Theology
View From the Wall
Public Theology in China
Some Preliminary Reflections
The persistent lack of open government in many areas of China makes it difficult for Christians to be very different from the general population. Yet, Christians in China are citizens of God’s eternal kingdom as well as citizens of China. However, as citizens of this world, they seem to have failed to live very profoundly as citizens of the eternal world. Can the tension between these two citizenships be resolved?
Supporting Article
Eschatology and China’s Churches
The question of a church’s eschatology not only concerns its future but also determines how its people live in today’s world. While house churches included a brief summary of their eschatology in a 1998 document, within the theology of the official Three-Self Church eschatology lacks a working category; it finds itself situated under communist ideology as any form of it appears to be a threat to the ideology of the government. The church in China must ask itself what biblical, orthodox eschatology is and how it can be preached.
Supporting Article
Urban Churches in China
A Pentecostal Case Study
An author has noted that societies being shaped by the forces of modernization and urbanization represent fertile ground for the seeds of Pentecostal revival. Menzies supports this claim in a case study that gives us the history and growth of the Li Xin Church, a large, Pentecostal house-church network.
Supporting Article
Liberalism and China’s Churches
After defining the term “liberalism,” the author introduces the liberal intellectuals, many of them city dwellers, who began joining churches and consequently have created tension between liberalism and Christian perspectives. He explores churches’ reactions to this tension and also discusses the attitude of anti-liberals toward Christianity.
Lead Article
Reformed Theology
A Christian Thought Movement to a Church Movement
Over the past forty years, reformed theology has become influential among Chinese Christians and, more recently, especially among mainland Chinese Christian intellectuals. This has resulted in reformed thought transitioning into a reformed church movement that is bringing about positive changes. At the same time, there are cautions to be observed within this movement.
Pentecostal Theology and the Chinese Church
A look at the impact and continuing influence of Pentecostal theology in the Chinese church.
Lead Article
Is the Chinese Church Chinese Enough?
The Search for a More Chinese Theology
Is the Chinese church really just a Western church underneath, with its theology, hymnology, and ecclesiology borrowed from abroad? Is there a Chinese theology? Has Christianity taken a truly indigenous form in China today? Is the Chinese church Chinese enough?