The Chinese Bible in Evangelistic Conversations Version 1/1/2025
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 you through your knowledge about the Chinese Bible to engage with sensitivity in gospel conversations with those of the various religious viewpoints held by Chinese people today. Five major Chinese schools of thought are viewed in terms of four concepts in the message of salvation. These insights are important for you even if you are 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.
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 of the technical terms 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 however translate it clearly by the two Chinese words “named” and “righteous.” (cheng 称and yi 义). 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. )
The word “sanctification” was copied into English from Latin, but the Chinese Bible translates it with the words for “become” and “holy”(cheng sheng 成聖). As for words that English transliterated from Greek, the Greek words for Apostle and for Angel are both translated into Chinese by making use of the word for messenger or envoy, shi 使. Apostle is shi tu, 使徒, an ambassador, and Angel is tian shi, 天使, the word for sky or heaven plus messenger. The Greek word copied into English letters to create the word Baptism is translated into Chinese as “washing-ceremony” (xi li 洗禮).
The English word prophet is a transliteration from the Greek word that means “speak forth,” but in Chinese it is a translation, xian zhi 先知, which means one who “knows in advance.” The English word priest is a shortened form of the Greek word presbyteros, which means elder, but in Chinese it is a translation: ji si 祭司 , one who offers a sacrifice.
Most English versions perpetuate the Jewish custom, continued in the Septuagint, of replacing the name of God given at the burning bush, commonly written in English letters as YHWH, with the word for Lord. We thus 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. The Chinese version however 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 terms that are not translated, but simply represented by characters with a similar sound, such as Amen, Hallelujah, Immanuel, and Messiah. Their meanings then would need to be explained. The term Christ is represented in Chinese as jidu 基督.These characters are evidently meant to approximate the sound “Christ,” since the sound ji is used in Chinese for many proper names that start with ch (example: Chios ji a), and a d sound is used when transliterating many names that have a t before the grammatical ending (example: Erastos yi la du). Whereas in English one can explain Christ by referring to the commonly known word “christen,” in Chinese there is no relation between the sound jidu and the word for christening, so explain the meaning of jidu, 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”
In addition, Psalm 2:7 adds about the anointed one “you are my son.” This verse is quoted in Hebrews 1:5 in reference to Jesus, making clear that this anointed one, the Christ, jidu, is God’s Son.
In the Old Testament, the act of anointing designated someone as king. The Jewish people used the term messiah (anointed one) to refer to that eternal king who will descend from David and deliver God’s people from their enemies. Today when someone calls Jesus by the term Christ, he is professing that Jesus is God the Son, our king and savior. Prophets and priests were also anointed, and the New Testament teaches that Jesus, as well as 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
The four content areas of the salvation message used in this article are those 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 In these examples there are four topics that the apostles never left out: our human problem, the nature and work of Christ, the response kindled by the Spirit, and the benefits of Christ’s work. These are the four areas that need to be engaged when evangelizing, and each has important considerations one must take into account when building bridges for gospel conversations with Chinese people. How they are approached will differ according to the religious background of the listener.
First, recognition of sin.
Humanity’s problem, revealed in scripture, is that we are separated from God due to sin. If the person you are talking to is shaped by Confucian thought (ru jia 儒家), the person may counter that the ancient sages taught that humans are basically good (only one of them, Xunzi, argued that people are intrinsically evil). However, the person probably can admit that the sages did emphasize a sense of responsibility, and that those who do not play their proper role in the hierarchy of society are in the wrong. Most people I talk with will agree that people are not perfect. 不完美。The ideals in Confucianism are good ideals, but people are aware that they do not always live up to the rules, or they may be resentful about the rules.
In the Confucian writings, obedience to heaven is an ideal, and people are exhorted to try hard to reach the ideal, but are not told to repent toward heaven. The Bible though explains that wrong behavior makes one guilty before God, and therefore it is only God that can forgive one’s wrongs. God must receive repentance, not just a promise of good intentions. Psalm 51:4 clarifies: “Against you, you only, have I sinned.”
Misunderstanding can occur 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. So until you explain further, when you say that someone is a sinner, what they hear you saying is that you think they are a criminal. So it is necessary to explain that the Bible usage of this term is different than the social 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 guo cuo 過錯, disobedience wei bei 違背, and rebellion bei ni 悖逆.
