god in our midst 9.htm

Pouring New Wine Into Fresh Wineskins:

A Reflection on Contemporary Christian Thinking

"Nor does anyone pour new wine into used wineskins, for the skins will burst, the wine will pour out, and the skins will be ruined. Instead, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins, and both will keep in good condition" (Matthew 9:17).

We are living in an age of great transition in which the victimization of people is proceeding on a larger scale than ever before. There is hunger arid economic hardship, increasing political violence despite the democratic facade, and subjugation of people in ever more subtle and sophisticated ways. Genuine security, harmony and justice are being eroded by social violence; the rich exploit the poor; and the powerful oppress the powerless. Even the so-called liberal democratic process seems incapable of taming the big military, political and economic powers which are causing suffering. The aggressive worldwide penetration by the global media that is controlled by the United States and other Western powers is leading to people's loss of identity, confusion over life values, distortion of lifestyles and a deepening sense of futility. Religious communities, once a base of stability and meaningfulness, are being weakened by religious fanaticism, on the one hand, and religious escapism, on the other. It is in this difficult reality that today's people must struggle to live meaningful and authentic lives.

As we encounter different situations in our day-to-day lives, we are always reminded that we need some ideological or theological guidelines to help us understand the issues that confront us in the hope of resolving whatever problems we face in life. Similarly, in the ecumenical movement, we need to do more theological reflection on our ongoing programs in order to ensure that our work is proceeding on the right path. However, we recognize too that it is difficult to find solutions to the host of problems with which we have to grapple and struggle.

We also face the difficulty of finding a clear vision and direction within our present situation. Even if we did, at this juncture of history it would not be easy to convince people of the meaningfulness of new alternatives in theological and ideological thinking.

Although we are growing accustomed to adjusting ourselves to the post-modern era, we are still unclear what post-modernism means in relation to living in a highly compact techno-globalized society. We talk about post-modern theology being a result of dissatisfaction with modernity and we think that humanity can or must move beyond the present context. This only goes to show our uncertainty about the meaning of post-modern theology in relation to the new challenging world views of our time.

What about contemporary Christian thinking in the light of multi socio-political and religio-cultural complexity? We have to ask ourselves honestly whether we have made any effort to develop our contemporary Christian thinking or would we rather have someone else do our thinking for us.

Post-modern Theology

Modern theological thinking has developed through various thought forms, from orthodoxy to neo-orthodoxy; neo-orthodoxy to modern liberal theology; modern liberal theology to post-modern theology. We have to acknowledge that there are also many different kinds of theological thinking in between which have contributed to critical interpretation of modern theological studies. What is good about contemporary theological thinking is that it emphasizes on contextual reflections and interpretations. Theology, in short, has been generally thought to consist of two major types. One is conservative/fundamentalist

theology which is unscientific and the other is modem/liberal theology which is vacuous due to the complexity of modernity.

Therefore, theological investigation is naturally expected to change religious spirituality which is the foundation for both individual and social life. Theologizing appears to be the third option in post-modern era and as such may be called post-modem theology. Post-modern theology challenges the modem world view in the name of a more rational, more empirical description of reality.

Post-modern theology is trying to overcome its division between liberals and conservatives in order to create more open space to deal with relevant alternatives. Post-modem theology, therefore, seeks to make explicit the ways in which theological truth becomes liberating truth. This liberation from internal or external forces, especially imperialism, militarism, ideological indoctrination, demonic forces in the public realm such as exploitation by TNCS, information control, and so on, will need to be our permanent agenda if we are to resolve these problems.

In fact, post-modem theology is free to engage deeply with Christianity in its discourse, social forms, behavior and affirmations of faith.

David Ray Griffin edited a book entitled. Varieties of Post-Modern Theology (1989). In it he lists four varieties of post-modern theology, viz: (1) constructive (or revisionary), (2) deconstructive (or eliminative), (3) liberationist, and (4) restorationist (or conservative). It shows then that post-modem theology can be understood and used for either good or bad purposes.

Korean Minjung Theology

Minjung theology was developed during the period of military dictatorship in Korea and resulted from minjung confrontation with their oppressors to overcome the political repression, economic exploitation, and socio-cultural alienation they experienced since late 1960s.

The Korean minjung theology portrays Jesus as a shaman who can relieve the agonies of the people by offering himself as a sacrifice to deliver humanity from the captivity of sin. Korean minjung are han-ridden people. Han is a Korean expression for unresolved deep feelings of anger, frustration and resentment of people who have become the objects of injustices upon injustices.

Jesus is known to the Korean minjung as shaman, one who plays the role of an exorcist. Most of the ordinary Korean people carry with them their han which is the cause of their unhappiness. There are more than 10 million people who have been separated since the Korean peninsula was divided in 1945. This unresolved resentment needs to be exorcised. Jesus is believed to be able to rid them of their han.

What is the role of minjung theology in the people's struggle for reunification of their divided country? How do we console the han-ridden people? All these questions should be dealt with by providing theological guidelines for work within the Korean context.

Let me share with you some theological basis for the reunification of Korea. These statements were adopted by the Christian Conference for Peace and Reunification toward the Jubilee in Korea '95, sponsored by the National Council of Churches in Korea which was held in Seoul on August 10-12, 1992. In the document, ten theological statements were spelt out. Although, it is a lengthy quotation, I would like you to reflect on it in the light of Korean Christian minjung's theological thinking.

