{"id":4835,"date":"2015-05-07T12:33:09","date_gmt":"2015-05-07T19:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=4835"},"modified":"2015-05-08T22:48:23","modified_gmt":"2015-05-09T05:48:23","slug":"sisters-and-brothers-locally-and-globally-catholicity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/sisters-and-brothers-locally-and-globally-catholicity\/","title":{"rendered":"A sisterly and brotherly local and global catholicity!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"UNITE\"<\/a>Simon Chan\u2019s book In Grassroots Asian Theology<\/em> is on point and timely indeed. There is more one could say about the issues concerning Ferguson, New York, the Officer Slager and Scott Walker case, the late Freddie Gray and Baltimore city , but one common theme in all these instances has been the presence of grassroots uprising . Chan’s message too, places grassroots theology at the center of a much need ongoing global church dialogue. He discusses the impact and challenge paused by colliding worldviews from the East and from the west. It comes as no surprise that different cultures have various cultural worldviews which also operate in people\u2019s relationship with the gospel. The notion that \u201cone exceptional culture\u201d has a monopoly on the rightful, most truthful and correctness of the Christian faith doctrine and its expression, is the kind of hubris Chan seeks to address. The attitude of \u201cmy theology is better than yours\u201d is of great concern for Chan. He writes as he quotes Braaten and Jenson in the body work titled In One Body Through the Cross: The Princeton Proposal for Christian Unity<\/em>:<\/p>\n

Perhaps it is time to get rid of the habit of describing different patterns of thought in terms of Eastern and Western ways of thinking. In a post-modern, globalized world, such descriptions are neither helpful nor accurate. Rather, a more pertinent question we need to ask in order to develop a contextual or local theology in an Asian context is: what spiritual and intellectual resources of the Christian faith can we bring to bear on the Asian context such that an authentic Christian faith can be effectively communicated and received? Implied in this question is a fundamental theological presupposition: Asian theology is about the Christian faith in Asia. This presupposition may be phrased in different ways, but it runs through diverse Christian traditions, including Catholicism, Orthodoxy, evangelicalism and Pentecostalism. Some see the common spiritual heritage binding these four traditions together as holding promise for a new ecumenism that goes beyond the currently deadlocked World Council of Churches.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

Yet such a call for the construction of a \u201cnew ecumenism\u201d, were the word ecumenism is defined in the Oxford dictionaries as \u201cThe principle or aim of promoting unity among the world\u2019s Christian churches\u201d[2]<\/a> is still a far cry globally, in spite of the current endeavors by certain churches. There are a lot of Church cultural and worldly historical waters, mostly turbulent tidal waves that have flooded the potentiality of unity among the world\u2019s Christian churches; thus the interference with the actualization of sisterly and brotherly unity\u00a0 both locally and global.\u00a0 Jesus\u2019s prayerfully declared, \u201cI have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one\u201d[3]<\/a> Was this just a nice prayer by the messiah or did the omniscient redeemer know something about the demonically stubborn barriers to the joyful unity of the global ekklesia, enough to weld timeless prayers in the world\u2019s conscience present then and the future disciples including us in the 21century?<\/p>\n

Chan skillfully points out the blockades that have led to the imbalanced theological global crisis in Asia\u2019s theological grassroots landscape, which I won\u2019t be able to discussed in depth. He notes how:<\/p>\n

Much of what the West knows as Asian theology consists largely of elitist accounts of what Asian theologians are saying, and elitist theologians seldom take grassroots Christianity seriously. Yet it is at the grassroots level that we encounter a vibrant, albeit implicit, theology. It is this theology that I wish to highlight.[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

But where exactly do the elitist accounts come from and what are they taking advantage? It is often the case that most sweeping movements or revolutions might be attempting to replace and fill preexisting vacuums. Given the post Mao and Deng Xiaoping legacy, it seems that the various presentations of Christianity have \u201c\u2026 showed that faith was also possible in post-Mao China not just finance, success and despair. In a kind of postmodern twist, several handfuls of leading young intellectual writers, lawyers and cultural figures have chosen Christian faith in recent years. Since they are outspoken about it, including in the media, they again inspire many students and young professionals.[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

