| Volume 5, Number 2, April 2008 |
Gospel and Revolution
Reflections on the Introduction of Christianity and Marxism into Modern China
by 张宪 Zhang Xian
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Christian Culture
Necessary Medium for Christianity to Involve in the Public Realm
by 尤西林 You Xilin
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THE FORMATION of the recent contemporary Chinese ideology has had as its prelude the introduction of three major western trends of thought, namely, Christianity, Euro-American Liberalism and Marxism—the latter two being derivatives of Christianity. Compared with modern Euro-American Liberalism, Marxism has a much greater “affinity” for Christianity (Paul Tillich). It is therefore not difficult to understand why, in his work The End of History and the Last Man, which once aroused extensive discussions, Francis Fukuyama, the Japanese American political scientist, criticised both Christianity and Marxism.(1) In fact, these two trends of thought have successively entered China and, in shaping modern Chinese ideology, both have played a common role in coping with the trend of liberalism. Besides between the two exist several comparable common points: for instance, the translation of classical texts, the instauration of organisations,(2) the political objectives, the social ideals, the moral conceptions, the human characteristics, the relationships...
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CHURCH-STATE separation is a basic principle in modern society. Under this principle, how will Christianity blend in the public realm? The answer is through Christian culture.
Both the concept and the actual existence of Christianity and the modern public realm are definite, but what is "Christian culture"? If answered according to the broad definition of culture, Christianity as a religion is a culture per se, then, is the concept "Christian culture" not a superfluous coinage? However, if Christianity is taken as a religious entity centred around church and believers, then there, indeed, exists a "Christian culture" derived from that centre, e.g. the Christian art forms such as Christian music, architecture, etc. Nonetheless, in addition to the genres of material objects such as Bach's arias and murals in the Sistine Chapel, Christian culture also exists in the mental disposition of immaterial subjects, e.g. humility and fraternity. These traits still keep a direct and tangible connection to Christianity. But more cultural mentalities derived from...
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| Issue 5.2 |
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Elections
in Russian Society
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