浅论基督教中国化的文化逻辑北大核心

一、新时代基督教中国化的神学自觉1.“中国化”是基督教自身发展的必然选择。基督宗教每到一处都有“在地化”的过程,这既符合基督教教义,也秉承了教会传统经验。“在地化”要积极适应区域文化,才能做到实际意义上的“处境化”。基督教中国化让基督教在中国社会成为一种良性、和谐的存在,并力求将至今还存在于基督教与社会在政治、经济、文化、身份之间的隔阂清零,这是基督教自身发展的必然选择,也是在新的历史时期中国社会对基督教的要求。     

在纪念宗教改革500周年暨基督教中国化研讨会上的讲话

<正>基督教界的各位朋友、同志们:500年前的宗教改革不仅在基督教发展历史上,而且在人类社会发展历史上都具有划时代的意义。这场改革"实际上是基督教信仰的重建",改出了一个新宗教,这个新宗教在一定程度上重塑了世界政治格局和发展路径,对人类社会已经和正在产生着十分深远的影响。今天,在举世瞩目的党的十九大闭幕不久,基督教全     

莱茵霍尔德·尼布尔的基督教现实主义道德观

莱因霍尔德·尼布尔是20世纪在美国乃至西方最著名和颇具影响的基督教神学家.他坚持原罪论,并将基督教伦理思想广泛应用于社会问题及政治问题的研究,从而形成了系统并具有现代精神的基督教应用伦理学(即基督教现实主义伦理学),在现代宗教伦理学的推广方面做出了独特的贡献.他所倡导的现实主义伦理学影响了一代神学家和政治家,后来更是成为冷战时期美国对外政策的哲学依据.本文考察了尼布尔的原罪论及其与理想主义的分歧,以及尼布尔现实主义道德观的基本内容及其影响.     

莱茵霍尔德&#183;尼布尔的基督教现实主义道德观

莱因霍尔德&#183;尼布尔是20世纪在美国乃至西方最著名和颇具影响的基督教神学家。他坚持原罪论，并将基督教伦理思想广泛应用于社会问题及政治问题的研究，从而形成了系统并具有现代精神的基督教应用伦理学（即基督教现实主义伦理学），在现代宗教伦理学的推广方面做出了独特的贡献。他所倡导的现实主义伦理学影响了一代神学家和政治家，后来更是成为冷战时期美国对外政策的哲学依据。本文考察了尼布尔的原罪论及其与理想主义的分歧，以及尼布尔现实主义道德观的基本内容及其影响。     

基督教新右派运动兴起的主要动因

七八十年代在美国兴起的基督教新右派(NCR)①,以迅猛之势登上了美国政治舞台。他们在诸如堕胎、学校祈祷、同性恋、家庭等问题上坚决捍卫传统的道德价值观,用“上帝”的声音说话,积极投身于建立组织、动员选民、结盟共和党,进行政治活动以干预总统选举和公共政策(包括干涉中美关系),发起了一场声势浩大的社会政治运动,影响颇大。学术界对其在政治上的影响已有一定研究,但关于其为什么能在短短二十年迅速崛起的原因,除刘澎在《宗教右翼及其与后冷战时期的美国政治》一文中从“反应论”②角度作过探讨外,国内尚无系统研究。笔者试借用美国犯罪小说中的“动机、手段、机会”③三要素来剖析NCR运动兴起的主要动因,揭示美国宗教与政治的关系,加深对当代美国社会、政治制度及其发展动向的认识。     

基督教在云南少数民族社会中的传播和影响

本文根据文献资料和作者的实地调查材料 ,分析了基督教在云南一些少数民族中传播、对少数民族的文化和社会生活产生重大影响的历史与文化、社会组织与社会结构等方面的原因。并力图揭示近代以来基督教在传播过程中 ,与少数民族文化的冲突和互动 ,在适应少数民族文化传统和生活习俗的过程中逐渐本土化的社会文化特征。本文分为三个部分 :第一部分为云南少数民族信仰基督教的历史过程描述和社会结构分析 ;第二、三部分运用文化的社会互动理论 ,分析基督教在云南少数民族社会传播过程中的文化冲突与调适 ,阐述了基督教对少数民族的社会文化变迁、道德价值观念变化的影响 ,以及对基督教的民族化、本土化和当代少数民族基督教信仰中的问题的看法     

试论中世纪基督教西教会的隐修运动

中世纪基督教西教会的隐修运动把隐修发展到了一个新的高峰。它大致可以分为四个阶段：即初创时期、本尼狄克会规一统天下时期、１０—１２世纪的全盛期以及衰落期。基督教西教会的隐修运动是西欧中世纪历史的一个重要组成部分,它对中世纪欧洲社会的政治、经济和文化的影响极为深远     

