WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.000 Great. 00:00:17.240 --> 00:00:21.920 Okay, folks, welcome back to our second class on the history of Christianity in China. 00:00:23.620 --> 00:00:28.379 We're going to do a brief overview of what we talked about last week, and then we'll jump right in. 00:00:28.379 --> 00:00:36.439 Before I do that, though, I just want to let you know, for those of you who came, there's been just some technological difficulties. 00:00:36.539 --> 00:00:38.939 My laptop's frozen the last few minutes. 00:00:38.979 --> 00:00:41.939 I just got it started up, but Zoom seems to not be agreeing with it. 00:00:42.019 --> 00:00:50.679 So if that happens again and I go away, then just stick around for a few minutes, and I'll use a different computer and try and get back on. 00:00:50.679 --> 00:01:07.019 If you guys have questions, feel free to use the chat, and I will do my best to answer those questions as soon as I can, although we may wait to the end of the meeting. 00:01:07.019 --> 00:01:12.780 I'm just doing some last-minute cleanup here. 00:01:12.939 --> 00:01:14.359 I'm looking usually the chat. 00:01:15.519 --> 00:01:17.539 Well, I'll figure that out when the time comes. 00:01:17.579 --> 00:01:24.620 Usually the chat, I can see the chat while I'm sharing, but apparently not this time, but we'll figure that out when the time comes. 00:01:24.620 --> 00:01:24.980 Okay. 00:01:33.480 --> 00:01:34.880 So welcome back. 00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:45.460 Last week we talked about history of Christianity in Asia and China from beginnings from 30 AD, the resurrection of Jesus, until about 500 or so. 00:01:45.459 --> 00:01:52.179 So, and I'm going to bring up my pointer here so you guys can see. 00:01:52.319 --> 00:02:00.500 We talked about the Church of the East, which is the church east of the Persian, of the Roman Empire, in the Persian Empire, around this area here. 00:02:00.500 --> 00:02:16.920 And we talked about how even around 200 AD, there were Christians in the Kushan Empire, which is around here in western China, eastern Afghanistan, and northwestern India and Pakistan, around 200 AD. 00:02:17.240 --> 00:02:18.319 And then we did some history. 00:02:18.319 --> 00:02:38.099 We talked about the Church of the East theologically, how they're sometimes mislabeled as not being orthodox Christians, but they do affirm the Nicene Creed and the Constantinopolitan Creed, which are the two big creeds that Protestants use, as well as Roman Catholics and Orthodox, eastern Orthodox churches. 00:02:38.099 --> 00:02:49.859 We spoke about how there were various missions in Western China, like amongst the Huns in the 500s, the Mongols in, it's a little unclear, 500s, 600s, 700s. 00:02:49.859 --> 00:02:59.819 And then we talked about how over here in eastern China, in the capital, there may have been some missions in the early 500s, and we've got some reasons for that. 00:02:59.919 --> 00:03:02.759 It looks probable, but we can't be totally certain. 00:03:02.759 --> 00:03:09.019 But it does seem that there were Christian monks from the Church of the East hanging out there. 00:03:10.259 --> 00:03:12.819 And we're going to continue this story today. 00:03:13.159 --> 00:03:16.539 So I'm going to open in a word of prayer, and then we'll begin. 00:03:18.479 --> 00:03:21.759 Father in heaven, we thank you for this privilege to gather virtually. 00:03:22.219 --> 00:03:24.099 We pray for our world today. 00:03:24.199 --> 00:03:27.139 We pray that you would heal our world of this pandemic. 00:03:27.139 --> 00:03:38.439 We pray also, Lord, that in this time when we learn about your church flowing throughout the four corners of the earth, that we would be inspired and encouraged, but also that we would have discernment. 00:03:38.699 --> 00:03:45.659 Lord, that we know that your saints of old in the Bible, they did many wonderful things. 00:03:45.739 --> 00:03:46.899 They also made many mistakes. 00:03:46.899 --> 00:03:54.699 And we pray that we would learn from our brethren who've gone before us, both from their gifts and their failings. 00:03:54.699 --> 00:03:58.299 We thank you, Lord, that you have spread your gospel throughout the earth. 00:03:58.419 --> 00:04:01.859 We pray that you'd help us to be light in this world. 00:04:02.799 --> 00:04:04.399 We pray all this in the mighty name of Jesus. 00:04:05.219 --> 00:04:05.439 Amen. 00:04:06.859 --> 00:04:07.259 Okay. 00:04:08.939 --> 00:04:11.079 I'm going to open with a quote. 00:04:11.079 --> 00:04:20.219 This quote is from a Church of the East theologian, so a Syriac Persian theologian writing around this corner of the world. 00:04:20.680 --> 00:04:22.060 And he's writing around the year 500. 00:04:22.279 --> 00:04:24.039 He's a very famous theologian in their tradition. 00:04:24.700 --> 00:04:25.400 He's a poet. 00:04:25.520 --> 00:04:27.020 And this is a quote from a poem. 00:04:27.020 --> 00:04:39.600 And just like we do when we write hymns or Christian poetry, sometimes we will take up the person of God or of Jesus to express emotions or theology. 00:04:39.980 --> 00:04:42.700 And Narcite does the very same thing in the quote I'm going to show you. 00:04:42.759 --> 00:04:44.040 He takes up the person of Jesus. 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:52.000 And I want you to listen to what he has to say, because what he says, I think, shows one of the guiding principles of the Church of the East. 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:52.759 So here it goes. 00:04:52.759 --> 00:04:57.079 So remember, he's writing poetry in the person of Jesus. 00:04:57.079 --> 00:05:00.560 Your task is this, to complete the mystery of preaching. 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:05.680 And you shall be my witnesses of the new way which I have opened up in my person. 00:05:06.319 --> 00:05:14.300 You I send as messengers to the four quarters of the earth to convert the Gentiles to kinship with the house of Abraham. 00:05:15.100 --> 00:05:18.720 By you as the light, I will banish the darkness of error. 00:05:19.220 --> 00:05:22.639 And by your flames, I will enlighten the blind world. 00:05:23.439 --> 00:05:24.139 Go forth. 00:05:24.139 --> 00:05:40.699 The church of the East was more zealous for mission and for evangelization than any other ancient church, especially once you get into the 300s, the 400s, the 500s, 600s, 700s. 00:05:41.039 --> 00:05:44.779 They were great missionaries and they went to the ends of the earth. 00:05:44.879 --> 00:05:47.959 And we're going to read about that and hear about that today. 00:05:47.959 --> 00:05:57.500 We're going to begin in 635 AD in what today is Xi'an China, Chang'an in ancient times. 00:05:58.060 --> 00:06:01.219 This was the capital of the Tang Dynasty. 