11
evaluative judgments with Taylor's suppositions?
48
Taylor's deconstructive a/theological
perspectives deny our most basic commonsense notions for living our lives.
49
Conclusion
We may ask ourselves: "Why does Taylor hold such views?" Is he purposely
using exaggeration to make a point? It is difficult to say for sure. Perhaps if it were
possible to summarize a major concern which emerges from Taylor's theological
positions, it would come from no better than Taylor himself when he offers the
following:
The deconstruction of the Western theological network discloses the recurrent
effort of human beings to achieve a position of domination. This struggle
appears to grow out of the conviction that mastery results from the ability to
secure presence and establish identity by overcoming absence and repressing
difference. The battle for mastery, however, is always self-defeating.
50
It is proper for us to address these postmodern concerns, but it cannot be done by
Taylor's a/theological nihilism. After evaluating Taylor's views and examining critiques
of his approach from a variety of sources, from our perspective we see absolutely no
compelling reason to abandon the fundamental truths so basic to evangelical
Christianity. Instead, we see compelling reasons to hold dear to these truths which not
only appeal to the concerns of man as an entire person -- emotionally and historically,
but also to common principles of logic which form the basis of everyday conversation
and human development.
Nevertheless, I believe Kevin Vanhoozer provides an excellent caution to those
who keep the Scripture close to their heart for faith and practice as God's word:
Readers who take pride in their readings seek to "master" the text and so risk
elevating their commentary over the text in importance. Pride neglects the voice
of the other in favor of its own. It may therefore be the preeminent temptation of
the fundamentalist, insofar as he or she craves certainty.
51
May the Truth always overshadow our pride, and may our quest for certainty never be a
substitute for the Truth.
48
Erickson, The Word Became Flesh, pp. 327-328ff.
49
These may be what postmodern theologian David Ray Griffin calls, "hard-core commonsense notions."
See
Griffin, "Postmodern Theology and A/theology,"p. 35, 36: There are four "hard-core commonsense notions"
which Griffin claims are common to all persons which cannot be denied. These are: 1) the freedom of power of
self-determination; 2) the fact that an actual world exists independently of one's perception of it; 3) one's
interpretative ideas are true if they correspond with that independent existing world (correspondence theory of
truth) and, 4) a distinction is possible, for some events, between what actually happened and what could have
happened for either better or worse.
50
Taylor, Erring, p. 15.
51
Vanhoozer, Is There a Meaning in this Text?, p. 463.