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Defense of an Essay, &c.
DEC.
invests his Shin. We therefore tell him he is right in conceiving there is but one Shin, in making Shin the principle of life, and in ascribing to the influence of this Shin every pulse that throbs through universal nature; but that he greatly errs in his conception of Shin. It is not the name of a mere principle of life—of the soul of the world; but of the Lord of life,—of the Creator of the world, of Jehovah—the only true and living SHIN.
If we teach the Chinese correct views of this single word shin, we seal the fate of polytheism, pantheism and atheism. One shin (call him Spirit or God) hearing prayer in every house in China, knowing all hearts and ruling over all things, causing the grass to grow and the clouds to rain, &c., &c., is one God, is monotheism—the fourth and only other theory on the subject of theism we can think of. Shin is the word the Chinese use when speaking of the first: it is the word by which we must teach them the last.
This term is a strong contrast to Shángti, the other native term proposed. It is simple; whereas Shángtí is a compound phrase. It is the general name of the Chinese gods; whereas Shángtí is the definite title of the chief of said gods. 'These characteristics—its being the Chinese name of the general subject—an absolute appella- tive—a simple, uncompounded term-render shin exactly the term from which to make, by our usus loquendi, a word exactly answering to the word God.
It has no qualifying adjective to restrict its meaning, and to with- stand the formation of the usus loquendi we desire to establish. It is not like Ti, the name of a relationship, which is common to God and men; but is the absolute name of a being, or class of beings (accord- ing to its context), who are possessed of a nature superior to that of men. Being an absolute appellative noun, we shall in using it as the name of God, have no difficulties inade by the term by which we desig- nate Him, when we speak of his self-existence from eternity: mean- ing nature and not office, it will well express that wherein the Oneness of the Three Persons consists, and the Divine nature of the blessed Savior. It is the general name of the false gods here worshiped, and is therefore the term to be used for negativing the existence of all these false gods—the first thing that is necessary to be done to clear the way for the truth.
Shin, we adinit, is not by its previous usus loquendi, the naine of the Being whom we adore: unhappily the Chinese have no knowledge of this Being; but they have some knowledge of the general subject of Divinity; they have thought and written much on this subject, and