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In Summary The Chinese world is increasingly raising up its own theologians-both those trained in the Western world as well as those trained in Asia. For both groups, one of the most vexing issues in Chinese theology continues to be ancestor worship. In the following article Nancy Porras attempts to analyze some current Chinese thinking on the subject while also offering her own helpful insights.

Successful interaction concerning spiritual things with Chinese must presuppose a thorough understanding of what the Chinese consider to be the most relevant issues of life. These issues will vary depending upon the situation of the individual; for example, growing up in a totalitarian state such as the People's Republic of China presents a set of problems and questions that may largely differ from those posed while growing up in the increasingly Westernized and more democratic Taiwan. However, because of a common heritage and some common socio/political challenges among Taiwan-born and Mainland-born Chinese, a few of these significant issues overlap, such as the implications of capitalism, or the truthfulness and efficacy of traditional Chinese religions.

How should the Christian respond to such issues? Perhaps the most obvious answer to this question is that the Christian should respond in a way that is consistent with Biblical teaching. As sound as this answer may be, the fact is that a strong understanding of the Biblical position on many issues has yet to be developed, especially in regard to the Asian world. Volumes have been written in the West on subjects such as the redemptive work of Christ and how to prove the existence of God. While these may be of interest to a Chinese person, they may not be as relevant as subjects such as a complete analysis of events surrounding death or an attempt at explaining human suffering. Fortunately, both Caucasian and Chinese Christians have recognized the need for developing theologies that deal with issues that are especially pressing for a Chinese person. The result has been a number of emerging theologies, such as Lynn de Silva's approach to contextualizing Christianity for Buddhists, or Raymond Fung's ideas on the "sinned againstness" of sinners.

In light of these emergent theologies, the Christian student of Chinese thought is then left with a two-fold task. First, s/he must have some sort of criteria by which to evaluate these new theologies, testing them against Biblical teaching and the response of the church as well as for cultural appropriateness. Second, s/he must work at examining those areas that have not yet been given sufficient thought and create appropriate theologies as necessary. This essay is an attempt at dealing with the first part of the task by developing a set of criteria with which to examine new theologies, and discussing ancestor worship as a case study which tests these criteria.

Doing Theology

Many Christians have never considered the words "doing theology" because for them, any theology that needs to be done was completed long ago. Said another way, a prevailing assumption is that all the answers have already been found by theologians of the past and the job of Christians today is to know these answers and forevermore apply them to the appropriate questions. Note here the concomitant, underlying assumption that the questions are as constant as the answers. In reality, however, the world, God's work in the world, and His interaction with people are not static. Thus, yesterday's questions may not be today's questions, and, furthermore, yesterday's answers may prove totally inadequate for today.

For theology to be meaningful, it must not only show us how Christians in the past dealt with critical issues but provide guidelines for dealing with present-day problems as well. And since the present generation and not a past generation lives in the world today, the present generation must be working out approaches that deal with twentieth-century issues. To reiterate:

Theologizing is the task of each new generation standing in its particular moment of history. It searches the Scriptures in order to discern the will of God and strives to receive guidance on its way toward the obedient life that must be pursued within the concrete issues of the world's concrete cultures (Conn 1984:233).

Put succinctly, the present generation must be able and active in doing theology.

Evaluating Theologies

As mentioned earlier, a number of Christians have had the insight necessary to develop Christian approaches to contemporary issues that plague the Chinese mind and are thus actually doing theology. However, these new ideas should not be uncritically accepted simply because their originators have made a much needed and appreciated attempt at doing theology. If Christians hope to avoid problems such as heresy and syncretism, they must be capable of examining these theologies and determining whether or not they are sound.

One way of evaluating a theology is to test it against a set of pre-established criteria. Theologians writing on the subject of emerging theologies have suggested various criteria. For example, Wilson W. Chow asserts that theologies require "the illumination and the guidance of the Holy Spirit," "obedience to the Word of God," and an attention to "the life situation in which we find ourselves" (in Ro & Eshenaur 1984:83,84). Others add that theology must also be prophetic (Tano in Ro & Eshenaur 1984:95), confessional, and communal in nature (Conn 1994: 241,246).

My goal is not to invent a totally new or unique set of criteria just for the sake of originality, but rather to synthesize the valuable criteria that have already been offered by other theologians. Also, in keeping with the limited scope of this essay, an extensive treatment of each criterion will not be provided. However, the reader is encouraged to consult the bibliography to provide direction for more detail. To enhance clarity, divisions will be made between various aspects of these criteria (e.g., Scriptural and cultural), but the reader should remember that these are only to aid in comprehension of the material and do not necessarily represent clean divisions that occur in reality.

The first few criteria examine a theology in terms of the Bible and the body of believers for whom the focus of the theology is most relevant. Emerging theologies must start with the Bible. This is not to say that they end with the Bible, nor that they ignore the context. But their direction must be from Text to context (life situation), rather than from context to Text. Chow explains:

If we begin with the context, we may be able to set a theological agenda, but very often the Scripture is used, if not manipulated, to support theologians' viewpoints or conclusions which are primarily shaped by sociological, psychological, political and cultural factors (in Ro & Eshenaur 1984:85).

Next, theologies must square with the whole of Scripture, and not merely with isolated verses which serve as "proof texts." Included here is rigorous, honest exegesis which approaches the text with a willingness to see and accept what it actually says.

Finally, a theology must not be created in isolation, but within a community of believers who are led by the Holy Spirit. Crucial issues confront the whole church as well as individuals and should be responded to by the whole church. This will include the church universal to the extent that an issue has global implications.

The next few criteria deal with socio/cultural questions. First, a good theology will begin with a proper perspective on the culture in question. Paul Hiebert uses the term "critical contextualization" to refer to such a perspective. Within this framework, all elements of a particular culture are not blindly embraced, nor are they all ethnocentrically rejected. Rather, important elements are studied to determine those which must be rejected because "the forms and symbols are too closely tied to the specific beliefs of the old religion," those which are completely acceptable as is, and those which "can be used with new meanings given to them" (Su 1985:3).

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Nancy Porras is currently completing a master's degree in Teaching English as a Second Language at the University of Hawaii. She hopes to one day minister as an English teacher among Chinese.


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