“名”亡“实”存——基督教信仰与盎格鲁—撒克逊英格兰树木崇拜的融合

The Name Disappeared While the Reality A Remained:The Integration of Christian Faith and Tree Worship in Anglo-Saxon England

在异教信仰中,树木是重要的偶像。作为一神信仰的宗教,基督教严禁包括树木在内的偶像崇拜。但事实上树木在《圣经》中仍然扮演着重要的角色,甚至起着“偶像”的作用。树木不但是宗教修辞的介质,具有重要的象征意义,而且是集会地或王室举行加冕典礼的场所,与基督徒的生活息息相关。基督教会正是借助这种相似性,对自身进行调适,对树木崇拜进行改造,使两者融合起来,促进了基督教在英格兰的传播。这种融合主要表现在三个方面:树木崇拜与圣徒崇拜的融合;树木崇拜与基督教堂的融合;树木崇拜与十字架崇拜的融合。

Trees were powerful icons in the pagan belief of Anglo-Saxon England.Though the worship of idols,including trees,were strictly forbidden in the Christian religions,in reality,trees played an important,even iconic role in the Bible.Tress,not only as the media of religious rhetoric incorporated a significant symbolism,but also as meeting places and royal inauguration sites were bound up with Christian life.By means of the similar role of trees,Christian Church consciously integrated tree worship into the Christian religions,such as the integration of the healing properties of trees into the veneration of holy men,the replacement of sacred trees by churches,or the Cross,so as to promote the spread of Christianity in Anglo-Saxon England.