《圣经》在中国——太平天国对经文的诠释

The Bible in China: The Interpretation of Bibilical Texts by Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

洪秀全及其同仁为了让基督教信仰适应中国传统宗教信仰,并符合他们缔造地上天朝的政治理想,继承传教士的工作,不遗余力地实现基督教的转型,从而开创了基督教的次生文化。洪秀全本人在一系列异象下产生的神秘宗教体验,以及他屡试不第而对科举考试滋生的绝望情绪,促使他重新审视儒家经典,并重新诠释圣经。他抬高圣经的地位,打压儒家著作。洪秀全自称从上帝那里直接得到启示,借此建立起独立于西方基督教的宗教权威。尽管他从根本上否定儒家传统,但是也采借了儒家伦理道德训诫,努力净化圣经里失礼、猥亵的情节。圣经亚洲诠释学首先要处理《圣经》在所谓"非《圣经》世界"的接纳问题,太平天国在诠释《圣经》方面独特的中国经验,为圣经亚洲诠释学提供了极佳个案。

Hong Xiuquan and his colleagues created a Christian subculture by transforming Christianity transplanted by missionaries through their efforts to adapt the Christian faith to the traditional Chinese religious beliefs and the political vision of building a heavenly kingdom on earth. Hong＇s personal mystical religious experiences in a series of visions and failures in several imperial examinations drove him into deep despair and led him to re-annotate the Confucian classics and reinterpret the Bible. He promoted the role of the Bible and suppressed the Confucian books. In declaring a direct revelation from God, Hong established a religious authority independent of the Christian West. Though fundamentally negating the Confucian tradition, he drew on its ethical and moral teachings in his effort to purge the biblical passages of indecency and immorality. Biblical interpretation in Asia must first address the problem of accepting the Bible in the ＂non-biblical world＂ and for this the Taiping Bible provides an excellent example for exploring the critical issues involved in the Chinese context.