山道期刊

Wisdom for Life: A Consideration of Wisdom in the Old Testament

WONG Fook Kong

The concept of wisdom in the Old Testament includes both practical and philosophical wisdom. In the usage of the word “wisdom” as well as in the teachings of the books of Ecclesiastes and Proverbs, practical and philosophical wisdom are inextricably joined together. In the case of Proverbs, practical wisdom flows naturally from its theological-philosophical view of life. In the case of Ecclesiastes, penetrating practical wisdom permeates the book despite its assertion of the meaninglessness of life. In this respect, ancient Israelite wisdom was similar to wisdom in the ancient Near East, where both the usage of the term wisdom and the contents of the wisdom literature involved practical as well as philosophical wisdom.

Faithfulness to God: Reflections on the Wisdom of Solomon 13-15

Richard LS PHUA

Faithfulness to God, a “given” within Judaism, requires little explication. However, it is mentioned in almost every Old Testament text and throughout most Second Temple Jewish texts. Oftentimes it is rhetorically and polemically argued, sometimes straightforwardly, sometimes indirectly. The latter may be seen in the ancient book of the Wisdom of Solomon, particularly chapters 13-15.

What is “faithfulness to God”? This question seems easy enough to answer. However, within Wisdom of Solomon “faithfulness to God” is viewed differently and, in chapters 13-15, it is explicated in terms of “wisdom”. But what is “wisdom”? More specifically, what is “wisdom” in the Second Temple period? Is it mere knowledge about God and Jewish theology, or is it merely about being “street-smart”?

This paper proposes a different appropriation, and therefore a different concept of “wisdom” in the Second Temple period, represented notably in the Wisdom of Solomon chapters 13-15.

The central tenet of Israelite religion according to the Old Testament is the belief in the one God, Yahweh. However, this was neglected by the people during most of Israel's history before the exile. It was during the exile that the Jewish people reviewed their history , reflected upon their national tragedy and fate, and realised that their ancestors had failed to keep the Law of God and were unfaithful to Yahweh. This theme, however, is not new. They discovered that their prophets had long ago prophesied against their unfaithfulness and that in their wisdom literature the fear and therefore worship of the One True God of Israel was essential to the attainment of true wisdom. All this means “faithfulness to God”.

The theme of wisdom therefore continues and, to some extent, culminates in the writing of the Wisdom of Solomon, in which the author strongly rejects and condemns idolatry and other religious traditions, not least the Egyptian animal worship, and in chapters 13-15, the author singles out idolatry for discussion. This paper seeks to demonstrate the theme of faithfulness through a careful analysis of these three pertinent chapters and concludes that “true wisdom”, to the author of Wisdom of Solomon, is to be found in one's faithfulness to God.

The Practical Wisdom of James

Luke CHEUNG

The overall concern of the Epistle of James is not “faith with works” or the theme of faith, as many Chinese Christian readers tend to assume. James 1:2-4 states the pastoral concern of this work: the program to perfection in Christian life. To this end, wisdom plays a highly significant role. Christians are to pray to God for this wisdom from above (1:5). It is this wisdom that allows one to discern right and wrong, truth from deceit and gives people strength to counteract the evil inclination in oneself (1:12-17). Whether the wisdom one has is wisdom from above or worldly wisdom can be discerned from their respective manifestations in one's life. The wisdom from above demonstrates itself in the rainbow of seven characteristics (3:17). These seven (the number for perfection) characteristics are headed by the primary and overarching concern for purity. The rest can be further divided into three groups: (1) peaceable, gentle, willing to yield; (2) full of mercy and good fruits; and (3) without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy, which in turn are closely associated with the major themes found in James. The total outworking of these characteristics of wisdom from above is summarized by the aphorism in 3 :18: the peaceful person will bring forth righteousness, and will, in return, receive the crown of life.

