Cultural Incompatibility 

When I entered college in 1978 and majored in philosophy, I fell in love with Chinese literature and philosophy. I immersed myself in the profound philosophies of Confucianism, the beautiful poems of the Tang Dynasty, and other folklore. I was proud to be a Chinese because of China's rich cultural heritage. It hurt me deeply when I saw someone who looked down upon or failed to pay proper respect to Chinese culture. My ethnic and cultural pride compelled me to reject Christianity from the bottom of my heart. I said to myself, "If the Chinese ever accept Jesus Christ as the savior of their lives, it will spell the death of Chinese culture"   

I cannot deny the fact that the influence of the traditional Chinese culture is weakening in today’s society. Nevertheless, I believe this culture which has persisted for more than five thousand years will not vanish in just a few generations. Given time, the traditional Chinese culture will bloom again and surpass all other cultures of the world.  

When I came to the United States, I met some Chinese Christians. They were all nice people and cared for their fellow countrymen. However, they seemed to have no interest in Chinese culture and did not concern themselves about whether the Chinese culture would continue or not. Some of them were pastors or seminary students. When they preached their sermons or engaged in personal evangelical work, invariably the quotes or examples they chose were from a western context. The framework they used for their theological thinking was typically a western one. They had no in-depth understanding of Chinese culture. I drew the conclusion that having lived in this country for too long, their minds had been assimilated by western culture. 

The very first time I attended a Christian meeting, many Christians explained to me over and over again why every person is a sinner. I simply could not accept the idea. I told them that in the Chinese language "sinner" means "criminal". If every person is a criminal, then everyone needs to be put in jail. I asked them, "If all people were born sinners, why then would God create man in the first place? If children are sinners also, why would Jesus say, 'unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.'(Matthew18:3) ?" 

 Later, I read some books on the doctrines of Christianity and its relationship with the Chinese culture. Some of them tried very hard to discredit Confucianism, as if it were impossible to become a Christian without completely disavowing Confucian philosophies. I was greatly annoyed by this. It reinforced my preconception that Christianity was incompatible with Chinese culture and that they could not co-exist. The focus of contention, as I saw it, was the nature of the human heart.  

The Dispute Between Innate Goodness and Original Sin  

The pre-supposition of Confucian philosophy is that human nature is inherently good.. The oft quoted phrase from the Chinese "Three Character Primer" is: "Human nature is inherently good." Based on this premise, Confucius and Mencius developed their philosophies. I embraced this "self-evident" fact wholeheartedly and it became the basis and axiom for all my thinking concerning human nature. I firmly believed that man was born with innate goodness and that was what distinguished man from the animals. That is why man can be taught to change. If one rejects the assertion that human nature is inherently good, he also rejects the basis of the classic Four Books, the backbone of Confucianism and the classic Chinese philosophies. Culture would be shattered at its foundation.

I also accepted another teaching from Confucianism, that is: man is able to save himself. As long as he is cognizant of his inner goodness, he will be able to follow a righteous path and live a righteous life. In turn he will become a noble person.  

I especially appreciated the idea of "heaven and man are one" which is described in the Four Books. I wished one day to be able to attain this state, to "Establish the righteous spirit between heaven and earth; to lay down precepts for ordinary people to follow; to propagate the great philosophies passed on by the saints of the past; to usher in a world of peace for generations to come" as described by the ancient Chinese philosopher Zhang Dzai. 

However, I could not ignore the impact made upon me by the concept of original sin mentioned in the Bible. It forced me to think about the issue of sin, especially its existence in human nature. First of all, I discovered that the concept is not foreign to Chinese culture. Mencius said, "Ordinary men are no saints who can avoid doing bad things." Moreover he also said that even saints could not be totally free from making mistakes. The only difference is that they would correct their errors immediately, while ordinary people would let them slide. In this world it is impossible to find a perfect man.  

In the process of discussing the Christian faith with my American friends, I carefully studied the book of Romans many times. "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. . .and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes." (Romans 3:10-12; 17-18) These words were so sharp that they pierced my heart. I felt very uncomfortable. On the one hand, I could not deny the power of this pointed assertion. On the other hand, I tried my best to blunt its sharpness. I convinced myself that these words were too one-sided, too extreme, too absolute, too biased.  

However, the words of the Bible kept throbbing in my heart. Finally, I admitted that man’s existence is imperfect. Yet I refused to admit the nature of the human heart was the cause of such imperfections. I knew if I conceded on this point, my whole thinking and value system which were founded upon the pre-supposition that human nature is inherently good would all come tumbling down. My dilemma was, if I denied the Biblical assertion, I could not explain man’s imperfect existence. Worse yet, I could not find an adequate explanation based on common human nature why catastrophes like the Cultural Revolution could ever take place.  

I grew up during the Cultural Revolution. In those up-side-down and bloody years, I witnessed many utterly shameless and extremely cruel acts. I could not understand how people's hearts could become so dark and so cruel. How was it possible that so many people seemingly went mad at the same time? For many years I tried to find an answer, but failed. Is it true, as some one said, that the human heart is like the Pandora’s Box in Greek mythology which, once it is opened, spills out all kinds of evil? 

Finally, I came to realize that a single "great leader" was not capable of bringing about the ten year scourge of the Cultural Revolution. If we do not try to find excuses for anyone who committed crimes or mistakes in the Cultural Revolution; if we agree that all sane people have their free will; if we agree that we need to be accountable for the decisions and deeds committed that were made not under the threat of violence -- then every one who did wrong in the Cultural Revolution should not excuse his or her own behavior as a result of external pressure from the society. We need to examine ourselves and discover within our nature, what is the root cause of such evil. 

