The Chinese Bible in Evangelistic Conversations Version 1/23/2025
Jim Found
Abstract:
The Chinese Bible translation known as the Union Version is in common use by Chinese Protestant Christians around the world. The particularities of the Union Version determine how Chinese Protestants understand Christianity. This article enables one through knowledge about the Chinese Bible to engage with sensitivity in gospel conversations with those of the various religious viewpoints held by Chinese people today. These insights are important even if one is using the English language to work with Chinese people, because if they are already familiar with the Chinese version, then when they see the English word, they will mentally translate it into the Chinese meaning, along with the nuances that are attached to the Chinese term, so the biblical meanings will need to be explained. Four major Chinese schools of thought are viewed in terms of four concepts in the message of salvation.
Chinese Versions
The most widely used Chinese Bible translation is the one created in 1919 in China by a committee of several translation teams. 1 It is called the Union Version (Chinese he he ben 和合本).2 It holds a place of honor among Chinese Protestant believers similar to the place of the King James Version in anglophone countries. There are many newer translations, but they have not come into common use. The Roman Catholic Church has its own translation.
In any Chinese Protestant Bible, there are two possible ways the word for “God” might be translated. Both of these ways were in use by Protestant missionaries starting from the nineteenth century, and in fact there was a conflict among missionaries as to which of the two should be used. One of the words is shen 神, which is the generic name for any god, corresponding to the Hebrew El. The other term was used by the ancient Shang dynasty as their name for the power in the sky. That name means “emperor above.” The Chinese term is Shang Di 上帝. This term was used interchangeably with the word “heaven” (tian 天) in ancient times to designate the Supreme Power ruling over the affairs of all.3 Even though nowadays there is no longer a conflict, and the two terms are used interchangeably, the Union Version is still available in two editions, each one using a different name for God.
Special Characteristics of Chinese Bible Vocabulary
Many theological terms in the English Bible that have to be explained to English speakers because they are not commonly used in daily conversation are immediately recognizable in the Chinese Bible because they are translated into everyday Chinese. For example, the English word “justified” is not a translation, but is simply the Latin term iustificare copied into English letters. The Chinese Bible however does translate it, using the two Chinese words “named” and “righteous” (cheng 稱and yi 義). The key phrase “justified by faith” in Romans 5:1 is represented by the words that mean “because of, faith, named, and righteous.” Yin xin cheng yi 因信稱義. (The second and fourth words in this phrase is one way to translate the term for “Lutheran Church”: Faith-righteous-church, xin yi hui 信義會
Most English versions perpetuate the Jewish custom of replacing the name of God given at the burning bush, commonly written in English letters as YHWH, with the word for Lord. We therefore have to explain to English speakers that the word LORD all in caps in the Old Testament indicates that the original word there was YHWH. This is not necessary in the Chinese version, however, for it does not replace YHWH with the word Lord, but uses Chinese syllables to approximate the sound of the Hebrew word. The syllables used are ye-he-hua 耶和华. The fact that these sounds are related to the Hebrew word for “to be” would still have to be explained, though.
Just as in most other Bible translations around the world, there are certain Hebrew terms that are not translated, but simply represented by characters with a similar sound, such as Amen, Hallelujah, Immanuel, and Messiah. Their meanings would need to be explained. The New Testament uses the Greek word which English writes as “Christ” to indicate the Messiah. The term Christ is represented in Chinese as jidu 基督. The ji transliterates the Ch of Christ, and the du represents the final t. While one can use the word “christen” to explain to English readers that Christ means anointed, the sounds jidu do not sound like any Chinese words for anointing. To explain the meaning of jidu to Chinese readers, one can start with John 1:41, which says that Christ and Messiah have the same meaning. Then explain that the term which the Chinese Bible in Psalm 2:2 translates as “Anointed One” shou gao zhe 受膏者, is the Hebrew word that we pronounce as Messiah. Therefore jidu means “anointed one,” thus designating him as king. This verse is quoted in Hebrews 1:5 in reference to Jesus, making clear that Jesus is this anointed one, the Christ, jidu. In addition, Psalm 2:7 adds about the anointed one that he is God’s son. The anointed one then is that eternal king who will descend from David and deliver God’s people from their enemies. Today when one calls Jesus by the term Christ, it is a profession that Jesus is God the Son, our king and savior. Prophets and priests were also anointed, and the New Testament confirms that these roles are also taken on my Jesus, who, as well as being our king, is the great prophet promised by Moses (Acts 7:7) and is our great high priest (Hebrews 4:14).
