# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1935_S187
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Ev, Luth. Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States. 1935, 175

established usage, as shown in the quotations above, but would also
make the Bible and our Catechism teach Arianism. If shen means
spirit or, at best, a lower deity, then we have tolerated — unwittingly,
‘to be sure — a form of Arianism by allowing our missionaries to teach
the heathen: “Christ is the true Shen and Eternal Life,” 1 John 5, 20,
and: “I believe that Jesus Christ, true Shen, begotten of the Father”
(2. Art.). To argue against shen as the full equivalent of theos with-
out making an effort to remove it from use in our mission involves
one in a self-contradiction.

Thus pagan and Christian usage in China proves shen to mean
god, the full equivalent of theos. Therefore the words God and god
should be translated in the Chinese Bible, in Christian literature and
in practise consistently with Shen and shen.

IV.

There are no special advantages in using Shangdi besides Shen as
the translation for god. There are disadvantages.

1. There is no agreement as to the use of Shangdi for God;
Shangdi always was, and always will be, a disputed term; and it is
not necessary to use it since another term, namely, Shen, is avail-
able and is actually used for God and god.

2. The use of Shangdi for God requires definite safeguards to
distinguish Him from the idol Shangdi.

8. Shangdi does not mean god and therefore is a wrong trans-
lation.

4. Its use has been defended on the basis of arguments that are
open to serious criticism.

5. Using Shangdi besides Shen as a translation for God and god
gives us a two-term practise, which is not desirable and at times
confusing.

6. The continued use of Shangdi for God is likely to continue
the Term Controversy. v

Advantages of using Shen exclusively as the translation for the
word god and God in the Bible, in literature, and in practise.

1. Shen is not a disputed term, as all are agreed that it may be
used properly both for god and God.

2. Safeguards for Shen are no more necessary in China than they
were necessary for theos when Paul preached to the Greeks.

8. There is less danger of confusion and idol-identification be-
cause there is no individual Chinese idol with whom God could be
identified when Shen is used for God.

4. Shen is not a new term, which is now to be introduced, but
a term that has always been used by our missionaries and others for.
God and god.