山道期刊

Preaching and Spirituality: An “Impressionist” Reading

Poling J. SUN

The homiletician Thomas G. Long once likened the rise of the French Impressionism in the 19th century to the emergence of the New Homiletic movement in North America in recent years, suggesting commonalities among the two movements such as alteration of methods, shifting of themes, and the locus of authority.

This article extends Long's analogy by associating Impressionism with spirituality and the ministry of preaching. The Impressionists' turning away from dignified subject matters, advocated by the traditional academics, to daily scenes is a reminder that all aspects of life should be affirmed and attended to. The techniques used by Impressionists focus on the interplay between light and shade and the way movement or space could be suggested challenges the balanced compositions and accurate drawing upheld by the traditional approach. In its stead Impressionist advocates the elements of realism, liveliness and movement. The usually “unfinished” final form of an Impressionist work insinuates an invitation for imagination of the beholder to explore further.

Although preaching as a ministry is not in full agreement with the aims and purposes of Impressionism, this article suggests that the above characteristics make spirituality, preaching, and Impressionism compatible. The idea of openness, creating space for the imagination of the hearer, the interplay between words and silence are features that characterize recent homiletical trends and shed light on further reflection on the ministry.

Biblical Interpretation and the Transformation of Life: A Ricoeurian Reading

Jason T. LAM

The aim of this essay is to offer an appreciative yet critical interpretation of Paul Ricoeur's early biblical hermeneutics. We will begin with an exploration of Ricoeur's appreciation of Bultmann's demythologisation, so as to display his intention of achieving a life-transforming scriptural reading. In 1970s Ricoeur purposefully applied his complicated philosophical hermeneutics to biblical interpretation. Revelation is, in his explication, a manifestation of the world of the biblical text. We find that, as a believing Christian philosopher, Ricoeur did that for the sake of listening to the divine Word anew in contemporary situation. In our analysis great tensions, which are profoundly related to his concern for achieving a life-transforming scriptural reading, are detected in his agenda in that period. I claim that the role of the interpreting community in this hermeneutic process is a crucial but underdeveloped element in Ricoeur's account, especially since Scripture is taken seriously as a testimony to the divine in the history of the Christian community. Nevertheless, this early agenda still provides us invaluable insights for incorporating biblical hermeneutics into the scope of Christian theology and this may be a remedy to the broken relationship between biblical studies and theology in the contemporary academic realm.

Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and the Transformation of Life: James Wm. McClendon, a Baptist Theologian View

Andres S. TANG

This paper introduces the Baptist, James Wm. McClendon's interpretation of baptism and the Lord's Supper. McClendon differentiates his viewpoint from those of the Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed (including Zwingli) by understanding the two sacraments in terms of John Austin's Speech-Act-Theory . As efficacious signs these sacraments are performance-utterance with ethical, transformational effects. In baptism the believer is called by God and responds to God in conversion and following of Jesus Christ. In this way, the believer's life is united to that of Jesus Christ with the effect that the believer is not his/her own master any more but has to be led by God on the way toward the cross. In the Lord's Supper the believers are gathered to reunite with Jesus Christ. The practice of eating and drinking is no mere symbol but, rather, a kind of performance-act that brings about solidarity with Christ and with one another, accepting the forgiveness of Christ and forgiving one another, remembering Christ with one's whole heart with thanksgiving, and anticipating one's path of suffering with the view of the imminent appearance of God's Kingdom. McClendon's interpretation of baptism and the Lord's Supper illustrates a way of doing Baptist theology that is different from Catholic and mainstream Protestant.

The Influence of Athanasius' Spirituality on His Ministry

Nathan K. NG

This article seeks to explain the importance of spirituality on one's ministry with the example of Athanasius. It is divided into two sections. The first one tries to explore the spirituality of Athanasius through his doctrinal treatises. The second one reveals how his ministry was affected and controlled by this spiritual idea.

Although Athanasius has different teachings for different groups, including ordinary congregation, female virgins and male monks, they are all based on the same principle. That is Athanasius' concept of spiritual journey. He urges everyone to walk on this way by contemplating God with a pure soul through virtuous acts. All his ascetic teachings are consistent with this idea. Spirituality may be said to be one of the controlling factors affecting Athanasius' ministry. Modern church ministers should review the influence of spirituality on their own ministry as well.

The Role of Jesus in Salvation: A Confucian Soteriology of Wu Leichuan

Kwong-pui CHAN

This article examines the soteriology of Wu Leichuan. Wu's soteriology is different from traditional Christian understanding in that he integrated the anthropology of Zhu Xi in his formulation. He recognized that every one needs others to stimulate his own goodness in the process of becoming a saint. Jesus serves an important and valuable role in the process of people's awareness and sanctification. Nevertheless, Wu ascertained that human beings could become saints through their own effort. The author concludes that Wu failed to achieve a coherent integration of the emphasis on Jesus' unique role in Christianity with the emphasis on human effort in Confucianism.

