I spoke for probably over an hour a few days ago with a Chinese man who was my classmate in high school. One of his opening comments was, "you probably think I'm a heretic...", but as I listened to him, I really don't think so.
We are so used to our "Western Christianity" with all its terminology, and this man wanted to get back to his Eastern roots and how Jesus applies to his culture. He has "turned away" from all the terminology that we are used to, such as "accept Jesus into your heart", and even words such as the names for God and Jesus that we use; instead he tries to use as much Aramaic and Hebrew as possible. Is that "turning away" from God? I don't think so; in fact, it might please Him more than our Western trappings.
And if my friend is willing to help our translation project in Cameroon with whatever research he does (he enjoys digging into original texts to explore meaning), all the better. Go for it, Ben!
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