第五讲 处境化中国神学的第一主题

 

Lecture 5 Christian Attitudes towards Chinese Cultures:

The First Theme of Contextualizing Chinese Theology

第五讲 处境化中国神学的第一主题

——基督教对中华文化的态度

5.0. Introduction

5.0.1. Sino-Christian theology or Chinese theology needs to be contextualized, i.e., considering the real Chinese context, utilizing Chinese cultural resources, responding to the common concerns of the Chinese,  to attempt to give Christian analyses of the problems and Christian proposals which are relevant and important to the Chinese people today. 

5.0. 导言

5.0.1. 中国神学或汉语神学需要处境化,就是说，要思考中国人的实在处境, 利用中国人的文化资源, 回应中国人的共同关切,努力对当今中国的种种难题进行基督教的分析，给出基督教的回答，提出对当今和未来中国是适合的、有益的建议。 

5.0.2. Sino-Christian theology today is very far from the contextualization; if we want to go, where should we start ? What should be the first theme ?

5.0.3. The attitude of Chinese Christians to Chinese culture is of basic importance, as that shall influence the nature and direction of the effects (on the Chinese society) of Christianity which is spreading rapidly in China today.      

 

5.0.2. 今日中国神学，距离处境化目标很远; 如果要往前走,应从何处起步 ? 应以什么问题，作为第一个主题 ?

5.0.3. 基督教对中华文化的态度，应该成为第一主题, 因为这会影响正在今日中国迅速传布的基督教对中国社会作用的性质和方向。      

5.1. A Mentality of Confrontation, Two Confusions of Concepts

5.1.1. From 10 PhD students to 10 famous professors, from the appeal for establishing Confucianism as “state religion” to the proposition for religious “Confucian State”; an aspect 0f the nationalist statism and its confrontation to the globalist democracy.

 

5.1. 一种对立心态, 两种概念混淆

5.1.1. 从“十个哲学博士”到“十个著名教授”；从呼吁确立儒教为“国教”，到建议建立政教合一的“儒教国”…

 

 “民族主义-国权主义”同“全球主义-民权主义”对抗的一个方面。

5.1. 2.The first confusion: Christianity is confused as Western culture, so on the theory of culture clash, the relationship between the two is seen as “cultural invasion”, concerning “cultural security of the state”.

5.1.2.1.Religion can use cultural forms as art, literature and architecture as its expressions, but is not equal to any particular culture; so, any people’s acceptance of Christianity does not mean their acceptance of western culture, as we cannot say when Romans accepted Christianity they accepted Jewish culture.    

5.1. 2.第一种混淆: 把基督教混同于西方文化，因此以文化冲突论为基础，把基督教与中华文化的关系，视为“文化冲突”、“文化侵略”，关注国家“文化安全”。

.5.1.2.1.宗教可以使用艺术、文学、建筑等等文化形式，作为其表达方式, 但并不等同于任何具体的文化; 因此，任何民族接受基督教，并不意味着接受西方文化，正如我们不能说，罗马人接受基督教就是接受了犹太文化一样。

    

 

5.1.2.2.基督教甚至不是“西方宗教”；它究竟是东方的、西方的，还是南方的？都不是！

基督教在理论上实践上，从来都是“普世宗教”。

 5.1.2.3.这个混淆还忽略了：传统西方文化有许多非基督教的、甚至非西方的成分, 现代西方文化包含更多的非宗教成分;

 当代“新儒家”还忽略了：在反对现代文化的负面和不健康因素方面，基督教不是敌人，而是朋友！    

 

5.1.3. The second confusion: Confucianism is confused as a religion (and as Chinese culture itself) , so its relationship to Christianity is seen as a zero-sum game between two religions , a competition and a challenge to itself from the other, i.e. Christian religion.

5.1.3.1. Confucianism is not a religion, but a set of humanist teachings about human nature, ethics, society and politics; 

 

5.1.3. 第二种混淆: 把儒学说成一种宗教(甚至等同于中华文化) , 因此它同基督教的关系，被视为两种宗教之间的“零和游戏”、一种外来的竞争和对它的挑战。

5.1.3.1. 儒学不是宗教, 而是侧重人性、伦理、政治的人文哲学 ; 

5.1.3.2. As a philosophy, Confucianism has been concerned more about the earthly rather than the heavenly, even its religious elements are from the influence of religions such as Buddhism an Daoism.

5.1.3.3. As the state’s ideology in imperial China, Confucianism excluded other “jiao” such as

     Buddhism and Christianity on the one hand, but has experience of co-existence with religions on the other hand, as it has some “religiousness”.

Therefore, that is just a relationship between a Universal religion and a Nation’s culture.

