山道期刊

Hospitality: The Nature of the Kingdom of God

LEE Suk Yee

Hospitality（φιλοξενία）basically points to the practice of graciously receiving a guest, mainly stranger or sojourner, who is in a state of transition, lacking support and protection. This virtue is highly stressed in the Bible. Not only the church leaders are required to practice it (Tit 1:7-8; 1 Ti 3:2), but every believer must also embrace it (Ro 12:13; 1 Pe 4:9). The book of Hebrews even urges the readers to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so they may have entertained angels (Heb 13:2), just like in Abraham’s case (Ge 18:1-8).

Behind the virtue of hospitality is a fundamental concept that Yahweh is the faithful host of Israel. During the wilderness journey, God, as a host, provided food (Ex 16:4) and protection (Dt 3:22) to the sojourners and led them to the Promised Land, a lodging place owned by the deity (Lev 25:23). This imagery was adopted by the prophets who envisaged the coming ideal age as an era in which Yahweh, the host, prepares a lavish banquet for all his people (Isa 25:6). The tradition of God as host was also shared by Jesus who used the parable of the feast to explain the Kingdom of God (Mt 22:1-14; Lk 14:15-24). As such, the Kingdom of God is a realm of hospitality.

The Kingdom of God as a vision does not refer to a place but to the reign of Yahweh. In this realm, the virtue of being humble and serving others is to be fully embraced (Lk 22:26). Those who want to enjoy God’s hospitality and attend the feast of the Kingdom must uphold this spirit, following the footstep of their Lord, Jesus (Mk 10:45). In Matthew 25, Jesus praised those who received him when he was a stranger by promising them the Kingdom of God (25:34-35) and reproached those who did not do so with eternal punishment (25:43, 46a). Jesus stressed that to care for the needy and practice hospitality in our daily life is a requirement of the Kingdom of God.

During the process of hospitality, the birth of the faith community starts with being a ξένος (stranger, sojourner). In the Old Testament period, Abraham trusted God and left his homeland. He lived as an alien and experienced God’s hospitality (Ge 12:1; Heb 11:8-9). His obedience gives birth to Israel. In the New Testament period, Jesus emptied himself and took the form of a bond-servant (Php 2:5-8). He became a sojourner, depending on others’ hospitality (Mk 2:15; Jn 12:1-2). The obedience of Jesus gave birth to the church. Everyone who is willing to receive Jesus will become part of the Kingdom of God, under the reign of Yahweh. Members of the faith community must admit that they are strangers and sojourners of this world and long for God’s hospitality in the new era (Heb 11:13-16; 1 Pe 1:17). However, in the meantime, the faith community must practice hospitality in their daily life before they can enjoy the feast of the Kingdom (Mt 25). So the Kingdom of God is both the consequence and cause of hospitality.

When Hospitality Encounters Fracturing: A New Testament Perspective

Joyce W. L. SUN

There is an idea from time to time expressed in public discourses that when Christians cannot agree on matters of faith, fracturing is normal and even, inevitable.

This essay examines relevant New Testament texts on hospitality and reflects on how Hong Kong churches should recover the tradition of early Christians to overcome distinctions and boundaries so as to maintain themselves as a universal community. It seeks to elucidate the New Testament concept on “hospitality” by discussing (1) early Christians’ self-understanding as strangers in society; (2) Jesus Christ as the paradigm to express God’s hospitality on earth; (3) Jesus’s teachings on hospitality; (4) early Christians’ practice of hospitality as reported in Acts; and (5) Paul’s teachings on hospitality.

The essay concludes that for the New Testament writers, fracturing is not something normal but should be overcome with best efforts. Since Christians are actually receiving Christ when receiving each other, there is no need for either side to insist on having a common stance before seeking reconciliation. A hospitable community, with members proclaiming the same Christ as Lord, is one that should have the capacity to accommodate different and diverse opinions. In the face of “hospitality”, there is no place for “fracturing”.

Entertaining Strangers: Emergent “Hospitality” in the Early Church

Richard L. S. PHUA

The term “hospitality” is often taken at face value as reflecting the practitioner’s friendly and generous disposition and is used in most versions of the English Bible to translate the Greek term φιλοξενία. This paper considers the Old Testament background of the term and its evolution in the early church. The thesis of the paper is that “hospitality” as a virtue reflected God’s kindness and generosity towards his people in the Old Testament, the concept of which further developed in the New Testament through the giving of Jesus and became part of the instrument through which ─ God’s truth was disseminated in the early church. Thus, when Christians entertain strangers, they are in fact extending hospitality towards God. The early church after Jesus’ ascension continued the practice of hospitality through social care alongside their proclamation of the gospel. The concept evolved into a form of mutualism that seemed to be offered to Christians only.

