Confucian Timely Mean and Christian Discernment

Confucian-Christian Dialogue for Spirituality of Discernment and Applied Ethics

Sung-Hae Kim

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN: 9781032459233
• eBook ISBN: 9781000986532
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Comparative Religion

This book explores the notion of the timely mean, a virtue established in the Confucian tradition, in dialogue with the Christian understanding of discernment, especially as used in spirituality studies. It considers the historical development of these concepts, addressing the early encounter between Confucianism and Christianity as demonstrated in China and Korea and the fusion of the two perspectives in the nineteenth century. The chapters examine some of the major scholars and texts that have influenced both theory and practice, providing insight through a comparison of representative figures from each tradition. The author contends that bringing the Confucian 'timely mean' into conversation with Christian 'discernment' reveals that the immense riches accumulated within each tradition can mutually enhance one another. The book reflects on the possibility of a viable process for ethical and spiritual discernment that is highly relevant for our global age. It is valuable reading for scholars and students of both Confucianism and Christian theology as well as of applied ethics, particularly those interested in comparative spirituality and interreligious relations.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• 1 Spirituality of Discernment
• 2 Balancing the Scale in the Analects and Discernment of the Spirits in the Prophets
• 3 Time in Mencius and Kairos in the New Testament
• 4 Xunzi’s Mean of Propriety and Fusion of Two Horizons
• 5 Understanding the Book of Changes from the Christian Perspective
• 6 Timely Action in the Book of Changes and Cassian’s Discretion
• 7 The Confucian Timely Mean in the Doctrine of the Mean
• 8 Dong Zhongshu’s Yin-Yang and Benedict’s Discretion
• 9 The Timely Mean of Zhu Xi and Prudence of Thomas Aquinas
• 10 Wang Yangming’s Innate Knowledge and the Contemplative Prudence in The Cloud of Unknowing
• 11 T’oegye Yi Hwang’s Holding Fast the Mean and Ignatius Loyola’s Discernment of Spirits
• 12 Yulgok Yi Ii’s Timely Governance and Vincent de Paul’s Social Discernment
• 13 Tasan Chǒng Yagyong’s Timely Mean: Fusion of Confucian and Christian Discernment
• 14 Contemporary Vision: Discernment and Dialogue
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Index