Jun
10
The Gospel in Chinese
Filed Under Chinese Religion, Communicating with those of other faiths, Great Commission | Leave a Comment
I just finished reading a great book on Christianity in China. In Confucius, The Buddha, and Christ: A History of the Gospel in Chinese Ralph R. Covell presents an outstanding history of Christianity in China. He discusses the traditional Chinese worldview, Nestorian Christianity in China, the various methods missionaries have used among the Chinese, how Christianity has interacted with Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, and modern attempts of making Christianity Chinese.
Although the book is dated (1986) and only includes limited discussion of the underground house church movement and the amazing growth of Christianity in China since the 80s (some estimate over 100 million Christians in China), it is still a great work for those who are planning on working in China or among Chinese in the Diaspora. The book is even a great resource for those who are not planning on working among the Chinese people. Throughout the book Covell discusses the issue of contextualization, which all cross-cultural communicators of the gospel must deal with. At times Covell does advocate too much contextualization for my theological liking, but he does raise some good points. I would recommend this book to anyone planning on engaging in cross-cultural gospel communication.
Jun
1
The Namesake- A look into Hinduism
Filed Under Hinduism | Leave a Comment
Although I am not a film critic, I would like to recommend a film I saw tonight. The Namesake follows the story of a Hindu family in the U.S. If you are interested in India, Hinduism or in studying cross-cultural communication you will particularly enjoy this film.
*The film contains a few questionable scenes (PG-13).