Tag: Spiritual War

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Dàilìlā

Dàilìlā (De·liʹlah 黛利拉) 👈🏼 Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

[Notes: Tap/click on a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to reveal its “flashcard”; tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to hide the “flashcard”. 📖 📄 📘 icons mean 📖 Reveal All, 📄 Reveal Advanced, and 📘 Reveal None re all the “flashcards” in the heading, paragraph, etc. that they are placed at the beginning of.]

A few years back, I wrote up a brief web page listing reasons for producing Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), etc. material for the Imitate (ia) book. Some, especially some who grew up in the West, may have felt that this book is made up of “just stories”, and ones that they were already quite familiar with, at that. However, we must remember that Chinese Bible students may often have a different perspective regarding the Bible accounts that are made to come to life in the Imitate book. As that web page said:

  • Many Chinese people in the world have not been exposed to Bible accounts the way many Westerners have.
  • Also, I have heard that some, perhaps many, Chinese Bible students tend to approach their Bible studies like intellectual exercises for accumulating chōuxiàng (abstract) head knowledge as if for a school exam, rather than as training for their hearts for their own real lives.

Later, the web page touches on how some of the real-world benefits of good storytelling like that found in the Imitate book involve empathy:

  • …
    • The actress Natalie Portman once said, “I love acting. I think it’s the most amazing thing to be able to do. Your job is practicing empathy. You walk down the street imagining every person’s life.”
  • The Imitate book helps build Bible students’ empathy towards Bible characters, which in turn helps Bible students realize that others would feel empathy towards them as well if they imitated these Bible characters—not everyone will just think they’re crazy, like many worldly friends or family members might think.

While even fictional stories can have the benefits described in the links and the quote above, true stories from the Bible can have even greater benefits, including spiritual ones.

Besides the Imitate book, another book from Jehovah’s organization that relates Bible accounts is the Learn From the Bible (lfb) book. The letter from the Governing Body in this book says that, similarly to the Imitate book, the Learn From the Bible book also “brings the Bible accounts to life and captures the feelings of those depicted”, while, unlike the Imitate book, it “tells the story of the human family from creation onward”. While the Learn From the Bible book is especially suitable for children, the letter from the Governing Body in this book says that “it can also be used to help adults who desire to learn more about the Bible”. So, it would be good to consider on this blog some of the expressions used in the Mandarin Learn From the Bible book.

Femme Fatale

This week’s MEotW, “Dàilìlā (De·liʹlah 黛利拉)”, appears in the third paragraph of Lesson 38 of the Mandarin Learn From the Bible book, which is entitled “Yēhéhuá (Jehovah 耶和华 耶和華) Shǐ (Made 使) Cānsūn (Samson 参孙 參孫) Lì (Strength 力) Dà ({to Be Big} → [to Be Great] 大) Wúqióng (Wú·qióng {Not to Have} · {Being Impoverished} → [to Be Boundless] 无穷 無窮)” (“Jehovah Made Samson Strong”):

English:

Later, the Philistines went to Samson’s girlfriend, Delilah, and said: ‘We will pay you thousands of silver pieces if you find out why Samson is so strong. We want to catch him and put him in prison.’ Delilah wanted the money, so she agreed.

Mandarin (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus):

