Confucian Shame in Christian Thinking

For Confucian thinkers, shame is an essential element required for moral development. This understanding is foreign to most Westerners. Yet, does shame have a place in Christian theology? Is it something to get rid of or might it have a role in shaping our character?

In this webinar, which took place on March 24, 2021, Jackson Wu explored the diverse ways that honor and shame affect our moral decision making as well as Paul’s use of these ideas within his letters.

A video recording of the webinar is available here and on YouTube.

Here are links to the various books and articles Jackson Wu referenced in his talk:

• Bongrae Seok. Moral Psychology of Confucian Shame: Shame of Shamelessness.
• Mano Emmanuel. Interpersonal Reconciliation between Christians in a Shame-Oriented Culture.
• Fabrice Teroni and Otto Bruun, “Shame, Guilt, and Morality,” Journal of Moral Philosophy, Vol 8, no 2 (2011): 223-245.
• Jackson Wu. Saving God’s Face: A Chinese Contextualization of Salvation through Honor and Shame.
• Jackson Wu. One Gospel for All Nations: A Practical Approach to Biblical Contextualization
• Jackson Wu. Reading Romans with Eastern Eyes: Honor and Shame in Paul’s Message and Missions
• Jackson Wu. “Have Theologians No Sense of Shame?: How the Bible Reconciles Objective and Subjective Shame.” Themelios 2018.
• Te-Li Lau. Defending Shame: Its Formative Power in Paul’s Letters.
• Randy Richard and Richard James. Misreading Scripture through Individualist Eyes: Patronage, Honor, and Shame in the Biblical World.

You can find many more resources on this topic at Jackson Wu – Doing Theology. Thinking Mission.

Jackson Wu (pseudonym) has a PhD in Applied Theology from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, having earned an MDiv (Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary), MA (Philosophy, Texas A&M), and a BS (Applied Mathematics, Texas A&M).

Wu is theologian-in-residence for Mission One, having previously served in East Asia first as a church planter and then as a professor for Chinese pastors. He is the author of Saving God’s Face: A Chinese Contextualization of Salvation through Honor and Shame, One Gospel for All Nations: A Practical Approach to Biblical Contextualization and Reading Romans with Eastern Eyes: Honor and Shame in Paul’s Message and Mission as well as published journal articles. He is a regular contributor to ChinaSource and maintains his own blog at Jackson Wu – Doing Theology. Thinking Mission.