Speaking with Dr. Simon Chan over lunch at Trinity Theological College (TTC), it was interesting to hear how he reconciled his theological education in TTC with his background as a member of a Pentecostal Assemblies Of God (AOG) church. It was enlightening to hear his take on how the Pentecostal movement started and how the differences that were perpetuated were more from a sociological instead of theological root.
In light of the lectures the past week on the history of Christianity in South East Asia and Singapore, it is fascinating how our historical and cultural context shapes our theology. The case study of how the colonial powers had a major influence on the religious development of the South East Asian countries was intriguing in showing how a political-economical agenda can affect the faith of a country as well.
Having been exposed to glimpses of Christianity outside of Singapore in my missions and university travel, it causes me to question firstly, the differences in expression and understanding of Christianity across the world, secondly, what is the significance of these differences and thirdly, how should we respond to such differences.
I have yet to figure out how to answer these questions but I think it is pertinent there are two situations that is important for us to identify and differentiate. One is where the differences are exemplified by differing cultural context but the foundations are the same and we can embrace each other as being 'same but different' if we are able to overcome some of these cultural and intellectual boundaries. I think this might possibly be the situation that Dr. Chan had with regards to his evangelical theological education and his AOG background. This is illustrated in the figure below.
These squares are actually the same exact colour. Hold your finger over the boundary between the two shapes and the colours will be corrected. The Cornsweet illusion exploits a phenomenon in the brain known as lateral inhibition which creates more contrast between the two objects because of the differently coloured edges.
Another situation is when the culture has so permeated Christianity that while we perceive it to have a certain form, in reality it is not what we imagine it to be and we do need intervention and changes to see what it really is. This is the struggle I face with the 'version' of Christianity in an English educated, Singaporean Chinese, upper middle class, traditional evangelical church, that while we might think we are progressing in our journey with God, in reality we're just walking around in circles.
Shawn Eng
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