The Bible is a book belonging to all mankind with universal significance. However, due to the differences in race, region, and culture among humans, there are many variations in the understanding and application of the Bible, with localized practices. These two aspects intertwine, displaying both charm and tension.
Recently, Dr. Wu Dongri, a theological researcher who holds Ph.D. from Yonsei University, South Korea and a postdoctoral degree from Tsinghua University called for Chinese people to consider interpreting the Bible with an Eastern way of thinking.
In a lecture titled “Interpreting the Bible and the Significance of Hermeneutics With an Eastern Mindset,” Dr. Wu shared that Western interpretation is universal and objective, influenced by rationalism, which believes that human rationality can objectively grasp objects. However, there are different ways of thinking between the East and the West. Therefore, when Easterners seem to be learning their methods of interpreting the Bible, they are actually learning their way of thinking.
Hermeneutics is more developed in the West and has a history and transformation there. The reseracher explained that we generally believe that the most important law of biblical hermeneutics is to read the original meaning of the Bible. Schleiermacher, Ricoeur, Heidegger, Nietzsche, and Gadamer are just a few of the figures who have influenced hermeneutics in the West since Kant.
"Among them, Ricoeur emphasizes the 'empirical distance,' which is the distance between the world of the text and ‘me’ as the reader." He said, "There is a sense of distance first, and then integration. When integrating, some changes occur in ‘me’, and communication takes place through and in the distance."
Dr. Wu believes that the problem of textual interpretation lies in the key issue of hermeneutics. "When the interpreter's subjective world and the world of the text are not in close proximity to one another, the interpreter's subjective world can easily dominate the text world. Ricoeur’s greatest effort is to make the world of the text clearer and relatively independent, which can bring ‘me’ some new cognition, perception, and breakthroughs. In addition, Ricoeur argues that the text (the Bible) is a medium through which we interpret ourselves. Understanding is to understand oneself in front of the text, to change ourselves as readers, and to put it into practice. That is to say, it should finally be implemented in practice."
“Biblical hermeneutics has reached the highest level today, reaching the level of Ricoeur. My efforts are to clarify the thinking structure of Chinese readers based on Ricoeur’s work and further explore the methodology of interpreting texts,” he added.
“I want to use Eastern thinking, that is, Eastern cognitive methods, to interpret the Bible. Cognitive methods are logic, ways of thinking, and how to treat others. There are not only cognitive issues but also issues of values, which are all included in ways of thinking.”
According to Heidegger's concept, it is completely demonstrable that, whether or not we criticize Chinese culture, it still influences us. “We look at the principle of incarnation, divine words (the words of God), and human words—human words are not abstract. Human words are either English, German, or Chinese; all are specific languages, and there is no universal language. After Heidegger, every issue discussed is specific. There are no abstract humans; only Chinese, Americans, Koreans, and Japanese are specific humans. There are no abstract humans, but the West has always emphasized the concept of abstract humans, which is fictional. This discussion is meaningful, but we also need to know its limitations.”
At the same time, he emphasized that when talking about Chinese culture, we cannot only discuss it in isolation, but recognize our own characteristics in comparison with other different types of cultures. “In this process, we must overcome ‘Orientalism.’”
Orientalism refers to the general term for the study of the history, literature, culture, and other disciplines of Eastern countries, but it also refers to some conclusions and judgments drawn by Westerners in their study of Easterners. “So Edward W. Said believes that it (Orientalism) is a biased way of thinking or cognitive system in which Westerners disdain Eastern culture and arbitrarily invent ‘Eastern culture’,” he argued.
Therefore, Dr. Wu called on Christians to overcome Orientalism as it is a way for Western culture to control Easterners.
- Translated by Charlie Li
