Modern Chinese Theologies

It is well known that the Chinese church (and therefore Chinese theology) has been divided in the People's Republic of China into "registered" and "unregistered" churches, and that while the state-approved church offers theologies that align with the nation's socialist values, the unregistered or house churches have tended toward an evangelical theology that is now divaricating with the resurgence of denominations in China. What is less well known is that there has been a vibrant third field of Chinese theology: Sino-Christian theology, a contested, academic discourse that makes no claims to be a confessional theology. This theology, fostered by academics in secular Chinese universities, developed in the 1990s and has grown and diversified with the increasing number of scholars researching Christianity in China. This volume offers essays on the message of Chinese Christian art, for example, alongside textual and Christological studies. The phenomenon of Sino-Christian theology, along with debates on its right to exist (if not authored by professing Christians), overlaps with broader debates on the nature of a "Chinese theology" and its unifying features. The second part of the volume draws together nine essays on theological concerns in the Chinese diaspora. These range from the nature of diasporic experience itself to studies of individual writers, and from fundamentalist beliefs in Singapore to a queer theology academy in Hong Kong. Although Hong Kong is part of mainland China, given its history and the "one country, two systems" policy still in place, several essays on Hong Kong theologians are included here among diasporic writings. Three essays focusing on Taiwanese subjects include reflections on the role of Christian philosophy in the legal thought of John C. H. Wu, a reassessment of homeland theology in light of the nationalist resurgence, and the creative "theology of Yi" based on the Book of Changes, Yijing.