📖 📄 📘 Hòulái (Hòu·lái afterwards · {(it) came to be} 后来 後來), Cānsūn (Samson 参孙 參孫) àishangle (ài·shang·le loved · upon · {to completion} → [fell in love with] 爱上了 愛上了) yí (one 一) ge ([mw] 个 個/个) jiào (called 叫 叫/呌) Dàilìlā (De·liʹlah 黛利拉) de (’s 的) nǚrén (nǚ·rén female · person → [woman] 女人), Fēilìshì‐rén ((Fēilìshì Phi·lisʹti·a 非利士)‐(rén people 人) → [Phi·lisʹtines]) jiù (then 就) qù (went 去) zhǎo ({to look for} 找) Dàilìlā (De·liʹlah 黛利拉) shuō ({to say} 说 說/説): “Wǒmen (Wǒ·men we · [pl] 我们 我們) yào (want 要) bǎ ({to hold} 把) Cānsūn (Samson 参孙 參孫) zhuā ({to be seized} → [to be caught] 抓) qilai (qi·lai up · {to come} 起来 起來), guānjìn (guān·jìn {to be shut → [to be confined]} · {to be entering into} 关进 關進) láo (pen → [prison] 牢) li (inside 里 裡/裏). Zhǐyào (Zhǐ·yào only · {requiring that} → [provided] 只要) nǐ (you 你) gàosu (tell 告诉 告訴) wǒmen (wǒ·men us · [pl] 我们 我們), tā (he 他) wèishénme (wèi·shén·me for · what · [suf] → [why] 为什么 為什/甚麼) lìqi (lì·qi strength · {air → [vital energy (in Ch. metaphysics)]} → [physical strength] 力气 力氣) nàme (nà·me {that (much)} · [suf] 那么/末 那麼/末) dà ({is big} → [is great] 大), wǒmen (wǒ·men we · [pl] 我们 我們) jiù (then 就) gěi ({will give} 给 給) nǐ (you 你) hěn (very 很) duō (much 多) yínzi (yín·zi silver · [suf for nouns] 银子 銀子).” Dàilìlā (De·liʹlah 黛利拉) hěn ({very much} 很) xiǎngyào (wanting 想要) qián ({the money} 钱 錢), jiù (then 就) dāyingle (dā·ying·le {{replied to → [agreed with]} · {responded to → [complied with]} → [answered positively to]} · {to completion} 答应了 答應了) Fēilìshì‐rén ((Fēilìshì Phi·lisʹti·a 非利士)‐(rén people 人) → [Phi·lisʹtines]).

“Dàilìlā (De·liʹlah 黛利拉)” is a newer translation of “Delilah” that began to appear in the Mandarin Learn From the Bible book in its 2024-10 Printing, and that seems to have begun to appear in Mandarin versions of the New World Translation Bible starting with the version named the Shèngjīng Xīn Shìjiè Yìběn (Xiūdìng Bǎn) ((Shèng·jīng (The) Holy · Scriptures 圣经 聖經) (Xīn New 新) (Shì·jiè {Generation → [World]} · Extent → [World] 世界) (Yì·běn Translated · {Root or Stem → [Edition]} 译本 譯本) ((Xiū·dìng Mended · Revised 修订 修訂) (Bǎn {Printing Plate (or Block)} → [Edition] 版))) → [New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Revised 2013)]), which was first published in 2019. (The translation of “Delilah” used in older versions of these Mandarin publications was “Dàlìlā (De·liʹlah 大利拉)”.)

In the new Mandarin translation of “Delilah”, the first character was changed from “大 (Dà)” to “黛 (Dài)”, which, while being pronounced only slightly differently, has a very different meaning—while “大 (Dà)” basically means “big”, “黛 (Dài)” means “black pigment used by women in ancient times to paint their eyebrows”, according to Pleco’s built-in dictionary. Apparently, while maintaining (improving?) the basic phonetic similarity to the original language name, whoever did the translating that resulted in “Dàilìlā (De·liʹlah 黛利拉)” may have snuck in a semantic (meaning-related) allusion to Delilah’s femme fatale persona:

femme fatale
…
An alluring and seductive woman, especially one who leads men into compromising and dangerous situations.
…
Borrowing from French femme fatale (literally “deadly woman”).

Beware of Honey Traps!

Speaking of which, Samson certainly had an unfortunate record with the ladies, didn’t he? Jehovah made the related situations turn out as defeats for the enemies of his people, but for Samson, the situation with Delilah especially resulted in much pain and devastation—he ended up betrayed, stripped of his God-given power, brutally blinded, imprisoned, and finally dead, even if he was able to take many of his enemies with him. There had been at least some warning signs, like Delilah nagging him repeatedly to reveal the source of his strength—HELLO!—but Samson didn’t catch on that this woman wasn’t really on his side, even if she was by his side for a while. It seems that Samson at first treated Delilah’s requests as just a cute game, but tragically, the situation turned out to actually be literally a deadly serious one.—Judges 14–16.

