New book: Faith Seeking Understanding - The Culmination of the CREDO500 saga

In 2009, Jonah Tang, at that time a pastor in Sibu, Malaysia, roped me in to help out with his ambitious plan to conduct the CREDO500 conference, an online conference where essays were submitted by various pastors and theologians from Chinese churches or related to the Chinese churches in the diaspora around the world. I did not realize at that time how big the conference would be and the amount of work required to make it work, having no prior experience in managing such an event. Thankfully, the essays were submitted and edited more or less on schedule, and the conference was largely successful. Subsequently, the essays were left online, and we went our separate ways.

It was always our desire to have these essays in print one day, and the original was to have two versions, an English version and a Chinese version. Unfortuantely, the reality is that, once the conference is over, nobody wants to be working on the hard and laborious work of translation and editing, with no compensation for the enormous task at hand. I myself have my own life to live, and so the process dragged on for years and years.

One of my virutues, you can say, is tenacity. I do not like to leave an unfinished project unfinished. It took time, but finally, 11 years later, all of the translation (from Chinese to English - the conference was bilingual so some of the essays were presented only in Chinese) is done, and so is the editing, reference checking, and formatting. From there, the process of publication was even more work, but finally the work is complete.

The work has been split into 2 volumes due to the sheer amount of material. Since there are no plans at the moment for a separate Chinese translation of the English essays and a separate Chinese publication, I have decided to add the original Chinese in the book as well.

Daniel H. Chew and Jonah Tang, eds., Faith Seeking Understanding - Volume 1: The Legacy of the Reformed Tradition - Proceedings from the 2009 CREDO500 conference (San Jacinta, CA: Daniel H Chew, 2020) - HERE

Daniel H. Chew and Jonah Tang, eds., Faith Seeking Understanding - Volume 2: The Reformation and John Calvin - Proceedings from the 2009 CREDO500 conference (San Jacinta, CA: Daniel H Chew, 2020) - HERE

Since this is a conference work, I have no desire to profit off it so I have priced it cheaply. On the other hand, something that is free is trivialized, so this Kindle book is not free.

Please do get a copy of the two volumes, for there are some very good essays within it. There is a breadth of views on some interesting topics within a broadly Reformed camp, so please do get your copies now.

Wang Yi: My Declaration of Faithful Disobedience

Pastor Wang Yi (王怡) of Early Rain Covenant Church (秋雨圣约教会), along with more than 100 of the leaders of the church, has since December 9th 2018 been apprehended by the Chinese authorities and charged with various crimes including the crime of sedition. In knowledge that he could be arrested at any time, Pastor Wang Yi had prepared a letter stating his stance on the truth of Christianity and against the unlawful (against God's law) persecution of the Chinese church by the Chinese authorities. The letter can be read here in English.

Here is the excerpt which I had read to conclude the sermon I had preached today:

... I believe that this Communist regime’s persecution against the church is a greatly wicked, unlawful action. As a pastor of a Christian church, I must denounce this wickedness openly and severely. The calling that I have received requires me to use non-violent methods to disobey those human laws that disobey the Bible and God. My Savior Christ also requires me to joyfully bear all costs for disobeying wicked laws.

But this does not mean that my personal disobedience and the disobedience of the church is in any sense “fighting for rights” or political activism in the form of civil disobedience, because I do not have the intention of changing any institutions or laws of China. As a pastor, the only thing I care about is the disruption of man’s sinful nature by this faithful disobedience and the testimony it bears for the cross of Christ.

As a pastor, my disobedience is one part of the gospel commission. Christ’s great commission requires of us great disobedience. The goal of disobedience is not to change the world but to testify about another world.

For the mission of the church is only to be the church and not to become a part of any secular institution. From a negative perspective, the church must separate itself from the world and keep itself from being institutionalized by the world. From a positive perspective, all acts of the church are attempts to prove to the world the real existence of another world. The Bible teaches us that, in all matters relating to the gospel and human conscience, we must obey God and not men. For this reason, spiritual disobedience and bodily suffering are both ways we testify to another eternal world and to another glorious King.

This is why I am not interested in changing any political or legal institutions in China. I’m not even interested in the question of when the Communist regime’s policies persecuting the church will change. Regardless of which regime I live under now or in the future, as long as the secular government continues to persecute the church, violating human consciences that belong to God alone, I will continue my faithful disobedience. For the entire commission God has given me is to let more Chinese people know through my actions that the hope of humanity and society is only in the redemption of Christ, in the supernatural, gracious sovereignty of God.

