Our Biblical Heritage

The Holy Bible is not often seen mainly as a companion of the inner process of self-dedication or self-awareness, but that is exactly the position taken by this fascinating study. Uniquely, "Our Biblical Heritage" uses Chinese scriptures as the key to unlocking this potential. By comparing the structure and methodology of the two ancient traditions of religious writing, their true common purpose starts to emerge. The key term connecting Eastern and Western scriptures is 'covenant,' or contract, which characterises the relationship between the self and the Divine (described in the West as the Lord and the Son of Man and in Chinese writing as Central Authority (Huang Di) or Yellow Emperor). In the Chinese system, the covenant is said to be the first stage of three linking the spirit of God with the breath of God, or that which interconnects Heaven and Earth. In the Holy Bible, covenant begins with Noah, is renewed through Moses, David and Solomon, but is only finally fulfilled in the Book of Revelation. After the introductory use of myth and legend in both East and West came the Law, apparently formulated in the texts ascribed to the Four Sages and characterised by the Three Yi (conforming to mind) and Three Yi (conforming to nature) in the East, and in the biblical books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. With the establishment of family, clan, nation, and kingdom comes the struggle to reconcile immersion in the world with purity of soul. This forms the counterpoint to the texts of prophecy, leading to Divine intervention in the world through the coming of the Son of Man, described in the Gospels. Ultimately, then, there is no division between internal and external. All are infused with Divine potential. The perennial companionship extends inward to that which transcends thought and feeling and outward - beyond Heaven and Earth - into the very connection between soul and body. The law in China extends outward into the doctrine of pneuma and soma, leading to the medical application of acupuncture and moxibustion and implying the rightness of a holistic approach to all human activities. Through the Way of God (Dao) and by the Grace of God (Dei), we can overcome struggle and reconcile being in the world with integrity of soul.