基督教與民主政治之制度連結

Abstract

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。

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 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.