Post-what?

post- (prefix): after in time or order

“Postmodern” is a neat word, in that it has an actual meaning in a few specific contexts (architecture, philosophy), but otherwise it just describes something that you like, or maybe that you don't like, depending on who you are. But even if the usage signifies little, the intent of the word is usually plain: something new, something that comes after what is modern.

The word “postliberal” is even less problematic. It signifies a willingness to let go of or strongly modify the major philosophical concepts of Enlightenment liberalism, such as universal reason and natural rights, or, in the theological sense, to move past the liberal theology. Liberalism, generally, is more defined than modernism, and so we have a better meaning. If you tell me that a theologian is postliberal, I will have a very good idea of what you mean.

But now I am perturbed to find that some theologians are trying to use the word “postconservative”:

“Postconservatives ‘try to move beyond the limitations of conservative theology,’ Olson writes, ‘without rejecting everything about it.’ They still center theology on the Bible, conversion, the Cross, and transformation. But whereas conservatives show ‘slavish adherence’ to an ‘incorrigible’ tradition, postconservative evangelicals say they defer to tradition and orthodox doctrine critically and constructively.”

Just because conservative theologians have banded together doesn't mean that the word conservative should signify a particular set of positions. Perhaps “postorthodox” is the word they are seeking, but are afraid to use. If they aren't trying to move beyond orthodoxy, then they should come up with a better word to positively denote their theologies.

Here's the real problem with “conservative” and “postconserative”: what the authors actually mean by the former is “traditionalist,” and what they mean by the latter is “conservative, properly understood.” Conservatism conserves a tradition in the face of change, and is thus necessarily self-conscious. This has been said better elsewhere (see the quotation at the top of the linked page).

This is all further evidence that, for many people, the prefix “post-” means the same thing as the word “cool.”

(Mountain Goats week will continue tonight.)