To explain the idea of being guilty of wrong before God, one can refer to the near-universal Chinese reverence for parents. The idea is that since I was generated by my parents, I ought 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.”5
If the person is under the sway of philosophical Daoism, he 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 (rou ti 肉體 body of flesh) to translate the Greek sarkos, announcing that following our natural impulses leads to death. Religious Daoism over the years has incorporated and systematized many elements of Chinese thought, including martial arts, yin and yang, feng shui, and a hierarchy of gods. There is a yearning for connection with the universe and its spirits, but not 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: your evil actions have made a separation (ge jie隔绝) from God.
If the person is a follower of Chinese Buddhism, then the issue is karma (yin guo 因果). The person already accepts that his wrongdoings will influence his future, so thinks that one must perform more good words than bad works to obtain a reincarnation where one can more readily accumulate good karma. 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 by translating “works” by the word for behavior (xing wei 行为).
If the person follows the Chinese traditional religion of ceremonial acts performed toward ancestors and Chinese gods as an appeal for good fortune, there would not be familiarity with the idea that religion has a moral aspect; the worshippers expect the god to respond to the correct ceremonies no matter one’s good or bad behavior. One can build on the experiences of guilt and shame to show how they are symptoms of a rift with God. Missiological research concludes that western culture emphasizes guilt, while eastern cultures emphasize shame.6 Christianity supplies a solution for each: guilt is forgiven, and shame is healed by acceptance. But on the matter of moving someone toward the recognition that a savior is needed, I find it more fruitful to use guilt as a transition. Chinese people can feel guilt (gan dao rou jiu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.
Many Chinese people today are atheists and have been taught about Darwinism and the lack of any moral standard. Like western atheists, some of them come to see their human condition by the lack of meaning in their lives, and God has drawn them to believe. The meaning that they see in you as someone belonging to God can lead to conversation about the gospel.
Second, The person and work of Jesus.
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 the goal is not to argue that such a power exists, but to show 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.) This section will focus on what the Bible says about Jesus to point Chinese people to the true God.
John 1:1 will be rich in meaning for those who follow Daoism and Confucianism because the Chinese Bible uses the Chinese philosophical word dao 道 to translate logos. The translators apparently accepted the view that John used logos because of its importance in Greek philosophy, because if they held the view that logos referred back to the word spoken in creation, consistent with the concept in Hebrews 1:2 (God has spoken to us in His Son), I believe they would have selected another word, not the word dao. As it is, the word dao is full of spiritual meaning for those educated in Chinese thought, just like the word logos was full of meaning in Greek philosophy. Different philosophers have explained logos and dao in different ways, such as “the unseen power of the universe,” or “the rules to keep the universe going,” or “the energy that makes those rules work;” in addition Chinese thought includes along with dao the concept of truth. These associations will come to mind when an educated Chinese person reads in John 1:14 that the dao became flesh, and will be heard as the astounding proclamation that Jesus is the incarnation of the fundamental power of the universe. This is consonant with what Paul writes in Colossians 1:17, where the Chinese Bible translates clearly that all things have their foundation in him: wan you ye kao ta er li 萬有也靠他而立.
Those who worship the Chinese gods already believe that a human being could become a god, for many of those gods are ancient heroes who have become deified, and others are ancestors who are being worshipped by more than one family. The New Testament reveals the contrary proposition that Jesus is God becoming man, not a man becoming God, and so the words of John 1:14 announcing that that the super-power, the dao, became a human being are highly significant in Chinese: “the dao became human flesh dao cheng rou shen 道成肉身.” 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 fu huo 复活).”
Since Buddhists are atheists (although in practice some Chinese followers reverence the various Buddha statues in a way similar to the way Chinese gods are worshipped), you may need to talk about reasons for the existence of God.7 Because Buddhists are attuned to personal development of compassionate behavior, you can look for opportunities 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” (mie wang 滅亡), which would be meaningful to a Buddhist who believes that death brings the extinguishing of self. Jesus saves us from being extinguished. The fact that God’s redemption is available to all is good news for those in religions where only a select few reach the point through meditation where they achieve their goal. You 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.
Explaining Christ’s sacrificial death for our sins can be meaningfully done 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 it 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.” This is the word that 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. You only need to supplement the term by explaining that the “bringing back” was constituted by the forgiveness of sins through the shedding of blood, as in the Old Testament.