Word Usage in Evangelistic Conversations
This article is organized according to the following four content areas of the salvation message: the problem of sin, the solution provided by Christ, the responses kindled by the Spirit (repent, believe, be baptized), and the benefits of trusting Christ. These four are found in Romans 3:23-25: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith” (ESV), and also found in the five evangelistic conversations recorded in the book of Acts.4 Considerations about the Chinese Bible are provided for reference when explaining each of the four in an evangelistic conversation with adherents of four different Chinese religious traditions: traditional religion, Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism.
First, the problem of sin.
Humanity’s problem, revealed in scripture, is that we are separated from God due to sin. A person shaped by Confucian thought (rujia 儒家) may counter that most of the sages taught that humans are basically good. However, the person probably can admit that he is not perfect and does not always live up to the Confucian ideals. This failure to reach the ideals means one’s life is not as full and meaningful as it could be, but does not come with a threat of punishment. The standards set forth in the Bible however are requirements, and failure to reach them is called sin. The Bible teaches that the wages of sin is death.
Using the word sin can lead to misunderstandings though, because the word used to translate “sin” into Chinese (zui 罪) is the word used in everyday language to designate someone who deserves to go to jail.5 So when someone is called a sinner, what they will hear is an accusation of being a criminal. So it is necessary to explain that the Bible usage of this term is different than the cultural usage. Here 1 John 3:4 is useful: “sin is the transgression of the law.” (KJV). In gospel conversations, I prefer to avoid using the word zui, but rather I use other words that portray our rebellion against God, like wrongdoing guocuo 过错, disobedience weibei 违背, and rebellion beini 悖逆.
Someone who follows philosophical Daoism would believe that conforming to nature is the best way to live. The challenge is to show that what we do naturally is not always right. The Chinese Bible in Romans 7:5 uses the word for our natural self (routi 肉体 body of flesh) to translate the Greek sarkos, announcing that following our natural impulses leads to death. Religious Daoism includes a yearning for connection with the universe and its spirits, but does not include a sense of disobedience toward God. One approach is to explain that the reason the yearning cannot be satisfied is because mankind has become separated from God due to sin. Isaiah 59:2 says this clearly in Chinese: evil actions have made a separation (gejie隔绝) from God.
If the person follows the Chinese traditional religion, in which ceremonial acts performed toward ancestors and Chinese gods are an appeal for good fortune, there would not be familiarity with the idea that religion has a moral aspect, because the worshippers expect the god to respond to the correct ceremonies no matter whether one’s behavior is good or bad. One can however refer to the universal experiences of guilt and shame. Missiological research concludes that western culture emphasizes guilt, while eastern cultures emphasize shame,7 but both are found among Chinese people. The biblical view is that both are symptoms of a rift with God. Christianity supplies a solution for each: guilt is forgiven, and shame is healed by acceptance.
To explain the idea of being guilty before God, one can refer to the near-universal Chinese reverence for parents: since I was generated by my parents, I am bound to obey them, and if I do not obey them I am in the wrong, and ought to make it up to them in some way. Samuel Shen points out that Chinese recognize that there is a creator, and they “like to compare the relationship between the creator and human beings to that between parents and sons.”6. Chinese people can feel guilt (gandao roujiu感到内疚), but we then need to add that the reason for the feeling is that we have disobeyed God and are due punishment by God. That is why we need a savior.
A follower of Chinese Buddhism would think in terms of karma (yinguo 因果). The person already accepts that his wrongdoings will influence his future, so thinks that more good words than bad must be performed to obtain a reincarnation where good karma can be accumulated. The Bible teaches that no amount of good works can undo the bad we have done. The Chinese translation of Ephesians 2:9, where English says salvation is not by works, is very clear in translating “works” by the word for behavior (xingwei 行為).
