[ { "id": 212125, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1990", "page_number": 67, "title": "RAS-1990", "content_text": "THE 'SYRIAN BRILLIANT TEACHING’\n\nDAVID WILMSHURST\n\nIntroduction\n\nFew Christians nowadays outside the Middle East are familiar with the name, let alone the history, of the Nestorian church of Persia, yet between the ninth and fourteenth centuries it was in some respects perhaps the largest Christian church in the world, with bishoprics stretching from the Mediterranean right across Asia to China. The church took its name from Nestorius, who became archbishop of Constantinople in 428 and was deposed not long afterwards for holding heretical views on the nature of Christ. Nestorius placed great stress on the human nature of Jesus, and tried to discourage the use in the churches under his jurisdiction of the title Theotokos, 'mother of God', a term which had long been applied to the Virgin Mary. To his enemies, he appeared to be denying the divinity of Christ, and regarding him as a mere man who had been adopted by God as his son, though it is now clear that his views were considerably closer to the orthodox position than he was given credit for at the time. A heated controversy ensued, and both sides in the dispute supported their arguments with bribery and intimidation. The opposition to Nestorius was led by Cyril, archbishop of Alexandria, who was motivated partly by a genuine distaste for his opponent's theology and partly by jealousy of his ecclesiastical status. Cyril finally procured the deposition and banishment of Nestorius at the Council of Ephesus in 431.\n\nIn the next century and a half the Nestorian heresy was stamped out within the territories of the Roman empire, and its adherents fled to neighbouring Persia. Although the state religion of Sassanian Persia was Zoroastrianism, Christianity had firmly established itself in the western provinces of the Persian empire, particularly among the mainly Syrian population of northern Mesopotamia and in Khuzistan and Fars, and Persia's Christian minority by and large sympathised with the theological position which Nestorius had taken. The influx of Christian refugees from the Roman empire strengthened the native Persian church, and after the Persian empire was conquered by the Moslem Arabs in the seventh century the Nestorian church enjoyed a period of rapid expansion. Syrian and Persian Christians were tolerated by their Moslem rulers and organised into a melet, or official minority", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1990.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212296, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1990", "page_number": 238, "title": "RAS-1990", "content_text": "215\n\nrole in this “secularization” process, comparing Legge's leadership in the new Board of Education with the manner of a “born bishop” I believe his motivations must be read in the light of his postmillennial leanings. See n. 55 on postmillennialism. Also see James Legge, \"The Colony Of Hong Kong\", The Journal Of The Hong Kong Branch of The Royal Asiatic Society, op. cit., p. 188; also E. T. Eitel, Europe In China: The History Of Hong Kong From The Beginning To The Year 1882 (Hong Kong: Kelly & Walsh Ltd, 1895; reprinted in Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1983), pp. 347, 390-394, 466.\n\nSee Gwenneth and John Stokes, Queen's College: Its History 1862-1987 (Hong Kong: Queen's College, 1987). A number of the details of the origins of the school in relation to Legge are not correct, and should be compared with my article in Ching Feng (1988), op. cit.\n\n51 Prof. Legge's participation in the initial stages of the drafting of the Somerville College rules is not mentioned in some of the more recent texts on Somerville College, but his role as a member of the council (1881-1883) is found in Somerville College Register, 1879-1959 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1961), p. 272. In the minutes of the Provisional committee which later incorporated the College, Prof. Legge apparently helped to draft and support a college rule which, in its final form, read as follows: \"Prayers will be read daily in the house, and on Sundays the students will be expected as a rule to attend a place of worship chosen by themselves or their parents\"; an earlier proposal to eliminate family prayers, and a later proposal requiring instruction in the Bible provided by each House, were both voted down. It is also significant that the provisional committee set a rule that the members of the Council should include equal numbers of women and men. See the Notes of the Provisional Committee meetings for the year 1879, dated February 7, 15, and 28, held at Somerville College.\n\n* This picture is kept at the Library of the Oriental Institute at Oxford, and was recently used for the cover of T. H. Barrett's Singular Listlessness: A Short History Of Chinese Books And British Scholars, op. cit.