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Building Churches and Fighting for Religious Toleration - The Creation of the Free Church of Scotland and the Issue of Site-refusal, 1843-1847

蘇格蘭自由教會之建立與拒地之問題—教堂興建與宗教寬容之爭取,1843-1847年

摘要


The Free Church of Scotland was created at the Disruption in May 1843 when over 450 ministers left the Established Church of Scotland, and the primary issue for the members of this new Church was to build churches throughout Scotland. A major difficulty for them came from certain proprietors or landowners who refused to sell the new Church sites for churches, forcing some congregations to worship in the open-air. By examining the records of the Free Church, the circulars issued by its General Assembly, and the correspondences between the congregations and those site-refusing landlords, this article explores how the Free Church members managed to find temporary places for worship in the post-Disruption period- a very novel and innovative method was to create a "floating church" on Loch Sunart. The Free Church argued that site-refusal violated the principle of religious toleration, a vital principle of the British constitution. The Free Church members petitioned Parliament and forced it to carry out an investigation in 1847; the site-refusals eased afterwards. This article also expatiates on the church building campaign of the Free Church. By devising a central building fund (proposed by Thomas Chalmers), the Free Church granted poorer congregations financial aids to build their churches, and hence the Free Church could become a national Church for the Scottish people.

並列摘要


蘇格蘭自由教會(Free Church of Scotland)是在1843年蘇格蘭教會(Established Church of Scotland)分裂後,由超過450名決定離開國教的牧師所創建。新建立之蘇格蘭自由教會的首要工作之一即是在蘇格蘭境內廣建教堂,然其信眾卻遭遇某些地主的反對,他們拒絕將土地租給或售給自由教會的信眾,迫使他們僅能在露天集會與禮拜。本論文利用蘇格蘭自由教會的教會記錄、發給會眾之通訊和手冊、自由教會與地主的通信內容、與英國國會的調查報告,首先探究自由教會在拒地之地區所遭遇的困難與因應之道。自由教會發表聲明並譴責拒地違反了宗教寬容的原則,而宗教寬容乃英國憲政所保障;自由教會透過對於國會的請願,要求國會介入調查,而國會也於1845年開始討論此議題。宗教寬容成為國會辯論主題,拒地之地主亦提出其主張,表明其行為係為了保護國教,並主張宗教寬容精神不應適用於那些破壞社會秩序與造成紛擾的教派。最終在1847年國會調查拒地問題之後,此問題逐漸消減。拒地問題之外,本文也會一併說明自由教會領導人所提出之中央建築基金(Central Building Fund)之計畫與執行情形。此一中央基金的概念是由查麥士(Thomas Chalmers)所提出,其用意在於將各地的募款匯集後,用以補助偏遠或貧窮地區興建教堂的花費,如此便能建立一個新的蘇格蘭民族教會。

參考文獻


Acts of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland (1843-1847). Edinburgh. UK: Free Church of Scotland.
Proceedings of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland (1843-1847). Edinburgh. UK: Free Church of Scotland.
Reports on the Public Accounts of the Free Church of Scotland (1843-1847). Edinburgh. UK: Free Church of Scotland.
The Monthly Statement (1843-1847). Edinburgh. UK: Free Church of Scotland Financial Committee.
Hansard’s Parliamentary Debates (1843-1847). London: Hansard.

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