Authentic Theology in a Postmodern World

by Marcus on August 9, 2007

A few weeks ago, I joined Mary DeMuth’s Authentic Parenting blog tour. I’ve posted about the book’s powerful stories and its practical tips. I even posted a quick “hard sell” post just to see what would happen. (You can read more about Mary’s book on her site RelevantBlog.)

Today I want to think about what the book does theologically.

When the blog tour first started, we were surprised to see how nervous the word “postmodern” makes some people. Not to worry, Mary is not some postmodern evangelist preaching relativism.

She is smart and reasonable and solidly Christian. And she isn’t afraid to ask, How do we teach our kids the concept of Truth in a postmodern world?

The title of the book after all isn’t Postmodern Parenting. It’s Authentic Parenting. Granted, authenticity is a postmodern value, but Mary even concedes that to her reader.

So how can I be so certain she has solid theology? I’m not going to pretend I align myself with every nuance of Mary’s scriptural interpretation. (I can’t even agree with myself about what some passages mean!) But she demonstrates the value of Scripture by using it so often and so well.

You’ll find no proof texting here. Mary quotes long passages and often interprets them narratively. For example, she unpacks Matthew 11:28-30 in a way that does much more than merely discuss meaning. Mary models for the reader a six-page narrative interaction with the text! In a publishing world filled with Bible studies that provide two or three lines of space for response, Mary’s meditations on each phrase demonstrate what it looks like when absolute truth becomes personal.

And these commentary sections are not too academic. They read easily and naturally.

Here are some other folks writing about Mary’s book this week:

Almost Hypergraphic
AskMeanMom.com
Audra Marie
Blogging for Writers
Camy’s Loft Coming Home
Edgewise
FreshBrewedWriter
Heather in Madrid
Lexical Light
Mother Inferior
Pattie’s Place
Portrait of a Writer…Interrupted
Seedlings in Stone
Spaghettipie
Spoiled for the Ordinary
They Hang Like Paper Lanterns
Traveling Together
Writer…Interrupted

Tagged as: blog-tour, book, Christian, parenting, theology, writing

  • I'm definitely going to have to purchase a copy of this book for my collection!

    Just out of blatant curiosity - just how do you define postmodern? I'm never quite sure what is meant by the term and it is so widely used that it seems to crop up in teh most unlikely places.
  • Postmodern is anything that comes after modernism. : )
    That's only sort of a joke.

    Generally, postmoderns explore the influence that your personal perspective has on your experience of the truth. Some postmodern go so far as to say there is no truth outside your own perspective. Others (like myself) say that truth is just more complicated than my little perspective. That does not mean there are no absolute truths, though.

    There is only one name given by which men can be saved, for example. I'm sticking to that.

    In practice, postmodernism gave rise to multi-culturalism. The emphasis on perspective brought renewed interest in perspectives that were historically snubbed--african american writing, some women's writing, native american, asian american, mexican american and hispanic, you get the idea.

    There are some other interesting subsets--like post-colonialism, deconstructionism, queer theory, etc.
  • Thanks, Marcus, for your kind words. I joke that I can't be deconstructionist or relativistic because I'm married to a Dallas (Theological Seminary) grad!

    I'm passionate about Jesus. I'm passionate about Scripture. I love to exegete its meaning. Thank for highlighting that part of the book.
  • You are welcome, Mary! Your book is really good. Believe me, I wouldn't be posting about it in these ways if I didn't like it.

    I'm definitely not a deconstructionist or a relativist! (I don't think I gave that impression, but just in case.)

    I look forward to meeting up with you in Dallas soon for ACFW.
blog comments powered by Disqus

Previous post: Attention Writers: An Hour a Day Brings the Traffic Your Way

Next post: Finding Faith in Secular Scifi