2
p'heih ke wang shih-keae-che yih yue: Go Yay-ho-wah eul-che Shang-Te; yu eul wai puh-ko pee yew Shang-Te.
"She Shoo-che yung 'Shin' tsze che wo-hing-tseih-chay; eul yen."[1]The words "Theos" and "Pneuma," "God" and "Spirit," printed on the face of the book, and at once suggestive of goodness and peace, induced us to hope that, ere this, their influence had allayed the waves of controversy, which had "raged horribly," for years, between the champions of "Shin," and the worshippers of "Shang-Te." We hailed, therefore, our purchase as a messenger of peace; and we carried it home as a pledge of better days. But the dove, alas! has returned without an olive leaf. And the flag of truce, waved in token of good-will, has just been fired upon, though happily not hit, by a small battery on land, in the shape of an anonymous pamphlet;[2] a signal to the knights of "Shin" once more to enter
- ↑ "In this book the term 'Shang-Te' refers to the Lord-Governor of men and things, who at first created the heavens and the earth; and that is all. His highly-honourable name, Ye-ho-wah, is exalted above taking honour from bowing and kneeling which, are practised among men, in token of the greatest respect, and as expressions of the highest degree of devotion to Him. For this reason is this term (Shang-Te) in general use in this book. And, to guard against an erroneous impression of its meaning, the first of the Ten Commandments says: 'I am Ye-ho-wah thy God (Shang-Te), besides me thou mayest have none other God (Shang-Te).' In this book, the term 'Shin' refers to that which has neither form nor substance; and that is all."
- ↑ "'Shin v. Shang-Te': antagonistic versions of the Chinese Scriptures. A review of the controversy respecting the proper rendering of Elohim and ΘΕΟΣ into Chinese, and statement of the evidence showing a large majority for 'Shin,' etc. By a life-member of the Bible Society, of thirty years' standing.—Ex. xxiii. 13; Isaiah xlii. 8; Luke xi. 11. London: Wertheim and Macintosh."
