Rediscussion on Sino-Christian Academic Theology––A Response to Criticism from Prof. Lai Pan-chiu and Others

Rediscussion on Sino-Christian Academic Theology –– A Response to Criticism from Prof. Lai Pan-chiu and Others

PAULOS HUANG

The present article is a response to criticisms of my book, Sino-Christian Academic Theology from Professor Lai Pan-chiu and others. By defining theology as scientia, Christianity may be studied by internal (Christians) and external (non-Christians) persons, and through a personal (irrational reaction) or scholarly (rational analysis) approach. Theology can be divided into theology I (Internal Irrational Christianity Practice), II (External Irrational Practice), III (Internal Rational Church Theology) and IV (External Rational Theology); and each of them has its strengths and weaknesses. Since they have paid little attention to such a distinction, professors Lai Pan-chiu and Kwok Hung -biu have criticized my book from their own viewpoints only; in fact, I have been trying to construct a concept of Sino-Christian Academic Theology on the ground of these four levels of theology. From the perspective of knowledge structure, Sino-Christian Academic Theology is worthy of developing into a sub-discipline of Sino-Christian Theology.