Dr Alexander Chow (FHEA)
Senior Lecturer in Theology and World Christianity

- School of Divinity
Contact details
- Tel: +44 (0)131 650 8961
- Email: Alexander.Chow@ed.ac.uk
- Web: Blog
Address
- Street
-
New College
Mound Place - City
- Edinburgh
- Post code
- EH1 2LX
Background
Alexander Chow is a Chinese American, born and raised in Southern California. He completed his PhD in theology at the University of Birmingham, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Renmin University of China, where he was doing research in Chinese Christianity and teaching in the School of Liberal Arts before he joined the University of Edinburgh in September 2013. He is co-director of the Centre for the Study of World Christianity, co-editor of the journal Studies in World Christianity (Edinburgh University Press), and editor of the Liu Institute Series in Chinese Christianities (Notre Dame Press).
Alex has written a number of articles on Christianity in China, and more broadly, in East Asia. He has written or edited five books, including Theosis, Sino-Christian Theology and the Second Chinese Enlightenment (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013; Chinese edition: Institute of Sino-Christian Studies, 2015) and Chinese Public Theology: Generational Shifts and Confucian Imagination in Chinese Christianity (Oxford University Press, 2018).
Qualifications
BS MA ThM PhD FHEA
Responsibilities & affiliations
Co-director, Centre for the Study of World Christianity
Co-editor, Studies in World Christianity (Edinburgh University Press)
Book Series Editor, Liu Institute Series in Chinese Christianities (Notre Dame Press)
Founding Chair, Chinese Christianities Program Unit (American Academy of Religion)
Undergraduate teaching
- DIVI08015 History of Christianity as a World Religion 1B
- DIVI08023 Christian Theology: Approaches and Themes
- DIVI08025 Christian Theology: Doctrines and Debates
- DIVI10006 Theology in the Age of Technology
- DIVI10093 Theologies in Global Contexts
Postgraduate teaching
- DIVI11027 Theology, Ethics and Technology
- WRCH11018 Selected Themes in the Study of World Christianity
- WRCH11019 Christianity in Asia, 1700 to the Present
- WRCH11020 Theologies of World Christianity
Open to PhD supervision enquiries?
Yes
Current PhD students supervised
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Agana-Nsiire Agana, ‘A Digital Theological Investigation of Identity among Ghanaian Youth’
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G. Ray Burbank, ‘The Cross-Cultural Transmission of Evangelical Theologies of Conversion in Nineteenth-Century India’
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Rathiulung Elias, ‘Jisu Krista and Social Imagination among Rongmei Nagas in Manipur, Northeast India’
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Elilo Ezung, ‘The Holy Spirit among the Nagas: Contouring Pneumatology in Context’
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Nuam Hatzaw, ‘A Zomi Women’s Critique of Asian Feminist Theology: Towards a Theology for Zomi Women in Chin State, Myanmar’
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Zihao He, ‘Analyzing the Role of Theology in the Anti-Manchu Violence of the Taiping Rebellion’
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David Lewis, ‘Theology and Ecology in Chryssavgis, Maathai and Johnsen: A World Christianity Perspective’
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Chao Ma, ‘Charismatic Chinese American Christianity in the Los Angeles Basin’
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Dingjian (James) Xie, ‘Jingjiao Theology: translation, doctrine and religious practice in Tang China (618-907)’
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Biao Zhu, ‘Ecclesiological Movements in Chinese Protestantism’
Past PhD students supervised
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Jin (Jane) Meng (2023), ‘A Christian Embodiment of Neo-Confucian Active Mysticism: A Study on Jia Yuming’s Spirituality’
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Robert Alec Simpson (2022), ‘Gifts from the World: Bringing Dumitru Staniloae in Conversation with Prominent Themes in Majority World Theologies’
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Calida Chu (2020), ‘Public Theology in post-97 Hong Kong’
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Tore Johnsen (2020), ‘Contribution of Northern Sami everyday Christianity to a cosmologically-oriented Christian theology’
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Quan (Luke) Li (2020), ‘Conceptions of Responsibility and Visions of the Common Life: A Comparative Study of Karl Barth and Mou Zongsan’
- Andrew Ong (2020), ‘Toward a Chinese American evangelical theology: The promise of neo-Calvinism’
- Da (Daniel) Qin (2020), ‘Evolution of evangelical socio-political approaches in contemporary China (1980s-2010s)’
Research summary
Alex's research interests mainly revolve around the following:
- Contextual theology
- Christianity in China
- Chinese philosophy and religion
- Public theology
- Digital theology
Affiliated research centres
-
Eschatology and World Christianity
In:
Studies in World Christianity, vol. 22, pp. 201–215
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3366/swc.2016.0156
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Chinese Public Theology: Generational Shifts and Confucian Imagination in Chinese Christianity
(224 pages)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198808695.001.0001
Research output: › Book (Published) -
Ecumenism and Independency in World Christianity: Historical Studies in Honour of Brian Stanley
(370 pages)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004437548
Research output: › Book (Published) -
Two or three gathered online: Asian and European responses to COVID-19 and the digital church
In:
Studies in World Christianity, vol. 26, pp. 298-318
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3366/swc.2020.0311
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
British immigration policies and British Chinese Christianity
(22 pages)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73069-7_5
Research output: › Chapter (Published)