00:06:01.939 --> 00:06:09.099 And the reason why we are beginning here is because of something that was found about a thousand years later. 00:06:09.100 --> 00:06:11.720 So in 635, we're going to be talking about. 00:06:11.900 --> 00:06:21.400 But the reason why we know about what happened in 635 is because about a thousand years later, in 1625, this was discovered. 00:06:21.820 --> 00:06:24.240 This is a very large monument. 00:06:25.220 --> 00:06:27.379 And it is was dug up. 00:06:27.439 --> 00:06:30.740 It was found buried and it was dug up in 1625. 00:06:31.780 --> 00:06:33.680 And you can see how large it is. 00:06:33.720 --> 00:06:35.560 You can see there's Chinese characters on the top. 00:06:35.560 --> 00:06:47.699 And this monument contained a history of Christianity in China from 635 to 781. 00:06:48.259 --> 00:06:53.920 And just so you can get an idea of how extraordinary this is, this was this was stunning news. 00:06:54.060 --> 00:06:55.620 Nobody knew about this history. 00:06:55.620 --> 00:06:56.639 It had been lost. 00:06:56.639 --> 00:07:06.439 And it was it was so amazing, in fact, that at the time, scholars thought that this was a forgery. 00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:09.759 They thought that this was not an authentic archaeological discovery. 00:07:09.759 --> 00:07:15.180 And the reasons they thought that was because it was just so stunning and surprising and amazing. 00:07:15.180 --> 00:07:24.079 But also because this monument was found just about a thousand years from the time it commemorates. 00:07:24.259 --> 00:07:27.039 And that seemed a bit too convenient to some scholars. 00:07:28.199 --> 00:07:30.579 And the Jesuits were beginning missions in China. 00:07:30.579 --> 00:07:37.360 And they thought, you know, whoa, it's sure it's a nice coincidence that you found this monument documenting China just a thousand years ago starting. 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:40.120 But all those doubts have passed. 00:07:40.259 --> 00:07:44.680 Scholars unanimously affirm the authenticity of this monument. 00:07:44.920 --> 00:07:46.060 It is beyond doubt. 00:07:46.639 --> 00:07:51.780 And there's various reasons why they do, which I'll explain as we go on. 00:07:51.939 --> 00:07:53.600 I want to give you a little bit more background, though. 00:07:53.660 --> 00:08:01.620 You'll notice if you're reading the inscription, you'll notice down here it says a full-size cast of the Nestorian Church of the East replica of this monument. 00:08:01.620 --> 00:08:09.139 In Yale University, the only production in the USA, there were a few copies of this monument made. 00:08:09.399 --> 00:08:12.060 The only one in North America was given to Yale University. 00:08:12.060 --> 00:08:18.259 It was placed, I believe, in the entry stairwell to Sterling Memorial Library in the early 1900s. 00:08:18.259 --> 00:08:32.340 And I have worked very hard contacting librarians, curators at the Beinecke, at the Peabody, at all sorts of places, the Art Museum, at Yale. 00:08:32.539 --> 00:08:34.939 None of them have any idea where this thing is right now. 00:08:35.319 --> 00:08:44.360 And I think I've determined that it was lost sometime between the early 1900s and the 1930s when Sterling was moved to a new location. 00:08:44.539 --> 00:08:46.620 This didn't come with it and nobody knows where it is. 00:08:46.620 --> 00:08:48.259 So it's a real shame. 00:08:48.740 --> 00:08:53.299 But a full-size replica of this used to be just down the road from where we are right now. 00:08:54.500 --> 00:08:57.659 This is a picture of the monument as it stands today. 00:08:57.779 --> 00:08:59.659 You can see it's covered in glass to protect it. 00:08:59.720 --> 00:09:01.500 You can see a turtle on the bottom of it. 00:09:02.639 --> 00:09:04.120 I think it's eight or ten feet tall. 00:09:05.679 --> 00:09:09.399 You can see the beautiful engraving at the top. 00:09:10.700 --> 00:09:13.100 Here is an etching of the monument. 00:09:13.100 --> 00:09:17.240 You can see all of the beautiful Chinese characters. 00:09:17.920 --> 00:09:22.320 I should say etching a tracing of it, a rubbing of the figures. 00:09:23.680 --> 00:09:29.040 You can see when we really zoom in that whoever made this monument had enormous skill. 00:09:29.159 --> 00:09:31.120 Making an engraving is difficult. 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:37.460 Making an engraving of this size that looks this good is really, really hard and very expensive. 00:09:37.460 --> 00:09:49.280 So we can tell, even without reading the content of this, that whoever put this together was an organization or a person of immense means and resources. 00:09:49.279 --> 00:09:56.100 There are about 1,700 Chinese characters on this monument. 00:09:56.100 --> 00:10:01.919 If you translate them all, it makes about six pages of, you know, single-spaced text. 00:10:02.199 --> 00:10:03.939 So it's quite a lengthy inscription. 00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:10.679 Other than Chinese characters, there's some other characters on the monument as well. 00:10:11.100 --> 00:10:15.899 Even if you don't read these languages, you'll notice that this script is a very different script from Chinese. 00:10:15.899 --> 00:10:18.759 It's going from top to bottom. 00:10:19.240 --> 00:10:20.779 It's actually not Chinese. 00:10:20.919 --> 00:10:21.840 It is Syriac. 00:10:22.039 --> 00:10:26.720 And if we move it from right to left, which is how it's often written, you can see it here. 00:10:26.759 --> 00:10:28.439 You can see the top, a picture of the inscription. 00:10:28.639 --> 00:10:32.199 And then on the bottom, there's a typewritten version of it. 00:10:33.159 --> 00:10:38.100 And the first word here is the Syriac word, Adam. 00:10:38.100 --> 00:10:43.680 And it's the name of the man who put this monument together. 00:10:44.740 --> 00:10:46.899 And I'm sure you'll recognize that name, Adam. 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:48.560 That comes from the Bible. 00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:50.240 We use that name today. 00:10:50.580 --> 00:10:53.139 And the Syriac folks used it as well. 00:10:53.300 --> 00:10:56.779 And Adam was a missionary from the Church of the East to China. 00:10:56.779 --> 00:10:58.860 And he put this monument together. 00:10:58.860 --> 00:11:09.220 And actually, what this inscription reads is Adam, priest and country bishop and pope of China. 00:11:09.779 --> 00:11:13.279 Now, that word pope, it means something different back then than it does today. 00:11:13.720 --> 00:11:16.940 Maybe we should translate this as patriarch. 00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:22.340 In Syriac, it's papash, patriarch of China. 