Cultural Integration and the Gospel in Vietnamese Mission Theology

Kimson Nguyen

Description

Postcolonial Vietnam has an urgent need for contextualized theology of mission, God, Christ, and the church that is rooted in indigenous cultural traditions and the dual Vietnamese spirit of resistance and assimilation. Dr KimSon Nguyen navigates the religio-cultural dimensions of Vietnamese spirituality and Daoism that have hindered the assimilation of the Christian faith in the Vietnamese context and explores a fresh approach to missiology in Vietnam.
Dr Nguyen draws upon his deep knowledge of Vietnamese evangelical history to analyze contextualization and mission theology in Vietnam. He proposes an evangelical theology of God as Ðạo (way / 道), the centrality of the Vietnamese home as the “house of the Lord,” and ancestor veneration as a theological framework for an indigenous theology of the family. Narrowing the gap between culturally removed evangelical missionary practice and widespread syncretistic spirituality in Vietnam, Nguyen calls for a paradigm shift in Vietnamese mission theology that is both robustly evangelical and authentically Vietnamese.

Informations

• Publié par: Langham Creative Projects
• Date de parution: 14 novembre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781783687398
• Langue: English

Extrait

Protestant Christianity in Vietnam is unique: arriving late, it was dominated by one denomination for most of the century – the Christian and Missionary Alliance. In addition, Protestant Christianity came in the last decades of French colonialism, and it came in a very North American Protestant form. KimSon Nguyen has done all Vietnamese, not just Vietnamese Christians, a great service in explaining how the history of early Protestantism shows the struggles that took place as Christianity sought for a home in Vietnamese soil. Much of this history is difficult to read. However, this fascinating study goes further in suggesting ways forward as Christianity develops more and more as a Vietnamese religion, encompassing all of life and culture. I believe that Vietnamese readers will respond with recognition and appreciation; non-Vietnamese readers will respond as if being enlightened about how Vietnamese culture lives and develops. It is a great story – it is a Vietnamese story.
Scott W. Sunquist, PhD
Professor of Missiology,
President, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary,
South Hamilton, Massachusetts, USA
Radically evangelical, thoroughly contextual, deeply missional, and theologically and biblically syncretistic! How? Prior generations of evangelical scholars would never have been described in this way, but KimSon Nguyen represents the vanguard of mission theologians in the twenty-first century. Read this book to be challenged for the sake of the mission of God in a pluralistic and postcolonial global world.
Amos Yong, PhD
Professor of Theology and Mission,
Dean, School of Theology and the School of Intercultural Studies,
Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California, USA
In this richly researched book, Dr KimSon Nguyen relentlessly seeks to identify the unintended lopsidedness of Western evangelicalism planted in the East Asian context of Vietnam and offers tour-de-force proposals for an integrated mission theology that calls for serious reflection and correction. Its analysis of the religio-cultural dimensions of Vietnamese spirituality with its dual forces of “resisting and assimilating” is to be wrestled by all who care about mission in our global village in the twenty-first century.
Rev Linh H. Doan, PhD
President, Union University of California
Senior Pastor, Thanh Le Church, Anaheim, California, USA

Cultural Integration and the Gospel in Vietnamese Mission Theology
A Paradigm Shift
KimSon Nguyen

© 2019 KimSon Nguyen
Published 2019 by Langham Monographs
An imprint of Langham Publishing
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ISBNs:
978-1-78368-738-1 Print
978-1-78368-739-8 ePub
978-1-78368-740-4 Mobi
978-1-78368-741-1 PDF
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Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version ® (ESV ® ), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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ISBN: 978-1-78368-738-1
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To Ngọc-Ái, my dear wife, and to Việt-Thái, Grace Quỳnh-Anh, and Hannah Phương-Anh, our dear children, who shared abundant love, faith, and countless sacrifices until this endeavor came to fruition.
Contents

Cover


Acknowledgements


Abstract


List of Abbreviations


Introduction


Problem Statement


Significance of the Study


Context and Key Definitions


Limitations of the Study


Outline and Methodology


Chapter 1 East Asian Syncretistic Context


Encountering Christianity


Daoism


Confucianism


Chapter 2 Contextualization in Christian Mission Theology


“Outsider” View


Alternative Evangelical View


Chapters 1 and 2 Conclusion


Chapter 3 Vietnamese Syncretistic Spirituality


Popular Animist Beliefs


Syncretistic Spirituality


Contextual Integrated Belief


Chapter Conclusion


Chapter 4 Christian Missionary Movements in Vietnam


Early Accounts of Christianity


French Protestant Missions in Resurgence


Protestant Evangelization


Chapter Conclusion


Chapter 5 Christian Faith in Context


A Catholic Attempt at Addressing the “Three Teachings ”


Protestant Missions in the Colonial Context


“Foreign” Faith: An Issue of the Vietnamese Evangelicals


Chapter Conclusion


Chapter 6 A Paradigm Shift Proposal for Vietnamese Mission Theology


Mission Theological Principles


God in Our Midst: A Vietnamese Concept of God


God with Us: A Vietnamese Hermeneutic


Chapter Conclusion


Conclusion Theological Missiological Reflections


Appendix Inculturation vs Contextualization


Bibliography


About Langham Partnership

Endnotes

Index
Acknowledgements
With deep gratitude to God I acknowledge the contributions of many faithful people and institutions; without their significant roles, this study would not have been possible.
At Fuller Theological Seminary, I am grateful to Dr Scott W. Sunquist, Dean of the School of Intercultural Studies and Professor of World Christianity, for his patient and untiring efforts in mentoring me during the past five years of study. His academic guidance, insights for the writing, and encouragement through prayer, at each time of our meeting together, have been invaluable for my academic and spiritual development. I am grateful to my doctoral committee members: Dr Amos Yong, Professor of Theology and Mission and Director of the Center for Missiological Research, and Dr Diane B. Obenchain, Professor of Religion and Director of the China Initiative, and the dissertation outside reader, Dr Jonathan Y. Tan, the Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan Professor at Case Western Reserve University. I am indebted to their careful review, critical feedback, input and direction from the writing of the proposal until the present. Also, thanks to Wendy Walker of the office of the School of Intercultural Studies, and Johnny C. Ching of the Center for Missiological Research for their enormous assistance.
For academic resources that enriched my academic journey, thank you to these Professors: Dr David H. Scott, Dr Sherwood G. Lingenfelter, Dr Wilbert R. Shenk, Dr Daniel R. Shaw, and Dr Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, among others at Fuller Theological Seminary, for their excellent teaching and guidance all along. Thank you to Dr George E. Dutton, Professor of Vietnamese History and Southeast Asia Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), for his valuable guidance in the Vietnamese study, and for introducing me to various important resources in the field. Thanks to my peers and colleagues Matthew Krabill, Dr Yukikazu Obata, Shi-Min Lu, Dr Tu Thien Van Truong, Dr Vince Le, and other fellow doctoral students at Fuller Theological Seminary. Thanks also to my peers who responded with helpful feedback during my presentations at the 2014 Conference of the American Society of Missiology, and at the Yale-Edinburgh Group, particularly the 2015 Annual Meeting at Yale University, and the 2016 Annual Meeting at Edinburgh University. Lastly, thanks to the librarians and archivists who were incredibly helpful, making my visits successful: the staff of Fuller Theological Seminary’s David Allan Hubbard Library, Madame Claire-Lise Lombard at Bibliothèque du Défap of the Société des Missions Évangéliques de Paris (SMEP), Mr David Fitzstevens for sharing hi