Worldviews and Christian Education: Appreciating the Cultural Outlook of Asia-Pacific People

Copyright © 2014 by W. Shipton, E. Coetzee & R. Takeuchi.

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CONTENTS

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgement

Introduction

Asian Christianity and the Wilderness Church

When God Speaks Cross-Culturally: The Bible as Mission

Cross-Cultural Evangelism: The Challenge Facing Adventism Today

Creativity, Tact, and Faithfulness: Reaching Out to Everyone

The Great Controversy and Human Suffering

Health Emphasis and Mission

Worldview Highlights

The Adventist Worldview: A Ground to Stand, a Life to Live

Worldviews, Contemporary Cultures, and Adventist Thought

Worldview Dynamics: Fundamentals for Missionaries

Dominant Worldviews in Southeast Asia

Worldview and Perspectives on Health

Buddhist Worldview (Theravada): Thai Perspective

Confucius, the Chinese Prophets, and Their Legacy

Why There Is No Battle between Creation and Evolution

Darwin and the Gospel Commission

Postmodernism: An Emerging Culture

Worldview and Moral Understanding

Contextualization for Different Learners

Adventist Mission in Non-Christian Contexts

The Remnant and Non-Christian Religions

Adventist Use of Non-Christian Scriptures

Reaching Out to Students on a Multi-cultural University Campus

Cross-Cultural Communication

Animist Learners

Animists Encounter the Gospel

Buddhist Learners

Using Jesus’ Model of Compassion

Effective Communication with Buddhists

Confucian and Dao Learners

Ancestor Worship and Christianization of Filial Piety

Ministering Dao to Taoists

Hindu Learners

Staying Within Boundaries: Contextualization

Marxist Learners

Christian Witness to Marxists

Muslim Learners

Communicating Adventist Beliefs to Muslims

Conveying Adventist Values to Muslim Students

Basic Concepts Regarding Integration of Faith and Learning

Thinking Christianly about Adventist Education

The Teacher as Agent in Integrating Faith and Learning

Introducing Bible-based Christian Philosophy

Integration of Faith and Values in Graduate and Professional Education

Using the Bible as a Source for Educational Methodology and Curriculum Planning

Science and the Bible in Education

The Integration of Faith and Science

Further Insights and Applications

Meeting Students with Traditional Folk Beliefs

Glorifying God through a Redeemed Culture

Meekness Approach to Christian Witness

Festivals

Thai Festivals in the Kingdom of Thailand

Guidelines on Thai Folkways

The Ch’ing Ming Festival and Christianity

Faces of Culture: The Sukhwan Ritual and Christianity

Science and Theology

The Importance of the Intelligent Design Theory

Contending with Futile Thoughts and Identifying God’s Invisible Attributes

Philosophical and Scientific Views Influence Theology

Service Learning

Ministering to the Elderly in Hong Kong: Issues Identified

A Christian Approach to the Environment

Useful Resources

D edicated to the memory of Hudson Taylor who, in the face of personal libels, disloyalty and a spiteful press, determined to come close to the Chinese in dress, hair style and eating arrangements in order to gain their confidence and win them for Christ, using the Pauline principle of becoming all things for all men.

Foreword

A dventist faith, education and life are increasingly under siege from secular, philosophic, cross-cultural and non-Adventist perceptions of worldview and their resultant pursuit of varied activities of life. As a result, Seventh-day Adventists in their faith adherence and in worldwide task of education, health, and ministry find themselves working often in isolation, at times in conflict, and at other times in a struggle to understand the faith priorities of others.

Yet, this need not be the case. Every individual and every system—from the person working in the next office, to the corporate behemoth threatening to overwhelm your life, to the religious or political or economic system challenging your very existence or inviting you to become part of them—functions within the parameters of a world-view. Such a worldview differs from one to the other, depending upon their answers to questions that have zoomed in on humanity since time immemorial. Such questions include: Who am I? How did I happen to come here at this particular time? Where am I going? What is the purpose of my existence? How does my purpose coincide or collide with yours, and how do you and I face such questions? What is my destiny? Why do I differ from you?

A basic understanding of such questions will provide a context in which I can practice my faith, understand my positions in the context of other differing faiths, and possibly discover bridges of understanding and communication. This is not an easy task, but Dr. Warren Shipton has given us an initial invitation to come to the table of understanding. For Adventist educators, pastors, health ministry professionals and others, this book provides a clear understanding of the Adventist world view, to begin with, and then a broad survey of other contexts, both religious and secular. The book is a call to understand the world around and to mediate to that world courageously and unambiguously the essentials of Adventism.

To the extent this book will help toward that goal, Dr. Shipton, his editorial team and many writers who have contributed to this volume have done a commendable job in sharing insights into the complex task of presenting the gospel with sensitivity to the many from different cultures waiting to receive hope. The book can also serve as a textbook on worldviews and a reader for teachers who wish to explore the complexities of philosophy and education.

Mike M. Lekic, Ph.D.

Associate Director, Education Department

Executive Secretary, Adventist Accreditation Association

General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

Silver Spring, Maryland, USA

Preface

E ver since Christ uttered the well known words recorded by the apostle Matthew: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations (28:19, NKJV), his followers have struggled to fulfill the mission. Issues of language, religious prejudice and culture have made the task challenging and this continues today. This is a book of resources for those attempting to communicate across cultures, particularly teachers. It is also a resource designed to sensitize readers to the issues encountered in the integration of faith into the learning process.

We have chosen deliberately to focus on materials produced in Asia or especially applicable to Asia and the philosophies expressed here. Most of the articles have been written by or derived from material compiled by Seventh-day Adventists. However, a number of valuable articles come from other Protestant sources. (Two theses were reviewed and we are grateful to Reverend Canon Dr. David Claydon, Senior Advisor of the Lausanne Movement for making one valuable article on Marxism available.) We have added brief editorial comments to draw the reader’s attention to differences in interpretation or emphasis adopted by our church. The reality is that all groups struggle to find the key to reaching the unreached. We must each pray for the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit as we enter into the Lord’s vineyard. Some will be given a small reward for their work and others will gain more substantial results (Luke 19:12-27). We always must remember: I [Paul] planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So that neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase (1 Cor. 3:6, 7, NKJV).

