Is the Bible an ancient text, a mere relic of the past? Is the Bible a “Western” product, irrelevant to the “East”? Can the Bible be imagined as a living text for twenty-first century China? The Oxford Handbook of the Bible in China provides surprising answers and discoveries related to the Bible and its place in China over the last thirteen hundred years. Forty-seven essays address the translation of the Bible into China's languages and dialects, expression of the Bible in Chinese literary and religious contexts, Chinese biblical interpretations and methods of reading, and the reception of the Bible in the institutions and arts of China. Each essay consists of a comprehensive yet concise treatment set in a historical frame on topics as wide-ranging as: the first Chinese Bibles, Chinese Nestorian Christianity, Bibles of minority nationalities, Sino-Christian theology, printed illustrations of the Gospel in China, the Bible and Chinese films, Chinese calligraphy and the biblical texts, Chinese Classics and the Bible, and Chinese society and politics. This expansive and unique volume presents insightful, succinct, and provocative evidence about and interpretations of encounters between the Bible and China for centuries past, continuing into the present, and likely prospects for the future.
