A Bridge Too Far? Comparative Reflections on St. Paul and Confucius

Abstract

This paper is a personal reflection on a lifetime experience of bridging the values and ideas of two distinctive faith traditions: the Christian and the Confucian. The author has chosen to focus on the lives and beliefs of two great teachers: St. Paul in Europe of the first century CE and Confucius in China of the 5th century BCE First the context in which they lived their lives is sketched out and then their core messages are abstracted from the texts they left behind and juxtaposed. Of particular interest is the way in which they viewed the end of life, given the fact that neither could have known the enormous influence their teachings were to have on future generations.

Keywords

faith traditions / peace / justice / core values of education