Ancient Chinese culture knew about Jesus

Reflection

Claims that ancient Chinese characters or cultural symbols encode references to biblical events have circulated for years, often pointing to pictographs said to resemble the story of creation or the garden of Eden. These ideas are intriguing but remain speculative and are treated with considerable caution by scholars of both linguistics and theology, since character formation and cultural symbolism can be interpreted in many directions depending on what one is looking to find. What is better documented is that Christianity has a long and rich history in China, reaching back at least to the Tang dynasty through the Church of the East, and continuing through many periods of both flourishing and suppression to the present day. Whatever one makes of speculative claims about ancient symbols, the broader truth stands: the Christian gospel has never belonged to one culture alone. Paul described God as one who is not far from any of us, actively at work drawing people from every nation towards himself (Acts 17:26-27).

Questions to sit with

• How do you weigh claims that sound intriguing but are hard to verify?
• Does it surprise you to learn how old Christian history is in parts of Asia?
• What role does culture play in shaping how you have come to understand faith?

Topics