00:11:22.340 --> 00:11:33.160 When this was founded, this was simply extraordinary that there was a Christian community that was flourishing to this extent that they could afford a monument or something like this. 00:11:33.540 --> 00:11:38.540 But we're going to, I think, get even more surprises as we start reading what this monument has to tell us. 00:11:39.500 --> 00:11:43.259 Here's a typewritten version of the monument in Chinese and Syriac. 00:11:43.259 --> 00:11:52.220 If you're interested in this, you can, if you just Google the Nestorian monument in China by a guy named Saeki, you can see in the lower left-hand corner, S-A-E-K-I. 00:11:52.319 --> 00:11:55.159 You can read all about it in his 1916 publication. 00:11:55.360 --> 00:11:56.980 You can read a full translation if you're interested. 00:11:57.840 --> 00:12:00.360 You can download a PDF of that book on archive.org. 00:12:00.439 --> 00:12:01.100 It's out of copyright. 00:12:02.399 --> 00:12:04.500 Here's some more pictures on the back of the monument. 00:12:05.439 --> 00:12:09.179 These are names of priests associated with the monument. 00:12:09.179 --> 00:12:13.379 And you can see their Syriac names are at the top, running from top to bottom. 00:12:13.500 --> 00:12:18.759 And then their Chinese names are from top to bottom below that. 00:12:20.419 --> 00:12:22.859 So what does the inscription say? 00:12:22.919 --> 00:12:24.159 We've talked a little bit about it. 00:12:24.519 --> 00:12:25.719 But what does it say? 00:12:26.299 --> 00:12:27.120 And what does it tell us? 00:12:27.139 --> 00:12:33.959 Like I said, it gives us a history of Christianity from 635 to 781 in China. 00:12:33.960 --> 00:12:40.139 And what I want to do now is read through what this inscription has to tell us. 00:12:40.280 --> 00:12:41.379 We'll start with the preface. 00:12:42.340 --> 00:12:43.080 It says this, 00:12:43.680 --> 00:12:53.620 That's how it begins. 00:12:53.860 --> 00:12:55.860 Now, I should explain some words here. 00:12:55.860 --> 00:12:59.200 Da Qin or Ta Qin, which you see here. 00:12:59.480 --> 00:13:04.019 That refers to the Eastern Roman Empire or to the Western Persian Empire. 00:13:05.159 --> 00:13:12.800 And then the luminous religion, Jing Zhao, that is the name for Christianity in the Tang Dynasty at this time period. 00:13:12.960 --> 00:13:14.759 The religion of light, the luminous religion. 00:13:14.759 --> 00:13:21.159 So we have the Roman or the West Persian Christian religion in the Middle Kingdom. 00:13:21.279 --> 00:13:23.519 The Middle Kingdom refers to China at this time. 00:13:23.519 --> 00:13:27.120 China viewed itself as the most important empire in the world. 00:13:27.240 --> 00:13:28.860 And with good reason, they were one of them. 00:13:29.439 --> 00:13:35.579 And like most of us and most empires, they viewed themselves as the center of the world and the center of the universe. 00:13:35.779 --> 00:13:42.439 And so they called themselves the Middle Kingdom because they thought they believed they lived in the center of all it was. 00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:45.860 The Byzantines thought the very same thing about Constantinople. 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:48.240 You get the Romans talking about the very same thing with Rome. 00:13:48.679 --> 00:13:50.199 We just tend to do this as humans. 00:13:50.579 --> 00:13:52.360 And the Chinese are, of course, no different. 00:13:52.360 --> 00:13:53.840 It continues. 00:13:54.080 --> 00:13:58.820 A eulogy on a monument commemorating the propagation of the luminous religion in the Middle Kingdom. 00:13:58.980 --> 00:14:06.820 Already, not only is this a Christian monument, but it's commemorating the spread, the propagation of this religion in China. 00:14:07.539 --> 00:14:08.240 That's amazing. 00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:16.799 The preface to the same composed by Qing Qing or Qing Qing, a priest of the Daqian Monastery, Adam. 00:14:17.120 --> 00:14:23.560 So his Chinese name, Qing Qing, his Syriac name, Adam, priest and core episcopus. 00:14:23.620 --> 00:14:24.560 That's country bishop. 00:14:25.019 --> 00:14:27.379 And Papas or Pope of Sinistan. 00:14:27.620 --> 00:14:28.100 That's China. 00:14:28.100 --> 00:14:33.180 And remember, I said that Pope, that means something very different today than it did back then. 00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:35.860 Father, something like that. 00:14:35.980 --> 00:14:36.540 Patriarch. 00:14:36.539 --> 00:14:44.039 So this monument is commissioned and composed by this guy, Adam, who is this priest. 00:14:44.179 --> 00:14:46.099 And he's in charge of all the Christians in China. 00:14:47.000 --> 00:14:48.639 Let's keep going here. 00:14:50.059 --> 00:14:54.059 You see Qing Qing there and the Pope of China there. 00:14:54.059 --> 00:14:54.559 All right. 00:14:54.639 --> 00:15:00.119 After that introduction, it gives another introduction, which is like a theological introduction. 00:15:00.299 --> 00:15:06.259 So before it gets to the history of Christianity in China, it explains Christian theology. 00:15:07.079 --> 00:15:09.319 And I want you to hear what it has to tell us. 00:15:10.139 --> 00:15:11.119 It starts like this. 00:15:12.339 --> 00:15:21.039 Behold, there is one who is true and firm, who being uncreated is the origin of the origins. 00:15:21.139 --> 00:15:22.000 I think that's what it says. 00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:23.919 My screen sharing is blocking those words. 00:15:24.059 --> 00:15:30.159 Who is ever incomprehensible and invisible, yet ever mysteriously existing to the last of the lasts. 00:15:31.399 --> 00:15:36.379 This is some very ornate language here, but it seems to be professing monotheism. 00:15:36.500 --> 00:15:38.739 There is only one God who is uncreated. 00:15:38.879 --> 00:15:40.739 He's the origin of all origins. 00:15:40.939 --> 00:15:42.159 He's the last of the last. 00:15:42.279 --> 00:15:44.019 In biblical terminology, what would we say? 00:15:44.079 --> 00:15:48.239 We would say that he is the first and the last, the alpha and the omega. 00:15:49.459 --> 00:15:53.059 He holds the secret source of origin. 00:15:53.059 --> 00:15:57.939 He created all things and he bestows existence on all the holy ones. 00:15:58.439 --> 00:16:02.719 He is the only unoriginated Lord of the universe. 00:16:03.159 --> 00:16:06.019 This unoriginated, maybe we could say unbegotten Lord. 00:16:06.259 --> 00:16:13.979 Something we'll be hearing about is how difficult it is and challenging it is to translate Christian ideas into other languages. 00:16:13.980 --> 00:16:15.980 Chinese is no exception. 