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The Paradoxical Co-Existence of Submissiveness and Subversiveness in the Theology of Yu-Ming

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The Paradoxical Co-Existence of Submissiveness and Subversiveness in the Theology of Yu-Ming THE PARADOXICAL CO-EXISTENCE OF SUBMISSIVENESS AND SUBVERSIVENESS IN THE THEOLOGY OF YU-MING JIA by CHI-YEUNG LAM A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham for the degree of MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Theology School of Philosophy, Theology and Religion The University of Birmingham 30th July 2010 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT This thesis aims to study Yu-ming Jia’s theology from a postcolonial perspective. Yu-ming Jia (1880-1964) is a conservative Protestant theologian who was actively engaged himself in Chinese protestant churches and theological education during the first half of the 20th century. It was seen that he constructed his theology mainly in a hierarchical context, i.e., the subjugating relationship between missionaries and Chinese Christians appearing in missionary enterprise. This study will focus on three areas of Jia’s theology: christology, ecclesiology and soteriology, which will be analysed with Homi Bhabha’s three conceptions: ambivalence, mimicry and hybridity. These key concepts in postcolonial theory and discourse are regarded as the characteristic features and contributions of the theory. This study can provide a postcolonial perspective to understand Jia’s theology and subsequently brings about the paradoxical insights which have not been discovered by previous scholars who solely apply the approach of systematic theology and restrained themselves within a binary framework, Liberal/Conservative or Modernist/Fundamentalist, to study Jia’s theology. While subversiveness and submissiveness are both discovered in Jia’s theological discourse, the study concludes that there is a paradoxical co-existence of subversiveness and submissiveness in Jia’s theology. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am indebted to many people without whose support and encouragement this study would have been impossible to complete. My very special thanks go to Mr. Edmond Tang and Professor R.S. Sugirtharajah, my two supervisors, for their patient, careful and meticulous reading of the drafts, which owes much to their thoughtful and helpful comments. None of them is responsible for the imperfections which remain in the thesis. I am grateful for the financial support I received from the New York Theological Education Centre in the midst of my study. Many thanks also go to the library staff of the Orchard Learning Resource Centre of the University of Birmingham, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and the Baptist University of Hong Kong, who were always helpful and kind to offer me assistance in collecting materials. A special word of thanks goes to Rev. Lung-kwong Lo, the President of the Divinity School of Chung Chi College (CUHK), who helps me in fully utilising the library resources of CUHK. I am particularly grateful to my wife, Yee-man, for her unflagging support, love and patience. She has offered her constant support and has taken care of our family while I have been busy with my research, without which I wouldn’t have finished the work. CONTENTS 1. THE RESEARCH……………………………………………………...1 1.1 Research Background…………………………………….…………………...1 1.2 Purpose of the Research……………………………….……………………...3 1.3 Thesis Structure………………………………………………………...……....3 1.4. Methodology………………………………………………………...…………4 1.4.1 Historical Investigation…………………………………………………...4 1.4.2 Theological Investigation………………………………………………....5 1.4.3 Postcolonial Criticism and Jia’s Theology……………………………....6 1.4.3.1 The Colonial Context of Jia…………………………………………6 1.4.3.2 Ambivalence, Mimicry and Hybridity………………………………9 Ambivalence…………………………………………………………...9 Mimicry………………………………………………………....……11 Hybridity………………………………………………….…………..15 1.5 The Definition of Terms…….…………………………………….….……...20 1.5.1 Postcolonialism....…………………………………………...…………..20 1.5.2 Submissiveness and Subversiveness…….…………………………........21 1.5.3 Anti-colonialist resistance……………………………………………….22 1.6 Research Contribution………………………………...…………………….22 2. A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF YU-MING JIA AND THE CONTEXTS OF HIS THEOLOGY....……………………...24 2.1 Yu-ming Jia (1880-1964)…………………………………………………... 24 2.2 The Background of Yu-ming Jia……………………………..………….....28 2.2.1 Theological Background…………………………………………………...28 2.2.1.1 The Theology of the Reformation……………………………………....28 2.2.1.2 The Chinese Fundamentalism…………………………………………..31 2.2.1.3 The Social Concern of Chinese Theology………………………………34 2.2.2 Historical Contexts…………………………………………………………36 2.2.2.1 The Domination of Missionaries………………………………………..36 2.2.2.2 The Union and Independence Movement……………….