Clasper, Paul
(Spencerville, Ohio 1923-2011 Claremont) : Theologe, Autor, Dean St. John's Anglican Cathedral Hong Kong
Name Alternative(s)
Clasper, Paul Dudley
Subjects
History : China - United States of America
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Index of Names : Occident
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Religion : Christianity
Chronology Entries (1)
| # | Year | Text | Linked Data |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1981 |
Clasper, Paul. C.S. Lewis's contribution to a missionary theology : an Asian perspective [ID D34428]. Once while lecturing in the Lutheran Seminary in Shatin, Hong Kong, the discussion turned to a perennial problem: how can one be authentically Christian and authentically Chinese in the same existence? I was interested to learn that many had found Lewis the most helpful writer at just this point. This seemed especially significant to me since he had never visited Asia, nor written about contextual theology, nor entered into ecumenical conferences or congresses on evangelism for Asians. What he had done was to show that Christ completes cultural aspirations, since, as Augustine put it, God places salt on our tongues so that we thirst for Him. The college where I teach has taken as its symbol the old Nestorian Christian symbol of the lotus and the cross. This has been the Asian Christian's way of saying that the best of Asian wisdom and insight must be brought to, and enhanced by seeing it in the light of, the cross and the resurrection. The Chinese Bible uses the rich word Tao to translate the Greek word Logos. In our great city-state [Hong Kong] every possible missionary society seeks to have a beach-head, or at least a launching-pad, to show that it takes China seriously. Hong Kong is an ecumenical chaos! It is no wonder that Christians in China today insist that there will be no going back to the days of divisive, sectarian Western Christianity. They keep saying that today the Chinese must make their own way and not be disintegrated by the influences of Western Christian money and people who will be eager to spread their peculiar and divisive emphases. Lewis's use of the Bible shows it to be the source of truth and nourishment which the Christian community has always claimed it to be. He points to a way which avoids the rocks of literalism and the whirlpool of de-mythologization. Few things are as important as this for Asian Christians. The legacy of Protestant evangelical missions has produced a 'people of the Book', to borrow an Islamic phrase. The Bible, obviously, has a large place in the life of Asian Christians. But giving the Bible to all, and insisting on the priesthood of all believers, has not been an unmixed blessing or a pure strength. We could wish that Asian Christians might be spared some of the bloody battles over the use of the Bible which has seared Western Christendom. The insistence on the acceptance of a certain view of the way inspiration must have taken place does nothing to aid in the understanding or profitable use of the Bible. One of the deepest yearnings of Asian Christians is in the vague area called 'the quest for an Asian spirituality' and the experience which the catholic tradition has termed 'spiritual direction'. I believe this yearning is also deeply sensed in the West, so we are here in touch with one of the 'signs of the times'. But there is a special concern for it in the East. Asian Christians are surrounded by time-honored disciplines of 'spirituality'. Their own poverty in this regard seems all the more apparent. Anyone living in Hong Kong, London or New York will be aware of the problem of trying to transplant the life-style of Judson or Lewis. But if our concern is with 'missionary theology' we cannot get off the hook so easily. 'Missionary theology' is by nature a listening and learning theology; it takes the other seriously, which means taking time for conversation and communion. Lewis has given us more than fresh ideas well expressed; his life-style is also a source of encouragement. He is like a hearty older brother whose zesty friendship is an encouragement to us to use what gifts we have in the part of the vineyard where we have been called to serve. In a way, this is what Asian Chrisitans most want and need from their Western friends. In China today you will hear it said, as we did last summer in Shanghai: "We don't need you to do it for us or even to show us your ways. But support us with your concern, friendship and understanding." |
Bibliography (1)
| # | Year | Bibliographical Data | Type / Abbreviation | Linked Data |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1981 | Clasper, Paul. C.S. Lewis's contribution to a missionary theology : an Asian perspective. In : Ching feng ; vol. 24, no 4 (1981). | Publication / LewCS36 |