清末民初之際,西學源源傳入中國,造成社會上的大波瀾。面對現代科學的衝擊,知識份子們開始用科學理性檢視何謂佛教信仰。佛教對於新思潮的回應,除了外在尋求新式科學的方法,內在也回溯至傳統佛學中找尋因應之道,內外交織形成近代佛教信仰認知的轉型,此一轉型的新舊思想,最直接地就是表現於佛教刊物之中。民國佛教刊物的出版加速了佛教知識的傳播,其中以民國元年出版的《佛學叢報》為首,敲響了民國佛教刊物創刊的大鐘,出版意義不容忽視:其一,《佛學叢報》為中國第一份佛學期刊,對現代佛教文學發展開闢了一條新的傳播道路。其二,《佛學叢報》內容豐富,投刊作者多為當時著名高僧和中外居士學人,繼後,各種佛教期刊便如雨後春筍般地接連出刊。本文即探究《佛學叢報》是如何思考「佛教信仰」的議題,以期窺見當時佛教信仰認知的轉型特徵。
The Buddhism Publications in the early Republic accelerated the spread of Buddhist knowledge, and the most direct way to express the New and Old Trends of the Buddhist faith was in the publication. The significance of the Buddhism congbao, which was published in 1912, cannot be ignored. First, the Buddhism congbao was the first Buddhist journal in China, and opened up a new communications path for the development of modern Buddhist literature. Second, he Buddhism congbao was rich in its content, the journal authors were mostly famous Chinese and foreign Buddhist monks and scholars. And later, various Buddhist journals had been continuously published. The traditional Buddhism is a belief in the inherent soul and before the recent ages, people rarely examined whether the Buddhist faith met the scientific rationality. During the recent ages and under the impact of empirical science, the intellectuals viewed it in a rational aspect without the emotional one. Therefore, Buddhism, in order to respond to the impact of new ideas and not destroy the foundation of the Buddhist faith, new scientific methods are learned from the outside world, and also grow and develop from within its own tradition. These two ways intertwine in the the feature of transformation in recent Buddhist belief.