Doing Theology. Thinking Mission.

Ep 18: What is Chinese House Church Theology? With Hannah Nation

In this episode, we talk about:

• The House Church of Theology’s upcoming book, Faith in the Wilderness: Words of Exhortation from the Chinese Church.
• The common beliefs and differing perspectives between Chinese sermons and American sermons.
• How we approach the theology of suffering as Americans versus the Chinese perspective.

About Hannah Nation:

Hannah Nation serves as CHCT’s Managing Director. She is a graduate of Covenant College and received her Master of Arts in Church History from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. As a student of missions history and World Christianity, she is inspired by this historical moment and the privilege of witnessing a new chapter in church history unfold across China. She has written for The Gospel Coalition, Christianity Today, byFaith Magazine, and Life in the Gospel, and contributed chapters to several books. Nation also currently serves as the Content Director for China Partnership

Resources & Links:

Connect with Hannah on Instagram | @hannahfsnation

 

Learn more at https://www.housechurchtheology.com/

Follow Mission ONE on Instagram | @partnerwithmissionone

Learn more on mission1.org

Show Notes:

What does Christianity look like on the other side of the world? Today, we are joined by the managing director of the Center for House Church Theology and the content director of China Partnership, Hannah Nation! She is here to share her wealth of knowledge and experience with the House Church as we take a look into Chinese theology and culture. She will also give us a sneak peek into the House Church’s upcoming book, Faith in the Wilderness: Words of Exhortation from the Chinese Church.

 

Then, we’ll talk about the effect of the pandemic on the church, the theology of suffering, and the influences that shaped Chinese sermons into what they are and how they are spread today. What are the key differences between Chinese sermons and American sermons? What are their perspectives on politics and resistance, and how do they contrast our Western views? How does the House Church engage Chinese culture and a predominantly non-Christian audience? Join us and learn what unites us together with our brothers in Christ from across the globe!

0:00:00 Meet Hannah Nation, serving as the managing director of the Center for Chinese House Church Theology and the current content director of China Partnership!

0:02:15 What is your upcoming book called and what is it about?

0:05:00 Why should we be reading Chinese sermons?

0:08:30 Following that question, why the House Church?

0:09:50 Listening to the marginal voices of Christianity.

0:12:00 How did this book happen?

0:15:00 The significance and gift of translation.

0:19:15 How does your team translate?

0:20:45 How does the House Church engage Chinese culture? 

0:24:40 What should people know about the House Church?

0:28:20 Where do you see the House Church take up resistance?

0:30:20 The differences between Chinese Christian resistance versus US Christian resistance.

0:33:55 How did the pandemic affect their sermons?

0:39:00 What are the main differences of content in Chinese sermons compared to US sermons?

0:42:45 Is the question of an end goal a trend you see among the entire population?

0:45:25 The theology of suffering.

0:47:40 How should we start looking at suffering?

0:50:10 Where does their understanding of suffering come from?

0:53:50 How do we prepare ourselves for suffering?

0:56:50 Why do we cling to the idol of safety?

1:01:50 How does the moral structure of the culture shape these sermons?

1:08:50 What makes Faith in the Wilderness an excellent group study tool?

Ep 17: An Overlooked Motive for Doing Missions with Elliot Clark

In this episode, we talk about:

• Understanding the motives and ambitions of Paul’s missions.
• The practical implications of missionary motivations.
• Self-supporting, self-sustaining churches versus interdependent churches.
• The minimization of missionaries in a post-colonial world and the inevitability of Western influence to foreign cultures.

About Elliot Clark:

Elliot Clark (MDiv, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) served in Central Asia as a cross-cultural church planter along with his wife and children. He works with Training Leaders International, equipping indigenous church leaders overseas and diaspora pastors within the U.S. He is the author of Evangelism as Exiles: Life on Mission as Strangers in Our Own Land and Mission Affirmed: Recovering the Missionary Motivation of Paul

Resources & Links:

Follow Mission ONE on Instagram | @partnerwithmissionone

 

Learn more on mission1.org 

Show Notes:

What goes into spreading God’s word? And what are the motivations behind it? Today, we are joined by Elliot Clark, author of Evangelism as Exiles and Mission Affirmed! Elliot has served in Central Asia with his wife as a cross-cultural church planter, and currently works with Training Leaders International. We’ll be having an enriched discussion about his newest book, Mission Affirmed: Recovering the Missionary Motivation of Paul by exploring the deeper meanings and interpretations behind Paul’s motivations in his pursuit for God’s honor and approval. 

