"When Protestant missionaries set up shop in China, they discovered that a native term roughly meaning “God” was Shangdi, so they appropriated this term as name of the Christian God. (Catholics preferred Tianzhu, the “Heavenly Boss”.) What they did not know, is that the Chinese language mostly does without the separate category of a plural, so the same word can be both plural and singular. Shangdi does not so much mean “the Sovereign on High”, as rather “the Powers on High”. In Chinese, even the grammar militates against the contrast between one and many. To monotheists this numerical matter is all-important, worthy of the iconoclastic destruction of all the “false gods”; but to regular people such as Hindus or Confucians and Daoists, it is just not an issue."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
The idea of God, Dr. Elst, K. 3 September 2016
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Religion_in_China
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Religion in China
8 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Religion in China →
Related Quotes
"The struggle for religious freedom in China is a testament to the enduring desire for spiritual fulfillment and the r…"
"What is the truth about the persecution of The Church of Almighty God (CAG) and other groups labeled “xie jiao” (hete…"
"American anti-cultists involved in early deprogramming activities such as (despite his heavy criminal record) were in…"
"China seems to have been very much similar to the West, both in the production of new religious movements and in attr…"
"Historically, the concept of “autonomy, self-support, and self-propagation” for the Chinese Christian church was firs…"
"The Chinese [Communist Party] government’s campaign against “” has long been criticized for its lack of transparency …"
"We go to fetch earth from China, as if we had none; stuff, as if we were without stuff; a small herb to infuse into w…"
"During the Cultural Revolution, burning joss paper was repressed as a “feudal superstition” but has since been tolera…"