Taiwan Church News
3463 Edition
9 – 15 July, 2018
Church Ministry
Seeing Taiwanese Folklore As An Aid To Preach The Gospel
Reported by Ho Jia-heng
“(Taiwanese folklore), not the enemy, but an aid of the Christian gospel”, advised to the audience by Rev John M. Yeh in a sermon, entitled as “A journey from fortune teller to pastor”, held at Taipei Holiness Church in the evening on June 30.
Rev Yeh stressed the importance of adequate understanding of Taiwanese folklore, a religious practice highly similar to Old Testament rituals, as a basis to preach the gospel to Taiwan society.
We should not see Taiwanese folklore as an enemy to be conquered or annihilated, said Rev Yeh, instead, in order to preach God’s good news to Taiwan society, Christians here need to learn more knowledge about Taiwanese religious practices and appreciate some deep similarities between it and Old Testament religions.
Taking a contemporary example, a mixed culture of Tai Sui astrology and Huang Dao Ji Zi(Chinese fortune calendar, stipulating good or bad time for doing things in ordinary lives, like dealing, traveling, marriage, farming and etc.), Rev Yeh advised Christians no need to show their distrust before some devout believers of such Tai Sui astrology and Huang Dao Ji Zi cuture.
Instead, to preach God’s good news to Taiwanese, we should approach Taiwanese religious practices with sympathetic understanding and patiently explained that their fear and problem could be solved by God’s mercy, compassion and peace once for all, Rev Yeh remarked.
Translated by Peter Wolfe
