Which Two Atheists and Two Theists are most different?

[Angrboda]

I kinda meant forum members otherwise its Aquinas vs Lao Tzu and Hume vs. Nietsche

Lao Tzu isn't — as far as I know — typically regarded as a theist. While he did speak of Tian or heaven, it typically referred to a place to which one's ancestors went after departing, and from which they could, if they so chose, influence temporal affairs. That is the most prominent meaning of Tian in that time period, though it's a hard word to translate, and was undergoing change in its meaning throughout the Spring and Autumn period as well as the Hundred Schools period. Regardless, it doesn't correspond to the heaven of semite monotheism as a place created by a divine being for the habitation of his elect. Contemporary Taoism embraces both local gods as well as a pantheon of deities which have accrued since the time of Lao Tzu, but I don't think a good case can be made that the supposed author or authors of the Tao Te Ching were theists in the commonly understood sense. And contemporary religious Taoists are more henotheistic or polytheistic than monotheistic, as well as being religiously pluralistic (speaking of China proper). pineapplebunnybounce has posted on the various Chinese terms for God, the most commonly cited for this period being Shangdi, perhaps she can address the question more authoritatively. I don't recall anything like it being mentioned in the Tao Te Ching, but I haven't read it in anything but English translation, either.

If you have something specific you are referencing, aside from equating God with the Tao, please let me know. While equating God with the Tao might honor the apophatic tradition of Christian mystics, I think it would be doing violence to the original work, as well as to the Chinese philosophical tradition and dialectic of which it was a part. If you care to make that case, though, I'd love to hear it. I have numerous books of both source texts and secondary literature on the philosophy of that period, as well as a half dozen translations of the Tao Te Ching and the Zhuangzi which could use the dust shaken off them. (Alas, I don't have Star's translation which contains the modern Chinese text along with common translations of the characters. I have a bilingual copy somewhere, but I doubt I could locate it even if pressed.)

Regardless, little if any of his text appears to address theological issues, so I'm curious why you find him opposite Aquinas as a theist. In regard to god or gods he appears as agnostic as Confucius.

(I've got an essay detailing the various shades of meaning of 'Tian' in that period if you likie, I'll see if I can track it down. My normal workstation is down, so I'm going from memory.)