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I’ve been doing some reading recently about Confucianism. Because whether implicit or explicit, it’s the philosophical background in which many pastors of Chinese churches minister. And it’s been fascinating – hopefully I can share some insights along the way.

Confucius is the Anglicised form of the Chinese for "Master Kong", the
man himself, who was born in what is today the Shandong province in the
East of China. He lived and taught around 500 BC.

One of the big debates that has been going on for years is, what exactly is Confucianism? Is Confucianism a philosophy? or is it a religion?

When Roman Catholic missionaries arrived in China, they discovered that some people followed Buddhism – which they easily recognised as a religion. But they also came across Confucianism, which they realised had a much stronger hold of the hearts and minds of the Chinese – and they weren’t quite sure whether it was a religion. And so some of the earliest Western records of Confucianism was the reports sent back from Roman Catholic missionaries, detailing this new philosophy.

Confucius himself avoided discussing heaven and the spiritual realm. Here is a passage from The Analects of Confucius:"the subjects on which the Master did not talk, were-extraordinary things, feats of strength, disorder, and spiritual beings."

And many Chinese themselves don’t identify Confucianism as a religion. In part, that may be because for many Chinese, ‘religion’ is a negative term that is associated with superstition and fear – and for them Confucianism isn’t about superstition at all – but more about the science of perceiving the Way of Heaven, the Way of Humans, and the Way of the Mean – and thereby living wisely in the world.

This means that when many Chinese don’t see there to be a need to repent of Confucianism when they become Christians – because for them, unlike Buddhism, Confucianism isn’t a religion. Confucianism is only a very useful philosophy of life that enables them to live well in the world – and Christianity is often thought of as fitting quite well beside (or even under) Confucianism.

However those who know their early Church history will know that, in the West, Aristotle (384 – 322 BC) was described as a "Christian before Christ", so amazingly well did his teachings seem to fit with Christianity. And so early Christians in the Western empire happily allowed Aristotelian thought to coexist with, and assist in their thinking about Christianity. However by the time of the middle ages, the admixture of Christianity and Aristotelian thought had actually led to Scholasticism – which the reformers realised had taken Christianity far away from its roots! And by that time, it required a Luther and a Calvin to tear Christianity out of the bosom of Aristotle.

This should sound a warning to Chinese Christians everywhere. We must take special care lest Confucius becomes the Eastern church’s counterpart to the West’s Aristotle. While Confucianism may seem a harmless, and even helpful philosophy for us, we must remember that the Western church also thought the same of Aristotelianism. And so as Chinese Christians, we must discipline ourselves to carefully examine our Confucian tendencies – even us ABCs! And where Confucianism and the Bible both seem to us to agree – to move very cautiously.

[ PS: know much about Confucianism? If not, find out more about the philosophical environment in which you minister! ]