Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Zhu Youjian naturally welcomed Johann Adam Schall von Bell's naturalization and said to him:
"As long as he passes the exam, given Tang Qing's achievements, he can certainly be naturalized as a Chinese."

"I will have the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Court of Colonial Affairs discuss a set of rituals to hold the naturalization ceremony."

This was because he was thinking of the naturalization oath ceremony in later generations and planned to formulate a similar ceremony.

From now on, all citizens who are naturalized as Chinese and acquire Ming citizenship must swear an oath before the Ming national flag to pledge allegiance to the Ming Empire and the Ming Emperor, strictly adhere to the distinction between Chinese and barbarians, and abide by the etiquette and laws of the Ming Dynasty.

That way, if they break the law or betray the empire and the emperor in the future, the Ming Dynasty will be able to deal with them and punish them legitimately.

Johann Adam Schall von Bell was naturally delighted to receive a positive response from the emperor.

The emperor's attitude undoubtedly showed how much he valued them, and Johann Adam Schall von Bell felt that he had made the right move.

Johann Adam Schall von Bell, who was very keen on power, considered the situation within Nestorianism and proposed:
"I believe that since Nestorianism is the religion of the Ming Dynasty, the bishops of Nestorianism should all have Ming nationality."

“Foreign clergy should be restricted and their bishop status should be removed.”

These words surprised even Zhu Youjian.

He never expected that Johann Adam Schall von Bell, having just decided to naturalize, would try to seize power from the non-naturalized clergy.

He was indeed a missionary who had gained his position through opportunism, and he was extremely adept at political struggles.

This suggestion would help Sinicize Nestorianism, Zhu Youjian thought for a moment and responded:

“Nestorianism is not yet perfect, and as a medium for communication between East and West, it needs foreign missionaries.”

"My opinion is that foreign missionaries are allowed to exist, but they can only preach abroad. Moreover, they must abide by the relevant residency regulations, and missionaries without permanent residency must renew their visas every year."

"Furthermore, foreign clergy members are not allowed to serve as bishops and have no voting rights in Nestorian councils at all levels."

The Ming Dynasty partially agreed to Johann Adam Schall von Bell's demands, stripping foreign missionaries of their rights within the Nestorian Church. However, it allowed these individuals to remain in order to attract missionaries to the Ming Dynasty and bring Western knowledge.

Johann Adam Schall von Bell's goal was to seize power, and he was naturally delighted with this.

In the current Nestorian structure, he, as the chief archbishop, is the nominal head, possessing the power to elect cardinals, convene episcopal councils, and handle Nestorian affairs.

However, the actual power of execution rests with the deacon council, which is headed by the archbishop. Moreover, his orders, as archbishop, must be countersigned by the archbishop in order to be carried out without a resolution from the synod of bishops.

This means that the chief cardinal has the power to veto his orders, and if the deacons led by the chief cardinal are unwilling to carry them out, they can put the archbishop in a difficult position.

The current chief cardinal of the Nestorian Church is Giulio Aleni. He is a highly respected figure, whose prestige among the missionaries in the Ming Dynasty far surpasses that of Johann Adam Schall von Bell.

As a result, Johann Adam Schall von Bell found it difficult to exercise his authority after becoming archbishop. The real power of the Nestorian Church was in the hands of Cardinal Giulio Aleni, the chief cardinal.

If it weren't for the disagreement between Long Huamin and Giulio Aleni regarding missionary strategies, and the fact that the supervisory board he oversaw still kept the deacon in check after his departure for the West, Johann Adam Schall von Bell might have been ousted and lost his position as archbishop.

Johann Adam Schall von Bell understood this and always cooperated with the emperor's orders. The emperor had previously instructed him to focus on science and technology, so he led a group of missionaries to work on calendar systems and cannon casting.

Now that the emperor wants to Sinicize Nestorianism, he also complies with the emperor's will and chooses to become a naturalized Chinese.

Now the reward has indeed come; missionaries who refused to be converted can be expelled from the authority of Nestorianism.

He could openly and legitimately remove the bishops from the positions of missionaries who refused to be naturalized, and replace them with his own confidants.

At that time, he will truly be the archbishop, holding the highest power in the Nestorian Church.
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To achieve this goal, Johann Adam Schall von Bell not only needed to win over some missionaries, but also needed the support of believers.

Recalling how he had received Wang Zheng's help in establishing a church while he was preaching in Xi'an, Johann Adam Schall von Bell said:
"After my naturalization, I will naturally abide by the laws and regulations of the Ming Dynasty."

“The laws of the Ming Dynasty allowed concubines. In the Bible, Abraham, David, Solomon and others all had multiple wives and concubines.”

"God does not encourage this, but He has not forbidden it either."

"I believe that the teachings of Nestorianism should allow believers to take concubines, and taking concubines that do not violate the faith should not be considered a sin."

