Abstract
Prosperous Christian theologians consider themselves not only the servants of God, but also their achievements are sufficient to be remembered and inspire further generations. In contemporary times, a number of theologians who have seriously transformed Christianity, as well as having significantly influenced the contemporary churches. This essay will explore one of the most influential theologians, H. Richard Niebuhr (1894-1962), American theologian, his realization was in the academic sphere of theological faith and ethics that he had been taught at the Divinity School in Yale University for more than thirty years. His theological thinking and teaching was strict. His leading inspiration is his theory and works in theology, has become the prevalent research on in present academic theology. Moreover, in the academic compass H. Richard Niebuhr was awarded high honour, and therefore this essay concentrates on his academic accomplishment and to uses the Niebuhr’s theological thinking and ethics to analyse the modern Christian churches on their ministry and challenges of facing cultural diversity.
Introduction
The early twentieth century is was the year of active knowledge; along with the economic growth, human beings could make interactions with many different countries. On the other hand, because of the rise of nationalism, in the first five decades of the twentieth century, World Wars had happened twice. However, at the same time, God inspired many of his servants to study and research theology around the world, and then through theologians revealing the visions of God, allowed it to be practiced in different regions. Because of the continuing research of these theologians, the theological foundation can still remains turbulent in several parts of the world. In addition to the rise of ethical concerns, God will make His commandments and allow His people to think about God's love in a chaotic world. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit works Himself through the world, whereas the other missions are through His servants, with the knowledge of the language, teaching systematic theology upon these theologians. They also teach people to understand and listen to God's words and commands more carefully through ethics, and then ‘Keep yourselves in the love of God.’ (Jud 1:21)
In such an environment, the distinguished theologians working in different fields, through their writing, teaching, pastoring, researching, they reveal themselves to obey God’s directions. Therefore, the work of God is fulfilled among the people whom He loves. This essay will analyze the legacy of H. Richard Niebuhr. The primary purpose of this essay is to add to the history of interpretation with constructive and theological reflections on H. Richard Niebuhr. Through these reflections this essay will show the difference that an imagination (this word does not make sense here, but the sentence makes better sense without it) Christian ethics can make for on answering questions of on modern churches. This essay will firstly examine ‘The Purpose of the Church’, which was Niebuhr’s books, describing how he defines the Christian church and its ministry, and the relationship between church and the idea of theological school. In addition to Niebuhr’s view on the church, this essay will describe his legacy of ‘Christ and Culture’ that is related to church development in specific cultures. The structure of this essay contains a comparison with contemporary churches in Asia, specifically in Taiwan, in order to analyse the ethical discourse of Niebuhr and give a practical application in Christian society.
A Lifetime and the Nurturing of A Theologian
According to Diefenthaler (1986), Niebuhr’s family was of German origin. Gustav Niebuhr, his father, emigrated from Germany to the United States in 1878. He was a loyal pastor serving assemblies in the German Evangelical Synod of North America. H. Richard Niebuhr was born in 1894. Later he followed his father into the ministry of the Evangelical Synod. He studied at Elmhurst College, then continued his study at Eden Theological Seminary, graduating in 1915. Consequently, he was ordained as a priest in Walnut Park Evangelical Church in 1916. The following year he obtained his highest degree, being awarded a Ph.D. at Yale Divinity School in 1924.
Over many years, Niebuhr developed and moved a few rungs up the career later ladder. For example, firstly he became president of Elmhurst College. In the same year, 1927, he then transferred to Eden Seminary as academic dean. Four years later, in 1931, he was invited by Yale Divinity School to teach Christian ethics. As a result, he became theology professor at Yale. From then on, Yale was the centre of Niebuhr’s life until he died in 1962. (Diefenthaler, 1986) Throughout his thirty-one years of teaching theology and ethics at Yale, Hoedemaker (1970) states that being a theologian for Niebuhr did not mean his establishment of a set consistent thinking, on the other hand, the most valuable work was his interrelation between teaching and reflection in his classes, which meant Niebuhr had developed a creative way of thinking theologically.