\n\nHis reaction was primarily against the legalistic trends of Scottish Reform theology, particularly as it related to the harsher restrictions enforced on the Sabbath. At one point Legge, writing about his youthful days in Huntly, complained: \"The voice of Moses was allowed in our household too often to overpower the voice of Christ\". See Notes Of My Life, op. cit., p. 15, and James Legge, John Legge, ed., Lectures On Theology, Science, And Revelation (Papers by the late Rev. George Legge), XXII-XXIV. Still one must point out that the memorization of the Shorter Catechism left its mark in many of the themes discussed in Legge's The Religions of China. He may have rejected its ethics, but he was nursed and matured in its theological worldview.\n\n34 Legge gave his views on the sixty-fifth anniversary of the London Missionary Society, celebrated at Moorfields Tabernacle. See his \"The Land of Sinim,\" (London: John Snow, 1859).\n\n+4\n\n—\n\nThis perspective was technically supported by nineteenth-century \"postmillennialism,\" a view which generally interprets Biblical prophecies regarding the end of human history as one in which there will be no personal return of Christ. Postmillennialism claimed that God will reign on earth indirectly in a kingdom of peace established by his own people, the Church. This view normally involves the corollary that human achievements, particularly the advance of Christian civilization, would bring about the final state in which the Kingdom of God would be achieved. James Legge had been exposed to this position through the theology of his older brother, George Legge, and apparently accepted its arguments. See George Legge, Lectures on Theology, Science, and Revelation, ed. James Legge, et al., op. cit. Belief in a postmillennial view of history explains two important aspects of James Legge's academic work. First, it explains why he was concerned to locate a trace of revelation in the foundations of Chinese", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1990.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213861, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1996", "page_number": 213, "title": "RAS-1996", "content_text": "187\n\na stronger preference on the importance of education (with a total of 51.11%). The Hong Kong Council of the Church of Christ in China has also a high percentage in the columns ‘regard education as very important' and 'regard education as quite important' (32.26% in each column). Only one interviewee belongs to 'regard evangelization as quite important'. So, comparatively speaking the Church of Christ in China is the denomination which lays the greatest emphasis on education as its prime objective. The figures also reveal that 60% of the interviewees from the Baptist Convention are under the columns, 'regard education as very important' and 'regard education as quite important'. There is only one who belongs to 'regard evangelization as quite important'. The Baptist is therefore the second denomination which puts most emphasis on education. On the other hand, the Methodist Church is the only denomination which has more members under the columns ‘regard evangelization as important' than those who belong to 'regard education as important'. (The percentages are 57.15% and 42.85% respectively). It is therefore a denomination which shows a preference for evangelization. The Lutheran Church obtains the highest percentage in the column 'regard evangelization as quite important' (with 42.86%, whereas the overall percentage in this column reads only 9.79%). Hence, the Lutheran Church is the denomination which puts the greatest emphasis on evangelization in running schools.\n\nTable 2 shows a comparison of priorities given by the various denominations on the objectives in running church schools. On the whole, the first priority is given to ‘education for the whole person' (with a mean score of 1.2378). 'Evangelization' comes second (the mean score is 2.27), followed by 'service to the society' (3.18) and 'providing Christian nurture among students' (3.31). Among the various rankings, the Lutheran Church stands out in setting \"evangelization' as the first priority (the mean is 1.43, whereas the scores of the other denominations all read 2 or above), suggesting a remarkable difference when compared with the other denominations. Similarly, the Methodist Church also shows a marked difference from the other denominations in ranking 'providing Christian nurture among students' as the first priority. (The mean score is 2.57, whereas the scores of the other denominations all read 3 or above). These differences suggest that there is an outstanding emphasis on the objectives of involvement in education upheld by the Lutheran Church and the Methodist Church.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1996.