Confucius, the Buddha, and Christ - Book Review

Covell, Ralph R. Confucius, the Buddha, and Christ. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1986.

In this book, Covell tries to analyze outstanding attempts to “bring the Christian faith and Chinese culture together,” and the focus “is on the shape and nature of the message that has been preached in China – the gospel in Chinese. It is an intellectual history, a history of Christian ideas in Chinese garb” (xiv-xv). He also includes a discussion of the “‘paramessage,’ those symbolic signals of gospel messengers that spoke more loudly than their words.”

Beginning with the assumption (in 1986) that the presentation of the gospel in China had “failed,” Covell asks for the reason, and whether missionaries “were insensitive to the Chinese context, unwilling to search for the key that would open the Chinese mind and heart?” (4)

He begins with a brief description of the Chinese “mind,” which he finds to be originally, and to this day, religious, with concepts of Heaven, the will of Heaven, the moral meaning of life and of the universe, sacrifice, and ancestor worship. Of course, the “superior” men saw religious rites as secular in meaning and purpose, useful for promoting social harmony and self-cultivation, but the masses fully believed in the spirit world behind the ceremonies. Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism not only coexisted peacefully, but interpenetrated each other, so that it would be hard for the average person to define precisely which tradition he followed. The various religious “strands have been worked into an interfaith collage that has swallowed up their original roots and identity” (14).

At the same time, Chinese have always been basically humanists, seeking harmonious relationships at home, work, and in society. “They have always placed primary emphasis on human interests and human relationships” (10). With the five cardinal virtues in the five key relationships as their guide, the Chinese “have always been a highly moral people” (11).

Of prime importance for the history of Christianity in China has been the assumption that fundamental loyalty must be given to the emperor as the Son of Heaven. The greatest offence is not theoretical heresy, but any questioning of the supreme governmental authority.

Against that background, and in that context, Covell traces the history of the gospel in China, from the Nestorians up to about 1980. Major themes include ways in which foreign missionaries and then Chinese Christians of various types tried to express the gospel in terms and through forms which were, or were not, readily accessible to the people they hoped to reach.

He hesitates to fault the Nestorians, for the reasons for their failure are impossible to discern with clarity. The Jesuits receive praise for coming as learners and in weakness, with no political power behind them, for seeking to adapt the gospel to Confucian ideas and rituals as much as possible, and for being willing to pay the price for their commitment. While Covell admires the heroic efforts of the early Protestant missionaries, he finds their connection with the opium trade and with Western power in general to be an almost fatal one, with repercussions down to the present. He even dares to criticize Robert Morrison’s fateful decision to work for the East India Company, something which I think we ought to consider seriously.

Some Protestant missionaries, followed by some more liberal Chinese Protestants, tried to accommodate the Christian message to Confucian concepts and even rituals, an effort which Covell admires. He laments the lost opportunity that resulted from missionaries’ refusal to nurture the proto- or quasi-Christian notions of the Taiping rulers. Two chapters on Buddhism and Christianity provide rich food for thought.

In the twentieth century, Covell sees two trends: the “gospel of Confucian activism,” represented by those who sought to reform society, through revolution if necessary; and the “Daoist” gospel of pietism, expressed by fundamentalist and evangelical Chinese leaders who sought individual salvation, without (Covell claims) regard for changing society. The dramatic changes which have taken place since the communist revolution in 1949 are also traced with balance and overall fairness, though perhaps with slightly more sympathy for the Three-Self Political Movement and its supporters.

Covell’s well-researched, clearly-written, and comprehensive volume has become a sort of classic, one which everyone wishing to communicate Christianity among the Chinese should read and ponder. At certain points I did think that he veered a bit too far in the direction of accommodation, and that his judgments of those who opposed such moves were a little harsh. Lack of biblical support weakens the case for the positions of which he approves.  On the other hand, I fully endorse his conclusion that reliance on Western political power and connections has vitiated foreign Christians’ work in China, even up to the present, and I applaud his strong advocacy of greater humility, a learner’s attitude, de-linking from any outside money, political power, or protection, and patient endurance by foreign Christians living in China.