The Legacy of H. Richard Niebuhr
To better understand Niebuhr’s theological and ethical thoughts, it may be best to consider his legacy, which is related to theology, on topics of church, culture, and ethics. The legacy is used in this essay to outline Niebuhr’s research and to support an analysis of Niebuhr’s view on the church, specifically in evaluating the ethical issues in contemporary churches in Eastern countries. According to Gary Dorrien (2011, p. 242), ‘Christ and Culture’ written in 1951, is Niebuhr’s claim to success and fame. It establishes the category of the relationship between Christianity and culture envisioned by two generations of theologians. In this book Niebuhr created five versions about culture, which are: ‘Christ against culture, Christ of culture, Christ above culture, Christ and culture in paradox, and Christ transforming culture.’ Niebuhr tried to understand the problem of the church and culture with regard to the historical relativism from the light of theology and the theory of theocentric relativity. Although he thought the world is a belief disorder and the reason is limited, the relative history of all limited humans and movements is carried out under absolute God. (Hoedemaker 1970, p. 140 )
Another famous book is, ‘The Purpose of the Church and its Ministry’ written by Niebuhr in 1956. This book explores the nature and purpose of the Church. In addition, it examines the ministry and the theological schools which outlines the theological education in the United States and Canada. (Jon Diefenthaler, p. 86) →Niebuhr provided his consideration on the purposes of theological education. Moreover, attentiveness was given to significant problems that were the training proposals for ministers from the divinity school. According to Werpehowski (2002 p. 27), during Niebuhr’s time of thirty-one years at Yale Divinity School teaching and writing on theology and ethics until his death in 1962, H. Richard Niebuhr advanced in a profound and diverse body of thought, and inaugurated himself as an educator of the highest order
Purpose of the Church, An Introductory Chapter of Niebuhr’s View
The Christian moral life is presented not only in compliance to God, His commandments and love, but also essentially to obey the living God. This response to God is specifically a response to the power of a person and his knowledge, and the power to the principality, which is a factor to be considered at the time of decision. In this Christian response, it is possible to suppose an individual who lives in faith to God, or even in his unfaith. To observe the reality of skepticism, it is still significant to analyze the importance for the Christian who is attending church. The Church is both a social group and has historically existed for a long time. Furthermore, its vocation can develop some loyal ministers who serve God, and therefore, Church is a critical place to approach God’s plan, and it is a Christian social activity centre. (Gustafson, 1957, p. 135)
Definition of the Church
Niebuhr states, (1956, p. 20), ‘the church is not the only human community directed toward the divine reality; its uniqueness lies in its particular relation to that reality, a relation inseparable from Jesus Christ.’ In terms of Christianity, it is clear to know the church is connected with God but is revealed by Jesus Christ. In view of this sense, Jesus is the head of the community in relation to God. The church is in its position related to Jesus Christ and therefore through the church, with Christ together, generates an awareness of God. (Niebuhr, 1956, p. 24) The church is close with human beings and it is widespread around the world. Similarity Similarly the gospel of Matthew: ‘For where two or three are come together in my name, there am I among them.’ (18:20) Niebuhr also takes this position. Furthermore, Niebuhr explains the definition of the church in which Jesus is being there in human form, and through Jesus Christ be is with people together in a church. Also, for those individuals gathering who should hear the Word of God, and continuing to be assembled together.
Niebuhr points out that Protestants and Catholics attend the churches even though they have different forms to worship God. Historically, churches have included the Protestantism and Catholicism. The church is a group of religious people who are toward God, and they have the Covenants with God. (The norm of the Church p. 78, The responsibility of the Church)→ In other words, the church is a place that offers to a number of people who believe God to perform the real Christian religion.
The Gracious Love of God in Christ and His Love of the Church
(Ethic and Faith p132)→ Love is an important element in the revelation of Christianity when people lay emphasis on the Christian ethics. God’s love is sacred and it is significant substance for human moral life. In addition, the main characters of God’s love are social and engaging together. God’s love is known, as it has through the church, to represent His love to human beings. For human beings, the love of God is engaged with people in the church who believe Him which is through Jesus Christ on His gracious love. (The purpose of the Church p. 32)→ Love can be defined as love your neighbours, and this love is a gift given by God through Jesus Christ in His incarnation. That is to say the appearance of a God as a human,‘in relation to conception with His birth, suffering, deeds, death, burial,’← (The ethics of everyday life, p. 24) and resurrection will afford Christian moral theology with understandings to illuminate the account of the human being, that is to reveal God is love. This is a way of expressing a feeling that people may discern God’s love. However, according to Niebuhr, people may not fully understand Jesus’s incarnation to reveal God’s love; therefore, Christians may be hesitant to respond to love each other. The gospel does not mean we should only express our love toward God but also love our neighbours. (p. 33) Because of Jesus Christ, our faith can be put into God through His love, and God's love for us shows that we need to respond to the necessity and possibility of love to our neighbours. (The norm of the Church p. 79, The responsibility of the Church)→ Consequently, if the church has no faithfulness in Jesus’s love, the church is not a church. Without knowing and trying to embody the spirit of Jesus, church is not a church. They become some kind of community. While a variety of definitions of Christ and His love have been analyzed by Niebuhr, his thought can be reciprocal with Bonhoeffer’s view, (p. 341 Bonhoeffer)→‘Christ is the centre and power of the Bible, of the church, of theology, but also of humanity, reason, justice, and culture. To Christ everything must be return; only under Christ’s protection can it live.’
