big shouts oh yeah

Yay...thanks Nathan..big shout out to you (i think we have met or at least seen each oter from across the room)...so, heres what nathan wrote on his blog. its worth reading, not cos he says nice things about me (although *giggles* bashfully) but cos it makes interesting reading...go on...read it ALL

Wrestling With Foucault (2 Shout-Outs)
In this post I'd like to big-up two people. The first is Becci Brown. I came across her blog through Dave Bish's site and it's really really good. Apologies for how wierd this is since we've never been properly introduced but I really respect how she grapples with postmodern theory and her faith (as well as the rest of her life), something that can be very hard to do. My Drama degree was basically 'Postmodernism In Practise' so I can vouch for how tough it can be at times, but how worthwhile. In her blog yesterday, she said this, which really got me thinking:

"What would a conversation between the Apostle Paul and Foucault look like? Apparantly Paul was great at Philosophy, or so Acts tells us. What would he have said? How would he have argued with him? Where would he have started? I reckon Paul would have finally socked him with the gospel, then shook the sand off his feet and walked on."

Good question! How should we respond to the theories of Michel Foucault? I'm sure some of you are thinking, "Who even IS Michel Foucault?!" He was a twentieth century university professor who came up with numerous theories, which now consist a wider philosophy of postmodernism (although that term came later and some of his work could arguably be seen as post-structuralist due it's focus on the implicit meaning of words, etc.). Anyway, Foucault said that we cannot know the author of a text therefore we cannot know exactly what they intended so we must interpret everything. He extends this by saying that all things are texts and so we can (and should) interpret everything as we wish without fear of consequences. He said that attempts to stamp authorship were claims of ownership and therefore negative. He has some very interesting thoughts on knowledge as a will to power.

This obviously affects Christians a lot. In terms of the Bible, he's saying we can't know what it means so we should use it however we want for our own ends. Also on a wider scale he says that even if there was a God, we can't know Him or His thoughts and that nothing in the world has a meaning behind it. Any attempt to give something a meaning is an attempt to control it and other people. Hmmm. Tricky stuff. Now can you see why I applaud Becci for wrestling with this stuff rather than ignoring it?!

I too have an overactive imagination and like to picture this intellectual scrap between Paul and Michel. I can see Foucault doing most of the talking but Paul cutting him down with a few select words. However, Paul was too loving to chop a person down in the same way that he chops arguments. I reckon he'd have gently but firmly addressed Foucault's lifestyle. He lived a life of outrageous excess, being more sexually active and experimental than your average uni professor, having homosexual affairs with many different partners (including other philosophers he vehemently disagreed with), ending up in prison for paedophilia and dying of AIDS. Paul may well have asked, "Are you really free without authority? Can you really live without consequences? Is there really no connection between an author and his work?"

When I first read Foucault, it angered me how he set out to (unsuccessfully) pull the rug out from under Christianity, but now my heart goes out to the guy. He was a product of his own thinking: seriously messed up. God is so loving in the way He gives us guidelines on how to live. They really are for our benefit. Without His authority we self-destruct. Without knowing Him, we are lost. Becci goes on to say:


"Now a showdown between God and Foucault would be very cool to watch. In fact, I guess it's already happened. I doubt Foucault said very much... My imagination serves as a warning to me. One day we will all face God."

It's sobering to think that every one of us will end up in front of our Maker. No clever little arguments will do. When God stands before you, you try explaining that away with talk of epistimes or discourses of power. Reality is undeniable and one day the Author of all things will show that there IS meaning and He IS knowable and it all comes down to how you respond to Jesus; the Author making Himself known.

Which is why my second shout-out goes to Marcus Honeysett. His book 'Meltdown' was like a textbook during my degree! He clearly, sensibly and biblically discusses postmodern theory so that the Christian can know where they stand. I bet it'd be good for a non-Christian who fancies seeing the other side of the fence too. Even if you've never thought about these things before, our culture is saturated by postmodern thinking. Ever heard anyone say, "Well, that's true for you but..."? Then you need this book! At the end of the day, how you respond to Derrida, Baudrillard and Foucault really can affect how you respond to Jesus so use your brains and think it through.

Postmodernism is cool, cutting edge and subversive, but why not try something really revolutionary: the Truth.