Worldliness and Transcendence, the difference of Daoism and Christianity in Their Primitive Development Dr. Zha Changping
Abstract:
This paper studies the difference of the worldliness of Daoism and the transcendence of Christianity during their primitive development according to the ethos of their era when they came into being, and the faith and political attitudes of their founders. Daoism inherited originally the worldliness in the traditional sorcery, witchery by the immortals, the philosophy of history which explains the development of the ancient Chinese history through the circulation of the five constant virtues including benevolence, righteousness, propriety, knowledge and faith corresponding to the five primary elements---metal, wood, water, fire and earth, the books about the occult. This clearly contradistinguishes from the ethos of the transcendence of Christianity during its primitive development embodying in that both many Jews and the gentiles in Palestine were eagerly hoping for Messiah. Although the primitive Christianity did not deny the value of the fleshy life, in the mind of the evangelists what Jesus proclaimed was that one does not live by bread alone, but by every God’s word coming from God’s Spirit breathes. In another word, the primitive Christianity is to lead its believers into God spiritual kingdom. Furthermore, unlike the primitive Daoism, its aim is to build the worldly kingdom in the present age. The creators in the primitive Daoism longed for the fulfillment of the earthly kingdom where everybody could be alive for ever and ever, therefore they uprose against the government of the kings in the Weijin Dynasties. They had a hostile political position against the governments in their ages. On the contrary, the creator of Christianity, Jesus of Nazareth, answered the Roman governor Pilate, ‘My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here’( NRS John 18:36). He obeyed to the judge of Pilate, not making insurrection against the worldly Roman government. Jesus’ obedient action and attitude towards the real politics gave the feature of transcendence to the primitive Christianity.
初期道教，指公元二世纪末（东汉末年）至六世纪末（南北朝【420－589】前）的道教。其核心教义为“长生不死”、“肉体飞升”或“肉体成仙”[①]。对于个体的道教徒而言，这意味着“精、气、神三者混一而成仙”；对于作为一个宗教共同体而言，其目的是“天、地、人三者合一以致太平”，达成肉体生命的共在。在时间上，道教的初期相当于基督教的早期，即逼迫时期（100－313）和国教时期（313－590）。与之对应的初期基督教，应当指主后30－100年期间，其标志为耶稣复活、升天事件与使徒约翰完成启示录（约95年）。本文将主要从初期道教与基督教诞生时的时代精神特质、创立者的信仰态度两个方面，审视它们所表现出的现世性与超越性的差异。 2007-02-09 文章来自《中国免费论文网》逻辑学论文论文频道 http://lunwen.52xoyo.com
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