Actively Promoting the Construction ofTheological Ideologies
Theological ideology is the theoretical base for operatingchurches well under the three-self principle. Chinese Christiantheology duplicated Western theology in the 19th and early 20thcentury， which had many conservative and negative factors.
Some cynical， illiberal， irrational and anti-humanity theologicalideologies were quite "marketable‘ in China， but they were not inaccordance with China"s situation and culture， and were notsuitable for a modern society. The construction of theology wasnot to negate the basic belief， which is the norm of Christianityand should not be changed. However， in its long development，the Christian churches have made many adaptations to suit theenvironment in different times， different situations and differentcountries. These adaptations did not affect the basic beliefs. Onthe contrary， they made Christian churches more prosperous. Theconstruction of the Chinese theology aimed at expounding thebasic belief of Christianity in the light of China"s situation and culture. It is the certain requirement of the three-self principle，and is a very important element for self-development. As farback as 1956， the Christian magazine Wind of Heaven hadlaunched a mass discussion on theology that were of the utmostconcern to Christians， for example， how to perceive and treat theworld and its people. Many priests， teachers and students intheological colleges and Christian believers actively joined thediscussion and contributed their opinions. In the 1980s and 1990s，since the Churches were busy carrying out State policies byrestoring organizations and reopening churches， they were unableto give enough attention to the construction of theology， leading to ideas that were unsuitable for the age and the society. In thelate 1990s， theological construction was put on the agenda. Thetwo organizations made the decision to "strengthen theologicalconstruction‘ at the Jinan Conference held in 1998， which waswarmly welcomed by the mass of clergymen and Christianbelievers.
Bishop Ding Guangxun attached great significance to thiswork. He stated that "theology is the thinking of the churches‘，and that "a religion that disregards theology is a junior andprimitive religion and must be out of tune with reason. Thetheological thinking advocated by Bishop Ding is about how tocombine Christian belief with the reality to form a theory that isboth rational and transcendent. He contended that Chinesechurches ought to have their own theology. He put forward manypositive ideas that were mainly collected in the book entitledCollected Works of Ding Guangxun published in 1998. Thiscontained 82 pf the bishop"s speeches or articles， which can bedivided into five parts according to their contents， namelyspeeches abroad， Christian theology， the three-self principle andoperation of churches， religious policy and religious research，and remembrances and wishes， in which more than half are relatedto Christian theology. In this book， Bishop Ding set forth many creative breakthroughs on some fundamental theological issues.
for instance， as for the outlook of God， he proposed that ChineseChristians should "abandon a revengeful， frightening anddictatorial God‘， but accept a "God of love’。 He thought the mostessential character of God was love， and God"s love permeatedthe entire human world and universe. This ideology was in linewith the traditional Chinese culture and made Christianity moreacceptable to the Chinese people. As for the theory of Jesus Christ，he claimed that "Jesus belongs to the universe‘， and that "Jesus’