The Purpose of the Church
(The purpose of church p. 27)→ There are several purposes of the Church which are addressed by Niebuhr. For instance, it is the place for training ministers. It gives the enlightenment of Christian life and redemption of souls. Church is constructed of for the collective life for human beings. Furthermore, the main purpose of the Church can be defined as the connections between the essential religion and giving redemption about the Christian doctrines by the Scriptures. More recently attention about the Church has been defined as the place to teach and preach the Bible, which is reflects to the ultimate responsibility of God. Consequently, the Church has a goal to preach the gospel, to proceed with the sacraments, and the expansion of the life for Christians on their prayers and religious ceremonies. (The purpose of church p. 28)→Therefore, the Church is a place to encourage Christians to raise their belief in Jesus Christ. Based on Niebuhr’s thoughts, these are foundational and multiple aims of the Churches. No matter the Churches is location, in rural areas or urban sides, the same purposes are performed, for such particular meanings in pastoral or preaching is glorifying the mighty God. (The Theology of H. Richard Niebuhr p. 127)→ Hoedemaker (1970) examines that Niebuhr’s view on the Church, for any theological movement, the emergence of any Christian faith and witness, the existence of the Christian community is presupposed, that is, the Church occurs in the historical Christianity. The churches are represented themselves for as an inseparable portion of a specific society and a culture, and they are established by God through Jesus Christ.
Ministry of the Church
(The purpose of the church p.49) The ministry of the Church could be widely interpreted in many ways. For example, the work or vocation of a minister of religion, the job of being a priest, the period of tenure of a minister of religion, the spiritual work or service of a Christian or a group of Christians, especially evangelism, and the action of ministering someone. In this essay Niebuhr’s view on Christian education in described, specifically to analyze the divinity school where they nurture ministers, and its function in relation to the Church. According to Niebuhr, (1956) in North America the Protestant schools of divinity have the same educational achievements when compared with other secular schools in the university. The Protestant schools which are much concerned with the goals not only in theology but academic. However, the overall view of Niebuhr, is that the divinity schools might not be focus on the position where they stand in theological theme, such as ‘the exercise of the intellectual love of God and neighbour.’ (p. 49). That is to say, the relationship in connection with the Church, the divinity schools trend toward the function in teaching for ministers.
Conception of the Ministry of Niebuhr’s Position
A significant analysis and discussion on the conception of the ministry by Niebuhr was presented in his book ‘The purpose of the Church’ . Analyzing Niebuhr’s theory is a good example to look at and compare with the Eastern theological education, specifically in Taiwan. This investigation into the topic allows for the comprehension of the problem of theological ethics on the contemporary ministry.
According to Niebuhr, (The purpose of the church p.49)→ Divinity schools have been defined as institutions that educate ministers. The task of education nurturing ministers gives them an exclusive character; their learning contents can be determined by its unique character; therefore, theology students, lecturers, and supervisors can be influence by this special sphere. (The purpose of the church p.51)→Niebuhr also questioned the function of the minister in the modern Church. His view on the minister’s task is indeterminate. Amongst the co-workers in theological schools, ministers themselves do not have agreement for the native mission of nurturing ministers. Due to this lack of consensus this is a salient feature of today's situation, and has a profound impact on the low theological education level of the ministry. Niebuhr took example on some professions which have very clear visions in their careers, for instance, ‘the lawyer, the physician, the teacher, the artist, the writer and the engineer.’ Once young students pursue these subjects, they have clear awareness of what they are going to be doing. However, the theology students may not be always thinking about their vocations to be ministers. On the other hand, Niebuhr mentioned that joining the ministry seems to be similar to joining the army, that is to say, for those individuals who study theology, they do not have a clear sense where and how they should accept the missions in the Christian sphere. The study of theology can be affected by the insufficiency of a clear definition about the functions of the ministers. (The purpose of the church p.52)→ Today, some evidences has been provided that the basic facts of the ministry are still fuzzy and ambiguity continues to plague the theological education as well as Christian ministers. Niebuhr pointed out very frankly that the ministers who have multifunctional roles have been well accepted. The various skills of the ministry could be prepared in the theological seminary. As a result, there is no common function that should be set for those ministers and the careers which they should follow. To examine this issue the situation of practical ministry around North America in Niebuhr’s time was realized.
