Jiading County, Jiangsu Province.

There is a branch of the Jesuits in China, headquartered in Beijing!

The provincial president of the Jesuit Chinese branch was named Fu Fanji, and the inspector was called Ban Ande, and they jointly convened a special meeting.

This is the third such meeting.

For twenty years, there were differences of opinion within the Society of Jesus, with some agreeing to the use of God and God and others opposing the use of God and God. Those who agree believe that it is more conducive to proselytizing, and those who oppose it think that it distorts the doctrine.

At the first meeting, there was no argument about the result, so a compromise was adopted: God and heaven were not allowed, but God could be used. Because God and Heaven are both existing Chinese words, God was created by Matteo Ricci.

In fact, God also belongs to the existing vocabulary, is the main god of the eight gods in the Qin and Han dynasties, Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty will worship God when they are in Zen, these missionaries are not clear about reading.

The second conference, just nine years ago, allowed the use of God, heaven and God in the expression of Deus and God in missionary work.

"The Ming Kingdom has fallen, and the Ming Emperor heard that he died in a peasant rebellion," said Fu Fanji, the president, "and the new state of China is called Datong Kingdom, and the new emperor is called Zhao Han." In Nanjing, the emperor issued an order to destroy some of the missionary books containing God, Heaven, and God. Jiading's side will be implemented soon, so let's all express our opinions. ”

There were also Jesuit missionaries in Nanjing, who received the news and immediately returned by boat to inform the headquarters.

The news of the Jesuits is faster than the official one, because it is not an urgent decree, and the official documents are being issued at an ordinary pace.

"I said a long time ago that you can't use the words God and God, because you have not listened to me!" Long Huamin slapped the table excitedly.

Long Huamin is Matteo Ricci's successor and has been serving as the president of the Society of Jesus in Beijing.

After Chongzhen succeeded to the throne, he handed over the work in Beijing to John Tang, and he himself went to Shandong to preach the preach.

Half a year ago, when the plague broke out in Shandong, he fled from Shandong to the south, and was detained when he smuggled across the Huai River, and was quarantined for a month before being released. The missionaries who went south together died of illness and death on the way, and finally arrived in Jiading this month.

Don't look at Long Huamin's opposition to the use of God and God, he is actually more conservative and stubborn.

He believes that God and God are traditional Chinese gods, and they cannot be equated with Deus and God in Yahism, otherwise it will be blasphemy against God and forced submission to Confucianism!

He also forbade Chinese believers to worship Confucius and their ancestors, believing them to be ignorant superstitious activities and a complete betrayal of the true God of Yahism.

Matteo Ricci, on the contrary, tried to merge with Confucianism, allowing believers to worship Confucius and their ancestors, believing that the use of God and God was more conducive to proselytizing.

The more Long Huamin spoke, the more excited he became, and he stood up directly: "The Jesuits will spread their doctrines in China, and they should not take the route of scholars, but should take the route of civilians. Chinese society was unequal and there were many slaves. My mission in Shandong was very successful, and I told the common people that everyone is equal before God. A lot of civilians are converted because they want equality! And the scholars are high, and they don't need to be religious. They believed in God and their ancestors, in Confucius and Mencius, and they were a force that hindered mission! ”

Fu Fanji reminded: "Maybe Mr. President, you just came from the north and don't know much about China in the south. China's new emperor has long proclaimed that all people are equal. Your civilian missionary route won't work in the south. In the past two years, many ordinary believers have even chosen to apostasy. ”

"Civilian apostasy? What is the reason for this? Long Huamin felt incomprehensible.

Fu Fanji explained: "The new emperor declared that everyone was equal, that peasants could divide the land, and that urban people could settle down. Whether in the city or in the countryside, the lives of the people have become higher. Especially the commoners in the countryside, they all have land. Those who did not have enough land were also immigrated to the north to divide the land. So they apostatized, and they no longer prayed to God, but worshiped the emperor at home. ”

"Worship the emperor?" Long Huamin thought he had heard it wrong.

Fu Fanji sighed: "Yes, many peasants worship the emperor as a god. ”

Banander, a long-time inspector sent by the Holy See, interrupted the conversation and reminded: "Fathers, the topic of discussion today is whether or not to immediately destroy all the missionary books. Also, the new emperor of China has already developed a negative impression of Jesus, and we should send someone to contact the Chinese emperor. ”

Long Huamin said: "It is necessary to destroy the missionary books and reprint them, I have always disagreed with the use of God and God, that is indeed against our doctrine!" If the new emperor of China believes that all people are equal, I can go to him in person, and perhaps persuade the emperor to become a Christian. ”

"You are crazy, it is impossible for the Chinese emperor to become a church." Fu Fanji shook his head and said.

"No, no, no, I'm not crazy, as long as the emperor sees me, I can be sure to persuade him to join the church." Long Huamin was confident, and when he was in Shandong, he once persuaded a Ming clan to join the church.

Fu Fanji objected: "I still think that we should start with Chinese scholars." We have recruited three excellent scholars and successfully developed the religion of these three people, and they have automatically spread dozens of scholars and believers, and more and more scholars know about the existence of God. ”

The three outstanding scholars are: Xu Guangqi, Li Zhizao and Yang Tingyun.

