Chinese ecclesiology – post-denominationalism and the search for an ecclesiological language

Abstract

The quest for ecclesiology is apparent in Chinese theology and church life, both in China and abroad. It has been responded to with reference to different sorts of deductively elaborated ecclesiologies. This article suggests that analyses of present teaching and practices in Chinese churches should be undertaken in order to understand more precisely what sort of implicit or explicit ecclesiologies are already operative. On the basis of an ecclesiological hermeneutics, it would be possible to achieve an ecclesiological reconstruction in Chinese theology, recognising the given divine revelation.