“群體的、批判的自我意識”－論史密斯的宗教神學

Corporate, Critical Self-consciousness-On Wilfred Cantwell Smith's Theology of Religion

蔡彥仁(Yen-Zen Tsai)

《新世紀宗教研究》 5卷4期 (2007/06) Pp. 171-206

摘要

宗教學者史密斯(Wilfred C. Smith, 1916-2000)的宗教理論影響二十世紀後半葉的西方學界至為深遠，但是他全圖建構的世界神學在過去數十年來卻激起評論者不同的反應。本文首先指出，史氏的問題意識在批判西方自啟蒙時期以降的基督教中心思想，以及極端客觀主義所導致的物化「人」與人文現象。為糾正這些弊病，他從世界宗教史的角度出發，論證人類歷史的連續相關與一體性，並強調「人」方是宗教的核心，也是宗教探討的肇始與依歸。為此他提出「群體的、批判的自我意識」作為總結其理論的焦點，以此開創新的認知典範，亦以此檢證任何「真理」論述的可信度與有效性。本文更進一步根據史氏的宗教神學理論，就宗教的定義與內容以及宗教的範疇與詮釋兩子題，引述正、反雙方學者的意見加以延伸討論。本文最後歸結得出，史氏的革命式見解雖然激發抽象與具體、普遍與特殊、唯心與唯物、本質與現象箏之偏重或先後之爭，但他的宗教神學促使我們對於宗教的定義、範疇、主題、內容、研究者、研究對象、方法等議題，能更深刻地進行反思，在宗教研究領域有其重要且巨大的貢獻。

關鍵字

信心 ； 多元主義 ； 宗教現象學 ； 宗教史 ； 宗教神學

並列摘要

Wilfred C. Smith has been very influential in the field of religious studies since the second half of the twentieth century. His theology of religion, however, has also incurred much debate from supporters and detractors. This article first points out that Smith sets his theory on his critiques of two major problems, the Christianity-centered mentality and the tendency to reify the subject of investigation in the Western intellectual and academic world. To rectify these errors, Smith, approaching from the history of world religions, argues that human cultural traditions have been interlinked and manifested a continuum. Person, he emphasizes, should be the core of religion, as well as the beginning and end of religious studies. He proposes ”corporate, critical self-consciousness” as the key to his theology of religion. He also uses it to illustrate a new paradigm by which one interprets religion and verifies the conclusion of one's research. The article further presents different opinions about Smith's world theology, under the rubric of definition and content of religion and that of category and interpretation of
religion, and proceeds into extensive discussion and evaluation of them. It observes that Smith's revolutionary approach creates a strong tension between noumenon and phenomenon, abstractness and concreteness, universality and particularity, and idealism and materialism. That be the case, the article, in conclusion, affirms that Smith's theology of religion fruitfully helps us rethink the definition, category, theme, content, the relationship between outsider and insider, and ways of understanding religion from a deeper perspective, and that his fresh insight contributes substantially to the whole field of religious studies.

並列關鍵字

Faith ； Pluralism ； phenomenology of religion ； history of religion ； Theology of religion

參考文獻

Smith, Wilfred C. (1943) Modern Islam in India: a Social Analysis. Lahore: Minerva.

Almond, Philip C.(1983).Wilfred Cantwell Smith as Theologian of Religions.Harvard Theological Review.73(3),335-342.

Baird, Robert D.(1971).Category Formation and the History of Religions.The Hague:Mouton.

Berthrong, John(1989).The Theological Necessity of Pluralism: The Contribution of Wilfred Cantwell Smith.TJT.5(2),188-205.

Cracknell, Kenneth(Ed.)(2001).Wilfred Cantwell Smith: A Reader.Oxford:Oneworld.