Table Of ContentPak Nung Wong
Discerning the
Powers in Post-
Colonial Africa
and Asia
A Treatise on Christian Statecraft
Discerning the Powers in Post-Colonial
Africa and Asia
Pak Nung Wong
Discerning the Powers
in Post-Colonial Africa
and Asia
A Treatise on Christian Statecraft
Pak Nung Wong
Department of Politics, Languages
and International Studies
University of Bath
Bath , UK
ISBN 978-981-287-510-5 ISBN 978-981-287-511-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-981-287-511-2
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015937613
© Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016
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To Tung Lai Leung for her love,
good food and wisdoms
To Hermann Nijhuis for his love,
jokes and wisdoms
About the Book
Despite the Cold War that ended in the early 1990s, the debate between Christian
realism and Christian pacifi sm in the US foreign policy and global Christian circles
continues. Once publicly indicated his theological undertaking was with the forefa-
ther of the Cold War Christian realism – Reinhold Niebuhr – President Barrack
Obama’s signature ‘pivot to Asia’ policy since 2011 has also echoed such return of
Christian realist spirituality.
In light of the ongoing theological debate underpinning US Christian statecraft,
this book will conduct a closer examination of it by fi rst dwelling into the Dutch
theologian Hendrik Berkhof’s political theology of ‘the Powers’. Then, a closer
look into the Anabaptist Christian pacifi sm will inform a nuanced political theol-
ogy – a ‘sociology of the Powers’ – which qualifi es the post-Westphalian sovereign
statehood as a fallen power and therefore is within the province of the devil Satan’s
sovereignty. To substantiate this new political theology empirically, this book
employs a Foucaultian analytical framework which elaborates ‘governmentality’ in
terms of structure, technique and episteme where the powers work in and through
the state as a pillaring captivity instrument of the devil Satan. Empirical case studies
from post-colonial Africa and Asia show that the sovereign states may have indeed
been haunted by the devil in the more operation-specifi c ways of neocolonialism,
violent confl icts (e.g. war and genocide), corruption and the politics of censure,
warlord politics, strongman politics and power/knowledge production.
T he book gives considerable thoughts on those Christian servants who have
already committed themselves to selfl ess post-colonial state-building whilst being
caught up by the Powers. Two options of post-colonial Christian statecraft will
therefore be offered: the practice of exiled statehood and de-colonial knowledge
production. The gist of these options is that the devil has long been defeated by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ. As the sovereign of the ‘already but not yet’ Heavenly
vii
viii About the Book
Kingdom where the source of hope is, God is also the supranational sovereign of
human history and all individual/collective destinies. Christian strategists and
statesmen as well as practitioners, though have a part in God’s grand strategy,
instead of attempting or self-commissioning to uproot evilness by themselves, are
in a better position to just participate in God’s larger plan of salvation. Whilst the
weights and intended outcomes of their roles and participations may be illusory and
transient, they are still under God’s abundant grace in the midst of the earthly yet
temporal reigns of the fallen powers.
Pref ace
W ithout the fellowships, prayers and support of a number of individuals, I would
not have decided to write on the relatively ‘supernatural’ subject of this book: King
Chan, George Kieh Jr., Reverend Dr. Vincent C. P. Lau, Reverend Dr. David Lee,
Tak-shing Lee, Archbishop Sergio Utleg and Reverend Yin-mei Wong as well as the
‘study group’ members.
In my church – ELCHK Truth Lutheran Church – I am grateful to such pastors
as Reverend Yin-mei Wong, Reverend Sai-ming Pau and Reverend Suet-fung Yip
for their blessings and prayers. At the Hong Kong Baptist Theological Seminary,
I want to thank the fellowship and theological inputs of Professor Andre S. K. Tang
and Dr. Freeman C. W. Huen. I am grateful to Dr. Chun Yang of the Hong Kong
Baptist University for organizing a seminar for me to explore the theological under-
pinnings of the current geopolitical shift. At Breakthrough, I am grateful for an
internal seminar for me to share, clarify and consolidate thoughts.
This book has also an epistemic anchorage. When I was an undergraduate
student at the City University of Hong Kong, two Christian professors suggested
two positions in regard to knowledge. The fi rst is by Dr. Tak-yan Lee. He suggested
that ‘knowledge is power’ in the sense that knowledge is essential for self-develop-
ment such as career advancement and that one should not cease learning. In other
words, knowledge acquisition is the basis for the Christian witnesses to serve as salt
and light in the world. The second is Dr. Ka-ho Mok. He suggested that ‘knowledge
leads to pride’ in the sense that it could keep us away from God. Over the years,
whilst I have been taking these two positions seriously, I have also observed that
knowledge, as one of the Powers, has constituted the illusory self because of the
embedded presence and workings of the state in modern knowledge production.
In Chulalongkorn University, since 2009, I thank Arjahn Suchitra Chongstitvatana
for introducing and enabling me to learn and experience Buddhism which I man-
aged to recognize the impermanent and transient nature of knowledge production.
Against such interfaith dialogue background, several members of my privy council
have patiently and gently engaged me to encounter, name and disarm the inner
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Description:Qualifying post-Westphalian sovereign statehood as a ‘power’ as argued for in Hendrik Berkhoff’s political theology, this book addresses the decades-long theological-spiritual debate between Christian realism and Christian pacifism in U.S. foreign policy and global Christian circles. It approa
