Revisiting the Reformation

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Revisiting the Reformation

It has been 500 years since Martin Luther produced his Ninety-five Theses that sparked the Reformation in Germany in the 16th century. To commemorate this historical event, APAY launched the book Revisiting the Reformation at its executive committee meeting in March.

The book, which includes a foreword by the president of APAY, Babu Markus Gomes, and the general secretary of APAY, Nam Boo Won, is a collection of essays by theologians, church and ecumenical leaders, academics and others that share their reflections from a variety of perspectives—theology, gender, environmental protection, human rights, justice and peace, spirituality, economics, the culture of indigenous people, democratization, etc., with the book also noting the relationship between the Reformation and the YMCA movement. One of the book’s strengths is the diversity of viewpoints of its 13 authors from Hong Kong, South Korea, Bangladesh, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Germany.

Copies of the book are available by contacting the APAY office at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

 

 

 

Asia and Pacific Alliance of YMCAs, Hong Kong, SAR
© 2017 by Asia and Pacific Alliance of YMCAs
All rights reserved. Published 2017
Printed in Hong Kong, SAR

 

Published by
Asia and Pacific Alliance of YMCAs
23 Waterloo Road, 6/F
Kowloon, Hong Kong
Tel. (852) 2780-8347, 2770-3168, 2783-3058
Fax (852) 2385-4692
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: www.asiapacificymca.org

 

ISBN 978-988-17078-3-3

 

Edited by Bruce Van Voorhis
Design and Layout by Karren Joy Fetalvero

 

Printed in Hong Kong by
Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong Printing Press

 

CONTENTS

 

 

Foreword ...................................................................... i

 

Chapter 1

Reclaiming the True Church of Jesus Christ:
The Reformation, Luther, and Ecumenicity
by Kung Lap-yan .................................................................................. 1

 

Chapter 2

Theological Foundation of the Reformation:
Jan Hus’s Reformation and the Ecumenical Movement
by Chang Yoon Jae ............................................................................ 17

 

Chapter 3

A Contemporary Mission of APAY in the
Spirit of the Reformation
by David Kwang-sun Suh ................................................................ 45

 

Chapter 4

Ecumenism and Interfaith Dialogue:
A Perspective from the YMCA
by Bartholomew Shaha ..................................................................... 63

 

Chapter 5

The Ecumenical Movement Beyond ‘Reformation’:
Towards a Revolutionary Ecumenical Movement
by Geevarghese Mor Coorrilos ........................................................ 83

 

Chapter 6

Caring for Creation:
The Call for a Reformed Relationship with the Earth
by Caesar D’Mello .............................................................................. 95

 

Chapter 7

Luther, Women, and Gender Equality
by Muriel Orevillo-Montenegro .................................................... 107

 

Chapter 8

Between Honesty and Hope:
Toward an Ecumenical Conversation
by Edicio dela Torre ......................................................................... 125

 

Chapter 9

Seeking Martin Luther’s Legacy on Spirituality,
Justice, and Peace and What It Means for Us Today
by Favor Bancin ................................................................................. 137

 

Chapter 10

The Importance of Private Space:
From Martin Luther to Edward Snowden
by Basil Fernando ............................................................................. 149

 

Chapter 11

Christianity and Indigenous People’s Culture
by Wati Longchar .............................................................................. 157

 

Chapter 12

Reformation—Education—Transformation:
The Relevance of the Reformation Heritage for Christian
Contributions to Social Development and Diaconia
by Dietrich Werner ............................................................................ 169

 

Chapter 13

Globalisation and Alternative Economies
by Leocito S. Gabo ........................................................................... 181

 

About the Authors ....................................................... 197

 

 

FOREWORD

 

The idea for this book arose in March of 2016 during the executive committee meeting of the Asia and Pacific Alliance of YMCAs (APAY) in Hong Kong when we had a conversation over breakfast with the Rev. Dr. Ahn Jae Woong, immediate past president of the YMCA of Korea and former general secretary of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA). He was the keynote speaker for the mission review session during this meeting.

