Refined by Fires: the Countercultural Shape of T.C. Chao’s Mature Theology

Abstract T.C. Chao (1888–1979) was one of the twentieth century’s most celebrated Chinese Protestant thinkers, renowned in the Chinese Republican era (1912–1949) for his creative and penetrating works of Christian theology. During the Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), Chao was imprisoned by Japanese military troops and experienced a spiritual and intellectual transformation. Scholars identify a new, mature period of thought arising after imprisonment, one often termed “neo-orthodox.” But this term remains connotatively misleading and sheds scant light on the shape of Chao’s creative theological reflection. In its place this article investigates whether the term “countercultural” is more fitting, in view of three factors that gave shape to Chao’s mature theology, namely, Japanese imprisonment, Karl Barth’s influence, and ordination in the Anglican Church in China.