The Sorrows and Joys of the Path of Learning

Guangpu and his wife

　　I came to Hong Kong and entered Hong Kong Baptist Theological Seminary (HKBTS) in 2018. I studied Systematic Theology under Prof. Andres Tang. While Prof. Tang adopts rigorous approaches toward scholarly research, he is nice and accommodating to his students, who benefit a lot from him.

　　I have studied in Nanjing Union Theological Seminary (NJUTS) for seven years. Compared with HKBTS, the theological education at NJUTS places less emphasis on modern or contemporary theologians. So when I first came to HKBTS and saw that the B.Th. students were reading the works of contemporary theologians, I admired them very much. HKBTS has a rich pool of teaching personnel, which means a broader scope of knowledge and vision is available to students; teachers are flawless in terms of their academic qualities and teaching skills. This is also where the strength of HKBTS lies.

　　When I was studying Systematic Theology under Prof. Tang, I developed strong interests in the theological system of Colin Gunton. After studying at HKBTS for about two years, I decided on my own learning and research direction, namely Gunton’s Pneumatological Eschatology. To most Christians, both pneumatology and eschatology are theological subjects that may be overlooked easily, but in Gunton’s thinking, the two subjects are closely related.

　　During my study at HKBTS, I had to overcome challenges on two fronts. The first one was from my family. I have two children, aged seven and three. As their father, I should have fulfilled my duties at home but the long distance from home made it impossible for me to look after my family. Because of this, I always felt I owed them a lot. The second challenge came from my studies. While it has been a pleasure learning the thoughts of Gunton, the drafting of a dissertation was a really daunting job for me. My academic advisor, Prof. Tang, is a teacher with very high academic qualities. It was a formidable challenge for me to catch up with his tempo.

　　In January, 2021, upon request from my church, I had to return to work on the Mainland for a while. Under such circumstances, I had to work on one hand while writing the dissertation on the other hand. Despite the fact that I can have reunion with my family, the heavy workload left me with limited time to do the reading, especially recently when the work burden has been particularly heavy. The progress in writing the dissertation has slowed down and I feel deeply ashamed before my academic advisor and the president of HKBTS. I hope I can be freed from such conditions as soon as possible.

　　Finally, I would like to thank my academic advisor and the president for their understanding of my situation and I hope I can complete my studies as soon as possible.