How the Philosophy of Jacques Derrida Is Hurting Christian Dialogue

Philosophy and ideas often sneak their way into Christian dialogue and the worldview of believers. In the early centuries of the church, theologians would bring in ideas from Greek philosophy, cultural habits from their ethnic culture, or get carried away with an idea they didn’t understand; over time, bad ideas, false doctrine, or common misconceptions have entered common Christian discourse, and then been rejected.

In the 20th and 21st century, this pattern has been exacerbated by the increased availability of information through increased exposure to incorrect ideas and interpretations from Christians, and interesting ideas from the rest of the world.

Jacques Derrida was a French philosopher who rose to prominence after the Second World War. His focus was on language and its power. Derrida embraced Continental Philosophy and Radical Hermeneutics, and is the foremost thinker for the Deconstruction movement. Elements of Derrida’s philosophy and analytical approaches have become commonly applied in the church, leading to radical new interpretations of the Bible, or to people having an avenue to walk away from their faith, which is becoming dangerously common.

Who Was Jacques Derrida?

Born in Algeria in 1930 to Sephardic Jews, Jacques Derrida had French citizenship through the Crémieux Decree of 1870, which extended French citizenship to Jews in French-controlled Africa. He moved to Paris for university around the beginning of World War II, where he studied and eventually became a professor. He was married to psychoanalyst Marguerite Aucoutier, with whom he had three children. He died in 2004.

What Were Derrida’s Most Popular Theories?

All of the philosophical and political movements that influenced Derrida’s formation of his own philosophy were atheistic. These ideas included those of Karl Marx; though Derrida would always remain skeptical of Communism as prescribed by Marx, he did embrace radical thinking which encouraged the tearing down of the status quo. Another important influence was Martin Heidegger, a German thinker who reached the height of his popularity pre-World War II. Heidegger was considered the father of modern continental philosophy, and a member of the Nazi party, for which he never apologized or repented.

Derrida’s approach to language was rooted in the ideas of Ferdinand de Saussure, who was a linguist and an atheist. Finally, he studied the works of Edmund Husserl, a mathematician and philosopher whose ideas left room for deity and spirit, but not one that Christians who read the Bible in a traditional way would recognize.

When coming into his own as a thinker, Derrida brought together a complex understanding of linguistics with phenomenology, which is the philosophical study of experience and consciousness. Phenomenology rejects western philosophy, which they identified as coming from Plato. While Derrida wrote many books, his most popular philosophy and the one that solidified his place in 20th century thinking was Deconstructionism. He outlined these ideas first in De La Grammatologie (Of Grammatology), and elaborated on it in Différance, La Voix et Le Phénomène (Speech and Phenomena), and L’écriture et la différance (Writing and Difference).

The core elements of Deconstructionism rests on a few key concepts:

1. It seeks to understand the relationship between text and meaning.

2. Its foundational ideas are built on the belief that everything is subjective to experience, and therefore truth is subjective. Deconstructionism inherently assumes subjectivity and a lack of objective truth.

3. It exists to re-evaluate Western values and pure reason. 

4. It challenges dialectics, which is arguing concepts by contrasting seemingly opposite ideas.

5. Il n'y a pas de hors-texte; a word cannot exist outside of context because people understand it in context. (Example: a sedan is understood in its cultural, geographic, and historical context, and is understood by its contrast to other modes of transportation like a truck, a van, a train, or a plane).

6. Deconstructionism is not a method for understanding, a form of analysis, or a style of critique. Instead, it seeks to exist outside traditional philosophical concepts for coming to conclusions.

7. The purpose of the exercise of deconstructing text is to break things down into its smallest separate parts, to re-evaluate how it has been understood, and to reveal how the way it has been understood is inadequate.

8. Deconstructionism does not present a way to reconstruct a text.

Understanding that eighth point in particular is key to understanding how applying this philosophy to the Bible leads to misinterpretations of the Bible and to people walking away from their faith.

How are Derrida’s Philosophies Being Used in Modern Christianity?

Applying Deconstructionism to a religious text means engaging with the text in such a manner to break it down into smaller and smaller parts, to find inadequacies in translation, historical interpretation, or personal understanding. Heresies that come from applying a Deconstructionist lens to the Bible often come from someone presenting a new understanding or interpretation of translations or traditional readings of particular words or phrases in the Bible.

Examples of these ideas that are becoming more common include, but are not limited to:

1. Because the word Elohim is used in the Old Testament, and it is a plural noun, believing the Bible is only presenting one God is incorrect. 

2. When seen through the right lens, the traditional understanding of Jesus being resurrected bodily is not correct.

3. Certain parts of the Bible may be true, but they may not be, and it is okay to accept what is easy to digest and reject or dismiss parts that are personally offensive.

4. God does not have a gender, or is transgendered, or many gendered. 

5. Because the text of the Bible does not agree overtly with scientific texts, it can be interpreted metaphorically in part or in whole.