Second, The solution provided by Christ
This section will focus on what the Bible says about Jesus and His work to point Chinese people to the true God. Traditional Chinese accept that there is some kind of higher power. The ancient Chinese called it by the same name as the sky, tian 天. So we do not need to convince them that a god exists, but to show them who the true God is, for “no one has seen God at any time, but the only God, who is at the Father’s side, Jesus, has made him known.” (John 1:18 ESV.)
In regards to Jesus as both God and man, those who worship the Chinese gods already believe that a human being could become a god, for many of their gods are ancient heroes who have become deified. The New Testament reveals the contrary proposition that Jesus is God becoming man. The Chinese gods do not include a god of love, but Jesus performed acts of healing and compassion as God come to earth in person to demonstrate to all that God is love. After Jesus took our place and suffered the punishment that we deserved by dying on the cross, he was then “shown to be the Son of God by rising from the dead (Romans 1:4). Instead of the English technical term “resurrection,” the Chinese Bible uses the easily understood Chinese phrase “again-live (fuhuo 复活). “
For followers of Confucianism and Daoism, a good starting point is John 1:1. “in the beginning was the Word.” That is because the English term “word” there translates the Greek word logos, which is represented in the Chinese Bible with the word dao 道. This word will catch attention, for it is used in Chinese classical books to refer to the foundational force and principle of the world, similar to the way the word logos was used in Greek philosophy. Those meanings will come to mind when a Chinese person reads the verse, so it is necessary to explain that the dao spoken of here is Jesus Christ, God the Son, as John 1:14 tells us by saying that the logos took on flesh (the rest of John 1 makes clear that the one who took on flesh in Jesus). Logos is the noun form of the Greek verb “to speak,” but even though dao is not similar to any of the Chinese words that mean speak, the John passage can still be used to help Chinese speakers form a concept of Christ by reading each phrase substituting the word dao with the word Christ. The passage teaches that the dao was already existent at the beginning; the dao was face-to-face with God, so has it personhood;8 the dao is God. Everything was created through the dao. The dao provides life. Hebrews 1:2-3 repeats these concepts and assigns them explicitly to God the Son, though without using the word dao, and Hebrews 2:14-15 links Jesus’ person with his mission; to destroy the works of Satan.
Buddhists are atheists, so it is necessary to talk about reasons for the existence of God.9 Because Buddhists are attuned to personal development of compassionate behavior, it is relevant to talk about the compassionate activities of Jesus, (as in Matthew 20:34), and then that Jesus’ acts show the compassionate nature of God. God sending Jesus to die for our sins can be presented as the ultimate act of compassion, as proclaimed explicitly in John 3:16. In this verse, where the English Bible uses “perish,” the Chinese Bible uses the strong expression “extinguish by death” (miewang 滅亡), which would be meaningful to a Buddhist, who is taught that death brings the extinguishing of self. Jesus saves us from being extinguished.
Explaining Christ’s sacrificial death for our sins can be done for those of any of the Chinese religions by showing its connection to the animal sacrifices performed in the Old Testament. The original languages help us grasp the full meaning of Christ’s death. In Leviticus 16:15, the Hebrew words for the cover of the covenant box and for the resulting covering of sins when blood was applied to it both have the same Hebrew root. The Septuagint uses the word hilasterion for the cover, and that word was then used in the New Testament with both meanings: Hebrews 9:5 uses it for the cover, and Romans 3:25 for the resulting forgiveness, in the phrase “whom God put forth as a hilasterion by his blood.” Unfortunately, English and Chinese do not use the same word for the two meanings. The first meaning is the King James Bible phrase “mercy seat” translated into Chinese: shi en zuo 施恩座.The second meaning is translated as “atonement” or “propitiation” in most English Bibles. The Chinese term chosen here, wan hui ji 挽回祭, means “the sacrifice that brings back.” This term communicates well because it includes not only the idea of returning to God but also the aspect of sacrifice. It is only necessary to supplement the term by explaining that the “bringing back” was constituted by the forgiveness of sins through the shedding of blood, foreshadowed by the Old Testament blood placed on the covenant box cover.
