Current Issues：

Book Excerpt: A Public Faith 　　　　Liangshwu Chen

First of all Christians should explain to the public the relationship of God and the well-being of mankind. Secondly, we have to persuade them that loving God and our neighbor is the key to the prosperity of a society.

The best and most effective way to share wisdom lies in the action of forgiveness.

In respect to the sacred scriptures the believers of different religions should treat each other with exegetical kindness.

Current Issues：

The Ending and the Beginning　　　　Qin Su

New Perspectives：

Delineating “Heaven and Earth” in a Chinese Context 　　　　Daniel Ling Li

Confucius was transformed from the founder of a school into the initiator of the classical knowledge system, from someone talking about “truth world” into a builder of “truth world.”

To the Chinese, the pursuit of religion begins with the “earth,” i.e., reality, or human needs. They choose (or design) a “god” accordingly.

Only after we have put our faith in Jesus, we might gradually comprehend that the truth revealed by the cross is the genuine “absolute truth.”

New Perspectives：

Nothing New Under the Sun: Theistic　 Evolution, the Early Church, and the Return of Gnosticism(3) 　　　　Liming Tang

According to the new perspective of Theistic Evolutionism, “redemption” means that the God of absence saved His creatures from a flawed creation and built an unprecedented relationship with them.

New Perspectives：

A Journey of Discovering the Soul (4): The Challenge of “Non-Self” and “Self Consciousness”　　　　Xiaoan Zhou

Every experience belongs to someone, either to me or to the other person. It cannot exist by itself.

The fact that “self” cannot be found by observation nor introspection does not deny its existence. At most we may conclude that the mode of observation or introspection is invalid.

When Descartes said “I think therefore I am,” the assurance of that kind of self- reflection must be rooted in self-consciousness.

New Perspectives：

The Name of Jesus: The Real Strength of Faith　　　　Wenyu Xie

To speak “in the name of Jesus,” the basic requirement is to know the personality of Jesus. Otherwise it may be a misuse of that name.

On Arts：

The Principles of Living: A Comparison between the Book of Proverbs and the Analects of Confucius　　　　Wei shi

The Book of Proverbs and the Analects both stress the importance of guarding one’s heart, yet the contents were different. In Proverbs “heart” stands for “spirit,” a place to meet God. Our relationship with God and our knowledge of the divine are to be guarded.

The only One to be feared is the Creator God. Accordingly we should not classify people or fear those who are superior.

To live a life based on knowing God and seeking His power is totally different from living a life based on conscience, morality and differentiating right from wrong. These differences will influence the social structure and the behavior of daily living.

On Arts

Divine Rod and Book of Covenant: A Forgotten Myth　　　　Minh Tran

The divine rod signifies a high regard of man, depicting man as holding the power of life and death. But the Cross directs us to look up to God and rely on the resurrected Lord, for He has overcome death.