Cross-Cultural Paul: Journeys to Others, Journeys to Ourselves by Charles H. Cosgrove;Herold D. Weiss;K. K. Yeo

Author:Charles H. Cosgrove;Herold D. Weiss;K. K. Yeo [Charles H. Cosgrove;Herold D. Weiss;K. K. Yeo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2008-09-09T17:17:00+00:00

Freedom and Community

Both Paul and Confucius lived in cultures that valued community. The Chinese understanding of the human self as a social entity strikes a harmonious chord with Paul's understanding of community. Family is important to both, and just as Confucius thought of the family as part of a virtually seamless web of expanding networks, encompassing society, nation, and cosmos, so people in Paul's day thought of the family as a microcosm of the universe, which was ordered in the same (patriarchal) way. Paul inherited this view from his culture, but also radically modified it by speaking of a new creation in which the church as the family of God becomes the fundamental unity of sociality, a new community for the new creation.

Throughout his letters, Paul assumes the priority of community over individuality. His metaphor of the body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12 shows that, while he calls for the Corinthians to value the contribution of each member, the purpose of the gifts bestowed on the individual by the Spirit are for the upbuilding of the whole body. Likewise, Confucian ethics regards communal edification as the ultimate goal of being human. In the words of Confucius, the aim of Confucian ethics is "to demonstrate illustrious virtue, renovate the people, and rest in the highest excellence."53 Re lationships are essential to the practice of Confucian ethics, as the Five Cardinal Relations show. The relations are worked out in pairs with corresponding virtues: ruler to subjects (human-heartedness and reverence), father and son (compassion and filial piety), husband and wife (righteousness and obedience), older and younger brothers (mutual respect), and friends (affection, loyalty, and trust).

This is not to imply that Confucius and Paul have no concept of individual rights. It only means that individual rights are understood from the standpoint of communal obligations. For example, Confucius understands freedom as directed toward others; once others are free, I will be free as well. Freedom is directed to a moral purpose. Hsieh Yu-Wei says, "The freedom advocated in Confucian ethics is the freedom to do good or the freedom to choose what is good. It is ethical freedom of choice."54 This freedom depends on community: "When I walk alone with two others, they may serve me as my teachers. Choose what is good and follow it, but avoid what is evil" (Analects 7:21). "The superior person is an ecumenical and not a sectarian" (2:14).

The Confucian notion of choosing the good means to choose ren because ren is the objective principle. Thus, freedom is also self-mastery. "Yen Yuan asked about ren. The Master said, `To subdue one's self and return to propriety is ren. If a person can for one day subdue himself and return to propriety, all under Heaven will ascribe ren to him"' (Analects 12:1). Chen Chung-Ying writes, "... once one can do right things without reliance on outside authority, one may be said to achieve moral autonomy and moral maturity. This inner transformation with larger and deeper moral freedom and social responsibility speaks to Confucius's notion of `selfcultivation' of virtues one finds originating from oneself.

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