A Study Of Chen Zemin's Theological Thought About "situation"

As a foreign religion introduced into China,Christianity must establish a good tie with Chinese culture for its development.And the "contextualization" is an effective means.The "contextualization " is a new idea to integrate the thoughts of Christianity and the connotation of Bible into the specific context.As the result and unavoidable extension of "localization" and "adaptation",its ultimate purpose is for the mutual coordination and adaptation between religious culture and the society and culture where it is spread.A look at the history shows that Chinese Christianity has always on the track of "contextualization",which has given rise to lots of theological thinkers represented by Chen Zemin.Chen's "contextualization" theological thought,with "reconciliation" theology at the core and a focus both on theoretical expansion and social practice,is characterized by its commitment to "honoring god and benefiting people",openness mind and keeping up with the times,and anticipation of the bright future of "contextualization" of theology.In terms of theoretical contents,Chen's "contextualization" theological thought consists of social attitude,social form,and social culture.As regards social attitude,he re-defined the spiritual view and corrected relevant errors in social practice at that time,with suggestion that a reconciliation be achieved between spiritual view and social attitude.As for social form,he gave an explanation of the concrete path of "contextualization" of Chinese church in China based on the theory that "theology is what the church is thinking about," with an advice that a harmony between Christian and socialist forms of society be realized.In respect of social culture,he advocated that Christian culture should be on good terms with social culture,and that Christianity should re-define the doctrine and ritual of the Bible for Christian culture to better adapt to the Chinese culture,as embodied in his views on God,Christ,man and church.In terms of social practice,Chen was an active figure in educational activities to o train qualified teaching personnel who love their country and Christianity;an active figure in social activities for public good to push the integration of Christianity into social life and its harmony with socialist society;and an active figure in digging out and fusing excellent traditional culture with Christian music and other cultural contents to develop a Christian culture with Chinese.Chen's "contextualized" theology indicates that the path of contextualization must be followed for Christian's future development in China,that focus must be placed on core issues,and that positive response must be made to the requirements of the times.Chen's "contextualized" theological thought deeply echoes the religious core of "honoring god and benefiting people" in Christianity.At the core of his thought is a good term with God,with man,and with society.In the future,Christianity must put first the interests of the people in its development,and grow itself into a Christian church with Chinese characteristics and in line with the national and historical requirements.