At this point I will make some personal reflections about Professor Chen. I first met him in 1981 when he attended the international Montreal conference on China and the Churches. Then the next year I was privileged to have him serve as interpreter for a series of lectures I gave at Nanjing University on “Religion and Society in North America.” Questions from students touched on a wide variety of issues. He handled the interpretation of the question and answer sessions with ease and charm. He and I privately continued the dialogue on a number of issues.
In succeeding years our paths crossed a number of times in China or in North America. From 2002 to 2007 I taught at the seminary in Nanjing and had many opportunities to see Professor Chen in action, and to talk with him privately and in small groups. I remember vividly when he, already an octogenarian, stood on a box on a front pew to conduct the Seminary Choir in front of him on the stage in several anthems. His musical gifts were obvious and his continued energy contagious. His teaching continued into his nineties. Many generations of students benefited from his wisdom, knowledge and spirit.
Professor Chen’s office at the Seminary was next to mine. On many occasions we would sit in the morning drinking strong and flavorful Chaozhou style tea, a specialty of his native south China community. The tea is consumed in tiny cups with frequent refreshing of the pot. We talked about theology, China, the world. I learned a great deal in these informal conversations. Other professors especially those from south China dropped in from time to time enjoying the Chaozhou tea and talk.
Chen Zemin is an irenic person. He maintains his reserve and gentle humor and all the characteristics of a Chinese scholar. It has been a privilege and an honor to know him and work with him. A bit of his nature comes through in a hymn-he wrote in 1982 and set to an ancient Chinese tune. In the hymn he imagines the Creator as an artist with a paint brush. I will close with an English translation of some of his words in this hymn:
Sunset hues light sea and sky, Wild geese return to rest.
I’d like to be a free bird, to sight the earth from on high,
View our country being touched, By the Creator’s brush. . . .
We strive to build a new world, of justice, love and peace,
To raise the cross in witness, Christ’s truth widely to spread.
Raymond L. Whitehead, Toronto, Canada, March 2011
An Overview of the Theoretical Foundation and Practical Tasks of Building New China
The Contribution of the Chinese Church
(Shanghai, 1939)
Chen Zemin
Introduction
If we carefully study and analyze all the great religious, political, or social movements of history, we will see that the substance of these movements cannot be separated from theory and practice. As to theory, philosophical foundations determine the basic meaning and directions of the entire movement, guide its practical work, establish its ideal goals, and serve as the springs of its power. As to practice, concrete plans and organization turn empty theories into actuality, turn faith into actual strength and work, and turn ideals into realities. Ideals that are divorced from reality become irrelevant abstractions and empty talk and offer no benefit to human life; practice that lacks theoretical foundation becomes blind and sluggish floundering that even at best can lead to only partial success. In the interaction of these two elements we can see the nascent form of a philosophy.
In volume 9, issue 2 of Truth and Life, Mr. Wu Leichuan’s (吴雷川) article “What contribution can Christianity make to the renewal of the Chinese people?” seems intended to be the embryo of a philosophy. Many other important church leaders have also voiced similar calls. But these theories were all voiced some years ago, and were all focused on particular movements, such as those to improve life in the countryside, to build human character, and so forth. Today every aspect of life in China—political, social, and all others—is experiencing dramatic changes, and in this special and critical era, the mission and responsibility of the Christian church in building a new China has become great and pressing. Now we have special need for a theory of construction that is complete and suits this special situation, and that can guide us in this important task of construction. We have even greater need for a realistic and effective plan and organization that is both all-encompassing and concrete so that we can realize our hopes and ideals, so that we can bring this war of resistance to the completion of its mission, and so that the special hopes of Christians in this war—hopes for the full revival of China, the Christianization of China, and the arrival of God’s kingdom in China—can be realized through the faith and efforts of compatriots in China.
The present article is the author’s weak but heart-felt and sincere call, stimulated by the needs of these times. My hope is that it will bring forth a response from China’s passionate and capable Christian compatriots, so that united under the banner of Christ we can complete this great task of building our nation, and bringing in the kingdom of God as it is in heaven.
The Theoretical Foundations for Construction.
In the Christian theory of building a nation, the most basic issue is that of faith. Within this issue, what we need to study is whether or not the Christian faith is suitable to the task of constructing China. Let us examine this first by looking at several basic Christian beliefs.
Christian faith in God is the foundation of Christian theology, and serves as the compass for all the work of the Christian church. As we Christians construct a new China, we should take this article of faith as a pre-condition. The God in the heart of Christians is an all-capable and all-benevolent God, the creator of all creatures and ruler of the entire universe, and for everything in the universe he has a wise and complete plan; the stars in the heavens and the creatures on the earth all move and exist within a great system of which he is the master. All the turmoil in the world is also under his supervision, and it is the lot of Christians to discover his great plan and will and act and live according to it; a meaningful life is one in which Christians do this to the utmost. This is the simple yet lofty Christian philosophy of life. Furthermore, while there are a great many unresolved disputes that make Christian philosophy complex and deep as theory, if we clean away all the loose ends and remove the disputed points, what remains are these essential truths on which the great majority agree. These are the truths that guide Christian act and thought, and they also serve as our goals in constructing a new China. If the Christian church is to fulfill its responsibility in the nation, faith in God is the starting point for all of our work. In our vision of the future, a new China is one part of the universal plan of a fully good and all-powerful creator, a part that is in harmony with the rest of creation; it is a country under the control of this all-benevolent God, and a channel through which the kingdom of heaven is realized on earth.
In Christian theology, God is a spiritual reality. This point of faith determines one important characteristic of our ideal new China. In this era of transition during which material civilization is developing and overtaking spiritual civilization, people sometimes come up with a mistaken understanding and estimation of material and spirit. One extreme development is materialist philosophy. Though this school of philosophy contains an element of truth in its reaction to older views’ over-emphasis on spirit, it