt to justify terrorist activities by Muslims who claim to be killing in the name of their religion. Christ told his disciples and followers to do things through love, brotherly kindness, and goodness. Therefore, by practicing the Word, we as followers of the Good News must be more open to all rights for all people and not saying that we love God and our neighbor, but must actually be doing it. Living out and practicing the Word is not about doing it selectively, but appropriating and acting out that which is loving without context—doing the impossible known as mad generosity every day.[18]

The WAY and the Working Church

Postmodernism and the act of doing hermeneutics with regard to Gadamar’s ideology tells us we are located somewhere being embedded in our particular traditions. One might go a step further to consider and embrace the idea that absolute truth does not exist; not even in Christianity can we fully know and this is why a great faith is required for the religious to believe. John D. Caputo suggests that there is no single way—The Way, but a way exists to get toward reaching real love. In other words, Christianity is a way and there are other ways, yet people do not really know for sure what the way is. According to Caputo and 1 Peter 2:21, a way to reach fulfillment and the Kingdom for Christians is by following in Jesus’ steps, however the problem that remains is that Christians are failing to do so.[19] As Christians we are called to make the Kingdom present on earth by our actions and love as real disciples of what it means to be Christians—imitators of Christ by living out faith unconditionally. Again this is impossible, yet it can be a plateau to work towards. The Way is about being on a path that is ever changing and one where he/she is never at home.[20] In terms of hermeneutics it is about interpreting and reinterpreting, reading and re-reading, appropriating and re-appropriating based on the evolving world, times, and cultures in which we live. The Way is about constantly moving from one idea or action, from one work of love to the next. Christians are called to be on the move constantly, this being a Way to apply the scripture and Gospel Message when it works and where it works best in the 21st Century.[21]

So what does this mean in terms of the Church today? Well, the Postmodern Church calls for a working community—the working Church. John McNamee once said, “I have no time for Heaven.”[22] What it seems that this postmodern and practicing man of the Word meant was that we must destroy the comfortable idea of heaven. Instead of having a fluffy view, we must grasp the idea that heaven is in a sense a betrayal of any real task on earth. What McNamee wants his audience and fellow Christians to take into account is that we cannot get things done and change the world—bring about the Kingdom on earth and love God and neighbor, if we are spending our time thinking too much about something we have no control over. McNamee goes even further by stating that this life is “a diary of the gift, of a life of unconditional service without payoff or guaranteed return.”[23] He explains that the Kingdom of God is at work in the here and now, as it is present with the people who are doing the impossible—mad love. For example it is found in those who reach out to the “Other” in the streets of a city and hood like Philadelphia, where the mysterious love of God is present. This is what McNamee calls the working Church, that which carries out the Gospel and mission of Jesus on a regular basis to serve the people in society who are the messiness, the poor, and the horrors of the inner city. This is where a response and real discipleship by the Christian who goes out and appropriates, lives, practices, and acts “in his (Jesus’) steps every day” takes place.[24] This working Church requires people who are dedicated and willing to change, as a metanoia—change of heart must occur. In order for there to be a working Church there must be people committed and willing to promote the Kingdom at all costs. Like Oscar Romero, Martin Luther King, Mother Theresa, and others who were willing to deal with the repercussions of real Christianity—Christ-like love, members of the working Church must also be willing to be persecuted and die for what is right to bring justice, peace, righteousness, and most of all love to a failing world.[25] This is what postmodern Christianity is about, a working Church in a time where selfishness, individuality, and a non response by our culture dominates.