00:16:16.700 --> 00:16:28.779 It's very clear once we read these Christian documents that are in Chinese that they struggled and tried very hard to accurately communicate the truth of the gospel, sometimes with great success, sometimes maybe not. 00:16:28.779 --> 00:16:34.220 Here, this phrase, bestowing existence on all the holy ones. 00:16:34.220 --> 00:16:40.779 That's that deep Christian truth where we come to exist because of God, that he's the source of all existence. 00:16:40.779 --> 00:16:51.939 But something that's interesting here is that phrase, bestowing existence on all the holy ones, is actually a concept that can be found in Confucianism. 00:16:52.620 --> 00:16:56.759 It actually can be found in the Confucian work called the I Ching. 00:16:56.759 --> 00:17:02.600 And Confucianism was one of the great religious traditions of the Chinese Empire at this time. 00:17:02.600 --> 00:17:17.599 So what we see here, apparently, is that these Christians are borrowing from the theological concepts known amongst the Chinese at the time in order to explain the gospel message. 00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:27.380 And in this case, they're borrowing from Confucianism to explain that God is the source of all existence for the saints. 00:17:27.380 --> 00:17:33.160 And it goes on. It says, is not this one our aloha? 00:17:34.880 --> 00:17:39.040 That is the Syriac word for God, sometimes pronounced aloha. 00:17:39.380 --> 00:17:46.960 And you'll notice if you know a little bit of Hebrew, the Hebrew word for God, Elohim, begins with an L sound, also has an H sound. 00:17:47.060 --> 00:17:51.240 It's because Syriac and Hebrew are a similar language family. 00:17:51.400 --> 00:17:52.880 So the words for God sound similar. 00:17:53.400 --> 00:17:55.620 If you know Arabic, the Arabic word for God is Allah. 00:17:55.619 --> 00:17:59.039 Allah, and that is closely related to this. 00:17:59.119 --> 00:18:01.919 All those three languages, Syriac, Arabic, and Hebrew are interrelated. 00:18:03.000 --> 00:18:04.500 Is this person not our aloha? 00:18:04.559 --> 00:18:05.259 The triune. 00:18:05.399 --> 00:18:06.699 There's a Trinitarian message here. 00:18:07.079 --> 00:18:11.059 Mysterious person, the unbegotten, and true Lord. 00:18:11.779 --> 00:18:18.659 So this theological introduction explains monotheism, but in a Christian sense where there's this triune deity. 00:18:19.500 --> 00:18:20.339 Let's keep going. 00:18:20.339 --> 00:18:23.740 Dividing the cross, he determined the four cardinal points. 00:18:23.839 --> 00:18:25.819 This is a bit of a mysterious phrase. 00:18:25.959 --> 00:18:33.419 Dividing the cross evidently is an introductory phrase that was common in Chinese at the time. 00:18:33.559 --> 00:18:42.279 Christians seem to have liked it because the cross in China, the word for ten, the idiograph, the character for ten is a cross symbol. 00:18:42.279 --> 00:18:48.119 So Christians naturally congregated to that symbol as a way to represent Christianity. 00:18:48.899 --> 00:18:51.160 He determined the four cardinal points seems to be. 00:18:51.319 --> 00:18:55.220 He created the four points of the earth, the four corners of the earth. 00:18:55.619 --> 00:18:58.099 He set in motion the primordial spirit, the wind. 00:18:58.879 --> 00:19:00.559 He produced the two principles of nature. 00:19:01.500 --> 00:19:03.899 The dark void was changed and heaven and earth appeared. 00:19:03.900 --> 00:19:13.800 This sounds a whole lot like Genesis chapter one, where in the beginning there is void in darkness and the spirit of God is hovering over the waters. 00:19:14.600 --> 00:19:25.320 That the two principles of nature seem to refer to the idea of yin and yang, light and darkness, which is which was very popular in Taoism at the time. 00:19:25.460 --> 00:19:28.680 Taoism is the second great Chinese religion at the time. 00:19:28.680 --> 00:19:40.680 So here we have again this Adam, the guy who wrote this, borrowing from contemporary religious thought to try and explain the Christian message. 00:19:40.940 --> 00:19:42.400 And here he's borrowing from Taoism. 00:19:43.820 --> 00:19:45.539 He goes on to say, 00:19:45.539 --> 00:20:02.799 So this is talking about creation now. 00:20:02.879 --> 00:20:08.180 It's moved from talking about God to talking about God's creation and the creation of humans. 00:20:08.180 --> 00:20:14.180 The original nature of man was pure and void of all selfishness and unstained and unostentatious. 00:20:15.019 --> 00:20:17.480 His mind was free from inordinate lust and passion. 00:20:17.600 --> 00:20:21.759 That means that that originally humans were pure and we weren't arrogant. 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:23.200 We weren't ostentatious. 00:20:23.640 --> 00:20:24.940 We were unstained. 00:20:24.940 --> 00:20:31.660 When, however, Satan employed his evil devices on him, man's pure and stainless nature was deteriorated. 00:20:31.660 --> 00:20:38.700 The perfect attainment of goodness on the one hand and the entire exemption from wickedness on the other became alike impossible for him. 00:20:39.820 --> 00:20:48.380 This seems to be talking about the fall of Adam and Eve and how in the garden the devil worked his wiles on them. 00:20:49.100 --> 00:20:53.120 And it also seems to be talking about the depravity of man. 00:20:53.480 --> 00:20:58.800 How after this, the attainment of goodness was impossible for us. 00:20:59.820 --> 00:21:00.620 Let's keep going. 00:21:00.619 --> 00:21:05.719 Whereupon one person of our Trinity, the Messiah, who is the luminous Lord. 00:21:05.819 --> 00:21:08.079 And again, my screen share is blocking this phrase. 00:21:08.319 --> 00:21:15.839 The luminous Lord, I think it says, of the universe, of the worlds, veiling his true majesty appeared upon earth as a man. 00:21:16.959 --> 00:21:18.279 Now, we know who this is. 00:21:19.139 --> 00:21:20.839 This is Jesus, the Messiah. 00:21:21.439 --> 00:21:23.119 Angels proclaim the glad tidings. 00:21:23.179 --> 00:21:25.179 That sounds an awful lot like the good news. 00:21:25.619 --> 00:21:27.919 A virgin gave birth to the Holy One in Dakin. 00:21:27.920 --> 00:21:30.860 Remember, Dakin is the Eastern Roman Empire of Western Persia. 00:21:30.960 --> 00:21:32.480 That's precisely where Jesus was born. 00:21:33.019 --> 00:21:34.759 A bright star announced the blessed event. 00:21:35.120 --> 00:21:38.460 Persians saw the splendor and came forth with their tribute. 00:21:38.460 --> 00:21:45.880 Clearly, this is talking about the virgin birth of Jesus and how a star announced his birth. 00:21:45.880 --> 00:21:55.880 Notice that this monument is written by Persians and they take careful effort to mention that Persians, the Magi, the Magi were from Persia. 00:21:55.880 --> 00:22:04.420 When they brought gifts to Jesus, the Persian church was very proud of that, that they were the first Gentiles to welcome the birth of the Son of God. 00:22:04.680 --> 00:22:09.960 And here we see this expressed in China in the 7th and 8th centuries. 