Possessing wisdom is related closely with one's submission to the law. This law, which is the practical side of the implanted word, leads one to freedom and perfection (1:21-25). One with wisdom and understanding will obey the law and one who obeys the law will bring forth wisdom. They are indispensable from each other. Finally, wisdom is made available to the messianic people of God during the end time. It is a time moving towards the final judgement of God (5:9), a time full of testings, but also a time of progress towards maturity and perfection (1:12). Wisdom allows one to see life in the light of the eschaton and gives us strength to live this life wisely.

Practice, Wisdom, and Tragic Faith

Immanuel C. KE

This article aims to illustrate the possibility of having practical wisdom and the necessity of bearing tragic faith. Based on studies of Greek and Hebrew tragedies, this article argues that we cannot have real practical wisdom because we cannot comprehend the whole conditions of our existence. Tragedy is the negation of practical wisdom, even of the wisdom of life. Unless we are able to overcome tragedies, we could not have practical wisdom. Therefore, both practice and wisdom are necessary and the only wisdom we can have is the one arising from the faith testified by tragedies. Tragic faith is not only the faith that we get through tragedy but also one that contains tragedy. Wisdom from tragic faith is to believe the tragic God in Jesus Christ, who is the concourse of all kinds of tragedy. Only the tragedy of Jesus Christ can appropriate and transform the extreme tragedies in this world, and only it can point the way out of tragedies. This article believes that only one who believes in Jesus Christ could have the wisdom to overcome tragedies and that this wisdom is not only practical wisdom but also wisdom of life.

A Discussion of the Phronesis of Hauerwas

Wai-tung CHO

A contemporary challenge in ethical studies is to establish a rational foundation or criteria for judging right from wrong, virtuous from wicked. Stanley Hauerwas points out that ethical theory is not suited to the task of identifying the rational foundation for morality because behavior cannot simply be justified by theory. Upholding the idea that narrative is the key to ethical reflection, he argues that in the absence of narrative the interpretation of moral experience in ethical reflection is flawed.

Many, including James Gustafson, in turn, criticize Hauerwas' promotion of ethical reflection from the perspective of Christian narrative. His critics charge that if all moral questionings are relative to a certain “particular” narrative rationality, it will be impossible to advance any arbitration of “public” rationality between two different traditions, for a rationality with narrative as its foundation can deny the external objective truth altogether.

This article aims to defend Hauerwas' perspective by showing that he has not given up any notion of objective truth through his interpretation and elaboration of phronesis. As a matter of fact, Hauerwas points out how closely narrative is related to truth issues and how it can contribute to possible conditions for truth. By elaborating on several major ideas of Hauerwas, such as narrative vision, narrative rationality, phronesis, and the truthfulness of phronesis, this article seeks to elucidate the alternative rationality and exposition of the concept of truth advocated by Hauerwasian ethics.

Toward a Christological Pragmatic Reading of the Scripture: The Relationship between Biblical Narrative, Christian Identity and the Constitution of Theology in the Thought of Hans Frei

Jason TS LAM

It is commonly held that Hans Frei's view on biblical hermeneutics changed over the course of his career, which can be divided into two stages: the early Frei put more emphasis on the nature of biblical narrative, the later Frei focused on the consensus of the faith community. Although this “change” is quite obvious, I want to show in this essay that what is more crucial in understanding Frei's thought is his underlying theological concern in Christology. We could only understand the rationale for his so-called “change” if we take Frei's concern seriously.

In addition, this Christological concern is a key for Frei to relate his biblical hermeneutics to the constitution of Christian identity. In Frei's view, to narrate the Gospel story is to narrate the identity and hence the presence of Jesus Christ. But not only that, the church, the faith community which narrates the story, also gains her identity by retelling the same story, although this understanding of the “subjective self” of the church is analogous to rather than identical with that of Jesus. Frei's concern was always reading the identity of Jesus Christ in the church, which was also the theological reason proposed by Frei for the faith community to make an ongoing Christological pragmatic reading of the scripture.

