Doctrine Analysis
11 Doctrine Analysis — Luke (Full Book)
This document is the full doctrine matrix for the Luke curriculum, covering every chapter of Luke (1–24) with the core passage (4:16-21) as theological anchor. It is generated in lockstep with doctrine_risk_registry.json (Luke edition): the same 31 doctrines, the same risk tiers, and the same review routing appear here. No doctrine, tier, or routing decision in this document may contradict that registry. Where the Romans baseline already documents a Critical/High collision risk for a shared term (e.g. 圣灵, 恩典, 复活, 义, 罪), this document extends rather than restates that analysis, and defers to the baseline’s exact renderings per the hard rule of this pipeline.
Section A — Full Doctrine Matrix (31 Doctrines)
| # | Doctrine | Mandarin Doctrine Name | Risk | Key Terms | Primary Passages (Luke) | Translation Risk Notes | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jesus as Savior for All Nations and All People | 耶稣是万民万国的救主 | Critical | savior, salvation, gentiles, all_flesh, samaritan, neighbor | 2:10-11; 2:30-32; 3:6; 4:25-27; 7:9; 10:29-37; 17:11-19; 24:47 | 救主 must never read as a this-worldly political liberator/patron-benefactor (a common ancient usage the ancient title carried), nor collapse into a generic patron-deity comparable to Guanyin or a city god; universal scope must resist Hua-Yi (华夷) insider/outsider framing. | Human theologian |
| 2 | The Holy Spirit’s Work in Salvation History | 圣灵在救恩历史中的工作 | Critical | holy_spirit, prophecy, angel, power_of_god | 1:15; 1:35; 1:41; 1:67; 2:25-27; 3:22; 4:1; 4:14; 4:18; 10:21; 11:13; 24:49 | 圣灵 must never be confused with folk spirit-possession (被鬼附身/附体) or ancestral-spirit (祖灵) veneration; the Spirit’s overshadowing/empowering is personal, willing divine agency, not an involuntary or ritually induced spirit-encounter. | Human theologian |
| 3 | Good News to the Poor and Marginalized | 传给贫穷人和被忽视者的好消息 | High | poor, blessed, gospel, woe, widow, tax_collector | 4:18; 6:20-26; 7:22; 14:13; 14:21; 16:19-31; 18:22; 19:8-10 | 贫穷 risks being moralized as karmic desert (报应) or ascetic achievement rather than a status the gospel graciously addresses; 有福了 shares the 福 (fortune) root already Medium-flagged in the Romans baseline and must not read as worldly luck. | Human theologian |
| 4 | Repentance and Forgiveness of Sins | 悔改与罪得赦免 | Critical | repentance, forgiveness_of_sins, release, sinner, propitiation_be_merciful | 1:77; 3:3; 3:8; 5:20-24; 5:32; 7:47-49; 13:3; 13:5; 15:7; 15:10; 17:3-4; 18:13-14; 24:47 | 悔改 must never render as 忏悔 (Buddhist/Daoist karma-reducing ritual confession) nor collapse into mere secular regret (后悔); Luke’s single Greek ἄφεσις (“release”/“forgiveness”) cannot be captured in one Mandarin word, risking loss of the liberation-forgiveness wordplay. | Human theologian |
| 5 | Prayer and Dependence on God | 祷告与倚靠神 | High | prayer, do_not_fear, intercession | 3:21; 5:16; 6:12; 9:18; 9:28-29; 11:1-13; 18:1-8; 22:39-46 | 祷告 must be sharply distinguished from 求签, 问卜, and 烧香拜拜 (folk petitionary/divinatory ritual technique); biblical prayer is direct, relational address to a personal Father. | Human theologian |
| 6 | The Kingdom of God Present and Future | 神的国：现在与将来 | Critical | kingdom_of_god, kingdom_within_among_you, today_theological, narrow_door, tribulation | 4:21; 4:43; 6:20; 9:27; 10:9; 10:11; 11:20; 13:18-21; 13:24; 17:20-21; 19:11; 21:31; 22:16; 22:18; 23:42-43 | 17:21’s ἐντὸς ὑμῶν is genuinely ambiguous; an “inward” rendering risks collapsing the Kingdom into individualist mystical inner experience (内观); the corporate “in your midst” reading (Jesus’ own presence) must control and not be silently overridden. | Human theologian |
| 7 | The Cost and Joy of Discipleship | 作门徒的代价与喜乐 | High | disciple, follow, cross, deny_self_and_take_up_cross, hate_idiom, joy, steward | 5:11; 5:27-28; 9:23-25; 9:57-62; 14:25-33; 15:7; 15:10; 15:32; 18:22; 18:28-30 | 舍己 risks collision with Buddhist 无我 (dissolving an illusory self) rather than a real self willingly relinquished; the “hate father and mother” idiom (14:26) collides with 孝 (filial piety) if rendered literally (恨). | Human theologian |
| 8 | Jesus’ Compassion and Table Fellowship with Sinners | 耶稣的怜悯与同罪人一同坐席 | High | mercy_compassion, table_fellowship, sinner, tax_collector, pharisee | 5:29-32; 7:36-50; 15:1-2; 15:20; 19:1-10; 22:14-20 | 怜悯 must never render as 慈悲 (Buddhist compassion flowing from enlightened detachment); Chinese banquet-culture face (面子) dynamics can obscure that Jesus’ meals with outcasts are a deliberate, structural act of grace, not mere social generosity. | Human theologian |