00:22:11.100 --> 00:22:12.080 Let's keep going. 00:22:12.079 --> 00:22:24.379 Now, you might be wondering what's going on here. 00:22:24.419 --> 00:22:25.319 What's this old law? 00:22:25.399 --> 00:22:26.679 What's this 24 sages? 00:22:27.399 --> 00:22:35.980 Well, it will help to know that in the ancient church, the Old Testament was viewed as having 24 books. 00:22:35.980 --> 00:22:41.620 Now, you look at our Old Testament today and you think we've got a whole lot more books than 24 in our Old Testament. 00:22:41.779 --> 00:22:42.480 What's the deal here? 00:22:42.839 --> 00:22:47.099 The reason why we have more books is simply because we count the books differently. 00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:51.140 We, for instance, we have 12 minor prophets. 00:22:51.259 --> 00:22:52.440 We count those as 12 books. 00:22:52.539 --> 00:22:55.200 The ancient church counted the 12 minor prophets as one book. 00:22:55.720 --> 00:23:01.160 We count the first five books, the Pentateuch, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. 00:23:01.259 --> 00:23:02.360 We count that as five books. 00:23:02.460 --> 00:23:04.559 They counted it as one book. 00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:07.599 The same for 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Samuel. 00:23:07.759 --> 00:23:12.119 These were each one book or sometimes all those four books were combined into one. 00:23:12.200 --> 00:23:13.039 And you do all that. 00:23:13.139 --> 00:23:14.240 You start combining these things. 00:23:14.339 --> 00:23:16.099 Jeremiah and Lamentations are one book, etc. 00:23:16.319 --> 00:23:19.039 And pretty soon you come up with 24 books. 00:23:19.319 --> 00:23:24.259 So this seems to be saying that Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament. 00:23:25.139 --> 00:23:27.879 All the books of the Old Testament, Jesus fulfilled. 00:23:28.419 --> 00:23:32.720 And he established his new teaching of non-assertion. 00:23:32.859 --> 00:23:33.619 That's interesting. 00:23:33.619 --> 00:23:34.539 We'll come back to that. 00:23:34.559 --> 00:23:45.639 Here this seems to be speaking about regeneration. 00:23:45.640 --> 00:23:55.420 That through Jesus fulfilling the plan of the Old Testament and through the Holy Spirit, humans now have the ability to do good works. 00:23:56.420 --> 00:23:58.280 That seems to be what it's trying to say here. 00:23:58.340 --> 00:24:00.900 Now, it mentions this teaching of non-assertion. 00:24:01.120 --> 00:24:04.560 That is a Taoist concept. 00:24:04.559 --> 00:24:06.879 You can find it in the Tao Te Ching, chapter 2. 00:24:07.059 --> 00:24:12.159 And here we have Adam adapting that Taoist concept. 00:24:12.639 --> 00:24:19.559 Now, we're going to talk about this, hopefully, next class, the idea of syncretism. 00:24:19.559 --> 00:24:20.079 Syncretism. 00:24:20.079 --> 00:24:34.259 Because sometimes the Church of the East in China is accused of being syncretistic, meaning that they are merging Christianity with other religious traditions in ways that are not helpful or even wrong or false. 00:24:34.259 --> 00:24:41.980 Other times they're complimented for adapting the gospel message to the culture and the language of the time. 00:24:42.039 --> 00:24:44.480 And, of course, we're all called to do that. 00:24:44.480 --> 00:24:47.599 Now, Jesus was the master of this. 00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:53.180 He adopted the culture of the ancient Israelites and ancient Hebrew. 00:24:53.180 --> 00:25:06.480 And we see the apostles also doing this, taking this kind of Hebrew message, this Old Testament Hebrew message of the gospel and adapting it to Greek and Latin audiences in the Roman Empire. 00:25:07.759 --> 00:25:14.140 John is famous for doing that with the logos, the word logos, the beginning of John, meaning the word, which is a very Greek concept. 00:25:14.140 --> 00:25:31.600 And so, but there's debate over this because some feel that the Church of the East went too far in their willingness and their adaptation of Chinese religious traditions. 00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:33.580 But let's go for a little bit farther. 00:25:34.060 --> 00:25:36.860 27 standard works of his sutras were preserved. 00:25:37.140 --> 00:25:39.380 Sutras are writings or scriptures. 00:25:40.200 --> 00:25:43.000 And 27, I'm going to give you a moment to think about that number. 00:25:43.000 --> 00:25:44.839 We already had the Old Testament. 00:25:45.079 --> 00:25:46.220 So, you know what this is? 00:25:47.359 --> 00:25:48.740 This seems to be the New Testament. 00:25:49.180 --> 00:25:52.319 We've got 27 books in our New Testament. 00:25:52.779 --> 00:25:55.039 And evidently, they did as well. 00:25:55.460 --> 00:26:07.059 And this is a bit surprising because if you listen to my Sunday school class on the reliability of the Bible, the third one talks about how the canon of scripture was put together. 00:26:07.059 --> 00:26:21.779 And in there, I mentioned how churches that were located where the New Testament documents were written or were recipients of these documents or spoke the same language that they more quickly were able to assemble the New Testament. 00:26:21.779 --> 00:26:26.059 But churches in far-flung areas who spoke different languages took a bit longer. 00:26:26.059 --> 00:26:33.059 And the Syriac church in Persia took quite a long time to finally get to 27 books. 00:26:33.059 --> 00:26:39.339 But here we have, they're in China, and they apparently have 27 books. 00:26:40.759 --> 00:26:44.779 And it says that conversion or transformation was extended. 00:26:45.240 --> 00:26:47.399 The sealed gate of the blessed life was unlocked. 00:26:47.559 --> 00:26:52.039 His law, that's Jesus' law, is to bathe with water and with the spirit. 00:26:52.039 --> 00:26:58.519 And thus to cleanse from all vain delusions and to purify men until they regain the whiteness of their nature. 00:26:58.680 --> 00:27:02.139 Again, it seems to be talking about regeneration, even baptism. 00:27:02.299 --> 00:27:04.480 Baptism was very important to them. 00:27:05.799 --> 00:27:06.279 Okay. 00:27:07.980 --> 00:27:14.240 This is obviously has all the hallmarks of a Christian mission and a Christian message. 00:27:15.019 --> 00:27:20.839 We're going to fast forward a little bit through the inscription because the inscription will give us, after the theological introduction, 00:27:20.839 --> 00:27:25.159 it tells us about the practices of the Christians in China. 00:27:26.039 --> 00:27:27.379 Let's see what they have to say. 00:27:27.480 --> 00:27:29.319 How do they demarcate themselves? 00:27:29.500 --> 00:27:32.059 How do they show that they're different from the world? 