10 June 2025, Volume 0 Issue 16

    

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  Editor’s Word

  Antoine REN

  International Journal of Catholic Studies. 2025, 0(16): 0-0.

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Special Feature: Chinese Culture and Cultural Theology
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  Diversity of Authors and Addressees of Chinese Christian Texts from the Tang Period

  Alexis Balmont

  International Journal of Catholic Studies. 2025, 0(16): 1-16. https://doi.org/10.30239/IJCS.202506_(16).0001

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  In their reception of the Chinese Christian documents from the Tang period, Peter Saeki and Arthur Moule put forth a distinction between the Aluoben documents and the Jingjing documents, assuming that the authors of these texts shared the same cultural background, held similar theological opinions and belonged to a single Christian community. However, the account of Zunjing about Alunogen’s arrival in China shows that he might not have been involved in translating the Jingjiao texts into Chinese. In contrast with Peter Saeki and Arthur Moule’s view, it seems reasonable to posit that Aluoben might have been a diplomatic emissary of the Persian Sassanid Empire and that the author of the Xi’an stele subsequently emphasized his identity as a missionary. Given that Yishenlun and Xuting Mishisuo jing were addressed to an audience with an understanding of the Sogdian language, it seems implausible that these two texts were composed by Aluoben in Chang’an and intended for court officials. Furthermore, it is evident that the Christians who emigrated to China in the 7^th and 8^th centuries were of Sogdian, Persian, and Bactrian origins, and therefore had a diverse range of historical and cultural backgrounds. In addition, an examination of the theological opinions expressed in Yishenlun and Xuting Mishisuo jing in comparison to those found in other Jingjiao texts reveals notable divergences. These elements rather suggest that the authors and intended addressees of the Chinese Christian texts were part of disparate groups with distinct cultural backgrounds and theological features.
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  Making Friends and Conveying Doctrines through Poetry: A Study on Michele Ruggieri’s Chinese Catholic Poems from the Perspective of “Accommodation Strategy”

  Wang Huiyu

  International Journal of Catholic Studies. 2025, 0(16): 17-32. https://doi.org/10.30239/IJCS.202506_(16).0002

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  Throughout history, poetry has held a profoundly important place in Chinese cultural history and in the lives of the Chinese literati. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Jesuit missionaries who came to China hoped to integrate into and adapt to Chinese culture. They created a large number of literary works in Chinese, including poems. Michele Ruggieri (A.D. 1543-1607), the first Jesuit missionary officially permitted to enter China, wrote over fifty regulated poems in Chinese. These poems, rich in Catholic elements and known as the Chinese Catholic poems, not only recorded the interactions between the missionaries and late Ming literati but also showcased the inculturated Catholicism.
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  The “Second Translation Controversy” and Its Question of Inculturation in the History of Catholicism in China

  Bai Guoliang

  International Journal of Catholic Studies. 2025, 0(16): 33-50. https://doi.org/10.30239/IJCS.202506_(16).0003

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  How can the Gospel be better spread in China so that the Chinese people can better understand and accept Christianity? This is a question that countless missionaries and Christians in China have pondered and worked on since Matteo Ricci. The “Chinese Rite Controversy” had a significant impact on the development of the Church in China. Although the dispute eventually subsided after the intervention of the Holy See, it did not disappear completely. This article discusses the arguments and objectives of missionaries in the mid-19^th century regarding the use of Chinese classical terms Tian and Shangdi to refer to God. There was no right or wrong in the views of the two sides, but only a manifestation of their responsibility and love for the local church. This paper specifically analyzes the dialogue between the Lazarist Bishop Joseph-Martial Mouly and Bishop Emmanuel-Jean-Francois Verrolles of the Missions étrangers de Paris (MEP) on this issue, reflecting their concerns in the mission in China and examining the significance of their theology of inculturation and missionary strategy.
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  The Inspiration of the Interior Taiji for Traditional Theology and Spirituality

  Antoine Ren

  International Journal of Catholic Studies. 2025, 0(16): 51-78. https://doi.org/10.30239/IJCS.202506_(16).0004

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  Gong Yan (born in 1974) is known as a spiritual “master” throughout China today because of his “Unitive spirituality of Taiji,” which he also calls the “Interior Taiji.” The number of religious sisters, seminarians, priests, and laypeople who have followed his formation is impressive. It is a spiritual practice that integrates modern psychology with the traditional Chinese philosophical concept of Taiji. This concept can also provide a new interpretation for Trinitarian theology, Christology, and theological anthro-pology. In this paper, the author will present how Gong Yan systematizes his spirituality by articulating Chinese Taiji philosophy, modern psychology, theology, and Christian spirituality in order to explore what inspiration his innovative theories and practices can offer to the Christian theological and spiritual tradition.
  