Third, The Responses kindled by the Spirit
Repentance. Peter said in Acts 2:38 “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” The Chinese word for repent is huigai 悔改 The first character means regret, and the second means change, but the listener needs to hear that biblical repentance is a change of mind not to one’s self, to try harder, but is an admission of sin to God and a beseeching for forgiveness from God. The only one who can forgive is the one who was sinned against, as Psalm 51:4 clearly states: “Against you, you only, have I sinned.”
Faith. Mark 16:16 says “he who believes and is baptized shall be saved.” The verb for believe, xiang xin 相信, as in English, has a different nuance when it is used as a “faith that believes something” (being acceptive of a premise), or as a “faith in someone,” (a reliance upon someone, who is Christ himself.) Both are needed. Francis Pieper states that Christian faith is trust in Jesus as the God/man who dealt with our sins on the cross.10 In that sentence, the preposition “as” represents faith in a premise, and “in” represents trust in a person. Those prepositions are not used in Chinese, so explication is required. For example, in John 14:1 Jesus says “You believe in me,” with the English word “in” translating the Greek word eis. The Chinese translation is simply “believe me. 信我.” In John 14:10, the English says “don’t you believe that I am in the Father,” with the “that” corresponding to the Greek hoti. The Chinese rephrases the sentence, without a “that.” Fortunately there are synonyms in the Chinese Bible that can help to explain the concept of faith as “faith in” someone. They include rely (yikao 依靠), and trust (xinren 信任). To explain a faith “that” something is true, one can use the Chinese word for confess (chengren 承認).
The fact that God’s redemption is available to all by faith alone is good news for those who think that only a dedicated few in each generation reach the goal. One can stress that since the biblical God is a God of love, He would not put himself out of reach to all but a select few.
Baptism. The Greek word copied into English letters to create the word Baptism is translated into Chinese as “washing-ceremony” (xili 洗禮). The “baptism of regeneration” of Titus 3:5 is beautifully translated in the Chinese Bible as “washing that brings a renewed birth” (chongsheng de xi, 重生的洗).
Fourth, Benefits of trusting Christ.
Solutions for symptoms. Many of the benefits are solutions to the symptoms of sin. For example, forgiveness corresponds to guilt, acceptance corresponds to shame, and peace corresponds to anxiety.
Power for doing good. Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and Marxism have extensive rules for social behavior, but they do not provide the power to obey the rules; that power must be provided by the person himself. The good news is that Jesus can enable someone to actually exhibit the high ideals of Confucian ethics by providing a “new life” that does the right thing by its very nature. The Confucian ideal of “becoming truly a man” (junzi 君子) is bestowed upon Christians through faith, for Romans 8:29 tells us that God has decided for his people “to be conformed to the image of his son.” NIV
Joy. Two widespread Buddhist statues can be a basis for conversation about the benefits of Christian faith. The laughing Buddha (Maitreya 彌勒佛) personifies joy, blessing, and fulfillment; these are the very things that given by Jesus. The Goddess of Mercy (觀音) is looked to as compassionate. Jesus empowers us to put the Buddhist ideal of compassion into action by helping those in need around the world. Traditional Chinese worship asks for good fortune, but does not pledge to become a better person, whereas Jesus fulfils Ezekiel’s promise to give a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26). Traditional worshippers along the sea coasts turn to the goddess of the sea (Matsu 媽祖) for meeting the needs of life; Jesus promises “whatever you ask of the Father in my name, I will give to you.” John 16:23. The Chinese word for “in” in the phrase “in my name” (yin因) includes the idea of “because of.”