Why Must Hospitality be Messianic?

Clement Mook-Soo CHIA

In this paper, by referring to the tragedy of Rohingya migrants, I ask a question which is inspired by the Jewish thinker Jacques Derrida, “Why must hospitability be messianic?” First, I trace the ethics of hospitality back to Immanuel Kant’s proposal of cosmopolitanism, in which I find that it gives the basic tenets for international migrant policy. Second, I refer to the critiques of the pro-Kantian welfare in modern welfare society offered by Zygmunt Bauman as to uncover the fundamental flaw of Kantian proposal. Third, I show the turn to a messianic vision of hospitality in Jacques Derrida’s critiques of the Kantian idea of hospitability. However, I find Derrida has not carried on the idea of a messianic hospitality further enough and thus recourse to the pro-Kantian proposal of hospitality. Based on the backdrops above, I draw light from the messianic ministry of Jesus as to emphasize on the necessity of a messianic vision of hospitality.

Parker J. Palmer’s Ethics of Hospitality

CHIU Shung Ming

Given that Hong Kong is in a state of political uncertainty, with continuing discord in the post-Occupy era, the citizens inevitably live in a fragmented society filled with alienation and conflicts. The problem of fragmentation makes us disconnect with others, or even easily treat others as our enemies. The author attempts to call attention to the need of constructing a theological ethics of hospitality in a convincing way by introducing Parker J. Palmer’s thought, because he is regarded as one of the most promising theologians, who makes a notable contribution on this area.

Three concepts are very significant throughout Palmer’s books. They are wholeness, connection, and paradox, and thus we cannot understand his ethics of hospitality apart from them. Therefore, the author will explain the relationship between these concepts in the first part of this paper.

Fear of strangeness is natural in our common experience. Maybe we need to protect ourselves and, furthermore, having a sense of security is our basic need. However, if we refuse to meet strangers and only live in our private and lonely world, both our individual life and the society cannot grow in connection and wholeness. In Christian faith we understand that our identity is not to be found only in our differences from others, but in our common humanity, because all of us are made in the image of God and thus we are related as brothers and sisters in our God, the Father. We are created as social beings, so we need to learn to receive the others (including strangers and enemies) in our public life. According to Palmer, public life is the necessary condition of politics, especially for democracy. Moreover, the heart plays a significant role in public life and democratic politics. The heart of democracy is a heart imbued with love, with readiness to receive strangers and live together with them.

Re-examination of the Historical Sources on the Episcopal Ordination of Athanasius

Nathan K. NG

In the Arian and Melitian controversy, the legitimacy of the episcopal ordination of Athanasius is the key issue. If his ordination was illegal, all he did in the controversy would become inappropriate. However, the present historical sources about this ordination show such diverse pictures that totally different conclusions can be made depending on which sources are to be trusted.

This article tries to re-evaluate each historical source and explore the true historical facts using modern historiographical methods. These historical sources include Athanasius’ Apologia contra Arianos, Chronicon Athanasianum, Epiphanius’ Panarion, Gregory Nazianzen’s Orationes 21, Philostorgius’ Historia Ecclesiastica, Socrates’ Historia Ecclesiastica, Sozomen’s Historia Ecclesiastica and Apophthegmata Patrum. Based on such re-evaluation, an historical re-construction of the episcopal ordination of Athanasius is provided at the end of the article.

The Disorder of (the Doctrine of) the Church

Andres S. TANG

This paper begins with the otherness of the church which requires reflection on the disorder of the church. Employing John Webster’s theological criticism of the deistical understanding of the nature of the Holy Scripture, the author gives a theological analysis of the deistical phenomenal happening in the understanding and practice of the church. With the help of Colin Gunton’s theological discussion of the church, two kinds of disorder of the church are identified. One is normal deistical understanding of the nature of the church while the other is abnormal. The former treats the relationship of the triune God and the church as insufficiently close, in which the triune God merely acts as a remote initiator of the church. The latter brings the triune God too close to the church to the extent that God the Spirit is wholly immanent in the church here and now, and nothing remains for the not-yet future of the Kingdom of God. Three cases are discussed theologically to illustrate the deistical disorder of (the church?) the church.