Comments on: Christian Confucianism

By: Ben Toh

Ben Toh — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 00:48:32 +0000

Love the Packer quote!! It’s like JI speaking exactly what and how I have felt regarding grace over the last few years.

By: briank

briank — Thu, 03 May 2012 00:20:48 +0000

John, thanks for this example. A Jesuit priest using Confucian teaching to introduce the gospel to Koreans (who understand Confucian teaching) would be an acceptable contextualization of the Christian gospel (if I am understanding contextualization correctly). This is similar to what Apostle Paul did with the Gentiles, at times quoting writings that would have been readily understood in those times.

I am talking of almost the opposite situation: a Korean missionary adding Christian teaching to his/her Confucian thought in order to introduce the gospel to Americans, Germans, and other Western cultures who do not understand Confucius. My experience has shown me that such “evangelization” is counterproductive and in its worst case, destructive. Eventually, the Christian painting on the Confucian bowl wears off.

Although much of my blogging will be misunderstood as an attack on UBF or my former shepherd, almost every post is an attempt to purge Confucian thought and legalistic thought from my mind, unbinding my conscience so that I can more clearly embrace the grace of God found in Jesus through the Spirit.

By: John Y

John Y — Wed, 02 May 2012 22:53:34 +0000

This post was an unusually encouraging and insightful post. Honestly, more edifying than previous posts because it highlights the work of God’s grace vs. the dirty laundry of a particular church group. But just my opinion. Thanks for this.

In case you were wondering, one person mentioned about a book written by a Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci (The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven) which is the first known introduction of the Gospel into Korea sometime in the 17th century. Matteo Ricci tries to use Confucian principles to introduce Koreans to the Gospel. I’m reading it now – sort of a stretch at some places (seems to suggest that Christianity is the ultimate fulfillment of confucianism) but hey, you gotta give the Jesuit priest the respect he deserves. He spent years trying to master the language, and then wrote something worthy of respect by the top Confucian scholars of his day.

I can barely articulate my thoughts on an online post. :)