An Analysis of Contemporary Theological Seminars and Christian Education in Taiwan
The second development covered in this section is related to the seminary, which is the place where the ministers of the church are nurtured. This task has universal value. The theological education in Taiwan can be broadly divided into three parts. Firstly, a number of seminaries were set up by foreign missionaries, and were inter-denominational seminaries, such as the ’China Evangelical Seminar’ and ‘The Holy Light Theological Seminary.’ The second is that the theological seminaries that were established by the Christian denominations themselves. For example, ‘Taiwan Theological College and Seminary’ (belonging the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan), ‘China Lutheran Seminary’ (It belongs to the Lutheran Church of China), and Taiwan Nazarene Theological College (It belongs to the Church of the Nazarene). Lastly, it is set up for a specific purpose, such as the Hakka Missionary Seminary (established exclusively for the Hakka community). However, there are several special phenomena in theological education in Taiwan that deserve to be explored.
First of all, Christian theology is classified as religious education. In other words, the degree and qualification of a Theological Seminary in Taiwan has been refused recognition by the Ministry of Education of the government. The These situations (I would use ‘circumstances’)in Taiwan did not like what Niebuhr had been examined in the Northern America which that the theological education could be widespread and accepted in universities. Secondly, the seminaries in Taiwan became a dedicated educational institution for the development of ministers toward for the church. Most seminaries limit students’ eligibility for admission. That is, the students who want to attend a seminary need to be aware of the call from God and receive a theological education to become a minister. As a result, there is also an important reason why the seminary restricts the need for students who are not clearly responding to the call of God. Thirdly, seminaries do not interconnect with each other, and the majority of their subjects and purposes of their missions amongst the different Christian denominations have been distinct(I would name actual subjects to emphasise the point). In addition, each Christian denomination has established its own theological seminary; as a result, the quantity of Theological seminaries in Taiwan has a large number is very high but most of them without high have little academic achievement. Lastly, the Taiwan government does not fully accept the theological education, and therefore, seminaries find it is difficult to recruit students of a higher standard. Consequently, the theological education in Taiwan and the operation of the theological Seminary is a good point for discussion on the theological ethics issue, which can be concluded from the viewpoint of Niebuhr.
The goal of the seminary in Taiwan is quite clear, simply to nurture the ministers. However, compared with other professions, the standard of the Taiwanese theology students is generally low, and it is not in line with Niebuhr's viewpoint on this situation in Northern America. Also, Niebuhr commented on the fact that theological education was influenced by the Theological Seminary's definition of the ministry's direction of service that could not be widely accepted. On the contrary, although the goal of theological education in Taiwan is clear, it has influenced the development of theological education because it restricts the need for theology students to receive a calling before they can study in seminaries. The challenge is that Christians who may be interested to learn the words of God through a seminary, but they may not be clearly receiving the call from God. Therefore, those Christians could be banned to from attending seminaries for their study. Due to this limitation, it resulted in a question in theological ethics, which seemed to be a restriction to enroll students at the seminaries in Taiwan that has refused to accept ordinary Christians to study the words of God.
Church and Culture, A View of the Contemporary Church Development in Asia
To define what the meaning of the relationship between the church and culture is, according to Niebuhr (1951, p. 26), is not fundamentally a question of Christianity and civilization. In terms of Christianity, whether defined as a church, a doctrine, an ethic, or an ideological movement, they describe themselves to interchange between the poles of Jesus Christ and culture. The relationship between the church and culture generates its problem. When Christianity tackles the question of rationality and revelation, the ultimate question is the relationship between the revelation of Christ and the cause of the prevailing culture. People who believe in Jesus Christ in the different cultures, believe in God. (Niebuhr, 1951, p. 42) For those individuals before they can believe in Jesus Christ, they have to know the creation of God first. The Son of the Father, Jesus Christ, in his power and attractiveness over human beings comes not also from Him but also from the almighty God. Therefore, f cultural boundaries – between Christ in the Church and culture, reflecting the ethnic and cultural diversity of the country – are dissolved because of the Holy God.
