Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth — Page 160
CONFUCIANISM as a Being Who takes an active interest in the welfare and development of mankind. The necessity of upholding the value of Truth is established by God, through His choice of suitable people to establish truth for the guidance of man. . The Chinese sages can be considered to be the equivalent of prophets as mentioned in the Quran or the. Bible, i. e. men who are representatives or messengers of. God. We find this similarity expressed in a statement attributed to Confucius. 'The Master was put in fear in K‘wang. "He said, "After the death of King Wăn, was not the cause of truth lodged here in me (Confucius)?. If Heaven had wished to let this cause of truth perish, then I, a future mortal, should not have got such a relation to that cause. While Heaven does not let the cause of truth perish, what can the people of. K'wang do to me?” ,9. Here Confucius expresses his complete conviction that the eventual transcendence of truth was assured by an unchanging decree of God in whose safe hand he was a mere instrument. God does not allow those He has directly guided to perish without having accomplished their task of establishing truth, even though they may stand alone against seemingly all-powerful odds. This is exactly the picture given of the prophets in the Bible and the Quran. . Those who are worthy to be chosen for such tasks are men who have excelled in emulating God's attributes. 'Confucius said, “Great indeed was Yaou as a sovereign. It is only Heaven that is great, and only. Yaou corresponded to it. How vast was his virtue!. The people could find no name for it. " 10 160 !