基督教对当代非洲社会的影响

基督教对非洲社会的影响是潜移默化的,在产生积极影响的同时,也引发消极的一面。总体来看,基督教对于当代非洲社会积极的影响主要在慈善公益、社会关怀等社会公共领域,消极影响主要集中在舆论导向、政治、安全领域。对此,非洲基督教需要走出自身观念的藩篱,在非洲多元的文化宗教语境中,加强与其他宗教的对话,寻求合作,共同服务于非洲社会。     

中缅跨境民族地区基督教跨境互动的历史形态与阶段特征

基督教传入后,其跨境互动作为历史事实一直存在于中缅跨境民族地区,对民族文化发展、国家边疆稳定以及地缘政治关系等持续产生影响。本文拟在文献分析及田野调查的基础上,从整体的宏观背景出发,分阶段描述中缅跨境民族地区基督教跨境互动的历史与事实,剖析影响基督教跨境互动的政治、经济、社会、文化等因素,归纳基督教在不同的社会政治环境下跨境互动的形态与特征。     

自觉与中华传统文化相融汇 基督教才能健康发展

正新中国成立后,老一辈基督教领袖发起三自爱国运动,积极主动认同中国的政治与社会,自觉与中华传统文化相融汇,基督教因此健康发展,成为中国的基督教。基督教在中国传播的历史经验告诉我们,只有充分尊重中华传统文化、自觉融入中华传统文化,基督教才能在中华大地上立根生长,不然就会成为无源之水、无本之木,因为不适应所处社会文化的发展,就会不可避     

Community and Christianity in the Black Church

The authors explore the experience of Christian religion for many African Americans. In response to racial discrimination and prejudice within churches, African Americans developed a Christian tradition with distinct meanings, beliefs and practices. This tradition provides a foundation for social activism within the church, community and American society, as well as community among church members. The recent Black church burnings are discussed with respect to the more traditional Christian African American view of religion. Implications for incorporating the religious traditions of Christian African Americans into counseling practice are explored. (The authors use the term Black church or African American church as a surrogate for Christian African American church throughout the article. The terms Black and African American will also be used interchangeably).     

Recognition and Social Justice: A Roman Catholic View of Christian Bioethics of Long-Term Care and Community Service

Contemporary Christian ethics encounters the challenge to communicategenuinely Christian normative orientations within the scientificdebate in such a way as to render these orientations comprehensible,and to maintain or enhance their plausibility even for non-Christians.This essay, therefore, proceeds from a biblical motif, takesup certain themes from the Christian tradition (in particularthe idea of social justice), and connects both with a compellingcontemporary approach to ethics by secular moral philosophy,i.e. with Axel Honneth's reception of Hegel, as based on Hegel'stheory of recognition. As a first step, elements of an ethicsof recognition are developed on the basis of an anthropologicalrecourse to the conditions of intersubjective encounters. Theseconditions are then brought to bear on the idea of social justice,as developed in the social-Catholic tradition, and as systematicallyexplored in the Pastoral Letter of the United States Conferenceof Catholic Bishops, Economic Justice For All (1986). Proceedingfrom this basis, aspects of a Christian ethics of communityservice with regard to long-term care can be defined.     

RHETORIC OF FAITH AND PATTERNS OF PERSUASION IN BERKELEY'S ALCIPHRON

In this article I consider George Berkeley's Alciphron (1732) from the standpoint of the literary techniques and rhetorical procedures employed, as evidence for placing this composition within the tradition of Christian apologetic rhetoric. The argument develops around three main issues: 1) Berkeley's employment of the traditional rhetorical tool of attacking his opponents using their own weapons; 2) Berkeley's resort to a perennial tradition of pre‐Christian or non‐Christian wisdom, in order to validate his Christian‐theistic claims; and 3) Berkeley's ‘argument from utility’ (considering the beneficial effects that accepting Christianity has had over the centuries on people's lives, making them better, wiser, happier, and more virtuous, as well as the social peace and harmony that living by Christian standards brings about – it is preferable to adopt the Christian faith than not). These three theses are discussed in light of the history of Christian apologetic rhetoric, with references to the works of St. Augustine, St. Justin Martyr, Origen, St. Thomas Aquinas and other Christian authors.     

James Baldwin,Christian Ethics,and the Recovery of Tradition

This essay uses James Baldwin’s thought about racism and homophobia as a critical lens for thinking about some influential strands of Christian ethics. The first part shows how Baldwin understood racism and homophobia and related them to one another by framing them as instances of spirit/flesh dualism and as effects of Christian supremacy. The second part relies on Baldwin’s categories to analyze and juxtapose the thought of select neo-Anabaptist and neo-Augustinian social ethicists. Like Baldwin, the ethicists I engage respond to the distorting power of Christian supremacy and of spirit/flesh dualism. Unlike Baldwin, these ethicists frame their response to Christian supremacy and dualism as a recovery of a more authentic or faithful Christian tradition. Baldwin, who often relied rhetorically and morally on Christian claims and frequently called on Christians to reflect the example of Jesus and the precepts of love, related to the tradition from the perspective of someone who had become an outsider to the church. He tended to focus instead on what the problems he described reflected about Christianity. The contrast with Baldwin helps identify two distinct retrieval strategies, which characterize the neo-Anabaptist and neo-Augustinian ethicists I discuss. One strategy seeks to preserve the integrity of Christian faith, and the other seeks to protect its essential decency. In what follows, I highlight some of the weaknesses of these approaches to tradition retrieval.     