Here is the original in Chinese

Here it is in Japanese, and here in Italian

Christianity, Culture and the deconversion of missionaries in China

But the courses of their [missionaries'] missions changed as they were changed. They began to cast doubts on their Christian missions as they developed appreciative understanding of Chinese religions and of the culture they has set out to displace. Traditional missionary mentality had relied on a hemispheric division of the world into light and darkness, the Kingdom of God and the territory of Satan, civilization and barbarism. Yet for these individuals, the growing belief in the worth and self-sufficient of China's own cultural tradition threatened those distinctions that were required for their dedication. [Lian Xi, The Conversion of Missionaries: Liberalism in American Protestant Missions in China, 1907-1932 (University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997), 11]

The early 20th century was a catastrophe for the Protestant cause, where Liberalism eviscerated the churches and great apostasy abounded. Liberalism had even infected the mission field, and this book by LIAN Xi is an interesting look at the collapse of the missionary enterprise in China from an American missionary perspective.

The missionary enterprise in China combined Western culture and Christianity. While missionaries do not necessarily equate the two early on (which they did later when the Social Gospel infected the missionary enterprise), there was an uncritical acceptance of the superiority of Western culture in the more learned missionaries, which probably stems from the Enlightenment. The notion of progress, linked with scientific advancement, infected much of Western society. While not necessarily coming with a domination complex, the overarching worldview in Western society was one of the supremacy of the Western world with its scientific advances which was linked to the superiority of the Christian faith.

This marriage of Christ and Culture became the curse of the missionary enterprise, because it confused special and common grace. It assumes that a renewed mind and a Christian worldview would necessarily result in a superior culture, which God has nowhere indicated in His Word. It is of course true that a renewed mind and society and a Christian worldview would have some benefits in this life, but nowhere are we promised that such benefits would grant an advantage over all other cultures. Thus confused, missionaries to China are disoriented by the advanced Chinese culture, as they ought to be if they thought they were superior. I am an ethnic Chinese, and I am proud to be part of a culture that has lasted for millennia. The cultural accomplishments of the Chinese people stand as magnificent monuments to the power of the human intellect under the common grace of God, and thus the Enlightenment mentality of the missionaries should be seen as misguided and an insult.

The message that the missionaries ought to have come with (which some do) is the Gospel, which is to say the saving work of Christ for sinners. It is not the "social gospel" or anything of that sort that is of any help. The problem for China, and the problem anywhere for that matter, is not that they are "uncivilized," but that the most magnificent artifices of human intellect and will is totally unable to expiate the sins of men. History is filled with the monuments of what humans can accomplish, and all of that apart from God's saving grace. No matter the greatness of Chinese culture, all of that is dung and worthless before the eyes of a holy God. It is God who gives greatness to cultures and nations, and it is His pleasure to remove and humiliate as He wishes to do so. Babylon in its heyday was the greatest empire in the world, yet God brought her down when He saw fit.

The deconversion of confused missionaries is understandable, for they have lost their way prior to their actual apostasy. The sad thing is that the rest of us have to deal with the consequences of their errors in the mission field, and with the hardened hearts and the syncretism in the many false churches there.

Some interesting 20th century movements in Chinese Christianity

Here are some interesting movements and their descriptions as taken from the book A New History of Christianity in China [Daniel H. Bays, A New History of Christianity in China (Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012)], pages 129-134:

True Jesus Church (真耶稣教会)

• Founded by Wei Enbo (1876-1919)
• Saturday sabbatarian
• Full-blown Pentecostal — tongues, miracles, healing etc.
• “Jesus only” Unitarianism
• Shuns doctrine of the Trinity and teaches unitary and undivided God (数一无二)
• Radical egalitarianism; only elders and deacons no pastors
• Church workers are not to receive a salary
• All must be given the chance to speak and pray

The Jesus Family (耶稣家庭)

• Founded by Jing Dianying (1890-1957)
• Communitarian
• Authoritarian, each commune is governed by a “family head” (家长)
• Full-blown Pentecostal — tongues, miracles, healing etc.