This view pertains to the concept that Christian theology is a self-description of the Christian community in Frei's late thought. In a sense, nevertheless, the faith community is potentially the whole world. If the Christian community is not to be taken as an isolated secret sect, then by hook or by crook there should be a certain mechanism transforming insiders' reflection into proclamation for outsiders. I suggest that Frei was not unaware of this issue, and his unfinished project of modern Christian theology may hint at a remedy. The point is that a kind of figural reading is suggested. This kind of reading is based on the redescription of the sensus literalis with ad hoc correlation, such that the self-identity of the Christian community and hence theology may still be grounded in Jesus Christ with a pragmatic concern with the ever-changing context. This is an important lesson we could learn from Hans Frei's legacy.

A Review on the Discussion of Doing Contextual Theology

Chun LAM

This paper is on the one hand, an attempt to affirm the endeavours of Chinese missiological scholars, especially Dr. Enoch Wan, the prominent scholar who recently wrote a book named Sino-Theology: A Survey Study, which seeks to provide a comprehensive survey of Chinese contextual theology. On the other hand, this paper argues that the survey still needs to evolve and develop in some other important and basic areas in doing contextual theology in order to give a more structural and comprehensive review suitable to the Chinese culture and context.

Before going on to the main discussion, the author states that two main articles (written by invited scholars) printed in a journal for Christian pastors and ministers, mainly derived from Dr. Wan's book, do not constitute a sufficient base or platform for discussion. Therefore, the discussion can only be limited to its methodology, and some general concepts.

The first thing that the author wonders is why Dr. Wan does not rethink the method of classification followed in western theological circles, which has resulted in missiology being marginalized in theological studies and pastoral practice in the last century. Classifying the discipline under the category of Practical Theology may be due to the Christian context in the western world. The classification should be altered when we are thinking about contextual theology for the third world, where people's current faiths are other world religions or indigenous religions. The Christian church should take up her responsibility to share the gospel and the witness of Jesus Christ among these peoples. Scholars have to consider a new theological classification to situate missiology in a proper way in order that the church can be equipped as the witness of Jesus Christ.

Secondly, Dr. Wan's rejection of traditional western theology cannot justify his attempt at doing a new kind of contextual theology for the third world. It cannot be considered as an objective review that is able to keep pace with the new status of western theology. To this extent, the author is concerned that the innovation in his theology does not go beyond western theology. His achievement consists of proposing some creative ways of doing contextual theology. According to the author, a good contextual theology has to reflect on the whole context and culture of the target people. Only then will such a theology be fruitful for the indigenous church.

Finally, to accomplish a contextual theology for the Chinese and other third world people, the author prefers the model of Christ's incarnation in terms of a theology relevant to the total context of the culture. This implies that doing contextual theology in terms of processing translation in language, concept and cultural adaptation is not sufficient for a fast changing world. The preferred model also requires an aptitude for mutual enrichment of both sides in the form of partnership as a way of doing Contextual Sino-theology.

The Application of the Narrative Approach to Counseling for Pastoral Care Givers

Su-hua LIEW

The article introduces to pastoral care givers the application of Narrative Approach to counseling by laying out the tenets of the method. A basic assumption of the Narrative Approach is that realities are socially constructed rather than absolute. Along this line, the concept of “not- knowing” and the use of language in storytelling play important parts in the practice of the approach. During the process of creating new stories, which is meant to help clients process their life, the abilities to listen, to question with deconstruction, to reflect, and to be conscious of the significance of documents in people keep form a counseling web for pastoral care givers.

Barth's Christological Harmatiology in Mahāyāna Perspective

LAI Pan Chiu

The main aim of this essay is twofold. Firstly, it attempts to explore Barth's Christological anthropology and harmatiology, especially their implications for Buddhist-Christian dialogue. Secondly, it endeavors to provide a rejoinder to Andres Tang's response to the present author's previously published essays related to Buddhist-Christian studies.

In the first part of this essay, Barth's anthropology and harmatiology in his Church Dogmatics are explored. In the perspective of Barth's Chalcedonian Christology, especially viewed from the perspective of the resurrected Christ who has overcome sin, sin is considered as an impossible possibility. This implies the view that though sin is a human phenomenon, authentic humanity, as it is revealed in Jesus Christ, excludes sin.

