The Jewish Bishop and the Chinese Bible

In 1852, t he lure of Jewish emancipation farther west took the 19-year-old Schereschewsky to Breslau, Germany . A n 1812 royal edict had granted citizenship to German Jews, and the University of Breslau had opened its doors to Jewish students and faculty . There he met Dr . Henricus Christophilius Neumann (1778-1865), a lecturer in Hebrew at the university and “a convert an d ‘agent’ of the London Society ” ³ Eber note d that Neumann, having been “associated with the London Society for over two decades . . . introduced the newcomer to the ideology of Hebrew Christianity . ” Besides being a mentor to Schereschewsky , Neumann also wrote several articles “emphasizing the importance of mission and of Bible translation into Chinese . ”  

Once he was intellectually convinced of the claims of Jesus, Schereschewsky immigrated to America in 1854. Eber pointed out the London Society connection , which helped him make connections in the New World. He had a letter of introduction to John Neander, given to him “by a certain Jacobi,” ⁴ a native of Prussia who had joined the London Society in Germany before immigrating to America himself in the 1820s Apparently, there wer e strong connections among the Hebrew believers of the day . ⁵ Joseph Frey, founder of t he London Society , is not mentioned by Eber, but the society he founded when he arrived in America in 1820, T he American Society for Meliorating the Condition of the Jews , played a welcoming role for many of the German Jewish immigrants on their arrival in New York  

An earlier Schereschewsky biographer , George Muller, wrote that it was during a Passover S eder h e ld on 2 April 1855 in New York with Jewish-Christian friends that the young man from Taurage made his public confession of faith in Jesus. Muller records his words at that time, “I can no longer deny my Lord. I will follow Him without the camp . ” ⁶    

Eber devoted c hapter s f ive and s ix to the issues of technical Chinese translation work and its challenges . The author looked particularly at key biblical concepts such as “God,” “soul,” “Spirit,” and “nation.” ⁸ The major issue which the translation team faced was what came to be called “T he Term Question . ” It asked , “W hich Chinese word(s) does one use for the name of God?” It was a complex question which engaged translators for many decades and yielded multiple answers! For those involved in Bible translation work or biblical studies in general, these chapters cause one to wrestle with how language and culture dictate clear conveyance of ideas.  

Eber admires her subject for his diligent study of not just the various Chinese dialects but of the country’s classic literature which delineated the depth of its ancient culture. He was committed to producing “a more readable and more clearly understandable text . ” familiar to the Chinese. I suspect Eber has a similar respect for the culture and language.   

  A gifted Jewish scholar , Eber gives fair treatment to Schereschewsky’s decision to accept Jesus as Messiah . She repudiates accusations made by earlier writers that his “conversion” was bought due to his poverty. She also confirmed that he understood himself to be a Jew who believed in Jesus and did not re-define himself outside of his Jewish heritage. For example, Eber found it significant that when, as Bishop of Shanghai , Schereschewsky “was in London for the Lambeth Conference of 1878, he attended services of the London Soci e ty, th e n at Palestine Place, Bethnal Green, where prayers were read in Hebrew . Was it that he needed to hear the prayers in the familiar language? ” .    

Schereschewsky is characterized by Eber as “an independent person” a trait which perhaps helped him persevere through the difficult physical trials in his last decades. He was not a self-promoter and in spite of his great translation success, other names are better known than his from that time period. It was here that I found myself in one of Eber’s footnotes as she mentioned that only a few pamphlets had been written about this remarkable man’s life and work. Theresa Mulligan (now Newell) , Assistant Director of the CMJ/USA for sending me the pamphlet , ‘CMJ/USA Day in Honor of Bishop Joseph Schereschewsky ’” ! I certainly had forgotten having responded to Professor Eber’s request. Because Schereschewsky has a day in the Episcopal lectionary on October 14 each year, churches are encouraged to honor this amazing Jewish believer and bishop . Recorded in the Episcopal lectionary’s brief biography of Bishop Schereschewsky were these words attributed to him four years before his death: “I have sat in this chair for over twenty years. It seemed very hard at first. But God knew be st. He kept me for the work for which I am best fitted.” ⁹