Being Christ for the Other

In recent years, Christian humanism has received renewed attention. This article engages with the works of William Schweiker and John W. de Gruchy, two of the most prominent representatives of Christian humanism in contemporary Protestant theology. In a manner which is complementary to their views, this article attempts to outline a Lutheran Christian humanism based on the ethics of Martin Luther and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Inspired by a Chalcedonian Christology, the article attempts to argue for a polemical affirmation of Christian humanism as a characteristic of the Lutheran tradition. With this paradoxical notion, the article attempts to move beyond the antagonism between universality and specificity in Christian social ethics.     

Religion and Public Health: Moral Tradition as Both Problem and Solution

Despite strong religious influence in the development of medicine and medical ethics, religion has been relatively absent in the rise of preventive medicine and population health. Episodic, clinical medicine has a powerful hold on the religious imagination in health care. Nevertheless, Hebrew Scripture, elements of rabbinical teaching, and modern concepts of social justice all can be used to inspire action in health care that goes beyond clinical medicine. The Christian tradition can call upon the corporal works of mercy, virtue ethics, and Catholic social teaching, as well as the modern history Catholic sisters in the U.S. to do the same. By considering the moral imperative for public health, Jewish and Christian individuals and organizations reaffirm the notion that the human person is both sacred and social. This article suggests a need for religious traditions to consider their moral traditions anew with an eye toward prevention and population health.

     

How Christian ethics became medical ethics: the case of Paul Ramsey.

Over the last century Christian ethics has moved from an attempt to Christianize the social order to a quandary over whether being Christian unduly biases how medical ethics is done. This movement can be viewed as the internal development of protestant liberalism to its logical conclusion, and Paul Ramsey can be taken as one of the last great representatives of that tradition. By reducing the Christian message to the 'ethical upshot' of neighbour love, Ramsey did not have the resources to show how Christian practice might make a difference for understanding or forming the practice of medicine. Instead, medicine became the practice that exemplified the moral commitments of Christian civilization, and the goal of the ethicist was to identify the values that were constitutive of medicine. Ramsey thus prepared the way for the Christian ethicist to become a medical ethicist with a difference, and the difference simply involved vague theological presumptions that do no serious intellectual work other than explaining, perhaps, the motivations of the ethicist.     

The satanic novel: A philosophical dialogue on blasphemy and censorship

This dialogue is concerned with the problems raised by the Rushdie affair for Western intellectuals, whose thought on social issues derives either from the Christian or the Western liberal tradition. This has brought to a head the many difficulties which beset a Western European country as it develops into a multicultural one. Since the concern of the dialogue is with a crisis in the thinking of Western intellectuals about free speech, censorship, tolerance, etc., the four participants are university teachers of philosophy in a British university. They are: Ambrose Taylor, a self‐styled defender of ‘British’ and ‘Christian’ values, Archie Runciman, a progressive Christian or religious eclectic, Freddie Stuart Hill, a committed Mill type liberal and Jenny Spring, whose liberalism is tempered by the belief that the state should take a positive role in promoting certain values. The author should not be identified with any of the speakers.     

Theology is not Mere Sociology: A Theological Reflection on the Reception of the Christian Religion in Mainland China

Abstract :  Post‐Maoist China retains its loyalty to Marxist principles; yet voices are being heard that interpret religion much more positively. Both government spokespersons and Religious Studies scholars measure the value of religion according to its social function. Such a criterion of evaluation fails to take account of what is essential to Christian theology, namely, appeal to divine transcendence. Yet, Christian theology in the tradition of the Lutheran Reformation begins with transcendence and turns toward human responsibility for the world through loving the neighbor. This may mark a common cause between Chinese sociology of religion and Christian commitments to social well‐being.     

The appeal to the christian tradition in the debate about embryonic stem cell research

This paper focuses on an argument that has been invoked in the stem cell debate: appeal to the Christian tradition. Bishop Richard Harries has put forward the claim that the Christian tradition offers precedent that would give ethical justification for experimenting on human embryos. In contrast, Pope John Paul II claimed that the tradition unwaveringly supported the protection of the human embryo from deliberate harm. In favour of Pope John Paul's reading of the Christian tradition is the fact that Christianity was notable from the outset for its wholehearted opposition to abortion. Bishop Harries can point to three elements in the tradition that seem to qualify the absolute prohibition on abortion: (1) variable penalties for abortion; (2) belief in delayed ensoulment; and (3) abortion to save the mother's life. Nevertheless, detailed consideration of the tradition shows that these apparent qualifications do not provide precedent for destructive experiments on human embryos.