In this thesis, I outline the normative relevance of religious political parties as carriers of values in the context of contemporary political theory. The central argument of my thesis is that religious political parties are, in ideal terms, vital institutional tools for channelling religious claims into the public political realm of liberal democratic polities, in a way that favours democracy. The reason for my claim is that there is a set of normative criteria that all political parties ought to comply with. These include loyal opposition (i.e. the endorsement of the constitutional and institutional framework in which parties operate), acknowledgement and respect of political pluralism and commitment to pursuing power only through legal means. These normative criteria are grounded in the idea that political parties are “bilingual”, i.e. they occupy a unique position between civil society and public political realm. By complying with these criteria political parties can contribute in channelling and moderating religious and other perfectionist claims in a way that renders them suitable for democratic politics. Furthermore I argue that religious political parties are best incorporated, in ideal terms, by a regime of nonconstitutional pluralism, where no religious faith is officially recognized in the constitution but the political guarantees exist for the expression of religious views in the public political realm through religious political parties. Finally, I examine two specific religious parties, the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi - AKP) in Turkey and the former Christian Democratic Party (Democrazia Cristiana - DC) in Italy, in order to assess to which extent they have complied with the normative criteria of party politics and, therefore, contributed in enhancing democracy in their respective polities.

本研究探討基督宗教處理對正因為宗教的因素構成全球範圍內衝突的重要根源之一，本研究的核心問題是，基督宗教在強調宗教平等與多元化的社會中，處理與其他宗教的關係的理論依據是什麼？有什麼宗教對話的理論可以作為宗教對話的指導？宗教對話所面對現實情況是什麼？基督宗教如何與其他宗教進行對話？兩個台灣曾經進行過的宗教對話的案例的分析意義。 首先介紹基督宗教處理對其他宗教傳統的三種理論，宗教排外主義、宗教包容主義和宗教多元主義。希望從中了解其他的宗教傳統，對於基督宗教而言的意義是什麼。在強調多元性的社會中，基督宗教傳統的獨特性應如何理解處理。然後，我們將檢視這三種理論，會如何影響宗教對話的進行。並且深入介紹一些宗教對話的理論模式與觀點，其中會介紹的有司威德樂的宗教對話理論和原則和潘尼卡(Panikkar)的宗教對話理論和原則。希望從中了解宗教對話應如何進行。 最後將會進行兩個個案分析。第一個個案是在一九五零年代到六零年代的論辯。選擇這個宗教對話的個案原因在於參與者屬於傳統佛教與正統基督教的對話。由於這一次的對話在戰後的一個非常獨特的歷史脈絡下進行，基督教此時的傳教活動非常積極主動，有時甚至到挑釁的程度，而佛教相對下處於一個比較弱勢的地位。佛教在迫於情勢之下與基督教進行一連串的論辯對話。對話的激烈程度，亦是比較罕見的。 第二個個案是中華信義神學院與現代禪的宗教對話，時間上相隔超過四十年，現代禪是一個佛教新興宗派，創辦人李元松在一九八零年代末期，由於不滿傳統佛教的義理、修行方式、及種種亂像，所以對傳統佛教進行過一段時候的批判。到後來成立了由一在家居士所組成的修行教團現代禪。由被傳統佛教視為付佛外道，到慢慢被一些佛教內人士承認。這是一個很獨特的個案，由一個佛教新興宗派與基督教進行對話是非常少見，並且有時代的意義。而且雙方進行的氣氛，跟第一個個案相比有很大的差別。