Authors & Affiliations: Li L., College of Foreign Languages, Nankai University, China

Pages: 7 - 44

Abstract: Missionaries played a significant role as conveyors of transcultural exchanges between Europe and China. The Basel Mission one of the major German-speaking mission agency to China which worked among the Hakka people in the Canton Province, was a leading actor in transcultural exchanges. Thus, Basel missionaries in China sent artifacts regularly to their homeland as part of the transcultural exchanges between China and Europe in the 19th Century. Using diverse approaches including museums and traveling exhibitions, missionaries transmitted Chinese culture to the public in German-speaking Europe not only to win support for its mission enterprise but also to expose the people to exotic Chinese culture. How did the mission agency organize Chinese exhibits to transmit Chinese culture? What was the image of Chinese culture that the Basel Mission constructed in German-speaking Europe? This article investigates these questions through material archival sources drawn from the Basel Mission Archives and Chinese artifacts conserved at the Museum of Cultures in Basel. The article concludes by arguing that the Basel missionaries constructed an image of a "heathen civilization"in German-speaking Europe. Yet on the other hand, the exhibitions provided a limited window for the public to open their horizons and shape their Eurocentrism identity. Copyright © Chung Yuan Christian University.

Keywords: Chinese collections; Eurocentrism; German-speaking Europe; heathen civilization; travelling exhibitions of the Basel Mission

Authors & Affiliations: Ou L.-J., Graduate School of Religion, Chung Yuan Christian University, Taiwan

Pages: 45 - 72

Abstract: Dietrich Bonhoeffer was appointed by the Confessing Church to organize a seminary at Finkenwalde during the Kirchenkampf What he taught and published during this period were those concerning Christian spirituality, sermons, and biblical interpretation, rather than his renowned specialized fields, that is, systematic theology and philosophical theology The purpose of this paper is to analyze the contents of and to highlight the distinct principles followed in Bonhoeffer's biblical interpretation works less well-known to theological scholarship. This paper points out, the two interpretation principles Bonhoeffer advanced in that particular moment of faith crisis were what he called "Christ in the Old Testament"and "Contemporizing the Texts,"to strengthen the faith of the believers on the one hand and to resist the potential threat from liberal Protestants' historical-critical method, on the other hand. Finally, the paper argues that the biblical and pastoral works that Bonhoeffer devoted to at Finkenwalde were not for the sake of avoiding to stand on the front line of Confessing Church-Nazi conflict, but rather a theologically necessary adjustment according to the actual raison d'être. Copyright © Chung Yuan Christian University.

Keywords: Biblical Interpretation; Christ in the Old Testament; Contemporizing the Texts; Faith Crisis; Finkenwalde

Authors & Affiliations: Wang Y., School of Foreign Languages, South China University of Technology, China

Pages: 73 - 96

Abstract: Although the ethic of responsibility and Christian thought belong to different fields, they are not inconsistent. They are naturally related because of "responsiveness", "future-oriented"and "otherness". Therefore, it is necessary to talk about the ethic of responsibility from the Christian perspective. First, this article analyses the relevance of the ethic of responsibility and Christian thought, and then discusses Bonhoeffer's ethic of responsibility from three perspectives: the foundations of ethic of responsibility, the ways of its realization and the goals of ethic of responsibility, in an attempt to give an in-depth discussion of Bonhoeffer's ethic of responsibility in three aspects, and try to restore the path that Bonhoeffer interpreted on the ethic of responsibility Through the above discussion, this article aims to find rationality and justification for academic circles to discuss the ethic of responsibility in the Christian context, and at the same time to broaden the research horizon for a deeper understanding of the Western ethic of responsibility. Copyright © Chung Yuan Christian University.

Keywords: Bonhoeffer; Christian thought; The ethic of responsibility

Authors & Affiliations: Wang T., Holy Spirit Seminary College of Theology and Philosophy, Hong Kong

Pages: 97 - 131

Abstract: In St. Thomas Aquinas' ethics, fortitude as one of the four cardinal virtues, is usually considered as the Christianization of ancient theory of Aristotle. Consequently, there is a paradigm shift from "the military paradigm"of ancient idea of fortitude to "the martyrdom paradigm"of St. Thomas by which the in-depth meaning of fortitude could be clarified. Within this paradigm shift, contemporary Christian thinker Paul Tillich's insight of courage and the martyred self-sacrifice, along with St. Thomas' standpoints, helps us to re-examine the significance of the virtue of fortitude in contemporary context. Copyright © Chung Yuan Christian University.

Keywords: Aristotle; Fortitudo (Courage); Martyrdom; Paul Tillich; St. Thomas Aquinas

Authors & Affiliations: Tsui K.-Y., Department of History, National Chengchi University, Taiwan

Pages: 133 - 161

Abstract: This study explores the literary representations of a holy woman Syncletica based on the fifth century hagiography Vita Syncleticae in history of Christianity, explicating how the author's writing a holy woman was shaped by the cultural and religious context in late antiquity. In late antiquity, Christian asceticism began to displace red martyrdom as the most prominent feature of a holy person, and thus became the paradigm of "saintliness,"which was indeed reflected in the literary representations of Vita Syncleticae. Syncletica's "manly"representations derived from the patriarchal ideology at the time - the women who could transcend their weak nature would become perfect, or "manly""Becoming male"symbolically expressed the spiritual transformation of a woman. The author endowed Syncletica with this "manly"aspect because he had witnessed God's work within this holy woman: thanks to God's power, Syncletica could make spiritual progress and become excellent in ascetic practice and cultivating virtues. She proved that women could do no less than men. In the eyes of the author, Syncletica was no longer a weak woman as she had transcended her nature and became a saint. In witnessing Syncletica's saintliness, the author was moved to give an account of her life so that other believers may see and emulate her example. His writing a holy woman was also a way for him to participate in God's revelation as well as to manifest God's work. Copyright © Chung Yuan Christian University.

Keywords: Christian asceticism; hagiography; holy women; late antiquity; Syncletica

Authors & Affiliations: Liu F., School of Philosophy and Social Development, South China Normal University, China

Pages: 163 - 186

Abstract: Immortality of soul is the eternal non-temporal survival of every individual in ontological realm, not their eternal existence within time. Such an idea of the soul becomes a prerequisite for the highest good in the sense of individual. Universal history is an idea of the systematic connection of all empirical human actions, but the history has no end if explored only from the point of view of time, while from the point of view of the intelligible world, especially from the perspective of God, it has a beginning and an end. The end of the history means the realization of the highest good in the sense of all mankind, which occurs in all time and requires the participation of each individual. Every individual would be woven into the universal history by the actions throughout his whole life and even by the eternal existence of his soul, and at the same time realizes the highest good in the whole of humanity and the universal history. © 2024 Chung Yuan Christian University. All rights reserved.

Keywords: eternity; highest good; history; Kant; soul