July 21-23 2010 | Conference in Tokyo, Japan
Suffering and Hope in Jesus Christ: Christological Polarity and Religious Pluralism
Through a generous grant from the Carl F.H. Henry Center for Theological Understanding, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Tokyo Christian University are conducting a “working conference” on Christology and religious pluralism. Ten scholars from Japan, Korea, Great Britain, Australia and the United States will present original papers addressing the themes of pain and suffering, victory and hope as they relate to the significance of Jesus Christ in our globalizing and pluralistic world. It is anticipated that the conference will result in a book, to be published in both Japanese and English.
The Context
The conference is to be an exercise in “globalizing theology”, as Western and Asian scholars together engage a range of issues relevant to the Biblical teaching on Jesus as Lord and Savior in societies marked by religious diversity. The massive shift in the global demographics of Christianity in the twentieth century has stimulated important discussions of the global nature of Christianity and the implications of this for theology. Globalizing theology has been defined as “theological reflection rooted in God’s self-revelation in the Scriptures and informed by the historical legacy of the Christian community through the ages, the current realities in the world, and the diverse perspectives of Christian communities throughout the world, with a view to greater holiness in living and faithfulness in fulfilling God’s mission in all of the world through the Church.” [Globalizing Theology: Belief and Practice in an Era of World Christianity, eds. Craig Ott and Harold Netland (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006) p. 30]
Theme
The question of the relation of the Christian gospel to other religious traditions has always been a significant one for Asian Christians. This is certainly the case with Japanese Christians, with some Japanese theologians producing creative and fresh ways of understanding God and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Issues in the theology of religions have recently become prominent in the West as well, as Western societies become increasingly pluralistic.
Due to the impact of modernization and globalization, Asian and Western societies share certain commonalities - such as social differentiation, increased religious diversity, the pervasive impact of technology on life, and democratic forms of government committed to protecting the rights of minority religious groups. But Asian and Western societies are also different in important respects. Japan, for example, has much greater ethnic and cultural homogeneity than American or European societies. Yet Japan also has a long tradition of religious eclecticism and a degree of tolerance for religious diversity within certain carefully prescribed boundaries. Although Christianity has been in Japan for over 300 years, it remains a small minority religion within a society dominated by Buddhist / Shinto / folk animistic traditions. The United States, by contrast, while never a “Christian nation” in any meaningful sense of the term, has had a dominant Christian social and cultural presence since its beginning. American and European societies, however, are today enormously diverse with respect to ethnicity, culture and religion, and the “cultural Christianity” once dominant is now being challenged on various fronts.
Western evangelicals have recently begun to address the many complex issues in theology of religions. But some Asian thinkers point out that, when addressing the question of other religions, evangelicals in the West often speak of the “uniqueness” of Jesus Christ in rather triumphalistic terms, emphasizing Christ’s victory on the cross, resurrection and anticipated return to judge the world. Such triumphalism can in turn affect how evangelicals respond to religious others. Some Japanese thinkers, by contrast, have given much more attention to the themes of suffering and pain in the passion of Christ. Surely both emphases are legitimate and should be part of a comprehensive Christology and theology of religions. In this conference we will be especially concerned with the implications of the themes of Christ’s suffering and pain, along with those of victory and hope, for a Christian response to religious others. How do the themes of suffering / pain and victory / hope help us to understand the significance of Jesus Christ in modern, pluralistic and democratic societies in Asia and the West? What are the implications of these themes for how Christians should respond to or interact with religious others?
Presenters should develop their papers in terms of one of the following categories:
- Biblical and theological issues. How should the themes of suffering / pain and victory / hope, as expressed in Scripture, inform our understanding of the person and work of Jesus Christ? What are implications of this for theology of religions and mission?
- Historical and sociological analyses. How have Asian or Western theologians understood these themes in relation to Christology? To what extent have the themes of suffering / pain and victory / hope been associated with perceptions of Jesus in popular Japanese or American culture? Are these themes prominent in the depictions of Jesus among intellectuals and literary figures? Are they evident in the various new religious movements found in America and Japan?
- Issues of public domain / private faith. How should the themes of suffering / pain and victory / hope inform Christians’ responses to religious others in the public domain? What are the implications of these themes when the Christian community is a small, minority movement? What about when Christians form a majority? How can themes of suffering and hope help to shape a Christian public philosophy committed to the common good?
Conference Participants
The following scholars will present papers at the conference:
Dr. Hisakazu Inagaki Professor of Christian Philosophy Division Head, International Christian Studies and Social Work Tokyo Christian University
Prof. Shohei Yamato Associate Professor of Practical Theology Tokyo Christian University
Dr. Akio Ito Professor of New Testament Head of the Library Tokyo Christian University
Dr. Anri Morimoto Professor of Philosophy and Religion International Christian University
Dr. Heon-Wook Park Professor of Practical Theology Tokyo Union Theological Seminary
Dr. Richard Mouw President Professor of Christian Philosophy Fuller Theological Seminary
Dr. Graham Cole Professor of Systematic Theology Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Dr. Doug Sweeney Director of the Carl F.H. Henry Center for Theological Understanding Professor of Church History and the History of Christian Thought Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Dr. Nelson Jennings Professor of World Mission Editor, Missiology: An International Review Covenant Theological Seminary
Dr. Richard Bauckham Professor of New Testament University of St. Andrews
Conference Particulars
Papers and discussion will be in English (with simultaneous interpretation provided for one or two Japanese participants). Each presentation is to be 45 minutes in length, with a 15 minute response followed by 30 minutes of discussion.
Papers are to be distributed ahead of the conference so that all participants have a chance to read them before the conference. Papers by the major presenters are due by April 1, 2010.
We are asking that each presenter send the tentative title of his paper along with several sentences describing the general theme of the paper to Dr. Kobayashi or Dr. Netland by Feb. 1, 2009. This will enable us to avoid unnecessary overlap in themes in the presentation of the papers.
Presenters in Japan should send their papers to Dr. Kobayashi at Tokyo Christian University. Western presenters should send their papers to Dr. Harold Netland at TEDS.
Dr. Takanori Kobayashi
Tokyo Christian University
3-301-5 Uchino
Inzai Shi
Chiba 270-1347
Japan
agst@tci.ac.jp
Dr. Harold Netland
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
2065 Half Day Road
Deerfield
IL. 60015
USA
hnetland@trin.edu
Participation in the conference is by invitation only. In addition to the major presenters and respondents there will be twenty to thirty specially invited observers. Participants are expected to be present for the duration of the conference.
Some of those presenting major papers may also be asked to offer a brief response to one of the major papers.
It is anticipated that one result of the conference will be a book of essays, published both in English and Japanese. While it is expected that many of the papers presented will be published, the editors will make final decisions about which papers to include.
