The Development of Christian Thought

Ron Choong & Ling Mei> One of my tasks as an apologist here in New York is to teach Christians to think things through, theologically (T4). All of us use reason to figure out how to make sense of the world we live in. As rational creatures that are not always very rational, few of us think about how we think and why we think the way we do.

Almost 3000 years ago, the art of thoughtful thinking was developed and the discipline of philosophy emerged in Greece. By the time of the New Testament, every Jewish rabbi would have been trained in the art of rhetoric and would have understood the writings of Paul in a way that most of us today could not.

In my many discussions with the leaders of CBC over the years, I have expressed my joy in being given the opportunities to think through my personal faith in Jesus. I have learned what it means to love God with all my mind. I wondered how I might be able to give back what I have learned to people who are busy at work in Malaysia.

When I visited CBC in 2005, I came up with the idea of using the internet to conduct an experimental course, teaching philosophy to Christians in Malaysia by way of ‘skype’ and directed readings. Alexa Ho and Gordon Shum were appointed to facilitate the discussion group. Stephen and Wei Lymn Choi hosted the folks. So, from January until July 2006, 18 brave souls signed up for “Project Philosophy” (PP). I selected Peter Hicks book, The Journey So Far. He is a lecturer at London Bible College and served as a pastor. He summarizes important aspects in the history of philosophy in the West and then connected them to the development of Christian thought. Our goal was to survey the field and appreciate the immense influence of Greek philosophy on modern Christian theology, which trickles all the way down to our Sunday sermons.            

So, how did it go? I shall let them speak for themselves and perhaps you can capture some of their feelings and pray for this ongoing program as we have just started “Project Philosophical Theology” (PPT) led by Gordon Shum.

By Ron Choong, Director of Academy of Christian Thought, and
CBC’s missionary. Ron and his wife, Lingmei, live in New York City


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