| 9 | Incarnation and the Virgin Conception | 道成肉身与童女怀孕 | Critical | incarnation, virgin, holy_spirit, son_of_god | 1:26-35; 2:1-7 | 童女 (CUV’s softer term) grounds the historical basis of 道成肉身 (already Critical in the Romans baseline); the Spirit’s overshadowing must be taught as a unique historical divine act, not a mythological deity-human union pattern familiar from Chinese folk stories. | Human theologian |
| 10 | Messianic Promise and Fulfillment | 弥赛亚的应许与应验 | Critical | messiah, fulfilled, scripture, anoint, jubilee_year | 2:11; 2:26; 3:15-16; 4:18-21; 9:20; 24:26-27; 24:44-46 | 基督 must never be conflated with 弥勒 (Maitreya); Luke 4:21’s “today…fulfilled” and 24:44’s resurrection fulfillment must be taught as one-time, linear historical fulfillment, not the cyclical dynastic pattern (治乱循环). | Human theologian |
| 11 | Deity and Sonship of Christ | 基督的神性与儿子名分 | Critical | son_of_god, lord, most_high | 1:32; 1:35; 3:22; 4:3; 4:9; 4:41; 8:28; 9:35; 22:70 | 神的儿子 must never be abbreviated or softened toward 天子 (the imperial “Son of Heaven” title resting on a revocable Mandate of Heaven); Christ’s Sonship is eternal, unique, co-equal with the Father. | Human theologian |
| 12 | Son of Man and the Suffering Messiah | 人子与受苦的弥赛亚 | High | son_of_man | 9:22; 9:26; 9:44; 9:58; 12:8; 12:40; 17:24-30; 18:31; 19:10; 22:22; 22:48; 24:7 | 人子 must retain its Daniel 7 apocalyptic-authority background; must not be visually/conceptually confused with 天子, nor flattened to mean merely “an ordinary human being.” | Human theologian |
| 13 | Resurrection of Christ | 基督的复活 | Critical | resurrection | 9:22; 18:33; 20:34-38; 24:1-49 | 复活 must never render as 轮回, 投胎, or 还魂; Luke’s resurrection narratives depict a bodily, historical, once-for-all rising verified by eating/touching (24:39-43), not cyclical or folkloric reanimation. | Human theologian |
| 14 | Ascension and Exaltation of Christ | 基督的升天与被高举 | Critical | ascension | 24:50-53 | 升天 is deeply embedded in Daoist/folk vocabulary for a cultivator’s self-attained ascent to immortality (得道升天, 羽化升天) and as a death euphemism; Christ’s ascension must be taught as a unique, bodily, historical exaltation, never an attainment through practice nor a generic death euphemism. | Human theologian |
| 15 | The Jubilee / Year of the Lord’s Favor | 主的禧年 | Critical | jubilee_year, release, poor, captive, oppressed | 4:18-19 | 禧 overwhelmingly connotes festive good fortune in ordinary Mandarin (as in 囍 or New Year greetings); without an explicit OT Jubilee background note (Lev 25), readers will plausibly hear only “a lucky year,” stripping out the justice-and-liberation content that is the thesis of Luke’s Gospel. | Human theologian |
| 16 | The Reversal of Rich and Poor | 富人与穷人的翻转 | High | rich, poor, blessed, woe, humble_exalt, mammon | 1:52-53; 6:20-26; 12:16-21; 14:11; 16:19-31; 18:14 | 财主 carries residual 20th-century class-struggle connotations that risk importing a modern ideological class-conflict reading onto a status-reversal claim rooted in God’s gracious initiative, not a socio-economic revolutionary program. | Human theologian |
| 17 | Grace versus Merit in Repentance and Forgiveness | 恩典而非功德的悔改与赦免 | Critical | grace, propitiation_be_merciful, pharisee, imputed_righteousness, justification | 7:36-50; 15:11-32; 18:9-14 | The Pharisee/tax collector and Prodigal Son narratives dramatize the grace-versus-merit contrast already Critical in the Romans baseline for 恩典; the tax collector’s plea (开恩可怜我这个罪人) claims no merit, directly contradicting the Buddhist/folk merit-accounting worldview (功德, 阴德). | Human theologian |
| 18 | Inspiration and Fulfillment of Scripture | 圣经的默示与应验 | High | scripture, fulfilled, word_of_god, opened_understanding, scroll | 4:17-21; 8:11; 18:31; 24:25-27; 24:32; 24:44-45 | 经文 must be distinguished from the Chinese classical canon (经, Confucian Five Classics / Daoist Daodejing); the risen Christ’s “opening” of understanding (24:45) must never render as 开悟 or 悟 alone, technical Buddhist/Chan terms for self-attained enlightenment. | Human theologian |
| 19 | Jesus’ Spiritual Authority over Demons and the Devil | 耶稣胜过污鬼与魔鬼的权柄 | High | demon_unclean_spirit, devil, authority, temptation | 4:1-13; 4:33-36; 4:41; 8:26-39; 9:1; 9:42; 10:17-20; 11:14-22; 13:16; 22:3; 22:31; 22:53 | Chinese folk religion’s populated ghost/spirit category (鬼) managed via ritual pacification or shamanic exorcism (跳大神) must not be projected onto demons/devil; deliverance comes through Christ’s unique command alone, not ritual technique. | Human theologian |
