Grassroots Asian Theology: Thinking the Faith from the Ground Up

I like it.

This book is really interesting in its pursuit of ressourcement and agiornamiento as regards theology in an Asian context; Chan expresses his methodology well and pulls from multiple denominational and historical sources--all great work. By the end of the book, the main question he appears to be asking is what to do with ancestors, and I don't think the book answers this question satisfactorily.

Excellent book, for those in Asian cultures and for others. Many insights. Highly recommend.

Quick delivery good book

Very insightful perspective!

Great book.

This book answers a question that has been bothering me. Is the academic theology emerging from the two-thirds world really relevant to the ordinary experience of Christian believers? In academic circles all the discussion seems to be about Korean minjung theology, Indian Dalit theology, varieties of Asian liberation theology, and so forth. Either that or you find highly theorised deconstructive accounts of the Christian faith which purport to be "contextual" but end up sounding strangely like all the other highly theorised deconstructive writing that has poured out of English departments (and, later, Religious Studies departments) since the 1970s. In this book Simon Chan poses a challenge to the familiar styles of contextual theology. He argues that these "elitist" theologies are alienated from the experience of Christians across the Asian world. Grassroots Christianity is ignored or even derided by the elitist contextual theologians. And, in turn, believers in Asian churches feel that academic theology has nothing much to say to them. In the words of one observer quoted by Chan: "Liberation theology opted for the poor and the poor opted for Pentecostalism." Chan argues clearly and passionately for a very different theological approach. What interests him is the theological understanding that is latent within real worshipping communities, and the way this understanding participates in the catholicity of the church. This means Chan refuses to see "Western" thought as the bogeyman. He draws extensively on Catholic and Orthodox sources to explore the catholicity of grassroots beliefs in Asia. He insists that an authentically "Asian theology" must be a theology for the whole church. Chan is impertinent enough to find Watchman Nee more interesting than C. S. Song; he thinks David Yonggi Cho is more important than minjung theology. He treats Pentecostal piety with great seriousness and defends its insights into christology and pneumatology. He argues for a hierarchical model of the Trinity against egalitarian models. He shows that the scriptural (and Pentecostal) themes of Christ as healer and Christ as deliverer are far more important to Asian christology than any of the well-known contextualised christologies. The main body of the book is impossible to summarise adequately. It is arranged like a miniature systematic theology. Chan makes his way through all the classical doctrinal topics, drawing heavily on the concept of the family, the honour-shame distinction, and ancestral piety. The last chapter, which connects the veneration of ancestors to the doctrine of the communion of saints, is brilliant. Here you get to see what Chan really wants: not just to interpret Christianity in light of Asian traditions, but to contribute to a fuller understanding of the Christian faith for the whole church. Let me stop beating about the bush: this is a terrific book. It is courageous. It is challenging. It is profound. For my money, it would have to be one of the most unfashionable things you could read this year, and one of the most rewarding.

I've been following closely the thoughts of the Singapore theologian Dr Simon Chan since at least his publication of 'Spiritual Theology' in1998.This book 'Grassroots Asian Theology' is arguably one that lays out his theology most explicitly to date. As such, it opens up a wide range of vistas into the various aspects of Christian thought and practice notably in the Asian context. The first chapter discusses the various methods undertaken by various theologians in developing a theology relevant to the pluralistic Asian background. Chan basically found the elitist approach such as represented by the liberationist theologies of CS Song, MM Thomas, etc wanting not least because it fails to address the primal spiritual consciousness of the people. He proposes in its place a theology 'from below' that takes seriously the ecclesial experience of the ordinary men and women of the church and uses the concept of the Trinity as an organizing principle. He then demonstrates throughout the rest of the book how this is done using the classical systematic theology schema. In the discussion on God, he sees the trinity as analogous to the human family and takes the functional hierarchy of the trinity (ie the Father as the sole source of the divine persons) as a model for human relationships. This finds ready resonance in many Asian societies that are structured hierarchically and at the same time challenges its inherent inequalities and injustices (eg the caste system). It is also interesting that Chan uses the same model to question the modern egalitarian ideology that tends to flatten out gender distinctions. Sin is similarly dealt with in terms of personal relationships rather than as a legal infringement. As Asian ethical culture is largely based on shame and honor, sin is understood primarily here as 'shame while reconciliation is the restoration of honor.' Chan goes on to discuss the various ways in which Christ has been presented to the Asian audience as the cosmic Christ, the liberating Christ, the suffering Christ, and the enlightened Christ. All these have their merits. Yet they share a common pitfall in reducing Christ to a general principle. Chan following Barth (contra Tillich) emphasizes instead the particularity of Christ as Jesus of Nazareth whose 'life, death, resurrection, ascension, giving of the Spirit and parousia' has far-reaching effects on the world. He cites the numerous conversions of Muslims brought about by a personal encounter with Jesus (in dreams and visions) as evidence of the irreducibility of Christ as a divine-human person. Whereas the West has tended to highlight the kingship and prophetic ministry of Christ, Chan sees the priestly ministry such as presented in the book of Hebrews to be better suited to the Asian context that values the priestly ministry highly. The chapter on the Spirit has to be Chan's distinct contribution, drawing from Pentecostal and Orthodox traditions, to our reflection on the role of the Spirit in the divine economy. He shows how the Spirit is the bond of the divine persons that binds the church to Christ and that hypostatizes the non human creatures, thereby fulfilling the ultimate divine purpose of bringing all things into communion. The Spirit's particular work in bringing the world into communion with God is also set against other attempts that see the Spirit as simply working to realize human aspirations or certain socio-political ideals. He notes that Pentecostalism has been much more successful than elitist theologies in Asia largely because it touches the Asian instincts for a personal encounter with God through physical healing and miracles. Sadhu Sundar Singh was a prime example that took such an approach. The final chapter on the church brings these theological concepts to a focus that is essentially ecclesio-centric. He advocates a high view of the church as the contrast community in the world with porous boundaries. Wang Ming Dao and Vishal Mangalwadi are two exemplary models of such a proposal. In this regard, the western preference for 'dialogue, inculturation and liberation' falls short of the church's mission in proclaiming the gospel and converting people to Christ. So too advocates of 'churchless Christianity' in neglecting the sacramental dimension of the spiritual life runs the risk of losing grip with Christ altogether. Nonetheless, even these indigenous movements provide an alternative response to the pluralistic Asian challenge that can yield different and sometimes surprising insights. Chan ends with an epilogue that puts the whole discussions into a neat summary. As usual, Chan's book offers much fodder for a fresh rethink on many aspects of Christian theology and practice. While noting the discontinuity between Christianity and the great axial religions, Chan also helps us see areas of overlaps as well. One takeaway among many is the need to rethink the concept of the communion of the saints in light of the practice of ancestral veneration. Christ here can be construed as our supreme ancestor, 'the firstborn from among the dead' ! Over and over again, Chan helps us see the gospel with new eyes and suggests ways to commend the gospel to the Asian conscience in a more sensitive way. In so doing, our service to the worldwide church is also enriched and sharpened.