Deus and Confucian God: The Theological and Philosophical Reason for “Deus” Translated as “Confucian God”

Abstract

The eastward movement of Catholic in the end of Ming dynasty, caused a deep dialogue and collision between Chinese and western cultures. Among them, the term question of the God and the relationship between the Catholicism and the Chinese culture, can be regarded as the first issue of Catholic theology and philosophy in the Ming-Qing dynasties. First, this paper examines the different usage of the name of the God in the Bible, and Thomas Aquinas' analysis and discussion about God's name. Second, it introduces the missionaries translated “Deus” as the “ConfucianGod”, and their discussion about “Catholic God is the God of the Confucian classics”, as well a sit introduces the arguments surrounding the translation and the discussion
between the anti-Christian Confucians and Catholic Confucians. Finally, it proves that “Deus” translated as “Confucian God is reasonable. Missionaries and Chinese Christians convergence between “Deus” and “Confucian God” in the Ming-Qing dynasties, it not only inherited the Christian tradition that of convergence between Christianity and the Gentiles' culture since Justinus, but also would help the sinicization of Christianity, and would help Christianity and Chinese culture to develop their own new tradition.