Familiar Characters

Daniel Ricci on Lessons from a Bible Study in China

This fall I've been helping out with a local Bible study here in China. In a given week, around 50 people will be there—mostly young professionals. For the study itself, we divide up into groups—three Chinese language ones and one English, which I am currently leading.

The experience has been very interesting to me—even eye-opening. One of the barriers Chinese people often have to the Christian faith is that it is seen as a foreign religion. The Bible itself is seen as full of strange names and unfamiliar places, dealing with alien topics. Even to Chinese Christians themselves, the Bible often remains a mystery. Of course, I feel this initial impression is unfortunate, but I've come to believe that the fears are ultimately groundless. If my time studying the Bible alongside Chinese friends has taught me anything, it's that, despite their unfamiliarity, they often have a culturally easier time grasping the text than I do.

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Daniel Ricci is a software engineer living in central China with his family. He loves digital art and biblical theology, and worships in the Anglican tradition when home in the United States.

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