A professor gave a lecture on Watchman Nee’s contribution to the localization of Christianity in China to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his death.
At the 2022 Annual Conference of the Journal of Research for Christianity in China held online on May 30th, the conference invited eleven scholars and professors from different institutes to give academic lectures. Through the flexible online interactive mode, the conference which was divided into two sessions promoted the communication between scholars and shows their respective academic research progresses, ideas, and current situation.
In the second session, Professor Yu Qiang from Shanghai University shared his academic research achievement in a lecture on the topic of “Local Church Movement and Localization of Christianity in China: Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Watchman Nee’s Death”.
Professor Yu Qiang said that this year there are two special events to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the “Anti-Christian Movement” and the 50th anniversary of Chinese church leaderWacthman Nee’s death. The main content of his research was Nee’s thoughts and practices in the Local Church Movement (also known as the Little Flock Movement), as well as its influence and significance on the indigenization of Christianity in China at the present stage.
Professor Yu claimed that what we should, first of all, think about is indigenization. He quoted the word of Professor Lin Zhiping, “(Indigenization) is the process of cultural change after the contact between foreign culture and local culture. How culture A finds its foothold and root in culture B, and how some symbolic meanings of culture A are accepted by culture B, and at the same time take root and develop in culture B, even blossom and bear fruit. The whole process and the problems encountered in it can be called ‘the process of indigenization’.”
The indigenization of Christianity meant that Christianity must enter the Chinese cultural system and combine with Chinese cultural society, so as to find the system in which it takes root and develops in Chinese culture.
As to whether Christianity should be indigenized in China, Professor Yu stressed it was a false proposition. Christianity as a worldwide religion with universal principles has started the process of localization since its spreading. From the history of the spread of Christianity in China, since Nestorianism came into China, Christianity has been exploring its own way of indigenization in China.
Instead, Professor Yu highlighted that the core issue of discussion was how to localize Christianity in China. No matter the Church of Christ in China, the Jesus Family,
True Jesus church or the local church led by Nee, they were all explorations of the path of the indigenization of Christianity in China at that time. Academics generally believe that the local church movement by Nee was one of the successful practices of Christian indigenization in modern Chinese history.
Professor Yu discussed the specific ideas and practices of local churches led by Nee in his academic researches.
The main idea of local churches for Nee is to return to the Bible and break away from denominations. The most favorable theoretical basis for Nee’s critic on the missionary society was that “the source of Christians’ faith is the Bible, not the tradition.” By returning to the Bible and breaking away from sects, the Chinese theologian and giant leader achieved the goal of “breaking” from the Western missionaries.
To explained howNee “established” the “local church”, the professor said that Neestarted the internal and spiritual reconstruction of Chinese Christians through “spiritual” campaigns, seeking the essential relationship between God and man.
Secondly, in the establishment of the church, in addition to calling for a “breakaway from denominations”, Nee also started to rebuild “local churches” according to the principles of the Bible.
Thirdly, in the autobiographical principle of the local church, he believed that the mission of evangelizing ought to be undertaken by the local church rather than the missionary organizations outside the church.
Professor Yu concluded, “By returning to the tradition of the Bible, Watchman Nee reconstructed the Chinese church from two paths: theological thought and church establishment, which can be said to have achieved certain success. An important feature of Nee’s local church philosophy and practice is that it avoids the perplexity of heterogeneous cultural factors, gets rid of the interference of secular traditions of western denominations, and explores the essence of Christian faith.”
- Translated by Charlie Li
5月30日，《中国基督教研究》2022年度会议在线上召开。会议邀请了11位来自不同学校学者、教授的参加，共分为上下两场。会议通过灵活的线上沟通模式，促进学者之间的交流，了解各自的学术研究进展、设想、现状等。（==此句当summary）
下半场有上海大学俞强教授参与并分享了自己的学术研究，他的分享的学术研究题目为《“地方教会”运动与中国基督教本土化：纪念倪柝声逝世五十周年》。
俞强教授表示今年有两个特殊的纪念“非基运动”100周年和倪柝声逝世50周年。他的研究主要内容是倪柝声在地方教会运动中的一些思想和实践，以及对现阶段中国基督教本色化的影响和意义。
俞强教授表示首先针对本色化这个问题，我们要怎么看。俞强教授引用了林治平教授曾经作出的一个解释：“（本色化）乃外来文化与本土文化接触后所产生的文化变迁过程。……甲文化如何在乙文化中找到落脚点与生根点，且甲文化之某些符号意义如何为乙文化所接受，同时在乙文化中生根发展，甚至于开花结果，其整体之过程及其中所遭遇之问题，我们皆可称之为‘本色化过程’。”
而基督教本色化就是基督教必须要进入中国文化系统中，与中国的文化社会结合起来，才能找到它在中国文化生根发展的系统。
关于基督教是否要在中国进行本色化，俞强教授认为这是一个伪命题。基督教是一个世界性的宗教，具有普世的原则，从其传播开始就开启了本土化的过程。从中国基督教传播历史来看，从景教入华以来，基督教在不断探索自己在中国的本色化道路。