This was the first problem he intended to solve after seizing power in Nestorianism.

This conflict of etiquette, though seemingly minor, had a significant impact. Many who had acquired noble status subsequently withdrew from Nestorian Christianity to avoid the risk of extinction under the constraints of monogamy.

Although their numbers are small, their influence is enormous. Moreover, after their withdrawal, their territories will no longer support the Jingjiao Church.

As a hereditary knight, Johann Adam Schall von Bell understood the mentality of these people very well.

Even as a priest, he planned to have children to pass on his family business after obtaining noble status, let alone other people whose faith was not so devout.

To prevent more and more people from leaving Nestorian Christianity, Johann Adam Schall von Bell consulted the Bible and sought solutions to this problem from its records.

This can be considered a help to Wang Zheng, preventing his old friend from continuing to suffer.

Zhu Youjian was very satisfied with this, knowing that this was the beginning of the Sinicization of Nestorianism.

If this continues, the doctrinal differences between the Jingdezhen Church and other Christian churches will become increasingly pronounced, and it will no longer be considered part of the same entity.

The Mormon Church, which later permitted polygamy, was regarded as an anomaly by Christianity.

Zhu Youjian hoped that the Jingxie Church could become an independent church like the Church of England and the Ross Orthodox Church.

He said to Johann Adam Schall von Bell:

"Allowing but not encouraging is the essence of harmony in diversity, and it's a good way to resolve conflicts."

"As a religion, the Ming Dynasty allowed Nestorianism to have its own doctrines and precepts."

"Just as monks shave their heads and do not marry or have children, Nestorian Christians have similar precepts, which the Ming Dynasty also allowed."

Zhu Youjian affirmed some of the precepts of Nestorian Christianity, saying:
"But these precepts are requirements for clergy."

"For believers without clergy, we should be more lenient and try to conform to the rites and laws of the Ming Dynasty to facilitate the unification of religions."

"For example, monogamy is different from the monogamous system of the Ming Dynasty, but it is also permitted."

"It is certainly permissible for Nestorian Christians to adhere to monogamy. However, if a believer wishes to take a concubine, Nestorianism may choose to allow it or expel them from the church, provided it does not violate the laws of the Ming Dynasty."

“But forcing believers to divorce their concubines or even threatening them with sins is using religious law to forcibly interfere with their lives and threaten or intimidate them.”

"This is absolutely not allowed in the Ming Dynasty. It is an act of interfering with the law of rites and rituals with religious law, and it is the promotion of extreme doctrines."

“From now on, Jingjiao Church must remember that it must not use church law to forcibly interfere with other people’s lives. All believers have the right to choose, the right to choose their own lives, and even the right to leave the church.”

“The Church’s precepts have no power of enforcement. You are not allowed to establish religious inquisitions within your territory and have no law enforcement power.”

As he listened to the emperor's instructions, Johann Adam Schall von Bell wiped the cold sweat from his brow, realizing that Nestorianism's actions had indeed offended the emperor.

In the Ming Dynasty, etiquette and law were absolutely superior to religious law. The Nestorian Church had no authority to enforce its own religious laws. If they insisted on enforcing their laws, the Ming government would certainly not be lenient.

Of course, there are debatable points on this point. Due to the shortage of law enforcement personnel and the traditional patriarchal clan power, the Ritual and Law Committee intended to relinquish some law enforcement powers so that patriarchal clan laws could be implemented and clan order maintained.

The same applies to religious law; in the future, some religions may be allowed to use corporal punishment such as flogging and caning to enforce corresponding precepts on clergy who join the religion.
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After discussing these matters, Zhu Youjian did not rush to finalize other doctrines of Nestorianism.

For the Nestorian Church, which had not even completed the translation of the Bible, establishing a completely Sinicized doctrine was impossible.

Further adjustments and implementation are needed, step by step.

Zhu Youjian was patient with this, especially after Johann Adam Schall von Bell and others were naturalized, the Nestorian Church would become dominated by Chinese, and the Sinicization would continue.

In order to continue this matter, Zhu Youjian said:
"Most of the clergy in your Jingxie Church now come from the West."

"Most Chinese are believers, but there are very few priests."

"This is very bad; it is not conducive to the Sinicization of Nestorianism."

“We should learn from Buddhism. Almost all the eminent monks after the Sui and Tang dynasties were Chinese.”

"The ideas of these people have kept the Sinicization of Buddhism going."

“You must learn from this experience and avoid making the same mistakes again.”

Johann Adam Schall von Bell readily agreed and assured that he would definitely promote missionaries from within the Ming Dynasty.

Later, when Western missionaries came, they would not receive a high status if they did not complete their naturalization.