Niebuhr’s Stance on the Church and Culture
This section gives a brief review of how the relationship between church and culture is according to Niebuhr. (Niebuhr, Christ and Culture p. 44)→ For the culture people think about, it cannot be just simply to say a specific society, such as the contemporary Western and its culture. (Christ and Culture p. 45)→ In addition, Christians around the world who look toward the development of a new civilization and consider the emergence of a new culture, specifically in the Eastern world, in which they think of Christ not only in the Western world but one with whom can be related to in life in other cultures. Therefore, peoples concern about culture is not only a specific phenomenon but is universal, because through the universal factors only appear in certain forms. Western Christianity cannot use Western terms to think about problems between the church and culture. As a result, Niebuhr provided his unique thought about the relation. (Christ and Culture p. 46)→‘When we deal with Christ and culture is that total process of human activity and that total result of such activity to which now the name culture, now the name civilization, is applied in common speech.’ (Robison and Harvey, cited by Niebuhr, 1951)
A View of the Contemporary Churches in Asia with a Case Study:
A Unique Culture of Hakka People and Their Ministry in Taiwan
(Christ and Culture p. 106)→ Since the meaning of the Christian church is a community in which everything is centred on Jesus Christ, this should also be true in the practice of social ethics. In this case, in order to enter the kingdom of God, the bond of love should unite all nations. (Christ and Culture p. 42)→Niebuhr mentions that ‘Culture is human achievement.’ (Christ and Culture p. 80)→ Christ claims no one as purely a natural being, but always a human being as a person within a culture; not only a person in a culture, but one into whom culture has infiltrated.
If Christians do not come to Christ with the language, the thought patterns, the moral disciplines of Judaism, they come with those of Rome; if not with those of Rome, then with those of Germany, England, Russia, America, India, or China. Hence the radical Christians are always making use of the culture, or parts of the culture, which ostensibly they reject.
In this section, Niebuhr’s theory is examined; biblical Christians may be unaware of how much their culture has affected their thinking. The outcomes of this theory have certainly reflected how the church has developed within different cultures. Based on Niebuhr’s theory, following is a case research about the growth of church on a unique culture in Taiwan:
Nearly 4 million Hakka people who are the second largest ethnicity, live on a small island in Taiwan. Although, this group of people lives in Taiwan, just like its Chinese name "Hakka". They have been regarded as a "guest" for a long time by One-sixth-population. In other words, Hakka people have been assimilated by the "Hoklo” group in politics, economy, culture, education and religion. Hoklo people are the largest ethnic group in Taiwan.
For an obvious example, regarding the hundred years mission history of Taiwan, Hakka people were neglected and marginalized to evangelize. There was no one to learn the Hakka dialect to preach the gospel when the earliest missionaries launched to in Taiwan. Missionaries believed that Hakka people had been assimilated by Hoklo’s culture, so it was not necessary to learn the Hakka dialect. For this reason, foreign missionaries learned the official language, mandarin, and Hoklo to preach the gospel to the communities of the major ethnic groups, or the Aboriginal resulting in low percentage of Hakka believers in Jesus. (please refer to the table 1 as follows)
To compare the Niebuhr’s theory and Hakka culture, the main discussion is how to instruct the gospel to the Hakka community from Niebuhr's view for "Christ is beyond culture".(要出處) It will also explore how the Hakka people independently developed gospel works. Is it against of theological ethics? How Hakka people can enhance the church function under the faith and the correct Theological Ethics and also under the condition of "Christ is beyond culture".
Hakka people are the ethnic group with strong cohesion and high self-esteem. People use their native language all the time so the first bottleneck is language when the gospel is preached in Hoklo (Taiwanese) or Mandarin. In recent years, Hakka people emphasize the way to spread the gospel with Hakka’s unique culture and characteristics. Nowadays, in the twenty-first Century, Hakka people established the Hakka Missionary Seminary. It is a significant landmark of the Hakka’s missionary. Because of the seminary, Hakka people could train missionaries in their own language. The importance of this method can be identified from the theory of Niebuhr. The existence and development of the church is closely related to theological education. Hakka people have a tradition of reverence for their ancestors and they value the preservation of the genealogy. They also emphasize to the offering of offer sacrifices to their ancestors together as a great family. Hakka’s church actively set up the correct concept for sacrifices to ancestors without violating the gospel faith. They use a innovative and special memorial ceremony to replace the traditional ritual of ancestor worship. According to the President of the Hakka Missionary Seminary, Wen Yong-shen explains the three rites. They are "Pour water ritual ", "Flowers ritual" and "Candle ritual". The Pour water ritual symbolizes that people never forget where they are from, God’s creation. The Flowers ritual symbolizes the fragrance of the virtues from the ancestors and also shows gratitude to Jesus for the crucifixion of the world. Thanks to Jesus, the Savior redeemed all sinners. The Candle ritual is held to pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit to make the Hakka Christian like the light in the world to glorify God and benefit the people.