The realization that the worldview of hearers has a telling influence on the approach which is most likely to be received sympathetically places a burden on the disciple. The task is to understand the worldview, societal values, and the cultural sensitivities of the hearers so that no unnecessary offense is given and that present understandings are used as a bridge to the truths of the gospel. The challenge is to present the gospel in as favourable a light as possible and this means, in practice, that the disciple must identify with the listeners as far as possible yet without compromise of foundational biblical principles (1 Cor. 9:9-23).

In order to communicate Christian concepts across cultures, there is a need to understand the significant elements of the host culture; to appreciate that God’s word is a series of documents written by inspired individuals who expressed eternal truths in language invested with the culture of their days; to identify the central elements of eternal truth; and to establish the most effective bridges between concepts held in the host culture and various biblical truths. The hearer must hear, in an acceptable context, those concepts that the speaker wishes to transmit. This means that the teacher of God’s word cannot carry on business as usual in the hope that he or she will be effective in the new environment.

Of the many Bible doctrines that exist, it is our task to focus on those that are central to the Christian faith and experience. In saying this we are not suggesting a neglect of topical or locally relevant subjects of interest that may function as bridges. The broad central issues can be identified without great difficulty. First, we remember that God’s kingdom (throne) rests on the foundations of mercy and justice (Ps. 89:14). This means that the story of creation, the temptation and fall, and the atonement hold a central place. This story is woven as a golden thread throughout the Scriptures. In telling it the Old Testament sanctuary system is integral as are the three angel’s messages of Revelation chapter 14. In both these examples, it is shown that the just demands of the eternal law (principles of the Decalogue) could be met only by the infinite sacrifice of Christ at Calvary (Ps. 85:10). This means that mankind has forgiveness only by accepting God’s merits by faith and can offer acceptable obedience to God’s will through continual dependence on his power through the Holy Spirit’s ministry (John 16:7-15; Rom. 8:10, 11; Gal. 5:16-18). Christ’s atonement was offered as mankind was destined to die eternally and to return to dust at death (Gen. 3:19). This fate was the ultimate answer to Satan’s lie that man would not die as a result of disobedience (Gen. 3:4).

Central to the Protestant message of righteousness by faith is the idea that mankind does not possess any element of the divine in his being. This is consistent with the idea that only God possesses immortality (1 Tim. 6:16). Christ is willing to give immortality to those who undertake to accept his mercy joyfully and wholeheartedly (John 3:16-19; 1 Thess. 1:13-18). Corresponding works follow such acceptance but they are not the means of salvation (James 2:14-22).

Tracing the story of redemption stretches from Genesis to Revelation making the understanding of the great prophetic way-marks of Daniel and Revelation vital to an understanding of our place in history and of the events yet to transpire before the glorious second coming of Christ. Indeed, we look forward with all the redeemed to the eradication of evil as the last act in the celestial drama to re-establish harmony; then Christ’s at-one-ment will be complete and all the redeemed will worship in peace around God’s throne on the Sabbath he instituted in Eden (Gen. 2:1-3; Isa. 66:22, 23; Rev. 7:9-12).

In order to be effective teachers, first we must become learners and then we are asked to go forth in Jesus’ strength to lead others in his ways. As part of the learning process, we recommend that all readers notice Dale Goodson’s article that indicates the incredible challenges that can be faced if adequate preparation is not made. We can impart if we have a vital experience of God’s love to share. We are asked simply to be channels through which God’s love can flow to others.

The title of the book was chosen to reflect the cultural environment in which our university is located (Southeast Asia). Sharing in a community spirit in a relaxed environment is typical in this tropical region. The aim of every true-hearted Christian is to share concepts that have implications for eternity in appropriate social settings. Our aim is to better prepare our readers to do just this.

Turning now to more mundane and house-keeping matters, we make a number of comments about the text. We have made some minor editorial corrections to various papers without indicating these. Such corrections related of spelling, punctuation and some niceties of the English language. In all instances, the meaning has not been changed. Where material has been omitted from the text, this has been highlighted. Readers will notice that no uniformity has been adopted in the spelling of certain English words. Some papers use American and others the British or Australian conventions. We have simply kept to the conventions used by the original authors.

Readers also will notice that we have introduced some uniformity to papers in the format of headings and subheadings and in listing references as endnotes. This means that on close examination, minor differences from the original papers can be observed. However, the meaning has not been changed. We have not attempted to apply a uniform referencing system, which means that there is considerable variation in the manner in recording book, journal and internet details. The important issue is that there is no diminution in the ability of readers to access the information. The correctness of these details rests with the authors generally, although we must acknowledge that in placing all references as endnotes we did identify a few missing references. We did our best to find the missing details.

Acknowledgement

T he inspiration for this volume commenced with the enthusiasm and practical advice given by Cheryl Doss and Pr Clifton Maberly at Mission Institute at Avondale College, Australia, in 2006. The carefulness displayed by Pr Scott Griswold in Thailand added to the realization that much background work precedes effective ministry. Scott helped to orientate the teachers at Mission College (and later Asia-Pacific International University) on a number of occasions. This highlighted a deficit in our course offerings that we have sought to fill by producing this volume. How we might approach the task evolved during the 40 th International Faith and Learning Seminar held at Asia-Pacific International University, July 19-30, 2009, as we mingled with Dr Humberto Rasi and his team of experts.

Many people have contributed to this volume. Any effort of this magnitude and scope falls short of its objectives. However, we are grateful to those who rose to the challenge of writing papers specifically for this volume and for all who graciously agreed to allow us to use previously published material. We are specifically indebted to the copyright holders of the journals, books and official websites for allowing us to reprint articles.

Special thanks are given to those who helped us to translate material, render audio information into text, type papers, draw diagrams, and make helpful editorial suggestions—Thitaree Sirikulpat, Maggy Pariani, Lora Ashlock, Jan Shipton, Stephen Loo and Qiang Zhang. Deanna Majilang kindly completed the artwork on the book cover design. The secretarial assistant designated for this project was Thitaree Sirikulpat who spent many days typing material and redrawing diagrams. It is doubtful if the project would have been entertained without her help. Special thanks are due to Ash McVeigh for completing the illustrations in the format used in the book and to May Su Thwe Mang for initial work on formatting the text into the InDesign program. Finally, Jan Shipton devoted invaluable time in commenting on the manuscript for which we are very thankful and without which the work would have been delayed considerably. All remaining inconsistencies and mistakes are the senior editor’s responsibility.