In order to ensure that the missionaries trained by the Ming Dynasty were as capable as those from the West, Zhu Youjian said:
"I will establish a Nestorian Christianity major at the outer theological seminary of the religious school."

“You can send priests to teach and train priests from the Ming Dynasty.”

"In the future, the religious school will establish a religious research institute to study the doctrines of various religions, especially the unity of various religions."

“If you Nestorian Christians want to join, we will discuss it with other religions at the research institute.”

Upon hearing this, Johann Adam Schall von Bell was taken aback, feeling both worried and pleased. He was pleased that the Ming emperor indeed protected Nestorianism, even allowing them to establish schools and train priests.

The worry is that this school is not under the control of the Nestorian Church; the religious school is supervised by the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.

This would limit their ability to teach. Many church texts might not be able to be taught.

In particular, the so-called Institute of Religious Studies aims to study the unification of various religions.

This would allow Nestorianism to continue down this path, with its doctrine of unifying various religions as its aim.

Johann Adam Schall von Bell actually had doubts about this. Even if he supported the Sinicization of Nestorianism, it did not mean that Nestorianism supported the unification of various religions.

After all, the first step in unifying religions is to incorporate the gods of all religions into one pantheon.

According to the Ming Dynasty's approach, they would be incorporated into the pantheon of gods, with Dou Si Tian Zun being just one of the gods.

How could Nestorianism maintain its uniqueness and independent status in that case?

He doesn't even dare to let the Celestial Venerable Dousi accept the investiture now, let alone become one of the gods of polytheism.

While pondering this matter, Johann Adam Schall von Bell strongly disagreed with the emperor's opinion, but dared not openly oppose it in front of him, so he could only change the subject.

Considering that Buddhism and Taoism each had a dedicated academy, while Nestorianism only had one major in its external theological seminary, Johann Adam Schall von Bell, unwilling to be relegated to a subordinate position among the three religions, requested:
"Your Majesty, Christianity has many seminaries in the West, which have rich teaching experience and capabilities."

"The Jesuit College in Rome taught courses in philosophy, literature, mathematics, logic, and other subjects."

"I request that a separate theological seminary be established, modeled after the Roman College, instead of just one major."

This request reminded Zhu Youjian of the West, the origin of Nestorian Christianity, which was a rising civilization.

This civilized church school is an important part of the education system.

Zhu Youjian would naturally not relinquish the right to education, but exchanges with Western universities were a necessary component of cultural exchange.

The education system of the Ming Dynasty should draw inspiration from it to avoid falling behind Western education.

After thinking it over, he decided to say:

“The Nestorian Christian colleges in the West are extremely large, and they really shouldn’t have only one major.”

"Then it should be upgraded to an independent Nestorian Academy, modeled after the Roman Academy, and offer various majors."

"I will grant you relatively independent authority to run schools and introduce Western educational methods."

He donated 10,000 taels of silver on the spot in his own name and allowed the Nestorian Church to accept donations from believers to support the establishment of the Nestorian Academy.

This fully demonstrates his importance, and Johann Adam Schall von Bell was pleased to say:
"I am determined to do my utmost to run the Nestorian Academy well."

"I implore Your Majesty to allow missionaries who do not wish to become citizens to serve as teachers."

Zhu Youjian nodded in agreement:

"As long as they do not promote illegal or prohibited ideas, the Nestorian Academy is allowed to hire foreign teachers."

"As the archbishop, you need to be more proactive and negotiate with the Court of Imperial Sacrifices as soon as possible to agree on a portion of the doctrines that can be disseminated."

He instructed Johann Adam Schall von Bell to first determine with the Court of Imperial Sacrifices which classic texts would be permitted to be disseminated, thus establishing the framework for the Nestorian Academy.

He was also instructed not to limit himself to theology in education, but to adopt the relevant educational systems from the most advanced schools in the West.

Johann Adam Schall von Bell readily agreed, knowing that the spread of Nestorianism in the Ming Dynasty was inseparable from the Western learning they brought.

If Nestorianism had not attracted scholars with Western learning, how could it have had such a great influence?
Spreading knowledge beyond theology at the Nestorian Academy was also part of the missionary work.

If a scholar chooses to study at the Nestorian Academy, there is a high chance that he will become a believer in the future.

Moreover, the various kinds of knowledge taught at the Nestorian Academy could also serve as a benefit to believers, attracting their descendants to join.

It can be said that this academy will play a very important role in Nestorianism, and may even become a research center for Nestorian doctrine.

Because of this policy, religious schools, from their very inception, were transformed into comprehensive universities under the guidance of the Nestorian Academy.

Buddhist colleges, Taoist colleges, and other colleges later followed the example of Nestorian colleges, teaching subjects other than theology.

They had a profound impact on the education system of the Ming Dynasty, and made the priesthood one of the career choices for scholars in the Ming Dynasty. (End of this chapter)