Harmony. Confucianists and Daoists seek to be in harmony with the universe, so the promise of Christianity that they will be one with the creator of the universe is relevant. Buddhists seek an end to disharmony by seeking a breakthrough to enlightenment (the realization that all is illusion), but God created a material world, so it is not an illusion, and said “it is good,” so it is not the source of disharmony. Marxists find meaning in being part of a larger movement that they feel is historically inevitable and therefore gives meaning to their self-sacrifice; in Christianity they become part of a world-wide movement of love and caring that can exist under any form of government. Traditional worshippers hope that their progeny will burn offerings to them so their needs will be met in the spirit world; Jesus promises “today you will be with me in paradise” Luke 23:43.
Power against demons. While my students on Taiwan could appreciate that Jesus brings forgiveness, some told me that the most practical blessing for them was that Jesus was more powerful than “the ghosts” (鬼). In traditional Chinese religion, people who pass away but have no one left on earth to give sacrifices to them become “angry ghosts.” They are determined to harm those who do not protect themselves by setting out a sacrifice.11 Students told me that when they awoke at night and could not sleep for fear of the ghosts, they would pray to Jesus for protection and were given peace. On this topic, new Christians need to be informed that the evil spirits mentioned in the Bible (xie ling邪靈) are NOT deceased people, but are spirits who rebelled against God along with Satan.
Eternal life. Being with God forever is a concept that would be new in each school of Chinese thought. Certain Daoists devoted themselves to lengthening their lives, some using alchemy for this purpose, but there was no expectation of an eternal existence. Confucius encouraged people to perform the rites to the ancestors, but the purpose was for good fortune and a harmonious society now, in this life. Traditional Chinese religion believers already believe in life after death, for they become an ancestor, and ancestors are seen as present and active to those still on earth. Ancestors however pass from memory after the third generation, so the idea of an eternal existence is new and goes beyond what their religion promises. Because the idea of eternal life is not found in any of these schools of thought, it should be included when proclamation gospel. Jesus’ promise in John 10:28 “I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish,” is sriking, because the word for giving, (cigei賜給), designates a formal presentation by a superior, and perish (miewang 滅亡) is used for being extinguished and doomed.
For Buddhists, the self ends at death, but its components re-arrange into a new self. This process continues until the components finally extinguish, resulting in nirvana, the peace that comes from non-existence and the end of self. Salvation is defined as realizing this truth, which is termed “being enlightened.” The benefit promised by Christianity to Buddhists is that one only has to live once. One do not need to be reincarnated, and will enter eternal life as one’s own self, not as a different self. The words of Job 19:26-7 are relevant for them: “in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another.” NIV
There are many schools of Buddhism and each one has its unique way of obtaining enlightenment, so each has unique openings for evangelistic conversation. It was the Mahayana branch (大乘) of Buddhism that became predominant in China, and the Chinese adapted it to suit their culture. In particular, the non-existence of self and the notion that Nirvana is an absence of activity were ameliorated.10 Four major branches of Buddhism were created in China, and each has features that can lead to a conversation about Christ. 1) The Pure Land school (净土宗) was founded around 400 AD. 12 A conversational connection is that entry into the Pure Land is obtained by calling upon the name Amitabha (omitofu阿彌陀佛), while scripture says “he who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Acts 2:21). The Chinese Bible’s word for “call” here is very well chosen. Not a shouting out (jiao叫) but a beseeching (qi gao 求告). The eternal life promised by Jesus contrasts with the Pure Land, for that land is only a temporary abode in which someone has ample opportunities to practice meditation more assiduously with hope of a better reincarnation. 2) Zen Buddhism (禅宗) is traced to Tao Sheng who lived in fifth century China. He stressed that enlightenment is reached not by virtue and discipline but by an immediate realization. This can be connected to the immediate reception of salvation, without works, upon coming to faith in Jesus, as in 1 John 5:23 “he who has the Son has the life.” 3) The Tian Tai school (天台宗), founded in China in the sixth century, claims to accept and include all previous schools. It teaches that enlightenment is attained by venerating a document from India called the Lotus Sutra. It teaches that Buddha is a supernatural preacher in a paradise. In contrast, Jesus as represented by the Son of Man in Daniel 7:1-14 has and everlasting kingdom. The Chinese Bible uses the same translation for “son of man” (renzi人子) in both Daniel and the Gospels. 4) The Zhen Yansect (真言) appeared in China in the eighth century as an adaptation of a Buddhist school from India, and was then brought to Japan where it is called Shingon. It embraces esoteric practices like mantras, hand gestures, and diagrams, with an initiation by an ordained master, toward the goal of the realizing that one’s true nature is identical with the universal Buddha. Linking with the Chinese respect for the dead, it provides funeral services to rescue the departed soul from dangers. Christians though need not fear any dangers from unseen powers, for Ephesians 2:21 tells us that Jesus is far above any such powers; for that exalted position of Christ the Chinese Bible uses yuan chao guo 遠超過, “surpassing-by-far.” Therefor Christians need not perform esoteric practices, for God has saved us from the power of darkness and moved us to Jesus’ kingdom, redeeming and forgiving us (Colossians 1:13-14), and making peace by his blood on the cross (verse 20). The Chinese translation uses the strong word “accomplish” (cheng jiu 成就) to explain that making of peace.
