View
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.
THIS ARTICLE ONLY AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
FOR QUICK ACCESS:
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.
more on bible from the online archives
calling all readers
Please Donate
"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand
"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor
• Not a subscriber or wish to renew your subscription? Subscribe to Touchstone today for full online access. Over 30 years of publishing!
personal subscriptions
Purchase Print &
Online Subscription

Get six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for only $39.95. That's only $3.34 per month!
gift subscriptions
GIVE Print &
Online Subscription

Give six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for the reduced rate of $29.95. That's only $2.50 per month!
Transactions will be processed on a secure server.
bulk subscriptions
Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.
kindle subscription
OR get a subscription to Touchstone to read on your Kindle for only $1.99 per month! (This option is KINDLE ONLY and does not include either print or online.)
Your subscription goes a long way to ensure that Touchstone is able to continue its mission of publishing quality Christian articles and commentary.
more from the online archives

33.2—March/April 2020
Christian Pro-Family Governments?
Old & New Lessons from Europe by Allan C. Carlson