 

He reminded us of the historical importance of the year 2017 as the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. He also suggested that APAY publish a book commemorating the Reformation as a way of exploring the relevancy of it in relation to the contemporary YMCA and ecumenical movement. His suggestion was taken up with appreciation at the staff meeting of APAY immediately after the executive committee meeting. We thus hope that this book can be a good resource for the work of our local and national YMCAs and the larger ecumenical movement.

 

After a series of discussions among the staff in search of relevant subtopics and writers, a book entitled Revisiting the Reformation began to take shape. As can be seen in the table of contents, we were able to identify writers who were well equipped academically and through their work to contribute to this book that covers many diverse topics, ranging from ecumenicity and theological foundations to the contemporary mission of the YMCA as well as interfaith dialogue from the perspectives of the Reformation. Beginning with chapter six, contemporary movement agendas were addressed as well, such as ecological concerns; gender equality; democracy and governance; spirituality, justice, and peace; the importance of private space; indigenous people’s culture; education and transformation; and globalization and alternative economies.

 

Once again, this book is an outcome of collective intelligence with diverse contributors. On behalf of APAY, we wish to convey our heartfelt thanks to all the writers who eagerly contributed their insights and time to make this book a reality. Our special thanks go to the Rev. Dr. Ahn Jae Woong for his timely and relevant proposal to produce this publication; to Bruce Van Voorhis, a coordinator of Interfaith Cooperation Forum (ICF), a joint program of APAY and CCA, for his hard work to edit all of the chapters; and to our APAY intern, Karren Joy Fetalvero from the Philippines, for her design and layout of the book.

 

Finally, we do wish that this book Revisiting the Reformation will be able to generate a refreshed debate and discussion on the indispensability to re-examine and explore deeply the Zeitgeist, or spirit of the times, behind the Reformation that led to the end of the medieval world and ushered in the Renaissance.

 

Babu Markus Gomes

Nam Boo Won

President General Secretary
APAY APAY

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

 

CHAPTER 1
Dr. Kung Lap-yan is a professor of Christian ethics at the Divinity School of Chung Chi College of Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is the honorary director of the Hong Kong Christian Institute (HKCI) that is committed to building a just, democratic, and relational society in Hong Kong.

 

CHAPTER 2
Dr. Chang Yoon Jae is a professor of systematic theology in the Christian Studies Department of Ewha Womans University in Seoul, South Korea. He earned his M.Div. and Ph.D. from Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He served the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) as president and was one of the plenary speakers at the 10th General Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Busan, South Korea, in 2013. Professor Chang serves the Korea YMCA as chairperson for the Purpose and Program Committee and was the keynote speaker at the 19th General Assembly of the Asia and Pacific Alliance of YMCAs (APAY) in Daejon, South Korea, in 2015.

 

CHAPTER 3
Rev. Dr. David Kwang-sun Suh, an ordained pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Korea (PCK), is professor emeritus of theology at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, South Korea, and is a former president of the World Alliance of YMCAs (WAY) from 1994 to 1998. Born in 1931 in North Korea, he received his M.Div. from Union Theological Seminary in New York and his Ph.D. in religion from Vanderbilt University. While teaching at Ewha Womans University from 1964 until his retirement in 1996, he served as the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and dean of the Graduate School. After retiring, he was the Henry Luce Visiting Professor of World Christianity at Union Theological Seminary from 1996 to 1998 and a visiting professor of Asian theology at Drew Theological School at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, from 1998 to 2001.

 

CHAPTER 4
Dr. Bartholomew Shaha from Bangladesh is a former secretary-general of the World Alliance of YMCAs (WAY) based in Geneva, Switzerland. Before serving in that position, he was general secretary of the Asia and Pacific Alliance of YMCAs (APAY) in Hong Kong, executive for global programs of WAY, national general secretary of the National Council of YMCAs of Bangladesh (NCYB) and general secretary of the Chittagong YMCA in Bangladesh. He is the author of several books and also a lyricist and composer of songs that have been recorded on several CDs. Many of his songs are included in the Geetaboli Bengali Hymnal published by Pratibeshi Prakashoni in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

 

CHAPTER 5
Dr. Geevarghese Mor Coorilos is Metropolitan of the Niranam Diocese of the Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church and moderator of the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) of the World Council of Churches (WCC). Mor Coorilos also serves the Student Christian Movement of India (SCMI) as its chairperson and the Kerala Council of Churches as its president.

