Prophet And Sage: A Comparative Study Of Ancient Judaism And Confucianism

Comparative study is one of the main approaches of researching in religious studies. Judaic-Confucian comparative study is a new branch which has risen within the recent two decades. The current research chooses two important roles, Hebrew Prophet and Confucian Sage, as a case study, analyzing these two concepts using comparative study method within the sphere of ancient Judaism and Confucian classics.The basis of comparative study is to firstly clarify the connotations of the objects of the comparison. Our understanding of "prophet" has always been focused on its function such as "to know beforehand"' or "forecast",however, this is a misunderstanding due to the Greek translation. At the same time, the cognition towards "prophet" in Chinese largely relies on Christianity, hence inevitably influenced by Christian ideology. This research will start with ancient Jewish classics(Hebrew Bible and Talmud), try to understand the four names of "prophet" and the definition of "prophet" according to the Jewish tradition, reveal the main role of prophet as God's "spokesman". "Sage" has long been seen as the highest level of an ideal personality in Confucianism. This understanding of "sage" makes it an insubstantial concept, which causes the loss of its original vivid meaning. By means of analyzing the evolvement of its character pattern, taking advantage of the ancient classics and making use of archaeological materials, this research will trace the origins of "sacred" and reconsider its meaning. We further clarify the process of“sacred" which develops from outstanding sense ability to transcendent wisdom,eventually to Confucian virtue. Confucian sages are luminaries who possess these abilities and virtues. Understanding "sage" by focusing on aspects such as wisdom and virtue will result in the negligence of the sense ability and religious meaning of a sage. Approaching "sage" from religious angle would help us grasp the cultural character of ancient Confucianism more profoundly. Comparing the origins and the interpretation traditions of "prophet" and "sage" will tell us that as important roles,"prophet" and "sage" are not only historical roles,but also have meanings in classics.In addition, ancient Judaism and Confucian classics also emphasize their importance in the aspect of faith.There are diversified approaches of comparative study, this research will interpret "prophet" and "sage" by comparing these two concept in three aspects through mutual reference. Firstly, mutual translation of classics of different culture is an important way to reflect the extent of mutual cognition and comprehension.Investigating the loss of meaning during mutual translation provides us a new perspective for comparative studies. Hebrew "prophet" and Confucian "sage" can both be comprehended by translating each other's classics: the term "Xianzhi" in the Chinese version bible may come from the same word of the Confucian classics , it's a use of local cultural material;and in English as well as in Hebrew, Sage/(?) is used as a translation for the concept of "Sheng-ren". Translation is actually a form of comprehension and interpretation, however, combined with the orientation of these roles and concepts within their own tradition, this kind of mutual translation unfortunately does not convey their original meaning, hence leaves roots for further misunderstanding. Secondly,the "mutual interpreting" of Moses and Confucius is a comparison of specific characters following clarification of the concepts and their transitions. "The greatest prophet" Moses and Confucius who "epitomized Confucianism", they are typical representatives of the prophet in Jewish tradition and the sage in Confucianism, and they have similar roles as well as status in these two cultures respectively. However, these two characters possess different historical significance: Confucius was the "terminator" of Confucian tradition, while Moses was considered the "initiator" of prophetic tradition. Lastly,in the process of “mutual interpretation",we will not avoid the cultural uniqueness that mark "prophet" in Jewish tradition and "sage" in Confucian tradition. The current research suggests that this kind of "incomparability" actually manifests the cultural distinctiveness of"prophet" and "sage",which is a necessary component of comparative studies.No matter from the historical point of view or form the viewpoint of classics,"prophet" and "sage" are not only the advocators of rational ethics, but also the successors of religious elements of their own tradition. On the one hand, both prophet and sage carry the role and responsibility as the "mediator" of communicating transcendent ultimate existence with mundane life. The role of prophet as the"mediator" mainly reflects on the fact that a prophet is the “spokesman" of God,conveying God's words to Israelites; in the meantime, he is also the "intercessor",who stands at the same standpoint with his people, thinks of the interest of the common people, represents his people to negotiate with God, pleads for the people.The role of sage as the "mediator" reflects on the fact that a sage is considered the only channel through whom people can communicate with "Tian", "sage" understands and conveys "Tian-dao",educate people by conveying "Tian-dao" The difference is that the prophet can only pass on God's words as they were, whereas when the sage conveys "Tian-dao", he could integrate it with his own knowledge and life experience,thus has more freedom to