俞强教授认为基督教在中国如何本土化，这才是我们讨论的核心问题。而不论是中华基督教会、耶稣家庭、真耶稣教会还是倪柝声领导的地方教会都是当时基督教在中国本色化路径的探索。学术界一般认为倪柝声的地方教会运动是中国近代史上较为成功的基督教本色化实践之一。
俞强教授在自己的学术研究中讨论了倪柝声地方教会的具体理念与实践。
倪柝声地方教会的主要理念就是回归圣经和脱离宗派。而倪柝声抨击差会最有利的理论基础就是“基督徒的信仰来源是圣经，而非传统。”倪柝声通过回归圣经和脱离宗派来达到对西方差会的“破”的目的。
那么，倪柝声是如何“立”起“地方教会”的？
首先，倪柝声通过“属灵”的征战开始了中国基督徒内在的、心灵的重建，寻求神与人本质上的关系。
其次，在教会的建制上，除了号召“脱离宗派”，倪柝声还着手按照圣经的原则对“地方教会”进行再造。
再次，在地方教会的自传原则上，倪柝声认为传福音的使命是由地方教会来承担的，而不是教会以外的差传机构。
俞强教授总结道：“倪柝声通过回归圣经的传统，从神学思想和教会建制两个路径使徒再造中国教会，可以说取得了一定的成功。……倪柝声的地方教会理念和实践的一个重要特点在于，它回避了异质文化因素的困扰，摆脱了西方教会宗派世俗传统的干扰，去发掘基督教信仰的本质。”
学术 | 上海大学俞强教授谈"地方教会"运动与中国基督教本土化: 纪念倪柝声逝世50周年
A professor gave a lecture on Watchman Nee’s contribution to the localization of Christianity in China to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his death.
At the 2022 Annual Conference of the Journal of Research for Christianity in China held online on May 30th, the conference invited eleven scholars and professors from different institutes to give academic lectures. Through the flexible online interactive mode, the conference which was divided into two sessions promoted the communication between scholars and shows their respective academic research progresses, ideas, and current situation.
In the second session, Professor Yu Qiang from Shanghai University shared his academic research achievement in a lecture on the topic of “Local Church Movement and Localization of Christianity in China: Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Watchman Nee’s Death”.
Professor Yu Qiang said that this year there are two special events to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the “Anti-Christian Movement” and the 50th anniversary of Chinese church leaderWacthman Nee’s death. The main content of his research was Nee’s thoughts and practices in the Local Church Movement (also known as the Little Flock Movement), as well as its influence and significance on the indigenization of Christianity in China at the present stage.
Professor Yu claimed that what we should, first of all, think about is indigenization. He quoted the word of Professor Lin Zhiping, “(Indigenization) is the process of cultural change after the contact between foreign culture and local culture. How culture A finds its foothold and root in culture B, and how some symbolic meanings of culture A are accepted by culture B, and at the same time take root and develop in culture B, even blossom and bear fruit. The whole process and the problems encountered in it can be called ‘the process of indigenization’.”
The indigenization of Christianity meant that Christianity must enter the Chinese cultural system and combine with Chinese cultural society, so as to find the system in which it takes root and develops in Chinese culture.
As to whether Christianity should be indigenized in China, Professor Yu stressed it was a false proposition. Christianity as a worldwide religion with universal principles has started the process of localization since its spreading. From the history of the spread of Christianity in China, since Nestorianism came into China, Christianity has been exploring its own way of indigenization in China.
Instead, Professor Yu highlighted that the core issue of discussion was how to localize Christianity in China. No matter the Church of Christ in China, the Jesus Family,
True Jesus church or the local church led by Nee, they were all explorations of the path of the indigenization of Christianity in China at that time. Academics generally believe that the local church movement by Nee was one of the successful practices of Christian indigenization in modern Chinese history.
Professor Yu discussed the specific ideas and practices of local churches led by Nee in his academic researches.
The main idea of local churches for Nee is to return to the Bible and break away from denominations. The most favorable theoretical basis for Nee’s critic on the missionary society was that “the source of Christians’ faith is the Bible, not the tradition.” By returning to the Bible and breaking away from sects, the Chinese theologian and giant leader achieved the goal of “breaking” from the Western missionaries.
To explained howNee “established” the “local church”, the professor said that Neestarted the internal and spiritual reconstruction of Chinese Christians through “spiritual” campaigns, seeking the essential relationship between God and man.
Secondly, in the establishment of the church, in addition to calling for a “breakaway from denominations”, Nee also started to rebuild “local churches” according to the principles of the Bible.
Thirdly, in the autobiographical principle of the local church, he believed that the mission of evangelizing ought to be undertaken by the local church rather than the missionary organizations outside the church.
Professor Yu concluded, “By returning to the tradition of the Bible, Watchman Nee reconstructed the Chinese church from two paths: theological thought and church establishment, which can be said to have achieved certain success. An important feature of Nee’s local church philosophy and practice is that it avoids the perplexity of heterogeneous cultural factors, gets rid of the interference of secular traditions of western denominations, and explores the essence of Christian faith.”
- Translated by Charlie Li
Professor Gives Lecture on Watchman Nee’s Contribution to Localization of Christianity in China
