Ruan, Yecheng
(2020)
Inculturation or Syncretism of the Gospel in China.
Master thesis, M Religion & Pluralism.
Abstract
During the transmission of Christianity to China that proceeded since the Seventh
Century, Christianity has encountered Confucianism – the mainstream religion in
China. This encounter led to the embedment of Christianity in Chinese Confucianism.
The theological question this thesis addresses is whether this embedment amounts to
inculturation or syncretism. Between the sixteenth and the eighteenth centuries, the
Jesuit missionaries, including Matteo Ricci, dedicated themselves to the embedment
of Christianity in Chinese Confucianism. In his mission-driven theology, Ricci
related the personal God of Christianity to the Classical Confucian idea of “the
Sovereign on High”, but neglected important elements which we consider essential
for Christianity, namely the incarnation, cross, and resurrection of Christ, and the
doctrine of original sin. Some of Ricci’s Jesuit followers tried to introduce those ideas
in the Christian-Confucian fusion that emerged after Ricci in China. But their efforts
did not change Chinese Christian theology of the time in a crucial way. The fusion of
Christianity and Confucianism that became typical for Chinese Christian theology
and remained very influential in the twentieth century is heavily influenced by certain
Confucian ideas, such as the goodness of human nature and spiritual potency of moral
acts, while neglecting the incarnation, cross, and resurrection of Christ, and original
sin. From the theological perspective adopted in this thesis, which considers central
teachings of Confucianism to be incompatible with the essence of Christianity, this
fusion is deemed to be an example of syncretism – a fusion of Christianity and
Confucianism, while losing the Christian essence.
| Type: |
Thesis
(Master)
|
| Supervisors (RUG): |
| Supervisor | E-mail | Tutor organization | Tutor email |
|---|
| Andrejc, G. | | Faculteit GGW, Cultuurgeschiedenis van het Christendom | G.Andrejc@rug.nl | | Werkman, L.A. | | PthU, Protestantse Theologische Universiteit Groningen | L.A.Werkman@rug.nl |
|
| Degree programme: |
M Religion & Pluralism |
| Academic year: |
2019-2020 |
| Date of delivery: |
08 Apr 2021 14:07 |
| Last modified: |
08 Apr 2021 14:07 |
| URI: |
https://ggw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/586 |
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