Such use of romantic or sexual relationships against people is such an established practice that it’s been given a name—honey trapping. We students of the Bible also know that this practice is so old that it goes back to the very first man and woman, Adam and Eve. Satan is wicked, and ultimately a loser on a strategic level, but that doesn’t mean he’s not smart and crafty tactically—he knew what he was doing when he decided to first approach Eve, arguably literally the most beautiful woman who has ever lived. The Bible reveals that “Adam was not deceived”, but still, when beautiful Eve offered him the forbidden fruit, he decided to be a pushover, follow her lead, and turn away from Jehovah. (1 Timothy 2:14) Some have observed that men can get stupid around a beautiful woman, and considering Adam’s example, it’s undoubtedly genetic!

It may be accurate to say that this kind of spiritual attack is “playing dirty”. However, this is Satan the Devil we are talking about—of course he and his agents are going to play dirty, like the agents of the intelligence agencies of the nations of Satan’s world have been known to do. Also, as this world keeps deteriorating, more and more people are becoming more and more physically-minded (i.e., unspiritual), materialistic, and self-centred, making them more easily manipulated lures and victims in spiritual honey trapping schemes. (2 Timothy 3:13; 1 Corinthians 2:14; Matthew 24:38, 39) So, down to this day, and including within the Mandarin field, honey trapping remains a go-to tactic for Satan the Devil.

Here are a couple of related experiences that I know of: Years ago, I had a Bible student who was an intelligent young man who seemed to mentally understand what he was learning, and yet he eventually stopped studying and got into a relationship with a woman who went to a church that he must have known taught wrong things. I also know of a brother who was an elder, and who even became a missionary in Taiwan along with his wife, and yet he left his wife to live with a Taiwanese woman for a while, resulting in him getting disfellowshipped and divorced. He eventually left behind that adulterous relationship and got reinstated, but what a regrettable trail of pain and devastation left behind by someone who once shone so brightly and did so much in the Mandarin field.

Protectively Proficient Mandarin, Nuclear Bombs, and Stars

Hopefully, we will be able to learn from such real-life experiences and avoid becoming a Samson to any alluring Delilah being used, whether knowingly or not, by our spiritual enemies. As per the Mandarin language-learning focus of this blog, developing the related abilities to understand and speak Mandarin well can potentially help us to more truly and accurately get to know any Mandarin-speaking person who may show up on our romantic radar. (With everything going on in such situations, that’s hard enough when both the people involved are fluent in the same language, never mind if one only has a weak or lame grasp of the language. That might result in one knowing just enough Mandarin to get into trouble, while not knowing enough to understand what’s really going on.)

However, as shown by some of the examples mentioned above, while knowing is half the battle, we also have to get the other half right—successfully applying what we learn to what we do. Romantic and sexual attraction can be powerful—bikinis were in fact named after Bikini Atoll, the site of a series of nuclear weapons tests. Faced with such powerful forces that could push us in destructive directions if we let them, we need to become, with Jehovah’s help, even more powerful spiritually. Jehovah’s holy spirit is the most powerful force in the universe, the source of all the energy in all the stars, compared to which even nuclear bombs are tiny firecrackers, so it’s definitely possible.—Genesis 1:1, 2.

As an example of just how powerful Jehovah’s holy spirit is even compared to humans’ nuclear bombs, according to my research and calculations, every day, the sun, produced with power from the holy spirit, puts out the energy of almost 8 quadrillion (1015) 1-megaton nuclear bombs. (A single 1-megaton nuclear bomb would release about 67 times the amount of energy released by the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.) And according to NASA, “it turns out that our Sun is an average-sized star. There are bigger stars, and there are smaller stars. We have found stars that are 100 times bigger in diameter than our sun.” So, while the forces of romantic and sexual attraction can be powerful, if we always choose to put Jehovah first regardless of our relationship status and pray and act accordingly, Jehovah’s holy spirit can certainly operate even more powerfully in our lives.—1 Corinthians 7:25–35; Philippians 4:13.

