Authors & Affiliations: Menghun G., Taiwan Graduate School of Theology, Taiwan
Pages: 7 - 44
Abstract: This paper argues for a sociopolitical and religious notion of “witnessing” in 1 John, in particular in the discourse of 1:1- 10. Witnessing is not a mere formulaic reporting. In 1 John, if witnessing is to bear witness to the death and life of Jesus, then the deadly hostility against such witnessing is imaginable, since “Jesus Christ the just" was treated unjustly and crucified by the Roman Empire. In an oppressive situation, this cruciform notion of witnessing can be liberating. It can empower us to say and do otherwise in the face of the subjugating force. It can help us be true to our experience. We need not betray and self-censor our own experience, feeling and thought. Consequently, such a witnessing can constitute our subjectivity or agency in our very condition of subjection. It is therefore not surprising that 1:1-10 underscores the critical importance of how we walk and share in light in terms of how we witness. With every witnessing being unique in its own disclosure-and hence is an event in its own right-witnessing echoes other witnessing, forms a homologation of witnessing events, and provides a check and balance to each other, lest the significance of the witnessed event be dominated and misused by anyone. Witnessing as such is always open to the ever-present words and deeds of God and Jesus. It highlights one's continual accountability and responsibility to the witnessed event. In witnessing, one not only relives and reinterprets the event, but also offers opportunity for others to experience the event that one has experienced. These features of witnessing in a perilous context in terms of being open and responsive to the fellowship of God and Jesus are confirmed by a structural semiotic analysis of 1:1-10. © 2024 Chung Yuan Christian University. All rights reserved.
Keywords: A. J. Greimas; Daniel Patte; Kelly Oliver; Structural Semiotics; Witnessing
Authors & Affiliations: Teng H., School of Philosophy, Fudan University, China
Pages: 45 - 67
Abstract: This paper seeks to examine the shift from reason-centered to will/love-centered in Augustine's theory of happiness, in which his definition of happiness has changed from having God to enclosing God. On the one hand, by emphasizing 'will/love', Augustine's theory of happiness differs from the Neoplatonic rationalist theory of happiness; on the other hand, Augustine's theory of happiness is not statically reason-centered, but dynamically will/love-centered. On this basis, the paper argues that the late Augustine's understanding of happiness is not pessimistic but optimistic, in that he maintains that man can attain a certain degree of happiness in this life through the complex of faith-hope-love. Copyright © Chung Yuan Christian University.
Keywords: Augustine; Happiness; Intellect; Neoplatonism; Will
Authors & Affiliations: Ding H., Institute of Philosophy Studies, Ji'nan University, China
Pages: 69 - 100
Abstract: In view of neglect of Pietism by Chinese and English academia and misinterpretation of it by German academia, this study summarizes its four characteristics on the basis of a detailed review of its connotations and history of development: (1) a movement within Lutheranism; (2) strive for sanctification; (3) advocate peaceful church reform rather than church split; and (4) uphold active participation in social services instead of engaging in idle theorizing. In this study, Pietism is defined as an ideological movement that originated from Philip Jacob Spener, was developed by August Hermann Francke and brought to culmination by Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf. The author summed up the thoughts of these three representative thinkers and generalized the domain of discourse of Pietism into four questions: (1) What are Scriptures? (2) What is the church? (3) Who is the subject in the process of redemption? (4) How should we view the real world?. Copyright © Chung Yuan Christian University.
Keywords: church; definition; Pietism; practice; regeneration
Authors & Affiliations: Yan W., Law School, Tongji University, China
Pages: 101 - 142
Abstract: This paper makes a detailed analysis of Aquinas' Summa Theologica I-II, Q.90, and articulates the four basic elements that Aquinas regarded as constituting the essence of law: reason, authority, common good and promulgation. It clarifies some confusions and misunderstandings in current interpretations. At the end of this paper, it is pointed out that authority, common good and promulgation all derive from their relationship with reason, and it is reason that constitutes the fundamental element of law. So, law is a rational command issued by an authority aimed at common good. This is the core meaning of natural law theory. Copyright © Chung Yuan Christian University.
Keywords: Authority; Common Good; Promulgation; Reason
Authors & Affiliations: Lin Z.-X., College of Foreign Languages, Fujian Normal University, China
Pages: 143 - 172
Abstract: People constitute the most important part of a state and have been the top concern of many history books and biographies. Among which, Tso Chuen is one of the classics that incudes enormous amount of plain but profound thoughts on people. These people-oriented ideas are not only the essence of Confucianism, but exit concordance and conflict with Western culture and beliefs. On one hand, in his translation of Tso Chuen, Legge mastered the specific connotation of the people-oriented thought in the book, and made rational combination of the people-oriented idea and Christianity. On the other hand, he also made some creative and personalized translation due to the differences in his Western perspective and cultural backdrop, which can be regarded as a reinterpretation of the Confucian classics to a certain extent. James Legge embodied the development and integration of the people-oriented thoughts in his translation. He left out the translation of commendatory and derogatory meanings in the text, and tried his best to reconcile his missionary and sinologist identities. Thanks to his introducing of Chinese philosophy to the West, Chinese traditional culture has been widely spread and earned its reputation. Copyright © Chung Yuan Christian University.
Keywords: James Legge; people-oriented thought; translation; Tso Chuen
Authors & Affiliations: Yi Y., School of Humanities, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
Pages: 173 - 201
Abstract: Since the 1990s, Dr. Chan Zan-yi, a Hong Kong pastor, has created hundreds of miniature novels. Seeing big things through small ones, this new Christian literary form has both literary value and religious implication. In the context of contemporary Hong Kong culture, this paper takes Chen Zan's cultural identity as the breakthrough point, to explore the overall mode of operation and specific speaking standpoint of his Christian mini-novels, and to examine how his works depict all kinds of living beings on the stage of contemporary Hong Kong society. During the process, how can he integrate Christian theological thoughts and ancient Chinese cultural traditions, and play the role of doctrinal propaganda. According to consider the distance between theory and reality, that is, his creative contribution and the actual impact does not match, this paper attempts to provide some noteworthy cases for the research on Christian literature and art, and the possibility of "public" of Chinese theology. Copyright © Chung Yuan Christian University.
Keywords: Chen Zanyi; Chinese theology; Christian literature; Hong Kong; Miniature Novels
Authors & Affiliations: Ying C., School of Foreign Languages, Renmin University, China
Pages: 203 - 223
Abstract: The Janus spirit of Benjaminian version runs throughout "The Storyteller," in which Benjamin explores the storytelling as the traditional narrative art. In this process, Marxism and Jewish tradition interact and blend with each other so that an ethical view with critical and redemptive dimension is developed. Storytelling as an art highlights the intersubjective communication and openness to interpretation. It integrates experiences at various levels to form, essentially, a critique to reality. Such critique, to a large extent, points to an ethical relationship, i.e., self and other. Unfortunately, this ethical relationship is sabotaged in modern society, requiring the repair and redemption from "the righteous man." Shechinah in Jewish Kabbalistic tradition connects this righteousness or justice and points towards redemption. Critique of modernity in Marxism and redemption revealed in the Jewish Kabbalistic tradition both construct a Janus-faced Benjaminian ethical view at the narrative level. Copyright © Chung Yuan Christian University.
Keywords: Benjamin; ethics; Janus; narration; Storyteller