Theological training was not a very high priority in the early days of the revival in China. The churches took root in the countryside, where most people, including church leaders, had very little education. Some did not even have a Bible, but those who did, made sure they memorised it and taught it, helped by the Spirit and their own experience as persecuted believers. God confirmed their words with signs and miracles. In this way, the foundation of the Chinese church was laid, not through human wisdom, but through the power of the Spirit and the suffering of the faithful.
However, as the church became more established, a need grew for a deeper theological grounding. Naturally, the Chinese church looked to the West for this, and some believers went abroad to study at Western seminaries, with mixed results. They enjoyed the depth of theological engagement, but they also missed things, and not everything they learned was relevant. Some even suggested the Chinese church should no longer engage with theology from the West, but just rely on their own insights.
But not everyone agrees. One network has commissioned several young Chinese Christian leaders, who have had the privilege of theological education, to develop curricula for the Chinese church leaders. In these curricula they attempt to take the strong points of the Western and Eastern way of doing theology and combine them. They want to keep the depth of theological thinking which they have encountered in the West, and dig deep into the meaning of scripture, including an understanding of the original languages and context. But they do not want to do this as an intellectual exercise only. They see the danger of losing sight of what really matters.
Like the older generation of Chinese church leaders, they want to focus on what brings people closer to Jesus and on what is the core of the gospel. They also realise that there is no such thing as Christian theology without taking up your cross and following Jesus. Their elders have taught them the centrality of suffering in the Christian life.
With the church growing and persecution preventing people from meeting in large groups, training new leaders has become a core need. But a high quality theological training for these leaders is important for other reasons as well. A lot of the church growth is now taking place in the cities. There the people are generally better educated. This means they have different questions, and higher expectations of the level of understanding of their leaders.
Currently, this network has 50 underground theological training locations, with 20-30 students in each. The courses are taught both online and in person. What was striking about the way these young leaders presented their plans, was the mutual respect between the generations of leaders. The elders had given way, handing over the responsibility to these younger ones, seeing they were better equipped. And the younger ones honored the example and sacrifice of the elders. One of them put it like this. “The elders planted a tree and the young people can drink coffee in the shade.” What they do is possible because of the foundation that was laid. And they just continue to build.
