The Discovery of Genesis [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

To simply rejecting the gist of the book is evidence for a great portion of ignorance by choice. That seems to be the nihilistic path trodden by the followers of ignorance when it comes to terms of faith. Why? Because it is easy to ignore the existence of God this way... by choice!

Don't read the book. It might convince you that the author is right and that the ultimate reason for this evidence really exists.

I lived in East Asia for six years and have some little bit of understanding of the Chinese offsprings of those inventors of their characters. Some of the ingeniuity in their mind and conduct has survived corrupt dynasties and the Cultural Revolution. It will also survive the consequences of the one child policy and the self centeredness of the young materialistic generation.

Read the book if you truly want to know the origin of Chinese virtue and the riddle why millions of Chinese flock to become born again Christians. However, that requires some external information, not provided by the book - or some close Chinese friends.

Over all, the book represents a diligent approach to Chinese culture and values - it is also enriching Chinese people when looking from a viewpoint to their own cultural heritage which may seem strange to them because it is presented by a zhong guo ren and a wei guo ren. Hen hao.

While I reccommend this book to anyone interested in Chinese culture, I have three criticisms. First, the human mind has an amazing ability to find patterns. If the authors were to take a slightly more critical approach to their own ability to imagine, I would feel more free to recommend this book to critical thinkers. Second, some of the characters they analyze are a stretch. Some skeptical readers might be put off by the bad arguments and overlook the good ones.

My main objection, though, is to the author's historical framework. I doubt the Chinese were consciously trying to encode the Genesis record in their language. This for four reasons. First, I don't think you can link the Chinese and the Jews that closely historically or genetically. Second, redemptive analogies can be found in many culures. (Polynesian, Japanese, and American, African, and New Guinea tribes.) They are not always related to Genesis. Third, many Chinese characters, like the words for "come" and the old word for "world," show meanings related not to Genesis but to the death of Jesus on the cross. And nobody thinks the ancient Chinese had a copy of the New Testament. And fourth, when Paul went to Athens and preached the "unknown God," he didn't need to link him historically to Jehovah to show his audience that the God he spoke of was not a "foreign God." Neither do we. I think the book should be read and passed on, but with caution. But I've heard the authors themselves have been more cautious in recent editions.

I strongly disagree with the reader below who called this book "a bunch of crock" and said the God the ancient Chinese worshiped was not the Christian God. In fact, the concept of God in ancient China (the books of Poetry and History, for examples) described a God who was "parent" of mankind, wholly good, loves mankind, rewards the good and punishes evil, is far above all other gods, and has never been worshiped with an idol. Even non-Christians, like Chen Jingpan, admit, "From the very ancient days of Chinese history, down through the time of Confucius to the present, we have records about the Chinese belief in one supreme God, the ruler over heaven and earth."

I've recently been editing final drafts of a book, due in July, called Jesus and the Religions of Man. It includes a chapter called "The Non-History of God," showing the universal and changeless character of the concept of Creator. I'd be happy to e-mail a copy of that chapter to Jing Wang if he contacts me.

Author, True Son of Heaven: How Jesus Fulfills the Chinese Culture (d.marshall@sun.ac.jp)