1. We believe in the sovereign reign of God. As believers in God working in our history, we repent of our unbelief and dependency on foreign powers. We resist all forms of external interference in order to achieve full independence and national integrity.

2. We believe that the peace of Jesus Christ is the true peace and that peace-makers are the children of God. We work toward establishing permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula.

3. We believe in the Holy Spirit that makes us one. Therefore, we devote ourselves to reconciliation and reunification of the divided nation.

4. We believe that Jesus Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath. In the light of the words of Jesus that the Sabbath is for human beings, every ideology, system and law must exist for the restoration of human life.

5. We believe that the Kingdom of God is for the poor, sick and oppressed. Therefore, full participation of these people must be ensured in the reunification process, and the democratization of all socio-political life must be realized.

6. We believe that men and women are created in the image of God. We believe that the Jubilee life is ensured in building a new human community of equality of men and women and in working together for the creation of a culture of life.

7. We believe that the Jubilee life means guaranteeing the livelihood of our poor and alienated neighbours and establishing j economic justice, and we will share our spiritual and economic resources with these neighbors.

8. We believe that God created nature and entrusted it to humankind. We confess that we have abandoned our stewardship for the integrity of creation and declared that we will make our Jubilee movement a movement for life.

9. We believe that we are one in Christ. Therefore, we strive for national reconciliation and reunification through the movement of church unity in South Korea as well as of churches of North and South.

10. We believe that the North and South Korean churches are partners who work together for the mission of God to build a new heaven and a new earth.

These are some examples of how contemporary Christian thinking in Korea are contributing to the task of Reunification of the country. Contemporary Christian thinking has to articulate peoples' aspirations. In the case of Korea, han of the divided peoples, han of those who lost their loved ones, han of people faced with all kinds of frustration, anger and resentment should be resolved through the provision of theological bases for their struggle for freedom from captivity. This is an ongoing task of Korean Christians living in contemporary society where postmodern alternatives are greatly demanded by the people themselves.

Taiwanese Homeland Theology

Wang Hsien-Chih has contributed an article on Some Perspectives on Theological Education in the Light of Homeland Theology in the Taiwanese Context.¹ He explains the historical process of Taiwanese people's isolation both from China and the international

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¹CCA-CTC Bulletin, 1986.

community. According to Wang, Taiwan is just like an "orphan'. He uses this image in attempting to do a theological inquiry into the question of a homeland for Taiwan.

The Homeland Theology expresses the love of Taiwanese people for their country in spite of various differences and their desire to live together in peace, freedom and justice. Wang states that "there are four main themes in Homeland Theology: people, land, power and God." He elaborates further by providing six theological interpretations: (1) the Noachic Covenant; (2) the Abrahamic Covenant; (3) the Mosaic Covenant; (4) the Davidic Covenant; (5) New Election and New Exodus in Second Isaiah; and (6) the New Covenant in Jesus Christ. Wang explains that "the people of God in Taiwan are entrusted with this confession and enabled by it to build their own homeland with the awareness that neither capitalism nor communism can really fulfill human needs."

The development of the Homeland Theology is based on the experience of Taiwanese people's participation in the struggle for human rights and the future of the people of Taiwan. Wang sums up that "Homeland Theology is a 'theopraxis' rather than a 'theologos'." The purpose of contemporary Christian thinking in Taiwan is to overcome the reality of being an 'orphan' so that the Taiwanese people might become subjects of their own history.

Conclusion

Peoples' participation for democratization is still the major concern of people all over the world. Democracy originates from a Greek word which is a combination of two short words, demos and kratos. Both terms have more than one meaning. The demos could mean the whole citizenry living within a particular polls, or city-state, but might also be used to mean 'the mob' or the 'rabble' or 'the lower orders'. Kratos could mean either 'power' or 'rule'; the two are not the same. Democracy means the larger extent of popular participation, popular power, and popular sovereignty by the peoples. This original idea of democracy is very difficult to identify in our daily lives. Therefore, we as Christians need to think again how we can develop true democracy in our own situations.

Alvin Toffler has written some sensational books which he himself has called a trilogy. They are Future Shock (1970), The Third

Wave (1980), and Powershift (1990). This trilogy contains tremendous challenges for our time. According to Toffler, "Future Shock looks at the process of change—how change affects people and organization. The Third Wave focuses on directions of change— where today's changes are taking us. Powershift deals with the control of changes still to come—who will shape them and how." These changes are clearly articulated by the author in Future Shock and The Third Wave which focuses on the crucial change in the role of knowledge in relation to power. It presents a new theory of social power and explores the approaching shifts in business, the economy, politics and global affairs.

The most inspiring thought concerning the division that arises in the world is what Toffler calls the deepening split between the 'fast' and the 'slow'. It is true that the world is divided between the 'fast' blocs and the 'slow' blocs. It is obvious that the fast thinking and active people belong to the First World and the rest remain in the Third World. How true then is the Chinese proverb which teaches that "rich men think of the future, poor men of the present."

Contemporary Christian teaching, if it is to be genuine, has to be as radical as pouring new wine into fresh wineskins. Only then will true freedom from the bonds of captivity be effected, and a new earth and new heaven be realized. (1992)