The Christian Approach to Chinese Beliefs and Culture
SFI Seminar 2011/2
Canon Daniel Tong is Vicar
of the Chapel of the Resurrection – a Parish under the Diocese of Singapore
(Anglican), the Chaplain of the Saint Andrew’s Junior College and author
of three books – A Biblical Approach to Chinese Traditions and
Beliefs, A Biblical Approach to Feng Shui and Divination, and
Praying Right
It was a good seminar with plenty of interactions and learning. His four
principles of engagement with Chinese Beliefs and Feng Shui are appropriate and
set the tone for the considerations of these beliefs. These principles are
Date: 2.00pm - 9.30pm, Saturday 9 April 2011
Place: Berea, Holy Light Church, 11-C, Jalan Gertak Merah, 80100 Johor Bahru, Malaysia
Speaker: Canon Daniel Tong
Synopsis of seminar
Session 1: Chinese Traditions
Believers in Christ desire to honour and
please Him, but do often struggle with doing so while yet respecting and
continuing to uphold the ethnic cultural heritage that is ours as Chinese.
This struggle between faith and culture is not something new. In this
session, principles with which to evaluate the acceptability or not of a
cultural belief and practice to the teaching of the Bible will be presented.
A number of Chinese festivals will be explored so to help participants
understand how these principles are to be applied.
Session 2: Ancestral Veneration
The call to honour our father and mother is
universal. In Chinese tradition, this thought has been extended to the care
of and obedience to our dearly departed. What does the Bible have to say
about this? What are we to make of the traditional practices of venerating
our departed ancestors? In this session, we will seek to better understand
the Chinese perspective, and determine that which is acceptable or
unacceptable for us who believe in Christ.
Session 3: Feng Shui
The Chinese have practiced Feng Shui for
thousands of years, but how much do we really understand this practise? Is
it really a science? Why do people engage in this practise? Feng Shui has
enjoyed renewed interest in South East Asia in recent years. In this
session, we will explore the origin of this practise and seek a deeper
understand of its primary principles. This will provide us with a better
basis with which to decide on whether or not we should engage in Feng Shui.
Biodata of speaker:
(1) origin versus legend
(2) context versus connotation
(3) symbolism versus superstition
(4) proclamation versus practice
