Theology of Religions and Intertextuality: A Case Study of Christian–Confucian and Islamic–Confucian Dialogue in the Early 20th-Century China

Wai Luen Kwok

doi:10.3390/rel10070417

Abstract

In this paper, I will propose an intertextual theology of religions from a non-Western cultural perspective through the works in The True Light Review, an official magazine of Chinese Baptist churches, and Yue Hua, a prominent and long-lived Muslim magazine. My aim is to show that the religious discourses in these Chinese religious periodicals inform us of an alternative understanding of literary construction of religious plurality and challenge the current versions of theology of religions. With the concept of intertextuality, the differentiation and integration of religious identities indicates that language-constituted realities are multi-dimensional and multi-directional. In some respects, religious believers would like to differentiate themselves in the search for an authentic and meaningful life, but, they are nonetheless already interconnected and interrelated. In some other respects, they approach and embrace each other for integration to assert a common identity among religions in that area, but that could transform their religions with new meaning. Our case study will also further theological reflection of the nature of Christian life in predominantly non-Christian societies as an intertextual religious reality.

Highlights

The aim of this paper is to show that the religious discourses in Chinese religious periodicals inform us of an understanding of the literary construction of religious plurality alternative to that of the missionaries
I will use the works in The True Light Review, an official magazine of Chinese Baptist churches, and Yue Hua, a prominent and long-lived Muslim magazine to propose a theology of religions from a non-Western cultural perspective
In the process of articulating a religious self-identity and relation with Confucianism, we can find that language constitutes reality for Chinese Christians and Muslims

Summary

Introduction

The aim of this paper is to show that the religious discourses in Chinese religious periodicals inform us of an understanding of the literary construction of religious plurality alternative to that of the missionaries. It is interesting to study how Christianity and Islam, which were considered to be “foreign” religions in China, approached Confucian teaching in this period. This will inform us how this important religion has been embraced, integrated and differentiated by monotheistic Christians and Muslims. I will use the works in The True Light Review, an official magazine of Chinese Baptist churches, and Yue Hua, a prominent and long-lived Muslim magazine to propose a theology of religions from a non-Western cultural perspective. Promote the education and livelihood of Muslims (Ben Kan Zong Zhi [The Aims of the Magazine] 1929) In this sense, the magazine bore a mission of building a national identity of the Republican China and promoting a religious revival among Chinese Muslims. I will offer a theological remark on revising the theology of religions with a vision of intertextual reality

Conceptualizing Intertextuality

Theology of Religions: A Reflection on Current Thought

The Tension between Foreign Religions and Confucianism and Self-Identity

Paralleling and Transposing Confucian Texts and Theology of Religions

Concluding Remarks and Tentative Theological Proposal