A Comparative Analysis of the Confucian and Christian Worldviews

Abstract

This paper addresses the trepidations and challenges pertaining to the Confucian East and the Christian West delicate relationship. Do the two venerated traditions share sufficient commonality for a peaceable co-existence? Are their moral assumptions so diametrically divergent as to pose threats to each other’s worldviews? To explore these issues, I will compare the works of two historical figures, the Neo-Confucianist Wang Yang-ming (1472–1529) and the Anglican bishop Joseph Butler (1692–1752). The paper begins with an overview of Wang’s Confucian and Butler’s Christian moral vision (Part A). Part (B) then examines Wang and Butler’s reaction to the challenges of religious pluralism. In 16th C Ming China and 18th C England, while Confucianism and Christianity were then the dominant traditions respectively, the moral landscapes were also coloured by an array of competing moral visions. This section will explore how Wang and Butler dealt with these diverse and often times conflicting moral traditions. In Part (C) Wang and Butler is placed in an imaginary encounter where Wang’s hypothetical assessment of Butler’s project, and vice versa, is presented. I will analyse how the two thinkers would evaluate each other’s moral vision. Drawing on Wang and Butler I then argue the case for a Confucian East and Christian West mutually deferential relationship. While there are conspicuous differences Confucianism and Christianity also share critical core beliefs. It is these common values I submit that enable them to tolerate some divergences and accept each other’s moral vision as fundamentally sound, form the basis for an amiable co-existence.