Discipled by the West?—The Influence of the Theology of Protestant Missionaries in China on Chinese Christianity through the Translation of the Chinese Union Version of the Bible

Abstract

Over the last one hundred years, the Chinese Union Version of the Bible (CUV)—translated by Western Protestant missionaries—has enjoyed an unparalleled status as the Chinese Bible or the “Authorized Version” of the Chinese Bible. However, despite such towering significance, no scholarly works to date have systematically examined the influences of Protestant missionary theology on the translation of the CUV and, in turn, on Chinese Christianity. As an introductory attempt to explore this question, this paper first highlights this gap in current scholarship and the importance of filling this gap. Then, it presents four factors and two limitations in examining the theology of the CUV and conducts a case study on the theological topic of dichotomy versus trichotomy in the translation of the CUV along with four other Chinese Bible translations. After examining how the transaltors’ theology might have influenced these translations, it suggests how such influence through the translation of the CUV might have shaped Chinese Christianity both past and present, thereby demonstrating how the understanding of Chinese Christianity can be deepened by examining the relationships between missionaries’ theology, their Bible translations, and the development of Chinese Christianity.

Anthropological Terms in Chinese Biblical Translations: The Interplay between Catholic and Protestant Versions in Response to Chinese Traditional Cultures

“…Chao-Chun Liu distinctively traces the influence of Protestant theology on Chinese Christianity through the Chinese Union Version of the Bible, with a case study examining the varied renderings of the anthropological concept of pneuma: some translators were dichotomists and thus ignored the difference between psyche and pneuma, while some others were trichotomists, believing that human beings consist of three parts-body, soul and spirit-and therefore distinguish the Chinese renditions of psyche and pneuma. The topic of human constitution belongs to the category of theological anthropology that has been randomly observed by scholars in the field of Chinese Bible translation, and in fact, Liu's insight does not cover the origin of the two theories of human constitution, let alone evaluate them in the context of Chinese theology (C.-C. Liu 2021). Historically, the anthropological concepts in Chinese biblical texts originated from the Western theory of the soul introduced by the Jesuits active in late Ming China; accordingly, implying a dialogue between the Bible and Chinese philosophy and relating to translation thoughts in different ages and various other theological topics, such as pneumatology and soteriology.…”