I’m sure many of us have read how Hudson Taylor used certain Chinese characters to help preach the gospel to the Chinese. He found correlations between the pictographs with the Bible stories that worked to explain to the Chinese people what God’s love meant.  He suggested that the character for “come” depicted Jesus on the cross with two thieves beside him. That’s one way to do cross-cultural missions!

Here’s lai (to come):

Over the years, there have been different books expanding on this idea of bible encoding in Chinese characters. Writers have attempted to propose that the origins of the Chinese (Han) race are linked somehow with the dispersion recorded in Genesis. The history of the Chinese in fact is so ancient that as we go further and further back into the mists of lost time, it is really difficult to separate legend from fact. I’m not exactly convinced by some of the ideas proposed in these books–sometimes, it sounds a little like wishful thinking. But there again, there are also things that are hard to dismiss. In any case, it’s an interesting etymological thesis.

Some pictographs, for example, suggest quite convincingly that the ancient Chinese had ‘biblical knowledge’. I’m fishing out just a few that I think are pretty convincing for our consideration.

Righteousness

This is really interesting. The classical Chinese character for righteousness is (ahem) yì 義 (simplified 义), pictured more clearly below.

It is a compound of two other characters, ’lamb’ at the top and ‘I’ or ‘me’ at the bottom. It’s tempting to suggest that righteousness means something like “I am under the Lamb.” Other interpretations say that it could mean justice is the power that tames individual aggression, so that we become docile like sheep (Fun with Chinese Characters). Frankly, don’t you think the ‘Christian’ reading sounds more like it?

Forbidden

Forbidden (jin) is made up of two words too:  ‘tree’ and ‘command’ (or ‘to reveal from heaven’). Put them together and this is what we get:

Notice that there are two trees in the word! Why on earth would ‘forbidden’ have two trees in it? Unless Eden echoes in the remote distance.

Boat

Boat (chuán) is made up of three separate words: vessel + eight + person.

We don’t need to look too far to see Noah hailing us from his ark!

There are numerous other examples, but they’re hard to replicate here because:

(1). I’m Chinese illiterate

(2). The characters and fonts are driving me crazy … but that’s linked to (1).

But for those keen to explore the subject a little more, here are some book titles to get your hands on:

1. Faith of Our Fathers by Chan Kei Thong with Charlene L. Fu

2.  The Discovery of Genesis by CH Kang and Ethel Nelson

3.  God’s Promise to the Chinese by Ethel Nelson, Richard E. Broadberry and Ginger Tong Chock

So enjoy!

More common Greek words we ought to know  …

Parousia

παρουσία: meaning “arrival”, “coming”, or “presence”. Originally, this word was used to describe anyone’s arrival, but now the main use in theology refers to the Second Advent/Coming of Christ.

Greek icon of Second Coming, 1770

Gnosis

γνῶσις: gen. meaning –knowledge.

The second century heresy, Christian gnosticism, grew out of a view that special and secret knowledge was necessary for salvation. The Gospel of Judas is a good example of Christian gnosticism.

Sophia

Σοφíα: wisdom. Often personified as a woman in Greek literature and also in the Book of Proverbs:

“Does not wisdom call out?
Does not understanding raise her voice?
At the highest point along the way,
where the paths meet, she takes her stand” (8: 1-2)

Hagios

ἅγιος: holy; set apart; like the Lord; special to the Lord; saints; holy ones (hagioi [pl])

“Paul and Timothy, bond servants of Christ Jesus (the Messiah), to all the saints (God’s consecrated people) in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the bishops (overseers) and deacons (assistants)” (Philippians 1: 1): Amplified Bible – Lockman

Koinonia

κοινωνία: This is a word that describes our Christian relationships and fellowship. It takes in ideas of shared communion, intimacy, and participation. It also describes the breaking of the bread which we call Communion. The ideal relationships for Christians are made possible through our sharing and fellowshipping in the communion of Jesus Christ:  “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2: 42). Visit this site for more infomation on how important true fellowship is for the Christian  http://www.gotquestions.org/koinonia.html .

Biblos

βίβλος: book; scroll. It refers to the inner part of the papyrus plant. Papyrus was used as writing materials in Egypt and the Mediterrannean.

The word ‘Bible’ simply means ‘book’.

Metanoia

μετάνοια: in theology this means repentance. It is a compound word made from two words: a preposition μετά  meta (after; with) + νοέω  noeo (to perceive, to think)–to mean “a change of mind”.

Ekklesiaa

ἐκκλησία: calling out; an assembly, a gathering. In Christianity, it refers to the Church, ie. a popular meeting, especially a religious gathering/congregation

“… one holy Church is to continue forever. The Church is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered.” – Augsburg Confession

Eschatos

Kurios

κύριος: lord, master, sir, guardian. We refer to Jesus as our Kurios or Lord

Anastasis

ἀνάστασις: Did you ever wonder what the name Anastasia means and where it came from? Actually, it is derived from anastasis, which means resurrection. Anastasia means ‘resurrection’, or ‘rising again’. Christ’s resurrection is the foundation of our faith.

Icon of the Anastasis in a mosaic from the Phokis Hosios Lukas Monastery

Hamartia

ἁμαρτία: missing the mark; sin; guilt; a fatal flaw. This was a term developed by Aristotle. It refers to an archer missing his mark as he shoots his arrow. When we sin, we “miss the mark” (ἁμαρτάνω hamartanō).

Doulos

δοῦλος: a slave. Paul often described himself as a doulos of Christ (Phil. 1: 1). In Greek, doulos referred to a bondslave, one who was a permanent slave to his master, and for whom his master’s wishes and will were the consuming considerations of his life. A bondslave is totally surrendered and devoted to his master–he knows no other life. Just as Paul was a doulos of Christ, we are all to be the douloi (pl) of Christ too.

Theos

θεός: God; a god; the supreme being who created and sustains all things.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1: 1)

Visit  www.strongsnumbers.com for more Greek words (and Hebrew, if you’re interested)