The second part explains the practical considerations and implications underlying Barth's Christological anthropology and harmatiology. For Barth, as sin is regarded as an impossible possibility having no necessity in authentic humanity, which is determined by God's graceful election instead of sin, there is no reason whatsoever to justify it dogmatically or practically. According to Barth, every human being is on the way to sanctification though not everyone has been awakened to faith. This view is similar to the Tathāgatagarbha thought formulated in the Discourse on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna.

On the basis of the first two parts, the third part gives a response to Andres Tang's view that Barth's Christology, with its emphasis on Christ's participation in human sinfulness, is very similar to the perfect doctrine proposed by Tien-tai Buddhism, which emphasizes the character of coherence. This paper suggests that this is a rather one-sided reading of Barth's Christology, overlooking the aspects of Barth's Christology explored in the earlier part of this paper. This paper further argues that Barth's Christology as a whole comes even closer to the perfect doctrine proposed by the Hua-yen school of Buddhism, which emphasizes the character of completion; and hence it combines both the characteristics of the perfect doctrine proposed by Hua-yen and Tien-tai.

The last part responds to the first five points raised in Tang's essay published earlier in Hill Road.

Firstly, this paper clarifies that the issue at stake is not whether Christ had a human and sinful body, but whether this sinful body is a necessary and indispensable part of his humanity. This paper reiterates the point that as sin is not a necessary part of humanity, it can be removed without diminishing Christ humanity. In this sense, sinful flesh is not a necessary constituent part of Christ humanity. Its dispensability is demonstrated by the resurrected Christ, who is fully human with a human body but without sin. This paper further suggests that Tang's worry that using the model of “one heart with two gates” of the Treatise on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna to explain Christ's humanity will lead to Docetism is not well-grounded. According to the treatise the two gates (one is pure and the other impure) are not actual entities referring to soul and body respectively—impurity to body and purity to soul. Instead , the treatise's view of human nature comes rather close to that of Barth in its affirmation that though impurity is a human phenomenon, authentic humanity remains pure.

Secondly, this paper attempts to clarify what the present author endeavored to discuss in a previous essay is which the term—”sinful flesh” or “sinful nature”—is more adequate. The author did not assume that there were two distinct or separate entities —one is sinful flesh and the other sinful nature.

Thirdly, the author agrees with Tang's suggestion that Irving's understanding of the dependence on the Holy Spirit can be reinterpreted in terms of the Buddhist doctrine of emptiness. However, the author would like to point out that this remains inadequate on two accounts. Considering Irving's anthropology , dependence on the Holy Spirit is only one of the aspects and the other aspect is human free will, which is related to the image of God. Referring to the Chalcedon formula, which emphasizes that the distinctions between the two natures of Christ are preserved in the union, the concept of emptiness as such fails to explain the distinctions between Christ's human and divine natures as both of them are empty. This consideration made the author introduce the doctrine of Tathāgatagarbha in addition to the philosophy of Mādhyamika when attempting to explain the Chalcedon formula in Buddhist terms.

Fourthly, though the primary focus of the Chalcedon formula is the relationship between the two natures, one should not overlook its implication for anthropology. This is because the Chalcedon formula has its soteriological concern and anthropological implications, which have been spelt out by Barth rather clearly . These implications can contribute to a fuller understanding of the formula and are important for Buddhist-Christian dialogue.

Lastly, the author basically agrees with the fifth point raised by Tang. What the author stated in his previous essay is not that Tien-tai and Hua-yen are two mutually exclusive systems, but that the criteria for perfect teaching proposed by the two Buddhist schools are incommensurable. While Hua-yen takes eschatological completion as the criterion for perfect teaching, Tien-tai treasures coherence without obstruction or separation as the criterion. However, for individual doctrine, eg Barth's Christology, it is quite possible to combine the features treasured by Tien-tai and Hua-yen respectively.