For convenience:

The direct link for the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource for the Learn From the Bible book is:

The short link for Chinese field language-learning links for the Learn From the Bible book is:

More Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web material based on the Mandarin Learn From the Bible book will be made available in the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web resource as time allows.

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Culture Current Events Experiences Technology Theocratic

jūnduì

jūnduì (jūn·duì {armed forces}; army · {row of people → [team; group; unit]} → [armed forces; army; troops] 军队 軍隊) 👈🏼 Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

[Notes: Tap/click on a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to reveal its “flashcard”; tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to hide the “flashcard”. 📖 📄 📘 icons mean 📖 Reveal All, 📄 Reveal Advanced, and 📘 Reveal None re all the “flashcards” in the heading, paragraph, etc. that they are placed at the beginning of.]

Recently, jw.org featured the video “I Put Down My Rifle”, perhaps at least partially due to the increasing military activity in the world. The person whose experience the video recounts is shown to be in Canada, so another factor may be that Canada, along with other Commonwealth member states, recently observed Rememberance Day on November 11.

A significant expression that appears in the Mandarin version of this video is this week’s MEotW, “jūnduì (jūn·duì {armed forces}; army · {row of people → [team; group; unit]} → [armed forces; army; troops] 军队 軍隊)”. For example, this passage begins at around the 0:18 mark:

English:

I lived the army 24/7. The clothes I wore, the people I associated with—everything was military.

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Wǒ (I 我) shēnshang (shēn·shang {body → [self]} · upon 身上) chuān ({pierced through} → [was dressed in] 穿) de ({’s (clothes)} 的), wǒ (my 我) shēnbiān (shēn·biān {body → [self]} · beside → [beside me] 身边 身邊) de (’s 的) rén (people 人)—yíqiè (yí·qiè {one (whole)} · {corresponding (set)} → [everything] 一切) dōu (all 都) gēn (with 跟) jūnduì (jūn·duì {armed forces} · {row of people → [team]} → [armed forces] 军队 軍隊) yǒuguān (yǒu·guān had · {closing with → [connection]} 有关 有關). Jūnduì (Jūn·duì army · {row of people → [team]} → [the army] 军队 軍隊) jiùshì (jiù·shì exactly · was 就是) wǒ (my 我) shēnghuó (shēng·huó life · living 生活) de (’s 的) quánbù (quán·bù entire · part → [all] 全部).

Screenshot of “Jūnduì” from around 0:26 of the Mandarin version of the video “I Put Down My Rifle”

(By the way, on a technical note, the Mandarin version of this video is the first from the organization that I have come across that doesn’t have a usual type of subtitle track, that users can choose to have superimposed on top of the video picture by apps, etc. that play the video. Instead, the subtitles, rendered in Chinese characters, seem to be “baked into” the actual video picture—there is no way to choose whether to display the Chinese subtitles or not. Perhaps this was done to ensure that viewers of the Mandarin video would be able to see the subtitles without first having to look for a setting that they would have to set.)

“We Are Jehovah’s Army!”

Interestingly, song 71 in our current songbook is called, in English, “We Are Jehovah’s Army!”. The Mandarin (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus) title, “Yēhéhuá (Jehovah 耶和华 耶和華) de (’s 的) Yīngyǒng (Yīng·yǒng {Are Flowers → [Are Outstanding Persons]} · Valiant → [Valiant] 英勇) Zhànshì (Zhàn·shì War · Soldiers → [Soldiers] 战士 戰士)”, is not a direct translation, but rather translates more like “Jehovah’s Valiant Soldiers”.