00:27:32.639 --> 00:27:33.599 And look what they say. 00:27:35.679 --> 00:27:44.039 They say that they do not own either male or female slaves, but they put all men on equality. 00:27:44.459 --> 00:27:48.959 They make no distinction between the noble and the mean, between the high and the low. 00:27:48.960 --> 00:27:53.360 They neither accumulate property nor wealth, but they give all they possess. 00:27:54.039 --> 00:27:57.279 And they set a good example to others. 00:27:58.200 --> 00:28:07.140 I think this is a powerful message that these folks chose to identify themselves as people who don't own slaves, 00:28:07.579 --> 00:28:13.440 who don't make a distinction between the mighty and the lowly, between the rich and the poor. 00:28:13.440 --> 00:28:18.740 Isn't this a wonderful expression of the gospel? 00:28:19.580 --> 00:28:23.360 We see Paul will say that in Christ, there is no male or female. 00:28:23.519 --> 00:28:24.779 There's no slave or free. 00:28:25.480 --> 00:28:27.259 There's no Scythian or Jew. 00:28:27.400 --> 00:28:30.519 We could add that there's no European or Chinese or African. 00:28:30.720 --> 00:28:33.259 All are one in Christ Jesus. 00:28:33.259 --> 00:28:40.660 And here we have this Church of the East apparently preaching something very similar, even the exact same message in China. 00:28:41.920 --> 00:28:49.779 They also, regarding slavery, they may have had an interpretation of Colossians chapter 4, verse 1, 00:28:49.900 --> 00:28:52.960 where Paul commands masters. 00:28:52.960 --> 00:29:00.240 He says to give your slaves what can be translated justice and equality. 00:29:00.860 --> 00:29:04.579 And they seem to have taken that very literally, that we need to treat people equally. 00:29:05.079 --> 00:29:08.120 The Greek for that is tante kai on kai isoteta. 00:29:08.340 --> 00:29:12.360 And isoteta usually means equality or equalness. 00:29:13.100 --> 00:29:14.480 Tante kai on means justice. 00:29:14.480 --> 00:29:15.480 Tante kai on means justice. 00:29:15.480 --> 00:29:16.480 Tante kai on means justice. 00:29:16.480 --> 00:29:17.480 Tante kai on means justice. 00:29:17.480 --> 00:29:17.539 Okay. 00:29:17.539 --> 00:29:20.480 So already, this has been extraordinary. 00:29:21.380 --> 00:29:27.160 When this was discovered, people had no idea that there was a Christian community like this in China. 00:29:27.700 --> 00:29:30.079 And it was very shocking news. 00:29:30.660 --> 00:29:35.180 What we're going to do now, though, is we're going to keep going through the inscription 00:29:35.180 --> 00:29:41.460 and see what the inscription has to tell us about how Christianity came to China. 00:29:41.460 --> 00:29:45.440 So it begins in 635. 00:29:45.779 --> 00:29:48.259 So the monument was made in 781. 00:29:48.600 --> 00:29:51.500 But the history begins in 635. 00:29:51.819 --> 00:29:52.600 And it says this. 00:29:52.640 --> 00:29:59.059 It says, when the accomplished emperor, Taichung, who, this is the emperor of the Tang dynasty, 00:29:59.180 --> 00:30:01.740 Tang dynasty, he reigned from 627 to 649. 00:30:01.740 --> 00:30:07.180 And when he began his reign in glory and splendor over the recently established dynasty, 00:30:07.380 --> 00:30:09.039 he ruled his people with intelligence. 00:30:09.259 --> 00:30:11.340 He proved himself to be a brilliant sage. 00:30:11.460 --> 00:30:15.559 So they're talking about this emperor, how great he was. 00:30:15.779 --> 00:30:18.079 He's ruling between 627 and 649. 00:30:18.180 --> 00:30:18.740 What happened? 00:30:19.640 --> 00:30:25.680 Behold, there was a highly virtuous man named Allopan in the kingdom of Ta-kin. 00:30:25.759 --> 00:30:27.680 So this is Western Persia or Eastern Rome. 00:30:27.680 --> 00:30:35.400 And auguring from the azure sky, he decided to carry the true sutras. 00:30:35.400 --> 00:30:36.299 These are the scriptures. 00:30:37.580 --> 00:30:42.880 With him and observing the course of the winds, he made his way to China through difficulties and perils. 00:30:43.380 --> 00:30:46.120 Thus, in the ninth year of the period named Chengquan. 00:30:46.119 --> 00:30:47.739 This is 635 AD. 00:30:47.739 --> 00:30:50.759 He arrived at Cheng'an. 00:30:50.839 --> 00:30:51.839 That's Xi'an, China. 00:30:51.959 --> 00:30:55.219 This is the capital of the Tang dynasty in China. 00:30:55.939 --> 00:31:00.759 So in 635, we've got this fellow, Allopan, whom we have not heard before in history, 00:31:00.759 --> 00:31:09.359 who carries the Christian scriptures all the way, over thousands of miles, to the capital of China. 00:31:10.160 --> 00:31:12.119 In 635, let's see what happens. 00:31:12.879 --> 00:31:17.539 The emperor dispatched his minister, Duke Fang Suanglin. 00:31:17.640 --> 00:31:21.240 Again, unfortunately, I have this screen share thing, and it's blocking that. 00:31:21.240 --> 00:31:22.500 I wonder if I can... 00:31:22.500 --> 00:31:23.440 Oh, I can move that. 00:31:23.500 --> 00:31:24.240 I should have done that earlier. 00:31:24.400 --> 00:31:24.539 Okay. 00:31:25.700 --> 00:31:31.299 The emperor dispatched the minister, Duke Fang Suanglin, with a guard of honor to the western suburb 00:31:31.299 --> 00:31:36.059 to meet the visitor and conduct him to the palace. 00:31:36.880 --> 00:31:39.180 Now, let me give you a bit of background about this. 00:31:39.180 --> 00:31:44.180 This duke is one of the extraordinary figures in Chinese history. 00:31:44.839 --> 00:31:50.019 He was never emperor himself, but he was one of those political leaders that every country, 00:31:50.019 --> 00:31:51.759 every empire hopes they have. 00:31:52.039 --> 00:31:58.059 He apparently was highly educated, a man of great integrity, and he personally rescued 00:31:58.059 --> 00:32:05.279 China from invasion multiple times in a very heroic fashion. 00:32:05.579 --> 00:32:12.279 And, you know, in American history, I'm trying to think of an analog we have. 00:32:12.680 --> 00:32:16.019 This would be someone who never actually became president, but was enormously influential. 00:32:16.019 --> 00:32:21.779 So someone like Ben Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, someone who's been enormously influential in 00:32:21.779 --> 00:32:27.279 American tradition politically, but never actually became president. 00:32:27.940 --> 00:32:28.920 This is this guy. 00:32:29.119 --> 00:32:33.400 And he comes out to meet Alapen. 00:32:34.279 --> 00:32:35.879 This seems to suggest... 00:32:35.879 --> 00:32:37.039 It suggests one of two things. 00:32:37.180 --> 00:32:43.519 Either that there was an enormous miracle which took place, and somehow Alapen showed up 00:32:43.519 --> 00:32:48.220 and got attention of the emperor and the duke to get this kind of honor. 00:32:50.240 --> 00:32:56.319 Or that Alapen is actually some kind of embassy. 