• Idea of a distinct (from conversion) special religious experience of being “born again” (重生) or being “filled with the Holy Spirit” (圣灵充满), with the latter accompanied by dancing

• Most prized and prestigious religious experience is that of “testimony” (见证) which involves first being caught up to heaven in a kind of vision, and there receiving special words to the faithful [directly] from God. Coming back to earth (or out of a trance), the individual then reports to the community, giving voice to what he or she has been vouchsafed by God

• Strong millenarianism, looking for the imminent end times

Little Flock/ Local Church (小群/ 地方教会)

• Founded by Watchman Nee (Ni Tosheng aka Ni Shuzu; 1903-72)

• Living a victorious Christian life is done by distinguishing body, soul and spirit, and by getting the realization that “I am dead with Christ,” enabling the believer to live in victory over the world’s evil

• All of history is moving towards the “Age of the Kingdom”
• Millenarian vision of an imminent “end of time” cataclysm
• Denominationalism as pernicious
• The reward for “overcomers” is to be with God and Christ in the timeless New Jerusalem
• Emphasis on the “local church,” or only one church in every city
• No usage of trained and ordained pastors but simply “co-workers” (同工) for local church leadership

It seems that the most pernicious movement that has affected most of Chinese Christianity is the movement by Watchman Nee with its anti-denominationalism and views against the special offices of the Church (i.e. its ecclesiology).

Chinese Christianity and (anti-) denominationalism

In Chinese Church circles, denominations mean little. Ministers can change denominations easily (and members too) without batting an eyelid. Already back in the missionary enterprise in China, Chinese Christianity was very much against denominationalism, seeing it as an artifact of Western Christianity of which it doesn't want any part.

This strong anti-denominationalism continues on to this day, and I have personally seen and experienced it. The Chinese Churches function almost like a movement, a strongly ethno-centric (Sino-centric) movement. This can be seen in STEMI crusades among others. The focus has always been about reaching ethnic Chinese for the Gospel, and ministering in Chinese circles. Now of course none of them are prohibiting non-Chinese from joining them or against engaging non-Chinese in evangelism, but the emphasis has always been to the Chinese, and to the Chinese churches. If one doubts the veracity of this claim, just find out when was the last time any Chinese Church tried to engage in ecumenical talks with a "white church" (in Western countries) or a native church in whatever country they are in (i.e. Russians in Russia, Ethiopians in Ethiopia).

This strong anti-denominationalism is itself a legacy of the missionary enterprise, which has little if any vision for the Church. It is almost a classic case of the dictum, "what you win them with is what you win them to." The missionaries generally minimized doctrinal differences, albeit for good motives. So a Chinese Presbyterian is brought up not knowing why he should be Presbyterian and not, for example, a Baptist, and vice versa. Sure, he might know the history behind Presbyterianism, but such is manifestly not sufficient.

The problem with the anti-denominationalism in Chinese Christianity is that it creates churches where certain biblical truths are minimized. For example, most Chinese Presbyterians do not have a biblical doctrine of infant baptism. They are Presbyterians of tradition, not Presbyterians of conviction. The list of doctrines for each denominations can go on and on. Now of course, such may not be a bad thing. The question however is this: Are the distinctive doctrines held by various denominations worth fighting and splitting over? And if it is not considered worth fighting over, which doctrine or practice becomes the default? The issue with Chinese Christian anti-denominationalism is that such questions are totally circumvented and ignored. It is one thing to come to the conclusion that certain doctrinal issues may be unimportant or that one view is the obvious correct view; it is another thing to ignore the question altogether and assume that there is a "biblical default" which all Chinese Christians will fall back to: i.e. Credobaptist, Congregationalist, Egalitarian, Charismatic.

When one sees the history of Chinese Christianity, one sees the problems of such naive biblicism. The Taiping rebellion was just the extreme acting out of the type of "charismatic biblicism" where people claim direct divine sanction for their "theology." Chinese Christianity continues to be plagued by people claiming direct revelation from God even when they are not officially Charismatic and Pentecostal, continually violating the Third Commandment by claiming "God's vision" and God's direction for the Church they are a pastor or an elder of.

Chinese Christianity, missionary methods and local leadership

In Roland Allen's book Missionary Methods: St Paul's or Ours, the idea of promoting local leadership is strongly advocated. The book was one of the readings for the Ministry of Witness course in WSCAL. At the time of reading, I was puzzled over the strong advocacy of local leadership, noting that the case studies he gave seemed to me to be turning over leadership of the local church to immature and untrained leaders, which I am strongly against.

Recently, I have just read a book on the history of Christianity in China, for my current research and writing project. As an ethnic Chinese, there are certain "inconvenient truths" that are not exactly nice to read, notably the retaining of leadership positions of foreigners in the Church in China for decades, and the discrimination against Chinese Christians for leadership positions. That is certainly sinful behavior by Caucasian Christians. Yet on the other hand, it is certainly true that the level of Christian maturity of Chinese Christians weren't that high either. Knowing that Roland Allen was a missionary in China, his advocacy of local leadership now makes sense, even though I still don't agree with everything he has to say.

