By REV. J. G. Vos, M.Th., D.D. (Professor of Old Testament Exegesis at Beaver Falls, Pa., U.S.A.)
THE Reformation Translation Fellowship was born five years ago as an effort to present Christian truth to the Chinese people by the printed page. Although Christian literary effort in China has had a long history, beginning with Robert Morrison’s translation of the New Testament in 1814, it was felt by some that there was a need for a body of literature in the Chinese language which would, more fully and consistently than existing publications, inculcate the Biblical system of truth and the principles of the Reformation. During the period immediately after World War II this need was keenly felt by a number of persons concerned with Christian effort in China. One of these was Mr. Charles H. Chao, a Chinese evangelist located at that time in Moukden, Manchuria. Mr. Chao had made a beginning by translation, during the war years, of The Inspiration of the Scriptures, by Dr. Loraine Boettner. This little book—an exposition and defence of the orthodox view of Scripture—was privately published in Moukden in 1946.
About the same time an American missionary in the far south of China, the Rev. Samuel E. Boyle, had felt the need for consistently sound Christian literature in Chinese. With the help of two Chinese scholars Mr. Boyle made a translation of Christianity and Liberalism, by the late Dr. J. Gresham Machen. At the time, however, the way did not seem open to get this book published, so Mr. Boyle kept it in manuscript form for some time.
The Work Begins.
By a series of providences which in retrospect appear quite remarkable, Mr. Chao and his family escaped from Communist-beleaguered Manchuria and, after a few months spent near Shanghai, joined Mr. Boyle at Canton at the end of 1948. Mr. Boyle and Mr. Chao decided to undertake a Christian literary work in the Chinese language. They gave this effort the name of The Reformation Translation Fellowship. The present writer, a former China missionary living in America, was requested to act as a representative in the United States, receiving contributions and transmitting them to China for the support of the work. This was a very modest and informal beginning. Formal organisation was effected in 1950, and still later a British Committee was formed to aid in supporting the work. Being a voluntary undertaking, without the guaranteed support of any ecclesiastical body, the Fellowship was dependent upon the contributions of individuals, churches and societies. Since the inception in 1949, more than U.S. $17,000 has been received in contributions and used for the work of the Fellowship.
The Fellowship is based on the Reformed or Calvinistic interpretation of Christianity, its doctrinal standard being the Westminster Confession of Faith. It has endeavoured to present Christian truth from a definitely Reformed point of view. Very little literature of this type has been available in China in the past. While a large body of literature has been published in China under Christian auspices, much of it is open to objection because of its theologically liberal point of view. On the other hand, a considerable part of the existing evangelical literature is unacceptable because of its Arminian and other unorthodox tendencies. In Chinese Christian circles such errors as Arminianism, pentecostalism, dispensationalism, perfectionism, anti-ecclesiasticism and mysticism have been widespread and popular. Fanciful allegorical interpretations of Scripture have been common among Chinese Christians, and are often considered more “spiritual” than expositions based upon sober grammatical and historical exegesis.
Against Liberalism.
Liberal missionaries have given many Chinese students and young people the impression that orthodoxy has no social message or application of Christianity to life in general. The youth of China have been told that only modernism with its “kingdom of God” concept has a real social application of Christianity. The result has been that many Chinese students and young people, even in Christian circles, have felt that they must choose between a socially-minded modernism and a narrowly individualistic “fundamentalism.” They have had very little opportunity to become informed concerning Reformed Christianity with its emphasis on the sovereignty of God and the glory of God in every sphere of life. This lack the Reformation Translation Fellowship has sought to remedy.
Early in its life the Fellowship started publishing a Chinese journal, which was first called The Reformed Faith and later The Reformed Faith and Life. Five issues appeared in 1949, five in 1950, one in 1951 and four in 1953. A number of booklets and short tracts on important subjects have been issued. Of full-length books, the following have already been translated and published in Hong Kong:— Christianity and Liberalism, by J. Gresham Machen; The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination, by Loraine Boettner; The Inspiration of the Scriptures, by Loraine Boettner; Vicarious Atonement Through Christ, by Louis Berkof. Translation projects now in process or soon to be begun include the following:—God’s Plan and Man’s Destiny, by Viola M. Cameron; Prophecy and the Church, by Oswald T. Allis; Introduction to Systematic Theology, by Cornelius Van Til; God Spake by Moses, by Oswald T. Allis; Romanism, by F. C. H. Dreyey; The Importance of Christian Scholarship, by J. Gresham Machen; Do You Believe? by Edward J. Young.
The Fellowship has issued two printings, totalling 2,000 copies, of the Chinese translation of Christianity and Liberalism, by the late Dr. J. Gresham Machen. There has been more demand for this book in Chinese circles than for any other publication of the Fellowship. The two printings have long been exhausted. Recently the Board of Directors of the Fellowship authorised the publication of a new edition of 2,000 copies of this book.
Sent Free.
After starting the work in Canton, South China, Messrs. Boyle and Chao later moved to Hong Kong, and still later to Japan. The literature is printed in Hong Kong, and from there distributed to Chinese readers in China and in other countries. For a time about 700 readers in China were regularly reached. To-day about 250 readers in China are receiving the Fellowship’s publications. There are also hundreds of Chinese recipients in other countries, including Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Formosa, Singapore, Philippine Islands, etc. Over 100 Chinese students temporarily in America have been receiving the Fellowship’s publications. The Chinese publications of the Fellowship are sent free or at approximate cost of publication to Chinese readers in China and other lands. Many letters of appreciation and requests for more literature have been received from Chinese Christians.
The work of translation has been done by Mr. Charles Chao, working in Japan, and by several Chinese students in America. The business of the Fellowship in Hong Kong is handled by a very competent and faithful young Chinese Christian in that Colony, Mr. Haisan Young.
The Fellowship publishes an annual report in booklet form, as well as occasional newsletters, which are available on request to interested persons. The Hon. Secretary of the British Committee is Mr. Norman A. MacMillan, 29 Exchange Street, Doncaster. Contributions to the Fellowship, requests for further information or requests for supplies of Chinese literature may be sent to Mr. MacMillan, who will be happy to attend to them.