The Bible Tells Me So

In this section it is time to delve into some current issues and apply postmodernism to these “hot-topic” and controversial subjects. Yes, often we hear that one makes the claim that the Bible tells me to do this or that. However, it seems to me that the Bible may be saying something different than what we are reading. As we have learned, our presuppositions, background, and context are all things that contribute to our hermeneutical approach. Not to mention one’s faith tradition plays a large role in this process of interpretation. Therefore, let us take a step back from trying to get toward “right” or “true” interpretation, as we have heard the likes of Gadamar and Milbank believe this is not possible and time should not be wasted in such a manner. Instead, it is important to re-emphasize the right practice of the Word and appropriating it. If we simply listen to what our faith traditions say, stressing the word tradition in that it can change, we often follow blindly and do not really think about what is best for our world. Take the issue of homosexuality or the unwillingness of the Church to ordain women, these two things are taught by the institution to be wrong, yet are they? Where is the harm in a human relationship where two people genuinely love one another and contribute toward each other’s wholeness, happiness, and fulfillment? Where is the harm in a woman becoming a priest to fulfill her calling and desire to love God and neighbor by proclaiming the Gospel, leading her parishioners, and celebrating the sacraments? After all, where not all people made in the image and likeness of God? (Genesis 1:27). The point here is clear that postmodernism is a good thing in working to get back to what Christ intended the Church to be, and how it seems that our Lord would want his people to love in the world.

Furthermore, to better understand how to appropriate and live out the Gospel message; to love God with one’s whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love neighbor as one loves self, it is necessary to do postmodernism. In other words, it is vital to look at significant issues in the Church, such as what the Kingdom of God is and where it can be found. The postmodern Church is about forming people to be agents of love who counter-act modernity and individuality to promote justice and community as believers in Christ. This Church is a community that works together and which endorses the elements found in 1 Corinthians 3, that “Faith, hope, love remain, these three. But the greatest of these is Love.” Through love evil can be conquered, all people can gain human rights, and the Gospel can be lived out genuinely. What must be strived for in the 21st Century Church from a religious studies perspective is the Pure Messianic. The Pure Messianic encompasses the notion of what it means to practice the Word and most importantly appropriate that Word to live out love and promote the best for all people.[26] What the community is striving to get at and what they are hoping for will never be able to be achieved fully. However, it is a model for how to live as a Christian, but must be recognized that it is actually impossible to have the same white hot love of Christ because our humanity gets in the way at times.[27] The Kingdom is found in this radical attempt to love the “un-loveable” through the four incognitos of Justice (unconditioned), The Gift—mad generosity, Forgiveness—radical forgiveness with real love and without “why,” and Hospitality—welcoming the “Other.”[28] At this time it is appropriate to deconstruct the Church of today. One might ask what deconstruction means. A deconstruction on love and rebuilding the Church into the working Church is about “follow in his (Jesus) steps” and striding to love the way he loved. Derrida said that, “Deconstruction does not take a single step without love, it follows loves’ call. What does it love? It loves the impossible, the undeconstructible, what is coming, the event. Deconstruction is affirmation of the impossible.”[29] In other words, deconstruction is about the attempt to make the impossible possible—desiring for more than what can physically take place amongst the power of human beings. This is how the Kingdom can be brought about as it is through human effort and the grace of God which come together as a symphony to work harmoniously in a broken world which is in need of Christ’s unconditional love.