Others helped in the location of material used in this study. These included Dr C-Y. Phoon, Prs Joshua Mok and Edmund Liah, Dr Mike Lekic, Damian Ginajil, and Bukil Gandau. Research on some of the articles was facilitated through the provision of grant monies allocated to the senior editor through the professional development scheme run by Asia-Pacific International University.

Elements used to make up the cover picture were purchased from Fotolia and 123RF.

Introduction

Chapter 1

Asian Christianity and the

Wilderness Church

Warren A. Shipton

Introduction

Those who stand victorious with Christ over the forces of evil at the end of time are the called, chosen, and faithful (Rev. 17:14, NKJV—unless stated otherwise). They join hands with the peoples of all ages who have declared with the apostle Paul But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior (Phil. 3:20, NLT).

The plan of salvation was given to the first family on earth and it was faithfully shared with all its members (Gen. 4:3, 4). Some exercised faith in the promise of the coming Savoir and the provisions made (Heb. 11:4). However, the ranks of the wicked commenced in this family (Gen. 4:8) and swelled so that God determined to judge the world by means of a flood of water and so end temporarily the violence and wickedness that had filled the human race (Gen. 6:3, 6). Before God did this, he determined to warn all of the judgment to come and gave the invitation of repentance through Noah. His faithfulness to God’s instructions and codes for living condemned the world (Heb. 7:11). Few accepted Noah’s words or sought after the God he presented. They perished in their unbelief and defiance. Only a remnant of humanity was saved.

Noah, like Adam, shared knowledge of the plan of salvation with his family members, but soon there was a departure from the faith leading eventually to a hardened race of unbelievers who developed a spirit of arrogance and pride and in their distrust of God built a city and tower (Babel) to their gods and to glorify human wisdom (Gen. 10:9, 10; 11:2-4). God judged them by destroying the works of their hands and confusing their language. It was from this time that the languages of the world began to develop. Separate people groups spread out over the world and developed their own cultures.

We do not know how these disparate groups of people were reached with the message of God’s love, but we do know that a great number of these cultures kept alive a version of the account of the creator and the universal flood. It has been suggested by some that the Chinese even may have kept alive for many years a version of the sacrifices offered at the gate of the Garden of Eden.¹ Others argue that the Karen and other special groups in Asia kept alive memories of the story of the temptation and Fall, the appearance of sickness, of Y’wa’s promise to save and to make a better world for the righteous.² In postulating such antiquity for various practices, the example of Terah in the country of Iraq (at Ur), as recorded in Scripture, might also be mentioned. Terah’s family preserved the knowledge of God, but it was being eroded by pagan ideas,³ much as happened with the other examples cited. Further than this, God has spoken to all through natural law as described by Paul (Rome 2:14).

By the time of Abraham (1950 B.C.),⁴ God again sought to raise up a standard against the prevailing apostasy by calling Abraham for a special purpose of giving rise to a nation (Israel) dedicated to sharing the knowledge of God with others(Gen. 12:1, 2).⁵ He responded in faith and understood by his experience that God was calling all believers to a life of faith in God’s provisions and that the inheritance and citizenship of believers was in heaven (Heb. 11:8-10, 13). Christ was to be borne through his blood line and the gospel invitation was to be given to all (Gen. 12:13).

God had great plans to reach the nations of the world through Israel as outlined by the prophet Isaiah. These people, as they followed God’s provisions, would be marked in an outstanding manner and would be blessed with wisdom, abilities, prosperity, health and happiness so that the nations of the earth would be attracted to their God.⁶ The principles enunciated for Israel are applicable across cultures and are as follows:⁷ Sanctification or holiness is a way of life designed to bring happiness.⁸ An individual’s thinking and acting is, in fact, to spring from a genuine change in thinking through contemplation of the life of Christ, which will manifest itself in rendering grateful obedience to his moral law. Character development is thought of as the harvest of the life and its development determines the destiny of the life now and in the hereafter.⁹ This outcome is achieved by faith in Christ’s merits resting in his strength in prayer. The beauty of Christ’s character will be revealed in the believer.¹⁰ Vigour of health will be experienced when God’s principles are accepted. The acceptance of the health principles of the Bible will ensure a peculiar freedom from disease and disabilities and also give mental strength.¹¹ Blessings of intellectual and technical expertise come from God. Obedience to natural laws of body and mind and through continual dedication to the service of God becomes evident in improved understanding, wisdom and superior skill and success in enterprises. These blessings come through connection with the source of knowledge and wisdom, God. The believers recognize that the abilities possessed represent lent treasures to be developed and used.¹²

In practice, the information given to Abraham and his descendants was shared with selected others. We know that representatives from the following people groups were touched by them: Canaanites, Philistines, Hittites, Egyptians, Moabites, Midianites, Sidionites, Syrians, Ninevites, Sabaeans, Babylonians, Persians and others.¹³ Israel failed to maintain their connection with God and realize these blessings on a continual basis. Their special status as a nation ended when they declared we have no King but Caesar (John 19:15). The task of carrying the gospel to the world was then given by Christ to his disciples (Matt. 28: 19, 20). The success of the strategies adopted by God’s church for witnessing resides in the ability to identify principles of Christian living clearly and to express these in the life through faith in God’s enabling power. There is a fragmented history of the struggle of the disciples of Christ to keep these principles clearly in sight. Their success was not complete, but the Scriptures assure us that the apostolic church would be followed by the church in the wilderness and then a faithful remnant and that all these groups would be represented in God’s kingdom.

