KWOK
WAI LUEN
Hong
Kong Baptist University
Paper
Title. “Public Theology(ies) or Theologised by
Public.”
Abstract
The Umbrella Movement (alias
Occupy Central Movement) in Hong Kong caused concern all over the world. From
the very beginning of the movement, the influence of Protestant Christianity is
obvious. The initiators launched the movement in a church, and claimed that it
is not only a political but also a spiritual quest. In this sense, the
initiators attempted to theologize their actions. However, as a public political
movement, which advocates for civil disobedient action, it has quickly turned
into hot debates within the church and society. As Protestant churches do not
have a centralized theological authority like Roman Catholics, the debates
within the church became a “flowering” of public theologies. More
interestingly, even non-Christian column writers entered to discuss their
versions of political theology. The first part of the paper will introduce
their discourses and analyze their theological and political implications. In the second part, the paper will point out
that these theo-political discourses have been channeled and further fermented
through media. Notably, public media reported and interviewed clergies shared
similar political stance with the media to support their own viewpoints.
Moreover, media on Internet, such as, Facebook pages, blogs, Internet radio,
and Internet newspapers enabled lay Christians responded quickly to the
leaders’ theological discourses and generated their own political theologies.
Under these circumstances, church leaders in Hong Kong found that Hong Kong
Protestant Christians are deeply divided and become hostile to political
opponents. Also, theology has been out of the church’s control. In the final
part of the paper, I would like to point out that there are three common themes
among these divided discourses: justice, peace, and reconciliation. I attempt
to argue that these three themes can help Hong Kong Protestant Christians a
sense of public—shared values to meet the challenge of political crisis.
Dr. Kwok Wai-Luen is Assistant Professor of Department of Religion and Philosophy and Associate Director of Centre for Sino-Christian Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University. He also serves on the Theology Committee of Christian and Missionary Alliance Church Union of Hong Kong. He has edited and authored 4 books, and published more than 20 journal articles on Chinese Christianity and Theology. His most recent book publication is: Self-defence or Social Concern? The Social and Political Participation of Hong Kong Church (2014).
Dr. Kwok Wai-Luen is Assistant Professor of Department of Religion and Philosophy and Associate Director of Centre for Sino-Christian Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University. He also serves on the Theology Committee of Christian and Missionary Alliance Church Union of Hong Kong. He has edited and authored 4 books, and published more than 20 journal articles on Chinese Christianity and Theology. His most recent book publication is: Self-defence or Social Concern? The Social and Political Participation of Hong Kong Church (2014).