The problems with Christian missions to China is twofold. One, the level of teaching and instruction in the churches, even if they were high, did not impact the Chinese Christians. Since the Word is powerful, it is extremely likely that the level of teaching and instruction was actually low. We know that this main evangelical missionary impulse came about after the advent of pietism, revivalism, and broad evangelicalism. It also came about during the time of Darwin and the Enlightenment. I wouldn't be too surprised if the doctrines of creation and providence weren't well taught and applied for the purpose of evangelism during those times, nevermind discipleship.

Two, there doesn't seem to be any ecclesiological vision in all these missionary endeavors. This problem is prevalent even today wherever Evangelical missions are present. The whole idea of these missions seem to be just about "winning souls." All other matters, it seems, are not priorities. But then what do we do with all these new converts? Even for discipleship, is discipleship merely sharing some basic Christian truths, then teach them how to do evangelism and then send them out just like that? If the flock is not properly equipped with the whole counsel of God, is it not surprising that few Chinese Christians are capable for leadership in the Church?

Roland Allen's error is to make the idea of local leadership paramount. Given the choice between inept local leadership and capable foreign leadership, I hope most will opt for the latter all the time. Yes, local leadership IS important, but never at the expense of the welfare of the Church! The issue is not to try to hand over leadership to the locals as soon as a church is organized, or even worse, to adopt congregationalism by default (as described in one of Allen's case studies). The only thing worse than no leadership is bad leadership. The failings of the missionary enterprise in China is the failing to teach and instruct people deeply not just in the "Gospel" so they can evangelize, but in the whole counsel of God so that local leadership can rise up who ACTUALLY are capable to lead the flock. If the foreign missionaries in China, even after 60-70 years there, can't raise up capable Chinese Christian leadership, guess who's to blame?

Roland Allen's book, while perhaps seen as a corrective to "western imperialism," does not truly solve the problem. Even now, foreign missions in the OPC seem to be about aiding already existent local churches, if any are present. But surely how does this play out in places like modern-day China? Are we to help the apostate Three-Self churches (TPSM)? Does the "white man's burden" mean that in the foreign mission field, we cannot take a stand against liberal churches and denominations? I'm sorry, but I as an ethnic Chinese do not think uncritical affirmation is better than past blatant discrimination. It is absolutely ridiculous that every single stupidity (and heresy too) in the non-Western part of the globe is automatically celebrated as "diversity" in the Kingdom of God. All those stupid "Third-world theologies" for example are just as bereft of capital as Third-world economies. It does no one, neither Western nor non-Western Christians, any favors to celebrate stupidity just because it comes from the non-Western world. Wrong is wrong is wrong, regardless of skin color, language or ethnicity!

So yes, local leadership is important, but it should be done on the basis of meritocracy. Train up capable local leaders, and then pass the leadership of the new churches over to them. But do not just pass local leadership over to congregations which are immature in the faith, and then let the sheep wander around in all the mountains and valleys left to the mercy of wolves, all in the name of a fear of "imperialism."

Some Chinese Christian terms

Here are some Chinese theological jargon:

• Definition of Chalcedon: 迦克墩信经
• Nicea/Nicene: 尼西亚
• Docetism: 幻影说教
• sacrament: 圣礼
• reprobation: 遗弃（旨意）/（预旨）
• decree: 旨意 /预旨
• atone: 赎罪
• propitiate: 和解
• hypostatic union: 本质联盟
• nature: 性质
• catholic (adj.): 大公
• will (n): 意志
• [Christ's] humiliation: 降卑
• exaltation: 升高
• intercede: 代求/祷
• depravity: 腐败
• effectual calling: 有效的恩召
• assurance: 确信
• prologue: 序言
• commandment: 诫命

The Gospel in Chinese

Isaiah has posted an interesting video which gives an overview of the entire Bible in Chinese. Very interesting.

