CHINESE ANCESTOR PRACTICES AND CHRISTIANITY: TOWARD A VIABLE CONTEXTUALIZATION OF CHRISTIAN ETHICS IN A HONG KONG SETTING.

摘要

This study investigates the thesis that the contextualization of Christian ethics in Hong Kong can positively relate to traditional Chinese ancestor practices. Insights from theology, anthropology, sociology, and history contribute to the practical and strategic missiological goal. The methodology integrates documentary study with methods of social research.; By relating the results of a structured interview to traditional ancestor worship, Chapter I establishes the cultural perspective of contemporary Hong Kong Chinese. It finds that ancestor-related beliefs and practices have been largely drained of their popular religious associations. However, structural elements of the cult strongly persist.; Chapter II defines and critiques the historical Christian strategies toward ancestor worship. The displacement model reduces the entire cult to its basest religious features and calls for its utter elimination. The substitution paradigm also implements an exclusivist theology but proposed functional substitutes to replace the social functions of ancestor worship. The fulfillment type extols the system's positive religious and social values as preparations for Christianity's more complete revelation. The accommodation model stresses the socio-ethical motives of ancestor worship, permitting converts to participate in the majority of traditional practices.; Chapter III analyzes a large-scale survey of Hong Kong Baptists in describing Christian contact with, participation in, and attitudes toward ancestor practices. The survey reveals extensive contact with traditional customs but also a lack of consensus regarding the proper Christian response. It points to ancestral rites as an ethical dilemma for believers.; The concluding chapter advises Hong Kong churches to treat ancestor practices as essentially a matter of social custom rather than religious ritual and warns that the real barrier to conversion is not ancestor worship but a culturally insensitive Christian strategy. The study recommends a contextual model of approach, simultaneously accommodating traditional customs and values, reinterpreting them in the light of Christian theology and ethics, and innovating forms which are consistent with biblical faith, with the Chinese cultural heritage, and with emerging social values.