It’s an often-used illustration that our efforts in Jehovah’s service can be likened to spiritual warfare. (2 Corinthians 10:3–5; Ephesians 6:11–18) The experience highlighted in the video mentioned above emphasizes to us that while training for physical warfare in the service of the human nations of this world encourages crudeness and aggression, serving Jehovah God and fighting for peace and for the truth means showing kindness and being motivated by love. And while some say that part of the appeal of joining a human worldly jūnduì (jūn·duì army · {row of people → [team]} → [army] 军队 軍隊) is the fulfilment that comes from being part of something bigger than yourself, no family is bigger than Jehovah’s universal family, and no purpose is greater than that of doing God’s will as one of his valiant soldiers.—Ecclesiastes 12:13.

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Culture Current Events Experiences Language Learning Science Technology Theocratic

zhēngyì

zhēngyì (zhēng·yì contending · discussing [→ [dispute; controversy]] 争议 爭議) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

[Notes: Tap/click on a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to reveal its “flashcard”; tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to hide the “flashcard”. 📖 📄 📘 icons mean 📖 Reveal All, 📄 Reveal Advanced, and 📘 Reveal None re all the “flashcards” in the heading, paragraph, etc. that they are placed at the beginning of.]

The Shēngmìng Láizì Chuàngzào Ma? ((Shēngmìng Life 生命) (Lái·zì Came · From 来自 來自) (Chuàng·zào Initiating · {Making, Creating} → [Creating] 创造 創造) (Ma [? ptcl for “yes/no” questions] 吗 嗎)? → [Was Life Created? (lc)]) (Was Life Created? (lc)) brochure and the Shēngmìng de Qǐyuán—Zhíde Sīkǎo de Wǔ Ge Wèntí ((Shēngmìng Life 生命) (de ’s 的) (Qǐ·yuán {Rising → [Starting]} · Source → [Origin] 起源/原)—(Zhí·de Worth · Getting → [Worth] 值得) (Sī·kǎo {Thinking About} · Examining 思考) (de ’s 的) (Wǔ Five 五) (Ge [mw] 个 個/个) (Wèn·tí Asking · Subjects → [Questions] 问题 問題) → [The Origin of Life—Five Questions Worth Asking (lf)]) (The Origin of Life—Five Questions Worth Asking (lf)) brochure were originally published back in 2010, but recently, the English version of the Was Life Created? brochure was updated to the December 2022 Printing, and the Mandarin version of it was updated to the February 2023 Printing. Also, the Was Life Created? brochure and the Origin of Life brochure are now in the Teaching Toolbox section in the JW Library app. So, it would be good to consider some of the expressions used in the Mandarin versions of these publications that can be so helpful when discussing whether life was created.

Controversy!

This week’s MEotW, which appears in the section of the Mandarin Was Life Created? brochure entitled “Jiǎnjiè (Jiǎn·jiè {Simple → [Brief]} · {Being Situated Between → [Introduction]} 简介 簡介)” (“Introduction”), is “zhēngyì (zhēng·yì contending · discussing [→ [dispute; controversy]] 争议 爭議)”:

English:

Was life created, or are you purely the product of random, undirected events? Few questions create more controversy.

Mandarin (WOL; Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus)

📖 📄 📘 Shēngmìng (life 生命) láizì (lái·zì came · from 来自 來自) chuàngzào (chuàng·zào initiating · {making, creating} → [creating] 创造 創造) ma ([? ptcl for “yes/no” questions] 吗 嗎)? Háishi (Hái·shi {still more → [or]} · {is (it a)} 还是 還是) chúncuì ({being pure} → [purely] 纯粹 純粹) yóu ({due to} 由/繇) yìxiē (yì·xiē one · {indefinite number of} → [some] 一些) suíjī (suí·jī {coming along with} · chance → [random] 随机 隨機), bú (not 不) shòu ({having received} 受) zhǐhuī (zhǐ·huī {(pointing with) finger → [pointing]} · {spraying → [directing]} → [directing] 指挥 指揮) de (’s 的) shìjiàn (shì·jiàn events · [mw] 事件) yǎnshēng (yǎn·shēng {having been spilled over} · {having been given birth to} → [having been produced] 衍生) chulai (chu·lai out · {to come} 出来 出來) de ({’s (thing)} 的) ne ([? ptcl] 呢)? Zhèixiē (Zhèi·xiē this · {indefinite number of} → [these] 这些 這些) wèntí (wèn·tí asking · subjects → [questions] 问题 問題) bèishòu (bèi·shòu fully · receive 备受 備受) zhēngyì (zhēng·yì contending · discussing → [controversy] 争议 爭議),