5.1.3.2. 作为 一种哲学，儒学更多地关注地下而非天上；传统儒学的宗教成分，也是来自佛教和道教等宗教的影响；

5.1.3.3. 作为帝制中国的国家意识形态, 儒学一方面曾强力排斥佛教和基督教等其他宗教 ，另一方面也曾同各种宗教和平共处；它自己也具有某种“宗教性”。因此应该说, 基督教同中华文化的关系，是一种普世宗教同一种民族文化的关系。     

5.2. A Distorted Impression, Four Historical Facts

5.2.1. “Western missionaries came to China with Bible in one hand and gun in the other”; 

“Western missionaries were opium traders and spies working for their governments’ invasions”…; 

“Christianity entered China riding on the cannon while Buddhism entered riding on the white horse”;

So, Christianity entered China with invasive wars, the entry or the mission is the result of the war .  

5.2. 一大扭曲印象, 四大历史事实

5.2.1. “ 西方传教士进入中国，是一手拿圣经，一手拿洋枪洋炮”; “西方传教士是鸦片贩子，是为侵略中国效劳的外国间谍”……;  “基督教骑着炮弹进中国，佛教是骑着白马进中国”;

于是，国人得到的大印象是：基督教进中国伴随着侵略战争, 传教就是侵略战争的结果！

5.2.2. Christianity’s getting rooted in China is the result of the four entries or missions: 

A.  7th century in Tang Dynasty,

B.  late 13th century in Yuan Dynasty,

C.  late 16th century in Ming Dynasty,

D.  19th  century in Qing Dynasty,----all the four are peaceful religious mission with beneficial exchange of cultures.

5.2.2. 历史事实是，基督教传入，一共四次: 

A.  唐朝（阿罗本，第七世纪）,

B.  元朝（孟高维诺，十三世纪），

C.  明朝（罗明坚和利玛窦，十六世纪），

D.  清朝（马礼逊，十九世纪）。

第三次后，天主教扎根；第四次后，新教扎根；有四次，都是和平的宗教传播、有益的文化交流。

  5.2.3. 历史事实之澄清:

• 洋枪洋炮：打中国还是帮中国?
• 鸦片贸易:    贩卖还是反对?
• 朋友还是敌人? 多数还是少数? 何者代表基督教?

   因此，我们需要反思和批评那少数基督徒不符合基督教精神的活动, 赞赏和表彰那许多基督徒对中国的贡献，同时也需要说明基督教对中华文化的基本态度。

5.3. Christian Attitudes towards Chinese Cultures

5.3.1. a. Christianity: belonging to all ages and all nations and expressing itself with different cultures; affirming cultures owing to its doctrine of the Creation and criticizing cultures owing to its doctrine of the Fall;

5.3.1. b. Chinese culture: including Confucianism, Legalism, Daoism, Buddhism, etc., transformed by scientism, socialism, nationalism, etc., is pluralized. 

5.3.1.c. Hence a relationship between the universal and revealed religion and the nation’s cultures.  

5.3. 基督教对中华文化的态度

5.3.1. a.  基督教属于所有时代和所有民族，运用各种文化表达自身; 出于上帝创世的教义而肯定各种文化，出于人类堕落的教义而批判各种文化 ;

5.3.1. b. 中华文化包含儒、释、道、法家、墨家等等, 又被社会主义、民族主义、自由主义、唯物主义、科学主义等等所改造, 所以早已多元混杂；

5.3.1.c. 因此，基督教与中华文化的关系，是普世性启示性的宗教，与民族性多元性的文化之关系。  

5.3.2. Different attitudes towards different elements:

A. To the old schools, in order to help them becoming beneficial to today’s life, be Respectful and Rational;

B. To the traditional religions, in order to be able to co-exist peacefully, be Friendly and Dialogical;

C. To the modern currents, in order to be able to help  them improving, be Careful and Critical.

5.3.2. 因此，对中华文化的不同成分，应取不同态度:

A.对古代诸学派：尊重、理性，以利当代后代;

B.对传统诸宗教：友好、对话，以利和平共处;

C. 对现代诸思潮：慎思、明辨，以利纠偏提升。

5.3.3. 所有这些态度，符合耶稣关于“爱神爱人”的教导 ，也符合圣经的这些教导—— 《利未记》19:17,19:18; 《罗马书》 12:16-18,14:17; 等等，所以具有圣经的根据。

处境化的中国神学应该就基督教对中华文化的这些基本态度做出神学的说明，本着上帝创造万物的信仰，践行基督爱人如己的教导，提升文化、和睦人群，努力促进国人生命之丰盛 !