現代中國政教關係詮釋錯誤的起源

In the Beginning, There Were Hermeneutical Mistakes of Church-State Relations in Modern China

現代中國宗教政策導致宗教自由的緩慢與崎嶇發展，而這些政策的理念源自二十世紀初期政教關係概念傳入中國時，所發生的翻譯與詮釋錯誤。「政教分立」一詞被誤解為「政教分離」，而非美國原意、具有「政教相互制衡」意涵的「政教分立」。更糟的是，「政教分離」被國家用來合理化它對於宗教的控制，同時禁止宗教批判國家。二十世紀初期的中國國族主義更進一步滲入聖經的各種中文譯本，把各種人群團體都翻譯成國家或邦國，而使得聖經成為當代中國的愛國主義教材。這些詮釋的錯誤對於現代中國政教關係的持續影響，仍可見於《基督教愛國主義教材》以及中國官員與知識份子常抱持的六個錯誤的政教關係觀點。

The hectic and slow progress of religious freedom in China is a direct result of restrictive religious policies, which have been guided by hermeneutical mistakes about religion-state relations made in the early 1900s. The phrase “separation of state and church” was incorrectly translated and understood as total separation of state and church, instead of its American authentic meaning of “checks and balances between state and church.” Even worse, the phrase has been employed to justify the state's domination over religion, while forbidding religion from criticizing the state. Chinese nationalism in the early 1900s further permeated the Chinese versions of the Bible by mistranslating different human groups into the state, thus, transforming the Bible into a nationalist textbook for the Chinese. The continued impacts of these hermeneutical mistakes on church-state relations in modern China are evidenced by the Christian Textbook of Patriotism and six major misconceptions of church-state relations commonly held by Chinese officials and intellectuals.