Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Interesting Quote

I read an interesting quote in a book by Douglas Groothuis entitled "Truth Decay; Defending Christianity Against the Challenges of Postmodernism."

He was quoting a whole bunch of contemporary modernism-minded scientists and philosophers who were expressing their disgust with the false premises of postmodernism. This section was entirely helpful for me, as I did not realize that Christianity is not the only (and maybe not even the main) enemy of radical postmodern thinking.

Anyway, he ended the section with a helpful reminder that, and I quote, "The enemies of our enemies are not always our friends." He was here saying that modernists are just as off, in many ways, as postmodernists--we can agree with them when they say right things against postmodern speculation, but we must not mistake them for being on our side. After all, modernism poses just as many difficulties for Christianity as does postmodernism (contrary to popular thought).

Ok, so I'm long winded. The whole purpose of this post was to share with you the quote, "the enemies of our enemies are not always our friends." What a brilliant quote.

Also, this Groothuis is a good writer--he has a lot of good things to say. I recommend this book to anyone who is up for thick, yet rich, reading. I recommend all of you to make attempts at understanding our culture. It helps in speaking to people where they are at. I have found that my knowledge of the fabric of our culture has helped me in evangelism to know what people are thinking without them telling me. It has helped me to bring up aspects of Christianity that interest them. It has helped me know what sort of questions probe their interest and curiosity.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

One example that would give feet to that quote: As an Iowa Hawkeyes football fan, I view the Iowa State Cyclones as an enemy. Iowa States enemy is USC, but just because Iowa and USC have a common enemy, they are not united!

Another example would be regarding the extremes of the Emergent Church. It is fair to say that Brian McClaren is an enemy of the orthodox faith. One of McClaren's enemies would be the Roman Catholic Church. But, in terms of the fundamental and critical differneces between those of sola fide and Rome yet find no unity even with a common enemy.

Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D. said...

Hello:

My google "search agent" found your post for me. I'm glad you found my comments edifying. Of course, "the enemies of our enemies are not always our friends," is not original with me, but I cannot give an original quote. I think I read Richard John Neuhaus write this years ago.

Please visit my blog some time: www.theconstructivecurmudgeon.blogspot.com.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Doug Groothuis