Conclusion
The Chinese Bible has many words and phrases that are wonderfully expressive of the original meaning of scripture, as well as words that require us to make further explanations. The Chinese Bible is a good resource for enabling us to converse fruitfully with those who hold each of the different religious views found among Chinese people.
Endnotes.
1More information at https://www.chinasource.org/resource-library/articles/the-origins-of-the-chinese-union-version-bible/.
2The Chinese words using English letters in this article use the pinyin system, created in mainland China in 1958. A guide to pronunciation is at foundbytes.com/readchinese.
3The connection of “heaven tian” and “ruler on high shang di” with the concept of “god” is alleged by translator James Legge in The Sacred Books of the East, Volume II, (Oxford 1885) page 478, quoted in Sampson C. Shen, Confucius and Tagore, A Comparative Study (no publisher or date listed; preface dated as August 1, 1960, Taipei, Taiwan), page 370. The term di was consequently used for the emperor, since he was reigning at heaven’s discretion.
4The evangelistic conversations in Acts that I am using are at Acts 2:22, 5:30, 3:13, 10:44, 13:28. The speech in Athens (Acts 17:31) mentions only the resurrection. The four components are discussed in detail at foundbytes.com/message-content
5Wolfram Eberhard, Guilt and Sin in Traditional China (University of California Press, 1967) Page 13.
6Sampson Shen quotes early Chinese writings to make the point that parents have the role of the sanctioning force for misbehavior that is held by God in other cultures on pages 335-339, and the quote is from page 340.
7 For example, shame and guilt are explained in Hiebert, Paul G., Transforming Worldviews, Grand Rapids Michigan: Baker Academic. 2009. Page 111.
8 R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. John’s Gospel (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), pp. 32-33, makes the point that pros indicates a communication between those who have personhood.
9 Some of the many different reasons that people believe there is a god are at foundbytes.com/god-existence.
10 Pieper, Christian Dogmatics (St. Louis, MO:1953), Volume 2 page 426.
11 “Hungry Ghost Festival,” article at https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hungry-Ghost-Festival
12Shen, pages 31-37.
11John Bowker ed., Oxford Concise Dictionary of World Religions, (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2000). Articles Pure Land, Zen Buddhism, T’ien T’ai, Shingon.
Resources. Audio of Luther’s small catechism in Chinese is at http://8fu.org. A selection of Lutheran materials in Chinese is at Dr. Mike Paul’s website, lutheranchinese.org. English/Chinese lessons on basic doctrines and Bible introduction are at foundbytes.com/Chinese-menu. Christian education essays in Chinese are at https://fromacorntooak12.com/select-chinese-language-style/. Download the small catechism at https://online.nph.net/multi-language-productions/chinese
Bio. Jim Found’s first career was in music, having received a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Valparaiso University in 1962 and an M. A. from Ball State University in 1968. He received the teacher colloquy from Concordia Chicago in 1980 and was called as a DCE. He served as a missionary on Taiwan from 1986 to 1997, then taught in the Director of Christian Outreach program at Concordia St. Paul until his retirement in 2006. He now lives in Loveland Colorado.