#modernism

What is to be gained if we are so intent in reaching out to the unchurched that we then unchurch the reached? ↗

— David F. Wells

#church #post-modernism #courage

An open mind, in questions that are not ultimate, is useful. But an open mind about the ultimate foundations either of Theoretical or of Practical Reason is idiocy. If a man's mind is open on these things, let his mouth at least be shut. He can say nothing to the purpose. Outside the Tao there is no ground for criticizing either the Tao or anything else. ↗

— C.S. Lewis

#culture #education #ethics #foundations #justice

Worship, then, needs to be characterized by hospitality; it needs to be inviting. But at the same time, it should be inviting seekers into the church and its unique story and language. Worship should be an occasion of cross-cultural hospitality. Consider an analogy: when I travel to France, I hope to be made to feel welcome. However, I don't expect my French hosts to become Americans in order to make me feel at home. I don't expect them to start speaking English, ordering pizza, talking about the New York Yankees, and so on. Indeed, if I wanted that, I would have just stayed home! Instead, what I'm hoping for is to be welcomed into their unique French culture; that's why I've come to France in the first place. And I know that this will take some work on my part. I'm expecting things to be different; indeed, I'm looking for just this difference. So also, I think, with hospitable worship: seekers are looking for something our culture can't provide. Many don't want a religious version of what they can already get at the mall. And this is especially true of postmodern or Gen X seekers: they are looking for elements of transcendence and challenge that MTV could never give them. Rather than an MTVized version of the gospel, they are searching for the mysterious practices of the ancient gospel. ↗

— James K.A. Smith

#church #gospel #liturgy #mtv #postmodernism

The dominant theories of elite art and criticism in the 20th century grew out of a militant denial of human nature. One legacy is ugly, baffling, and insulting art. The other is pretentious and unintelligible scholarship. And they’re surprised that people are staying away in droves? ↗

— Steven Pinker

#post-modernism #postmodernism #art

…[I]t is my view that the story of Modernism must be written as a story of contradictions, for Modernism is in itself, on its most fundamental level, deeply contradictory. Every attempt to present it as simple, homo-genous and unified is to fabricate a lie. ↗

— Jeff Werner

#modernism #sweden #art

The Postmodernists' tyranny wears people down by boredom and semi-literate prose. ↗

— Christopher Hitchens

#literature #postmodernism #humor

Yes, I do believe in something. I believe in being warm-hearted. I believe especially in being warm-hearted in love, in fucking with a warm heart. I believe if men could fuck with warm hearts, and the women take it warm-heartedly, everything would come all right. It's all this cold-hearted fucking that is death and idiocy. ↗

— D.H. Lawrence

#love #modernism #sex #death

Because of the need to remove all modernism, we stayed in the middle of nowhere all day long, living out of tents. It was cold. It definitely set the scene. ↗

— Skeet Ulrich

#because #cold #day #definitely #living

A "modern" man has nothing to add to modernism, if only because he has nothing to oppose it with. The well-adapted drop off the dead limb of time like lice. ↗

— Elias Canetti

#because #dead #drop #lice #like

The arts generally have had to recognize Modernism - how should poetry escape? ↗

— John C. Ransom

#escape #generally #had #how #modernism