「光明之子」與「黑暗之子」：《死海經卷》所反映的虛實世界

The Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness: The Two Worlds Reflected in the Dead Sea Scrolls

蔡彥仁(Tsai, Yen-zen)

《臺灣宗教研究》 1卷1期 (2000/10) Pp. 33-89

摘要

本文根據二十世紀中葉所發現的《死海經卷》，試圖勾勒出兩千年前活躍於死海之濱的「昆蘭公社」，並置其於猶太教的末世運動傳統，給予適當的歷史定位。自泛希臘文化時期以來，由於政治與文化潮流對猶太族群的強烈衝激，造成其內部傾軋分裂，形成各種對立抗衡的派別。由耶路撒冷出走的部份祭司，以及民間虔信派的艾瑟人，為維持「真以色列」的身份與「正統」信仰，在末世運動的影響下，遂在約公元前第二世紀中葉，於死海之濱組成「昆蘭公社」。「昆蘭公社」的宗教思想，以「二靈論」、命定論、彌賽亞思想、天使觀等最為顯著，表現出此一社群敵視猶太人主流社會，熱切期盼「末日」之救贖。公社成員的日常活動以讀經與研經為主，並以「正解」為詮釋原則，進行「末世」的希伯來《聖經》註解。在實踐層次方面，「昆蘭公社」以嚴格的清規條例與懲罰機制，塑造一上下有別，尊卑有序的信仰團體。為確定心與身不受污染，公社成員必須恪遵各類潔淨儀式，維護整體的神聖性與純潔性，以此反映他們是「選民」的特殊身份。本文最後強調，「昆蘭公社」帶有濃厚的菁英主義色彩，公社成員雖然在客觀形勢下被迫遷居死海荒漠，但是在主觀認知上他們卻是積極的建構一信仰體系，融過去與未來，天上與人間為一爐，如此遊走虛、實兩世界，以應對當前的「末世」危機。

關鍵字

猶太教 ； 天啟 ； 末世 ； 昆蘭公社 ； 死海經卷

並列摘要

This article, based upon the Dead Sea Scrolls that were discovered in the mid-twentieth century, depicts the ancient Qumran community. It intends to understand this religious group in the Hellenistic context as well as in the Jewish apocalyptic tradition. From the beginning of the Hellenistic era, many Jewish sects rose to rival one another as a result of the political and cultural impacts that the rapidly changing history brought to Judaism. Some high priests, protesting against their Jerusalem colleagues, left the age-old cultic center and joined the pietistic Essenes about the mid-second century BCE. They together established a secluded community on the margins of the Dead Sea. This community, widely called Qumran today, exhibited such theological ideas as ＂two spirits,＂ determinism, two messiahs, and angelology. They show how the religious group stood against the mainstream Jewish society and waited earnestly for the salvation in the end-time. The members of Qumran engaged themselves in scriptural reading and study. They regarded pesher as the right, eschatological hermeneutical principle and applied it to interpreting the Hebrew Bible. With regard to daily practices, they formed themselves into a rigid, hierarchical community, observing rules of discipline in every respect. To legitimate their special status as the ＂true Israel,＂ they maintained strict purity rites of various kinds on a regular or non-regular basis. All these were conducted to manifest their self-understanding as a sacred and chosen ＂remnant＂ in the end-time. This article lastly argues that although the members of Qumran were marginalized from the Jewish main body, they were actively constructing a significant belief system in the desert. By using their imagination to create ＂two worlds,＂ which amalgamate the past and the future on the one hand and this world and the heavenly realm on the other, they were accordingly able to cope with the present eschatological crises.

並列關鍵字

Judaism ； Apocalypticism ； Eschatology ； Qumran ； Dead Sea Scrolls