Author: LIU Rixin, PHD candidate, Center for Judaic and Inter-religious Studies, Shandong University.
Abstract:
Doctrines of creation play an important part in Jürgen Moltmann’s theological thought, in which the ideas of “zimzum” and “panentheism” are highly controversial. In his “Tao: The Chinese Mystery of the World: Lao Tsu’s Tao Te Ching read with western eyes,” Moltmann interpreted creation in the language of Daoism by comparing the original texts, and adopted Daoist thought to respond to the criticism and questioning of his doctrine of creation by scholars such as Pannenberg. Through a textual analysis of his essay, this paper identifies some biases in Moltmann’s understanding of the Tao Te Ching. In addition to the problem of his understanding “You Sheng Yu Wu”, as pointed out by other scholars, there is also room for debate over his understanding of Lao Tsu’s idea of Qi. Nonetheless, Moltmann’s Daoist interpretation of creation enriched his own theological thought and has far-reaching implications for exchange between Chinese and Western cultures.
Keywords:
Jürgen Moltmann, doctrine of creation, Tao Te Ching, “zimzum”, “You Sheng Yu Wu”
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