In the midst of the dilemmas facing the history of contemporary Western theory, Martin Luther's concept of love and his theology of the Decalogue have been given more and more attention by more and more researchers. The interpretation of Luther's concept of love by the Finnish school in contemporary Lutheran studies has also been increasingly recognized. In this paper, we will discuss the interpretation of Luther's view of love by Mannermaa, the father of the Finnish school. The first two sections of the paper will deal with Luther's critique of the view of love ruled by the Greek philosophical tradition and the Catholic ‘theology of Glory’ in Mannermaa’s interpretation. The third section will introduce the important themes of faith and salvation in Luther's ‘theology of the Cross’ by discussing Mannermaa’s interpretation about love, thus highlighting the importance of the theme of love in theology. The last section will further discuss the inheritance of Luther's view of love and his theology in contemporary phenomenological philosophical thinking, which can then comprehensively show the important position of Luther in the history of contemporary theory and its research value.

Luther’s “theory of two kingdoms” outlines “the kingdom of God” governed by “spiritual government” and “the kingdom of the world” governed by the “secular government”. It also emphasizes the obedience to the secular rulers regardless of their tyranny. Luther’s solution to the problem of their tyranny made him controversial, especially after the oppression of civilians and Jews by the extreme power politics in Auschwitz tragedy in World War II. Some scholars argue that it has kept religion indifferent to society and politics. To address this issue, Niebuhr and Moltmann proposed a political theology that focuses on the reality of human conditions in this earthly life. Latin American liberation theology further applied secular theology to practice, but it eventually shifted to spiritual construction in the face of the spiritual crisis of the loss of theological identity. The relationship between the two kingdoms can be explored from the perspective of spirit (πνευματικῶς pneumatikoos), soul(ψυχήν psychēn) and flesh (σαρκίνοις sarkinois). This paper aims to demonstrate the inherent affinity between the two kingdoms and respond to the criticism of the “two kingdoms” theory.

This paper focuses on the comparison between Augustine’s and Luther’s understanding of the bondage of the will. As a philosopher of will, Augustine establishes the independence of the will in his earlier work. In his debate with Julian of Eclanum that comes from his later period, Augustine emphasizes grace and original sin. The salvation and freedom of humans rely on the Holy Spirit. In the debate with Erasmus, Luther introduced the conception of the necessity of will. However, both thinkers have different understandings of faith. Augustine has an intellectual understanding of faith, while Luther is a fideist.

The “Black Death” in the Middle Ages has become an painful memory of European society that cannot be erased. On the basis of inheriting the medical thought of ancient Greece, the Catholic Church extended its unique concept of epidemic prevention with the concept of Christian theology, and urged the Christian Church (Catholicism and Protestantism) to take medical epidemic prevention and improve the level of public health as an important means to spread the Christian gospel to the world after the religious reform. On one hand, it has expanded the influence and affinity of Christianity in Asia, Africa and Latin America, and on the other hand, it has promoted the development of modern medical and health care all over the world. It has also become a major force in building China’s modern medical and health system, and its influence continues to this day.

The Spirit is the coequal Person with other Persons of the Father and the Son, and in the practical dimension it was called frequently, nevertheless, it inclines to be abstracted and senseless and to be only a feeling of self-confidence and psychologized. After an independent exegesis on Pr. 8:22-23 referring to Isa. 11:1ff., this author advocates that the Wisdom is attributed to the Spirit in accordance with Theophilus of Antioch and Irenaeus; paralleling with the modern creation pneumatology by Jürgen Moltmann, this research is to propose a Wisdom-oriented holistic pneumatology.

