Chun, Myung-soo.  “A Study on Religious Culture in the Postmodern Society: A Critical Approach to the Influene and Response of Postmodernism.” Journal of New Religions 16 (Oct. 2006): 281-311. 

Abstract

This paper aims at studying the influence of postmodernism to religions and their reactions, and having a view of their future. Though it is true that the interests in postmodernism recently appear to have been weakened comparing to 1990’s, there seems to be little disagreement in that the idea is certain to be still a useful theoretical framework to explain the modern society and to predict the future of religion.

The response of Christianity to postmodernism exemplified in this essay as the representative of the major existing religions, has been extremely polarized as a positive endorsement and as a negative reaction. However, both extremes remain basically the same in showing the only partial changes outside to the religious doctrine than its intrinsic nature. On the other hand, New Age Movement born by influence of postmodernism, started its life as an alternative religion, but it is now likely to make gradual changes taking advantages of the currents of the popular culture.

This means that the relation between postmodernism and religion could not be so simple, and it is the proper nature of religion not to be apt to show radical transformation. What is of significance, however, is that the very diverse patterns of influence and response are able to be a precious clue to reexamine the identity of religion, since despite its rigid nature, postmodernism left something like overcoming a closeness, a community-based idea toward harmony, not difference between ‘myself’ and ‘the others’ to the existing religions as well as new religious movement.