Preserving the Mystery of God

The strands of truth stretching from the words of the apostles to the present day have been preserved through the hand of God. The church which held these truths was evangelistic. It sought to establish its claims apart from the use of political and military powers, which have consistently striven to stifle the call of faith. The church that Christ championed with the apostles and which flourished until around 1500 was essentially Asian in emphasis and was numerically substantial. When the Asian and African churches were overthrown, Christianity took on a European character.¹⁴

It was just a short time after Christ’s resurrection until the apostles and disciples of Christ were converted and were empowered by the Holy Spirit (Acts 2) and began to realize the significance and enormity of the gospel commission (Matt. 28:19, 20). Their experiences with Christ and their witness, until close to the end of the first century of the present era, are briefly recorded in sacred Scripture. The leaders were overwhelmed by the generosity of God’s love in sending Jesus Christ to secure the salvation of mankind unaided through human efforts and held sacred the revelation of God’s will in the Decalogue (Rev. 12:17).

Already in the days of the apostles, the battle lines had been drawn, with doctrinal difficulties entering the church leading to some departed from the faith. This was simply a foretaste of events to transpire as time passed, as outlined by the apostle John in Revelation (2 & 3). Indeed, the apostle Paul wrote: The mystery of lawlessness is already at work (2 Thess. 2:7) and he warned the believers that strong deceptions and convincing arguments would be made by agents of Satan masquerading as genuine disciples. Their witness sometimes was accompanied by signs and wonders, adding to their deceptive power, and these phenomena would continue until the coming of the Lord in glory (vs. 1-12). Paul urged all to be faithful to the institutions and doctrines delivered by the apostles who reflected to the believers the truths delivered to them by Jesus. In his day, already there were those who sought to mar the purity of the gospel message (2 Cor. 11:2-4; 2 Thess. 2:2; Gal. 1:6, 7) and introduce other perverse ideas concerning the nature of Christ (1 John 2:18, 22—Docetism, Cerinthianism).

As a bulwark against the onslaughts of Satan, God caused the accounts of his dealings with mankind to be recorded. Moses first wrote the instructions of Yahweh (Deut. 31:24-26) and these were preserved along with the handwritten words of God engraved in stone (Exod. 24:12; 31:18) for the benefit of succeeding generations. There is disagreement as to when the Pentateuch was written. Some place the records of the initial sections as early as 1000 B.C. and others as late as 600 B.C.¹⁵ How widespread these written accounts were shared outside Israel is unknown, but groups of people in Asia have gone down in history mourning the loss of God’s written accounts given to them in a book. Some argue that the memories point to the transmission of knowledge from the time of the early Israelites,¹⁶ but other scenarios are possible.

Other records were preserved by prophets and kings to form the Jewish Scriptures (the Old Testament). Later accounts of God’s dealings with the apostles were committed to writing and these were brought together by the early church fathers so that there was general agreement on most of the canon by the second century. The 27 books generally were accepted by the churches by the end of the fourth century. The criteria for acceptability were apostolic authorship, general harmony with the other books of the recognized canon and continual usage by the churches.¹⁷ All these accounts joined to form a powerful witness to the undiminished labours of God on behalf of fallen humanity. They also established the undeniable truth of God’s constancy since the fall of mankind. Since that dreadful event, God has had an active plan to save those who put their trust in him (cf. Gen. 3:15; Heb. 4:2; Rev. 14:6, 7). He also has revealed his unalterable code of ethical and moral behaviour, which forms the basis of the laws of heaven and of unfallen worlds. Indeed, mankind has inadvertently accepted that there is a common thread through their national expressions of natural law.¹⁸

The Old and New Testaments are inextricably linked by their emphasis on the mercy and justice of God (Pss. 85:10; 89: 14) and the apocalyptic prophecies of Daniel and John. It appears that the intriguing prophecies of Daniel concerning the coming of the Messiah and the rise and fall of empires were not studied by the Jewish peoples alone. The events outlined would mold the history of the Middle East and beyond and had a galvanizing effect on satanic forces. These conspired to confuse and, if possible, nullify the impact of Christ’s ministry and plans for humanity. It is not totally surprising, then, that around the time of Daniel’s ministry that the following movements began to emerge (Zoroaster—traditionally 6th century; Buddha—c. 563 B.C.; Confucius—551 B.C.; Pythagoras—c. 570 B.C.; Socrates—469 B.C.). The early Church of the East dialogued with the world religions in its territory and adapted to the environment around it.¹⁹ Unhappily, it sometimes succumbed to moderating ideas which led it away from the unadulterated word of God.

These movements have influenced Christian thought and practice and those which remain today (Buddhism & Confucianism) have created enormous roadblocks to the progress of the gospel. A powerful claim sometimes made is that Jesus borrowed his ideas from the philosophers who went before him.²⁰ This notion can be refuted by evidence found in the Old Testament, which is attested to be very old according to the Dead Sea Scrolls.

While the followers of Christ were first called Christians at Antioch in Syria (Acts 11:26) in the first century A.D., the claim of Christ and the Scriptures is that there is a single thread of truth which stretches to the dawn of time and that all claims to priority must fail before the witness of Christ who is God with us (cf. Matt. 1:23; Luke 24:25-27; 1 Cor. 10:4, 5). The gospel of Christ framed by the great controversy worldview is almost as old as time (cf. Gen. 3:15). Adam and Eve were the first converts to the gospel given by their creator, Christ, and an illustrious group of believers have accepted discipleship with Christ in every age since that time.

Diaspora and Pentecost

Well before Pentecost recorded in Acts, the Jews had begun to be dispersed. The first diaspora occurred in 721 B.C. when the king of Assyria took Jews from the northern kingdom (2 Kings 17:6). It is known that large numbers went to Egypt in 582 B.C. (Jer. 41:16-44:30). Jews also were taken to Babylon (597 & 586 B.C.). This meant that two major centres of Jewish life existed a century after the exile—namely, Egypt and Babylon.²¹ Not all the Jewish centres were established on account of political and religious oppression, but rather many migrated on account of trade and other advantages. At the end of the first century of the present era, Jews were found in most of the important commercial centres of the world.²² After the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70, Babylon became the hub of Jewish thought and culture. Other important centres were found in Damascus, Alexandria, Antioch in Syria and Asia Minor.²³

It is not surprising, then, that at Pentecost Jews from these locations were in Jerusalem. The apostles, although Christians, considered it natural to visit the temple (Acts 3:1-10), on account of their previous alliances and practices, and others acted likewise. Soon, however, this association was rejected by some Jewish leaders and this ushered the believers into an era of persecution (Acts 4:1-3; 5:17-29; 8:1).²⁴ The early hostilities between the Christians and Jews were rudely escalated by the martyrdom of Stephen who had targeted his evangelistic efforts towards non-Palestinian Jews (Acts 6:8-10). The breach between Christ’s followers and the Jewish church was serious and continued to widen as persecution gathered momentum under the vigilant leadership of Saul (Acts 22:4, 5; 26:9-12). The believers scattered to Syria and Cyprus and the Christians were soon regarded by the Jews as heretics (Acts 24:14).²⁵ The death of Stephen (considered to be A.D. 34) marked the point where the gospel went to the Gentiles in a systematic manner.

