Zero-sum Evangelism and Religious Policies of Pre-Modern Empires

在研究前现代帝国时，西方学术界倾向于强调前现代帝国较之民族国家对治下不同宗教和文化具有更大的包容度。本文提出，前现代帝国对国教以外的宗教的政策其实大不相同：有些帝国允许各种宗教自由实践和传播；有些帝国却严厉打击“异端”和“异教徒”，并强令统治下的人群改信国教。本文有以下两个贡献：一是按照对国教以外的宗教的“宽容度”对23个前现代帝国的宗教政策进行了区分，并将它们划分为6个梯队；二是对帝国宽容度的不同提出社会学的理论解释。这一理论的关键是“零和扩张”这一概念。本文的核心论点是：前现代帝国所尊奉的国教越具有零和性和扩张性，教权对政权的牵制越大，帝国就越不可能实行容忍多元、灵活变通的宗教政策，越倾向于打击“异端”和“异教徒”。或者说，决定前现代帝国宗教宽容程度的最重要因素不是国家能力，而是帝国所尊奉的国教的性质以及在此基础上形成的政教关系。

Recent scholarship of pre-modern empires likes to compare pre-modern empires with modern nation-states and stresses the propensity of pre-modern empires to tolerate diverse religions and cultures under their control. This emphasis, however, belies the fact that the religious policies of pre-modern empires differ significantly: While some allowed all kinds of religions to exist and flourish, others persecuted heretics and non-believers, and carried out forced conversions. This article examines the religious policies of 23 pre-modern empires and ranks them into six tiers according to their degree of toleration towards non-state religions. Arguing against the existing theory that highlights state capacity of empires as the key to explain their religious toleration, it proposes a new theory that stresses the nature of the state religion and the related state-religion relations. More specifically, it argues that pre-modern empires associated with a state religion that had a zero-sum mentality towards other religions and a strong drive to convert people tended to be intolerant towards non-state religions. Among these empires, those whose political power was more circumscribed by the power of the state religion are found to be even more religiously intolerant.

孙砚菲

欢迎阅读《社会学研究》！您是该文第4422位读者！