Synopsis
How ‘western’ is Christianity? This joint lecture explores Chinese contributions to Christian thought, and how Chinese viewpoints on the human may change and challenge traditional ideas inherited from the West. Peng Yin probes the difference Chinese philosophy makes for a Christian understanding of human nature. He diagnoses three flawed European imageries of China, and identifies their afterlives today. Chloë Starr works at the boundary of theology and literature. She explores how the diversity of Chinese literary forms opens up different ways of thinking about human existence in Chinese Christian literature.
Speakers bios:
Chloë Starr is Professor of Asian Christianity and Theology at Yale Divinity School. Monographs include Chinese Theology: Text and Context (Yale University Press, 2016) and Red-light Novels of the Late Qing (Brill, 2007). She has recently published a translated Reader in Chinese Theology (Baylor University Pres, 2022) and edited a three volume series on Modern Chinese Theologies (Fortress, 2023-24). Her work also appears online, on radio, and on podcasts.
Peng Yin an Assistant Professor of Ethics at Boston University. His forthcoming book, Persisting in the Good: Thomas Aquinas and Early Chinese Ethics, explores the potential for mutual recognition across religious differences. He is at work on a larger book tracing the origins and dissents of political authority in Chinese religions.
Video recording:
