The Word for God

[John of Japan]

Well, since you asked, I’ll give my opinions. I do not claim to be a Chinese language expert.

1. This can’t be used in modern times because it is simply too dangerous? How is Winnie the Pooh going to respond when I tell him I have a true Lord?

Sorry I missed this, Marty. Didn't mean to ignore you.

I personally would have no objection to the Nestorian term if the national partners thought it was good. In recent years some have been reexamining the Nestorians. See: Partial Rehabilitation of Nestorius

2. Interesting . . . What would you translate Heaven into without getting confused?

Aye, there is the problem. Usually context would tell that God is meant, but other times would be confusing.

3. I like the Catholic translation, but is he just lord of Heaven? Is Lord of Heaven and Earth a possibility in Chinese?

Yes, and here is that possibility from Matt. 11:25 in the Chinese Union Version: 天地的主, "Heaven-Earth-poss. particle--Lord." (It's the same in Luke 10:21 and Acts 17:24.)

4. I guess you can just add Holy to make holy spirit?

Actually, there is a different character for strictly "spirit" to which "holy" is added, making it 聖霊 in both Chinese and Japanese.

5. I think this is probably the safest and best version myself. I get the feeling that this word was chosen by the Chinese as oppose to foreigners.

As I said above, the CUV can be bought in either a Shang Ti or a Shen version, and is the standard Chinese Bible in either one. Some prefer one, some prefer another. I'm pretty sure, though, that this is a recent development.

When I was in Japanese language school, a lot of Bible smuggling was going on into China, and I was given some of those Bibles, which were in the CUV Shen version. I was thrilled to be able to pass these out to all my Chinese friends at the language school, and they were gladly accepted, except by one young lady from Taiwan. The Bibles were in the simplified mainland characters, which were illegal to use in Taiwan. Praise the Lord, though; she took a Chinese tract and started going to church.

6. Maybe in the translation notes. What does the transliteration of these two words mean in Chinese? If it were “goofy gumdrop”, that would be a very poor choice.

"Jehovah" is transliterated in Ex. 6:3 as 耶和華, with the first one being a phonetic character (pronounced yē), and the next two being "peace" and "flower." Not ideal if used consistently for "God," though it wouldn't surprise me if a JW Chinese Bible had done that.