New Calvinism in China?

Posted on 22 May 2014 by Alexander Chow

This article was originally posted here.

There is a growing recognition by the media and by scholars that Calvinism is growing in China these days.¹ The news has gained the attention of a number of Americans, particularly since the 16th century Reformer John Calvin is likewise having a comeback in the US in the so-called ‘New Calvinism‘ movement.² At least one scholar has called the movement in China ‘Chinese New Calvinism’.³ Unfortunately, I think this view is problematic.

You can read my own interpretation more fully in an academic article I just published on Calvinism in China,⁴ but I wanted to summarise my basic points here, since I think it is an important distinction:
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Studies in World Christianity 20.1

Posted on 10 April 2014 by Brian Stanley

Christian Healing and Christian Dying

The five papers published in the latest issue of Studies in World Christianity were all originally presented at the twenty-third meeting of the Yale–Edinburgh Group on the History of the Missionary Movement and World Christianity, held at Yale Divinity School from 27 to 29 June 2013. The theme of the conference was ‘Health, Healing, and Medicine in the History of Christian Missions and World Christianity’. The five papers selected for publication relate to this theme in a rich variety of ways. Continue reading →

Spousal Violence in a Confucian-Christian Context

Posted on 24 March 2014 by Alexander Chow

This article was originally posted here.

Last Tuesday, Elizabeth Koepping gave a valedictory paper at the weekly World Christianity seminar here in the School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh.¹ Prof. Brian Stanley responded to her paper by saying that it was ‘truly disturbing… in a good way’, in that it exposed the problem of spousal violence that exists amongst Christians, validated by the Bible, and often ignored or hidden by church leadership. Her field and documentary research was conducted in multiple contexts: Taiwan, Australia, Ghana, etc. – and Scotland. But the underlying reality was the same: domestic violence is pervasive, within and without the church. Moreover, she suggested that theologically the church must reclaim the understanding of the Imago Dei in both man and woman in order to combat these atrocities. Continue reading →