Jacob Chengwei Feng

Theologian · Educator · Writer

Listening for the Spirit where China and Christendom first met — and where they meet again, in the age of artificial intelligence.

Affiliate Assistant Professor of Theology and Leadership at Fuller Theological Seminary. Adjunct at Pepperdine and UC Irvine. Theology Interest Group Leader, Society for Pentecostal Studies.

Dr. Jacob Chengwei Feng
About · 自 述

A Chinese theology for the third millennium.

Jacob Chengwei Feng is a systematic and constructive theologian working at the intersection of Chinese intellectual history, Pentecostal pneumatology, and the dialogue between theology and science. His research traces a line that begins with Jingjiao (景教) — the Luminous Religion of the seventh-century Tang dynasty, the first Christianity ever to take root in Chinese soil — and reaches forward to the questions our own century puts to the Spirit: artificial intelligence, post-humanism, the cosmos described by a Chinese imagination of qi (氣).

He holds a PhD in Theological Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary and an undergraduate degree from Tsinghua University (清華大學). He is the author of two open-access volumes — Spirit(s) and Chinese Religiosity (Palgrave Macmillan, 2026) and Science, Religion(s), and Spirit(s) in China (Brill, 2025) — and the editor and translator of the entire Tang Jingjiao corpus.

His articles have appeared in Scottish Journal of Theology, Zygon, Pneuma, Religions, International Bulletin of Mission Research, Theology and Science, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, and the Journal of Chinese Theology, among others. He is currently building out a constructive program he calls qi-tological theology — a Chinese theology of creation that reads the cosmos as breath, person, and Spirit at once.

The Books · 著 作

Two volumes, both open access.

Read them online for free. The Brill volume includes a new English translation of the entire Tang Jingjiao corpus.

Science, Religion(s), and Spirit(s) in China — Brill, 2025
Open Access

Science, Religion(s), and Spirit(s) in China

A Constructive Chinese Theology of Creation Based on Jingjiao's Qi-tological Theology, with a New English Translation of the Entire Tang Jingjiao Corpus · Brill, December 2025 · Foreword by Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen

A constructive Chinese theology of creation that begins from the Luminous Religion of the Tang dynasty — the earliest Christianity in China — and stages a trialogue between theology, the natural sciences, and the religious worlds of qi. Part of the Theology and Mission in World Christianity series.

Spirit(s) and Chinese Religiosity — Palgrave Macmillan, 2026
Open Access

Spirit(s) and Chinese Religiosity

Retelling the History of Chinese Christianity from a Pentecost Perspective · Palgrave Macmillan, 2026 · Christianity and Renewal — Interdisciplinary Studies series (eds. Vondey & Yong)

Rewrites the standard history of Christianity in China by reading it from the vantage of Pentecost — attending to the spirits, ancestors, and deities of the Chinese religious imagination as theological interlocutors rather than as obstacles to be cleared away.

The Work · 研 究

Research areas.

Six interlocking conversations, one underlying question: where is the Spirit moving in the Chinese imagination?

Systematic & constructive theology

Chinese theology

Theology, science, and the theology-science-religion trialogue

Interfaith dialogue with world religions

Ecumenical dialogue with world Christianity

Pentecostal and Charismatic movements

A Constructive Program

Qi-tological theology · 氣論神學

A constructive Chinese theology of creation that reads the cosmos through the ancient Chinese category of qi (氣) — air, breath, pneuma, person, spirit — and stages it as a third interlocutor between the Christian doctrine of the Spirit and the natural sciences. Developed across the Brill volume, several journal articles, and a growing slate of conference presentations.

Writing · 論 文

Selected articles.

A working selection — scroll through, or open the full list of twenty-seven peer-reviewed articles and six book chapters.

