Corpus Nestorianum Sinicum: “Thus Have I Heard on the Listening of Mishihe (the Messiah)” (2021)

Corpus Nestorianum Sinicum: “Thus Have I Heard on the Listening of Mishihe (theMessiah)”序聽迷詩所經 and “Discourse on the One-God”一神論.

A theological approach with a proposed reading structure and translation.

The formidable task accomplished by the members of the景教(jǐng-jiào) or “luminous teaching” community during the Tang Dynasty in China (618-907 CE), chronologically constitutes the first documented engagement between Jesus’ message and the Chinese people. The entire group of Jingjiao manuscripts can be designated as the Corpus Nestorianum Sinicum, and two documents, the序聽迷詩所經 “Thus have I heard: On the listening of the Messiah”,and also the 一神論 “Discourse on the One-God”, represent the main goal of investigation throughout this dissertation. As a preparatory step, the writer deemed it necessary to elaborate an interlinear version, in which the manuscripts were transcribed in sequential order and numerically organized by columns. Then, he was able to single out the different stages of development and the background in their composition of the final product that has been transmitted to us in the “Takakusu and Tomioka manuscripts” respectively. The theological value of the study focused on the individuation, exposition, and explanation of the “Christian Godhead, Christological, and Soteriological Concepts” that were contextualized using Chinese Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucian technical terms within both documents. Moreover, based on modern Chinese transcriptions and different translations with a more specific philological and historical approach, the author has included his own theological translation underlining the core faith elements of the Jingjiao community. Finally, for a deeper understanding and interpretation, the writer also has integrated a “proposed reading structure” that is the principal hermeneutical tool-key to approach both manuscripts within a new theological outlook and in the viewpoint of a new redating and authorship.

著者：欧卫道（Aguilar Sánchez Victor Manuel）

出版者：Gregorian & Biblical Press (Roma), 2021

ISBN 978-88-7839-438-4

定价：160欧元

欧卫道（Aguilar Sánchez Victor Manuel），哥斯达黎加（Costa Rica）人，自1997年起在亚洲工作及生活，2001年起定居澳门。

本书系作者对唐代景教经典《序听迷诗所经》和《一神论》的研究，荣获罗马额我略大学2019～2020年度“最出色神学博士论文大奖（Bellarmino Award）”。

Corpus Nestorianum Sinicum:“Thus Have I Heard on the Listening of Mishihe (the Messiah)” and “Discourse on the One-God”（序聽迷詩所經及一神論）”

In his dissertation, Victor Aguilar, affirmed that “looking back at the history of Christianity in China we realize how for centuries the missionaries have struggled to confront many challenges related to the inculturation of the Gospel. More specifically during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties we may recall Franciscan, Dominican and Jesuit missionaries who have distinguished themselves in this great labour. However, the Gospel of Christhas more ancient roots in the mission of the Eastern Syrian monks who at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) announced for the first time the story of Jesus to the Chinese people using Chinese language”.

The formidable task, accomplished by the so-called “Nestorian missionaries” or the members of the “luminous teaching” (“Jingjiao”) community, chronologically constitutes the first documented engagement between Jesus’ message and the Chinese people. Two manuscripts, entitled “Thus have I heard: On the listening of the Messiah” and “Discourse on the One-God” studiedduring the doctoral dissertation present a focus on the individuation, exposition, and explanation of the Christian view on God with its Christological and Soteriological concepts.

Moreover, the dissertation featured the Chinese face of the pastoral and missionary enterprise carried out by the members of the “luminous teaching” community highlighting its efforts of ‘understanding’, ‘translating’, ‘explaining’, and ‘transmitting’ the story of Jesus into Chinese categories. The model of inculturation developed by these early missionaries in China is the first invaluable approach and will remain a reference for Christian and missionaries in the Chinese context they should always learn from.