00:32:56.539 --> 00:33:01.420 He's an ambassador from Persia, from the Persian emperor, who is not a Christian, but who appointed 00:33:01.420 --> 00:33:04.460 a Christian as an ambassador to come to China. 00:33:04.900 --> 00:33:06.160 That's another possibility. 00:33:06.420 --> 00:33:10.779 Either way, that would be extraordinary as well, that a Christian was given this kind of duty. 00:33:10.779 --> 00:33:18.500 Anyway, Alapen brings the sutras, and it says the sutras were translated in the imperial library. 00:33:18.899 --> 00:33:27.180 This claims that the Christian scriptures were put into the Chinese language in the imperial library itself. 00:33:27.579 --> 00:33:30.819 His majesty, the emperor, investigated, don't this, the way. 00:33:31.700 --> 00:33:35.700 Now, we in the New Testament, sometimes Christianity is called the way. 00:33:35.700 --> 00:33:37.860 In the book of Acts, it's called the way. 00:33:38.259 --> 00:33:44.500 And here we see the same term used, but the Chinese term is the Tao. 00:33:44.880 --> 00:33:46.580 And that's a Taoist concept. 00:33:46.940 --> 00:33:48.700 The Tao can have all sorts of translations. 00:33:48.900 --> 00:33:50.259 One translation is the way. 00:33:50.420 --> 00:33:57.120 So here we have Taoism being borrowed from in order to express a Christian truth. 00:33:57.480 --> 00:34:03.220 His majesty, the emperor, in his own forbidden apartments, investigated all this. 00:34:03.220 --> 00:34:09.880 He was deeply convinced of its correctness and truth, and he gave special orders for its propagation. 00:34:11.079 --> 00:34:18.240 I'm reminded of when Jesus, in Matthew 10, 11, said to the apostles, 00:34:18.500 --> 00:34:23.480 say, you will stand before governors and kings on account of me. 00:34:23.480 --> 00:34:27.000 And the apostles did stand before emperors. 00:34:27.119 --> 00:34:32.599 Paul seems to have stood before the emperor himself during his trial, where he was eventually executed. 00:34:33.400 --> 00:34:37.539 And we know from history that Christians stood before the emperor of Persia. 00:34:37.679 --> 00:34:40.579 Allapan himself may have done that very thing. 00:34:41.099 --> 00:34:44.000 And here we have Allapan standing before the king of China. 00:34:44.000 --> 00:34:52.280 And the emperor of China is evidently moved by this, and he gives special orders for the propagation of Christianity. 00:34:53.880 --> 00:34:58.599 We're going to talk about it because, well, let's see what the emperor has to say. 00:34:58.599 --> 00:35:05.440 Because after this, if I'm not mistaken, the actual order of the emperor is quoted from. 00:35:05.679 --> 00:35:07.259 Remember, this is all from the monument. 00:35:07.679 --> 00:35:13.420 So in the 12th year, in 638, the following imperial rescript, this order, was given. 00:35:13.860 --> 00:35:20.980 And we're about to read what the imperial order from the throne, the emperor of China himself, has to say. 00:35:20.980 --> 00:35:50.960 It says, 00:35:50.980 --> 00:36:01.400 The emperor is instead articulating a pluralistic view of the world, where he thinks that there is this way. 00:36:01.539 --> 00:36:04.639 The Tao expresses itself differently to different people. 00:36:05.460 --> 00:36:08.800 And in different races, the Tao expresses itself differently. 00:36:09.059 --> 00:36:15.599 And this guy, Bishop Allapan from the kingdom of Dakin, is bringing one of those messages. 00:36:16.480 --> 00:36:17.199 That's what he has to say. 00:36:17.199 --> 00:36:21.359 Having carefully examined the scope of his teaching, we find it to be mysteriously spiritual. 00:36:22.079 --> 00:36:31.480 And of silent operation, having observed its principle and most essential points, we reach the conclusion that they cover all that is most important in life. 00:36:31.480 --> 00:36:35.400 Their language is free from perplexing expressions. 00:36:35.400 --> 00:36:40.119 Their principles are so simple that they remain as the fish would remain even after the net of language were forgotten. 00:36:40.260 --> 00:36:41.820 That's a Chinese proverb, evidently. 00:36:42.240 --> 00:36:44.860 This teaching is helpful to all creatures and beneficial to all men. 00:36:44.860 --> 00:36:47.500 So let it have free course throughout the empire. 00:36:48.620 --> 00:37:02.400 Like I said, what seems to be happening is the emperor has not become a Christian himself, but he seems to be intrigued by Christianity and is giving permission for Christianity to be preached freely and unobstructed throughout the empire. 00:37:02.400 --> 00:37:19.720 We have biblical examples of this, you know, where we have someone like Joseph being brought up to be second in command to Pharaoh or Daniel being brought up in Babylon or Esther, for instance, in the Persian, the ancient, more ancient Persian empire. 00:37:19.719 --> 00:37:30.519 And that sometimes we'll have kings, you know, like Nebuchadnezzar, who will confess that the Jews were true, but doesn't seem to have converted himself. 00:37:31.179 --> 00:37:32.959 It seems to be another example of that. 00:37:33.639 --> 00:37:44.879 But one of the issues is this story that this monument is telling seems so extraordinary that I think it's fair to be a little suspicious about how true it is. 00:37:44.880 --> 00:38:00.760 And it does just seem beyond belief that Alipen showed up and the king himself, the emperor, one of the most powerful men, if not the most powerful man in the world at the time, welcomed him in and embraced him, translated the scriptures and had it preached throughout the empire. 00:38:01.480 --> 00:38:09.400 So what I want to do is try and figure out if we've got some corroboration of this outside of this monument, because you'd think that maybe the Chinese would keep some record of this. 00:38:09.960 --> 00:38:11.660 Chinese were very good record keepers. 00:38:11.659 --> 00:38:15.099 They kept imperial orders recorded down. 00:38:15.699 --> 00:38:23.099 And it so happens that if we do some digging, we find something in the records called the Notabilia of Tang, the Tang dynasty. 00:38:24.219 --> 00:38:26.940 And it has an order from the very same emperor. 00:38:27.460 --> 00:38:35.239 And it says in the seventh month of the 12th year, 638, exactly when we're talking about, the edict reads the Tao, that's the way, has no eternal name. 00:38:35.339 --> 00:38:36.559 The saint has no eternal body. 00:38:37.099 --> 00:38:39.119 The religion has been set up in their respective regions. 00:38:39.279 --> 00:38:40.480 It has helped the people immensely. 00:38:40.480 --> 00:38:46.360 The Persian monk, Alu Ben, that's Alu Pen, brought the scriptures from afar and presented them at the capital. 00:38:46.820 --> 00:38:51.260 Having carefully inspected its doctrine, we find it mysterious, right, and well summarized. 00:38:51.880 --> 00:38:53.440 It is helpful to things and to people. 00:38:53.920 --> 00:38:55.880 It is suitable to be practiced in the country. 