Was Christianity a tool of imperialism?
By Tin-chee Lo盧天賜
In logic, there is a law called “the law of rational inference.” It states that we can only use what is known to infer what is questionable in order to arrive at a legitimate conclusions.
False Association:
Fact one: United States is the most scientific country in the world.
Fact Two: United States has a river called Mississippi River.
Inference: The reason that the United States is the most scientific country in the world is because she has a Mississippi River.
We all know that this is an illegitimate deduction.
Now let’s look at the subject question:
Fact one: Imperialism made infiltration in China in the 19th century.
Fact two: Missionary began to make inroad in China during the same period.
Inference: Christianity was a tool of imperialism.
Is this conclusion reasonable? Before this question is answered, one must first ask what are (1) Imperialism, and (2) Christianity.
What is Imperialism?
Imperialism is the creation and maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationship, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination. (Wikipedia)
What is Christianity?
It is not the opinion of certain missionary organization.
It is not the opinion of certain denomination.
It is not the opinion of certain Christians, no matter how famous they may be.
It is not about Christian characters, or morality.
It is all about a relationship with the living Lord Jesus Christ.
It is Jesus’ opinion that counts because His opinion is the Truth.
Jesus’ Empire is not of this world.
Jesus’ economy is not worldly.
Jesus’ emphasizes humility and submissiveness, not domination and subordination of others.
Jesus’ culture is described in the Sermon on the Mount.
Jesus’ territory is spiritual.
Rational Inference:
You see, Imperialism and Christianity are two totally unrelated, if not opposite, systems. To make association between the two in order to debunk Christianity is a grave prejudice. Furthermore, one has to note that Christianity in those days were not welcome by the Chinese people who considered it as “foreign religion”. If the Imperialists wanted to influence China, they surely would not have used such unwelcome thing as their tool. Christians intended to follow Christ’s Great Commission to evangelize the whole world, so it was possible that they took advantage the Imperialism’s door-opening opportunity to introduce Christ to the Chinese people. To take advantage the opportunity created by Imperialism to achieve the evangelistic agenda is one thing, to be used as a tool by Imperialism to accomplish the imperialistic agenda is a totally different thing. It would be more reasonable to say that Imperialism is the tool for Christianity to advance their agenda. Ultimately, what it counts is Jesus’ opinion. Jesus would never agree the assertion that Christianity is a tool used by Imperialism.
I believe the approach I answer this particular question can be extended to many other questions of this sort.
基督教是帝国主义的侵略工具?
高玲 譯
邏輯系統中有一律被稱為 “合理的推論 law of rational inference.” 意即, 我們只能從巳知的東西推論到未知的東西好讓我們能够獲得合法的結論.
错误的关联
事实一：美国是世界上科学最发达的国家。
事实二：美国有一条河叫密西西比河。
推论：美国是世界上科学最发达的国家，是因为它有一个密西西比河。
我们都知道，这一推论是很可笑的。這是巳知的結論.
那么以下的关联合乎逻辑吗？
巳知事实一：帝国主义在19世纪侵略中国。
巳知事实二：传教士在同一时期进入中国。
推论：基督教是帝国主义的侵略工具。這是可懷疑的的結論.
这个推论合理吗？
什么是帝国主义？
帝国主义是在国与国之间建立和维护不平等的经济、文化和领土的关系，它通常是建立在霸权与从属地位的基础上。（维基百科）
什么基督教教义？
它不是某些传教组织的观点。
它不是某个宗派的观点。
它不是某些基督徒的观点，无论他们多么有名。
它不是关于基督徒的品格或道德修养。
它完全是关于我们与生命的主–耶稣基督的关系。
只有主耶稣的观点才算数，因为祂的观点是真理。耶稣的观点是什麽?
耶稣的国度不属于这个世界。
耶稣的经济觀不是世俗的经济觀。
耶稣强调谦卑和顺从，而不是建立霸权和从属的地位。
耶稣的文化都描述在“登山宝训”中（注1）。與帝国主义的文化觀不同.
耶稣的领土是属灵的。
你看，帝国主义和基督教是两个，即使不是相反，也是完全无关的系统。为了反对基督教而把两者连在一起是一个严重的偏见。此外，在那时代, 基督教不受中国人欢迎，被视为“洋教”。如果帝国主义要影响中国，他们肯定不会用这种不受欢迎的東西作工具。那时的基督徒非常愿意跟随耶稣赋予的大使命，即把福音传遍整个世界；很有可能是，他们利用了帝国主义打开中国大门的机会，向中国人传道。如果我們說,“帝国主义是基督教傳福音的工具” 那反而更合理. 最终，帝国主义者甚至作出这样的关联；耶稣基督绝不会作出这样的关联说，“基督教是帝国主义的侵略工具”。这是最后裁决，因為基督的話才是代表基督教。
（注 1：“登山宝训”是一段耶稣在山上给门徒的讲道， 记载在圣经《马太福音中》的5-7章中。http://www.bbintl.org/bible/gb/gbMat5.html ）
