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Let Your Light Shine: The Convergence and Divergence of Christianity and Chinese Culture

Let Your Light Shine: The Convergence and Divergence of Christianity and Chinese Culture

Curie Li QU

In Christ and Culture, Richard Niebuhr sorts out five ways Christians have approached Western culture throughout history, ie, (1) Christ against Culture, (2) the Christ of Culture, (3) Christ above Culture, (4) Christ and Culture in Paradox, and ( 5) Christ the Transformer of Culture. Although Niebuhr's own cultural context is mid-20th century America, his five models can largely be counted as valid when we examine the relationship between Christianity and Chinese culture.
Since Robert Morrison's time, missionaries, Chinese theologians, Cultural-Christians and ordinary Christians hold different attitudes toward Chinese culture: from extreme divergence to total convergence. This paper discusses the success and failure of significant attempts at accommodating Christianity with Chinese culture in the last two centuries, arguing that Niebuhr's type 4 (paradoxically co-existing), rather than type 5 (transforming) though favored by Niebuhr himself and most Chinese Christian scholars, is probably the most viable way.

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Message from the Editor of Issue 48

Editor's Note: Wu Guojie Since the outbreak of the new coronavirus, the number of people infected worldwide has exceeded 250 million, and the number of deaths has exceeded 5 million. This number does not include poor third-world countries with weak testing capabilities and inability to determine the cause of death. Due to the epidemic, the lives, economy, and travel of people around the world have been affected to varying degrees; for example, people have to wear masks when going out, maintain social distance, the number of gatherings is limited, quarantine is required when entering the country, travel has been greatly reduced, related industries have laid off employees, and unemployment has Rates thus increase and so on. In this environment, church gatherings have also been affected to a considerable extent. During the period when the epidemic was severe and gatherings were restricted, physical church gatherings were suspended, and online live broadcasts and video conversations became necessary alternative modes; even if the epidemic eased and physical gatherings reopened, online Synchronization has also become the new normal. In the face of this disaster, which is called the "pandemic of the century," what resources does the Christian faith have that can help the church respond and turn the crisis into an opportunity? This issue of "Sandow Journal" takes "Epidemics and Disasters" as the theme, and brings together different scholars to discuss it from the perspectives of the two Testaments, doctrinal theology, and practical theology, hoping to enlighten modern Christians on how to deal with the challenges of this era. ...