On June 16, Jiang Yuanlai, the author of the book Culture and Christ: From Swallowing to Saving Men visited South China to hold the book launch conference with readers both in-person and online. The theme of the event was “Have We Forgotten the Silver Coins Left by the Lord?”
This book, published in earlier this year, is a magnum opus by Christian playwright Jiang Yuanlai. It is a collection of Jiang’s most popular courses that he has taught in various places for more than two decades—the "Culture and Christ" series.
Jiang Yuanlai, a native of Shanghai, went to the remote villages of Heilongjiang to "settle in the countryside" for more than three years. He became a Christian in the 1980s and entered the field of Christian culture in the early 1990s. Jiang began his drama writing at the end of the 1990s and was recognized as one of the most important folk playwrights on the Chinese mainland by critics. Consisting of eight chapters, the book talks about the relationship between culture and Christ.
Jiang began his sharing with a crucial scene from the film “Mission,” which is based on a true story in the history of Catholic missionary work. The film tells the story of how white Catholic missionaries from Europe spread the gospel to the indigenous people of South America. Due to the aggression of the whites towards the indigenous people, they viewed all whites as demons. When the first white missionary arrives in South America to preach the gospel, he was crucified and thrown into a river by the indigenous people. The second missionary knew that the indigenous people love music, so he brought an oboe, a Western musical instrument, to them and was eventually accepted. Within a few days, the entire indigenous tribe was converted to Christianity.
Using this film clip, Jiang reminded us that the difference between the second missionary and the first missionary was that “he had an oboe.” He believes that, while it is good to preach the gospel directly, it is often not feasible in reality. Many people in China have a deep psychological barrier against the gospel because modern history has made them wrongly believe that it is linked to imperialism and military aggression.
“The two-thousand-year history of Christianity is also the history of Christian culture and art.” Jiang believes that Christianity has accumulated a rich treasure trove of culture and art over the past two thousand years and that using culture as a means of evangelism is a great method, including works of music, drama, fine arts, and more. In the history of Christianity, evangelism has also been done through medicine, and now tourism culture is also a good approach.
He emphasized that, besides the Bible, both the church and individuals should have their own “oboes.”
Jiang pointed out that in the two-thousand-year history of Christianity, the church has undergone several major splits, such as between the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church and between the Catholic Church and Protestantism. However, Christian culture and art have not been divided. He gave examples of Eastern Orthodox novelists like Tolstoy and Dostoevsky whose stories reveal Protestant themes of justification by faith, while Stephen Tong, a representative figure of Chinese Reformed theology, spoke enthusiastically about the music of the Catholic Beethoven.
Jiang reiterated that it would be a great disservice to God if we forgot these cultural treasures, like silver coins.
He recalled that when God called him to cultural work decades ago, he was criticized by the church because it was believed that culture belonged to the world and was considered heretical. In addition to prayer, he conducted research on culture and Christianity to convince himself, and these studies helped him see the importance of culture and encouraged him to continue to this day. As the importance of cultural missions has been increasingly recognized, people have invited him to share his insights, and he has also taught courses on culture and Christianity at various seminaries.
During the Q&A session, Jiang encouraged Christians to present historical materials they have uncovered through artistic forms such as novels, dramas, and poetry. They can also conduct field research, approach grassroots believers with courage and humility, live among them, and describe their experiences in the form of essays or literary works.
- Translated by Charlie Li
6月16日，《文化与基督：吃人到救人》一书的作者姜原来来到华南一城市，与读者在实地和线上进行了见面交流会，主题为“我们是否竟然遗忘了主留下的部分银元？”
姜原来以一部取材于天主教宣教历史上真实故事的电影《教会》（Mission）的关键片段作为分享的开头。影片讲述了来自欧洲的天主教白人传教士如何把福音传给南美的印第安人的故事。由于白人对印第安人的侵略，印第安人将所有白人都视为魔鬼。当第一位白人宣教士进入南美洲宣讲十字架的福音信息时，却被印第安人钉在十字架并扔在了河里。第二位传教士知道印第安人喜欢音乐，他带着西洋乐器——双簧管来到印第安人面前，最终被印第安人接受。十几天后，整个印第安人部落全部归主。
借此影片片段，姜原来提醒我们第二位传教士与第一位传教士不同的地方在于“他有双簧管”。他认为如果我们可以直接福传是非常好的，但往往现实情况并不能允许这样做，中国很多人与福音之间有很深的鸿沟，因为近代的历史让不少人他们误以为福音是与帝国主义的军舰和大炮联系在一起的。
“两千年的基督教史，也是两千年的基督教文化艺术史。”姜认为基督教两千年积累了丰富的文化艺术宝库，而用文化进行福传是很好的方法，比如音乐、戏剧、美术等作品，基督教历史上也通过医学福传，现在流行的旅游文化也是一种很好的方法。
他强调说：除了圣经以外，无论是教会还是个人，都要有自己的“双簧管”。
