by John Tong, translated by Peter Barry
Why and How I Wrote The Theology of Creation
After returning to Hong Kong from studies in Rome in 1970, I sent a letter to one of my professors there telling him that the first seminary course I had to teach was ecclesiology. In his reply, he encouraged me to not only teach the students to understand the church, but also to love the church. Thus two years ago when the Board of Directors of Holy Spirit Seminary College established the "Committee for Publishing a Chinese Theological Textbook Series," and assigned me the task of writing The Theology of Creation, I recalled those words of my professor. In writing The Theology of Creation I set as my goal not only to help the readers understand our Creator, but also to love Him; not only to understand life, but to love life. In the past two decades a number of books have been translated or written in Chinese which treat the Catholic doctrine of creation. Among these are Ludwig Ott's Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, Michael Schmaus' Dogma Vol. II, Luis Gutheinz' Christian Anthropology, etc. These books are good teaching materials, but the authors are all Westerners. Their way of expressing themselves is more in accordance with a Western way of thinking; it does not suit the Chinese taste. Therefore I felt that it was necessary to rewrite the material. In writing the book I tried to stress the following three characteristics:
I. Elements of faith in culture, and cultural elements in faith.
Everyone in the world is called to believe in God. The ancient myths in Chinese culture's long 5,000 year history paved the way for the full revelation of God's creation of the world. The book makes use of Chinese myths, like Pan Gu ( ) dividing heaven and earth and Nuwa ( ) creating human beings through her own efforts, which vividly expressed the beautiful and close relationship between God, human beings and the world. It briefly points out how these myths were later transformed into the worldviews of both Confucianism and Taoism. The Natural Way of Taoism's Laozi is quite mysterious, and is difficult both to understand and to put into practice. In the waning years of the Eastern Han Dynasty Zhang Jiao's( ) underground revolutionary movement used the rallying cry of Laozi being reincarnated as an immortal. Then in 617, during the Sui Dynasty, when The Book of Changes of Laozi appeared, this even more ivinized Laozi, describing him as a saviour who has entered into our world. This reflects a messianic consciousness present in Chinese culture, and therefore we can detect elements of faith in that same culture.
This book, in accordance with the exegesis of Scripture scholars, points out that Genesis 1:1 - 2:2a is a psalm written in the 6th century B.C. by a class of priestly Israelite theologians. They had been taken captive to Babylon, and had returned to Israel upon their release from captivity. While in Babylon they observed the greatness of Persia and the flourishing intellectual life there. They suddenly experienced a clarity of vision and a breadth of mind. So they wrote this hymn of praise to God for believers to sing in the Temple which had as its theme the vastness of the heavens and the expansiveness of the universe. The narration of the Priestly Code gave completeness and order to the song. Looking at the story as a whole it is not difficult to discover that it contains elements of Babylonian myths. For instance, the word "abyss" in Genesis 1:1- 2 is related to "Tiamat" in Babylonian mythology. Moreover, when the Old Testament talks about God, it chooses points in common with Eastern mythology. It frequently describes God like an Eastern king (I Kings 22:19; Isaiah 6: 1ff) and angels as servants in the king's palace (Job 4:18). From these examples we can see that there are cultural elements in the Christian faith.
II. Love in the midst of reasoning; and reasoning in the midst of love
The book points out that the Creed which we usually recite was gradually formed over a period of 300 years, from the time of the Apostles to the 4th century when the church was allowed to publicly proclaim the faith. The first line of the Creed says: "I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, and of all things, visible and invisible." Although just expressing an article of our faith, nevertheless this line of the creed is quite rich in meaning. The book points out that the first words are "I believe in," but that in the Chinese rendition there is no" in." If the Chinese word for "in" were added to the proclamation of our belief in God, it would more vividly show our love for and our reliance upon God, and the experience of searching for an interaction between God and human beings. Applied to "God the Father," it describes the relationship between God and human beings. If humans do not arrive at the Father, then they have no happiness and will always have the feeling of being homeless. This is a real example of love in the midst of reasoning.
While many people speak of God's merciful providence and God's will, they think of God as sitting on His heavenly throne casting His eyes over each chapter of history, which He has al-ready arranged, as it unfolds before Him. The book points out that when God mercifully cares for us and guides us in the way of goodness. He at the same time gives us free will and permits us to resist His grace. God does not have evil as an object, nor is evil a means for arriving at His object. However God has the wisdom and the power to produce good out of evil. In the end moral evil must serve the most lofty goal of the universe - the glory of God. God's mercy is manifest in the forgiveness of sins. The justice of God is shown in the alienation of the sinner from God and in the consequences the sinner suffers from this alienation. This is an example of reasoning in the midst of love.
III. The macrocosm within the microcosm, and microcosm within the macrocosm
The book especially points out the close relationship between the creation and the redemption because the incarnate Christ is the one and only centre of the universe and of human beings. Through this we come to realize that redemption is the climax of creation, and that the idea of creation manifests the universality of redemption. Therefore from salvation history Christian faith gives a complete explanation of creation by pointing to the rise of a new heaven and a new earth. Our explanation of creation is not only concerned about the events which took place at the "beginning" of the world. Rather it places greater emphasis on the new accomplishments that take place in "time." Creation is an ongoing action of the Lord. If human beings and the world are in Christ, a new creation has taken place (2 Cor. 5:17). This is the summit of the Christian's faith experience. This is the theological approach of "the macrocosm within the microcosm. " Although Vatican Council 1 (1870) led us to think that God created the first man, this book points out that such teaching of Vatican Council I can be understood on two different levels. That which is at the core and at the deepest level is the level of Sacred Scripture. This affirms that human beings, composed of spiritual and material elements, came from God and that God "created" them according to His own image and likeness. The problem of "the manner of creation" belongs to a more superficial level. This points to such questions as: did the bodies of our ancestral parentsreally evolve from animals, or were they directly created by God? Were our progenitors just one couple (monogenism) or were there many couples (polygenism)? Therefore although we must affirm the church's teaching about creation, it is not necessary to accept everything without analysis. This is the theological approach of the "microcosm within the macrocosm." In sumation, although the whole book is divided into four chapters, and chapters one and four take up most of the pages, I personally feel that chapter two is the heart of the book, and provides the most encouragement for our daily lives. I especially refer to the part in chapter two which speaks about human beings seeking God's providence. This has practical benefit for the busy people of Hong Kong who are worried about " 1997." Yes, when we are really worried and anxious, why not try placing our trust in God? Prayer helps us to verbalize our concerns. This does not mean that we just tell God what we need, but that we open ourselves to the inexhaustible source of God's grace (prayer is also beneficial to us from a psychological point of view because unclear questions seem impossible of solution). Moreover, prayer makes us feel that God has taken our troubles upon His shoulders, and that He is the true source of energy for our actions. Finally, I thank Cardinal Wu for writing the introduction and Bishop Domingos Lam of Macao for his continual support, for the many outstanding theological works which provided material for this book, for the pre-publication review work of Father Savio Hon and Sister Maria Goretti Lau and for the editorial assistance of Miss Ingrid Chan. The book was written for beginners in the study of Chinese theology. It was published in the spirit of paving the way for Chinese - Catholic inter culturation. All suggestions and criticisms will be deeply appreciated.