Saul’s miraculous conversion and missionary zeal as Paul the apostle was critical to the establishment of the church in the regions beyond Palestine. This apostle to the Gentiles had no question concerning the desirability of baptizing pagans of every nation who came to believe. This led to a notable debate which threatened to divide the church on matters dealing with Jewish customs and regulations under the Mosaic covenant. A Council at Jerusalem was convened to resolve the issue (Acts 15). The Holy Spirit worked mightily and the decision was reached to release the Gentiles from the ritualistic practices present in the Jewish ceremonies, since many of these pointed forward to Christ’s death. Matters to do with the law of God, health and effective witness were upheld (Acts 15:28, 29). This was the first New Testament example of contextualization for the purpose of effective witness.

Carrying this mandate, the apostles began to witness far and wide. It is suggested that Peter evangelized in the north and west of Asia and finally in Rome. The apostle John found his way to Samaria, possibly Ephesus and eventually Patmos. Tradition has it that Andrew went to Scythia and Thrace; Jude ministered in Palestine, Syria and Arabia; Matthew found his way to Parthia and Persia; Matthias to Cappadocia; Mark went to Rome and Egypt; Nathaniel is considered to have gone to Arabia and perhaps even Ethiopia; Philip was attracted to Phrygia; Simon went to north Africa and finally Thomas evangelized in Edessa, Parthia, Persia and India. All this early activity meant that by the second and third centuries, churches were found in the locations indicated and in as far away places as Britain, France, Spain and North Africa.²⁶

The Church Fortunes after A.D. 70 until Constantine

Even before Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman armies in A.D. 70, some of the Jews had been scattered east of the Jordan River. The gospel had gone already to Asia Minor, Ethiopia, Greece, Italy, India, Samaria and Syria. The important people groups represented by the Celtic, Syriac, Greek and Latin languages had been convinced of the gospel’s power. Before the destruction of Jerusalem the Christians fled. The headquarters of the Christian church shifted to Antioch in Syria (now near Antakya, Turkey). Many Jews were already in the city and numbers of these accepted the gospel in response to these dramatic events at Jerusalem, especially following the revelation that Jesus supported the prophecies of Daniel (Matt. 24:15). It is said that soon after the martyrdom of Stephen the Christian church in Antioch reached around 100,000. It became known as the queen of the East. In the centuries to come Antioch would be known as the centre from which the grammatical/historical approach to Scripture was faithfully maintained against the onslaughts of the allegorizing ideas issuing from Alexandria in Egypt. A second centre was established at Edessa (now Sanliurfa, Turkey). This was to become a vital centre for evangelism endeavours to the East. It also held the advantage that it was a centre for medical learning. The scriptures were in time translated into Syriac, possibly by Rabbula of Edessa, and the standard Bible used became the Peshitta.²⁷

Christianity spread rapidly through the Roman Empire with its claims to be a universal faith and furthermore with its proclaimed belief that it was the only true religion. These ideas were both ridiculed and feared. The level of toleration for such claims was low under some emperors and they reacted viciously. The apostles Peter and Paul were casualties under Nero. Persecutions continued under Domitian when John was exiled. Then Trajan (A.D. 98-117) ushered in an era of continuing persecution, with brief respites, for the next 150 years until Constantine (A.D. 312).²⁸

During these years of persecution and also departures from the faith, the church that was to become the Wilderness Church was being established. People of courage were found in a number of communities, as history faithfully records, but it is the Church of the East or Assyrian Church that interests us for the purposes of this essay. The Assyrian church emerged from mission endeavours originating primarily from Edessa (destined to become a centre of education and scholarship). The first apostle is considered to be Adai who operated soon after the death of the apostle John.²⁹ The Eastern Church kept high the standards of truth and looked to Christ himself for its authority while the Church of Rome was busy bringing pagan philosophies and practices into its communion and drew its authority from Peter.³⁰ The controversy over Easter was to bring an early uneasiness between the two groups. In an attempt to make Easter and Sunday coincide in the religious calendar as a substitute to the Jewish Passover (fell on any day of the week), Victor I, bishop of Rome, sought to fix the spring festival to a specific time in the annual calendar (refer to Table 1). This he did in A.D. 189. By contrast the Church of the East celebrated the Lord’s resurrection on the 16th day of the designated month. Victor excommunicated those who failed to follow his directions. Although he later rescinded this action,³¹ the damage had been done, for it showed the spirit that would come to characterize the papacy.

The first easily recognizable leader of the Church of the East was Papas (Phapas or Papa—c. 315) who was appointed close to the beginning of the third century and with headquarters at Seleucia-Ctesiphon, which was not far from Babylon. Around this time, Malchion and Lucian (c. A.D. 250-312), both of Antioch, played a critical role in maintaining the integrity of the church against those bent on bringing in new ideas.³²

It was during this same period, too, that the regime of Persia changed and this ultimately was to have a dramatic effect on the development of the church there. Under Parthian rule the Christian faith had spread rapidly and there were more than 20 bishops by A.D. 225. The Zoroastrian magi resisted the spread of the faith and engaged in persecution, but there was no state inspired persecution. Eventually, the native peoples of the realm established the Sassanid Empire (224-651) by overthrowing the Parthians. It was then that Zoroasterism became the national religion and a note of militancy emerged.³³ The religious zeal of the priests at times resulted in harsh persecution of the Christians. However, the first ruler of the new empire was tolerant towards Christianity. The rulers of the new empire displayed an intense zeal to reestablish the empire held under Cyrus. They were largely successful in this venture over time but they were finally defeated by the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius at Nineveh (627) and shortly thereafter were overrun by the Muslim invaders.