姜原来表示，基督教两千年史中，教会出现了几次大的分裂，比如东正教和天主教、天主教和新教等等，但基督教文化艺术却没有分裂过。他举例说：东正教小说家如托尔斯泰、陀思妥耶夫斯基等写的的故事中会透露出来新教的因信称义信息，华人改革宗的代表人物唐崇荣谈起天主教徒贝多芬的音乐时却眉飞色舞。
姜原来重申说，如果我们将这些像银元一样的文化宝库遗忘掉的话，就太亏欠上帝了。
他回忆说，几十年前当上帝呼召他作文化工作时，他曾受到教会的批评，因为当时教会认为文化是世界的东西，像异端一样。他除了祷告之外，为了说服自己，也进行了文化与基督的研究，这些研究让他看到文化的重要性，也鼓励他一直前行到现在。直到文化使命被越来越重视起来，有些人才邀请他进行分享，而他也在各地神学院进行文化与基督的课程讲解。
在问答环节，姜鼓励基督徒用艺术的方式，比如小说、戏剧、诗歌等形式将所挖掘的历史资料进行呈现，也可以进行实地考察，带着勇敢、谦卑的心走进基层信众，在他们中间生活，并将这些经历以论文或者文学作品的形式描述出来。
《文化与基督：吃人到救人》作者姜原来与读者见面交流会：我们是否遗忘了主留下的部分银元？
On June 16, Jiang Yuanlai, the author of the book Culture and Christ: From Swallowing to Saving Men visited South China to hold the book launch conference with readers both in-person and online. The theme of the event was “Have We Forgotten the Silver Coins Left by the Lord?”
This book, published in earlier this year, is a magnum opus by Christian playwright Jiang Yuanlai. It is a collection of Jiang’s most popular courses that he has taught in various places for more than two decades—the "Culture and Christ" series.
Jiang Yuanlai, a native of Shanghai, went to the remote villages of Heilongjiang to "settle in the countryside" for more than three years. He became a Christian in the 1980s and entered the field of Christian culture in the early 1990s. Jiang began his drama writing at the end of the 1990s and was recognized as one of the most important folk playwrights on the Chinese mainland by critics. Consisting of eight chapters, the book talks about the relationship between culture and Christ.
Jiang began his sharing with a crucial scene from the film “Mission,” which is based on a true story in the history of Catholic missionary work. The film tells the story of how white Catholic missionaries from Europe spread the gospel to the indigenous people of South America. Due to the aggression of the whites towards the indigenous people, they viewed all whites as demons. When the first white missionary arrives in South America to preach the gospel, he was crucified and thrown into a river by the indigenous people. The second missionary knew that the indigenous people love music, so he brought an oboe, a Western musical instrument, to them and was eventually accepted. Within a few days, the entire indigenous tribe was converted to Christianity.
Using this film clip, Jiang reminded us that the difference between the second missionary and the first missionary was that “he had an oboe.” He believes that, while it is good to preach the gospel directly, it is often not feasible in reality. Many people in China have a deep psychological barrier against the gospel because modern history has made them wrongly believe that it is linked to imperialism and military aggression.
“The two-thousand-year history of Christianity is also the history of Christian culture and art.” Jiang believes that Christianity has accumulated a rich treasure trove of culture and art over the past two thousand years and that using culture as a means of evangelism is a great method, including works of music, drama, fine arts, and more. In the history of Christianity, evangelism has also been done through medicine, and now tourism culture is also a good approach.
He emphasized that, besides the Bible, both the church and individuals should have their own “oboes.”
Jiang pointed out that in the two-thousand-year history of Christianity, the church has undergone several major splits, such as between the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church and between the Catholic Church and Protestantism. However, Christian culture and art have not been divided. He gave examples of Eastern Orthodox novelists like Tolstoy and Dostoevsky whose stories reveal Protestant themes of justification by faith, while Stephen Tong, a representative figure of Chinese Reformed theology, spoke enthusiastically about the music of the Catholic Beethoven.
Jiang reiterated that it would be a great disservice to God if we forgot these cultural treasures, like silver coins.
He recalled that when God called him to cultural work decades ago, he was criticized by the church because it was believed that culture belonged to the world and was considered heretical. In addition to prayer, he conducted research on culture and Christianity to convince himself, and these studies helped him see the importance of culture and encouraged him to continue to this day. As the importance of cultural missions has been increasingly recognized, people have invited him to share his insights, and he has also taught courses on culture and Christianity at various seminaries.
During the Q&A session, Jiang encouraged Christians to present historical materials they have uncovered through artistic forms such as novels, dramas, and poetry. They can also conduct field research, approach grassroots believers with courage and humility, live among them, and describe their experiences in the form of essays or literary works.
- Translated by Charlie Li
Christian Playwright Jiang Yuanlai Urges Christians to Value Culture