Third, Repentance faith, and Baptism.
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 hui gai 悔改. The first character indicates regret, and the second character means “to change or reform.” You need to add the idea that in Christianity it is more than a promise to yourself, but rather it is a confession directly to God that you admit your sin is against Him, that you express apology, and that you request God to forgive you.
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 on someone, who is Christ himself.) Both are needed. Francis Pieper clearly states, Christian faith is trust in Jesus as the God/man who dealt with our sins on the cross.8 The English translation uses prepositions (that and in) to indicate these nuances, but 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 (yilai 依賴and yikao 依靠), and trust (xinren 信任).
Baptism. The “baptism of regeneration” of Titus 3:5 is beautifully translated in the Chinese Bible as “washing that brings new birth” (chong sheng de xi, 重生的洗). I have known Chinese young people who came to faith but whose parents forbade them to receive baptism because of its public nature. Especially in smaller communities, when there is a catastrophe like a fire or a car accident, the neighbors would blame the family that allowed a Christian to be in their midst, thus inviting the anger of the local god. That’s why I was so grateful for the Lutheran teaching, as expressed by Francis Pieper, that all the means of grace bring the same thing,9 so I would proceed with Christian growth teachings for those believers who were not yet baptized, and I would rejoice with them when their parents finally came to believe and permitted the baptism.
Fourth, Benefits of being a Christian.
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. There are several Chinese words for the English word peace. It is translated ping an 平安in Colossians 1:2, and the “peace with God” in Romans 5:1 is xiang he 相和, which has nuances of acceptance and togetherness.
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. You bring the good news 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. “God is at work in you to will and to do according to His good pleasure” 2 Timothy 2:13. 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 弥勒佛) brings the subject of 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 ask or pledge to become a better person; Jesus fulfils Ezekiel’s promise to give a new heart. Traditional worshippers 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. Confucianism and Daoism find meaning in seeking to be in harmony with the universe. Christianity promises that they will be one with the creator of the universe. Buddhists find meaning in the breakthrough to enlightenment (the realization that all is illusion), but God created a material world, and said “it is good,” not an illusion. 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 are 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.”
Power against demons. While my students on Taiwan could appreciate that Jesus brings forgiveness, some told me that the most meaningful 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 you if you let your guard down. 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 receive release. On this topic, new Christians need to be assured that the evil spirits mentioned in the Bible (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 to 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.
For Buddhists, the self ends at death, but its components re-arrange into a new self. This process continues until the components of your self finally extinguish, and you enter nirvana 涅槃, meaning the peace that comes from non-existence and the end of your own self. The benefits promised by Christianity to Buddhists is that you only have to live once, you do not need to be reincarnated, and you will enter eternal life as your 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
The person you are talking to though may be influenced by other schools of Buddhism. It was the Mahayana branch (大乘) that was predominant in China, and Chinese adapted it to suit their culture. In particular, the non-existence of self and the notion that Nirvana is 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 (淨土宗) was founded around 400 AD in Jiangxi Province. A conversational connection is that entry into the Pure Land is obtained by calling upon the name Amitabha (omitofu 阿弥陀佛), while scripture says “he who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Acts2:21). 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 it 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, but venerates an earlier document from India called the Lotus Sutra as the highest stage of those many schools. It teaches that Buddha is a supernatural preacher in a paradise.11 You can contrast this to Jesus as the Son of Man represented in Daniel 7:1-14, whose kingdom is everlasting. The Chinese Bible uses the same translation for “son of man” (ren zi人子) in both Daniel and the Gospels. 4) The Zhen Yan sect (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. Christian conversation can begin with the proclamation that in Jesus 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” (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 a few 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 of 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. The Chinese characters in this article are traditional characters.
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
5Sampson 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.
6For example, shame and guilt are explained in Hiebert, Paul G., Transforming Worldviews, Grand Rapids Michigan: Baker Academic. 2009. Page 111.
7Some of the many different reasons that people believe there is a god are at foundbytes.com/god-existence.
8Pieper, Christian Dogmatics (St. Louis, MO:1953), Volume 2 page 426.
9Francis Pieper, op. cit., Volume 3 page 108.
10Shen, pages 31-37.
11John Bowker ed., Oxford Concise Dictionary of World Religions, (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2000). Article T’ien T’ai.
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 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. He served as 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.