perform. On the other hand, both the prophet and the sage are tightly connected to the religious roles in their own tradition. The prophet and the priest has not been always contradict definitely to each other, according to the Jewish tradition, the ethical claims of the prophet are the same with those of the priest, and some of the prophets themselves play the same roles of priests, all of which reflect the harmonious relationship between prophets and priests. There are lots of narratives describing "sage" acting as mysterious religious character in early Confucian classics;there are also research revealing the lineage between "sage" and “shaman": "shaman"is the prototype of "sage",which suggests that we cannot neglect the religious elements of ancient Confucianism. Revealing the inheriting relationship between the religious source of prophet and sage and their religious tradition forms a powerful response to the so-called "civilization breakthrough theory" of rationalism.Every religion needs external criterion, so as to express its internal value idea.Hebrew prophet and Confucian sage as the main transmitter and interpreter of their own tradition, they offered their own response when facing this internal-external tension. The external criterion of Judaism mainly appears as the law and the religious ritual within the law. It is generally recognized that sage and these external criterion contradict each other, and sages usually have the tendency of belittle the law especially ritual. Study shows that Jewish tradition has always advocated the consistency of prophets and the law,ancient Judaism classics conveys the idea that"prophet is the loyal transmitter and interpreter of the law". This research suggests that the ethical criticism of prophets does not point to the law and ritual, instead, it advocates an appropriate expression form of faith; especially, those prophets who have been through exile actually support the law and ritual more actively, in order to achieve the positive result of bringing people together and increasing cohesion. The external criterion of Confucianism mainly appears as rite and music culture. Rite and music institutions come from the "sage" observes and follows the example of the law and the order of Heaven,"sage" has been considered as the creator of Confucian rite and music; Even though Confucius accomplished the transformation of rite and music culture according to contemporary condition, he did not deny and give up rite and music completely, "passing on the ancient culture without adding anything new to it"made Confucius achieve the status of "sage". The relationship between prophet and the law cannot compete with "sage" and his creation,but prophets are in essence the same with Confucius inheriting then transforming rite and music. The proposition of prophet and sage shows that the unity of perusing internal value and external criterion,not "one or another/either or" position,is the helpful approach of inheriting and developing tradition.Politics is an extension of religion in the secular sphere, which is especially notable in the ancient world. "Prophet" and "sage" are considered as the important participator of political narration of ancient Judaism and early China. Prophet Samuel witnessed the formation of ancient Israel monarchical power, he also anointed the earliest two kings to demonstrate the legitimacy of the monarchical power and that the monarchical power comes from God. This new model of the prophet who participate the formation of regime is a kind of "limited monarchy", which means the power of the monarch is strictly supervised by the prophet, the monarch can only rule on the basis of believing in God, or else he will be criticized by the prophet. The political participation of the prophet has always launched around religious belief, believing in God is the starting point, dependence as well as the purpose of the prophet's political participation. When Confucian “sage" thought about political power,he traced it back to "Heaven" the Duke of Zhou devoted to demonstrate that the regime change is because of the loss of ethics and virtue of its ruler, which leads to the "transformation of destiny",and only individuals with virtue could acquire favor and protection of the"Heaven". The Belief of "virtue" instead of "Tian" or "Tian-ming" became the most fundamental deciding force. “Sage" and the concept within political power such as"sage ruler","rule of virtue" and "frank criticism",are all related to the concept of"respecting the morality". Therefore, from the perspective of transcendent faith to inquire the origin and legitimacy of a regime,the concept of "prophet" and "sage"shows tremendous similarity, both of them aim at looking for a transcendent value source for the secular political order; the difference is that the prophet has always carried out the rule of "faith first",whereas Confucian sage has raised a new rule of"the supremacy of moral value",which paved a humanistic foundation for Confucianism.By conducting a comparative study, the current research will search for the original meanings of "prophet" and "sage",reveal the similar and distinctive response of "prophet" and "sage" from classics in regard to religious origins, value expressions and political participation, especially focus on rethinking the meaning of these two concept on tradition and human civilization from a religious perspective, in the hope of advancing the cognition and comprehension between these two traditions, further providing the theoretical basis of dialogue between civilizations.