Peer-reviewed journal articles · 期 刊 論 文

  1. "Prayer as Embodied Approach to Deification in Romans 8:1–17," Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care. Accepted.
  2. "The Pentecost in the Eyes of a Stranger in Medieval China," Pneuma: 203–23.
  3. "'No Distinction between Contemplating the Created Realities and Contemplating the One God': The Earliest Chinese Natural Theology," Journal of the Study on Religion and History 1, no. 1 (2025): 62–74.
  4. "编者的话" [From the Editor], Journal for Research of Christianity in China 24, no. 1 (2025): 1–12.
  5. "基督教中国化进程中的圣经新译与去殖民化主义" [New Chinese Bible Translations and Decolonialism/Postcolonialism], Journal for Research of Christianity in China 24, no. 1 (2025): 108–33.
  6. "The Wind of the Spirit Is Blowing East: Ancestors, Deities, and the Holy Spirit in the Earliest Mission to China," International Bulletin of Mission Research 49, no. 2 (2025): 126–38.
  7. "Divine Action in the Flesh: A Cognitive Linguistic Evaluation of Pannenberg's Theology," Scottish Journal of Theology. Online 2025: 1–13.
  8. "Deificational Hermeneutics as Theological Interpretation: A Theological Exegesis on 2 Peter 1:1–11," Religions 15, no. 12 (2024): 1517.
  9. "From 'Bridge' to 'Starlink': An Update on Kang Phee Seng's Model of Theology and Science Dialogue," Theology and Science Dec, no. 1 (2024): 1–14.
  10. "Seven Spirits from Patmos: Towards a Decolonial Chinese Theology for the Third Millennium," Journal for Research of Christianity in China 21, no. 1 (2023): 182–219.
  11. "The China Aspiration in Light of Jacob's Narrative," International Journal of Sino-Western Studies 25, no. 1 (2023): 81–98.
  12. "Alister McGrath and China: Toward a Chinese Theology and Science on Transhumanism," Dialog 62, no. 4 (2023): 352–59.
  13. "Pneumasis/Pneumafication Based on Romans 8:1–17," Religions 14, no. 9 (2023): 1210.
  14. "Holistic Wisdom from a Chinese Perspective," Religions 14, no. 9 (2023): 1117.
  15. "Christianity's Earliest Encounter with the Ancient Techno-Scientific China," Christian Perspectives on Science and Technology 2, no. 1 (2023): 80–103.
  16. "Theological Method of Chinese Theology in the Republican Era (1911–1949)," Journal of Chinese Theology 9, no. 1 (2023): 38–65.
  17. "Addressing the Needham Question from a Theological Perspective," Zygon 57, no. 2 (2022): 299–321.
  18. "Against the Tide: The Local Churches' Ecclesiology and Its Contribution to the Glocal Church," JETS 65, no. 2 (2022): 239–59.
  19. "希伯来圣经文本之多样性与单一性和圣经汉译" [Hebrew Bible Textual Pluriformity and Chinese Bible Translation], Foreign Language Research in China 3, no. 1 (2017): 89–97.
  20. "死海古卷中大以赛亚书卷与马所拉文本的比较" [The Great Isaiah Scroll and the Masoretic Text], Journal for the Study of Christian Culture 36 (Autumn 2016): 213–37.
  21. "保罗·魏格纳的翻译理论与圣经汉译" [Paul Wegner's Translation Theory and Chinese Bible Translation], Foreign Languages Research 155, no. 1 (2016): 74–80.

Book chapters · 專 書 篇 章

  1. "Missio Dei and the Universal Priesthood of All Believers," in Chinese Christian Witness, eds. Xiaoli Yang and Daryl Ireland. Brill, 2025 (forthcoming).
  2. "Deification Seen from the Three Biblical Metaphors in Watchman Nee and Witness Lee," in Transformed into the Same Image, eds. Copan and Reardon. IVP Academic, 2024, 38–62.
  3. "宣教性教會與教會性宣教:倪柝聲教會論之理論與實踐" [Missional Church and Ecclesial Mission], in 薪火相传百年祭, eds. Daniel L. Li and Qinghe Xiao. Taiwan Christian Literature Council, 2024, 157–78.
  4. "全球在地語境中的倪柝聲末世論" [Watchman Nee's Eschatology in the Global Context], in 薪火相传百年祭, eds. Li and Xiao. Taiwan Christian Literature Council, 2024, 179–94.
  5. "A Contextualized Chinese Theology of Human Nature," in Reading Hebrews and 1 Peter from Majority World Perspective, eds. Abebe, Mburu, and Urga. T&T Clark, 2024, 52–70.
  6. "Mission by God's Living Stones: Watchman Nee's Missional Exegesis of 1 Peter 2:5–11," in Reading 1 Peter Missiologically, eds. Urga, Udall, Smither. William Carey Publishing, 2024, 35–50.
Lectures & Media · 講 座

Recent talks, on video.