To Hakka churches in Taiwan, the rituals and ceremonies seem to be an innovative method to spread the gospel. In fact, they are not much different from the western churches. They are just consistent with “Solo Christo”. As the bible taught, ‘Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given us every blessing of the Spirit in the heavens in Christ:’ ‘Having made clear to us the secret of his purpose, in agreement with the design which he had in mind, to put into his hands. The ordering of the times when they are complete, so that all things might come to a head in Christ, the things in heaven and the things on the earth; in him, I say,’ (Ephesians 1:3, 9-10) To analyze the methods from Niebuhr’s perspective of the culture, it is not only incompatible with faith but also still in the framework of theological ethics.
Firstly, Hakka people offer sacrifices to their ancestors but they lift Jesus on High. Secondly, they change the traditional culture and customs to evangelize and help others meet Jesus. Furthermore, they use three rites to guide people remembering their ancestors but worshiping God. To analysis the methods from the perspective of the Theology Ethic, it conforms to the Protestant teachings and spirit as well.
Hakka people have been using this method for many years in Taiwan, and the effects of the gospel have been gradually revealed. The chairman of The Hakka Commission, Pastor Yu Qing-rong states that Hakka people emphasize the worship etiquette to ancestor for thousands of years. The three rites can convert their initial feeling and remembrance to worship God, the creator. He encourages people to devote to themselves to the Hakka language and culture because they are the unique ethnicities who are created by God. The greatest duty of Hakka people is to glorify God.
Table 1: The status of Hakka beliefs in Taiwan
Conclusion
In conclusion, according to Hoedemaker (1970), although Niebuhr wrote seven books, and plus some other articles or essays that have been presented in theological education, these writings seem to not allow Niebuhr to be a leading theologian. This is because Niebuhr’s writings do not represent a strong and dynamic theology that is likely to the pioneer contemporary theology. Especially when examined alongside his brother Reinhold Niebuhr. Nonetheless, when H. Richard Niebuhr passed away, some people thought that the world had lost a theologian, who had an enormous effect in theology, especially in the academic sphere in which he had taught and written. In addition, his achievements could not simply be overestimated. Chweiker (1963) pxii
(the meaning of Revelation p. 18)→All the present current concerns in this essay, however, is are not to do with the religious beliefs and moral consequences in thinking of the Church but with the theological ethics of Niebuhr’s position to assess the ministry of the church and ‘Jesus above culture’ on the contemporary Church. Contemporary ethics has plagued innumerable debates over the possibility and necessity of validating ethics. From Niebuhr's perspective, moral and theological reflections prove our lives through its pragmatic capabilities. Chweiker (1963) pxii Theological education in Taiwan has only been established only for half a century. Their native goal is to nurture ministers. However, the theology students who have graduated from the seminaries but have a low qualification, some of them did not really become ministers to serve God in the Church. This is because the congregations seek highly qualified ministers. Therefore, this situation allows people in reflective contemplation of ethical questions (I would say’ truly consider and contemplate these ethical implications, for those who.…’) For those who claim to have God's call and enter seminary to study but are unable to serve God in the Church.
In the age of globalization, the reality of cultural diversity requires a nuanced interpretation of Jesus Christ in (do you mean ‘and’?) His love to reveal in the Church. The Hakka people in Taiwan were in represented a low percentage being of Christians because of their strong cultural background of and the interrelationship between the language and the social cohesion. Niebuhr's assessment of culture related to the Christ and the Church provides a good material to research the unique Hakka culture in Taiwan. Furthermore, Niebuhr’s contribution to the work of the Church is to connect realities with theological identity so as to confront ethical skepticism. In an era when hope is easy to decline and economic, political and technological forces seem to be ruling; this ethical vision is certainly very much needed. Chweiker (1963) pxii