| 20 | Lordship of Christ | 基督的主权 | Critical | lord, kingdom_of_god, caesar_and_god | 2:11; 6:5; 10:1; 10:17; 19:31; 20:41-44; 22:70; 23:42 | 主 must convey exclusive, supreme Lordship, not a feudal honorific (老爷) or ordinary master-servant relation (主人); 20:25’s Caesar/God saying relativizes civic obligation beneath God’s ultimate claim without equating the two authorities. | Human theologian |
| 21 | Providence and God’s Sovereign Care | 神的护理与看顾 | High | providence, do_not_fear, joy | 12:6-7; 12:22-32; 21:18; 22:31-32 | Must not render with the impersonal 天意 (“heaven’s intention”) of everyday fatalistic speech; assurance is grounded in the Father’s character, not cosmic luck or fate. | Human theologian |
| 22 | Election and the Calling of Disciples | 拣选与呼召门徒 | High | called, calling, election, disciple, apostle, follow | 5:1-11; 5:27-28; 6:12-16; 9:1-2; 10:1 | Must be taught as a personal, gracious summons, never impersonal cosmic destiny/entitlement (天命, forbidden in the Romans baseline); 门徒 must be distinguished from a Confucian scholarly-lineage apprentice (孔门弟子). | Human theologian |
| 23 | Mammon and Exclusive Allegiance | 玛门与专一的忠心 | High | mammon, steward, rich | 16:1-13; 18:22 | ”Cannot serve God and mammon” personifies wealth as a rival master demanding total allegiance, structurally identical to the exclusive-Lordship claim already Critical for 主/Lord; must not flatten into generic secular moralism about greed. | Human theologian |
| 24 | The New Covenant and the Lord’s Supper | 新约与主的晚餐 | High | new_covenant, body_and_blood, passover, covenant | 22:14-20 | 身体…血 must be distinguished from folk-religious blood-offering rites appeasing ancestral/local spirits (血祭); 新约 builds on the already-High 约 root and requires explicit continuity with the Davidic covenant background. | Human theologian |
| 25 | Universal Scope: Jew and Gentile Together | 犹太人与外邦人同蒙福音 | High | gentiles, all_flesh, samaritan, neighbor | 2:32; 3:6; 4:25-27; 7:1-10; 10:29-37; 17:11-19; 24:47 | Must resist any Hua-Yi (华夷) civilized-insider/outsider echo; Luke repeatedly elevates despised outsiders (Roman centurion, Samaritan) as faith/compassion models superior to the religious establishment — this shock must not be softened. | Human theologian |
| 26 | Government and Civic Authority | 政权与公民的责任 | Medium | caesar_and_god | 20:20-26; 23:1-25 | Sensitive but not doctrine-destroying, mirroring the Romans baseline’s own Romans 13:1-7 pattern; native speaker review recommended given contemporary political sensitivities around church-state teaching in a Chinese context. | Native speaker review |
| 27 | Baptism and Preparation through Repentance | 洗礼与悔改的预备 | Medium | baptism, repentance | 3:3; 3:7-14; 3:21-22; 7:29-30; 12:50; 20:4 | 洗礼 must be distinguished from Chinese folk/Daoist ritual-purification practice (斋戒净身); John’s baptism is a definitive, one-time turning tied to repentance, not a repeatable purity rite. | Native speaker review |
| 28 | Eschatological Hope and the Coming of the Son of Man | 末世的盼望与人子的再来 | Medium | tribulation, son_of_man, eternal_life, redemption | 12:35-48; 17:22-37; 21:5-36 | Future hope must be taught within its linear-historical frame (a definite, personal return of Christ), not assimilated to cyclical cosmic-renewal patterns familiar from Chinese folk eschatology or Daoist cosmological cycles. | Native speaker review |
| 29 | Sabbath and Covenant Worship | 安息日与立约的敬拜 | Medium | sabbath, synagogue, law | 4:16; 4:31; 6:1-11; 13:10-17; 14:1-6; 23:56 | 安息日 must not flatten to a generic “day off/weekend” (周末); Jesus’ Sabbath healings reframe Sabbath-keeping around mercy rather than ritual technicality, a nuance that could be lost if taught only as calendrical observance. | Native speaker review |
| 30 | Thanksgiving and Gratitude | 感恩 | Low | thanksgiving, joy | 1:46-55; 2:38; 17:15-16; 18:11; 22:17-19 | Standard term with minor risk of generic secular gratitude without explicit reference to God; the healed leper’s return to give thanks (17:15-16) should retain God-directed specificity. | Automated review |
| 31 | Genealogy and the Lineage of Christ | 基督的家谱与血统 | Low | genealogy, seed_of_david, david | 3:23-38 | Low collision risk as a literary form; establishes Jesus’ Davidic and Adamic lineage, reinforcing the Incarnation and Davidic covenant fulfillment already documented in the Romans baseline. | Automated review |
Section B — Chapter-by-Chapter Coverage (Luke 1–24)
Every chapter is reviewed explicitly per the full-book-coverage mandate, whether or not it introduces new terms. Doctrine numbers reference Section A.