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  Interior Taiji: Affect, Ethics, and Theology

  He Simeiqi

  International Journal of Catholic Studies. 2025, 0(16): 79-106. https://doi.org/10.30239/IJCS.202506_(16).0005

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  Taiji (太極) is a quintessential concept spanning thousands of years of Chinese history. Immersed in this ancient tradition and reflecting on his profound personal experience, Gong Yan developed Interior Taiji (太極合一靈修) as a unitive praxis, which has enriched the personal and social lives of contemporary China for over a decade. This article begins with a brief introduction to the practice of Interior Taiji. It then explores Gong’s approach to affect in the light of mystical theology, followed by a conceptualisation of the praxis of Interior Taiji and its professional ethics through medieval affect and contemporary affect theories. Finally, by considering Interior Taiji in conversation with contemporary philosophy and the thoughts of Pope Francis, I present an open horizon for Chinese Catholic theology that the boundaries of religious thought, attends to the process of integral health, and expresses the lived wisdom of the Chinese people.
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  Chinese Youth’s Contribution to the Rediscovery of the Theology of Christ the Brother and Development of the Church as Fraternity

  Bruno Lepeu

  International Journal of Catholic Studies. 2025, 0(16): 107-142. https://doi.org/10.30239/IJCS.202506_(16).0006

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  During a research project aimed at understanding emerging trends in the Church in China, young Catholics emphasised the importance of fraternal ecclesial communities for faith development. They often refer to Christ as “Elder Brother Jesus,” echoing early Church Fathers’ views of Christ as the Brother who adopts believers into divine Fraternity through baptism. This concept resonates with Chinese cultural values. The thesis suggests that this Christological approach can help develop an ecclesiology of the Church as the Fraternity of Christ, aligning with the Acts of the Apostles and emphasising synodality based on Fraternity, as highlighted by the phrase “You are all brothers” (Mt 23:8).
Regular Contributions
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  John Chrysostom’s Defense of the Consistency of Pauline Epistles

  Raphael Yü-sen Peng

  International Journal of Catholic Studies. 2025, 0(16): 143-168. https://doi.org/10.30239/IJCS.202506_(16).0007

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  In recent times, the “inconsistency” of Pauline epistles has been a focus of the discussion once again. A brief review of the research history in the 20^th century reveals that “inconsistency” is not a new issue but probably a challenge that Paul had to face during his lifetime. As an ardent admirer of Paul, St. John Chrysostom did his best to refute all claims of “inconsistency” in Pauline epistles. On the one hand, St. John Chrysostom was a staunch defender of the coherence of the Pauline epistles, both in terms of their formal coherence as a codex and in terms of the coherence of their content, based on factors of time, intention, and the Holy Spirit. On the other hand, St. John Chrysostom also defends and praises Paul’s diversity, even giving positive connotations to adjectives that have traditionally carried a negative meaning. St. John Chrysostom’s argument is also strictly circumscribed. In short, Pauline diversity is expressed by Paul’s motivation of saving mankind, the example of Christ’s kenosis, the context of the kerygma, and the selected material and style that form the content of Pauline epistles.
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  Memory and Identity: Rereading the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and Their Journey in the Wilderness

  Thérèse Wang

  International Journal of Catholic Studies. 2025, 0(16): 169-192. https://doi.org/10.30239/IJCS.202506_(16).0008

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  “The Exodus from Egypt” was one of the people of Israel’s most direct experiences of the Lord as the rescuing God. Through this event, God not only identified the Israelites as His chosen people but also instituted the “Passover” (cf. Exo 12:14), which was to be commemorated by all generations. However, when Moses led the people of Israel on their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, the “Exodus” seemed to be quickly forgotten by them, and the Israelites continuously reminisced about what they had experienced in Egypt by rebelling, complaining, and testing the Lord. However, God not only provided everything they needed for their journey but also established another festival for them to be commemorated by all generations, which is the Feast of Tabernacles (cf. Lev. 23:41). Since then, the Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles have become two important annual festivals of the Israelite people. On the one hand, these two festivals have become historical memorials; on the other hand, they symbolize the relationship between God and His people in terms of saving and being saved, of choosing and being chosen, and thus the identity of the Israelite people. The purpose of this article is to reread this tortuous process of “remembering” and “forgetting,” “revolt” and “reconciliation,” and “trauma” and “healing” in order to explore how the Israelite people interpreted their “commemoration” of the two events and defined their identity.