Shame
Students of anthropology are fond of drawing a distinction between “guilt” cultures and “shame” cultures. In the former, you feel bad when you have violated an objective moral standard, while in the latter you are ashamed when you fail to measure up to some norm of family or society. An oversimplified distinction would be that shame results from “failure” while guilt comes from “sin.” Western society is – or used to be – an example of a “guilt” culture, and China is a prime exhibit for the “shame” cultures. continued »
Filial Piety
Many Chinese consider filial piety to be the crown jewel of their civilization. The core of Confucius’ teaching, some aspects of filial piety reach back into the dawn of Chinese civilization, centuries before Confucius himself. continued »
Yin and Yang
One of the most pervasive, and most profound, of all ancient Chinese concepts is that of yin and yang. continued »
Names for "God": Shang Di
Perhaps the most obvious point of contact is the presence in Chinese of several names used to refer to “supernatural” beings whom they have worshiped. Two of these are Shang Di and Shen, though the word for “Heaven” (Tian) is also sometimes used. continued »
Names for “God”: Shen
We have seen that the name Shang Di has grave limitations as a direct translation of either Hebrew Elohim or Greek Theos. Is there any other Chinese word which could better convey the meaning of the Biblical words for God? The most commonly-used alternative is Shen. continued »
Pressure Points
We have seen that traditional Chinese culture contains many “hints and shadows” of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Now let us look at ways in which modern Chinese society prepares the way for the light, life, and love of God as expressed in the Good News. I shall call these “pressure points.” continued »
Hints and Shadows
In past Reaching Chinese Worldwide newsletters, we have looked at various methods of reaching Chinese around the world with the Gospel of Christ. Now we shall begin a new series on “Points of Contact” with Chinese people and their culture, hoping to explore ways in which Christians can speak to existing conditions and concepts. continued »
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