| Ch. | Active Doctrines (# from Section A) | Key Passages | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 (Critical), 9 (Critical), 10 (Critical), 11 (Critical), 16 (High) | 1:15,32,35,41,67,77; 1:26-35; 1:52-53 | Zechariah’s and Mary’s prophetic songs (Benedictus, Magnificat) introduce virgin conception, Spirit-empowerment, and the rich/poor reversal theme. New terms: virgin (童女), angel (天使), Most High (至高者), covenant (约, 1:72), grace (“found favor,” 恩典). |
| 2 | 1 (Critical), 2 (Critical), 9 (Critical), 10 (Critical), 25 (High), 30 (Low) | 2:1-7,9-14,10-11,25-27,30-32,38 | Nativity narrative: incarnation, Savior/Messiah announcement to shepherds (marginalized recipients), Simeon’s universal-scope prophecy. New terms: sign (记号), consolation (安慰), circumcision (割礼), glory (荣耀). |
| 3 | 1 (Critical), 10 (Critical), 11 (Critical), 25 (High), 27 (Medium), 31 (Low) | 3:3,6,8,15-16,21-22,23-38 | John’s preaching, Jesus’ baptism, genealogy. New terms: repentance (悔改) formally introduced; all flesh (凡有血气的); exhort (劝勉, applied to John’s preaching). |
| 4 | 6 (Critical), 10 (Critical), 15 (Critical, CORE), 18 (High), 19 (High), 2 (Critical), 11 (Critical), 29 (Medium) | 4:1-13,14,16-21,31,33-36,41,43 | Core passage (4:16-21). Heaviest doctrinal load in the book: Jubilee announcement, Messianic fulfillment, Scripture fulfillment, Spirit-empowerment, temptation/authority over the devil, synagogue Sabbath setting, Sonship confessed by demons. All Critical-tier terms in Section A converge here; this chapter anchors, but does not exhaust, the curriculum scope. |
| 5 | 3 (High, implicit via ministry pattern), 4 (Critical), 5 (High), 7 (High), 8 (High), 22 (High) | 5:1-11,11,16,20-24,27-28,29-32,32 | Calling of the first disciples, healing of the paralytic (forgiveness), Levi’s call and banquet (table fellowship). New terms: disciple (门徒), follow (跟从), sinner (罪人), tax collector (税吏), faith (信心, “seeing their faith”). |
| 6 | 3 (High), 16 (High), 20 (Critical), 22 (High), 5 (High), 29 (Medium) | 6:1-11,5,12,12-16,20-26 | Beatitudes/Woes (poverty-blessing reversal), Sabbath controversy and “Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath,” choosing the Twelve (apostle term). New terms: blessed (有福了), woe (有祸了), judge not (论断, contextual), love enemies (爱, ἀγάπη). |
| 7 | 1 (Critical), 25 (High), 3 (High), 4 (Critical), 8 (High), 27 (Medium) | 7:1-10,9,22,29-30,36-50,47-49 | Centurion’s faith (Gentile inclusion), sinful woman’s forgiveness and table fellowship, John’s messengers. New terms: mercy/compassion (怜悯, widow of Nain), prophet (先知, 7:16). |
| 8 | 19 (High), 11 (Critical) | 8:11,26-39,28,25,48,50 | Gerasene demoniac (spiritual authority, demon confesses “Son of the Most High God”), parable of the sower (word of God). New term: word of God (神的话, distinct care from 经文). |
| 9 | 12 (High), 13 (Critical), 7 (High), 22 (High), 19 (High), 11 (Critical, Transfiguration) | 9:1-2,18-27,22,26,28-35,42,44,57-62,58 | First passion/resurrection prediction, Transfiguration (Deity/Sonship reaffirmed), “deny self and take up cross,” costly-following sayings, sending of the Twelve. |
| 10 | 6 (Critical), 19 (High), 1 (Critical)/25 (High), 22 (High), 20 (Critical) | 10:1,9,11,17,17-20,29-37 | Sending of the seventy-two, Good Samaritan (neighbor doctrine), kingdom proclamation tied to authority over demons. New term: neighbor (邻舍). |
| 11 | 5 (High), 19 (High), 2 (Critical) | 11:1-13,13,14-22,29-32,37-52 | The Lord’s Prayer and persistent-prayer parable; Beelzebul controversy; sign of Jonah; woes against Pharisees. New term: sign of Jonah (约拿的迹象). |
| 12 | 21 (High), 16 (High, contextual), 28 (Medium) | 12:4-7,6-7,10,16-21,22-32,35-48 | ”Do not fear” sayings grounding providence; parable of the rich fool (reversal doctrine, mammon-adjacent); watchful-servant eschatology. |
| 13 | 6 (Critical), 19 (High), 29 (Medium), 4 (Critical, contextual) | 13:3,5,10-17,16,18-21,24 | Kingdom parables (mustard seed, leaven), narrow door, Sabbath healing of the crippled woman, repentance sayings tied to Siloam/tower. |
| 14 | 7 (High), 16 (High), 3 (High), 29 (Medium) | 14:1-6,7-11,11,13,21,25-33 | Sabbath healing; banquet humility teaching (face/面子 sensitivity flagged); counting the cost of discipleship; invitation of the poor to the great banquet. |
