Disputando o Corpo do Mestre: Tian (天) nos Analectos: Disputing About the Master’s Body: Tian (天) in the Analects

Confucius was understood by different scholars as an “a-theist” (Ames, 2009), possibly an agnostic (Rosemont, 2001), a theist (Ching, 1993), or even a monotheist (Guerra, 1979). Other interpreters have argued that Confucius adhered to a secularized religiosity (Fingarette, 1979), or that while the concept of Tian in Confucius was naturalized and rationalized, it still retained vestiges of a primitive personal deity (Li, 2020). In this article, we will summarize some of these differing perspectives, discuss some of the relevant sections of the Analects in the original language, and evaluate these positions based on textual evidence. Finally, this article argues that Confucius, as described in the Analects, can be more precisely understood as a theist, that the texts used in the defense of other interpretations (agnosticism/“a-theism”) do not support these readings, and that this deity can be understood as ethical, personal, and governing history. Keywords: Confucius; Analects; agnosticism; theism.