As can be seen from the above quotes, the Mandarin Was Life Created? brochure uses “zhēngyì (zhēng·yì contending · discussing [→ [dispute; controversy]] 争议 爭議)” to translate the English word “controversy”.

War!

In “zhēngyì (zhēng·yì contending · discussing [→ [dispute; controversy]] 争议 爭議)”, “zhēng (contend; fight; vie; strive; dispute [→ [argue; debate; ]] 争 爭)” means “contend”, and “yì (discussing; conferring; {exchanging views}; {talking over} [→ [(exchanged) opinion; view]] 议 議)” means “discuss”. Together, they can be understood to mean something like “contentious discussion”, which leads us to the meaning of “controversy” in cases such as its use in the Was Life Created? brochure that is mentioned above.

Interestingly, the “zhēng (contend; fight; vie; strive; dispute [→ [argue; debate; ]] 争 爭)” that’s in “zhēngyì (zhēng·yì contending · discussing [→ [dispute; controversy]] 争议 爭議)” also appears in “zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng war · contending → [war; warfare] 战争 戰爭)”, which means “war”. Is it going too far to associate creation vs. evolution discussions with war? Well, for what it’s worth, consider that “Creation–evolution controversy” is listed as a related link on the Wikipedia page for “culture war”.

Culture Wars and Spiritual Warfare

While the expression “culture war” does not seem to appear in the publications of Jehovah’s organization, searching the Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY (WOL) for “spiritual & (war | warfare)” (not including the quotation marks) returns lots of results. This blog also has a “Spiritual War” tag for posts that touch on this subject. And of course, in 2 Corinthians 10:3–5, the Bible itself explains to us that God’s true worshippers must fight a spiritual war:

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not wage warfare according to what we are in the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but powerful by God for overturning strongly entrenched things. For we are overturning reasonings and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are bringing every thought into captivity to make it obedient to the Christ;

Also, as Jehovah’s Witnesses and Jesus’ true followers, we seek to follow Jesus’ example, as described by Jesus himself at John 18:37:

…For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.…

One way we can distinguish between the culture wars of this world and the spiritual warfare that true Christians engage in is that the world’s culture wars involve contentions over human ideas embodied in this world’s human cultures, while true Christian spiritual warfare involves bearing witness to and fighting for God’s truth, “the knowledge of God”. Also, the world’s culture wars often spill over into the political arena, whereas like Christ himself, true Christian spiritual warriors stay out of politics.—John 18:36.

Principled Spiritual Warfare

Since the theory of evolution obviously qualifies as a “lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God”, it can rightly be said that witnessing to Mandarin-speaking people—many of whom were taught to be atheists—about creation and evolution is an important part of fighting on the Mandarin front of the spiritual war that true Christians are involved in. Of course, though, it’s not true that “all’s fair in love and war”. Even the world has its law of war, and as true Christians, we fight our spiritual war in harmony with the counsel and principles in God’s Word the Bible, such as this counsel in 1 Peter 3:15:

But sanctify the Christ as Lord in your hearts, always ready to make a defense before everyone who demands of you a reason for the hope you have, but doing so with a mild temper and deep respect.

