Calvinist Public Theology in Urban China Today

Chow, Alexander

doi:10.1163/15697320-12341340

Cited by 23 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 3 publications

(2 reference statements)

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“…Scholars characterized this kind of house church as "the new mode of urban house church", namely, the kind of house church that appeared in China since the 1990s, following the traditions of house churches in China, mainly constituted by younger generation of intellectuals (Homer 2010;Hong 2012). Chow (2014) reported that, as China's social connection with the world continues to grow, more and more Chinese people get to know and are converted to Christianity through studying abroad or making foreign acquaintances, which explains the large proportion of urban elites with international education experiences within the community of house church organizers.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

House Church: Investigating Chinese Urban Christians’ Choice of Religious Practicing Site in Wuhan, China

2018

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Abstract:In this paper, we discuss the reasons why urban Christians choose certain sites for religious activities and explain the rapid development of house churches in urban areas in China from the perspective of individual Christians, through survey data obtained by the Chinese Urban Research Center for Ethnic and Religious Affairs Management in the city of Wuhan. We found that Christians who attend religious activities in urban house churches are generally younger in age, higher in education level, and more likely to be working in independent, private, or foreign-invested enterprises. Further investigation reveals that "Three-Self churches" are few in number and poorly planned geographically, resulting in very limited service abilities, thus being far from satisfactory for all believers. Moreover, the activities of such churches are unvaried and lack attractiveness. On the other hand, in house churches, Christians are able to build tight-knit social networks and house churches are more competitively aware in the "religious market", leading some urban Christians to choose house churches, thereby inciting the fast development of house churches in Chinese urban areas.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

House Church: Investigating Chinese Urban Christians’ Choice of Religious Practicing Site in Wuhan, China

2018

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“…2 For general studies, see e.g., Ashiwa and Wank [2]; for Protestant church-state relations, see e.g., Schak [3]. For urban house churches see Gerda Wielander's study of Christian intellectuals which pays attention to Wang Yi [4]; on Calvinists, see Fällman [5]; Chow [6].…”

Section: Inmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Two things are immediately apparent in reading the ninety-five theses: the recurrent emphasis on China and China's place in God's world, and the marked drawing on a framework of covenants and a language of depravity, which are usually identified as Calvinist in China. 6 The coherence and indurate strength of the declarations derive from combining basic theological propositions taken from Calvin's Institutes and the Westminster Confession-expressed in the document in terms of scriptural references-with extensive application to a mainland Chinese environment. A central theological datum for Wang, for example, is freedom of conscience, which is linked to the church's freedom and so to church-state relations, to questions of what is legal and illegal, to who has ultimate authority over the conscience, and to the bible in its role as "the constitution of the church."…”

Section: Parsing the Thesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As he also notes, China's own Education Law has provision for religious schools (under State Council regulations), setting precedent for their acceptance as legitimate legal entitles [23]. 10 In Wang's thinking, a stance for freedom of conscience and for the achievement of constitutional rights is both a continuation of the work for the gospel of house church martyrs such as Wang Mingdao, and a gift to wider society in opening up civic space (this latter is why Alexander Chow wants to discuss Wang et al as "public theologians" rather than "Calvinist" ones [6]). It is also the only way to understand the history of church-state relations in the second half of the twentieth century, since the oppression of the church, Wang argues, has been political not legal, and the church-state clash a matter of politics not law.…”

Section: Church and Statementioning

confidence: 99%

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Wang Yi and the 95 Theses of the Chinese Reformed Church

Starr

2016

Religions

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Abstract:In August 2015, a group of pastors and elders from an urban house church in Chengdu, Sichuan, posted 95 theses online. This bold move, challenging the state and the Chinese churches has created controversy in China and abroad. The theses address a series of issues on sovereignty and authority with regard to God, the church and the government. This article considers briefly the historical and theological resemblances to Luther's act, then examines three of the most controversial aspects of the document: its analysis of church-state relations, its rejection of the "sinicization" of Christianity, and its excoriation of the state-registered church. Of these three, the article focuses on church-state relations, since perspectives on the state church and sinicization stem from the same arguments. The article shows how the thinking of this Reformed church and its senior pastor Wang Yi draws on a particular reading of the bible, church tradition, and the role of conscience, and traces these to pastor Wang Yi's earlier writings and his reading of sixteenth-and seventeenth-century Reformed thought.Keywords: Wang Yi; house churches; Chinese theology; Calvinist; 95 theses IntroductionIn late August 2015, two pastors and five elders from the Early Rain Reformed Church 1 in Chengdu, Sichuan, signed a document entitled "Reaffirming our Stance on the House Churches: 95 theses," an article that was accessed over thirty-eight thousand times in the first six months of its posting online [1]. The resemblance to Martin Luther's act of five hundred years earlier is not incidental, and while the hubris might bemuse, the document can be seen as a milestone of house church belief, broadcasting its challenge to the state and to the state-registered Protestant church in China. Luther's first posting of theses in mid-1517 had very little effect. It is too early to judge the significance of this new statement in church history, but the fiery, authoritative language, the standing of its lead author within the house church movement and the growing import of the Reformed (Calvinist) sector of the Chinese church, mean it would be impolitic to dismiss this as a stunt of mimicry. Where Luther set out to dispute the nature of repentance and salvation, and question the Pope's authority to issue indulgences to remit wrong, the Chengdu theses address a series of topics around sovereignty and authority as these pertain to God, the church, the government and the individual. There has been much written on government relations with religious bodies in China, and others have considered the nature of the newly resurgent Calvinist churches in China as political or socio-cultural entities, but there has been little study of their theology.2 This article examines three of the most

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“…Over the past decade, Reformed Christianity broadly based on the theology of Calvinism has spread widely in China (Brown 2009;Chow 2014aChow , 2014b. Descriptions of Calvinism vary greatly, often according to context.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Rise of Calvinist Christianity in Urbanising China

Kang

2019

Religions

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Over the past decade, Reformed Christianity, broadly based on the theology of Calvinism, has spread widely in China, especially by appealing to Chinese ‘intellectuals’ who constitute most of the house church leaders in urban areas. It draws its moral guidance from a so-called rational or intellectual focus on biblical theology, reinforced by theological training in special seminaries. It consequently rejects the ‘heresy’ of the older Pentecostal Christianity, with its emphasis on charisma, miracles, and theology based on emotional ‘feeling’. This Reformed theology and its further elaboration have been introduced into China in two main ways. The first is through overseas Chinese, especially via theological seminaries in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. For instance, preachings of the famous Reformed pastor Stephen Tong (唐崇荣) have been widely disseminated online and among Chinese Christians. Second, Korean missionaries have established theological seminaries mainly in cities in northern China. This has resulted in more and more Chinese church leaders becoming advocates of Calvinism and converting their churches to Reformed status. This paper asks why Calvinism attracts Chinese Christians, what Calvinism means for the so-called house churches of a Christian community in a northern Chinese city, and what kinds of change the importation of Reformed theology has brought to Chinese house churches. Various significant accounts have addressed this development in China generally. My analysis complements these accounts by focusing on a small number of interconnected house churches in one city, and uses this case study to highlight interpersonal and organizational issues arising from the Calvinist approach.

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Calvinist Public Theology in Urban China Today

Cited by 23 publications

References 3 publications

House Church: Investigating Chinese Urban Christians’ Choice of Religious Practicing Site in Wuhan, China

House Church: Investigating Chinese Urban Christians’ Choice of Religious Practicing Site in Wuhan, China

Wang Yi and the 95 Theses of the Chinese Reformed Church

The Rise of Calvinist Christianity in Urbanising China

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