Moltmann in China

The book explores the reception of the German theologian Jürgen Moltmann?s theology within the general framework of a budding Chinese academic theology.

The author introduces the reception of Moltmann?s theology in Chinese contexts as a dialogic process of intercultural learning and theological meaning-making, encompassing readings of western intellectual history, Marxist dialogue, political philosophy, and comparative studies. By thus presenting Moltmann studies in China as an interactive, interdisciplinary conversation between contemporary Chinese intellectuals and Western Christianity, the present ?theological reception history? argues for the full inclusion and deeper appreciation of Chinese scholarly voices and perspectives in the transmission, reconstruction, and reimagining of contemporary Western theology in Chinese contexts. Featuring a representative array of scholarship on Moltmann in the Chinese academy over the past four decades, the book highlights the unique critical potential of these cross-cultural, interdisciplinary exchanges.

The book will appeal to academics, postgraduate students, and theologians interested in world Christianity, contextual theology, Moltmann?s theology, and intercultural dialogue.

?This study is a landmark evaluation of Moltmann?s engagement with China and Chinese engagement with Moltmann. From eco-theology to political theology to Marxist dialectics, Moltmann?s work has left a significant impression on China over the last four decades, and Thurston?s fascinating study illuminates the networks of scholars, institutions, and intellectual histories involved in creating this imprint. The keynote is dialogue: in refuting Schmitt, engaging Daoism, or intervening in surprising ways in the debate on ancestor veneration, Moltmann emerges as a keen interlocutor and advocate of Chinese theology. Thurston?s work raises broad questions about theological dialogue, construction, and transmission that reach well beyond Sino-Christian theology.?

Chloë Starr, Professor of Asian Christianity and Theology at Yale Divinity School

?Thurston has researched the reception of Jürgen Moltmann?s theology in the Chinese humanities from the perspective of a first-person participant. Readers will discover that Chinese academic theology has not been captive to German theology but, rather, with the ongoing development of Sino-Christian theology in its critical, mutually constructive dialogue with theological interlocutors such as Moltmann, has been growing and thriving, leaving its mark on Chinese academia through ?creative transformation.??

Daniel Yeung, Founding Director, Institute of Sino-Christian Studies, Hong Kong