Five Precepts of the Modern Mind

While doing my devotion this morning, I stumbled with an interesting section in the book Thinking. Loving. Doing. A Call to Glorify God with Heart and Mind. I am now on the 2nd chapter. I am reading the article written by R. Albert Mohler Jr., The Way the World Thinks: Meeting the Natural Mind in the Mirror and in the Marketplace. I just want to share that interesting section on pages 61 to 62. Here is its excerpt:

In order to understand better the modern mind, consider these five precepts. First, the modern mind is characterized by postmodern anti-realism. There are people in American society who are not sure that what we are talking about is even real. They argue that the terms of morality—statements about what is right and wrong—are merely a language game.

The second precept is moral relativism. Although most of the people we know do not actually hold to anti-realism, it has filtered down into the culture as moral relativism. Most unregenerate Americans today are selective moral relativists. A recent study suggested that the moral issue on which there has been the greatest change in America over the last forty years is premarital sex. In 1970, 80 percent of Americans believed that premarital sex was wrong. In 2010, however, only 20 percent believe it is wrong. What accounts for this radical shift in moral belief? One reason for the shift is the abandonment of a worldview that believes in the existence of right and wrong.

Third, there is therapeutic universalism. In our day, the natural mind has adopted a worldview that espouses the motto, “You are either in therapy, or you are in denial.” The idea is that our basic problems will be solved by therapy.

The fourth precept is radical pluralism. In one sense, pluralism is just a fact —there are people with a plurality of worldviews around us. Pluralism is also an ideology, however, suggesting that there is no one worldview that can be correct.

The fifth precept is managerial pragmatism. We live in the midst of people who genuinely believe that most problems can be managed. The goal here is not to solve problems so much as to manage them through procedural democracy.

Source: Piper, John & David Mathis. General Editors. 2011 Thinking. Loving. Doing. A Call to Glorify God with Heart and Mind. Illinois: Crossway.