關係為本—西北鄉村非基督徒對基督教葬禮的適應

學界有關中國基督教本土化的討論中，研究者大都以基督教及其信仰者為考察對象，對非基督徒在這個過程中的角色和能動性討論得不夠。以葬禮作切入點，考察鄉村非基督徒如何適應基督教的喪葬文化這一問題，可以揭示出中國鄉土社會基督教本土化過程中非信徒作出的努力。研究發現，葬禮的兩階段中，鄉村非基督徒都呈現出「關係為本」的特徵：即使自己所傾向的禮節和基督教的喪葬禮節有很大不同，且這樣的不同會引起人們的意見分歧乃至爭吵，但非信徒個人會儘量避免因為這樣的不同而破壞村莊內部既有的社會關係。這種「關係為本」的適應方式為塑造鄉土社會民教間「有張力地共處」的信仰秩序起了重要作用，從而也促進了基督教在鄉土社會的本土化。

關鍵字

基督教；本土化；非基督徒；基督教葬禮；關係

並列摘要

In the academic debate on the inculturation of Chinese Christianity, most researchers focus on Christianity and its believers. The role and agency of non-Christians in this process are not discussed enough, and if they are, they are mainly examined from the perspective of conflict and confrontation. But, funeral rites are key to understanding cultural changes in rural societies, as well as an important entry point to understanding the localization of Christianity. Taking two villages in Northwest China as examples and examining how non-Christians in those villages adapted to the Christian funeral culture can reveal the efforts made by non-Christians in the process of localizing Christianity in Chinese rural societies. This can thus deepen our understanding of the process of Christianity's entry into rural societies. Both in the stages of selecting the kind of funeral rites, and in the actual performance of the funeral rituals, rural non-Christians' adaptation of Christian rites shows the characteristic of "guanxi (relationships) matters most of all". That even when their own beliefs are very different from those expressed in Christian funeral rites; and although such differences may cause people to have differences of opinions and even quarrels, rural non-Christians will try to avoid these differences and thus to not disrupt the established social relationships within the village. This way of adaptation, by using Christian funeral rites, plays an important role in maintaining the integrity of the village community, and secondly in changing the emotional attitude of non-Christians toward Christianity. These two aspects contribute to the shaping of a faith order of "coexistence with tension" among villagers and towards Christianity itself, and also contributes to the indigenization of Christianity in Chinese rural societies.

並列關鍵字

Christianity ； Inculturation ； Non-Christians ； Christian Funeral Rites ； Guanxi

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