It seems to me that Christianity might have touched a nerve for some people in China, but Chan is concerned about a n intrusive kind of Christianity and the need for proper contextualization that favors the grassroots establishment and not the elitist account and theologians in Asia. Chan calms that the elitist minds \u201c\u2026 tend to impose their views on the grassroots and read their contexts selectively\u201d[6]<\/a><\/p>\n

\"c\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Theological elitism then appears to pause a challenge to the grassroots local church\u2019s efforts to contextualize the biblical gospel. Other scholars go as far as pointing out the content and sources of the elitist theologies in question in Asia. Fredrik F\u00e4llman comments:<\/p>\n

There is a tendency among some of the urban, unregistered churches to adhere to reformed theology, inspired by what in North America is sometimes known as “New Calvinism.” The focus is more on Puritan teachings than on John Calvin himself. Such communities draw much interest from young urbanites, and they seem to attract these young people because of their solid stance on moral issues and their non-relative beliefs, contrasting with society at large. Reformed Christianity may also appeal to the subconscious Confucian thought patterns and beliefs that linger among Chinese elite intellectuals in general.[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

On the other hand, if one were to analysis the quote above, it would also seem that the \u201cNew Calvinism\u201d has found a home in some Christians\u2019 minds and hearts some of the urban young and adults. But Chan argues for a theological approach that accounts for \u201ca more adequate way of organizing an Asian theology is to center it in the doctrine of the triune God as the divine family\u201d[8]<\/a>.Chan perceives such a Trinitarian Asian theology as a culturally viable option for the explanations of original sin in the Garden of Eden. For example, through a Asian theological lens, the Genesis account can be seen as \u201can affront on God\u2019s honor (Anselm) and an act that dishonors the family name\u201d[9]<\/a> Furthermore, \u201cSalvation is the restoration of one\u2019s standing in the family\u201d[10]<\/a> Chan unlike what Tanya Luhrmann observed during her epic study titled When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God;<\/em> of the Vineyarders of American evangelicalism and their culture of \u201ca personal relationship with God\u201d; the church in Asian\u2019s grassroots theology is far more a central piece. \u00a0I highly recommend Chan\u2019s book because he is obviously addressing \u00a0theological and missiogical issues in the global church. He looks to the likes of Karl Barth and other theologians in such of the way forward. Chan suggests a number of ideas to improve the conditions of grassroots theology in Asia. I found myself thinking about the need for a conference between the \u201cNew ecumenism\u201d and the \u201cNew Calvinism\u201d. Perhaps believers in the grassroots and elitist camps might forge a way forward in the interest of a sisterly and brotherly ecclesial Asian context. Chan writes:<\/p>\n

Speaking of ecclesial experience in this way helps us avoid two major pitfalls. Frist, it avoids conceiving theology as purely objective facts or as primarily subjective experience (\u201cfaith\u201d in Schleiermacher\u2019s sense). Second, it does not consider individuals as the primary agents of doing. Doing theology is essentially an ecclesial endeavor requiring cooperation between the people of God and the theologian. We could even speak of it as a relationship of mutual dependence [or interdependent][11]<\/a><\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Simon Chan, Grassroots Asian Theology<\/em> (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2014), 10.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> http:\/\/www.oxforddictionaries.com\/us\/definition\/american_english\/ecumenism<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> John 17<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Simon Chan, Grassroots Asian Theology<\/em> (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2014), 7.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> http:\/\/www.chinasource.org\/resource-library\/articles\/urge-for-faith-postmodern-beliefs-among-urban-chinese<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Simon Chan, Grassroots Asian Theology<\/em> (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2014), 23.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> http:\/\/www.chinasource.org\/resource-library\/articles\/urge-for-faith-postmodern-beliefs-among-urban-chinese<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Simon Chan, Grassroots Asian Theology<\/em> (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2014), 42.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Ibid,. 44.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> Ibid,. 45<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> Ibid., 17.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Simon Chan\u2019s book In Grassroots Asian Theology is on point and timely indeed. There is more one could say about the issues concerning Ferguson, New York, the Officer Slager and Scott Walker case, the late Freddie Gray and Baltimore city , but one common theme in all these instances has been the presence of grassroots […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[634],"class_list":["post-4835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-chan","cohort-lgp4"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4835"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4835\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4869,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4835\/revisions\/4869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}