A selection of recorded lectures and interviews — Fuller, Oxford, ANZATS, COSAC, the Hong Kong Institute of Jingjiao Studies.

March 2026

Interview on Science, Religion(s), and Spirit(s) in China

Hong Kong Institute of Jingjiao Studies
January 2026

Lecture on Chinese Pneumatologies

Fuller Theological Seminary
November 2025

Public lecture on Science and Christian Faith

National Sun Yat-Sen University
November 2024

Qi, Post-humanism, and Deification

PHAICON 24 · Athens
November 2024

Doctrine of Revelation in the Chinese Context

Fuller Theological Seminary
2024

Contextualization of Christianity in China (635–present)

Fuller Theological Seminary
2023

Chinese Theology: A Brief Outline in History and Contemporary Times

Fuller Theological Seminary
2023

An Overview of African Pneumatologies of Creation

Fuller Theological Seminary
2023

The Earliest Chinese "Natural Theology" and Its Syriac Roots

ANZATS 2023
2022

Holistic Wisdom from a Chinese Perspective

Oxford Interfaith Forum
2022

Christianity's Earliest Encounters with Ancient China

COSAC 2022
Conference Talks · 會 議

Forty-five presentations and counting.

A scroll through recent and upcoming papers — Cambridge, the Society for Pentecostal Studies, the Society for the Study of Theology, ETS, SBL, Yale-Edinburgh, Tübingen, Hong Kong Baptist, Tsinghua.

Teaching · 教 學

In the classroom.

A three-institution teaching slate — Fuller, Pepperdine, UC Irvine — anchored by a multi-year DMin cohort on pastoral ministry in the age of rapid technological change.

Pastoral Ministry in an Age of Rapidly Advancing Science and Technology

Three-year cohort, Fuller Theological Seminary Doctor of Ministry program · Fall 2026 – Summer 2029. Program details at Fuller →

Spring 2026

  • The Way of Jesus (REL 100)Seaver College, Pepperdine University
  • Christianity and Science (REL 300)Seaver College, Pepperdine University
  • Religion and Science (Rel Std 165)UC Irvine, School of Humanities

Fall 2025 · Winter 2025

  • The Story of Christian Scripture (REL 200)Seaver College, Pepperdine · Fall 2025
  • Christianity and Science (REL 300)Seaver College, Pepperdine · Fall 2025
  • Religion and Science (Rel Std 165 / Philos 123)UC Irvine · Winter 2025

Earlier · Fuller (Teaching Assistant)

  • Theological Studies Capstone (SF520)
  • Introduction to Global Christian Traditions (SF502)
  • Creation, Community, and Consummation (ST506)
  • Trinity, Revelation, and Salvation (ST505)
  • Early Church History (CH500)
  • Ecclesiology: Church's Mission, Ministry, Worship (TH516)
Events Organized · 主 辦 會 議

Symposia & convenings.

Feb 25, 2028

Festschrift in Honor of Dr. Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen on His 70th Birthday

Fuller Theological Seminary · Plenary speakers TBA
Co-organizer
Feb 16, 2027

Further Thoughts on Deification

Chinese University of Hong Kong · Plenary: Kärkkäinen, Copan
Organizer
Oct 9, 2025

Ecumenical Symposium on Deification

Payton 101, Fuller Theological Seminary · Asia Research Center
Organizer
July 24–25, 2025

Symposium on Chinese Christianity, Its Centennial Mission and Bible Translations

Fuller Theological Seminary · CMR, CSC & ARC
Organizer
Get in Touch · 聯 絡

Contact.

Email · 電 郵

[email protected]

For lecture invitations, collaboration on projects in Chinese theology, Jingjiao studies, or the theology-science-religion trialogue, and inquiries about the DMin cohort.

Around the Web · 網 路