Chloë Starr
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780300204216
- eISBN:
- 9780300224931
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300204216.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
Chinese Theology explores theological writings from mainland China in their historical, social, and textual contexts. From the dialogues of sixteenth-century scholars to the revolutionary writings of ...
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Chinese Theology explores theological writings from mainland China in their historical, social, and textual contexts. From the dialogues of sixteenth-century scholars to the revolutionary writings of theological educators in the twentieth century or the micro-blogs of contemporary house-church pastors, the book concentrates on theologians (mostly from the liberal or intellectual wings of the churches) who question what a “Chinese” theology might mean, who engage with their environment, and who draw on Chinese culture to inform their understanding of God and the world. The book provides an overview of the evolution of Chinese theology from the Ming dynasty to the present while introducing detailed textual analysis of the writings of Xu Zongze, Zhao Zichen, Wu Leichuan, Ding Guangxun, and Yang Huilin. It argues that Chinese theologies need understanding of their textual context: Chinese theology cannot be understood without a sense of its literary form and of the social meaning of the text, as these shape the theology that emerges. In light of this argument, Chinese Theology obliquely critiques the tendency to regard Western systematic theology and its particular philosophical underpinnings and written forms as the standard for theological thinking.Less
Chinese Theology explores theological writings from mainland China in their historical, social, and textual contexts. From the dialogues of sixteenth-century scholars to the revolutionary writings of theological educators in the twentieth century or the micro-blogs of contemporary house-church pastors, the book concentrates on theologians (mostly from the liberal or intellectual wings of the churches) who question what a “Chinese” theology might mean, who engage with their environment, and who draw on Chinese culture to inform their understanding of God and the world. The book provides an overview of the evolution of Chinese theology from the Ming dynasty to the present while introducing detailed textual analysis of the writings of Xu Zongze, Zhao Zichen, Wu Leichuan, Ding Guangxun, and Yang Huilin. It argues that Chinese theologies need understanding of their textual context: Chinese theology cannot be understood without a sense of its literary form and of the social meaning of the text, as these shape the theology that emerges. In light of this argument, Chinese Theology obliquely critiques the tendency to regard Western systematic theology and its particular philosophical underpinnings and written forms as the standard for theological thinking.
Chloë Starr
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780300204216
- eISBN:
- 9780300224931
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300204216.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
Among scholars of Christian theology and philosophy working in universities in China are card-carrying CCP members, many without any personal faith or denominational allegiance, yet whose thinking ...
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Among scholars of Christian theology and philosophy working in universities in China are card-carrying CCP members, many without any personal faith or denominational allegiance, yet whose thinking and writing on Chinese Christianity and culture have proved significant in and beyond academia. While far from representative of the church, their academic scholarship is valuable for its theological insight as well as for the institutional presence of its practitioners. This chapter considers the writings of Yang Huilin (b. 1954), a key figure in the Sino-Christian theology movement and a professor of comparative literature and religious studies, whose work triangulates between philosophy, literary/critical theory, and theology. The chapter suggests that recurrent questions across Yang’s work condense ultimately into two: the use of language and the pursuit of meaning. These culminate in his promotion of a “Chinese Scriptural Reasoning” and call for a “nonreligious religion.”Less
Among scholars of Christian theology and philosophy working in universities in China are card-carrying CCP members, many without any personal faith or denominational allegiance, yet whose thinking and writing on Chinese Christianity and culture have proved significant in and beyond academia. While far from representative of the church, their academic scholarship is valuable for its theological insight as well as for the institutional presence of its practitioners. This chapter considers the writings of Yang Huilin (b. 1954), a key figure in the Sino-Christian theology movement and a professor of comparative literature and religious studies, whose work triangulates between philosophy, literary/critical theory, and theology. The chapter suggests that recurrent questions across Yang’s work condense ultimately into two: the use of language and the pursuit of meaning. These culminate in his promotion of a “Chinese Scriptural Reasoning” and call for a “nonreligious religion.”