 

After that, we shift the lens to modern day missionary work. We’ll talk about the importance of interdependent churches over self-propagating ones, the dichotomy of quality and quantity in planting disciples, the over-minimization of missionary presence, the implicit inevitability of cultural colonization, and more! Tune in for an episode that’ll get you motivated and inspired to start planting seeds today!

0:00:00 Meet Elliot, author of Evangelism as Exiles and Mission Affirmed, currently working with Training Leaders International!

0:02:50 Where does your depth and understanding come from?

0:04:50 What motivated you to write your newest book, Mission Affirmed: Recovering the Missionary Motivation of Paul?

0:06:35 What made you focus on the motivational aspect?

0:08:25 What is your overall thesis?

0:10:20 Should we get rewards? How do we receive different rewards?

0:12:05 What texts should we look at for the degrees of rewards?

0:16:50 Why do you say God’s approval is Paul’s missionary motivation?

0:19:45 The reason Paul left the cities.

0:22:25 What was the deeper meaning behind his motivation?

0:25:00 What are the practical implications of having God’s honor as a missionary motive?

0:29:20 Quantity versus quality in missionary work.

0:33:10 How should missionaries approach their work? 

0:36:30 Do you think Paul would endorse self-sustaining, self-supporting, and self-propagating churches?

0:38:25 What is the importance of interdependent churches?

0:41:25 The over-minimization of missionaries in a post-colonial world.

0:45:25 How has the danger of cultural colonization changed, not disappeared?

0:49:25 Why is Paul concerned with both the Corinthians’ approval and God’s approval?

0:55:35 What has been the feedback of your new book so far?

0:56:00 Do you have any future projects in mind?

0:56:40 What do missions have to learn from theology?

0:58:10 What does theology have to learn from missions?

Ep 16: Honor, Shame, and Women in the Church with Lynn Cohick

In This Episode, We Talk About:

• Interpreting and analyzing the role of women in the Bible, from a modern lens and an ancient one.
• Honor-shame standards of today versus the honor-shame standards of antiquity.
• The honor behind women’s hair, and reinterpreting Paul’s speech about the veil.
• How to better understand the text.
• Reframing the role of women in the church today.

 

About Lynn Cohick:

Lynn Cohick earned her Ph.D. in New Testament and Christian Origins from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. After 18 years as professor of New Testament . Some of her many publications include: Ephesians in New International Commentary on the New Testament. (2020); Christian Women in the Patristic World (Co-authored with Amy B. Hughes, 2017); Women in the World of the Earliest Christians, (2009).and Biblical Studies at Wheaton College (serving as department chair and dean toward the end of my time there), she accepted the invitation to join Denver Seminary as their Provost / Dean. Currently, she serves as Provost and Dean of Academic Affairs of Northern Seminary in Lisle, Illinois.

Resources & Links:

Follow Mission ONE on Instagram | @partnerwithmissionone

 

Learn more on mission1.org 

Show Notes:

What is the role of women in the church, and how has it changed from Biblical times to the present? Our special guest for today is Dr. Lynn Cohick, Provost, Academic Dean, and Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary University! She will be providing us with her incredible insight as we take a close look into the role of women in the Bible and in the church today. We’ll discuss the interpretations of women in scripture, including the misconceptions and concerns regularly attached to them, so that we can gain a better understanding of the text and what it means.

 

We then shift gears in order to talk about reframing the discussion around women in the church, as well as approaching historical reconstruction. How do we recognize our modern biases and the influences it has over the way we view scripture? What are the differences of honor-shame standards of antiquity compared to today? What are the ways we can reinterpret Paul’s speech about the veil? We’ll be exploring all these questions and more! Join us and find new ways to better understand the text and the word of God today!