During these centuries of political activity, the capital of the Sassanid Empire was located at Ctesiphon which was close to the headquarters of the Christian church at Seleucia. One of the borders of the empire was close to Antioch so that it changed from being in the Byzantine (or the Eastern Roman Empire) and the Sassanid.³⁴ All these events brought great difficulty upon the church there and resulted in many Christian captives pouring into Persia from the Roman territories.³⁵

Mystery of Iniquity Asserts Itself

The apostle Paul invited all believers to be alert to the growing influence of The mystery of iniquity following the flush of victories for Christ (2 Thess. 2:7) and the apostle John faithfully recorded the major difficulties which would be experienced by the church through the following centuries (Rev. 2:31). Not only would the faithful have to contend with the strengthening influence of philosophies that had arisen in the past [Zoroastrianism—gave rise to Mithraism—(Persia), Buddhism (India), Confucianism (China), Socrates (Greece)], some of which were borrowing ideas from Christianity, but they would also need to build bulwarks against movements from within. Already the apostle John in his epistles recognized the vanguard of attempts to confuse the simplicity of the gospel message through questions about the nature of Christ (1 John 2:18, 22). These would continue to divert the church’s energies and its witness for centuries to come.

The apostles laid sure foundations for the church based on their experiences with Christ. These they admonished believers to follow through the long ages of persecution and difficulties which would follow their passing. Beach heads had been established early by the apostles in four great languages groups and these would be used to carry the gospel message to distant lands. The Syriac language enabled penetration into Syria, Assyria, Persia, India, China; the Celtic language gave access to Galatia, France, Ireland, Scotland and England. The Greek language was appreciated by the Greeks as was the Italian language by its people.³⁶

A school was established at Antioch and another at Edessa initially. These centres exerted great influence giving rise to early missionary endeavours. Edessa, to the north-east of Antioch, sent missionaries to India, Parthia, Persia and China.³⁷ Antioch was noted for its superior literature and science in the early fifth century, but this is getting slightly ahead of our account. It was at Antioch that Malchion and Lucian worked (near the turn of the second century). The school contended with the perversions in Christian thought and literature arising principally from Alexandria which was devoted to following the allegorizing method of biblical interpretation.³⁸ The Antioch school sought to achieve success for its programs by maintaining a separation from the power of the state, and held fast to the doctrines of the Bible as the word of God refusing steadfastly to encourage the inroads of pagan ideas.³⁹ It is not possible to contend that these ideals were continually supported. The forces of evil are ever ready to derail efforts at effective witness. Already by this time, questions concerning appropriate ways in which to celebrate the Lord’s resurrection had arisen and would in time lead to a marked departure from God’s revealed will.

From our viewpoint, the Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325) should be mentioned briefly at this point. This was the first ecumenical council held by the Catholic Church. The Church of the East was not represented and it only accepted its findings many years later. This isolation served to protect the church from Arian and related controversies for a time, but in exchange it had to endure great persecution in Persia.⁴⁰ In retrospect, persecution was a blessing in disguise for while the Christian church in the West was absorbing pagan ideas, principally of Mithraic origin, the Assyrian church was being persecuted by the Zoroastrians and thus kept free from related pagan doctrines. Hence, it is perhaps not surprising that it has been observed of the Assyrian church even in relatively recent times: They have no doctrine of transubstantiation, no purgatory; they do not sanction Mariolatry or image worship; nor will they even allow icons to be exhibited in their churches. Men and women take the communion in both kinds. All five orders of clergy below the bishops are permitted to marry.⁴¹

The church in Persia (Assyrian church) suffered in consequence of the effective Christianization of the Roman Empire under Constantine. Since at this time Persia and Rome were enemies and both were militant about their religions, all Christians in Persia were politically suspect and the priests of Zoroaster fanned the suspicion into persecution. From A.D. 339 until his death forty years later, Sapor II exacted terrible persecution on the church in Persia. The difficulties varied in its severity in time and place, but they exhausted and decimated the church according to some historians. An agreement for toleration came only in A.D. 410. A period of rapid growth followed. However, the tolerance was punctuated by renewed persecution that coincided with another Perso-Roman war. As a result of these experiences, the feeling grew strong that independence from Western Christianity was desirable. Indeed, a schism was approaching.⁴²

The controversy over the nature of Christ eventually brought the schism. The controversy surfaced at the Council of Ephesus in A.D. 431 and at the Council of Chalcedon in A.D. 451 (see Table 1). The nature of Christ was the point at issue. The debate raged between Alexandria (Monophysite viewpoint) and Antioch, with the former group emphasizing the divine nature of Christ and the latter his human nature (it was held that the divine and human nature of Christ were not united absolutely). Nestorius of Antioch had objected to the use of the term mother of God for Mary and preferred the term mother of Christ. He did not wish to make Mary into a goddess. His intentions were blown out of focus when personal animosities and agendas inserted themselves into the heady mix. This combined with some unscrupulous behavior, handed Nestorius’ opponents’ victory in the end. The emperor made laws against the followers of Nestorius (A.D. 435) and this resulted in some movements of believers into Persia. The school of theology at Edessa was closed (A.D. 489) by the emperor and was moved to Nisibis in Persia. This persecution of Nestorian churches continued under emperor Justinian. Under his reign, the beloved Theodore of Mopsuestia (he belonged to the Antiochian school and was dead already) was vilified at the Fifth Ecumenical Council (A.D. 553—Chalcedon); the damage caused was irreparable. The Greek philosophical approach to the issues was not understood by the Assyrians and the will was not present to attempt to bridge the gap. Both the Church of the East and the African churches rebelled over the decisions of Chalcedon. Over the years there was a growing apart of the church in Persia and the Catholic Church (process commenced in fourth century and is considered by some to have been complete at the commencement of the eighth century). After 553, the Eastern Church was in avowed schism from her sister in Constantinople.⁴³ Following the condemnation of the Church of the East at Chalcedon, the Persian government encouraged it, as it no longer posed a threatened link to the alien Roman power.⁴⁴

