What has Jerusalem to do with Beijing : biblical interpretation from a Chinese perspective /

Yeo, an ethnic Chinese born in Malaysia and teaching the New Testament at Garrett Seminary in Illinois, is well positioned for cross-cultural dialogue. Much of his book is a careful analysis of passages from the Old and New Testaments, which he then expresses in "language with which the Chinese are comfortable." Yeo's method is reminiscent of early Jesuits who saw a compatibility between Christianity and Confucianism, but he moves well beyond them in interpreting biblical motifs in terms of Taoism and yin-yang philosophy. Yeo argues that the idea of change, as expressed in the Tao-Te Ching and the I Ching, is more compatible with Hebraic thought than with the static or absolutist forms of classical Western theology. He points to the rhetoric of the Apostle Paul in making a Jewish gospel intelligible to Gentiles. Still, this is not a synthesis of the Bible ("Jerusalem") and Chinese culture ("Beijing"), since like Paul, Yeo assumes the truth of Christianity. Yeo also offers interesting observations about recent developments in China--the Cultural Revolution and Tiananmen Square--and in Malaysia. This book should appeal to persons interested in cross-cultural understanding generally and to Chinese Christians in particular. Extensive footnotes, limited index, no bibliography. Upper-division undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and researchers, and practitioners. H. Peebles; Wabash College