………………38 3. THE AMBIVALENCE OF JIA’S ECCLESIOLOGY.………………..42 3.1 The Exportable Ecclesiology of the Missionaries…………..…………..43 3.1.1 The Definition of the Church…………………………………………………44 3.1.1.1 The Universal Church and the Individual Churches…………………....44 3.1.2 The Organization of the Church……………………………………………..46 3.1.2.1 A Formal and Structural Organization…………………………………..46 3.1.2.2 The Ambivalence of Church Polity……………………………………..46 3.1.3 The Council of the Churches………………………………………………....48 3.1.3.1 Mutual Watchcare and Exhortation……………………………………..48 3.1.3.2 A Hierarchy among Individual Churches……………………………….49 3.1.4 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………..52 3.2 The Mimicry of Jia’s Ecclesiology……………………………..………….53 3.2.1 The Definition of the Church…………………………………………………54 3.2.1.1 The Obvious Sameness of the Colonizers………………………………54 3.2.2 The Organization of the Church……………………………………………..56 3.2.2.1 The Mimic Sameness with the Colonizers……………………………...56 3.2.2.2 The Mimicry of the Old Testament Church……………………………..56 3.2.3 The Council of the Churches…………………………………………………58 3.2.3.1 The Ambivalence of Jia’s Mimicry……………………………………..58 3.2.4 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………..60 3.3 The Hybridity of Jia’s Ecclesiology………………………………..……...60 3.3.1 The Denied Knowledge – Chinese Nationalism……………………………..62 3.3.1.1 The Union of Chinese Churches………………………………………..64 3.3.1.2 The Union and Independence of Chinese Churches……………….........65 3.3.1.3 The Struggle for Chinese Churches Sovereignty……………….............66 3.3.2 The Newness – The Sinicized Church…………….………………………….69 3.3.2.1 The Promotion of the Sinicized Church……….………………………..69 3.3.2.2 The Sinicized Church and Jia’s Nationalism……………………………71 3.3.3 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………..73 3.4 Concluding Remarks………………………………………………..74 4. THE AMBIVALENCE OF JIA’S CHRISTOLOGY…………………76 4.1 The Exportable Christology of the Missionaries……………..…………77 4.1.1 The Salvific Christology……………………………………………………77 4.1.1.1 The Two Natures of Christ……………………………………………...78 4.1.2 The Orthodox Doctrine ...…………………….……………………………79 4.1.2.1 The Person of Christ……………………….……………………………79 4.1.2.2 The Function of the Orthodox Doctrine….……………………………..80 4.1.3 The Divinity of Christ……………………….……………………………..83 4.1.3.1 The Justification of Christ’s Divinity.…….……………………………..83 4.1.3.2 Monotheism and the Canonical View.…….…………………………….84 4.1.4 Conclusion....………………………………….…………………………….85 4.2 The Mimicry of Jia’s Christology. ………….…………………………….86 4.2.1 The Salvific Christology. …………………….…………………………….86 4.2.1.1 The Works of Christ ..………………….……………………………….87 4.2.1.2 The Importance of Salvation. …………….…………………………….88 4.2.2 The Orthodox Doctrine..……………….…………………………………. 89 4.2.2.1 The Sameness of Mimic Repetition. …….……………………………..89 4.2.2.2 The Necessity of Clarification. …………………………………………91 4.2.3 The Divinity of Christ. ………………………………………...…………..92 4.2.3.1 The Sameness of Mimic Repetition…………………………………….92 4.2.3.2 The Three Stages of Cross………………………………………………93 4.2.4 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………..95 4.3 The Hybridity of Jia’s Christology…………………………..…………….96 4.3.1 The Newness – Dispensationalism…………………………………………98 4.3.1.1 The Dispensations of the Bible. ………………………………………...98 4.3.1.2 Dispensationalism and the Salvation of Christ. ………..……………….99 4.3.2 The Newness - The Kingdom of God………………………………….....100 4.3.2.1 The Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God…………………... 100 4.3.2.2 The Recovery of the Kingdom of God………………………………...102 4.3.3 Conclusion. ……………………………...……………………..………….103 4.4 Concluding Remarks. ……………………………………………………...104 5. THE AMBIVALENCE OF JIA’S SOTERIOLOGY………………..107 5.1 The Exportable Soteriology of the Missionaries……………..………..108 5.1.1 The Work of the Holy Spirit……………………………...........................109 5.1.1.1 The Ambiguity of the Holy Spirit………………………………...........109 5.1.2 The Doctrine of the Election……………………………………………...112 5.1.2.1 The Privileges of the Elect. ……………………………………………112 5.1.1.2 The Privileges of the Colonizers. ……………………………………...114 5.1.3 The Sanctification…………………………………………………………116 5.1.3.1 The Work of God………………………………………………………116 5.1.3.2 The Objection to Perfectionism……………………………………......116 5.1.4 Conclusion………………………………………………………………....118 5.2 The Mimicry of Jia’s Soteriology...………………………………………119 5.2.1 The Work of the Holy Spirit……………………………………………...120 5.2.1.1 The Study of the Holy Spirit…………………………………………...120 5.2.1.2 The Holy Spirit and the Dispensationalism…...……………………….122 5.2.2 The Doctrine of Election. ……………...…………………...…………….124 5.2.2.1 The Humility
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