Cultural Foundations of Learning: East and West by Jin Li.
Reviewed by Lisa Nagle
There are deep cultural differences between Eastern and Western societies regarding learning and development. The notion of whether creativity is learned or not is just one of these. This book explores some of the differing approaches to learning found in these cultures and concludes with a look at them in the twenty-first century.
An annotated bibliography for further reading on this topic.
Chinese society today has turned fairly religious with Protestant Christianity and Confucianism experiencing the most growth in recent decades. As these two traditions interact more and more, the tension and rivalry between them intensifies. Dr. Yao looks at the roles that each plays in today's China along with the place of the so-called New Confucian Movement. As the current Confucian revival represents an attempt to regain Confucian dominance in Chinese society, what is the response of Christianity?
Professor Fenggang Yang provides insightful answers to questions about Confucianism. His comments address topics such as the groups of people among whom Confucianism is growing, the influence of New Confucianists from overseas on Chinese society and thought, and concrete signs that Confucianism is growing in China.
Chang provides a Christian understanding of the nature of Confucianism, its classics and the basic teachings of Confucius. This is followed by a critique of Confucianism from a biblical standpoint using classical theological categories (God, creation, man, sin and salvation and eschatology) to frame his comments. He also discusses a key component of traditional Confucianism, ancestor worship.
First, the author takes his readers on a walk through a Chinese megacity to help us "see" how Confucianism is influencing modern Chinese society; then he goes on to discuss some of its influences in key areas of Chinese culture. Is Confucianism today the same as it was historically? What is its relationship with politics? What does it have to do with the Chinese identity? The article discusses these and other relevant questions.
Confucius, the Buddha, and Christ by Ralph R. Covell
and
Confronting Confucian Understandings of the Christian Doctrine of Salvation: A Systematic Theological Analysis of the Basic Problems in the Confucian-Christian Dialogue by Paulos Huang
Reviewed by G. Wright Doyle
Covell traces the history of the gospel in China from the Nestorians up to about 1980 and ways in which foreign missionaries, and then Chinese Christians, tried to express the gospel in terms which were, or were not, readily accessible to the people they hoped to reach. Huang's aim is to explain how different types of Confucianists have understood, and responded to the Christian doctrine of salvation.
The guest editor's point of view.
A Chinese Christian highlights the the popularity of Confucianism as a warning against the 'popularization' of the gospel.
Daniel A. Bell, China's New Confucianism: Politics and Everyday Life in a Changing Society. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-691-13690-5; hardcover; 340 pages, including two appendices, notes, and bibliography.
Reviewed by G. Wright Doyle
Is the rapid growth of the internet and information sharing technology a threat to the Chinese government?