A Response to Dr. Robert Lo's Review of 1 & 2 Chronicles

Wong Fook Kong

This article is a response to Dr. Lo's review that appeared in the previous issue of Hill Road. The review was about the author's book on Chronicles published by the Chinese Christian Literature Council in 2003. In summary the author believes that a commentary targeted at the Christian laity should be scholarly, without being overly bogged down by academic argumentations, and devotional in nature . Homiletical and theological reflections should be drawn from a Christian canonical perspective rather than from an alleged “original” meaning of the text alone. Specific points of disagreement raised in the review and in this response include arguments over the meaning of the phrase, “before YHWH” in 1 Chronicle 11: 3 and 2 Chronicle 28: 1, whether it is helpful to include medieval Jewish interpretations in the author's discussions of 2 Chron. 28: 1, the author's short comment on the name Ahaz, and the use of Biblical and extra-Biblical sources for historical reconstruction of the reign of Hezekiah.

The Interpretation of Chalcedon Creed and the Sinful Nature of Christ: A Review on Recent Christianity-Buddhism Dialogues

Xue-fu ZHANG

Recently, the dialogue between Christianity and Buddhism becomes hot under the promotion of Drs. Lai Pan-chiu (赖品超) and Tang Siu-kwong (邓绍光). The exchanging between them are important since their discussion by focusing on the Christology of Chalcedon Creed is not something superficial. This article tries to analyze their ways of interpreting Chalcedon Creed and the theology such as Christology, the doctrine of Trinity and Christian Anthropology implied, and the complicated relationship between these and the employment of Buddhist resources for understanding the Christology of Chalcedon Creed. Lai interprets the modernity of theology from the perspective of the Christian tradition while Tang interprets Chalcedon Creed from the framework of the Postmodernity. Furthermore, these two different ways of interpretation have to do with different theological contexts. Lai inclines to adopt the theological norms of Eastern Orthodoxy and the theological methodology of Paul Tillich's whereas Tang employs contemporary theologies such as Jürgen Moltmann's to reconstruct the Christology of Chalcedon Creed first and then to identify the corresponding schema of the Chinese Buddhism for further interpretation. Lai understands Chalcedon Creed within the framework of the immanent Trinity by focusing on “the interpenetration” (相即相入) and “the perichoresis of events” (事事无碍) among various persons. Tang takes up the economic Trinity as the horizon within which the “God for us” is situated at the center and then interprets the subjectivity of Christ in terms of the Ab-grund (non-ground, 无本) of the two natures of Christ. This article finally points out the uniqueness of Chalcedon Creed that the “four-nots” is not merely for the sake of overcoming one-sidedness of speaking of Christ. Rather it is going to “speak the positive in terms of negative” so as to express the balance between the humanity and divinity of the person of Christ. Since Chalcedon Creed does not give any positive account of the union of the two natures of Christ, it is worth considering the interpretation of the four-nots in terms of “the interpenetration” (相即相入). However, this is quite different from the interpretation of the one of the three persons since the three persons share the same nature while the humanity and divinity of Christ do not.

Choong Chee Pang's John (I) and (II),with a Reflection on the Publications of Chinese Bible Commentaries

Poling J. SUN

Choong Chee Pang's commentaries on the Gospel of John, published by Tien Dao Publishing House, is by far the most comprehensive Chinese commentary on the Gospel. The fact that it is a two-volume set and that it is part of the wider Tien Dao Bible Commentary Series itself demonstrates a keen interest among Chinese Christian communities in understanding Biblical books.

While affirming this aspiration this review indicates that there is a distance before the balance of academic excellence and practical interest is attained. This review locates Choong's John (I) & (II) in the context of contemporary studies in the Gospel of John and suggests that, despite helpful information and notes, the commentaries fall short of achieving the balance.

This review argues that Choong's books reveal deeper and larger questions that limit Chinese theological publications. The lack of resources in developing and securing editorial colleagues results in an unsatisfactory editing and polishing procedures which, in turn, resulted in dubious editing strategy. The call for practical and contextualized reading for Chinese communities was given too soon and resulted in superficial attempts. The commentaries often overlook the text in its original contexts. The subtle interactions between academic findings and theories often lead to a negligence of the significance of biblical narratives and an apologetic reading of the texts. Such a reading falls short of expounding the biblical texts on the one hand; on the other hand, it casts unnecessary doubt on the academic effort, which could only do harm to theological education in the long run.

The Intra-Religious Dialogue Theory of Raimon Panikkar: Using Zhang Chunyi as an Illustration

Yuen-tai SO

This paper introduces the intra-religious dialogue theory of Raimon Panikkar. Panikkar thinks that religious dialogue should be an intra-religious dialogue on all levels. An intra-religious dialogue is not a kind of dialectical dialogue, treating the other party as an it; instead, an intra-religious dialogue is a dialogical dialogue, treating the other party as a Thou. Panikkar argues that religious people should encounter each other not on the essential level but on the existential level. This means that the faith and belief of different religions should join together totally in the hearts of the participants. One of the important consequences of Panikkar's theory is that since the participants have to understand other religious persons on all possible dimensions, including reason, experience, feeling etc., there is a possibility that the participants may change their belief. As Panikkar said,”…to understand is to be converted to the truth one understands.”

The author finds that when Panikkar's theory is applied to the Chinese Buddhist-Christian dialogue scholar Zhang Chunyi, it appears to hold true. This paper also explores the religious biography of Zhang, showing that Zhang changed from a Christian to a Buddhist after more than ten years of intra-religious dialogues. This shows that Panikkar's theory is a useful interpretative framework for analyzing the thought of religious dialogue participants. Finally, the author emphasizes that although Panikkar's theory is valid for those holding a pluralistic position with regard to religion, it may not be equally valid for others, especially exclusivists. This means that Panikkar's theory has a qualified applicability.