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Honor & Shame (Face)

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March 2014

March 05, 2014

Using the “Romans 23 Principle” to Explain Sin

Chinese people have a hard time understanding what is meant by the word “sin.” How...

February 2014

February 11, 2014

Do We Give Chinese Christians Too Much Face?

Darren Carlson offers a good reminder to us all. In my opinion, he describes a...

January 2014

January 09, 2014

Talking about “Honor” and “Glory” in Chinese

“Face” is simply another way of talking about honor-shame (荣辱, róngrǔ). So, what some words...

December 2013

December 23, 2013

What Theologians Are Saying About the Glory of God

Here is just one more little contribution to the bigger argument that glory, honor, and...

November 2013

November 12, 2013

Talking about “Face” in Chinese

How do you use Mandarin to talk about honor and shame (i.e. “face”)? What if...

September 2013

September 19, 2013

Why China Matters for Doing Theology: Biblical Truth

Why would someone need to know more about China in order to understand the Bible...

August 2013

August 22, 2013

The Biblical Story in the Context of Honor and Shame

It’s asking a lot of a single model to capture the whole biblical story in...

August 08, 2013

A Theological Version of "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell"

When people are not against something but not necessarily "for" it, what do they do?...

August 06, 2013

Is Our Theology Enslaved to the Law?

How do the various biblical metaphors and word pictures relate to one another? Click on...

July 2013

July 26, 2013

Are We Naked or Do We Just Feel That Way?

Is there a difference between feeling naked and actually being naked? Over at the Gospel...

July 23, 2013

Chinese Evangelism: Deep in Tradition, Shallow in Theology?

It's a lot easier to memorize a gospel presentation than to understand it. That seems...

June 2013

June 25, 2013

Justifying Honor and Shame in Romans

Simply put, Romans is about honor and shame. In the latter sections of Saving God's...

June 20, 2013

We Need a New Perspective on Glory

No one can read John Piper and miss this single point: GOD WANTS GLORY. Piper's...

June 12, 2013

Does Christ Satisfy God’s Honor or His Justice?

Of making many atonement theories, there is no end. It can be a real headache...

June 11, 2013

Christ Died to Save God’s Face

For whom did Jesus die? Ultimately, Jesus died for God. I have found that statement...

June 06, 2013

Understanding Honor and Shame in Any Context

In the third major section of Saving God's Face, I try to grasp the inner...

June 05, 2013

"What Does It Mean to Contextualize the Gospel?" by Werner Mischke

Check out Werner Mischke's post "What does it mean to contextualize the gospel?"

June 04, 2013

Are We Seeking God’s Face…or Our Own? (John 7:1-24)

There is a subtle but serious distinction between faith and face. Consider John 7:1–24. I've...

June 03, 2013

Book Giveaway (Week 3): Honor, Shame, Face

This is week 3 of my series introducing my book Saving God's Face. And I'm...

May 2013

May 31, 2013

Finding Israel in the Middle Kingdom

What does Beijing have to do with Jerusalem? Well, imagine you live in the following...

May 08, 2013

The Personal History behind "Saving God's Face"

What is the personal history behind my book, Saving God's Face? Why did I write...

May 02, 2013

Faith Means Placing Your Face in the Father (John 5:39, 44–47)

No one wants to look stupid. People don't tend to believe things in the hope...

April 2013

April 30, 2013

Why "Saving Faith" Means "Saving Face"

Should Christians want to "save face"? This post clarifies a part of my previous post...

April 25, 2013

Having Faith and Saving Face (John 5:44)

Have you ever noticed how Jesus defines faith in terms of face? Jesus asked his...

February 2013

February 26, 2013

Legalism is an Honor Shame Problem

Legalism is an honor-shame problem. Why? Consider what Brene Brown says in her incisive article...

February 20, 2013

What is Most "Fundamental" in Salvation?: A Problem in Theological Debates

Theological debates are often fueled by a lack of clarity about both the terms we...

February 19, 2013

A Poll: What is the Relationship Between Law and Honor-Shame in the Bible?

[polldaddy poll=6809619]

February 14, 2013

The New Covenant in a Chinese Context (Part 3): Defined by Ethnicity?

In the previous posts, we saw that the new covenant has a collectivist dimension and...

February 07, 2013

The New Covenant in a Chinese Context (Part 1): A Collectivistic Understanding of Identity

One thing that gets me excited is thinking about the way that an eastern (e.g....

February 05, 2013

A legal solution won't solve a shame problem. Agree or Disagree?

"If sin is framed in terms of shame, however, then a legal solution to something...