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Religions
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Reimagining Protestant Theology: The Asian Experience and Christian Tradition
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Reimagining Protestant Theology: The Asian Experience and Christian Tradition

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 2117

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Shinhyung Seong

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Baird College of General Education, Soongsil University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Interests: theology and ethics; Asian theology; religious ethics; comparative studies

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue explores the theological discourse on the Protestant tradition in Asia. Euro-American perspectives have historically shaped the Protestant theological discourses; however, the trajectories of Christianity in Asia have challenged many of the theological assumptions rooted in Western contexts. This Special Issue seeks a constructive reimagining of Protestant theology that seriously engages the Asian experience—not merely as a site of application but as a generative source for theological reflection.

Contributors are invited to examine topics such as ‘How have Asian socio-cultural, historical, and religious contexts reshaped Protestant theological expressions?’, ‘In what ways does the Asian Christian experience critique or enrich classical Protestant doctrines such as justification, redemption, and ecclesiology?’, and ‘How can the intersection of indigenous Asian wisdom and Christian tradition offer a renewed vision of Protestant theology?’

This Special Issue will provide the theological engagement in Asia, such as contextualization in various Asian settings (e.g., Korea, India, China, the Philippines, and so on), the interpretation of protestant theology into Asian thought, and the theological framework in Asian realities. Additionally, it examines Asian imagination in Protestant theology in terms of historical–theological analysis, comparative studies, and contextual–constructive framework.

We welcome submissions from diverse researchers, concentrating on Asian voices in the theological conversation, challenging the dominance of Western paradigms, and proposing Asian imagination about various theological theories like incarnation, justification, trinity, and so on. In addition, this Issue welcomes both academic theology and church praxis in multicultural, postcolonial contexts.

We request that prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200–300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editors to ensure proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Please send your manuscript to the Guest Editor or the Assistant Editor Sandee Pan (sandee.pan@mdpi.com) of Religions. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Shinhyung Seong
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Asian theology
  • Asian christianity
  • contextualization
  • theology of Korea
  • theology of India
  • theology of China
  • theology of Philippines
  • comparative studies
  • comparative ethics
  • theological imagination

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

24 pages, 325 KB  
Article
Reimagining Christian Theology from Asian and Asian American Protestant Experiences: A Methodological Typology
by Shinhyung Seong
Religions 2026, 17(3), 326; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030326 - 5 Mar 2026
Viewed by 625
Abstract
In this article, I argue that a significant stream of Asian and Asian American Protestant theology is best understood not only as recurring themes (e.g., suffering, marginality, race, diaspora) but also as the methods through which lived experience is translated into theological reasoning. [...] Read more.
In this article, I argue that a significant stream of Asian and Asian American Protestant theology is best understood not only as recurring themes (e.g., suffering, marginality, race, diaspora) but also as the methods through which lived experience is translated into theological reasoning. It proposes a methodological typology that differentiates operative logics across five experiential sites: woundedness and healing; coerced in-betweenness and liminal creativity; political struggle and praxis; racialized peoplehood and communion; and postcolonial/feminist diasporic imagination. Across these types, “Protestant” functions as an analytic theological grammar—Scripture-centered hermeneutics, the grace-justice dialectic, reform and public witness, and eschatological hope expressed as praxis—rather than a mere denominational label. By specifying experiential sites, theological problems, operative methods, and normative aims, the typology clarifies internal differences among influential figures whose vocabularies often overlap and provides a framework for extending analysis to additional Asian and diasporic Protestant trajectories. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reimagining Protestant Theology: The Asian Experience and Christian Tradition)
17 pages, 313 KB  
Article
Living Out, Redeeming Together: An Ethico-Theological Reconsideration of Protestant “Calling” in the 21st-Century Korean Context
by Soyoung Baik
Religions 2026, 17(2), 268; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17020268 - 23 Feb 2026
Viewed by 364
Abstract
From the winter of 2024 through the spring of 2025, public plazas in Seoul, particularly Yeouido and Gwanghwamun, became major sites of anti-martial law political mobilization. A striking feature of these protests was the visible leadership and participation of young women, who transformed [...] Read more.
From the winter of 2024 through the spring of 2025, public plazas in Seoul, particularly Yeouido and Gwanghwamun, became major sites of anti-martial law political mobilization. A striking feature of these protests was the visible leadership and participation of young women, who transformed civil resistance into a festive and affective form of collective action through cheering sticks and performative solidarity. The main driving force behind the political mobilization of young women was the increased influence of feminism after the “feminism reboot” in Korea since 2016. During the civil resistance, they were also active in solidarity with various minorities. The resistance was successful, and Korea has regained the order of a democratic society. However, young women who had experienced autonomous protest and mutual solidarity found themselves, upon returning to their everyday lives, still facing the remaining task of struggling against patriarchal cultures and institutions. Among them, Christian women confronted an even more inhospitable sphere—that of the Korean Protestant church, which remains largely constrained by patriarchal norms, a Christian–Confucian mixture. A representative example is the emphasis on “women’s calling” based on fundamentalist/sexist readings of the Bible. The huge gap between current social change and the church situation is reflected in the recent phenomenon of many young female Christians’ de-churching. In confronting the incongruous realities of young Christian women, this study seeks to provide an ethico-theological basis for a feminist reinterpretation of the Protestant concept of “calling”. After analyzing the social/existential topos of young Korean Christian women in the recent Korean context, this work considers a feminist reinterpretation of the “creation order” and “calling” in the process of an intersubjective dialog between the Bible and pre-patriarchal Korean cultural resources of “Mago-affiliated” myth, Seolmundaehalmang (the Great Grandmother Seolmun) narratives in particular. By providing sociological, ethical, and theological resources to construct new norms of “calling”, this research contributes to enabling young Christian women in Korea to overcome their existential fragmentation and to seek forms of women’s calling that are attuned to their historical moment and identity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reimagining Protestant Theology: The Asian Experience and Christian Tradition)
15 pages, 218 KB  
Article
Worship Perceptions and Future Directions in Korean Conservative Presbyterian Churches: A Liturgical-Theological Reflection Based on Surveys of Pastors and Laity
by Hwarang Moon
Religions 2026, 17(2), 267; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17020267 - 23 Feb 2026
Viewed by 412
Abstract
This study examines worship perceptions in conservative Korean Presbyterian churches through a liturgical-theological interpretation of nationwide survey data collected from pastors, lay congregants, and the next generation within a major conservative Presbyterian context in Korea. Analyzing programmatic priorities, preaching emphases, expected outcomes of [...] Read more.
This study examines worship perceptions in conservative Korean Presbyterian churches through a liturgical-theological interpretation of nationwide survey data collected from pastors, lay congregants, and the next generation within a major conservative Presbyterian context in Korea. Analyzing programmatic priorities, preaching emphases, expected outcomes of worship, and patterns of participation, the study identifies both enduring strengths and structural tensions in contemporary worship practice. While worship remains strongly Word-centered and oriented toward personal faith formation, items related to liturgy and sacrament are largely absent, reflecting a sermon-centered and programmatic understanding of worship. Interpreted within their historical and cultural formation, these patterns are examined as liturgical-theological structures rather than merely empirical trends. In response, the article proposes five future directions for worship renewal, emphasizing a more integrated relationship between Word and sacrament, participatory engagement, worship education, and generational and multicultural inclusivity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reimagining Protestant Theology: The Asian Experience and Christian Tradition)
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