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Inculturation or Syncretism of the Gospel in China

Ruan, Yecheng (2020) Inculturation or Syncretism of the Gospel in China. Master thesis, M Religion & Pluralism.

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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):
SupervisorE-mailTutor organizationTutor email
Andrejc, G.Faculteit GGW, Cultuurgeschiedenis van het ChristendomG.Andrejc@rug.nl
Werkman, L.A.PthU, Protestantse Theologische Universiteit GroningenL.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://rcs.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/586
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