Koorong<\/a>.<\/p>\nBy Edwin Chow<\/p>\n
Jackson W. (Wu) is a teacher of theology and missiology in a seminary in Asia. He is\u00a0not actually of Chinese descent but an American who has two decades of experience\u00a0working in East Asia. He uses this pseudonym for security reasons and in order to connect\u00a0with people in his context.\u00a0Reading Romans with Eastern Eyes<\/em> aims to help people from a Western cultural\u00a0background read Romans through an Eastern cultural lens. Wu believes that our\u00a0understanding of the bible is inevitably coloured by our cultural context.\u00a0In this book, Wu\u00a0shows how adopting an Eastern cultural lens uncovers details in the text that would\u00a0otherwise be missed from a Western reading.<\/p>\nWu focuses on honour-shame as a point of contact between Eastern and biblical\u00a0cultures.\u00a0Honour (or \u201cface\u201d) is defined as \u201cone\u2019s perceived worth according to agreed\u00a0standards of a particular social context.\u201d\u00a0Honour-shame cultures have three main distinctives. Firstly, they emphasise tradition. They prefer harmony, conformity to group\u00a0standards, and prioritise blood line relationships. Secondly, they emphasise relationships.\u00a0Honour-shame cultures are collectivist cultures. The group matters more than the\u00a0individual, loyalty and reciprocity are obligated, and identity and honour is shared among\u00a0group members.\u00a0Thirdly, they emphasise hierarchy. Authority is not viewed negatively.<\/p>\n
Instead, there is a desire for good leaders who can win honour and share it with the group.\u00a0This usually is expressed in patriarchal authority, ethnocentrism and patronage.\u00a0Honour-shame and Romans\u00a0Wu suggests that Paul\u2019s main purpose of Romans can be uncovered by viewing his\u00a0writing through an honour-shame lens. Most Eastern cultures are \u2018high-context\u2019, where\u00a0communication is not purely explicit but also involves implicit cues. Based on this\u00a0understanding of communication in Roman culture, Wu believes that Paul also uses indirect\u00a0or implicit communication. Therefore, it is necessary to read between the lines in order to\u00a0understand Paul\u2019s purpose.\u00a0Wu uses this idea of indirect communication to harmonise the multiple purposes\u00a0found in Romans. One purpose is Paul\u2019s missionary purpose, found in the letter frame,\u00a0which describes Paul\u2019s desire for the support of the Roman church for his missionary work in\u00a0Spain. Another purpose is Paul\u2019s pastoral purpose, found in the letter body, which addresses\u00a0the local concerns of division within the Roman church. By viewing Paul\u2019s theological\u00a0arguments in the letter body as indirect communication, Wu places the pastoral purpose\u00a0under Paul\u2019s missionary purpose.<\/p>\n
According to Wu, Paul realises that social divisions would have undermined Rome\u2019s\u00a0ability to assist Paul in his journey to Spain. However, Paul\u2019s concern was not just Jewish\u00a0ethnic pride, but also Roman ethnic pride. Roman Christians prided themselves of being\u00a0Greek (\u1f11\u03bb\u03bb\u03b7\u03bd), and this had the potential to be an obstacle for the support in reaching the\u00a0\u2018barbarians\u2019 of Spain. Paul implicitly addresses this pride by showing how God is against\u00a0Jewish (and therefore Roman) ethno-centrism. He also reminds the Romans that they are\u00a0\u201cmere Gentiles\u201d (\u1f10\u03b8\u03bd\u03b7) within God\u2019s salvation plan.\u00a0Paul uses this implicitly critique within\u00a0the letter body to establish support for his missionary work to Spain.<\/p>\n
Wu argues that the key honour-shame word in Romans is glory. A theme found\u00a0throughout Romans is the glory of God, which refers to God\u2019s status or honour as king.\u00a0Humanity\u2019s glory is restored through Christ, who unites us to the glory of God by conforming\u00a0us to be in his image (Rom 8:29-30), restoring our status as children and coheirs with Christ.\u00a0Wu turns to Romans 5-8 to unpack what humanity\u2019s hope of glory entails. Wu\u00a0defines this as the \u201cglory from God given at believers\u2019 resurrection.\u201d Because of sin, people\u00a0had given up God\u2019s immortal glory (1:23). By turning away from God as their source of glory,\u00a0they also had forsaken their own glory, receiving death in the process. God restores this\u00a0glory by \u201cfreeing us from the shame of slavery to death\u201d and granting us immortality\u00a0(8:11). In Romans 8, Paul appeals to God\u2019s love, the Spirit, and the new status as means for
\npersevering in order to receive the hope of glory.\u00a0Wu uses the idea of boasting to distinguish whether one receives God\u2019s glory. It is\u00a0those who boast (or rejoice) in the glory of God, even in the midst of suffering, who receive\u00a0glory (5:2). On the other hand, those who boast in human glory and praise cannot please\u00a0God (8:8) and will not receive glory (8:17).\u00a0This glory is given to us by the Spirit and involves both resurrection and adoption\u00a0(8:16). It also involves a subjective transformation of the heart. This transforms the\u00a0standard of honour; Christians now seek to honour God with how they live (8:4-9). Wu\u00a0states \u201cGod\u2019s people are now willing to \u201close face\u201d in order to give God \u201cface.\u201d \u201d<\/p>\n
Paul links the ideas of glory with suffering. Firstly, God uses shame for glory.\u00a0Secondly, God regards shame as glory. This is most evident in the crucifixion. The cross is\u00a0considered shameful by the world, but God uses it to display his glory. Consequently, what
\nwas shameful by the world is now considered glorious. Through Christ\u2019s example, God\u00a0transforms how Christians view honour-shame; God\u2019s people are now honoured through\u00a0their suffering and shame. Suffering is necessary as a way to express our loyalty to Christ\u00a0and will be vindicated by God (8:17).\u00a0Wu suggest that this has implications for how we live now. Firstly, we have a new
\nidentity as children and co-heirs with Christ (8:17). This new identity changes where we look\u00a0to for honour; we need to seek honour from God rather than the world. According to Paul,\u00a0where we source our honour is a matter of life and death (8:13). This also shapes how we\u00a0communicate the gospel. An honour-shame framework might focus on resurrection as\u00a0freedom from the shame of sin and a new allegiance to Christ as king. While Western gospel\u00a0presentations focus on what we are saved from, Romans 5-8 describes the outcome of\u00a0salvation in the here and now. Believers are now part of a new family, with the power of the
\nSpirit to honour God their Father.<\/p>\n
While there are risks involved with imposing cultural readings on biblical texts, Wu\u2019s\u00a0conclusions offer a unique perspective on Romans that may address some missing pieces in\u00a0Western theology. Wu\u2019s book offers useful reflections not only on discipleship but also on\u00a0mission and evangelism in honour-shame contexts.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jackson Wu Reading Romans with Eastern Eyes: Honor and Shame in Paul\u2019s Message and Mission. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity. Available at Koorong. By Edwin Chow Jackson W. (Wu) is a teacher of theology and missiology in a seminary in Asia. He is\u00a0not actually of Chinese descent but an American who has two decades of experience\u00a0working […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":196,"featured_media":14769,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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