成在此,败在此:解读唐代景教文献的启示

Success or Failure: Enlightenment From Interpretation and Contemplation of Nestorian Scriptures in Tang Dynasty

景教对基督神、人二性的信仰教理 ,在它入华与中国非神性现世文化碰撞交融时 ,更彰显了它神、人二性的张力特点。现存汉语景教文献的解读 ,不仅清楚地显示其“明明景教 ,言归我唐”的中国化与世俗化的努力 ,同时又同样清楚地表明其“强名言兮演三一”的神性化教义及其辔勒的两难困境。这既是它在唐代风光两个多世纪的重要原因 ,也是它最终建立不了中国景教神学并被一朝灭教而烟消灰灭的缘故。可谓 :成在此 。

Nestorianism believes that Jesus is characterized by both humanity and divinity. With its entrance into China, Nestorianism exerted its impact on and meanwhile lived in harmony with the non-theological Chinese culture, which demonstrated its feature of belief more evidently. The interpretations of the eight existing Nestorian scriptures not only demonstrate its great efforts to humanize and secularize itself in China as 'glorious Nestorianism, which is spreading into the Tang Empire', but also show its theological doctrines and its dilemma in which it was not adaptable to Chinese culture as it 'attempted in vain to explain Trinity' to Chinese. All this contributed to both its golden age which lasted about two centuries in Tang dynasty and to its failure to establish Nestorian theology in China and to the fact that it perished unexpectedly.