| 15 | 4 (Critical), 7 (High), 8 (High), 17 (Critical) | 15:1-2,7,10,11-32,20,32 | Lost sheep, lost coin, and Prodigal Son parables — the curriculum’s central grace-versus-merit narrative cluster. New term: lost (失丧的). |
| 16 | 16 (High), 23 (High), 3 (High) | 16:1-13,19-31 | Dishonest steward (“cannot serve God and mammon”); Rich Man and Lazarus (afterlife reversal). New terms: mammon (玛门), Hades (阴间). |
| 17 | 6 (Critical), 25 (High), 28 (Medium) | 17:3-4,5-6,11-19,15-16,20-21,22-37 | ”Kingdom is in your midst” (Critical ambiguity); ten lepers, Samaritan’s faith and thanksgiving; Son of Man’s future coming. |
| 18 | 4 (Critical), 17 (Critical), 7 (High), 3 (High), 13 (Critical, 18:33) | 18:1-8,9-14,13-14,22,28-30,31,33,35-43 | Pharisee and tax collector (grace vs. merit); rich young ruler; second passion/resurrection prediction; blind beggar’s “Son of David” cry. |
| 19 | 3 (High), 12 (High), 6 (Critical), 1 (Critical) | 19:1-10,8-10,10,11,28-40,41-44 | Zacchaeus (Luke 19:10 is the book’s summary echo of the core passage’s mission); triumphal entry (kingship acclamation); weeping over Jerusalem. |
| 20 | 20 (Critical), 26 (Medium), 27 (Medium), 13 (Critical, 20:34-38) | 20:4,9-19,20-26,27-40,41-44 | Parable of the tenants (cornerstone allusion); Caesar/God saying; Sadducees’ resurrection debate; “how can David call him Lord.” |
| 21 | 6 (Critical), 28 (Medium), 21 (High) | 21:1-4,5-36,18,31 | Widow’s mite (reversal-adjacent, contextual); eschatological discourse; providence assurance (“not a hair of your head will perish”). |
| 22 | 24 (High), 5 (High), 19 (High), 12 (High), 20 (Critical), 21 (High) | 22:1-13,3,14-20,22,31,31-32,39-46,48,53,70 | Passover and the Lord’s Supper (new covenant); Gethsemane prayer; Satan’s activity against Judas and Peter; Sanhedrin trial (“Are you the Son of God?“). |
| 23 | 26 (Medium), 20 (Critical), 6 (Critical), 29 (Medium) | 23:1-25,42,42-43,56 | Trials before Pilate/Herod; the repentant thief’s confession and “today you will be with me in paradise”; Sabbath rest before the resurrection. New term: paradise (乐园). |
| 24 | 13 (Critical), 14 (Critical), 18 (High), 1 (Critical), 12 (High), 10 (Critical) | 24:1-49,7,25-27,32,44-46,47,50-53 | Resurrection appearances, Emmaus road (Scripture opened), Great Commission language (“to all nations”), Ascension. Closes the book’s doctrinal arc back to the core passage’s fulfillment claim. |
Section C — Risk Summary (Consistent with doctrine_risk_registry.json)
| Risk Tier | Count | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 12 | Human theologian (mandatory, every occurrence) |
| High | 13 | Human theologian (mandatory) |
| Medium | 4 | Native speaker review |
| Low | 2 | Automated review |
| Total | 31 | — |
- Total requiring human theologian review (Critical + High): 25
- Total requiring native speaker review: 4
- Total requiring automated review only: 2
These totals match doctrine_risk_registry.json exactly and must not be altered independently of an update to that registry.
This document extends, and must never contradict, the Romans baseline (translation_memory.json, bible_term_registry.json, doctrine_risk_registry.json, 12_ai_translation_requirements.md). Section B’s chapter coverage satisfies the full-book-coverage mandate: every chapter of Luke 1–24 has been explicitly reviewed, whether or not it introduces new load-bearing terms.
Critical Risk Doctrines
Jesus as Savior for All Nations and All People (Jew and Gentile, Rich and Poor)
Mandarin name: 耶稣是万民万国的救主
Key terms: savior, salvation, gentiles, all_flesh, samaritan, neighbor
Review routing: Human theologian
救主 is built on the already-Critical 救恩 root and must be taught as the personal Rescuer from sin and God’s judgment, not a this-worldly political liberator or patron-benefactor figure — a common ancient usage of the underlying term for kings/emperors, and a plausible reading against China’s own history of ‘savior’ rhetoric attached to political rulers. The universal scope (Gentile centurion, Samaritan hero) must resist any Hua-Yi (华夷) civilized-insider/outsider framing.
