胡适宗教思想刍论

Hu Shi and Religion

胡适在留学期间和基督教团体的成员有过密切来往,但是胡适最终拒绝了基督教。胡适把科学和基督教之间的关系理解为一种对立的关系,在五四时期中国的知识界具有一定的代表性,但却是对二者之间关系的简单化处理,有着历史局限性。胡适吸收佛教文化中的牺牲精神并加以改造,使之成为建构自己的人生观的积极文化因素。胡适以非信仰者的立场进行禅宗史的研究,把佛教研究纳入现代学术的努力,标志着近现代佛学运动的转型和佛学研究新范式的出现。胡适把儒家的三不朽论转化为社会不朽论,提出了自己的新宗教思想,说明他看到了宗教对于现代民主自由社会的积极作用,在这一方面作出了可贵的和有益的探索。

This paper is a survey of Hu Shi's relationship with Christianity, Buddhism, and Confucianism. Hu Shi opposes himself to Christianity, contradicting it with science. But he adopts and reforms the spirits of sacrifice in Buddhism, and makes of them the positive cultural elements in the establishment of his own outlook of life. As a non-believer of Buddhism, Hu Shi makes a study of the history of Zen, because he attempts to bring Buddhism research into the domain of modem learning. This symbolizes the transformation of the modem Buddhism movement and the new paradigm of Buddhism studies. Hu reformulates the notion of 'the social immortality' by adopting the relevant doctrines of Confucianism, on the basis of which he puts forward the idea of new religion. This shows that Hu has noticed the positive roles that religion plays in the construction of modem democratic and free society.