There are rules to follow in every culture, particularly in Asia, where many children must bear the responsibility of maintaining harmony inside the home and familial structure. To deviate from the norms or traditions of any Asian society requires a daring willingness to attempt to exhibit to at least one’s fellow residents what’s and shouldn’t be working of their culture. As a Christian living or ministering in an Asian context, how can one manage these complex situations?
The contributors to Asian Christian Ethics, an anthology published in 2022, grapple with the challenges Asian Christians face of their particular social contexts, often characterised by strictly defined societal rating and hierarchy, religious violence against Christians, or suffering amongst marginalized groups. The theologians, pastors, and missiologists who authored this volume come from the Philippines, Malaysia, China/Hong Kong, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Korea, plus one perspective from Palestine. The writers, lots of whom studied within the West and are accustomed to Western ways of pondering, provide invaluable insight into Asian mindsets.
Each chapter begins by examining what Scripture teaches on a selected social issue. Then the writers draw on their expertise to deal with the moral challenges surrounding that issue inside a selected cultural context.
Marriage and divorce
In “Water Is Thicker Than Blood,” Bernard Wong offers insights on the changing views of traditional marriage. He notes that divorce has develop into more prevalent in Asian society (though not yet as normalized as in Western cultures) and that young adults are waiting longer to get married, with over 90 percent of 20-to-24-year-olds still single in Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore.
While Wong shows how Scripture forbids divorce, he notes that Asian Christians still get divorced and argues that the church should approach this subject with grace, not purely with condemnation. Wong is sympathetic toward the push by Christian missionaries for greater gender equality but in addition observes that it might probably sometimes put more strain on the bonds of marriage, as evidenced by a better divorce rate. Asian Christians still are likely to observe a subtle but deeply ingrained patriarchal hierarchy that has historically been present of their societies; nevertheless, young persons are now not following the normal script regarding marriage. Wong urges the church to withstand reverting to a patriarchal type of marriage and focus as an alternative on an ethical vision for the family while also upholding biblical values—that are largely consistent with Confucian ideals.
In Taiwan, the one Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage, the church must seek to know and reconcile the differences between how Christians and the encompassing culture view marriage and the church. Shang-Jen Chen’s essay “Homosexuality in Twenty-First Century Asia” explores the character of Scripture in light of homosexual behavior and interprets how Taiwan evolved toward approving same-sex marriage. Chen discusses related social aspects comparable to a declining birth rate, young people’s tendency to remain single longer, changes in sex education methods, and the results of marriage laws and equal rights for minorities on Taiwanese society.
While Chen acknowledges there isn’t any easy solution, he encourages the church in Taiwan to strengthen its internal unity, show deeper compassion and like to those with same-sex attraction, and move forward with discernment in a society that’s rapidly changing its views on marriage. One major challenge is that many pastors lack understanding of the LGBTQ+ movement. Therefore, they concentrate on communicating with like-minded Christians and never necessarily on expressing themselves in a fashion that demonstrates sensitivity to the LGBTQ+ community.
Filial piety
Anyone in search of to do ministry in Asia must also understand the importance of filial piety, highlighted in a chapter titled “Honor Your Father and Your Mother” by ShinHyung Seong. As Seong explains, obedience and filial obligation go hand in hand with Confucian teaching, which emphasizes subservient and dutiful relationships between children and fogeys, spouses, and relations. This approach to filial piety, which parallels the message of the Fifth Commandment, facilitates an orderly and harmonious society—something that is very valued throughout Asia.
As they learned about Confucian thought, missionaries to China, including Matteo Ricci and William Carey, strove to contextualize the Christian message. Whereas Ricci viewed Confucian values comparable to honoring parents as aligned with Christianity, Seong points out the moral dilemma between them: Confucianism endorses ancestral worship, through which parents or relatives are revered like gods, which shouldn’t be compatible with Christian discipleship. However, Seong affirms that within the Old Testament, honoring one’s father and mother is closely connected to having a “blessed life” and that it stays a high priority in New Testament discipleship.
Caste system
As an Indian, I discovered the chapter on “Human Dignity” by Kiem-Kiok Kwa helpful since it develops the societal intricacies around status and position. She uses our nature, created within the image of God, as a pathway toward viewing all humans as of great and equal value, in contrast to worldly views of sophistication or social position. Kwa, who’s from Singapore, suggests a countercultural practice of getting domestic helpers or household servants sit with their employers during meals as a method of affirming everyone’s dignity inside the household.
Another theologian, Nigel Ajay Kumar, traces British classism and the influences the British left on the caste system. The continued existence of this technique has far-reaching consequences for the church, especially due to the way it maintains the divide between wealthy and poor. Building relationships across castes stays highly countercultural in India, but doing so is an obligation for believers, who know that Christ binds all Christians together without regard for social status.
Kumar explores Gandhi’s view of self-denial and renunciation and its relationship to the suffering, poverty, and oppression that the caste system perpetuates. Gandhi advocated for higher treatment of the lower castes and untouchables, but he didn’t support abolishing the caste system. Although caste discrimination was officially outlawed in 1955, it still exists in practice in India today. Kumar insightfully contrasts Gandhi’s and Christianity’s views of suffering. For Gandhi, suffering must happen for one to search out truth; it is a component of everyone’s life journey. But for Christians, redemption is obtainable because another person, Jesus Christ, suffered on our behalf. This concept is tough for Hindus inside the caste system to know because society tells them that the lower caste is required to suffer attributable to their ancestral position and the social status into which they were born.
Meaningfully communicated and lived out
Having lived most of my life in Hong Kong, I’m deeply aware of how colonial history shapes our understanding of specific Asian contexts. Early missionaries who brought the gospel to Asia wrapped it in Western cultural features. Over time, nevertheless, Christian teaching has develop into way more contextualized in each its presentation and its application to day by day living. Both Asian Christians living in Asia and families of Asian heritage living everywhere in the world confront similar ethical issues.
When Christianity flourishes in Asia, it does so by engaging with its society in positive ways, comparable to Kumar’s example of two pastors from India who empowered one another although they were from opposite ends of the caste system. This book will push anyone doing ministry in Asia or amongst Asians to reflect thoughtfully on Confucian philosophy, the lingering caste system, social hierarchies, and familial relationships that entail dutiful respect for elders. The authors’ contributions develop an awareness of what each country is fighting ethically and show how the gospel might be meaningfully communicated and lived out in Asian contexts.
While Asian Christian Ethics doesn’t offer easy solutions to moral problems, it reminds us that Christ’s message should be on the forefront of our decisions and actions. This book encourages all Christians to interact with difficult societal issues in thoughtful and biblical ways, whatever cultural context we may inhabit.