The Holy Spirit’s Work in Salvation History
Mandarin name: 圣灵在救恩历史中的工作
Key terms: holy_spirit, prophecy, angel, power_of_god
Review routing: Human theologian
圣灵 must never be confused with folk spirit-possession (被鬼附身/附体) trance phenomena or ancestral-spirit (祖灵) activity venerated in Chinese folk religion; the Spirit’s overshadowing of Mary and empowering of Jesus and the disciples is the personal, willing indwelling/anointing of the divine third Person, not an involuntary or ritually induced spirit-encounter.
Repentance and Forgiveness of Sins
Mandarin name: 悔改与罪得赦免
Key terms: repentance, forgiveness_of_sins, release, sinner, propitiation_be_merciful
Review routing: Human theologian
悔改 must never be rendered 忏悔 (a Buddhist/Daoist ritual confession practice that reduces accumulated karmic debt) nor collapsed into mere secular regret (后悔); further, Luke’s single Greek word ἄφεσις covers both ‘release of captives’ and ‘forgiveness of sins,’ a wordplay Mandarin cannot preserve in one term (释放 vs. 赦免), risking the loss of Luke’s deliberate theological link between liberation and forgiveness as a single divine act.
The Kingdom of God Present and Future
Mandarin name: 神的国：现在与将来
Key terms: kingdom_of_god, kingdom_within_among_you, today_theological, narrow_door, tribulation
Review routing: Human theologian
Luke 17:21’s ἐντὸς ὑμῶν is genuinely ambiguous; an ‘inward/inside you’ rendering risks collapsing the Kingdom into an individualist, mystical inner experience resembling Buddhist/Chan inward contemplation (内观), whereas the corporate ‘in your midst’ reading (Jesus’ own bodily presence) is the theologically controlling sense and must not be silently overridden.
Incarnation and the Virgin Conception
Mandarin name: 道成肉身与童女怀孕
Key terms: incarnation, virgin, holy_spirit, son_of_god
Review routing: Human theologian
童女 (the softer CUV term, preferred over the more clinical 处女) grounds the historical, bodily basis of 道成肉身 (already Critical in the Romans baseline); conception by the Holy Spirit’s overshadowing (1:35) must be taught as a unique, historical divine act producing the eternal Son’s genuine humanity, not a mythological divine-human union pattern familiar from Chinese folk stories of deities begetting semi-divine offspring.
Messianic Promise and Fulfillment
Mandarin name: 弥赛亚的应许与应验
Key terms: messiah, fulfilled, scripture, anoint, jubilee_year
Review routing: Human theologian
基督 must never be conflated with 弥勒 (Maitreya), the future Buddha of Chinese Buddhist eschatology awaited in a coming age; Luke 4:21’s ‘today this scripture is fulfilled’ and 24:44’s resurrection-appearance fulfillment must be taught as one-time, linear historical fulfillment, not the cyclical dynastic rise-and-fall pattern (治乱循环) that shapes much traditional Chinese historical reading.
Deity and Sonship of Christ
Mandarin name: 基督的神性与儿子名分
Key terms: son_of_god, lord, most_high
Review routing: Human theologian
神的儿子 must never be abbreviated or softened toward 天子 (‘Son of Heaven,’ the historic Chinese imperial title whose legitimacy rested on the revocable Mandate of Heaven); Christ’s Sonship is eternal, unique, and co-equal with the Father, not an office of elevated human rulership.
Resurrection of Christ
Mandarin name: 基督的复活
Key terms: resurrection
Review routing: Human theologian
复活 must never be rendered 轮回 (the cycle of reincarnation), 投胎 (rebirth into a new womb), or 还魂 (a folk/Daoist ghost-story trope of a spirit reanimating a corpse); Luke’s resurrection narratives (24:1-49) depict a bodily, historical, once-for-all rising verified by the risen Christ eating and being touched (24:39-43), not a cyclical or folkloric reanimation.
Ascension and Exaltation of Christ
Mandarin name: 基督的升天与被高举
Key terms: ascension
Review routing: Human theologian
升天 is deeply embedded in Daoist/folk-religious vocabulary for a cultivator’s self-attained ascent to immortality (得道升天, 羽化升天) and is also a common colloquial euphemism for any person’s death; Christ’s ascension must be taught, every time, as a unique, bodily, historical exaltation of the one specific risen Lord to reign at the Father’s right hand, never as an attainment through spiritual practice nor a generic death euphemism.
The Jubilee / Year of the Lord’s Favor
Mandarin name: 主的禧年
Key terms: jubilee_year, release, poor, captive, oppressed
Review routing: Human theologian
禧 (xǐ) in ordinary modern Mandarin overwhelmingly connotes festive happiness/good fortune (as in wedding-double-happiness 囍 or New Year greetings), the same semantic neighborhood as 福, already flagged Medium in the Romans baseline for 福音; without an explicit OT Jubilee background note (Lev 25 — debt-release, land-restoration, slave-manumission), Chinese readers will very plausibly hear only ‘a lucky/auspicious year,’ stripping out the entire justice-and-liberation content that makes this verse the thesis of Luke’s Gospel.