The Church in the Wilderness Era Begins

⁴⁵

Justinian’s condemnation (553) against respected leaders in Asia Minor alienated the Syrian Church, which close to that time still had a workable relationship.⁴⁶ However, Justinian had distinguished himself before this time with his severe laws against those not of the Catholic faith. He closed the ancient school of philosophy in Athens in 529 and after this time he ordered all heretics to convert or leave the empire. Heretics were regarded as those who did not believe as he did that there should be One state, one law, one church.⁴⁷ His edicts came into full effect in 538 in the Western Empire. It was in that year that the church in the West was driven into the wilderness for then the decree making the Pope head of the churches (issued first in A.D. 533) could be exercised following the expulsion of the Ostrogoths from Rome. It was then too that an ecclesiastical Sunday law was put into place and those who disobeyed were punished.⁴⁸ Justinian’s laws were applicable throughout the empire and brought great suffering. They sought to establish unity of faith and it gave heretics the option to convert or be exiled. The order fell on Jews, Samaritans and Christians alike. The Montanists of Phrygia simply locked themselves in their church and incinerated themselves.⁴⁹ The historian Gibbon indicates further that the narrow bigotry of Justinian was punished by the emigration of his most industrious subjects; they transported to Persia the arts of both peace and war.⁵⁰ Those who wished to be faithful in many places of the Roman Empire increasingly were beginning to feel the oppressive power of the church operating under state control. Liberty had been lost.

Complicating matters in Persia, Chosroes I brought many captives from Antioch in Syria to Seleucia in A.D. 540 after they destroyed the city. A similar raid was engineered in the 570s. The captives are presumed to have been mainly Christian believers in the Monophysite creed.⁵¹ Unfortunately, they tried to overthrow the existing church hierarchy. They ultimately were unsuccessful but they created an independent patriarchate for themselves and the Monophysites thereafter nicknamed the Church of the East Nestorian. During the Muslim invasions the two churches drifted apart. However, much earlier the so called Nestorian church had spread its territories to "Chaldea, India, and even China.⁵² After the Muslim invasion, the headquarters of the church was shifted to Bagdad in 762.⁵³

There were thriving Christian communities in Persia at this time. The Muslims treated the Christians and Jews generally with tolerance. Repressive measures and persecutions were experienced but they were not worse than under the Sassanids. However, by the late tenth century the majority of citizens were Muslim.⁵⁴

Brief Highlights of Gospel Outreach in Asia

The Chinese made strenuous efforts to communicate with the West two centuries before the Christian era.⁵⁵ There is some evidence that Jews had reached China in the Han dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 221),⁵⁶ which corresponds to the period encompassing the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70 and the presence of a vigorous silk trade.⁵⁷ An oral tradition exists that Jews were in China during the reign of Ming-ti (A.D. 58-75) and that a Cenobite mission, thought to be of converted Jews, went there in A.D. 96 (Table 1). Indeed, it is also contended by the Saint Thomas Christians that Thomas the apostle reached China about the same time he was in India.⁵⁸ Further, it has been hypothesized by some that the famous border ceremony commemorated for 40 centuries in China, prior to its discontinuation in 1911, indicated early contact with Daniel the prophet’s God. This ceremony, held more recently at the Temple of Heaven precinct in Beijing, honoured Shang Ti, the Lord of Heaven.⁵⁹ The ceremony was reminiscent of the sacrifices made at the entrance to the Garden of Eden by the first human family and that were continued by the Jews. Around 3,000 years ago, it seems that the ceremony was restricted to the emperor so that the common people were denied the privilege of worshipping God. This provided an unwelcome opportunity for other philosophies to satisfy the need to worship felt in human minds.⁶⁰ Nevertheless, the Chinese Classics do hold many useful ideas about a creator God, his good laws and how to live a virtuous life. However, much true knowledge about the God of Heaven had been lost by the time of Confucius and Mencius.⁶¹

The gospel possibly was carried to China (Seres) early in the Christian era.⁶² There is a tradition that about the time that Buddhism went to China (period A.D. 64-67) that emperor Ming-ti sent envoys west to enquire about the great prophet who had been reported to have been operating there. This was A.D. 64. On the journey west, the envoy met two missionaries who they subsequently presented to the emperor. Accounts vary as to the identity of these missionaries, but the predominant evidence is that they were Buddhist representatives.⁶³ There is other fragmentary evidence of Christian influence in China around the beginning of the third century.⁶⁴ It is even held that certain sections of the Church of the East kept alive the idea of the seventh-day Sabbath for at least the first three hundred years and even some until as late as A. D. 1265.⁶⁵ During the last half of the fourth century bishop Musèus from Ethiopia travelled extensively in China.⁶⁶ By A.D. 550 monks brought silk worms from China to the West and they were considered to have been there many years previous to this time.⁶⁷ There is indisputable evidence that Christianity was among the many religious movements present during the Tang dynasty (A.D. 618-907) and that the Syrians brought Christianity in a mission led by Alopen in A.D. 635 who brought the sacred Scriptures with him.⁶⁸ Emperor Hiuen Tsang made it clear in an edict issued in A.D. 745 that Christianity was of ancient origin in China. He said, the religion of the sacred books known as Persian had originally come from Ta T’sin and that, propagated by teaching and tradition, it had made its way into the middle kingdom and had been for a long time practiced therein. It is known that the early flowering of Christianity in China continued until the mid-ninth century.⁶⁹

The presence of Christianity in China is frequently associated with the Church of the East through the famous stone monument unearthed at Xi’an in 1625. This monument was erected in the nation’s capital in 781.⁷⁰ This was a time of great activity in China, not the beginning of the gospel witness. The gospel had been taken to other locations as well. For example, it was reported that many churches were scattered along the Ganges River in the fifth century and Marco Polo (1222) recorded three Christian kingdoms in central India. The gospel had also travelled south to Sri Lanka by the fifth to sixth centuries.⁷¹ It has been estimated that at the turn of the first millennium, Asia held 17-20 million Christians in contrast to an estimated total of 25-30 million in Europe.⁷²

During the golden age of the church’s missionary endeavours (fourth-fifth centuries) monks were located in the East in Afghanistan, Burma (Pegu), China, Tibet, India, southern Vietnam (Cochin China) and northern Vietnam (Tonquin).⁷³ A Christian merchant from Ayutthya in Thailand (Siam) was travelling from Bangladesh to Burma in 1506 and thence to Borneo, Java and the Moluccas and spoke of around a thousand Christians in the service of the king of Burma. The church was widespread and the most missionary church the world has ever seen according to Mingana.⁷⁴ We have highlighted its ministry east from its Persian base, but its mission was much broader.

