1 基督教與民主政治之制度連結 計畫編號：NSC 89-2414-H-004-038 執行期限：89 年 8 月 1 日至 90 年 7 月 31 日 主持人：郭承天 [email protected] 執行機構及單位名稱：國立政治大學政治系 計畫參與人員：藍於琛 [email protected] 執行機構及單位名稱：國立政治大學政治系 一、 中文摘要 基督教與民主政治有必然的關係嗎？從美國 殖民地和建國的經驗來看，基督教和民主政治兩 者之間的關係，雖然不像許多基督徒學者所描述 的，有理論和邏輯的必然性，但是也不像其他學 者所主張的，兩者之間沒有任何的關係。本文認 為歐洲新教的神學和宗教制度，在移植到美洲殖 民地的過程之中，發生了很大的轉變，也就是本 土化。這本土化持續的進行，形成了民主神學以 及民主宗教制度，到十八世紀中期，終而促成了 美國的獨立和建立民主政體。 美洲殖民地的民主神學，並不是一套蓄意發 展成的嚴謹學術理論，而是彼此鬆散相連的民主 神學論証。它包括了呼召、政府契約、革命論、 擴大的平等觀、對君王和貴族政體的批判，以及 政教分立的論証。經由殖民地思想家創意的解 經，以及選擇性的採用歐洲民主自由思想，這一 套民主神學成為美國獨立和制憲的宗教合法性基 礎。 殖民地的民主神學並非象牙塔裡的理論，而 是殖民地人民教會生活方式的寫照。他們在教會 制度中發展出這一套民主神學，也在教會制度中 實踐了民主神學。最主要的教會民主制度，是信 仰自由制度、平信徒參與教會事務制度、以及會 眾制度。這些教會民主制度，使得殖民地人民在 建立全國性的民主政體以前，就已經習慣了民主 生活。這不但讓美國成為世界的第一個民主國 家，也幫助美國的民主政體歷經內憂外患和屹立 不倒。 關鍵詞：美國歷史、基督教、民主、新制度論 Abstract
Do Christianity and democracy have a necessary causal relationship? Based on the analysis of American history of colonies and independence, the relationship between Christianity and democracy is not as close as many Christian scholars have argued. Nor are they totally unrelated, as other scholars have suggested. This paper concludes that in the process of their transplantation over American colonies, European Protestant theology and religious institutions underwent great transformation, i.e., localization. The continuous localization led to the establishment of a democratic theology and democratic religious institutions, which finally contributed to the American independence and the establishment of a democratic polity in the mid-1970s.
The democratic theology of American colonies was not a meticulous academic theory by systematic designs. It was rather a pool of democratic theological arguments loosely coupled together. It included the arguments related to calling, contractual theory, theory of revolution, expanded conception of equality, criticism of monarchy and aristocracy, and the separation of church and state. Through the creative hermaneutics and selective interpretation of European liberal thoughts, colonial thinkers established this theology of democracy in order to provide religious legitimacy for the independence and democratic constitution.
The democratic theology of the colonies was not a theory of the ivory tower, but a reflection of the real life of church life of the colonists. They
2 developed and consolidated this democratic theology in church institutions. The major democratic church institutions included the freedom of conscience, the participation in church affairs by lay believers, and congregational system. With these democratic church institutions, the colonists had been accustomed to democratic life even before the democratic government was established. The democratic theology and democratic church institutions not only created the first democracy in the world, but also helped the democracy weather through many domestic and international turbulence.
Keywords: American history, Christianity, democracy, new institutionalism. 二、 計畫緣由與目的 許多學者認為基督教與近代民主制度的建立有必 然的相關。他們引用聖經中涉及博愛、自由、平 等、人民主權、人權保障等相關經文，來說明基 督教教義與民主政治原則的一致性。然而，這些 引証大都犯了詮釋學上的錯誤，更多的是低估了 民主政治實際運行所依賴的民主制度。本研究試 圖從新制度主義的角度，探討基督教與民主政治 的制度連結。這裡所謂的制度連結，包含了民主 意識型態的建立，以及民主制度行為的產生。民 主意識型態的建立，主要包括對於聖經的再詮釋 過程，使得神學思想與人本的民主思想得以結 合，取得時代的合法性。民主制度行為的產生， 主要是指民主意識型態經由何種正式與非正式的 制度管道，實際影響民眾的政治行為和對民主的 認知。本研究所包含的時空範圍，是從十七世紀 到十八世紀末期美國民主建立的過程。十六世紀 新教改革以後到二十世紀初的歐洲經驗，將用來 作為例証式的對比，以說明新教改革和近代民主 思想多起源於歐洲，然而由於歐洲神學與民主思 想結合的困難，以及缺乏培養民主行為的制度， 使得歐洲民主政府的建立比美國晚了一百五十年 左右。最後，根據美國的經驗，本研究將歸納出 制度改革建議，以適用於台灣的政治宗教環境。 三、 計畫成果與討論 本計畫在理論上和實証研究上，都有超出原計畫 所預期的貢獻。在理論上，更精密的釐清民主神 學與宗教民主制度的內涵。在實証研究上，也具 體找出美國宗教與民主的詳細互動關係。本計畫 將成為接續研究台灣政教關係的主要比較對象。 本計畫的成果已寫成約兩萬五千字的論文，計畫 投稿美歐季刊出版。 四、 主要參考文獻
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