Grace versus Merit in Repentance and Forgiveness
Mandarin name: 恩典而非功德的悔改与赦免
Key terms: grace, propitiation_be_merciful, pharisee, imputed_righteousness, justification
Review routing: Human theologian
The Pharisee and tax collector parable (18:9-14) and the Prodigal Son (15:11-32) dramatize precisely the grace-versus-merit contrast already Critical in the Romans baseline for 恩典; the tax collector’s plea (开恩可怜我这个罪人, cognate with the propitiation vocabulary flagged for mandatory theologian review under Romans 3:25) claims no merit, directly contradicting the Buddhist merit-accounting worldview (功德, 阴德) present in Chinese folk religion.
Lordship of Christ
Mandarin name: 基督的主权
Key terms: lord, kingdom_of_god, caesar_and_god
Review routing: Human theologian
主 must convey exclusive, supreme Lordship, not a feudal honorific (老爷) or ordinary master-servant relation (主人); Luke 20:25’s ‘render to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s’ must be taught as relativizing civic obligation beneath God’s ultimate, exclusive claim, not as equating the two authorities.
High Risk Doctrines
Good News to the Poor and Marginalized
Mandarin name: 传给贫穷人和被忽视者的好消息
Key terms: poor, blessed, gospel, woe, widow, tax_collector
Review routing: Human theologian
贫穷 risks being moralized as karmic desert (报应, already flagged under ‘sin’ in the Romans baseline) or as ascetic virtue achieved through detachment, rather than a status the gospel graciously and specially addresses; 有福了 shares the 福 (fortune) root already flagged Medium in the Romans baseline for 福音 and must not be read as worldly luck attaching to the poor.
Prayer and Dependence on God
Mandarin name: 祷告与倚靠神
Key terms: prayer, do_not_fear, intercession
Review routing: Human theologian
祷告 must be sharply distinguished from Chinese folk-petitionary practice — 求签 (temple fortune-stick divination), 问卜 (consulting a diviner), and 烧香拜拜 (incense-petitioning of ancestors/deities) — since biblical prayer is direct, relational address to a personal Father requiring no ritual intermediary or divinatory technique. This is a curriculum-defining doctrine for Luke.
The Cost and Joy of Discipleship
Mandarin name: 作门徒的代价与喜乐
Key terms: disciple, follow, cross, deny_self_and_take_up_cross, hate_idiom, joy, steward
Review routing: Human theologian
舍己 risks collision with the Buddhist doctrine of 无我 (dissolving an illusory self through enlightenment) rather than a real self freely and willingly relinquished; separately, the hyperbolic ‘hate father and mother’ saying (14:26) collides directly with 孝 (filial piety), a foundational Confucian virtue, if rendered with the literal word for hate (恨) rather than as an idiom of supreme relative allegiance to Christ.
Jesus’ Compassion and Table Fellowship with Sinners
Mandarin name: 耶稣的怜悯与同罪人一同坐席
Key terms: mercy_compassion, table_fellowship, sinner, tax_collector, pharisee
Review routing: Human theologian
怜悯 must never be rendered 慈悲 — the celebrated Buddhist virtue of compassion associated with Guanyin, flowing from enlightened detachment rather than a personal covenant God’s active rescue; additionally, Chinese banquet culture’s strong hierarchical seating and face (面子) dynamics can obscure that Jesus’ shared meals with social outcasts are a deliberate, structural act of grace breaking purity/status boundaries, not merely a socially generous gesture.
Son of Man and the Suffering Messiah
Mandarin name: 人子与受苦的弥赛亚
Key terms: son_of_man
Review routing: Human theologian
人子 must retain its Daniel 7 apocalyptic-authority background and must not be visually/conceptually confused with 天子 (‘Son of Heaven,’ already forbidden in the Romans baseline for Son of God), nor flattened to mean merely ‘an ordinary human being,’ which would lose its exalted, messianic force.
The Reversal of Rich and Poor
Mandarin name: 富人与穷人的翻转
Key terms: rich, poor, blessed, woe, humble_exalt, mammon
Review routing: Human theologian
财主 carries residual class-struggle-era connotations from 20th-century Chinese social history (the ‘landlord/exploiter class’) that risk importing a modern ideological class-conflict reading onto Jesus’ teaching, which is a spiritual-allegiance and status-reversal claim rooted in God’s own gracious initiative, not a socio-economic revolutionary program.
Inspiration and Fulfillment of Scripture
Mandarin name: 圣经的默示与应验
Key terms: scripture, fulfilled, word_of_god, opened_understanding, scroll
Review routing: Human theologian
经文 must be distinguished from the Chinese classical canon (经, as in the Confucian Five Classics or the Daoist Daodejing) — authoritative as accumulated sage-wisdom rather than the direct, personal, verbal revelation of a personal God; the risen Christ’s ‘opening’ of the disciples’ understanding (24:45) must never be rendered with 开悟 or 悟 alone, technical Buddhist/Chan terms for enlightenment attained through the practitioner’s own meditative discipline.
