How would I outline a Chinese perspective of justification? I could write a book on this, so I’ll have to limit this sketch to a few simple points. Some of these ideas or developed more in chapter 5 of Saving God’s Face.First, I need to make one clarification. I’m prescribing what should be the case. I’m not describing what Chinese pastors actually preach. This is because evangelical pastors in China have thoroughly western theologies. Why is this? Let’s not forget.... Read more
In talking about justification, Paul first answers the who-question, then the how-question. That was the point of my last post. Why does it matter? Why order matters Sadly, Western theology rarely stresses the identity question; instead, the greater emphasis is given to the how question (how is one justified?). Why do the Jedi masters of theology confuse the “who?” and “how?” questions? If we only talk about “achieved righteousness” (i.e. works vs. faith), we can quickly lose the historical context... Read more
The traditional perspective on justification gives a right answer to the wrong question. As a consequence, many people are teaching a true but nevertheless westernized view of justification. We can do better than this. In the last post, I explained that Paul’s Jewish opponents not only wanted “achieved righteousness” (per traditional Protestant teaching); they also believed in “ascribed righteousness.” That is, they thought the honor of being reckoned righteous was a privilege given only to Jews. Therefore, the Jews confused... Read more
Chinese culture may help us reconcile the “New Perspective on Paul” (NPP) and the traditional view of justification. Accordingly, we can also expect the NPP debate to have key implications for ministry in China and elsewhere. In a previous post, I offered two graphs that summarize the NPP and the traditional “Old Perspective on Paul (OPP). Now, I want to bring the two together in the graph below. The left side represents the way the OPP understands the Jewish problem... Read more
What do recent debates about justification have to do with China? In the last post, I summarized the traditional view (sometimes called the “Old Perspective on Paul“). In the past 30+ years, more and more scholars have adjusted their views due to the influence of what is called the “New Perspective on Paul” (NPP). What is the New Perspective on Paul? The NPP emphasizes one particular point above others: Paul’s doctrine of justification confronts the problem of ethnocentrism, not... Read more
How should justification influence our ministry in China? If we are concerned with sharing the gospel, we cannot ignore something called the “New Perspective on Paul” (NPP). For those unfamiliar with these names, I suggest that discussion about the NPP represents one of the most important and heated theological debates of the past 30 years. The NPP challenges the traditional way of understanding justification. However, “challenge” does not necessarily mean “contradict.” In writing Saving God’s Face, I found the entire... Read more
How do we contextualize the gospel for a Chinese context?More specifically, what would you say to this family? After all, contextualization should be concrete, not abstract. The most recent issue of Global Missiology has published my article “The Gospel with Chinese Characteristics–A Concrete Example of Cultural Contextualization.” This fourth article concludes the year-long series I’ve been writing on contextualization. I have tried to lay out the process of contextualization from beginning to end. Seeing Chinese Culture with a Biblical Lens... Read more
Next week, I’ll start a series on justification, wherein I’ll suggest that Chinese culture can help us reconcile some of the difference between the “New Perspective on Paul” and the traditional view of justification. In the meantime, I thought you might be interested in this video. Read more
God’s mission is at stake. Therefore, China matters for the way we do theology. (This is third reason I have listed in the series. Others were mentioned in Part 1 and Part 2). God’s mission is at stake This third reason naturally follows from what has been said. God’s promise to Abraham shapes all that happens in the rest of Scripture (Gen 12:3; 15:1–6; cf. Gal 3:8). God is righteous. He keeps his covenant. He will restore his kingdom over... Read more
Do you ever have volunteer teams come to China? I have created a contextualization packet specifically designed for short-term, cross-cultural workers. This packet can serve as an orientation guide for people less familiar with China and issues related to contextualizing the gospel. Long-term workers can use this packet to train national partners, team members as well as short-term volunteer teams. You can click the link above or check out my resource page. It is short enough for those who don’t... Read more
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