A Reinterpretation of Chin Christian Spirituality Beyond One Century in the Light of Martin Luther's Freedom of a Christian
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Luther Seminary Digital Commons @ Luther Seminary Master of Theology Theses Student Theses 2019 A Reinterpretation of Chin Christian Spirituality Beyond One Century in the Light Of Martin Luther's Freedom Of a Christian Bawi Dua Luther Seminary Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.luthersem.edu/mth_theses Part of the Christian Denominations and Sects Commons, Missions and World Christianity Commons, and the South and Southeast Asian Languages and Societies Commons Recommended Citation Dua, Bawi, "A Reinterpretation of Chin Christian Spirituality Beyond One Century in the Light Of Martin Luther's Freedom Of a Christian" (2019). Master of Theology Theses. 19. https://digitalcommons.luthersem.edu/mth_theses/19 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Theses at Digital Commons @ Luther Seminary. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master of Theology Theses by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Luther Seminary. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. A REINTERPRETATION OF CHIN CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY BEYOND ONE CENTURY IN THE LIGHT OF MARTIN LUTHER’S FREEDOM OF A CHRISTIAN by BAWI DUA A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Luther Seminary In Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF THEOLOGY THESIS ADVISER: MARK GRANQUIST ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA 2019 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I praise God for opening the door to pursue a Master of Theology degree at Luther Seminary and for guiding and leading me throughout my stay. My gratitude is beyond words to everyone who was involved in my academic journey. I would like to express my special thanks to a few influential people. First, my deepest gratitude and appreciation goes to my adviser, Dr. Mark Granquist, Professor of History of Christianity, for reading my thesis, giving valuable advice, thought-provoking comments, wonderful suggestions, great insights and making necessary corrections. His supervision gave me strength to finish this thesis successfully. I am also extremely grateful to my readers Dr. Lois Malcolm, Professor of Systematic Theology, and Dr. Alan Padgett, Professor of Systematic Theology for their willingness to read my thesis and offer valuable advice. Special thanks to Clyde Kakiuchi and Peter Susag for reading my thesis, making grammatical and formatting corrections and offering suggestions. My sincere thanks also go to Marie Hayes and Chenar Howard from the office of International Student and Scholar Affairs for their guidance and great support throughout my academic journey at Luther Seminary. I also would like to express my heartfelt thanks to Dr. Samuel Ngun Ling, President of Myanmar Institute of Theology, Pa Yaw and Dr. Pum Za Mang for their strong recommendations and encouragement. I want to take this opportunity to thank Luther Seminary for their generosity in granting me a iii tuition-covered scholarship. I am indebted to the Faith, Hope, and Love Foundation, Minneapolis, Lutuv Chin Christian Church, Kansas City and Indiana Lutuv Evangelical Church, Indianapolis, and Mark Nagasawa for their financial support. I thank the Lord for my beautiful and understanding family who constantly prayed and encouraged me. Their love and sacrifice allowed me to complete my studies successfully while fostering spiritual growth. Last, but not least, my deep appreciation goes to my home church, Yangyiaung Baptist Church for allowing me the opportunity to study God’s Word at Luther Seminary, covering me in prayer and supporting me in numerous ways. To God be the glory! iv ABSTRACT This thesis examines a brief history of Chin Christianity which primarily focuses on the hlimsang movement, the revival movement, and the free evangelist movement that impacted contemporary Chin Christians’ understanding of Christian spirituality. The preachers of the three movements solely emphasized Martin Luther’s notion of “justification by grace through faith alone.” Unfortunately, they minimize the preaching and teaching of the good life and works in Christian life which Luther emphasized and discussed in his treatise Freedom of a Christian. As a result, Chin Christians emphasize too much the significance of Christian spirituality with emotional expressions in the worship service. Faith and Good works and the good life are not balanced enough. Therefore, this thesis briefly examines Christian spirituality in the Bible and in the history of Christianity in order align the Chin Christians’ misunderstandings of Christian spirituality with biblical spirituality. This research finds that Luther never rejected the good life and works in the Christian life as found in Freedom of a Christian. This thesis also attempts to stress that Christian spirituality goes way beyond an emotional feeling. It is a long spiritual journey that walks with the Spirit and keeps in step with the Spirit until the end of our mortal life on the earth. Christian spirituality is described as quality of life in which inner faith in Christ is lived out through the good life and good works. v CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iii abstract .................................................................................................................................v Contents ............................................................................................................................. vi Chapter 1 ..............................................................................................................................1 1. INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................1 Background of the Research ..................................................................................2 Statement of the Problem ......................................................................................4 The Nature of the Research ...................................................................................7 Purposes and Questions of the Research ...............................................................7 Thesis Statement ....................................................................................................8 Chapter 2 ............................................................................................................................10 2. AN OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY OF CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY ....................10 Defining “Spirituality” ........................................................................................10 Defining “Christian Spirituality” .........................................................................12 Spirituality, Mysticism, Theology and Personality .............................................17 Christian Spirituality in History of Christianity ..................................................20 Denominational Considerations ..........................................................................34 Chapter 3 ............................................................................................................................38 3. AN OVERVIEW OF THE HISTORY OF CHIN CHRISTIANITY ..........................38 Christianity before the Foreign Missionaries ......................................................39 The Roman Catholic Mission in the Chin Hills ..................................................42 The American Baptist Missions in the Chin Hills ...............................................44 The Emergence of Churches, Associations and Convention ...............................51 Forming the Zomi Baptist Convention (ZBC) ....................................................57 The Chin Baptist Mission ....................................................................................60 The Spiritual Movements among Chin Christians ..............................................65 The Emergence of Denominations ......................................................................75 vi The Root Causes of Emerging Denominations ...................................................77 Immigration to the Third Country and Its Result ................................................80 Chapter 4 ............................................................................................................................84 4. MARTIN LUTHER AND THE “FREEDOM OF A CHRISTIAN”...........................84 Martin Luther’s Road to Freedom .......................................................................86 Justification by Faith Alone and Its Relation to Christian Spirituality ...............89 Luther and Freedom ............................................................................................98 Freedom from the Power of Death ......................................................................98 Freedom by Faith ...............................................................................................100 Freedom for the Service of Neighbors ..............................................................104 Freedom to Living the Righteous and Good Life ..............................................107 Chapter 5 ..........................................................................................................................110 5. THE WORKS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY ............110 The Spirit Creates Faith .....................................................................................112 The Spirit Dwells in and Seals