Without doubt, Gerhard Roth belongs to a group of contemporary prominent neuroscientists in continental Europe who argue for a deterministic interpretation of brain science findings. In their opinion, mental phenomena can be completely traced back to biological-neuronal processes. The human being is completely determined in his behavior - a claim that arouses highly theological and philosophical interest. Is human freedom an illusion? The Western theological and philosophical tradition has also always been aware of the difficulty of the problem of freedom.  A paradigmatic impulse was provided by the Reformer Martin Luther with his doctrine of the unfree will, which he develops above all in the occasional pamphlet De servo arbitrio (“On the Bondage of the Will”).  The Reformation theological tradition around Luther made the limitedness of the freedom of the human will the core statement of its theological program. The present paper endeavors to reconstruct and analyze the concerns and argumentation of the two authors in order to bring them into conversation with each other in a synthetic step. This paper shows that despite the superficial similarity in word choice and logical operation, the two approaches are fundamentally different. Not only did Luther argue in his historical context for a specific theological determinism due to human sinfulness in the face of God-relationship, which has nothing in common with a naturalistic paradigm. He also lays the foundation in his writings - contrary to Roth's abstract philosophical definition - for a differentiated, balanced, holistic concept of freedom in the Reformation tradition, which can be enriching and inspiring for us today.

This paper focuses on the icon of “Our lady of China”, which was initiated in the early 20^th century, to explore the possibility of an alternative visual modernity that mixed together Chinese and western visual cultures as a new one. Through examination of the patronage and reception of its earlier model of “Our lady of Donglü”, this paper concentrates on the beginning of the encountering of traditional and foreign cultures that exemplified by the icon in China during the early 20^th century, to delve into the multiple social and historical contexts within which the modern ways of seeing were shaped in native China. The argument is that it is the 20^th-century icon of “Our lady of China” that at last effectively visualized the specific Chinese notion of taking Madonna as “Mother Emperor”, which pursuit could trace back to the centuries-long Sinicization of the western icon of “Maria Regina”. The conclusion is that the icon of “Our lady of China” conveys both realistic and Christianized modernity, while at the same time it also distinguishes with several current typical narratives of modernity. In this sense, the icon of  “Our lady of China” provides us a kind of so-called “alternative visual modernity” in the process of visual enlightenment in China in the early 20^th century.

Luther saw from his monastic ascetic experience and the corruption and external ostentation reflected in the sacraments of the Catholic Church at that time that Catholicism had not solved the most critical problem – “How can man continue to stand before God”,that is, the question of why humans can be justified.The doctrine of justification by faith is regarded as the cornerstone and yardstick of Luther's entire theology, the “sun that illuminates God's Holy Church,” and is concerned with the rise and fall of the entire church. This paper combs the historical background of Luther's Reformation and the five theological sources of the doctrine of justification by faith, expounds the essential attributes of "faith" and "justification" as well as the relationship between "faith" and "justification", and intends to make a more comprehensive and in-depth interpretation and analysis of Luther's core doctrine of justification by faith by using the current relatively new literature.

Jin Sheng was an important figure who participated in the political and literary circles actively in the late Ming Dynasty，His blurred standpoint in religious belief is often difficult to verify. Mr. Chen yuan once proposed that Jin Sheng dedicated himself to the church for his whole life since he was baptized between the fourth and the seventh year of Tian qi （1624-1627），whereas Mr. Huang yi nong believe that he might join the church during the second year and the third year of Chong Zhen(1629-1630)，then converted to Buddhism in the fifth year of Chong Zhen(1632).

Based on the relevant sources ,I will replenish and discuss in detail of former scholars‘s research including both conclusions from the research of Mr. Chen Yuan and Huang Yi Nong. This essay argues that Jin Sheng who lived in a chaotic time at the end of Ming Dynasty，maintained an open-mind，regard the beliefs of Catholicism and Western learning as instrumental way to pursuit the ideal personality， thus to carry out the Confucianist’s aspirations of Self-Cultivation, Family Regulation, maintaining State Governance, bringing Peace to All Under Heaven.

It is a brand new attempt to examine the thoughts of the religious reformer Martin Luther and the Enlightenment thinker Rousseau from the grand vision of modernity. Although the ideological theories of the theologian Luther and the Enlightenment philosopher Rousseau are substantially different in terms of their own position and method, in the context of modernity, they two touch upon some key themes of the Enlightenment movement such as “reason”, “nature”, “autonomy”, “freedom”, “personality”, “belief” and etc.,  and  have made a profound discussion. Meanwhile, they two have some reflective and critical insights into Enlightenment movement, which in turn provide useful enlightenment for thinking about the crisis of modernity in our times.

