The role of Sinology in the twenty-first century: a Western theologian reflects on the development of Sino-Christian theology

Abstract

Christian Theology has always existed or developed in different cultural settings. This article is a personal reflection by a Western theologian on his experience of teaching in a Chinese university and his thoughts on the development of Sino-Christian theology since the beginning of the European Protestant China mission in the early nineteenth century. Theology begins in different ways of reading the Bible: this is perceived in China in the context of the Chinese Confucian Classics. Sino-Christian theology has largely (though not exclusively) developed in China’s universities rather than in its many churches: this is in contrast to the West where theology has always been part of the life of the Church and its intellectual and social identity. As this paper indicates, this key difference raises important questions about the nature of theology per se.