Where the Research Interests of Graduate Students in China’s Christian Universities Lie

Abstract

Focusing on the research landscape for graduate students of China’s Christian universities is of great significance for making sense of the path along which the theological and practical studies are conducted by contemporary China’s Christian universities and for promoting the dialogue and understanding between Chinese and foreign seminaries. In this research, thesis topics selected by graduate students majoring in theology are classified into four categories: universal theoretical research, universal practical research, theoretical research of Chinese Christianity, and practical research of Chinese Christianity. Results of coded categorical data analysis and case study show that graduate students mainly focus on universal theories without giving adequate attention to the topic of the “Sinification” of Christianity. In their universal theoretical research, graduate students examine classic Christian works and theological thoughts of important figures in a detailed and in-depth way. Universal practical studies are skewed to practices of religious reforms and teaching improvements from a multidisciplinary perspective. In the theoretical research of Sinified Christianity, researchers build upon the commensurability between traditional Chinese culture and Christian theology, including the theological thoughts of important Christian figures in China, to explore the fulfillment of cultural, national, and social identities. In the practical research of Christianity in China, empirical methodologies are widely applied, centering on the “localization” process and forms of practices taking place in churches of China. The coincidentia oppositorum between universality and particularity dictates that much tension exists with respect to the development of Christianity in China. Focusing on the accommodative process between universality and particularity is important to produce further implications for research to be conducted by China’s Christian universities.

Embedded System Technology Spillover Effects of Digital Economy and High-Quality Economic Development

“…Furthermore, a model of the relationship between the development of economic quality and the digital economy is put out, offering both empirical and theoretical support for the idea that China may leverage the digital economy to enhance its economic quality further. Additionally, some ideas regarding China's future place in the digital economy are provided, outlining the challenges of creating a digital economy as well as the need for both quick and high-quality economic development (Li & Wu, 2021). One way to preserve the impact of the digital economy on high-quality regional economic development is to extend the theory of comparative advantage through the transfer of classical conceptions.…”

Finding God in All Things: Indirect Evangelization and Acculturation of Université l’Aurore in Modern China

“…On the other hand, driven by the imperative of restoring educational sovereignty, they also tried to restrain Christian colleges' activities. Research on the activities of mission universities in this context sheds light on how religious entities adapted to unfavorable local realities (Li and Wu 2021). Focusing on a case study of Université l'Aurore run by the French Jesuits in Shanghai, the pages that follow illustrate how the Society's indirect evangelization through professional and personal education helped it acculturate to the Chinese mind and navigate through the difficult waters of political turbulence and war.…”