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213862, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1996", "page_number": 214, "title": "RAS-1996", "content_text": "188\n\nOn the other hand, the Church of Christ in China, the Sheng Kung Hui and the Baptist Convention top the list in the preferences on ‘service to the society' and 'education for the whole person'. It is interesting to note that the three denominations all give priority to 'service to the society' (mean scores are 2.9, 3.02, 3.10 respectively) than 'providing Christian nurture among students' (mean scores are 3.6, 3.36, 3.6 respectively). Then choice is quite the contrary when compared with those of other denominations. This reflects that there is much emphasis on the social and educational aspects in setting objectives among these three denominations.\n\nBased on the review of literature collected from the various denominations, remarkable differences of perceptions in the objectives of church involvement with education are also found among the various denominations. The findings do not vary much from the results of the questionnaires. For example, there are varied viewpoints expressed in the literatures of the Sheng Kung Hui. Some regard ‘education' and 'service to the society' as that church schools should aim at meeting the needs of society by providing education of a high quality. Yet, there are other members who put great emphasis on evangelization and the spreading of the Gospel in church schools. The varied viewpoints have all been reflected in the questionnaire. As shown in table 1 above there are 51.11% of Sheng Kung Hui members who were found under the columns 'regard education as important', 13.33% belong to 'regard evangelization as important', and 35.56% ‘regard both as important\". On the whole, however, the Sheng Kung Hui members tend to see the aims of church involvement in education more as ‘education for the whole person' as well as 'providing service to the society'.\"\n\nThe Hong Kong Council of the Church of Christ in China has a very clear objective. A closer study of the church documents reveals that her educational objectives have been evolving with time. To put it more simply, the Council has a preference for evangelization in the early 50s and 60s. Yet, since the beginning of the 70s, the Council attempted to strike a balance between 'evangelization' and 'social service'. It was then believed that both are as important; the two should go hand in hand each complementing the other. In the beginning of the 80s, the Council proceeds a step to reach a higher ideal. The emphasis now is placed on education and evangelization becomes of secondary importance. An obvious example of this preference can be", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1996.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213863, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1996", "page_number": 215, "title": "RAS-1996", "content_text": "189\n\nfound in the speech of the late Rev Peter Wang, the former General Secretary of the Council.\n\n\"Church involvement in education should be regarded as a kind of social service. It also provides a good chance to spread the gospel by nurturing young people with the teaching of Jesus Christ, to love their families, show filial piety towards their parents, to love their schools, respect their teachers and truth; to love their neighbours and live in harmony with others, to love and serve their society with enthusiasm; and be a good citizen in the society. If we have nurtured our students in this way, we have fulfilled the aim of serving the society, even though the students have not been baptized as believers.\n\nFrom the data gathered in this survey, the Hong Kong Council of the Church of Christ in China has the strongest preference for education as the objective of church involvement in education. (Refer to Tables 1 and 2). The same emphasis is reflected from the literature of the Council.\n\nThe Tsung Tsin (Basel) Mission changes with time in its perception of objectives. The direction of changes, however, is contrary to that of the Hong Kong Council of the Church of Christ in China. In the early years, the Mission was concerned much about education and social service. For example, the Basel Free School was founded in 1862 to provide free education for the Hakka-speaking Chinese. The school aimed to improve illiteracy in the society. It was the first girls' school set up in Hong Kong.7 In recent years, owing to the growing emphasis on evangelization, there is a considerable change in the Mission's objectives of involvement in education. For example, from the Mission's publications in recent years, the importance of evangelization through schools is obviously stressed. It is also made compulsory that all Tsung Tsin schools should organise a religious week in October each year. As such are to be implemented or supervised by the school, it does bring about due effects. In the past, there was no preferential policy held regarding the employment of school staff; that new teachers are selected, as far as it is possible, from among Christians. This shows that the Tsung Tsin Mission is concerned more and more with evangelization as an important objective of running church schools.\n\nAccording to the questionnaire survey, the Lutheran Church is the", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1996.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641", "rank": 0 } ]