Tim Tseng
Fuller Theological Seminary, Asian American Center, Faculty Member
- History, Asian American History, Religion, Historical Theology, Asian American Studies, American Religion, and 9 moreTransnational migration, World Christianity and Chinese Christianity, Asian American Christianity, Christianity and Nationalism, Diaspora-Transnational Histories, immigration, migration, identity, Role of Religion in migration, Asian American Religion, and Religious Studiesedit
Pre-edited article: "Affirmative Action: Scapegoat or Sacred Cow?" PRISM Magazine (Jan/Feb, 1996)
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Special Issue—Bridging an Ocean: American Missionaries and Asian Converts Reexamined (FALL-WINTER 1996)
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American Baptist Quarterly 21, no. 3 (September 2002): 277-292
BLOG “The Historical Roots of the Open Letter to Evangelical America” AsianAmericanChristian.org (January 28, 2014)
This is the introduction to the _American Baptist Quarterly_ XXI:3 (September, 2002). The theme of this issue is "Exploring Asian American Christianity: Its past, present, and future."
The story of Chinese Christianity in North America is a significant part of the lesser known history of the Chinese diaspora. That story was impacted most by the immigration and naturalization policies of the United States and Canada,... more
The story of Chinese Christianity in North America is a significant part of the lesser known history of the Chinese diaspora. That story was impacted most by the immigration and naturalization policies of the United States and Canada, developments in China, and the rise of indigenous Christianity in the Chinese diaspora. All three factors shaped how Chinese Christians understood their faith and identity as well as how they engaged or reacted to their surroundings.
Between 1875 and 1945, US and Canadian legislation designed to restrict Chinese immigration, proscribe citizenship, prohibit property ownership, and prevent interracial marriages intensified. Chinese Christians in North America became even more dependent on white missionaries. Chinese Christians also watched closely as China became a republic in 1911, struggled with nation building, fought against Japan, engaged in civil war, and became a Communist nation in 1949.
Throughout these years, most Chinese Christians assumed that public witness was a core part of Christian faith. But after 1965, when immigration policies in the US and Canada were changed to admit Asians on an equal basis as Europeans, a second wave of Chinese Christian immigrants built a renewed form of Chinese Christianity that is now dominant in North America. Today, most Chinese Christians focus on maintaining indigenous faith communities that avoid social and political engagement and are largely isolated from mainstream North American Christianity. Despite the tendency to reside in ethno-religious enclaves, Chinese Christians have had an informal, but influential, impact on the Asian North American community and the United States and Canada.
In this issue of the ChinaSource Quarterly, we begin with three articles, divided into three time periods (1850–1911; 1911–1965; 1965–present) that address the history of Chinese Christianity in North America.
Between 1875 and 1945, US and Canadian legislation designed to restrict Chinese immigration, proscribe citizenship, prohibit property ownership, and prevent interracial marriages intensified. Chinese Christians in North America became even more dependent on white missionaries. Chinese Christians also watched closely as China became a republic in 1911, struggled with nation building, fought against Japan, engaged in civil war, and became a Communist nation in 1949.
Throughout these years, most Chinese Christians assumed that public witness was a core part of Christian faith. But after 1965, when immigration policies in the US and Canada were changed to admit Asians on an equal basis as Europeans, a second wave of Chinese Christian immigrants built a renewed form of Chinese Christianity that is now dominant in North America. Today, most Chinese Christians focus on maintaining indigenous faith communities that avoid social and political engagement and are largely isolated from mainstream North American Christianity. Despite the tendency to reside in ethno-religious enclaves, Chinese Christians have had an informal, but influential, impact on the Asian North American community and the United States and Canada.
In this issue of the ChinaSource Quarterly, we begin with three articles, divided into three time periods (1850–1911; 1911–1965; 1965–present) that address the history of Chinese Christianity in North America.
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Evangelicals dominate the landscape of Chinese Christianity in North America today. Their rapid growth parallels the influx of Chinese immi- grants from Asia over the past three decades. As the children of these immigrants (who were born... more
Evangelicals dominate the landscape of Chinese Christianity in North America today. Their rapid growth parallels the influx of Chinese immi- grants from Asia over the past three decades. As the children of these immigrants (who were born or raised in North America) came of age, their religious orientation and use of the Bible have developed in a manner dis- tinct from that of their parents. How these second-generation Chinese evangelicals appropriate the Bible will be the focus of this article. I will argue that second-generation Chinese evangelical biblical interpretation has been bound by two perspectives: (1) the European immigrant experience as the model for their identity discourse; and (2) a white American “evangeli- cal universalism” that subordinates racial identities. Consequently, there is a subtle Orientalism implicit in second-generation Chinese evangelical dis- course that needs to be critically engaged and eventually excised.
