THE CAPTIVITY OF THE CHURCH: THE REFORMATION, HOUSE CHURCHES IN CHINA AND ECUMENICITY

Lap-Yan Kung

Authors

Lap-Yan Kung Chinese University of Hong Kong

Keywords:

Chinese Church, Ecumenicity, Reformation

Abstract

The churches in every generation have the crisis of being in captivity in various ways. It is important for the churches to be attentive to the Gospel and to be humble to receive criticism in order to be God’s faithful witness. The concerns of this paper are what the captivity of the churches in the Reformation and in China are, how these two experiences are correlated and what theological and spiritual significance of their witnesses contribute to ecumenicity. On the one hand, house churches in China are enriched by the discovery of the Gospel of Luther’s reformation and its commitment to the ecumenicity of the churches. On the other hand, the experience of house churches in China raises the concern of ecumenical solidarity with the oppressed people.

Author Biography

Lap-Yan Kung, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Lap Yan Kung teaches Christian ethics, missiology and value education at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Apart from his academic life, he is a social activist, and meanwhile, he is the honorary general secretary of the Hong Kong Christian Institute.

References

K.H. Ting, God is Love, Colorado Springs: Cook Communications Ministries International, 2004.

Wolfhart Pannenberg, The Church, trans. Keith Grim, Philadelphia: Westminster, 1983.

Heindrich Holze, The Church as Communion, Geneva: LWF Publication, 1997.

http://religion.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/ acrefore-9780199340378-e-362

Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, trans. Helmut T. Lehman and Jaroslav Pelikan, vol. 26, St Louis: Concordia; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1955-1986.

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/lutheranfed-docs/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_2013_dal-conflitto-alla-comunione_en.html

http://catholicherald.co.uk/news/2017/01/19/pope-francis-martin-lutherwanted-to-renew-the-church-not-divide-her/

Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, trans. Helmut T. Lehman and Jaroslav Pelikan, vol. 41, St. Louis: Concordia; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1955-1986.

Paul Avis, “The True Church in Reformation Theology,” Scottish Journal of Theology 30 (1977).

David S. Yeago, “A Christian, Holy People: Martin Luther on Salvation and the Church,” Modern Theology 13, 1 (1997).

Eero Huovinen, “Doctor Communis? The Ecumenical Significance of Martin Luther’s Theology,” Lutherjahrbuch 80 (2013).

Daniel H. Bays, A New History of Christianity in China, Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012, 158-168; Philip L. Wickeri, Seeking the Common Good, Maryknoll: Orbis, 1988.

Chole Starr, “Wang Yi and the 95 Theses of the Chinese Reformed Church,” Religions 7 (2016).

Perry Schmidt-Leukel and Joachim Gentz, ed., Religious Diversity in Chinese Thoughti, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.

Richard Cook, Fundamentalism and Modern Culture in Republican China: The Popular Language of Wang Mingdaoi, University of Iowa, 2003, Unpublished PhD thesis. 23 http://www.chinaaid.org/2011/06/why-we-wont-join-three-self-patriotic.html

http://www.chinaaid.org/2011/06/why-we-wont-join-three-self-patriotic.html

http://www.chinapartnership.org/blog/2015/08/95-theses-the-reaffirmation-ofour-stance-on-the-house-church?rq=95%20theses

http://www.sara.gov.cn/llyj/332789.htm

Victor Turner, Ritual Process, New York: Transaction, 1995.

James K.A. Smith, Desiring the Kingdom, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009.

Jonathan Benney, Defending Rights in Contemporary China, London: Routledge, 2013.