一句英文的理解

you have raised a very challenging question. i don't think there will be a definite or absolute answer to it only by reading the quotation alone. perhaps we should look at it this way;

if i am not wrong, the quotation is extracted from a piece of text. hence, to determine which is a more accurate way to interpret it (as”是“當…時 or 解作“作為) depends on which one can conform to the meaning of the text as a whole. in other words, the meaning (or function) of this sentence MUST be in accordance with the purpose of the text. therefore, you are not giving sufficient information for evaluation and it is very difficult to reach an objective conclusion while there could be many perspectives.

however, i think there is nothing wrong with your understanding (將“as”解作“作為”) by reading this sentence alone. in fact, i think YOUR WAY is even BETTER and more REASONABLE than the first one (as”是“當…時). there are 3 main reasons to support my opinion,

1) inappropriate usage of the articles-
if the actual meaning of the quotation is 因而當一個設施被代替時,整個世界最終將變成寺院和教會, it should be THE INSTITUTION rather than an institution;

2) inappropriate usage of tense and conjunction-
this reason is even more solid and obvious. if AS used here means WHEN, then THE ACTION of superseding the institution HAS ALREADY TAKEN PLACE at that particular point of time. the use of WOULD (meaning 會 in chinese) means the action has NOT YET happened. in simpler words, the grammar does NOT allow WHEN (or in this case AS) and WOULD (or WILL, etc) being used at the same time. let me explain this with an example,

e.g. when (or as) i turned around, i saw mary. (當我轉身的時候, 我看見mary)

if WOULD is used, it will be,

e.g. when i would turn around, i saw mary. (當會我轉身的時候, 我看見mary)

do you see that the contradiction here? WHEN means that both actions (turned around & saw) happened simultaneously. WOULD means BEFORE turning around (because not yet happened). but the conjunction means AT THE SAME TIME AS!

2008-05-20 03:44:36 補充：
so is it before or at the same time as? to conclude, the tense used and the conjunction contradict one another.

2008-05-20 03:45:32 補充：
however, it is completely acceptable to express an idea like this,

WHEN you turn around, you WILL see mary, or

WHEN you grow up (condition), you WILL understand (possible result).

2008-05-20 03:46:06 補充：
back to your quotation, you may see my point if i rearrange the sentence like this,

AS (WHEN) an institution WOULD be superseded, so the whole world would eventually become the temple and the church.

2008-05-20 03:46:29 補充：
當一個設施會被代替時, (當还沒有發生時)
整個世界最終將變成寺院和教會。(可能發生 or 預期中的結果)

2008-05-20 03:46:54 補充：
that is why i DO NOT think it should be understood this way, in contrast, YOU ARE GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT.

2008-05-20 03:47:34 補充：
3) if AS means WHEN , it is a CONJUNCTION; if it means LIKE (作為), it is a PREPOSITION. using 2 conjunctions ( AS & SO) in this clause is grammatically UNACCEPTABLE

2008-05-20 03:48:15 補充：
(e.g. either ALTHOUGH or BUT can be used in a clause, you can never use both), but a preposition is no problem at all ( to relate the church to an institution; the use of articles also seems reasonable). that is why i think there is nothing wrong with your understanding

2008-05-20 03:48:46 補充：
of course, the analysis above can be quite subjective without any references to the original text. i honestly think you do need to take the differences to heart because EVERYBODY DECODES A MESSAGE DIFFERENTLY and DEVIATION happens all the time.

2008-05-20 03:49:08 補充：
IT IS A FACT THAT WE ALL THINK DIFFERENTLY AS WE DO NOT SHARE THE SAME BRAIN! as long as you do not distort the meaning as a whole, and your way of thinking does not hinder yourself from understanding others, a little deviation is no big deal at all!

2008-05-20 03:54:08 補充：
sorry , i mean you do not need to take the differences to heart. there is a typing error.