
Tag: Contextualization
Taking Chinese Spirituality Seriously
Engaging with Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist Spiritualities
Christians need to acknowledge a fact. We might disagree on whether Confucianism is a religion or not. But Confucianism, together with Daoism and Buddhism, are spiritual traditions that have provided “chicken soup” for Chinese souls for more than two thousand years.
An Aesthetic Dance: When the Poet Haizi Meets with Jesus
It was a strong resonance with Haizi’s profound search for homecoming and the “violent extremeness” (冲击极限) of death that led me to walk again with this poet.... This time, however, the journey is alongside the path of Jesus on his way home in Luke’s gospel.
Ethical Storytelling
Everyone who has been to China, or met a Christian from China, or read or heard something about Christians in China, has a story to tell. But no one has the whole story.
Towards Authentic Contextualization
A Reader Responds
That this non-Western contextualizing will leave many of our Western theologies and “brands” diminished or transformed could encourage us to repent for the scandal of our divisions…and to redouble our efforts to fulfill one of the final earthly prayers of Jesus that “we all be one.”
The Search for Home: Resonances between Heaven and Earth
A Reflective Review of Xiaoli Yang’s A Dialogue Between Haizi’s Poetry and the Gospel of Luke
In her book, Yang engages the complexities of Haizi’s personal journey and poetic influences side by side with the life and teachings of Jesus in four parts under the themes of “roots,” “vision,” “journey,” and “arrival.”
Supporting Article
Thoughts on Culture and Contextualization
The church does not exist in a vacuum. It responds to various cultural factors which raises many questions about the contextualization of the gospel. This article analyzes some key features of the cultural context of Chinese house churches.
Fully Chinese and Fully Christian
A Conversation with the Hosts of CantoSense
Join Joann Pittman in a conversation with Hannah Lau and I’Ching Thomas about their new video podcast CantoSense.
Christian Theology in a Chinese Idiom
A Webinar on Reshaping the Conversation
The Christian theological conversation spans two millennia. Recently, however, more and more scholars have begun to recognize that, in the words of Andrew Walls, "the theological agenda is cultural induced; and the cross-cultural diffusion of Christian faith invariably makes creative theological activity a necessity." What does that look like in practice? Doesn't that lead to syncretism? Can't we just teach a pure gospel?
Supporting Article
Women Contextualizing the Gospel in Cross-cultural Settings
Taking the gospel message into another culture requires culturally integrating it, without misrepresentation, into that specific culture. Bentley looks at six different aspects involved in contextualizing the gospel.