0:00:00 Introducing special guest Dr. Lynn Cohick, the current Provost and Academic Dean at Northern Seminary University!

0:01:30 What brings you to Phoenix?

0:03:30 What are the most common questions and concerns you receive from women?

0:06:35 What misinterpretations about women in the Bible do you see most often?

0:10:20 The role of women in the New Testament era.

0:13:15 How do we sexualize interpretations of women?

0:20:10 The honor-shame standards of today versus honor-shame standards in the past.

0:23:30 What is the modern Western view of head coverings for women?

0:25:20 Is there agency in choosing culturally conservative modesty?

0:28:55 How is a woman’s hair related to honor?

0:31:20 Why could Paul be making a theological argument, not a cultural one, in 1 Corinthians?

0:33:30 Could the issue have been from men trying to push a false theology of creation?

0:36:20 How was the theology of creation reinterpreted to help reinforce the patriarchy?

0:38:15 The benefit of text being written in character.

0:41:45 What do we need to recognize about how text was written back then?

0:42:55 What was Paul trying to say during his speech about the veil?

0:45:35 What does “eternally begotten” mean and why was it stressed by Paul?

0:49:30 How can we start to better understand the text?

0:51:35 How can we better understand women in the text?

0:55:55 How should we frame the discussion of the role of women in the church?

1:00:20 Navigating the framing of Ephisians 5.

1:03:25 How do our modern ideals and biases influence the way we read scripture?

1:06:00 What would you say to people who fear historical reconstruction?

1:10:00 How do you determine the burden of proof?

1:14:10 What mindset should we approach the scriptures with?

Distinguishing Shame and Guilt (S1, E 15)

In this season finale, we distinguish shame from guilt. The two concepts are often misunderstood. People in the church tend to assume that the Bible emphasizes guilt over shame. Along the way, we miss their significance in Scripture and the ways they impact our lives.

For complete show notes, check out the podcast homepage.

Teaching Virtue in Theological Education. Part 2 with Jonathan Worthington (S1, E14)

In Part 2 of our conversation with Jonathan Worthington, we continue talking about theological education.

Adult learning brings experience into the classroom, but it can also mean there’s some unlearning that needs to happen as well. Teachers need to be aware of these dynamics when thinking through pedagogy.

For complete show notes, check out the podcast homepage.

Going Deeper into Theological Education. Part 1 with Jonathan Worthington (S1, E13)

This is part 1 of our discussion about theological education with Jonathan Worthington, author of Creation in Paul and Philo and Vice President of Theological Education with Training Leaders International

Jonathan wrote a critical, yet gracious, review of Jackson’s book (Reading Romans with Eastern Eyes) and they’ve been friends ever since.

For complete show notes, check out the podcast homepage.

Defining Honor and Shame (S1, E12)

There’s so much misunderstanding about honor and shame. It seems that people routinely talk past one another when speaking about these ideas. So, in this episode, we define our terms.

For complete show notes, check out the podcast homepage.

How We Learned About Honor and Shame (Bonus Episode)

This week, we change things up and get a bit more personal, where we introduce ourselves and talk about how we first learned about the significance of honor and shame.

Negotiating Cultural Identity. Interview with Jamie Sanchez (S1, E11)

Dr. Jamie Sanchez studied how various cultural markers are both shunned and engaged by the church. Is this an American or a Christian identity marker? This question should be central to us before we come up with any intercultural strategy.

For complete show notes, check out the podcast homepage.

A Priesthood of Languages Among Missionaries? Part 2 with Scott Callaham (S1, E10)

Dr. Callaham explains how we set up a “priesthood of languages” when doing cross-cultural work. A “priesthood of missionaries” refers to when missionaries depend only on their intuition in interpreting Scripture. We need to be aware of how we set ourselves up as unlikely priests in our host culture as missionaries.

For complete show notes, check out the podcast homepage.