Deconstruction on Ordination and Church Hierarchy

When attempting to live out the Gospel message and the love of Christ in the 21st Century, one can come to stumbling blocks that get in the way of a just and fair society, let alone a just Church. The Catholic Church continues to restrict the rights of women, specifically suppressing them by not allowing women to be ordained. Where is the harm and the ill will in ordaining women to the formal role of ministry and the sacraments, specifically to the priesthood? The Catholic Church holds its basis in reserving the right of Ordination exclusively to men based on tradition and the way it interprets scripture regarding Jesus’ ministry. Before beginning, it is valid to say that hermeneutics—interpretation of scripture cannot be done to justify everything. However, it is fair to notify that the same scripture can be interpreted in number of ways resulting in different meanings. Therefore, the Church holds its position due to its interpretation of scripture, the universal tradition of the patriarchal/hierarchal Church, the Church’s “divine” constitution, and the Pope’s statement found in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis. Pope John Paul II stated, “I declare the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful.”[30] The Church argues that through history priestly ordination has been reserved to men from the time of Christ. The Institutional Church is keeping this tradition which did have a context in an age where women were not educated and did not hold positions of power. Postmodernism and deconstruction rips this notion to pieces when speaking from a historical context and with regard to tradition. However, nowadays women are in prime positions of power and are highly educated, the subsequent argument for this reasoning by the Church made mute. The largest issue is in a sense an issue of hermeneutics, as the Church claims that an ontological change happens when one is ordained. This means that the person becomes substantially different.[31] By claiming that ordination makes clerics ontologically different than laity a vast separation occurs which does not unify the members of the body of Christ, but does just the opposite. The power hungry Church must lay down its hierarchical and patriarchal strongholds over women and the laity so that the Christian community can truly be Christian and live out what it means to be Church—one in Jesus Christ. What would Jesus deconstruct? From a postmodernist perspective doing hermeneutics and appropriation in this situation, Jesus would rip down the way that this institutional structure is composed and how it is keeping women from doing sacramental ministry. Jesus would not agree with the Church which is restricting people based on gender from doing something that is mean to be so beautiful and with great love for God in order to express one’s love and support of the community of believers. Caputo says that the non ordained women are essentially the real Church who live out what it means to be authentically Christ-like. He argues that women do so by doing ministry and not constraining/monopolizing it nor limiting it to certain people, but instead doing it for the least of Christ’s Church.[32] Undoubtedly, the Church should embrace with open arms, with the arms of Jesus stretched out on the Cross, the discipleship of equals of men and women who are both called to proclaim the Kingdom through ministry as laity and as priests through the sacraments.[33] The Church which claims to be catholic—universal and says that it promotes unity in diversity can so beautifully support these pillars, as well as show the world what it means to break down barriers of sexuality, injustice, and patriarchy by granting the right of ordination to women. Specifically, the Church must allow women to become priests. Is not the Church of Christ the Ekklesia, the community called together out of sin on the road to fulfillment as a communion of Love? What better way to promote this Kingdom of equality by allowing women to do something so good and so loving as they could help the Church in its ministry by reaching the multitudes if they were permitted to become Catholic priests.

Conclusion

Loving God with one’s whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, and loving one’s neighbor as self is not easy. Therefore, it takes a great deal of work, determination, and love to lead a life that follows in the footsteps of Christ. With regard to appropriating and doing hermeneutics so that we can apply what works to contribute to the working postmodern Church, it is appropriate to say that the Bible in and of itself does not mean anything. At first glance this statement seems to be heretical, however what Gadamar and others mean is that a text such as the Bible has meaning, beauty richness, and love only when interacted with and live out. What holds truth is the people interacting and “dancing” with the Gospel message in order to live out the message of faith, hope, and love that Christ proclaimed to the world. The word catholic means universal. If the Church is really to be universal and genuinely attempting to stride toward bringing all people to fulfillment it must really promote a complex unity in diversity. It is the diversity of something that belongs to its unity, as there is a oneness in the multiplicity. Going further, the Church—postmodern Church in the 21st century works toward getting back to the universality of the community throughout the world and across cultures. We can have a distinct Christian view but this requires us to have a closed view of other cultures which are constantly moving around us.[34] In order to transform this approach, the Church must fully embrace the saying “Extra Ecclesia Nullum Sallus”—Outside the Church there is no Salvation. What this means is that the Church must embrace that people can come to fulfillment and an experience of the Son in their own culture and context, so long as they embrace the qualities of the Son and the community which are beauty, goodness, kindness, and love. Wherever the Son is present and whenever people have an experience of love, they experience God.[35] Therefore, what this means in terms of postmodernism and doing hermeneutics and applying—practicing the Word, for one who is a religious studies major is extensive and not easy. Yet, as a person who is attempting to contribute and be part of McNamee’s working Church, striving to dance with the Gospel message of Jesus as Gadamar urges us to do, and to apply this discourse with full knowledge that we will always be somewhere embedded in a particular tradition, one can attempt to do the impossible of madly loving.

An Ecumenical movement described by Westphal is important for unity to take place. Westphal says that in order for there to be unity within diversity/among diverse groups of people discourse and dialogue must take place.[36] Westphal goes even further in explaining that we, as members of the Church and/or community which needs ongoing conversation, must take a serious look at three key questions: 1) Who or what is talking to us—Who speaks with Authority?, 2) Are we as members listening—Who listens?, and 3) Do those who listen do what the Authoritative speaker is saying and if so does it pay off?[37] As a religious studies major and member of the Church it is quite easy to see the importance of such questions on dialogue. Certainly, without communication no right or beneficial action can take place to improve the community. However, as we have seen with regard to women’s ordination and the stance the Church takes with this issue, not always is the discourse that comes out of the speaker of authority something helpful or beneficial for the entire community. Therefore, Westphal urges us to distinguish between theory, what is said and what is right or meaningful and whether or not the theoretical is practiced and/or should be practiced. Ultimately, within the Church it comes down to are we hearing what the Bible is telling us, what the Church—Body of Christ is telling us, and what Jesus is telling us? Then, after we listen, Westphal and postmodernism are essentially concerned that we put what we hear that is applicable, good, and loving to promote the Kingdom in the greatest way we possibly can on a regular basis.[38] As a religious studies major it is important to recognize that in addition to dialogue and action within the Church, there also must be dialogue and action between different religions, cultures, and traditions for increased tolerance, acceptance, and peace to occur throughout the world. With that being said, whether one is Catholic or Protestant, Hindu or Buddhist, African speaking or English, male or female, we must all realize that we can never escape our tradition of seeing, as this takes us away from truth and back toward the truth in the end. In essence our tradition is the only truth that we can really have.[39] The words of E.D. Hirsch express the value of applying our interpretation and interacting with the text as he states, “A word sequence means nothing in particular until somebody either means something by it or understands something from it.”[40] With regard to living out the message of love professed by Jesus Christ in the Gospels, one who desires to build up the Church and be a disciple in the 21st Century must first read, then interpret—do hermeneutics, next appropriate, and finally and most importantly interact and apply what was read to practice the Word. By doing this the genuine love of the Son will be able to be spread and shared with others in a way that promotes real justice, authentic hospitality, genuine forgiveness, and The Gift—mad love to make the Kingdom present on earth. That is what it means to do postmodernism from a religious studies perspective.



[1]Smith, James K.A. Who’s Afraid of Postmodernism? Taking Derrida, Lyotard, and Foucault to Church. Baker Academic, 2006. 62.

[2]Smith 49-50.

[3]Westphal, Merold. Whose Community? Which Interpretation? Philosophical Hermeneutics for the Church. Baker Academic, 2009. 14-15.

[4] Westphal 61.

[5] Westphal 141.

[6] Westphal 14-15.

[7] Westphal 70.

[8] Westphal 77.

[9]Westphal 81-82, 89.

[10]Westphal 84.

[11]Westphal 98.

[12] Westphal 62-63.

[13]Westphal 30.

[14] Westphal 26-27.

[15]Westphal 33-34.

[16]Ward, Graham. The Postmodern God: A Theological Reader. ed. Wiley-Blackwell, 1998. 265.

[17]Ward 265.

[18]Caputo, John D. What Would Jesus Deconstruct? The Good News of Postmodernism for the Church. Baker Academic, 2007. 78.

[19]Caputo 41.

[20] Caputo 35.

[21]Ward 135.

[22]Caputo 125.

[23]Caputo 127.

[24] Caputo 127.

[25]Caputo 93-97.

[26] Caputo 60.

[27] Caputo 100.

[28] Caputo 62-80.

[29]Caputo 78.

[30] Paul II. “Apostolic Letter: Ordinatio Sacerdotalis of John Paul II to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on Reserving Priestly Ordination to Men Alone.” 1.

[31]Macy, Gary. The Hidden History of Women’s Ordination: Female Clergy in the Medieval West. Oxford: University Press, 2008.

[32] Caputo 128.

[33] Caputo 106.

[34]Westphal 98.

[35] Paul VI. “Lumen Gentium: Dogmatic Constitution on the Church.” November 21, 1964. Chapter 3.

[36]Westphal 135.

[37]Westphal 135.

[38]Westphal 146.

[39]Westphal 141.

[40]Westphal 53.