 I also pondered some other questions -- "Why is that after the Cultural Revolution, the Chinese race as a whole did not seriously reflect upon the decade-long catastrophe? Why was there only one book, written by Ba Jin, on the theme of repentance? After they were restored to their old posts, why did so many communist officials merely file charges against the Gang of Four instead of repenting of what they themselves had done to others? Why was it that the 'great leader' who always advocated examining ourselves did not examine himself?" My conclusion is that there is a fatal flaw in our culture. That is, we ignore the existence of sin in human nature. As time goes by, we lose our sensitivity towards sin, and our ability to repent for our sin

Thanks be to God. As I came to realize that "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23), I was able to face and examine myself. I came to realize:

1. I may receive a fairly good appraisal from others, but only I can see the darkness that is within my heart.

2. Sometimes I may do good, but it may not be out of good intentions. I have not done certain bad things, not because I do not want to, but because I do not have the courage or the opportunity.

3. Though I have an ideal "me" within, it is quite different from the real "me" in daily life. As I faced myself honestly and did not attribute my weaknesses and mistakes to others or society, I could sense the dark and fearful power that was within my heart. 

During my teenage years, I started to sense this dark power in my heart. Many times I tried to do good but this dark power tried to push me into a pit that I was not willing to go into. For many years I wrestled with it, but again and again I failed. I did not want to do evil, but the darkness in my heart seized me and compelled me to do those things that I did not want to do. What Paul said in the book of Romans exactly described my feelings, "For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do -- this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. . .What a wretched man I am!" (Romans 7:18-20,24)  

I further discovered that the reason I rejected the doctrines concerning sin was not because I could not accept it rationally but because of the emotional struggle. It was not a reluctance to accept the need for change, but was the unwillingness to be renewed. 

 As I was able to face myself, I could evaluate more objectively the philosophies that I loved so much. Mencius was the one who proposed the concept of innate goodness in human nature. In his arguments, he pointed out the possibilities for man to do good. For instance, he illustrated by saying that when a person sees that a boy is about to fall into a well, naturally, he will reach out and save the child out of compassion. He said, "Compassion is the beginning of benevolence; knowledge of good and evil is the beginning of righteousness; a humble heart is the beginning of courtesy; and a discerning heart toward right and wrong is the beginning of wisdom." These four qualities exist in all man and they await in man to develop, to enlarge. However, the existence of these qualities only points to the possibilities for man to do good. They are not sufficient to demonstrate that human nature is inherently good.  

Long before I came into contact with Christianity, I already spotted this flaw in Mencius' inherently good argument. I was unwilling to face up to this contradiction because I did not want to pull the rug from under my established value system. From the Bible, I found the solution to Mencius’ contradiction. In Genesis chapter 1, we see that in the beginning God created everything good. Therefore from a logical point of view or historical perspective, human nature was originally good as Mencius claimed. However, when we come to chapter 3, we see that our forefathers disobeyed God, ate the forbidden fruit and broke the covenant with God. Sin came into the world and entered human lives. From then on the perfect man became imperfect. 

Standing before the perfect Christ, the savior of the human race, I could not but admit that I was a very sinful person. I would not admit it before because I did not want to listen to the small voice of my conscience. The few times I felt convicted before by my conscience, my reaction was limited to regret, confession and resolve not to do the wrong things again. It was an inward exercise rather than a practical action to change my old self and become a new person. 

My heart is like any other person’s heart, heavily polluted and broken. As one looks at this world where human greed is rampant; at the atrocity of the two World Wars and at the scourge of the decade long Cultural Revolution, who can still say that he is not a sinner or dare to say that he is righteous? 

After I came out of the maze of inherent goodness in human nature, I found out I had misunderstood the meaning of the phrase "heaven and man are one" in Confucius’ teachings. Today, in the twentieth century, when we mention the word "heaven", more often than not we are referring to physical heaven in nature; whereas the "heaven" in Confucius’ teachings points to a transcendent object which has moral character, compassion and will. 

For example, Confucius said, "When I am fifty, I shall know the will of heaven." In other places he also mentions that heaven has the ability to grant us good moral character or decide when one should die. Heaven is the ultimate decision-maker, and it is wise for us to submit to its will. To Confucius, Mencius and other classical Chinese philosophers, "heaven and man are one" was not an abstract ideal, but a daily living experience. They took seriously the task entrusted them by "heaven" to point out the way of compassion and righteousness for the common people. 

I am glad that I live in the twentieth century and was fortunate enough to come to this country, a country that honors the freedom of religion. I am blessed to see God who is the "righteous heaven" -- sought after by so many ancient Chinese saints who were unable to know Him in person. In my heart, I met Jesus the Nazarene, who is the source of goodness in human hearts. I thank Him for giving Confucius and Mencius to the Chinese people. Through them, this ancient nation was preserved until now when He  reveals Himself to us. I thank Him for dying on the cross for my sin and saving me. I praise  Him for not forsaking me when I rejected Him but instead bringing me to His kingdom and giving me a new life. I said to Jesus, "I am the sinner whom you called. Forgive me for coming to you so late!"

Mr Fan, Xue De was a lecturer in Marxism philosophy in Mainland China. Currently, he lives in Illinois and is studying at Moody Bible Institute