Perhaps the most obvious point of contact is the presence in Chinese of several names used to refer to “supernatural” beings whom they have worshiped. Two of these are Shang Di and Shen, though the word for “Heaven” (Tian) is also sometimes used.

We have seen that the name Shang Di has grave limitations as a direct translation of either Hebrew Elohim or Greek Theos. Is there any other Chinese word which could better convey the meaning of the Biblical words for God? The most commonly-used alternative is Shen.