Song: 宣教的中国

My friend Isaiah has embedded an interesting song (宣教的中国) in a recent post of his. The first time I heard the song was last June 2007 while I was involved in the Southern Cross Project — Singapore under Campus Crusade for Christ GEN12ii mission project. The staff in charge, who had been involved in mission work in China before, introduced this song to us. From what has been shared, this song is written by a Taiwanese and was sung in a CCC staff retreat in Thailand before. Anyway, without further to do, here is the video:

And here are the lyrics:

宣教的中国

有一种爱像那夏虫永长鸣
春蚕吐丝吐不尽
有一个声音催促我要勇敢前行
圣灵在前引导我的心
迈开步伐向耶路撒冷
风霜雪雨意志更坚定
我要传扬， 传扬主的名
誓要得胜在神的国度里

副歌:

我带着使命向前走
要唤醒沉睡的中国
纵然流血的时候
我也永远不回头
我带着异象向前走
要看到宣教的中国
将福音传遍世界每个角落

(Source)

For those who don't understand Chinese, here are what the lyrics mean [And no, this is not a translation of the song, just the lyrics]:

Verse:

There is a love that is like the worm [cricket?] that chirps continuously in the summer
like a silkworm that spins silk without end
There is a voice compelling me to move forward bravely
as the Holy Spirit leads my heart.
Stride foward towards Jerusalem
Whatever difficulties we face will make us even stronger
I want to proclaim, to proclaim the name of our Lord
And I will swear that I will gain the victory for the sake of the Kingdom of God.

Chorus:

I move foward under the commission of our Lord
with a desire to wake up the sleeping nation of China
Even to the point of shedding my blood
I will yet not turn back from my mission
I go forth with the vision from God
with a desire to see an evangelizing China
which will bring the Gospel to every corner of the earth.

Amen.

Reflection on Morrison talk last Saturday

I went for a talk held last Saturday 10^th August 2007 which commemorates the 200^th anniversary of the arrival of Robert Morrison in China. It was interesting, and held totally in Chinese, which was fun since my Chinese is a bit rusty and seriously needs polishing. Anyway, here are my reflections on the event.

马礼逊入华200周年庆祝活动

讲题：华人圣经与华人的渊源与发展

讲座一: 圣经翻译与宣教 — 上帝的话语传扬神州大地
讲员：柯伟生先生

讲座二: 走过200年 — 华人圣经翻译的历史回忆与前瞻
讲员：黄锡木博士

---

**The 200^th aniversary celebration of Morrison's entry into China

Topic: The Beginning and Development of the Chinese Bible and Chinese Christianity

Lecture 1: Chinese Bible Translation and Evangelism — The Word of God across the land of China
Speaker: Mr. Ke Weisheng

Lecture 2: Through 200 years — Remembering the translation history of the Chinese Bible and envisioning its future
Speaker: Prof. Huang Ximu

Last Saturday, I went to St. Andrew's Cathedral around 2:30pm to listen to an exciting talk which was conducted to comemmorate Robert Morrison's entry into China. Robert Morrison (马礼逊) was the first Protestant missionary into China during the time of the Qing Dynasty, and the first Protestant Chinese Bible was produced by him.

The talk was split into 2 parts with a break in between. The first part was taken by Mr. Ke Weisheng (柯伟生先生) and Prof. Huang (黄锡木博士) took the second part. Mr. Ke concentrated mainly on the production of Bibles and the growth of churches in China through evangelism and the distribution of Gospel literature, while Prof. Huang focused on the history of translation of the Bible into Chinese and the direction upon which we can move forward on this issue.

The first talk went smoothly enough. Mr. Ke talked very briefly about the various Chinese translations, leaving the topic to Prof. Huang. However, he covered the practical results of the reach of the Bible in China, and the resultant conversion of many Chinese. As he was involved in Bible distribution work in China, he shared with us the difficulties of the Chinese Christians in getting a Bible there, and how precious they treat the Word of God. Coming out of the 'Cultural Revolution' in which the Christians were severely persecuted, churches were closed and Bibles burned, the Chinese churches that survived had little or no Bibles left for themselves (A church with one or more Bibles was considered fortunate). Mr. Ke shared how the various Bible Societies helped to solicit and give Bibles to the Chinese who desperately needed the Word of God. In time, they have need to set up a printing factory exclusively dedicated to the printing of Chinese Bibles in China itself, and about 40 million Bibes have been printed in that factory so far. Even then, the number of Christians in China have grown astronomically, and unofficial figures put the number of Christians at much more than the number of Bibles printed so far. It is because of this that the company printing the Bibles is going to move to a larger factory so as to be able to print more Bibes as a faster pace so as to provide the Chinese, both beleivers and unblievers, with the Word of God.