 

CHAPTER 6
Caesar D’Mello is a consultant on concerns involving Third World “development,” including climate change and mass commercial tourism. He works with ecumenical and interfaith groups, including as an advisor to the Global Alternative Tourism Network, or GATN, of the Asia and Pacific Alliance of YMCAs (APAY). He was formerly director of Christian World Service Australia, a commission of the National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA), and of the Ecumenical Coalition on Tourism (ECOT) that was previously based in Thailand. He can be contacted at < This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >.

 

CHAPTER 7
Dr. Muriel Orevillo-Montenegro teaches theologies, religions, and philosophy at Silliman University in Dumaguete City in the Philippines. Her involvements and advocacies, as well as her publications, are in the areas of feminism, the environment, interreligious understanding, and peace studies and processes from theological perspectives. Her book entitled The Jesus of Asian Women was published by Orbis Books in New York and by Claretian Publications in the Philippines. She has served as the first woman dean of Silliman University Divinity School and continues to serve as director of the Justice and Peace Center of Silliman University.

 

CHAPTER 8
Edicio dela Torre was ordained a Catholic priest in 1968. His first mission was with farmers struggling for agrarian reform and urban poor community organizing in the Philippines. When martial law was imposed in 1972, he joined the resistance and was imprisoned twice for nine years. In 1986, after formal democracy was restored, he worked with grassroots communities while engaging with government agencies involved in education, rural development, and electrification. He briefly served in the government as director-general of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority. He continues his commitment to develop grassroots community leaders as chairperson of the Education for Life Foundation. Appointed as an eminent fellow of the Development Academy of the Philippines, his research interest is the possibility of a democratic developmental state.

 

CHAPTER 9
Favor Bancin is a pastor of the Pakpak Dairi Christian Protestant Church (GKPPD) in Indonesia. Since March 2016, he is serving as an exchange pastor of the United Evangelical Mission (UEM) in Thomaskirche in Wuppertal, Germany, and the Department of Parish Development and Missioniony Service of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland (EKiR) in Wuppertal.

 

CHAPTER 10
Basil Fernando is the director for policy and programs of the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) in Hong Kong. In 2001, he received the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights and was a recipient of the Right to Livelihood Award in 2014 with Edward Snowden.

 

CHAPTER 11
Rev. Dr. Wati Longchar is a professor of theology and culture at Yushan Theological College and Seminary in Hualien, Taiwan, and is the dean of the Program for Theology and Cultures in Asia (PTCA). He also serves as the director of the Asia-Pacific Indigenous Research Centre of Yushan Theological College and Seminary. He is from Nagaland in India. He has authored, edited, and co-edited 39 books and has contributed a number of articles that have been published in national and international journals. He can be contacted at < This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >.

 

CHAPTER 12
Rev. Dr. Dietrich Werner, pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany, is honorary professor for missiology, ecumenism, and the theology of development at the University of Applied Science for Intercultural Theology in Hermannsburg, Germany. He is the co-editor of the Asian Handbook for Theological Education and Ecumenism and several other volumes on theological education and ecumenism. He was the former director of the Department for Ecumenical Theological Education at the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva, Switzerland.

 

CHAPTER 13
Bishop and Metropolitan Leocito S. Gabo of the Eastern Catholic Church and See of the Philippines and All Asia is an associate professor in the College of Social Work and Community Development at the University of the Philippines and is the chairperson of the college’s Department of Community Development. He has a Ph.D. in Philippine Studies from the University of the Philippines and a master’s degree equivalency in theology from the Maryhill School of Theology in the Philippines. He has been active in the movement strengthening program of the YMCA in the Philippines for the past decade.