This was just too good not to pass along. Our God is glorious!
This is a glorious presentation! The presenters explain how the stories of Genesis are a part of Chinese characters and history. Glorious!
Need an Orthodox Catechism?
The 'Welcome Home' Network
Abraham’s Ainu ancestors traveled into China. I am not surprised that the Gospel concerning the “Seed” of God (Gen. 3:15) was planted there. The Ainu alphabet is almost identical to the Hebrew alphabet. The Ainu have been identified as the “First People” of modern humans by the molecular geneticist Luigi Cavalli-Sforza. The Ainu were among the aboriginal peoples of the Nile Valley and the rulers of many of the river shrines. One of their shrines was Annu, the original name for Heliopolis (Biblical On), to which the great pyramids were aligned. You will recall that Joseph, son of Jacob, married the daughter of the priest of On (Gen. 41:45). The Chinese alphabet is called Han. This is a variant of Hanu, which is derived from Annu. See this: http://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-nilotic-origins-of-ainu.html
The presenters seem to express the dogma of Original Sin common in Western Christian theology; that is, man’s inheritance of Adam’s sin.
Not surprising, since they are clearly evangelical Christians.
Christos Anesti!
They are bringing thousands (maybe more) to Christ through their message! That is more than I will ever do so I begrudge no one. He clearly has been blessed. Evangelicals are our brothers and sisters in Christ. God bless their work! Thank you for this video. Christ is Lord!
I wish the Micmac Ainu of Canada would be this evangelistic. They too have received the tradition but seem content with a watered down syncretistic version.
http://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2012/01/kindling-of-ancient-memory.html
Thank you Fr. John for you interest in Chinese Orthodox mission by posting the video. As a newly baptized Chinese Orthodox Christian in North America within Antiochian jurisdiction, I am concerned with the state of Orthodoxy in China today. With regard to the ancient Chinese character and its association with Biblical account, fascinating as it be we need to be cautious to the correlations. The attempt of connecting Christianity to ancient Chinese history was spearheaded by a Jesuit in 1800s in an effort of evangelizing Chinese mass. Later Protestants have picked up the theory and built on it with their spin. Christianity claims to be universal and that is even more true with Orthodox Church. What Chinese needs is the fullness of apostolic faith which has been handed down unadulterated through the ages. In my opinion, these character association with Christianity is nothing more than genius fabrication on the part of the scholars. God is all in all and he has left a trace of himself in all culture, race and tribe. Secondly, these theories is to compensate the flaw of western theology (double predestination and so on). However, according to Orthodox theology when Christ descent into Hades he has released all mankind including ancient Chinese. Orthodoxy needs to be free completely from ‘western captivity’. Either you give Chinese the whole and unadulterated truth otherwise you would be more damned on the day of judgement.
It is time to let the light of Orthodoxy shine in this pagan nation with truth and life-giving teachings of our Lord. It is time to release the yoke of false teachings of folk religions and heretical theology of western Christianity which had subdued many souls to its tyrannical rule . It is time for the true HOLY, CATHOLIC, ORTHODOX, AND APOSTOLIC CHURCH be established in this oriental land to the glory of HOLY TRINITY.
AMEN.
Fr John, Bless.
This sounds like an adaptation to Orthodox purposes from the Book:
Chan Kei Thong (with Charlene L Fu), “Faith of our Fathers”, Campus Crusade Asia Ltd, Singapore, 2008.
ISBN – 13: 978-981-05-6302-8.
According to the Imprint page, this book was: “Originally published in Simplified Chinese in the People’s Republic of China by China Publishing Group, Orient Publishing Center, Shanghai, China.”
There are a few other books like this one around, but this one is the most free from denominational bias.
A Parallel Book to this that helps spell out the Christian influence in the Far East is:
Philip Jenkins, “The Lost History of Christianity, Lion, Oxford, England, 2008.
ISBN (UK): 978-0-7459-5367-0.
The Gospel that these Chinese received is remarkably free of and from the corrupting Greco-Roman influence that arose within Pauline-gentile circles in the old Pagan Roman Empire. Both these books help to spell this out.
The first book traces the Noachide-Abrahamic Gospel from before the time of Christ, and the second book traces the Gospel from the Church’s wholly Jewish origins in Jerusalem then following the Jewish trade and civilization routes, bypassing the gentile Hellenised Antiochene influence direct into the northern Iraq of the lands of Ahasuerus of Esther fame, then north-east to Samarkand and thus via the silk route into China.
Nowhere in this line of descent do you find any trace of Athens or Rome. Nowhere in this descent do you see any of the damaging speculative Greek metaphysics that determined the shape of the opposition to it as found in both the Nicene Creed and the consequential precision of language regarding Christology we find in the Eight Ecumenical Councils.
Had the Pauline-Imperial-Roman Church kept to the Hebrew Hochmah Wisdom tradition, instead of veering off into Hellenism, it would have been cosmologically purer and closer to its Jewish Parent of the time of Yeshua’s Ministry (26-30CE) and the Church which was born on Pentecost Sunday, 30CE. And the shape of the Nicene Creed would have been both different, and more Semitic in “flavour”, and most of the conflict-generating debates over Christology from 325 to 879 would have been absent
Please search this original Chinese version of the Church to verify this narrative..
I trust that this assists.
Kissing your right hand,
John.
Thank you, John. Christ is Risen!
Tian, the oldest name for the Supreme Creator God in China, is also the name of the Tian region where the Anu/Ainu reside in northwest China. Ti-an means the Most High God of the Ainu.
I am Byzantine Catholic, I hope to re-unite with Orthodox that way China has a unified Church!
for. luke, i am glad that chinese peoples come to orthodoxy. i am from romania, and there a lots of chinese and between romania and china is a long and strong relationship.
I agree with Luke Chens comments; we must approach with caution, and heed full apostolic teaching. We must approach this with caution.
We must ask ourselves : what would God benefit in revealing Himself to the ancient Chinese ?If God did reveal Himself in this way, what benefit would that be to His unique relationship to Israel ( His covenant people) ? On the otherhand, this topic is food for thought.
Have just come across this conversation… recent arrival to China yet many years in Asia as an ESL instructor… Deeply encouraged. Thanks all… much to consider here.