00:38:56.320 --> 00:39:01.599 The proper officers forthwith immediately in the street of Yingying built a Daqian monastery. 00:39:01.599 --> 00:39:07.779 So, in other words, this report in the monument is backed up by Chinese sources. 00:39:08.319 --> 00:39:14.940 Now, note that if we only had this Chinese source, we would maybe think Alu Ben was a Christian. 00:39:15.880 --> 00:39:20.400 It doesn't say he's a Christian specifically in this Chinese version of the commandment. 00:39:20.400 --> 00:39:23.860 But because we now have that monument, we know he was. 00:39:24.519 --> 00:39:27.460 And these kind of mutually reinforce each other. 00:39:27.559 --> 00:39:29.780 So, it seems like this really happened. 00:39:30.440 --> 00:39:33.840 And that the scriptures were presented to the emperor at the capital. 00:39:34.059 --> 00:39:41.500 And the emperor did give permission for Christianity to be propagated throughout the empire. 00:39:41.500 --> 00:39:45.920 This is a stunning event. 00:39:46.980 --> 00:39:51.320 And there's really nothing, very little quite like it in history. 00:39:51.480 --> 00:39:55.519 There are some other instances of this where similar things happen. 00:39:55.659 --> 00:39:58.980 But it's very rare and very extraordinary for this to happen. 00:39:59.139 --> 00:40:01.179 You can see Alu Ben is highlighted right there. 00:40:02.559 --> 00:40:05.420 We're going to do one more thing before we close. 00:40:05.420 --> 00:40:10.619 So, this is the inscription continues on the monument. 00:40:10.940 --> 00:40:12.840 And now it's moving to the next emperor. 00:40:13.460 --> 00:40:16.460 This is Emperor Kaotsong from 650 to 683. 00:40:16.680 --> 00:40:20.820 And he succeeded most respectfully to his ancestors. 00:40:21.340 --> 00:40:24.000 And he gave the true religion the proper elegance and finish. 00:40:24.480 --> 00:40:25.139 And listen to this. 00:40:25.220 --> 00:40:30.900 He caused monasteries of the luminous religion to be founded in every prefecture, every province of China. 00:40:30.900 --> 00:40:36.240 So, this emperor, the next emperor, apparently still favored Christianity. 00:40:36.920 --> 00:40:39.800 Perhaps did not become a Christian himself, but appreciated it. 00:40:40.300 --> 00:40:47.700 And he made monasteries of Christianity be founded, according to this, in every province. 00:40:47.700 --> 00:40:55.700 And he honored Alu Ben by conferring on him the office of the great patron and spiritual lord of the empire. 00:40:56.920 --> 00:40:58.820 Talk about a successful missionary. 00:40:58.820 --> 00:41:02.120 This guy arrives in 635. 00:41:03.039 --> 00:41:09.500 And within a couple decades, they've got monasteries, churches in every province, allegedly. 00:41:10.180 --> 00:41:13.780 And Alu Ben is greatly honored as spiritual lord of the empire. 00:41:15.660 --> 00:41:19.120 It continues, the law of the luminous religion spread throughout the ten provinces. 00:41:19.440 --> 00:41:22.180 And the empire enjoyed great peace and concord. 00:41:22.800 --> 00:41:27.820 Monasteries were built in many cities, while every family enjoyed the blessings of salvation. 00:41:28.820 --> 00:41:34.100 Now, I am conscious of the time and realizing that it's kind of getting away from me. 00:41:34.099 --> 00:41:41.559 So, what I want to do in the final couple minutes is show you a map of the Tang Dynasty. 00:41:41.940 --> 00:41:45.360 Here, you can see the ten provinces numbered here. 00:41:45.739 --> 00:41:50.059 And then you can see the outer edges of the reach that the Tang Dynasty had. 00:41:50.059 --> 00:41:52.559 So, this is Western China out here. 00:41:52.559 --> 00:42:02.279 And you get into Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, Pakistan out here, where some outposts or military sorties would be sent occasionally by the Tang Dynasty. 00:42:02.960 --> 00:42:07.880 And the claim on the stele, the stele, the monument, was found here. 00:42:07.880 --> 00:42:16.200 And the claim is that there were monasteries set up in every single one of these provinces. 00:42:17.559 --> 00:42:25.400 So, what we're going to do is next class, we're going to see if that's true. 00:42:25.960 --> 00:42:28.320 Because that's quite an extraordinary claim. 00:42:28.440 --> 00:42:30.240 Scholars are very skeptical of that claim. 00:42:30.239 --> 00:42:38.419 But I think next week we'll find out that that is a true account of what actually did happen. 00:42:38.819 --> 00:42:47.059 We're going to talk about some Christian locations that are discovered during this time frame, 635 to 1000 AD around China. 00:42:47.059 --> 00:42:52.320 And then we'll wrap up the next few hundred years, which unfortunately we don't have as much evidence about. 00:42:52.820 --> 00:42:53.960 But we'll wrap that up. 00:42:54.420 --> 00:43:10.719 We'll also talk more about the ways that Christianity was spread in China and how this may have not been the best ways and the most fruitful ways, although there's still much we can learn from it. 00:43:10.779 --> 00:43:15.539 We'll talk about that, the issues of syncretism and some other things as well. 00:43:15.539 --> 00:43:20.420 So, I want to pause now to see if you folks have any questions. 00:43:20.880 --> 00:43:27.440 And I'm going to try to get my chat opened up here. 00:43:29.579 --> 00:43:30.380 There we go. 00:43:31.019 --> 00:43:31.300 Okay. 00:43:32.400 --> 00:43:34.539 And if you do have a question, just feel free to type it. 00:43:34.599 --> 00:43:36.539 If not, we can... 00:43:36.539 --> 00:43:41.659 I can close for the week. 00:43:45.539 --> 00:43:58.059 We're going to have more pictures of other monuments and archaeological discoveries next class. 00:43:58.639 --> 00:44:03.320 And some more stories about what Christians were doing in China next week. 00:44:03.320 --> 00:44:06.640 I'm looking forward to seeing you all again. 00:44:07.120 --> 00:44:10.580 And feel free to email me if you have any questions. 00:44:10.820 --> 00:44:16.600 I'm going to pause the recording and hopefully we'll get that posted online for you to watch later, if need be. 00:44:17.059 --> 00:44:17.340 Okay. 00:44:17.400 --> 00:44:17.680 Thanks. 00:44:18.019 --> 00:44:18.480 God bless. 00:44:18.480 --> 00:44:18.539 God bless. 00:44:18.539 --> 00:44:18.600 God bless. 00:44:18.600 --> 00:44:18.660 God bless. 00:44:18.660 --> 00:44:20.600 God bless. 00:44:20.600 --> 00:44:22.600 God bless. 00:44:22.600 --> 00:44:22.740 God bless. 00:44:22.740 --> 00:44:24.600 God bless. 00:44:24.600 --> 00:44:25.600 God bless. 00:44:25.600 --> 00:44:26.600 God bless. 00:44:26.600 --> 00:44:27.660 God bless. 00:44:27.660 --> 00:44:29.600 God bless. 00:44:29.600 --> 00:44:30.600 God bless. 00:44:30.600 --> 00:44:30.660 God bless. 00:44:30.660 --> 00:44:31.660 God bless. 00:44:31.660 --> 00:44:32.660 God bless.