山道期刊
總第三十一期（2013年7月）
| 主題： | 公共神學 包括專題文章六篇、討論文章二篇及書評五篇 |
| 頁數： | 263 |
| 售價： | HK$100 |
| 專題文章 | ||
| 鄧紹光 | 公共神學，甚麼樣的神學？一些根本的反思 | Abstract |
| 禤智偉 | 公共神學：誰的「公共」？有幾「神學」？ | Abstract |
| 黃福光 | 摩西五經的扶貧律法 | Abstract |
| 曾思瀚 | 新約的一個公共神學議題──以馬可福音有關加利利海的公共神學為測試個案 | Abstract |
| 吳國傑 | 基督是主、君權神授：初期基督徒政教關係的主導原則 | Abstract |
| 劉振鵬 | 初探尤達的耶利米模式──思考其倫理學的意義及其「公共」性質 | Abstract |
| 討論文章 | ||
| 陳廣培 | 《七克》的靈修操練 | Abstract |
| 賴品超 | 大乘基督教神學：敬覆評論者 | Abstract |
Public Theology, What Theology? Some Radical Reflections
Andres S. TANG
This paper aims to reflect critically on the theological nature of public theology. In the last thirty years, public theology has been rising not merely in the West but also in the Chinese theological academies. Among others, Max Stackhouse is the most well known public theologian advocating the study of public theology, publishing articles in this field and organizing conferences with themes on public issues like globalization. The first part of this paper takes Stackhouse as an example to be examined carefully by centering on two theological dimensions. One is about the nature of theology and the other is about the method/sources of doing theology. For Stackhouse, public theology is the original nature of theology, speaking to the public while employing dogmatic theology and confessional theology, which are particular in nature. The Holy Scripture is evaluated by public reason and values so as to address issues in the public sphere. By finding out the metaphysical-moral visions and principles of the Christian faith, public theology is compatible with the view point of other religions, and findings of human science and social science, which are examined in the same way. In a word, the nature and the method/sources of theology are primarily determined by the public reason and public sphere. The second part of this paper rethinks the nature and the task of theology by introducing the understanding of the theology of John Webster. For Webster, theology is primarily determined by the object of the study, the triune God. It is God, who is the confessional content of the church, who makes all kinds of theology, including public theology, possible. Webster elaborates on the theological proposition of Johanns Wollebius, the Reformed theologian in the 17th century, as the condition of doing theology. Wollebius’ proposition is that “The principle of the being of theology is God; the principle by which it is known in the Word of God.” The former is the ontological conviction while the latter is the noetic conviction for theology. According to this, public theology is not primarily defined by the adjective “public”. Rather, it is “theology” that comes first under which the “public”, either in the sense of reason or in the sense of sphere, is determined. Theology, then, by nature is theological rather than public. Only under this condition can we further theologically discuss and develop a theological kind of public theology.
Public Theology: Whose “Public”? How “Theological”?
Chi W. HUEN
“Public theology” as it is usually practiced in the English-speaking world suffers from a fatal lack, for want of “a theology of the public”. Without a Christian and critical perspective on the public-private divide, public theologians are bound to subscribe to the political presumption and agenda of secularism and liberalism. This essay attempts a genealogy of the grand dichotomy of public and private, in order to motivate a theological transvaluation of this and other concomitant binary pairs in modern consciousness.
It is shown that the political topology universally deployed by public theologians who urge theology to “go public” accepts the secularization thesis as fait accompli, that Christian faith has been thoroughly “privatized” and excluded from the public square, therefore Christians must force their way back and bring the gospel “out of” the church “into” the society. Such spatial imagination of the relationship between the church and the society has already succumbed to the secular policing of Christianity, i.e. unless Christian faith enters into the society on its own terms and is made politically relevant, it remains private and inferior or incomplete. What is overlooked by advocates of public theology is that the church as a way of life, a people, and a polity, is public in its own right. Public theologians search in vain for a wrong kind of public.
Public theology also errs in subjecting itself to the wrong kind of discipline. It aspires to respectability in academia and sometimes fancies itself to become an interdisciplinary (meta-)discourse, thus often elects to set itself free from the discipline of the church and its dogmas. Public theology emphasizes citizenship at the expense of discipleship and discipline, and ends up churchless, disembodied, and disembedded. “God” figures in public theology as an empty cipher for abstract transcendence (mistaken as a guarantee for prevenient publicness of theological discourse) rather than the actual agent of the Trinitarian economic activities. The work of the preeminent public theologian Max Stackhouse is used to illustrate these pitfalls of mainstream public theology and its deficit of theological integrity.
A Study of Poverty Laws in the Pentateuch
WONG Fook Kong
This is a continuation of my earlier article on poverty in the Pentateuch. In that article I compared present day understandings of poverty with those in the Pentateuch. This included words used to describe poverty as well as groups identified as poor in the Pentateuch. I also highlighted some theological bases of poverty laws in the Pentateuch. In this article, I deal in greater details with the steps taken to alleviate poverty in the Pentateuch and how they may be relevant today.
I do so by reexamining the laws related to the Jubilee and Sabbatical Years. These laws protected the Israelites within their community. They were meant to ensure that the Israelites never descend to the degradation suffered by other slaves in the wider world of the ancient Near East. Furthermore, they were not supposed to be permanently stripped of their means of production, i.e., their land. This mechanism was meant to prevent latifundia, i.e., the loss of the debtors’ land to the rich creditor. This, in turn, would have prevented a widening gap between the rich and the poor. The last section of this article deals with the contribution of social networks (e.g., family) to the alleviation of poverty in biblical and present times.
