Category: News & Talks
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“Heaven Above, Mazhuang Below”: Jing Dianying and the Jesus Family for World Christianity — University of Cambridge
On Tuesday, October 27, 2026, from 4:00 to 5:30 PM (GMT), I will give a talk at the World Christianity Seminar of the Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide and the Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge. The seminar meets in the Lightfoot Room at the Faculty of Divinity and online. It asks whether Pentecostal conversion…
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Deificational Spirituality and Ecclesiology — University of Cambridge
On September 23, 2026, I presented at Churches in Global Chinese Communities: Chinese Ecclesiology in the Making, the conference of the Cambridge Centre for Chinese Theology at the University of Cambridge. My paper asked what ground a corporately deified church occupies, and argued that Watchman Nee’s principle of “one locality, one church” supplies it. The…
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The Biosocial Challenge to Public Theology — Hanshin University, Seoul
On September 29, 2026, I presented at the 2026 Public Theology Conference at the Graduate School of Theology, Hanshin University, Seoul. My paper takes up the biosocial challenge that E. O. Wilson and Richard Dawkins pose to public theology in East Asia. The paper “The Biosocial Challenge to Public Theology: Embodied Critical Realism for the…
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Whether and Where: Daoist and Confucian Boundaries with Science — Science and Religion Forum
On September 22, 2026, I gave a keynote at the Science and Religion Forum’s “Foundations” Early Career Researchers Conference, held online. My talk argued that what a tradition’s practitioners do determines whether and where its boundary with science lies. The paper “Whether and Where: Daoist and Confucian Boundaries with Science.” Abstract Drawing on Eastern, non-Christian…
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Theology–Science–Religion Trialogue as Tangible Good — Pepperdine University
At the Thomas H. Olbricht Christian Scholars’ Conference, themed “Christian Scholarship as Tangible Good,” I presented on how theology, the sciences, and the world’s religions can be drawn into a single constructive conversation for the global church. The paper “Theology–Science–Religion ‘Trialogue’ as Tangible Good for the Global Church’s Engagement with Science and Religions.” Abstract The…
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Critique of Pannenberg’s Angelology and Diabology — University of St. Mary of the Lake
At the Third International Wolfhart Pannenberg Symposium I offered a sympathetic yet critical reading of Pannenberg on angels and demons, arguing that his engagement with the natural sciences led him to underplay the personal character of spiritual powers. The paper “Critique of Wolfhart Pannenberg’s Angelology and Diabology: Toward a Constructive Theology of Spiritual Powers in…
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Watchman Nee and the British Legacy on Sanctification — University of Cambridge
In May 2026 I presented at the Symposium on Watchman Nee, hosted by the Cambridge Centre for Chinese Theology at the University of Cambridge. My paper examined the British roots of Nee’s doctrine of sanctification and the way he critically appropriated them for the global church that continues in his teaching today. The paper “Watchman…
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Jingjiao and AI through Embodied Critical Realism — Tsinghua University
I returned to my alma mater, Tsinghua University—in the year of its 115th anniversary—to present at the symposium “Truth and Illusion: The Religious Meaning in the Digital-Intelligence Age,” hosted by the Department of Philosophy. The paper reads the Tang-dynasty Jingjiao (Luminous Religion) alongside contemporary artificial intelligence through the lens of Embodied Critical Realism. The paper…
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Metaphors of Atonement in Watchman Nee and Witness Lee — Pacific Systematic Theology Colloquium
At the Pacific Systematic Theology Colloquium, whose 2026 theme was “Atonement Understood,” I presented a study of atonement in Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, read through the clusters of biblical metaphors by which they describe reconciliation, with deification as its goal. The paper “Metaphors in Watchman Nee and Witness Lee’s Doctrine of Atonement with Deification…
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Chinese Theology’s Failure to Engage the Spirit World — Society for the Study of Theology
Responding to the conference theme “Theology: A Discipline of Failure?”, I argued that Chinese theology has failed to engage the spirit world—in Scripture and in Chinese religious life alike—and proposed Watchman Nee’s work as a resource for repairing that neglect. The paper “Failure of Chinese Theology in Engaging with the Spirit(s): Towards Constructive Pneumatology for…