How can we be effective spiritual warriors, and also be “doing so with a mild temper and deep respect”? Regarding this possible conundrum, I am reminded of a well-meaning circuit overseer I remember who, while saying that although God’s Word is the sword of the spirit, we should use it kindly, was making stabbing motions with his arm. 🤭

Seriously, though, when it comes to discussing creation and evolution with people, we can learn much by noting the example set by Jehovah’s organization re tone, wording, etc. in the Was Life Created? and Origin of Life brochures, in the “Science and the Bible” articles on jw.org, etc. For us Mandarin field language learners, resources like the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) WOL and the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resources can help us to follow the organization’s example re tone, wording, etc. in Mandarin.

Mandarin Writing System Controversy?

To many, the idea that Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is a full writing system for Mandarin and thus can and should be advantageously used as a full writing system (and not just as a pronunciation aid) in the Mandarin field may still seem controversial. However, the evidence for this idea is quite solid from a linguistics (language science) point of view. It’s only when looked at from a nostalgic, traditionalist point of view that it may seem controversial, even outrageous—Chinese characters have been the traditionally accepted writing system for the Chinese languages for thousands of years, and teachers continue to teach their students accordingly. Indeed, Chinese characters may literally represent the most deeply and widely embedded cultural tradition still in existence.

Even so, ultimately, tradition is now the only reason for using characters, because technically, objectively, characters are not necessary for writing any language (e.g., alternatives like Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), Hangul, and the Vietnamese alphabet already exist), nor, with their extraordinary complexity, inconsistent design, and inhuman numerousness, are they advantageous, except for fitting in with prevailing tradition.

However, as true Christians, should we be bound by such tradition, deeply embedded as it is? In Jesus’ time, there were also many deeply embedded traditions that teachers promoted and people followed, but which made worshipping God unnecessarily difficult and burdensome. Do you remember how Jesus felt about that?

Mark 7:13 records Jesus saying this to the Pharisees and scribes:

Thus you make the word of God invalid by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like this.”

According to Wordnik, “invalid” could mean “deficient in health; infirm; weak; sick”, or “of no force, weight, or cogency; weak”. The experiences of many in the Mandarin field have shown that giving priority to Chinese characters can indeed lead to Mandarin language skills that are weak and sickly, such that many Mandarin field language learners ended up unable to speak the word of God in Mandarin with cogency, that is, “power of proving or of producing belief; the quality of being highly probable or convincing; force; credibility”.

Regardless of deeply embedded human tradition, do we dedicated servants of Jehovah God not owe it to him to do better than that, if we can?—Malachi 1:6–8.

On a more positive note, I can testify that my own Mandarin improved noticeably after I switched to using Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) as much as possible, and only using characters when absolutely necessary. One indication of the degree of this improvement is that after I made that switch, native Mandarin-speakers started telling me that I sound like a native Mandarin-speaker, something no one ever said to me in all the many years that I spent focusing on characters.

How Will We Personally Deal with Controversy?

When faced with controversy, many just “go along to get along” (“conform to general expectations so as not to disrupt or endanger one’s sense of security or belonging”). As Jesus said, many just follow the crowd and take the broad road. (Matthew 7:13) However, Jesus did not do that when faced with burdensome, deeply embedded traditions in his day, we Jehovah’s Witnesses do not do that when it comes to widely accepted ideas about evolution, and we do not have to do that when it comes to how we view and use Chinese characters and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音). As the MEotW post on “Yànwén (Yàn·wén {Proverb (Korean: Vernacular)} · Writing → [Hangul/Hankul (modern Korean writing system)] 谚文 諺文)” pointed out:

Your Own Personal Hangul for Mandarin?

However, while that may be the situation with the proud worldly nation of China, what about each of us Mandarn field language learners, as individuals who are dedicated to Jehovah God and not to any worldly human culture? …we are free to choose for ourselves to use Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) as a full writing system for Mandarin and thus be fully empowered by its simplicity and elegance to serve Jehovah better, as long as we don’t allow ourselves to be shackled by mere human tradition, or by peer pressure.

For convenience:

The direct link for the current generation Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource for the Was Life Created? brochure is:

The short link for Chinese field language-learning links for the Was Life Created? brochure is:

More Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web material based on the Mandarin Was Life Created? brochure will be made available in the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web resource as time allows.