西學與福音：傳教士中文報刊研究（一八一五–一八七二）

Abstract

本文將檢視二十世紀以前基督新教傳教士基於傳福音的目的，為中國讀者所編纂發行的報刊，探究其所採用的論述中，西學與福音之間的互動關係。面對普遍對西方文明一無所知，且相當排外的中國人，究竟要如何達到傳教的目的？以科學、人文等西學知識啟蒙與教育中國人，是否僅是傳教的手段，或者已躍升成為新教報刊的編纂目的？或者，該進一步問的是，傳教的定義究竟為何？為了貼近傳教士視角回答上述問題，本文採取細讀新教報刊的方式，揀取具代表性的報刊進行文本分析，並佐以二手文獻補足二十世紀以前新教報刊的大致樣貌。順著新教報刊的發展時序與歷程，本文將從其創始到二十世紀前分為三個時期，包括一八一五年至鴉片戰爭前；鴉片戰爭後至一八六〇年代中期；一八六〇年代中期至二十世紀前。本文將逐一探究各時期新教報刊的面貌與特色，分析西學與福音之間互動與消長的關係，如何體現在報刊的文章撰寫與編排上。本文意欲指出西學與福音的概念在二十世紀前的新教報刊中，並非一成不變的概念，二者實具有不斷辯證與互動的關聯，其關係足以帶給研究者深刻的啟發。

This thesis will examine the magazines published by Protestant missionaries for the purpose of preaching the gospel to the Chinese people before the twentieth century, and explore the changing relationship between science and the gospel in the magazines’ narratives. How could the gospel be preached to the Chinese people who were mostly ignorant with the Western civilization and also were resistant to anything related to it? While the missionaries were trying to enlighten the Chinese people with knowledge of natural as well as social science, was it still for the sole aim of preaching the gospel, or has it become the purpose of the magazines indeed? Or, the question should rather be: what is the definition of preaching the gospel? To answer these questions with the perspective of the missionaries themselves, this thesis will investigate the magazines carefully and select some to analyze in detail, while referring to other secondary sources to help capture the whole picture of Protestant magazines before the twentieth century. Digging along with the time sequence and development of the magazines, this thesis will divide this span of time into three periods, with the first one starting from 1815 to the Opium war, the second from after the Opium war to the middle of the 1860s, and the third from the middle of the 1860s to the end of the nineteenth century. This thesis will go through the outlook and features of the magazines in each period, and analyze how the articles themselves and the way they were compiled reflect the relationship and interactions between science and the gospel. In the conclusion, this thesis will point out the concepts of science and the gospel in the Protestant magazines before the twentieth century were not constant but rather changing. With the two sometimes cooperating and sometimes striving against one another, it should give readers much insight into the missionary activities at that time.