Focusing briefly again on Burma (Myanmar), the people group occupying Burma, as a dominating entity, arrived from southwestern China in the seventh century.⁷⁵ There were well established land routes to China and India from the north of the country. These routes linked to the Silk Road that was the principal land route from Xi’an and the Mediterranean (principal cities Antioch and Tyre). Land routes branched off from Balkh (northwest from the Hindu Kush) to the mouths of the Indus, Ganges and Irrawaddy rivers. From the ports on these rivers, sea routes went to the Gulf of Aden, Persian Gulf, Sri Lanka, Sumatra, Mekong region, Canton (Guangzhou) and other Chinese ports. The land route to Burma and finally Rangoon (capital) came from Tamluk at the Ganges mouth and swept across the river valley regions of the country and beyond; a branch went to Xi’an (Chang’an) passing close to the mouth of the Mekong River.⁷⁶ Trails went south into Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.⁷⁷

Merchants and monks used these land and sea routes. We have observed already the movement of peoples from China to Burma and the strong Christian presence in the Burmese court. Some historians consider that as early as A.D. 530 there were Christian communities originating from the Persian church in Burma, Thailand and southern and northern Vietnam.⁷⁸ Considering all this, it does not appear rash to suggest that people groups in the border regions of Burma (India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Laos, and China) had come in contact with Christianity early. Such contact could account for the monotheistic traditions held by these people that came to public knowledge in the nineteenth century.⁷⁹ We do not find it necessary to postulate that the folk religions they held originated in the distant past. We say this in contrast to the Chinese who had documented connecting links to the ancient past, had developed the art of writing, but still lost many of the details of God’s plan. In a people group with a classically oral tradition, it seems unlikely that all the details preserved can be related to their acquisition in the distant past.

The Karen people of Myanmar (Burma) held the most defined traditions when contacted by early Protestant missionaries. They called the eternal, all powerful, creator God, Y’wa. They understood something of the creation story, the Fall, the coming of sickness and disease due to obedience to Mu-kaw-lee (Satan). They knew of their obligation to worship Y’wa, the requirement to honour his name and refrain from worshipping idols. They also had a clear understanding of the love response due to God, parents and neighbours. Repentance was held to be the way in which Y’wa’s mercy could be accessed; he was the only one who could save. They looked with hope to a future event when the righteous would be delivered at the coming of the Karen king. They also believed that their present unsatisfactory experience was due to the fact that they had neglected Y’wa’s instructions and had indeed lost the book he had given to them. Nevertheless, they held that this loss would be made good when their white brothers from the West replaced it.⁸⁰ In this essay, we are placing emphasis on the conviction that help would come from the white-skinned Westerners bearing a book. We do not find that the accounts left by these people are as deficient in indicators of God’s mercy, his promised reward and the need for repentance that some have chosen to argue on the basis that Christ’s name was apparently unknown to them (refer to the Nestorian stone where the word Messiah is used once and Christ not at all).⁸¹ After all, the Jehovah of the Old Testament is none other than Christ (1 Cor. 10:1-5; cf. Exod. 3:13-15 margin, where YHWH or Jehovah is transliterated Lord), and this is how the truths about God may have been presented to them.

The trade routes in Burma went both East and West by either land or sea, giving the indigenous people an equal chance to choose either direction from which future spiritual help would come. In addition, the lighter skinned people of Aryan origin came from the regions of Persia and northern India to the West. Added to this, we understand that the Scriptures were carried by missionaries of the Church of the East from their base in Persia.⁸² All this argues for contact between Persian missionaries in the West with the hill people of northern and perhaps eastern Burma. Hence, we do not find it compellingly necessary to search for ancient origins to their folk beliefs.⁸³ This means that there need only have been four or five centuries or even less between contacts with Persian Christians and the coming of European missionaries with Judson’s recently translated Burmese Bible in the early nineteenth century.⁸⁴

The explanation for poor contact of tribal people with Christians from the fourteenth century onwards will be addressed later. Suffice it to say that in Burma the Pagan dynasty flourished during a golden age until 1287 (c. 849-1287). It was during this period that Buddhism was forcibly introduced (A.D. 1100). Smaller kingdoms emerged to fill the place of the Pagan dynasty and wars and turmoil marked the succeeding period as allegiances changed.⁸⁵ During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries shipping routes came into prominence, with increasing Muslim involvement, and with a decline in the overland routes. Nevertheless, there was a brisk trade between the port cities of Burma and inland market towns and great numbers of merchants visited lower Burma from widely scattered cities. As we have noted previously, these included Syrian Christians. Exposure of the northern tribal groups probably ceased before this time when the repressive Ming dynasty replaced the tolerant Mongols in China (1360 onwards). About the same time, Timur destroyed the Church of the East across central, western and northern Asia; this meant that its base in Persia was no more.⁸⁶

We have noticed already that Christianity was taken to India by the Church of the East. However, in the region of Goa (Kerala) the heritage goes back further. Many Jews in this region came from the pre-Christian diaspora. This was the fabled site of the great port city of Ophir (1 Kings 9:28; 10:22) or Sopara, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Aparanta.⁸⁷ The people of Kerala are believed to have first heard the gospel from Thomas the apostle around A.D. 52 and he is further said to have been martyred near Madras in A.D. 68. The churches in India also were in communication with Alexandria (in Egypt) at the end of the second century and with Seleucia in the mid-third century, from which they received help.⁸⁸

In the middle ages nothing much is known of the church in India. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, 30,000 Christian families were reported with an apparently expanding clientele.⁸⁹ The church was highlighted by the repressive activities of the Jesuits in 1599 following the expansion of the Portuguese empire. It was alleged that the members of the Christian church in India held heretical beliefs. Among other things, some were accused of being Sabbath keepers like the Jews. Consequently, they were required to obey the Church of Rome or be excommunicated within two months. The church submitted under oppressive circumstances backed by the Inquisition and civil and military representatives of Portugal. Their books were burnt. When the Inquisition seized a bishop they had requested from