The second talk by Prof. Huang was more academic and centers on the translation history of the Chinese Bible. In his talk, he thus goes back in time to the time of the Nestorians (景教) who brought their beliefs into China during the Tang and Yuan Dynasty. The next wave of Christian influence was through the Jesuits during the Ming Dynasty in the 17^th century AD, with the most prominent person there being the Italian Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci (利玛窦). These waves did not manage to establish Christianity in the land, but the Jesuits at least managed to leave behind some preliminary translation work and a presence in the land. Some time later, a certain Roman Catholic Priest managed to complete a translation of the Bible into Chinese. However, as Roman Catholicism was decaying from within then, he was not allowed to publish this Bible as the Pope had by then passed a decree against all translations of the Bible into the vernacular. This unpublished Bible was therefore entrusted to a museum in Britain, where it remained until Morrison stumbled upon it and made a copy of it himself for reference before he departed for China.

In the course of time, Rev. Robert Morrison departed for China. Together with his friend Rev. William Milne (米怜), he commenced translation of the Bible into Chinese, of course after learning the language first. This translation was finally completed and then printed in Malacca. With this, many other missionaries could start to reach out to the Chinese for Christ, and slowly Chinese were won for Christ (which I am eternally grateful, since I am a Chinese)

Prof. Huang then carried on with the history of Chinese Bible translation up to the production of the Chinese Union Version (和合本) in 1919, which is the most widely used version up till today. It is indeed fascinating, as little known details like the Chinese who helped in the translation process were lifted from obscurity.

Prof. Huang then concluded his talk by talking about the recent events with regards to the Chinese Union Version, as they are producing a revised and updated version (和合本修订版) and have almost if not already completed it. The language of this version is supposed to be updated in order to match the changes in the Chinese language such that the new generations would be able to 'connect' with it. Anyway, each of us who attended the talk were given a cmplimentary copy of the Revised Chinese Union Version New Testament (新约和合本修订版), courtesy of the Bible Society of Singapore.

From this talk, I could see the hand of God working through providence in reaching out to the Chinese. God in His wisdom and love spared China from the reach of the Nestorians and the Jesuits, although the latter did manage to secure a presence in the land, as the time was not yet ripe. Imagine the consequenes if China today would consist mainly of Nestorians (who are unorthodox Christologically) or worse still, Roman Catholic heretics! In His great mercy, God allowed the Protestants enough time to catch up and follow through on His Great Commission in reaching out to the Chinese. As of now, Protestants make up the majority of China's Christians, more than the Catholics who came before us. God used the scholarship of brilliant and learned Jesuits to create some groundwork in the difficult task of translating the Scriptures, in a time when Protestants were not yet up to the task. Robert Morrison's task was thus made easier when the Protestans finally send missionaries to China.

A bit of irony may be noted here. Prof. Huang seems to be rather ecumenical-minded (actually both speakers are), and he was lamenting the fact that it was impossible for work to commence on making a translation of the Bible in Chinese which both Protestants and Roman Catholics could use. This is due to the fact that many terms in the Bible are translated differently by the two groups, and there would be a virtual riot in the churches if anyone would dare to attempt to change the translated word. For example, God in Protestant Bibles is translated as ShangDi (上帝) whereas in Catholic Bibles it is translated as TianZhu (天主). However, I am very much delighted in this fact, as this would make ecumenical efforts in China between Evangelicals and Roman Catholics so much harder, if they can't even agree on the terms to use in addressing God. In this time of growing apostasy, such a linguistic barrier would help to insulate the evangelical & protestant churches of China against the heresies of Rome, as least for some time. Truly, God is at hand protecting the Chinese from what has befallen many countries so far.

After the two talks, there was a Q&A session. Since the main topic was on the translation of the Chinese Bible, I posed a question to the speakers (in English because I do not know how to ask this question in Chinese) regarding the textual basis of the Chinese Union Version and the way forward in Bible translation. Keeping in view the (stupid and ridiculous) on-going KJV-Only controversy, I asked the speakers if the Chinese Union Version was translated based on the Majority or the Critical Text, and which text family would be utilized in the update to the Chinese Union Version. The answer given to my question was that they think that the Chinese Union Version was translated based on the English Revised Version (its better known American counterpart is the New American Bible), which I would come to know later is based on the Critical Text. Later versions like the update would be based on the latest scholarship in textual criticism, and as such would be based on the Critical Text or the Alexandrian text-type. This is a very interesting answer, and poses quite a few questions to KJVOites. I would be truly interested to know what version the Chinese people in a KJVO church should use, since almost all versions of the Chinese Bible are based on the Critical Text and not the Majority Text, nevermind the Textus Receptus or the KJV of 1611.

** Translated by me.