A symposium on “Reading the Bible from the Perspective of Chinese People” was held in Guangzhou On December 14, as one of a series of activities of the Chinese Church Bible Day.
In the early 1990s, the second Sunday (including Saturday) in December was designated as Bible Day in the Chinese Church.
According to Guangzhou CC&TSPM, the symposium was conducted by using both live and video presentations. More than ten representatives from academic and church circles had in-depth exchanges on the theme of “Reading the Bible from the Perspective of Chinese people”.
On behalf of experts, Tang Xiaofeng, researcher of the Institute of World Religions and director of the Christian Research Office of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony. Tang stated that as the basis of Christian belief, the Bible was of great theoretical significance to religious teaching and interdisciplinary research, and of great academic significance to the study of the communication history of Christianity. So it was of great practical significance to study how to read, explain, and interpret the Scriptures from the perspective of Chinese people in the new era.
Rev. Shan Weixiang, vice president and director-general of the China Christian Council, Prof. Tang Xiaofeng, researcher of the Institute of World Religions under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Rev. Yue Qinghua, president of Fujian Theological Seminary and other experts and scholars from Beijing, Shanghai, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Guangdong, and other places made key speeches.
In his keynote speech, Rev. Shan expounded on the importance of reading the Bible from a Chinese perspective by analyzing the influence of early Christian theological thought. He shared on the interaction between the way of reading the Bible and the construction of theological thought, and the way of reading and interpreting the Bible in the new era. Pastor Shan pointed out that “a perspective based on the Sinicization of the Scriptures” is an important basis for the Sinicization of Christianity.
In the early period of Christianity’s entry into China, theological thought was inevitably influenced by western thought and culture, so it was difficult to realize “Sinicization”. In order to realize the Sinicization of Christianity, we must explain and interpret the Scriptures with Chinese thinking, traditional Chinese culture, Confucian classics, and Oriental Humanistic Thoughts, so as to construct the theological thought with Chinese characteristics.
Based on the conclusions of history and external textual research, Tang discussed the history of the formation and dissemination of the Bible in the emergence and development of Christianity, reflecting on the revelation brought by the holy book and its dissemination.
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
2020年12月14日，中国教会圣经日系列活动之“用中国人视角读《圣经》”专题研讨会在广州举行。
据主办方广州市基督教两会报道，本次研讨会采用现场发言结合视频发言的形式进行，由十多位学界、教界代表围绕“用中国人视角读《圣经》”主题进行深入交流。
专家代表中国社会科学院世界宗教研究所研究员、基督教研究室主任唐晓峰主任在开幕式中致辞，《圣经》是基督教信仰的重要基础，对宗教学及跨学科研究具备重要的理论意义，对研究基督教传播史具有重大的学术意义。在新时代处境下研讨用中国人视角读经、释经、解经更具有重要的现实意义。
中国基督教协会副会长兼总干事单渭祥牧师、中国社会科学院世界宗教研究所研究员唐晓峰、福建神学院院长岳清华牧师等来自北京、上海、福建、浙江、江苏、广东等地的10多位专家学者及牧者先后作专题发言。
单渭祥牧师在主旨发言中透过分析基督教早期神学思想的影响、读经方式与神学思想构建之间的相互作用以及新时代处境下读经、解经方式等多个维度阐述以中国人视觉读《圣经》的重要性。单牧师指出，“读经视觉中国化”是基督教中国化的重要基础。
基督教入华初期，神学思想难免受到西方思想和文化的影响，难以真正实现“中国化”。要实现基督教中国化必须以中国人的思维、结合中华传统文化、儒家经典、东方人文思想进行释经、解经，从而构建具有中国特色的神学思想。
唐晓峰研究员主要从历史学和外在考证学所得出的结论出发，在基督教产生、发展的历史背景中谈论《圣经》的形成、传布的历史，并反思《圣经》成书及其传播所带来的启示。
中国教会圣经日系列活动之“用中国人视角读《圣经》”专题研讨会在广州顺利举办
A symposium on “Reading the Bible from the Perspective of Chinese People” was held in Guangzhou On December 14, as one of a series of activities of the Chinese Church Bible Day.
In the early 1990s, the second Sunday (including Saturday) in December was designated as Bible Day in the Chinese Church.
According to Guangzhou CC&TSPM, the symposium was conducted by using both live and video presentations. More than ten representatives from academic and church circles had in-depth exchanges on the theme of “Reading the Bible from the Perspective of Chinese people”.
On behalf of experts, Tang Xiaofeng, researcher of the Institute of World Religions and director of the Christian Research Office of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony. Tang stated that as the basis of Christian belief, the Bible was of great theoretical significance to religious teaching and interdisciplinary research, and of great academic significance to the study of the communication history of Christianity. So it was of great practical significance to study how to read, explain, and interpret the Scriptures from the perspective of Chinese people in the new era.
Rev. Shan Weixiang, vice president and director-general of the China Christian Council, Prof. Tang Xiaofeng, researcher of the Institute of World Religions under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Rev. Yue Qinghua, president of Fujian Theological Seminary and other experts and scholars from Beijing, Shanghai, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Guangdong, and other places made key speeches.
In his keynote speech, Rev. Shan expounded on the importance of reading the Bible from a Chinese perspective by analyzing the influence of early Christian theological thought. He shared on the interaction between the way of reading the Bible and the construction of theological thought, and the way of reading and interpreting the Bible in the new era. Pastor Shan pointed out that “a perspective based on the Sinicization of the Scriptures” is an important basis for the Sinicization of Christianity.
In the early period of Christianity’s entry into China, theological thought was inevitably influenced by western thought and culture, so it was difficult to realize “Sinicization”. In order to realize the Sinicization of Christianity, we must explain and interpret the Scriptures with Chinese thinking, traditional Chinese culture, Confucian classics, and Oriental Humanistic Thoughts, so as to construct the theological thought with Chinese characteristics.
Based on the conclusions of history and external textual research, Tang discussed the history of the formation and dissemination of the Bible in the emergence and development of Christianity, reflecting on the revelation brought by the holy book and its dissemination.
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
Bible Day: Symposium on “Reading the Bible from a Chinese Perspective” Held in Guangzhou