These ideas come from hyper-analyzing the text with the intent to deconstruct. Common ways this is done is by:

1. Identifying and applying obscure definitions of words in the original Hebrew or Greek.

2. Comparing two verses or passages out of context against one another. 

3. Taking a passage of the Bible, particularly from the Old Testament, that can be difficult to understand, and only interpreting it within the text; for example, because the New Testament says God is love in 1 Corinthians, but God orders the nation of Israel to engage in total war, then there are two different gods being spoken of in these two sections of the Bible.

4. Ignoring or rejecting the idea of the Holy Spirit as the divine author of the Bible, and assuming the Bible is not infallible.

5. Partnering deconstructionism with another 20th century philosophy such as Marxism, Feminism, or Freudianism to understand the text.

Many ideas taught from pulpits in the modern western church in Europe and America that reject traditional understandings of God, the Bible, Jesus, the crucifixion, and the resurrection are rooted in deconstructionism. People who do not reject the existence of God or Christianity outright, but have personal problems with the church, Christian behavior, or ideas in the Bible are usually the sources of these theologies.

How Does This Relate to Modern Deconstruction of the Faith?

People who claim to have walked away from the Christian religion because they have deconstructed their faith did engage in a form of deconstructionism, though if they did not exclusively engage with the Biblical text, they were not doing true Derridean deconstruction.

The term came from David Hayward, who co-opted the term “deconstruction” when he was questioning his faith. While it is good to evaluate if a church or a believer is engaging in correct behavior or with good ethics, and to think critically about faith, deconstruction tears down rather than evaluates.

Deconstructionism does not offer a path to reconstruction or new understanding, leading to people looking at their religion – torn to pieces through hyper-critical analysis – and left with nothing to replace it. Often, they assume that nothingness is the truth. True deconstruction would then require their newfound atheism, since it is rooted in the idea that truth is subjective, and objective truth is merely a western concept to be deconstructed.

To learn more about the trend of deconstructing one’s Christian faith, check out Deconstructing the Faith: What Does It Mean?

How Can I Identify an Interpretation That Comes from Derrida, and not the Bible?

When someone reads or hears something that sounds wrong, or goes against a traditional understanding of the Bible, but doesn’t sound like other false teachings they may have heard before, there are questions they can ask to see if it is an idea born from deconstruction.

1. Does this challenge the idea of an objective interpretation of the Bible?

2. Does this challenge the idea that there is only one way to read the Bible?

3. Does this radically reinterpret God?

4. Does this rely on obscure or hyper-specific interpretations of the text or translations of the Hebrew or Greek?

5. Does this reject, or not take into account, historical accounts, information, or sources that would provide clarifying context that supports a traditional understanding of the Bible?

6. Is the interpretation rooted in a philosophy commonly paired with Deconstructionism like Feminism, Post-Structuralism, or Freudian thought?

Bible Verses about Objective Truth to Fortify Your Faith

The Bible does have verses to encourage Christians to strengthen their faith and reject Deconstructionism by focusing on the reality of objective truth. It is good to have an informed faith and to think critically, but not to indulge in the endless exercise of deconstructing, especially without being able to rebuild.

These verses include, but are not limited to:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).

“The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly…In the house of the righteous there is much treasure, but trouble befalls the income of the wicked. The lips of the wise spread knowledge; not so the hearts of fools” (Proverbs 15:2, 6-7).

 “Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered” (Proverbs 28:26).

“Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him” (Proverbs 30:5).

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’” (John 14:6).

“For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, ‘He catches the wise in their craftiness’” (1 Corinthians 3:19).                    

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8).

“But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene.…They are upsetting the faith of some” (2 Timothy 2:16-18).

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).

Jacques Derrida was a man of great intellect, and he was influenced by men of great intellect. Being wise in worldly matters does not necessarily mean someone has truth or to spiritual nourishment. It may challenge the mind, but God wants to bring all people to Himself through Jesus Christ, providing them with eternal life.

Embracing deconstructionism as a valid way to interpret the Bible has led to heresy, and to people rejecting God’s love and offer for salvation. While it is an interesting philosophy, Derridean Deconstruction has influenced theology in a way that is leading people away from, rather than closer to, God.

“Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:14-18).

Sources

Abujamra, Lina. Fractured Faith Finding Your Way Back to God in an Age of Deconstruction. Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2021.

Cixous, Hélène. Portrait of Jacques Derrida as a Young Jewish Saint. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.

Nancy, Jean-Luc. Adoration The Deconstruction of Christianity II. New York: Fordham University Press, 2013.

Norris, Christopher. Deconstruction. New York: Taylor & Francis, 2003. 

Salmon, Peter. An Event, Perhaps A Biography of Jacques Derrida. London: Verso, 2020.

Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Leong Thian Fu / EyeEm

Bethany Verrett is a freelance writer who uses her passion for God, reading, and writing to glorify God. She and her husband have lived all over the country serving their Lord and Savior in ministry. She has a blog on graceandgrowing.com.