Research On Term Controversy Of God And Spirit In The 1870s

In the 1870s,the Term Controversy on God and Spirit lasted a long time and affected many people,which was an event worthy of attention in the history of Christianity in China and the Chinese-Western culture encounter.It originated from the previous disputes in translating Bible into Chinese,also was the consequence of the translation and publication of the Mandarin Bible.The Protestant missionaries have learned from the relevant arguments since Ming and Qing dynasties.In 1870s,the term“天主”(Tien-chu),proposed by the Peking Translating Committee,was controversial.And the Mandarin Bible was issued in various places with a different term,which was found disturbing by missionaries,and the thought of harmonizing the divergent views as to the best rendering of God and Spirit into Chinese was aroused again.With the arrival of the General Conference of the Protestant Missionaries of China in 1877,the Term Question was nominated as one of the subjects of the session.The Committee of Arrangements of the Conference appointed a joint group on each side to correspond with each other on this special topic.There were many discussions in the Chinese Recorder where missionaries negotiated solutions and argued with each other.Supporters of“上帝”(Shangti)prioritized the unique attribute of God for his supreme and mighty characteristics,while proponents of“神”(Shin)valued the generic meaning of the word God,which was the etymological feature in the Hebrew Bible.The term“天主”was strongly objected because it was identical to the usage of Catholics.On the 1877 Conference,a controversial essay named Confucianism in Relation to Christianity,written by James Legge,was announced.The Committee on Terms suggested a waiting for further light,as the only available course under present circumstance.And it was deemed best by the Conference to omit from the publication of the Records of this Conference the essay by Legge and the discussion that followed,inasmuch as it touched upon the Term Question.However,it over compliment of Confucianism was the main reason.After the 1877 Conference,Protestant missionaries had disputes on the Solicitation Activity in Foochow,which passively involved Chinese Protestants into the Term Controversy,whose views were taken as arguments for both sides.Meanwhile,another debate on the Sacred Appellation between east and west was in full swing.Most of Chinese Protestants saw no difficulty using more than one term and their arguments tended to be framed in far broader terms.Natives stood out and challenged the authority of missionaries to interpret the Bible,which means that they are no longer negative cultural recipients who echo their teachers.We argue that the distribution of the Mandarin Bible and the arrangements of1877 Conference directly resulted in the revival of the Term Controversy in 1870s,but the primary reason lies in some realistic problems caused by the long-time diverse usage of terms.The Protestant missionaries have learned from the division of the early times.The harmony between missions had the highest priority.Under that condition,they attempted to find a solution to the Term Question.In 1870s,the focus of the arguments shifted from the judgments on right or wrong of the terms to the feasible compromise that satisfied both sides.It was the first time Chinese Protestants took a position in the Controversy.Their preference of“上帝”indicated native features,which was out of the instinct of preserving convention of national culture.And their consciously concern on the Term Question manifested its conversion from Confucianism to Christianity and development.In the 1870s,the appellation for God became a common problem between Natives and Westerners;the Controversy in China directly affected Korea and Japan,and had significant influence on its own escalation in the end of nineteenth century.