MTh Seminar on Christianity in Asia
Mission and Nation Building in the Twentieth Century, July-Nov, 2006
Michael Nai-Chiu Poon
The purpose of the course is to explore the relation of Christian mission and nation building in the twentieth century, with especial reference to the impact of the Pacific war towards on churches in East Asia.
Fridays, 2:00-4:00 pm.
Sessions:
14 July Nation, State and Civil Society
28 July Nationalism in Asia
4 Aug Communism and the Nation-State
18 Aug The Revival of Chinese Nationalism
25 Aug Sharing History for a Small Nation
29 Sept The Ecumenical and Confessional Movement
6 Oct Impact of Globalisation and Nation Building on Christian Identity
13 Oct Future of Christianity in East Asia
Requirement:
Participants are required (1) to lead one seminar and submit a 2,000-word Christian response to the issues Wang Gungwu raises (20%); (2) read all assigned reading and participate in class discussion (10%); (3) submit a 2,000-word summary of Oliver and Joan O’Donovan’s analysis of the contemporary world (20%); and (4) submit one 6,000-word essay, due on 10 November 2006 (50%)
Text Books:
Wang Gungwu. Bind us in Time. Nation and Civilisation in Asia. Singapore: Eastern Universities Press, 2003.
O’Donovan, Oliver and Joan O'Donovan. Bonds of Imperfection. Christian Politics, Past and Present. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004.
References:
Allen, Geoffrey. 'Wanted -- A Chinese Ministry,' The Chinese Recorder 68 (1937): 81-87.
Antlov, Hans and Stein Tonnesson, ed. 'Introduction' in Imperial Policy and South East Asian Nationalism. Surrey: Curzon Press, 1995.
Baker, Gilbert. 'Reflections on a Year of War,' The Chinese Recorder 69 (1938): 506-510.
Duara, Prasenjit. 'Introduction' in Rescuing History from the Nation: Questioning Narratives of Modern China. Chicago: University Press, 1995.
Fey, Harold E. A History of the Ecumenical Movement: 1948-1968. Geneva: World Council of Churches 1970.
Hastings, Adrian. The Construction of Nationhood: Ethnicity, Religion and Nationalism. Cambridge: University Press, 1997. Chapters 1 and 8.
Hastings, Adrian. 'The Clash of Nationalism and Universalism within Twentieth-Century Missionary Christianity,' in Missions, Nationalism, and the End of Empire. Ed. Brian Stanley. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003.
Kahn, Joel S, ed. Southeast Asian Identities. Singapore: ISEAS, 1998.
Levinson, David and Christensen, Karen. Encyclopedia of Modern Asia. New York: Scribner, Gale Group, 2002.
Nanking Theological College Survey Commission. The Anderson-Smith report on theological education in Southeast Asia: especially as it relates to the training of Chinese for the Christian ministry. New York, NY: Nanking Theological Seminary 1952.
O’Donovan, Joan. ‘Nation, State, and Civil Society in the Western Biblical Tradition,’ in Bonds of Imperfection. Edited by Oliver O’Donovan and Joan O’Donovan. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004.
Ooi Keat Gin, ed. Southeast Asia: A historical encyclopedia from Angkor Wat to East Timor. Santa Barbara, Calif. : ABC-CLIO, 2004.
Paton, David M. ‘The World-wide Task of the Christian Church: A Sketch of the History and Life of the Oecumenical Movement,’ The Chinese Recorder 72 1941): 369-378.
People’s Republic of China. Decree of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China N. 426 and Regulations on Religious Affairs (2004).
Stanley, Brian. 'Christianity and the end of Empire,' in Missions, Nationalism, and the End of Empire. Ed. Brian Stanley. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003.
Stange, Paul. ‘Religious Change in Contemporary Southeast Asia,’ in The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia, Volume 2: The Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, ed. Nicholas Tarling. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), 529-584.
Wittenbach, H. A. 'The Church -- Today and Tomorrow,' The Chinese Recorder 71 (1940): 509-511.