A Textbook on the Bible for China

Professor Won Lee, an Old Testament scholar in the Calvin College religion department, is working on the translation of his new textbook, The Bible: A Library of Holy Writings (Sal-lim, 2005), from Korean into Chinese. This book is designed for college students and general readers who have little or no previous exposure to reading the Bible. Prof. Lee's approach is to show students a consistent and coherent theme that runs throughout the Old and the New Testaments. The Bible, he insists, presents the story of God, who constantly reaches out in order to restore broken relationships. This coherent theme is works its way through all of the various literary genres that comprise the Bible. This new textbook is doing very well in Korea. It has been adopted by Soongsil University for a core curriculum Bible course, it is the text for a large class (of 200) in Kosin University, and it is a chosen text for all leaders of the University Bible Fellowship. The prospect of widespread adoption in China is very promising, given the intense interest in studying Christianity in Chinese universities, 40 of which have study centers or institutes for that purpose. The Nagel Institute is assisting Prof. Lee with translation expenses.

Dr. Won Lee
Associate Professor of Religion
Calvin College