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Is an Asian Theology Possible?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 February 2009
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At the outset it is important to define the way in which some important terminology will be used in the arguments that follow: Theology in Asia is the theological reflection of Asian based or Asian oriented thinkers, for whom being in Asia does not determine the form or style of their theological activity.
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page 27 note 1 There is a certain amount of risk involved in using a phrase such as Asian Theology because for many European theologians it may carry overtones associated with Deutsches Christentum. But in Asia this can hardly be the case. The Christian community in Asia is a minority community and one that can never (humanly speaking) hope to become the dominant faith; it is rather the ‘leaven that leavens’ the whole. With an Asian theology the Church ‘confesses its faith and establishes its historical existence in dialogue with its own environment’. —Thomas, M. M. in his foreword to Boyd, R. H., An Introduction to Indian Christian Theology, Bangalore, 1969.Google Scholar
page 28 note 1 SEAJT, vol. II, Autumn 1969, p. 3.
page 28 note 2 ibid., pp. 4–5.
page 29 note 1 ibid., p. 4.
page 29 note 2 Christianity in World History, London, 1964, p. 425.
page 29 note 3 ibid., pp. 424–5.
page 30 note 1 Christianity in World History, London, 1964, p. 425.
page 30 note 2 ibid., p. 425.
page 30 note 3 ibid., p. 426.
page 30 note 4 ibid., pp. 427 and 426.
page 30 note 5 ibid., p. 427.
page 30 note 7 ibid., p. 409, cf. also pp. 418–22.
page 31 note 1 ibid., p. 18.
page 31 note 2 Farquhar, J. N., The Crown of Hinduism, Oxford, 1913.Google Scholar See also the sensitive account of Farquhar's influence and achievements in Sharpe, E. J., Not to Destroy but to Fulfil, Uppsala, 1965.Google Scholar
page 31 note 3 See Boyd, R. H., Introduction to Indian Christian Theology, Bangalore, 1969.Google ScholarBaago, K., Pioneers of Indigenous Christianity, Bangalore, 1969.Google ScholarThomas, M. M., The Acknowledged Christ of the Indian Renaissance, London, 1969.Google Scholar
page 32 note 1 See Documents of the Three-Self Movement, New York, 1963.
page 32 note 2 Germany, C. H., Protestant Theologies in Modern Japan, Tokyo, 1965Google Scholar, and also Michalson, Carl, Japanese Contributions to Christian Theology, Philadelphia, 1960.Google Scholar
page 32 note 3 The most accessible of his articles can be found in Vicedom, G. F. (ed.), Christ and the Tounger Churches, London, 1972, pp. 63–82: ‘The Role of Christology in the Christian Encounter with Eastern Religions’.Google Scholar
page 32 note 4 Koyama has published a number of very important articles in various periodicals: some have been published in his Waterbuffalo Theology, Singapore, 1971. See also his Five Minute Theology, Singapore, 1972.
page 32 note 5 See his Mission and Change.
page 32 note 6 See his article ‘Theology in Asia’, SEAJT, vol. 12, 1971.
page 32 note 7 Ukur's most important contribution is written in Indonesian and entitled The Challenge and Response of the Dyak People (translation of the title), Jakarta, 1971. In English see his article on ‘Salvation’ in Asia Focus, vol. VII, no. 4, 1972.
page 32 note 8 Gen. Simatupang is a prolific writer, always alert and sensitive to the importance of social and political thinking in the Asian churches.
page 33 note 1 Neill, , Colonialism and Christian Missions, London, 1966.Google Scholar
page 33 note 2 Mehl, R., The Sociology of Protestantism, London, 1970, pp. 164ff.Google Scholar
page 34 note 1 For the background to this proposition see Vaughan, B. N. Y., The Expectation of the Poor, London, 1972, chapters 5 and 6.Google Scholar
page 35 note 1 op. cit., p. 173.
page 35 note 2 Cox, Harvey, The Secular City, S.C.M. 1965.Google Scholar
page 35 note 3 van Peursen, , in The Student World, LVI (First Quarter) and LVI (Fourth Quarter), 1963.Google Scholar
page 36 note 1 Zahrnt, H., What Kind of God, London, 1971, p. 20.Google Scholar
page 36 note 2 See the study by Riepe, Dale, The Naturalistic Tradition in Indian Thought, Delhi, 1964.Google Scholar
page 37 note 1 See the EACC document, Confessing the Faith in Asia Today, Bangkok, 1966.
page 38 note 1 Ebeling, G., Word and Faith, London, 1963, p. 26.Google Scholar
page 39 note 1 A very good example of this kind of exegesis is demonstrated in an article by Koyama, Kosuke, ‘Meditation on an Epileptic Child’, in Asia Focus, vol. VII, no. 4, 1972, pp. 6ff.Google Scholar See also the papers from an EACC conference in Manila, 1972, Theology in Action.
page 39 note 2 The resurrection has been an important emphasis in Indian approaches. See the articles in The Indian Journal of Theology, vol. 17, no. 2, 1968.
page 39 note 3 cf. Ramsey, A. M., The Resurrection of Christ, London, 1950, p. 7:Google Scholar ‘The resurrection is a true starting point for the study of the making and meaning of the New Testament.’ See also McLeman, J., Resurrection Then and Now, London, 1965, ch. 9.Google Scholar
page 39 note 4 1 Cor. 15.18. cf. also Rom. 3.21–24; 5.1–2; 6.3–6; 8.11–12. Gal. 3.22–27.
page 40 note 1 1 John 3.2.
page 40 note 2 2 Cor. 5.17.
page 41 note 1 I hope to expand on this point in another context in the near future. It should be noted at this stage that I do not wish to minimise the importance of the cross and suffering in any attempt to theologise meaningfully about the faiths of others. However, to me the resurrection of Jesus is a first order theological concept, the cross is a second order concept, as is the concept of revelation.
page 41 note 2 The importance of the Old Testament background and its implications for Asian Christian thinking has been indicated by Kosuke Koyama in his collection of articles Waterbuffalo Theology, op. cit.
page 42 note 1 In the outline that follows it must be emphasised that the context is Asian culture and religions: it is the Christian interpretation of the world as this is grasped and understood in Asia that is determinative for the discussion.
page 43 note 1 In the sense of oikumenē—‘the whole world’.
page 43 note 2 Kaufman, G. D., Systematic Theology: A Historicist Perspective, New York, 1968, p. 114.Google Scholar But whenever a European theologian offers a comment such as this he must be careful to avoid the assumption that Asian theology ‘must justify itself before Western theology’ (M. M. Thomas, op. cit.). He must also avoid a patronising attitude that emphasises the importance of western theology above that of Asia or Africa. The two (or three) styles of theological reflection must enter dialogue as equals, each bringing to the discussion its own insights to be woven into the total fabric. This will only be possible when the West is more intimately conscious of the Eastern theological contribution. It is to be regretted that Kaufman only notes the relevance of Kitamori in two footnotes. For an indication of the importance of Asia at the present time the book by Oosterhuizen, G. C., Theological Battleground in Asia and Africa, London, 1972Google Scholar, should be consulted, together with that by Hargreaves, Cecil, Asian Christian Thinking, Delhi, 1972.Google Scholar On the other hand it is also important for Western theologians to examine the ‘objections to Christianity’ as these are framed by believers from other traditions. See, for example, Ohm, T., Asia Looks at Western Christianity, New York, 1959 (original German edition 1948)Google Scholar, and the brilliant study by Ragi, Isma'ilFaruqi, A. al., Christian Ethics, The Hague, 1967, especially the introduction.Google Scholar