China...Day 3

Today we visited the Temple of Heaven. To me, this was one of the most interesting places that we visited. Our friend was telling us the history of this place and of the many similairites it had to the Hebrew temple in Jerusalem. The Temple of Heaven was the place where once a year the emperor would come to make sacrifices to the God of Heaven and Earth for the sins of the Chinese people.



The Chinese culture was built on the foundation that the God of Heaven and Earth was in control of everything and just like the nation of Israel, they would atone for their sins once a year with the sin sacrifice of unblemished animals.



The picture below is of the Circular Mound Altar where the sacrifices would have been made. Around the outer edge of this altar the courtyard would have been filled with musicians who would play worship to the God of Heaven and Earth.



Over the years the Chinese culture has turned more toward ancestor worship as well as other things, but it was interesting to see that back in the early foundation of this culture, there was an understanding of the one true God who ruled both heaven and earth and that they chose to worship and sacrifice to Him.

As we walked in this place, we prayed for the people and the nation of China. We asked that God would open their eyes to the truth that is already a part of their own culture. The roots of Christianity are growing there in their own history if they choose to see it.

There is an excellent book that does a great job explaining the roots of Christianity in the Chinese culture called "Faith of Our Fathers: God in Ancient China" If you are interested in finding out more about this topic that would be a great book to pick up.