Son of Heaven and Dynastic Changes in Historical China Compared to Biblical Standards

The Israelite people began to have kings hundreds of years after the Mosaic Law was given to them from God,and with kings from David and then his family,they experienced no substantial dynastic changes in the southern kingdom of Judah.Later,the Israelites were ruled by kings or emperors of other nations until the State of Israel was restored in its historical land after World War Two.Without any written law comparable to the Mosaic Law,the earliest Zhou kings of China claimed to be Sons of Heaven and Heaven worship was inherited by later emperors.Heaven worship has features in common with the monotheistic religion of the Israelites,such as that a king should obey the will of God.With changes of dynasties,Heaven worship actually means that heaven could be renamed and the former Son of Heaven had no life-long priesthood in serving Heaven.After the redemptive work of Jesus Christ had fulfilled the Mosaic Law,Heaven worship had little relation with faith in God,the Creator.

Abraham’s Conception of God and Righteousness Through Faith

Abraham was justified by God because of his faith alone before he received the sign of circumcision which was then kept by the Israelites,his descendants.According to Paul and later Luther,justified Christians who were not born as Jews are similar to Abraham,although they more specifically believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior.Without any creeds of Judaism or Christianity,Abraham’s conception of God was not deep and abstract as today’s theology allows,but his experience was recorded in the Genesis by Moses under oral tradition and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.Many present Christians worldwide hold that despite their own limited understanding of God and his revelation in the Bible which has been fully written,they are justified or may be justified,so they are comparable to Abraham.The righteousness of God never changes.Not only can we comprehend the gradual revelation of God in the Bible,but we also can study the consistence of faith and righteousness in the Old and New Testament through Abraham,and thus we can better understand the justification faith through grace of Luther who holds a realistic view on the concept of church as does Paul.Compared with the faith defined by Aquinas who represents the medieval standard,the one defined by Luther is more consistent with what the Apostle Paul teaches.In conclusion,the paper supports the translation of the Bible with realism.

Divine Simplicity and the Chinese Translation of Theos

Realism is the rational foundation for the translation of the Bible.To translate Theos in Chinese,the distinct terms神,上帝,and天主co-exist and they can be assessed by divine simplicity rationally and spiritually.One of the most difficult problems in Medieval philosophy,divine simplicity is caused by reason serving faith.Reconciling Aristotelian metaphysics with the ultimate object of faith,Aquinas defines that God is being itself and therefore he builds an ontological foundation for Christian theology and perfects divine simplicity.Related concretely with divine simplicity is the simplicity of Theos,so this paper argues that神is the best Chinese translation of Theos to reflect both the truth and the gospel.

奥古斯丁与圣灵的双出说

《尼西亚信经》借希腊哲学的实体概念,确立了大公教会对父、子、圣灵的信仰,但后删除了“和子”,圣灵成为单出。本文根据《论三位一体》和《忏悔录》,论证了虽然“我”的内在上升中没有三位一体,但在拉丁语境下沿用实在论,奥古斯丁借心灵的活动记忆、理解、意志对三位一体进行了理解。他用实体、位格等解释了本体上的一和三,并用永恒中的关系支持了圣灵的双出说,同时有效地反对了亚流派等源于希腊语区的异端。

普罗提诺的“太一”和奥古斯丁的灵魂观

普罗提诺用“太一”和无损的流溢完善了柏拉图的理念论。在存在和理念之上的“太一”流溢出理智。“太一”不仅是理智的形式,也是理智沉思的对象。理智流溢出世界灵魂,世界灵魂流溢出个人灵魂。身体只是出逃灵魂的监狱。个人灵魂可以用沉思上升到理智,如与流溢的“太一”合一,就回到了生命的源头,实现真正的自我。奥古斯丁更新了普罗提诺关于自我的概念,提出了内感官和普世语言,不仅发展了实在论,并用流溢和记忆等解释三位一体的上帝。人是平等的,拯救在今生开始,普罗提诺的内在旅程比奥古斯丁的更加纯粹。

自然神学的一与无限

一和无限作为哲学的概念最早被古希腊哲学家所研究。巴门尼德的存在是一,芝诺用数学的方法建立了无限的概念。亚里士多德的形上学研究作为存在的存在,只有潜在的无限,他的上帝有限。普罗提诺的“太一”不仅使一在存在之上,也在柏拉图的理念之上。阿奎那用自然神学的立场和本质的概念,把存在本身等同于上帝,他因此超越了柏拉图、亚里士多德、普罗提诺和奥古斯丁,为基督教信仰建立了形上学的基础。对于阿奎那,一、真、善是存在的形而上属性。虽然圣经里没有关于无限和本质的直接概念,而按阿奎那:上帝的本质永不改变,神圣的无限是上帝的本质无限,从而在理性服务信仰的同时发展了理性。