This essay critically analyzes the emergence of the study of Asian American religions as a subfield, "betwixt and between" Asian American studies and American religions. It also reviews the history of the development of the subfield as... more
This essay critically analyzes the emergence of the study of Asian American religions as a subfield, "betwixt and between" Asian American studies and American religions. It also reviews the history of the development of the subfield as well as the intellectual challenges and opportunities in the study of both Asian religions in the United States and Christian traditions in Asian America. Overall, this essay concludes that a more complex and comprehensive understanding of Asian American agency is at stake in the scholarship as it concerns Asian American religions in general and Asian American religious history in particular.
Keywords: Asian American movement, historical agency, Orientalism, religion, spiritual hybridity
Keywords: Asian American movement, historical agency, Orientalism, religion, spiritual hybridity
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Paper presented at the Organization of American Historians Annual Meeting (Chicago, IL.) March 28-30, 1996. Gary Okihiro commented
Book review of _Ecclesial Diversity in Chinese Christianity_ Edited by Alexander Chow and Easten Law.
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L'a. s'interroge sur le devenir des Eglises baptistes americaines d'origine asiatique, qui sont menacees par l'assimilation d'une part et le discours politique ambiant, d'autre part. En effet, d'apres l'a.... more
L'a. s'interroge sur le devenir des Eglises baptistes americaines d'origine asiatique, qui sont menacees par l'assimilation d'une part et le discours politique ambiant, d'autre part. En effet, d'apres l'a. on assiste a un nivellement des differences raciales et culturelles aux Etats-Unis de nos jours. Cependant, l'A. doute que le racisme antiasiatique disparaisse et pense que les Eglises americaines d'origine asiatique ont un role a jouer dans le renouvellement de la chretiente nord-americaine.
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... Only among those who recently migrated from China such as refugees from the Chinese Civil War would ... participation from Chinese churches affiliated with mainline Protestantism. Mainline Chinese American church leaders were clearly... more
... Only among those who recently migrated from China such as refugees from the Chinese Civil War would ... participation from Chinese churches affiliated with mainline Protestantism. Mainline Chinese American church leaders were clearly not receptive to erasing their ...
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Between 1911 and 1949, when Chinese Nationalists on the mainland and in the Diaspora sought to modernize their nation, many Chinese Protestants undertook a quest to make their religion socially and po litically relevant for an emerging... more
Between 1911 and 1949, when Chinese Nationalists on the mainland and in the Diaspora sought to modernize their nation, many Chinese Protestants undertook a quest to make their religion socially and po litically relevant for an emerging New China. Attributing European and American economic and military dominance and apparent cul tural superiority to the leavening influence of Christianity, they yearned to see Protestantism play just as significant a role in China's reawakening and reconstruction.2 Chinese Protestants in the United States were especially active in their efforts to build a new China, but most could do little more than contribute financial support for the state and provide some of the missionaries' material needs.3 The ma
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... TIMOTHY TSENG is assistant professor of Church History at Denver Seminary. ... with Protestant clergy and lawyers to fight discriminatory practices and exclusionary immigration laws.6 Presbyterian minister, Ng Poon Chew (Wu Panzhao),... more
... TIMOTHY TSENG is assistant professor of Church History at Denver Seminary. ... with Protestant clergy and lawyers to fight discriminatory practices and exclusionary immigration laws.6 Presbyterian minister, Ng Poon Chew (Wu Panzhao), founding editor of the Chung Sai Yat Po ...
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This essay critically analyzes the emergence of the study of Asian American religions as a subfield, "betwixt and between" Asian American studies and American religions. It also reviews the history of the development of... more
This essay critically analyzes the emergence of the study of Asian American religions as a subfield, "betwixt and between" Asian American studies and American religions. It also reviews the history of the development of the subfield as well as the intellectual challenges and opportunities in the study of both Asian religions in the United States and Christian traditions in Asian America. Overall, this essay concludes that a more complex and comprehensive understanding of Asian American agency is at stake in the scholarship as it concerns Asian American religions in general and Asian American religious history in particular. Keywords: Asian American movement, historical agency, Orientalism, religion, spiritual hybridity
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This article examines how an indigenous form of evangelicalism became the predominant form of Chinese Protestantism in the United States since 1949. Chinese-American Protestantism was so thoroughly reconstructed by separatist immigrants... more
This article examines how an indigenous form of evangelicalism became the predominant form of Chinese Protestantism in the United States since 1949. Chinese-American Protestantism was so thoroughly reconstructed by separatist immigrants from the Diaspora and American-born (or American-raised) evangelicals that affiliation with mainline Protestant denominations and organizations is no longer desired. This development has revitalized Chinese-American Protestantism. Indeed, Chinese evangelicalism is one of the fastest-growing religions in China, the Chinese Diaspora, and among Chinese in America. Though the percentage of Chinese Americans affiliated with Christianity is not nearly as high as that of Korean Americans, Chinese-American Protestantism has achieved impressive numeric growth over the past fifty years. Much of this growth can be attributed to the large number of Chinese who have migrated to North America since World War II.
Book review of _Ecclesial Diversity in Chinese Christianity_ Edited by Alexander Chow and Easten Law.