Cosmopolitanism is an ideal, not a reality. It's a decentralized theory, not a systematic theory. It has many different names. From the ancient to the modern times, it has been increasingly perfect and close to realization. It has been partially fulfilled in the world. Confucius once advocated "great harmony with the world". Sun Yat-sen carried forward the concept of "the world for the common good"，and he absorbed the "universal ideas" of Western socialists. The idea of "world government" was formed in recent times. It was the ideal of our sages to organize a "union of sovereign states" to jointly maintain peace and eliminate war. This article is just to sort out the idea of the unity of the world, without any practical suggestions. This is a theoretical idea, not a practical one. Chinese scholars in modern times studied western ideas and then used them to examine Chinese classics to find new ideas. By combing through old papers, they gained a lot and were able to enlighten the people. We should have a grand vision, facing the world more advanced thinkers broad spirit.

This essay argues that the succession of the thrones possibly originated from Confucius, then it was developed by his seventy famous disciples, and later it faded when confronted by Xunzi’s strong assertion in the Rites system. This process reflects the arduous exploration of the pre-Qin Confucianist School into traditional Chinese political system from both theory and practice. The succession of the thrones is not only an innovation based on the historical facts in early ancient China, but also a reconciliation for the chaos back then. The scene of societal prosperity brought by the succession of the thrones is depicted at the beginning of chapter Yao Code, the Book of History. Also, in the Analects, the praise of the Kings Yao, Shun and Yu can be regarded as the praise of the succession of the thrones, yet it has an inner tension with the Rites system. The strong relationship between the primitive Confucianist School and the Way of Tang and Yu as well as Rong Cheng Shi, the bamboo slips unearthed in Hubei Province, negates the possibility that the latter are the works of the Mohist School. The succession of the thrones proposed by the pre-Qin Confucianist School was strongly suppressed both by the feudal lords for the sake of their vested interests and the traditional Rites system, which are the genuine reasons for the disappearance of the fore-mentioned and related literature. At the very core of the succession of the thrones, there exists a spirit of criticism on the reality at the time, which showed strong sympathy towards the masses who lived in adversity, and it is an important national resource in the process of China’s modern construction of its political system.

Confucianism advocates jing 敬 [Respect], and the Neo-Confucianism of Song and Ming considers chijing 持敬 [Maitaining Respect] as a method for cultivating awareness and virtue. Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism was formally introduced to the Korean peninsula at the end of the Goryeo period, having greatly enriched the Korean Confucianism and created a Neo-Confucianism with Korean local characteristics. The Joseon Dynasty had Confucianism as its founding philosophy, as a result the basic virtues of Confucianism such as Maintaining Respect and Sincerity (持敬存诚)are well known to the common people. In the 19th century, Donghak emerged as a major trend of thought championing self-cultivation through "Three Respects" (i.e., respect for heaven, for people and for things), a concept that is, this article argues, grounded in the teaching of jing（敬） and chijing（持敬） in Confucianism. It emphasizes "Respect for Things", promoting a warm and thoughtful attitude towards nature, thus setting it in sharp contrast with the apathy of modern Western anthropocentrism and individualism that leads to environmental pollution, ecological imbalance，and human indifference. “Respect for Things” in Donghak, as a reverberation of “Respect” in Confucianism, serves well as a forward-looking insight in addressing the current human condition.

Metaverse becomes a prevalent topic from the end of 2021. As the Metaverse has been embraced enthusiastic by the society, one of its unavoidable issues is to have an integrated consideration on the potential encounter of individuals towards the Metaverse. Due to the effect by related technologies and self-capability of cognition, cognitive subject will experience various difficulties during his interaction with the Metaverse. Therefore, an analysis of cognitive philosophy on the dilemma of cognitive subject caused by Metaverse may deepen our cognition on the issue and exert a positive influence on the problem-solving.