When the Jesuits debated whether God and God should be used, they asked all three of them for their opinions. As a result, Xu Guangqi and the three of them all supported it, and believed that the God in the Confucian scriptures was the God of the West.

Ban Ande had a headache and interrupted again: "Two, let's get back to business first." Should previous missionary books be destroyed? ”

"It's not something we can decide, we have to consult the Holy See first."

"Don't talk about asking the Holy See, I'm afraid that before I get to Guangzhou by ship, Chinese officials will come and forcibly destroy it."

"I don't think we can provoke the Chinese emperor, so we will compromise for the time being, and at the same time send someone back to Rome to ask the pope."

"God and God should not be used, this is blasphemy against God!"

“……”

The missionaries who attended the meeting immediately quarreled, not to mention that it was just a matter of translating names, but it touched the heart of Yahweh!

Whether or not the Lord God of Yahweh is a Trinity has been quarreled in Europe for hundreds of years, causing countless wars. Whether or not to translate as God and God is no less sensitive than the Trinity, and there has been a dispute over history for 200 years.

Translated as God and God, it is not only blasphemous to the traditional Chinese gods, but also to the Western gods.

Eventually, the old school compromised, the Holy See compromised, and the Chinese diocese became a blatant violation of the doctrine. It's like no other in the world.

After a long day of arguing, Banander made a decision: in order to ensure the safety of the Chinese diocese and missionaries, and to cooperate with the officials in destroying the previous missionary books, he would personally return to Rome to ask the Pope for next instructions.

"The second question is, if the Bible is translated without God, heaven and God, then what should be used? ”

"God, or, Steep." Long Huamin said.

Deus, the Latin word for god.

Fu Fanji said: "Let's use it both." There are so many gods in China that they only translate as gods, and believers can't figure out which god it is. It is only translated as Steep, and they don't know that Steep is God. ”

The destruction of all previous missionary books was a major blow to the Chinese diocese of Yahwegianism.

Long Huamin still felt that he would go to meet the emperor in person, and he would persuade the Chinese emperor to join the church!

As soon as the goods left Jiading County, officials began to enforce the decree and stormed churches to search and burn Chinese Bibles. In addition, notices were posted everywhere, asking the parishioners to voluntarily hand over the Bible, and if they were found to be in private possession and did not cooperate with the government to burn it, they would obstruct the law enforcers from recovering the land under their names, and the descendants of the three generations would be forbidden to be officials.

The resumption of the land and property in their names and the prohibition of their descendants from becoming officials frightened many parishioners and handed over their Bibles to the government for disposal.

Due to the underdevelopment of printing technology, it is impossible for low-level believers, whether they are European believers or Chinese believers, to have a Bible. The people who have this kind of book in their hands are all gentry and wealthy businessmen, how can they be willing to take the risk of keeping them privately?

Long Huamin came to Nanjing by boat, reported his identity as the president of the Jesuit Chinese diocese, and was successfully received by Zhao Han.

Although this old man opposed the fusion of Christianity and Confucianism, he wore a Confucian shirt, and after bowing his hands, he said in a very fluent northern official dialect: "Long Huamin, the overseer of the Jesuit Chinese mission, meet His Majesty the Emperor of China!" ”

"Sit down." Zhao Han continued to review the recital.

Long Huamin sat down and said, "Your Majesty the Great Emperor, I have always opposed the translation of the supreme Creator as God, Heaven and God of China. This is not right, it is a blasphemy against the Chinese God, and it is also a blasphemy against the supreme deity of our religion. ”

"What else?" Zhao Han asked.

Long Huamin continued: "I have heard that His Majesty the Emperor preaches the idea of equality for all. This is completely in line with the teachings of my teaching......"

Zhao Han interrupted: "Don't talk to me about doctrines, do you know mathematics, geometry, and physics?" Or will it be astronomy, navigation, prospecting, and shipbuilding? ”

Long Huamin was stunned: "Back to Your Majesty, I know philosophy, calendar, and painting." ”

"Liberal arts students among missionaries." Zhao Han felt a little disappointed.

Long Huamin persevered and continued: "Your Majesty, do you know where people come from? ”

Zhao Han said: "I don't know where people come from, but I know where you come from. This morning, I consulted with my cabinet minister, and it turned out that Your Excellency had long been famous, and it turned out that he was the culprit who triggered the Nanjing teaching case. If you dare to stop Chinese believers from worshiping their ancestors, believe it or not, like Emperor Wanli, I will directly announce a national religious ban! ”

"Don't dare!" Long Huamin hurriedly replied, sweating on his forehead with fright.

Zhao Han said: "Stay, help the Qintian Academy revise the calendar together." I won't pay you a salary, I won't stop you from proselytizing, but I'm not allowed to proselytize in public. I officially informed the Society of Jesus that as soon as it was found that Yahwehism violated Chinese customs, the imperial court would immediately expel all missionaries! ”

"Yes." Long Huamin acted cautiously.

Zhao Han said again: "If possible, call that John Tang in Beijing." ”

(Ask for a commuter pass.) ）