Introduction to a Public Theology of the New Testament: Markan Public Theology of the Sea of Galilee as a Test Case
Sam TSANG
Very often, public theology is done in abstraction. Most of the formulations are philosophical and theological, but many have neglected the most basic element: “public” is a space. “Public theology” is theology done in a space, preferably real space and time. This study takes its clues not from popular public theology but from the lead of social geographers and anthropologists in seeing the potential theology that comes out of certain public spaces. Scholars in Mark have long noted the geographical structure of this Gospel, but not everyone sees the geography as a clue for public theology of the New Testament. This study takes seriously the location of the Sea of Galilee in order to see what kind of theology Jesus taught in that space. Undergirding this study is the conviction that real spaces have symbolic value. Spaces are created not only by city planners but also in the minds of readers. Mark’s original readers would understand the symbolism of some of Mark’s locations. In order to get into their world, modern interpreters should map out the symbols of these spaces so that when Jesus stood in those spaces doing what he did best, everyone would see what Jesus’ action meant. This can be accomplished by consulting ancient authors about what certain locations meant. This study consults Josephus for such information due to the rich information Josephus provided. Galilee was a place of sporadic political unrest. Jesus ministered in such an area among such people. More important is the way Jesus conducted his ministry. This study uses the Sea of Galilee as the perfect illustration for public theology of the Markan Jesus. In Mark, the sea plays an important role in Jesus’ ministry. Jesus creatively used the sea, whether it was by the seashore or in the boat, under calm condition or in stormy situations, to bring across his message. Whatever happened in the sea under different circumstances has theological significance. By looking at Jesus’ words and actions in relation to the Sea of Galilee, this study sees the sea as the place where the kingdom ministry shows its radical nature. It also shows an extraordinary triumph of the kingdom. The symbolic reading of public space does not negate the accuracy of Markan geography; it adds to it. The witnessing apostles, who traveled up and down the Judean area, ensured its accuracy. Such accuracy only adds to the concreteness of Markan public theology.
“Christ is the Lord of All” and “Authorities are Ordinances of God”: Two Principles Governing the Church and State Relationship in the Early Christianity
Nathan K. NG
The church and state relationship was governed by two principles in early Christianity. The first one was “Christ is the Lord of All”. Based on this principle, the early Christians withdrew from all social practices violating biblical faiths and engaged in every good works pleasing to Him. The second principle was “Authorities are Ordinances of God”. This meant that all earthly authorities, no matter political or private, were directly or indirectly ordained by God. Christians should respect and obey them as a means to obey the Lord. Thus, focusing on the heavenly rewards, early Christians accepted their fate including political persecution without any revolt. This article ends with four reflections on the meanings of these beliefs for the church today
A Preliminary Study of the Jeremianic Model of John Howard Yoder—Examining Its Ethical Meanings and “Public” Nature of His Theology
Vincent C. P. LAU
The Jeremianic model is based on the Old Testament narrative describing the life of Jews living in exile during the time of the Babylonian Captivity. They were a minority presence in a Gentile world and had to learn to cope with their difficult situation. Indeed they prospered and had influence on their surrounding new culture. Yoder used this narrative as a paradigm or model to link the Old and New Testaments. The common links are in seeing God’s Chosen People as a minority voice but, at the same time, a strong witnessing power for God as God’s Chosen People, who must live in a secularized world that does not share their biblical world view or values. Yoder does not give a systematic discourse of his model. Nevertheless it is a rich and provocative way to understand his basic theology, one which gives priority to the power of a godly minority voice. In developing this model, three tasks are accepted: to explicate the biblical narrative, to draw out Christian ethical guidelines from the model, and to discuss the “public” nature of the model in order to categorize Yoder’s theology.
The Spirituality of Diego de Pantoja on The Seven Victories
Kwong-pui CHAN
This article examines the thoughts of Diego de Pantoja in his famous book The Seven Victories from the perspective of spiritual theology. Most researchers of this book focus on the Christian-Confucian dialogue, or, a few of them, on spirituality with reference to Thomas Aquinas’ theology. This paper argues that Pantoja’s major concerns are with the spirituality of Chinese Catholics and the God-human relationship of his readers rather than religious dialogue, and his understanding of spirituality in The Seven Victories follows the tradition of Ignatius de Loyola more than Aquinas.
Mahayana Christian Theology: A Rejoinder
LAI Pan-chiu
The publication of my book Mahayana Christian Theology: Thought Experiments of Sino-Christian Theology (2011) has attracted several book reviews so far. This article attempts to clarify some of the possible misunderstandings arising from the evangelical background of some readers and to respond to some of the comments made by the reviewers.
The Mahayana Christian theology proposed in my book aims to reflect critically on Christian theological traditions, especially the “Hinayana” tendency dominating Chinese Christian churches, and to contribute to the development of academic theology in China as well as the global theological discussion. It significantly differs from the approach of theological indigenization through modifying Christian doctrines according to the taste of Chinese people or the Chinese context.
As a branch of Christian theology, the most fundamental guiding principle for Mahayana Christian theology is that it matches Christian theological traditions and is not an abstractly constructed humanistic Mahayana principle or spirit. That is the reason why some of the ideas proposed in the book differ from the typical positions of Mahayana Buddhism.