Jesus’ Spiritual Authority over Demons and the Devil
Mandarin name: 耶稣胜过污鬼与魔鬼的权柄
Key terms: demon_unclean_spirit, devil, authority, temptation
Review routing: Human theologian
Chinese folk religion has an extensive, well-populated category of ghosts and spirits (鬼) managed through ritual pacification, exorcism by Daoist/folk-Buddhist practitioners, or shamanic rites (跳大神); Luke’s demons and the devil must be taught as personal, evil spiritual beings under Christ’s unique, sovereign authority — deliverance comes through Christ’s command alone, not ritual technique or ancestral-spirit appeasement.
Providence and God’s Sovereign Care
Mandarin name: 神的护理与看顾
Key terms: providence, do_not_fear, joy
Review routing: Human theologian
God’s personal, purposive care for his people, including in trial, must not be rendered with the impersonal 天意 (‘heaven’s intention’) of everyday fatalistic speech, exactly as flagged in the Romans baseline; Luke’s repeated ‘do not be afraid’ sayings ground assurance in the Father’s character, not in cosmic luck or fate.
Election and the Calling of Disciples
Mandarin name: 拣选与呼召门徒
Key terms: called, calling, election, disciple, apostle, follow
Review routing: Human theologian
Jesus’ calling of the Twelve and the seventy-two must be taught as a personal, gracious, relational summons, never as an impersonal cosmic destiny or entitlement (天命, already forbidden in the Romans baseline for calling/election), and 门徒 must be distinguished from a Confucian scholarly-lineage or guild apprentice (孔门弟子) relationship of mere skill transmission.
Mammon and Exclusive Allegiance
Mandarin name: 玛门与专一的忠心
Key terms: mammon, steward, rich
Review routing: Human theologian
‘You cannot serve God and mammon’ (16:13) personifies wealth as a rival master demanding total allegiance, structurally identical to the exclusive-Lordship claim already Critical for 主/Lord in the Romans baseline; 玛门 must not be flattened into generic secular moralism about greed, which would lose this Lordship-exclusivity parallel.
The New Covenant and the Lord’s Supper
Mandarin name: 新约与主的晚餐
Key terms: new_covenant, body_and_blood, passover, covenant
Review routing: Human theologian
身体…血 must be distinguished from Chinese folk-religious blood-offering rites appeasing ancestral or local spirits (血祭); the Lord’s Supper commemorates Christ’s own once-for-all sacrificial death for sin received by faith, not a repeated ritual offering made by worshippers to a deity, and 新约 builds directly on the already-High 约 root, requiring explicit connection to the Davidic covenant background.
Universal Scope: Jew and Gentile Together
Mandarin name: 犹太人与外邦人同蒙福音
Key terms: gentiles, all_flesh, samaritan, neighbor
Review routing: Human theologian
Must resist any framing that echoes the classical Hua-Yi (华夷) civilized-insider/outsider distinction, exactly as flagged in the Romans baseline; Luke repeatedly elevates despised outsiders (a Roman centurion, a Samaritan) as models of faith or compassion superior to the religious establishment, a shock that must not be softened.
Medium Risk Doctrines
Government and Civic Authority
Mandarin name: 政权与公民的责任
Key terms: caesar_and_god
Review routing: Native speaker review
Sensitive but not doctrine-destroying, mirroring the Romans baseline’s own pattern for government/authority passages (Romans 13:1-7); native speaker review is recommended given contemporary political sensitivities around any teaching that touches church-state relations in a Chinese context.
Baptism and Preparation through Repentance
Mandarin name: 洗礼与悔改的预备
Key terms: baptism, repentance
Review routing: Native speaker review
洗礼 must be distinguished from Chinese folk/Daoist ritual-purification practice (斋戒净身); John’s baptism is a definitive, one-time turning tied to repentance, not a repeatable purity rite.
Eschatological Hope and the Coming of the Son of Man
Mandarin name: 末世的盼望与人子的再来
Key terms: tribulation, son_of_man, eternal_life, redemption
Review routing: Native speaker review
Future hope must be taught within its biblical linear-historical frame (a definite, personal return of Christ) rather than assimilated to cyclical cosmic-renewal patterns familiar from Chinese folk eschatology or Daoist cosmological cycles; native speaker review is sufficient given the doctrine is chiefly reinforced through already-treated Critical/High terms.
Sabbath and Covenant Worship
Mandarin name: 安息日与立约的敬拜
Key terms: sabbath, synagogue, law
Review routing: Native speaker review
安息日 must not be flattened to a generic ‘day off/weekend’ (周末); it carries covenantal, law-rooted significance, and Jesus’ Sabbath healings (6:6-11; 13:10-17) reframe Sabbath-keeping around mercy rather than ritual technicality, a point that could be lost if 安息日 is taught only as calendrical observance.
Low Risk Doctrines
Thanksgiving and Gratitude
Mandarin name: 感恩
Key terms: thanksgiving, joy
Review routing: Automated review
Standard term with minor risk of generic secular gratitude without explicit reference to God as the object; the healed leper’s return to give thanks (17:15-16) should retain this God-directed specificity.
Genealogy and the Lineage of Christ
Mandarin name: 基督的家谱与血统
Key terms: genealogy, seed_of_david, david
Review routing: Automated review
Low collision risk as a literary form; establishes Jesus’ Davidic and Adamic lineage, reinforcing the doctrine of the Incarnation and the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant already documented in the Romans baseline.
Referenced passages