The NPP's contribution to Chinese Christianity from the Lutheran Captivity of the Church

On my Twitter feed, I got a link that discusses what the New Perspective on Paul, NPP, contributes and shares with the Chinese culture. These are only abstracts of the articles, but they are very helpful to understand the Chinese Perspective, or the beginnings of it, of the NPP.

Of special interest to me was the abstract by Lung-kwong LO, where he gives us three points of interest as to contribution of the NPP to Chinese Christianity.

Based on this new perspective of Judaism, James D. G. Dunn and N. T. Wright have advocated a New Perspective on Paul (NPP hereafter), which has been very influential in Pauline studies in the last three decades. Nevertheless, Chinese scholars have paid very little attention to NPP. In this paper, NPP, its criticism and defense, as well as its contributions to Pauline studies are introduced. Its significance for Chinese Christians can be summarized in three points: (1) the old perspective on Paul's gospel of justification by faith was introduced to China by western missionaries and the acceptance of this gospel owed much to Chinese culture, which mainly emphasized individual morality rather than social justice. Studies of NPP could correct the imbalance by leading Chinese Christians to interpret Paul's gospel in terms of social and cultural contexts; (2) the old perspective on Paul dichotomizes faith and works, which not only makes good works incompatible with faith on the issue of salvation but also plays down the importance of good works in eschatological judgment. This stands in sharp contrast to Chinese traditions and aroused strong reactions among Chinese in an incident that happened in Taiwan in 1997. NPP corrects this imbalance and affirms the importance of both faith and good works; (3) one of the most important emphases of NPP is to highlight the fact that Paul's gospel was for both Jews and Gentiles, that Gentiles could become a people of God by faith, without having to become Jews. This understanding is essential for Chinese who are pressurized by the teachings of missionaries to denounce Chinese cultures and customs, the identity markers of being Chinese, in order to become Christians. NPP provides a new understanding on this important issue.

I think that similar contributions can be applied to a Latin American Perspective of the NPP, and as in the case with the Chinese theological community, little has been written from a truly academic position, although even when it comes criticism, they fall short and ultimately misrepresent it.

This really encourages me to continue in my quest to study the NPP, and to apply to a Latin American view of Scripture.

The Protestant church has been held captive by the Lutheran way of reading Scripture and understanding christianity. This has not been limited to doctrine, but also to ethical practice, as well as the christian worship that takes place in lands where the European heritage must take precedence from the indigenous representations of christian worship, which are ultimately considered unchristian and inappropriate to worship God. Hymns, as it looks for some, are the only way to worship God.

Christianity is not dying, but thriving in other lands. Let's hope that the errors that took place during the Reformation, both doctrinal as well as ethical, can be learned by this new generation of Christians.

Luis A. Jovel