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Bible and Value

JCJeremiah Chung · Jan 23, 2017, 6:08 AM · Last modified: Sep 28, 2026, 11:38 AM
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What is the value of the Bible? And from whose perspective? I think these are crucial questions that we should ask in order for persistent BT efforts and direction to the future BT ministry.


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http://www.ubscp.org/wordpress/wp-content/themes/suffusion/scripts/suffusion.js?ver=3.8.2:10 UBS China Partnership | Bibles in ChinaSOWING THE GOOD NEWS HomeAbout UsStories Videos Scripture Resources In China Useful LinksContact Us
It is because of UBS that the Church in China has strengthened her friendship with churches around the world. Minister Wang Zuoan, State Administration for Religious Affairs of China, http://www.sara.gov.cn/xwzx/xwjj/15255.htm and http://www.sara.gov.cn/xwzx/xwjj/15255.htm Celebrating Gods Word Amongst Ethnic Minorities in China Of Carpentry, Chairs and Church Bible & Values The Role of Christianity in Modern China Dec 10 2016

Shanghai, China What does the Bible say about values? Psalms 116:15 says, The Lord values the lives of His servants. We know that Jesus came to bring abundant life. The Bible values life it enables people to discover life and let it flourish, shared Prof Paul Williams, Chief Executive of British Bible Society (BFBS) at the opening ceremony of the 6th Bible in China Seminar held in Shanghai, attended by Chinese academics and researchers of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences and Shanghai Communist Party School, Christian leaders, seminary students, members of Bible Societies and international guest speakers.

The annual Bible in China (BiC) Seminar, themed Bible & Values this year, was jointly organized by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS), Centre for the Studies of Religion and Culture (CSRC) and Shanghai Association of Ethics (SAE), with the support of United Bible Societies (UBS).

L-R: Prof Fang Songhua and Bishop John Chew at the opening ceremony Opening the seminar amidst Chinas recent crackdown on corruption and propagation of Socialist core values, the need to talk about values was highlighted by Prof Fang Songhua, Director & Research Professor in the Institute of Chinese Marxism Studies at SASS. China is on the threshold of national revival. At the same time, we are seeing environmental damage and the erosion of morality and spirituality. Hence, it is important to talk about values. He then quoted President Xi Jinping who talked about the common destiny of humanity based on universal values that transcends national boundaries.

Bishop John Chew, UBS Global Council Member, also highlighted the Conferences significance in light of global socio-political developments like the recent elections in the US. He said, These seminars are not just academic talks, they discuss real life issues in the global context of international events taking place in the regions. And we trust that something good will be brought forth from this seminar.

The key seminar organizer, Prof Yan Kejia, Director and Research Professor of Institute of Religious Studies at SASS, shared that the seminars were meant to be helpful platforms for interaction and exchange of understanding between people in China and Christians overseas, between religious believers and non-believers.

Prof Edwin Judge presenting his paper To that end, a total of 24 papers were presented out of which eight were by foreign presenters. Two distinguished historians from Macquarie University in Australia, Prof Edwin Judge, Emeritus Professor of History and Dr. John Dickson, Honorary Fellow in the Department of Ancient History, presented their research, the former on how Western rationality and experience have shaped peoples response to the world and the latter on the ethics of humility.

Prof Nigel Biggar, Oxford Universitys Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology shared on The Bible, Christianity and Patriotism. Dr Paula Gooder, theologian in residence for BFBS, sharing from the Epistles to the Colossians, asserted that Christian values stems from understanding the nature of Christ and the difference that his death and resurrection make to believers.

Prof Lee Sing Kong, former Director of Singapore National Education Institute shared on Value and Education while Mr. Richard Magnus, Singapores Retired Chief District Judge and his daughter Stephanie, contributed a paper on The Rule of Law in Singapore and The Aetiology of the Rule of Law.

From China, Prof Zhang Chunmei, Director and Professor of the Philosophy Department of Shanghai Communist Party School shared that the Internet is the biggest variable faced by the Chinese Communist Party and there is need to construct core values in the Internet language environment by careful management of various relationships in the cyber world. Imam Jin Hongwei, Chairman of Shanghai Islamic Association, wrote a paper on The Koran and Socialist Core Values, highlighting that the spirit of Islam in China stresses harmony.

This years conference saw the largest turnout since its inauguration with more than 100 participants that included seminary students from Huadong and Shandong Seminary. The successful completion of each BiC Conference for the past 6 years has always been met with much thanksgiving.

L-R: Kua Wee Seng, Prof Yan Kejia, Bishop John Chew, Prof Paul Williams, Greg Clarke (CEO, Bible Society of Australia) We are thankful that we are able to share about Biblical values and to show the positive contribution of Christianity towards the core values which the Chinese leadership is promoting amongst its people. We pray that the growth of Christianity in China will continue to bless China with the spread of Biblical values in the society, said Kua Wee Seng, UBS China Partnership Director.

See photos of the 6th Bible in China Seminar here.

Story: Angela Teo Edited: Cynthia Oh Photo: UBS CP 2016 United Bible Societies China Partnership

160117 Posted by cynthia at 7:17 pmAdvocacy, Shanghai Subscribe to Newsletter by RSS/Email:

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LMLynell Marchese ZogboJan 23, 2017, 11:02 AM

Jeremiah, it is funny, everytime you put up a post, without seeing it is you, I am drawn to the issue you are raising. Indeed I just read several texts which made me ask myself AGAIN the question, have we thought about what we want the BIble to communicate when we translate it? People seem to be using the word skopos everywhere when in fact in many cases it is still a minority forcefeeding a majority ...and I am not thinking of any one organization or even one context....I am thinking in GENERAL....indeed what values do we see in the BIble and what values do we (whoever we is) want it to communicate....this comes to the forefront for me as an American as I watch bible verse after bible verse being quoted in the setting of an American inauguration where the words of the inauguree did not reflect biblical principles (taken in a global way) GOD HELP US think more profoundly about what we are DOING and what we are ADVOCATING

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JCJeremiah ChungFeb 1, 2017, 5:54 AM

Thank you for the response. I certainly agree that the Bible are very valuable to Christians and churches. What I would like to see how can we perceive the value of the Bible from others' perspective in order to have a common ground for communicating "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God ... "

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