With the death of Allen Yuan, one of the “patriarchs” of the 20th-century Chinese church, this biography, though written while he was still alive, takes on new significance.
Samuel Moffett has presented us with a work that is comprehensive, yet concise; lucid, yet lively; balanced and yet not totally without an occasional, but mostly-controlled, bias; incisive, yet irenic – not a small achievement in a history of this scope.
This substantial volume includes eighteen papers from a conference on its title theme held in San Francisco under the sponsorship of the Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History and the Center for the Pacific Rim of the University of San Francisco in 1999.
Simply put, Sanneh believes that “translatability” lies at the heart of the Gospel of Christ. Just as “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” in Jesus, so the Word constantly “becomes flesh” in particular human cultures as the Bible is translated into vernacular languages.
Considered “a poor risk” by a doctor who examined his physical strength prior to going to the mission field, David Adeney proved to be just the opposite after nearly sixty years of ministry to the Chinese people.
An Introduction to the Mainland Chinese Soul is an extremely informative, helpful booklet that contains information essential to understanding the people of China.
The front cover describes The Chinese as “An insider’s look at the issues which affect and shape China today,” which is the least that can be said for the riches of this powerful book.
