The Jesus Sutras – the first Christological synthesis of the Far East The article presents research on historic "Nestorian documents" called the Jesus Sutras, which were created during the first mission of the Church of the East to China... more
The Jesus Sutras – the first Christological synthesis of the Far East The article presents research on historic "Nestorian documents" called the Jesus Sutras, which were created during the first mission of the Church of the East to China in the Seventh century under the leadership of Alopen. These texts are a synthesis of Christology and elements of Christian theology relevant to the mission in China. They describe Christian dogmas using Taoist and Buddhist terminology, philosophy, anthropology, cosmology and symbolism. They testify to the development of the Church in China during the three centuries of the Tang Dynasty. The sutras of Jesus are the answer to the question: what and how did the Church talk about Jesus Christ for the first time with the Far East? Most of the texts discussed were discovered in 1900 and are the subject of theological and sinologistical research, mainly Japanese, Chinese and American. At the same time, these studies are completely unknown in the Polish theological thought. The article presents a full list of these documents, proposes Polish names and provides a brief discussion of them as a contribution to their further research. Among the Sutras of Jesus, the stone Stela of Xi'an deserves special attention, with an engraved doctrinal and historical text that is also important from the point of view of the development of Christian doctrine in China. The conclusions emphasize the importance of studying non-European theology encoded in other systems of culture and philosophy and some possibilities of transmitting Christian doctrine into the symbolism of other religions (Taoism, Buddhism) while simultaneously preserving the essence of Christian doctrine.
Karl Barth has been variously received by evangelicals. At first, they were mostly critical. Recently, Barth has been much more favorably received by major evangelical theologians, while continuing to be sharply criticized by others. This... more
Karl Barth has been variously received by evangelicals. At first, they were mostly critical. Recently, Barth has been much more favorably received by major evangelical theologians, while continuing to be sharply criticized by others. This article first gives some of the reasons for Barth's welcome by some evangelicals, then shows in detail why he is still considered a poor theological guide by most evangelical theologians. Finally, Barth's reception among Chinese is briefly discussed.
Christian theology in general, and Chinese theology in particular, has remained reticent toward the Needham Question originally posed by Joseph Needham in the 1930s. After a brief survey of the Christian response to the theory of... more
Christian theology in general, and Chinese theology in particular, has remained reticent toward the Needham Question originally posed by Joseph Needham in the 1930s. After a brief survey of the Christian response to the theory of evolution introduced into China in 1898, I address the Needham Question from a theological perspective. Then, building on Jürgen Moltmann's trinitarian proposal, which places science and theology on the common life plane of wisdom, I propose a pneumatological-trinitarian Chinese theology of science by integrating the natural wisdom and the revealed wisdom, the Chinese wisdom and the wisdom of other cultures.
Karl Barth has been variously received by evangelicals. At first, they were mostly critical. Recently, Barth has been much more favorably received by major evangelical theologians, while continuing to be sharply criticized by others. This... more
Karl Barth has been variously received by evangelicals. At first, they were mostly critical. Recently, Barth has been much more favorably received by major evangelical theologians, while continuing to be sharply criticized by others. This article first gives some of the reasons for Barth's welcome by some evangelicals, then shows in detail why he is still considered a poor theological guide by most evangelical theologians. Finally, Barth's reception among Chinese is briefly discussed.
Karl Barth has been variously received by evangelicals. At first, they were mostly critical. Recently, Barth has been much more favorably received by major evangelical theologians, while continuing to be sharply criticized by others. This... more
Karl Barth has been variously received by evangelicals. At first, they were mostly critical. Recently, Barth has been much more favorably received by major evangelical theologians, while continuing to be sharply criticized by others. This article first gives some of the reasons for Barth's welcome by some evangelicals, then shows in detail why he is still considered a poor theological guide by most evangelical theologians. Finally, Barth's reception among Chinese is briefly discussed.
As one of the founders of modern Chinese aesthetics, Liang Zongdai is also a representative of Sinicization of Christianity in aesthetics. He established a system of theological aesthetics and was heavily involved in modern Chinese... more
As one of the founders of modern Chinese aesthetics, Liang Zongdai is also a representative of Sinicization of Christianity in aesthetics. He established a system of theological aesthetics and was heavily involved in modern Chinese Christian debates, including science-faith debate, pacifism debate and dispute in image of Jesus. His contributions include integrating Christianity and Chinese aesthetics, especially in the correlation of Symbol and Xing, creating the theory of Nuance (Yinying) and interpreting the in-betweenness of transcendence and immanence which is different from modern neo-Confucianism’s immanent transcendence. His aesthetics and the approach it revealed are significant to the future of Sinicization of Christianity
