The aim of this study is to tell the history of Shin Buddhism in the continental United States. In order to familiarize the reader with Buddhism, a brief historical and doctrinal background is presented here.

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保羅和親鸞分別是基督宗教和淨土真宗的開創式人物，他們的思想為基督教神學和淨土理論的進一步發展奠定了基礎，拯救思想就是其中一個十分重要的方面。從某種程度上來說，宗教的終極關懷是讓世人從罪惡的現實社會中獲得拯救，不同的宗教對於實現拯救的途徑和拯救的結果有著不同的描述。對此，保羅和親鸞的拯救思想也主要是從這兩個方面展開的。儘管兩人處於不同的時代和社會背景當中，但是面對如何獲得拯救這樣同一個問題，兩人之間存在著很大的對話空間。因此，本文以保羅和親鸞的拯救思想為研究對象，嘗試進行有效的宗教對話。 / 從研究方法上看，本文採取的是文本研究與社會歷史研究相結合的方法，從宗教對話的角度入手，比較分析保羅和親鸞的拯救思想。也即是說，本文在分析保羅和親鸞具體文本內容的同時，也考察了兩人各自的社會歷史處境，從一個思想發展的動態過程中進行比較研究。 / 從具體內容上看，本文的主體由三大部分構成。 / 第一部分以“拯救的途徑為主題，重點分析保羅和親鸞對於信心這一概念的理解。在兩人的拯救思想中，信心是尤為重要的，被認為是獲得拯救的途徑。然而，在對於信心的來源和本質的理解以及信心與行為的關係等其他問題上，兩人也有各自不同的詮釋。從思想發展的角度來看，保羅和親鸞關於信心的思想都針對自身處境的需要，從不同的方面對於傳統信心理論進行了更新。 / 第二部分以“拯救的結果為主題，即保羅和親鸞期望達致的天國和淨土。首先分別概述保羅和親鸞對於天國和淨土概念的使用情況，然後從天國和淨土實現的時間、方式和對象等方面展開具體的比較。同時也發現，兩人對於天國和淨土的表達和詮釋有著各自獨特的理解和諸多創新之處，這也正是兩人對於傳統思想的一種繼承和發展。 / 第三部分重點考察拯救思想與社會場景之間的互動關係。通過前文的比較研究我們發現，保羅和親鸞的拯救思想是一個不斷更新和發展的過程。事實上，這個過程也是一種處境化的結果，與兩人各自的宗教經驗以及宗教社會處境有著密切的聯繫。保羅和親鸞拯救思想上的種種創新正是為了適應信仰群體和社會場景的需要而進行的變革，而這也對基督教和淨土真宗的持續發展起到了巨大的推動作用。 / 總的來說，本文不但從思想內容上對於保羅和親鸞的拯救思想進行比較研究，更重要的是，從思想發展的角度來看，本文將兩人拯救思想的發展與各自具體的生活場景相結合進行對話。由此發現，保羅和親鸞的拯救思想都經歷了拯救模式的轉變，而這種轉變從根本上來說是將信仰群體擴大化，實現普世的拯救。因此，通過本文的比較研究，也期望從宗教對話的角度豐富對於保羅和親鸞拯救思想的理解。 / Religion involves having an ultimate concern, which is to achieve a condition of permanent well-being, salvation. Focusing on the concept of salvation advocated respectively by the Apostle Paul, one of the pioneers of Christianity and by Shinran, the founder of Jōdo Shinshū, in particular with their fundamental contribution to the development of Christian theology and the Pure Land theory, this cross-religious comparative study examines their teachings on the way of salvation and the results of salvation for the purpose of creating spaces for inter-religious encounter, understanding and dialogue. / Textual analysis and social-historical analysis are the methods used in this comparative study to explore the dynamics and transformations in the development of the Apostle Paul’s and Shinran’s concept of salvation, which involve a systematic close-reading of texts against the backdrop of their different social, historical and cultural values. / This study is divided into three parts. Part one focuses on the concept of “Faith. Both the Apostle Paul and Shinran preach the message that the salvation is through/by faith. However, they understand differently from each other regarding what sources of faith are, what faith is and what the relationship between faith and practice is. Indeed, the Apostle Paul’s and Shinran’s teachings on “Faith are born out of their personal circumstances in their social, historical and cultural contexts, which enrich and develop the concept of “Faith within and along their different religious traditions. / Part two reviews the two different results of salvation proposed by the Apostle Paul with “inheriting the Kingdom of God and by Shinran with “reborning in the Pure Land. I detail their differences in their usage of the terms of “the Kingdom of God and “the Pure Land and their discussions on how, when and who could finally achieve the salvation. I argue that both the Apostle Paul and Shinran further the development of Christian theology and the Pure Land theory with their specific explanations and understandings through inheritance and renovation. / Part three situates the Apostle Paul’s and Shinran’s concept of salvation in their own social, historical and cultural contexts. Indeed, the dynamics and transformations in the development of their concepts of salvation are closely related to their personal religious experiences and the social-religious backgrounds in which they were located. Their transformations and renovations instead satisfied the needs and values of their followers, and moreover, enhanced the development of Christian theology and the Pure Land theory. / This cross-religious comparative study is therefore an inter-religious dialogue by focusing on the analysis of the Apostle Paul’s and Shinran’s salvation with an emphasis on their theoretical developments against the backdrop of their specific social, historical, and cultural contexts. In fact, the Apostle Paul and Shinran increased followers with an offer of universal salvation with their theoretical transformations and renovations. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 陳曦. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 138-151). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / Chen Xi. / 中文摘要 --- p.I / Abstract --- p.III / 致謝 --- p.V / Chapter 第一章 --- 緒論 --- p.1 / Chapter 第一節 --- 研究解題 --- p.1 / Chapter 第二節 --- 研究回顧 --- p.3 / Chapter 第三節 --- 問題的提出 --- p.15 / Chapter 第四節 --- 研究方法 --- p.16 / Chapter 第五節 --- 資料選取與學術意義 --- p.20 / Chapter 第二章 --- 拯救的途徑：信心 --- p.22 / Chapter 第一節 --- 世人的困境 --- p.22 / Chapter 1.1 --- 對於人的理解 --- p.22 / Chapter 1.2 --- 對於世界的理解 --- p.25 / Chapter 1.3 --- 小結 --- p.27 / Chapter 第二節 --- 信心的內容 --- p.27 / Chapter 2.1 --- 文本分析 --- p.27 / Chapter 2.2 --- 信心的來源 --- p.41 / Chapter 2.3 --- 信心的本質 --- p.42 / Chapter 2.4 --- 信心和行為的關係 --- p.45 / Chapter 2.5 --- 其他方面 --- p.60 / Chapter 第三節 --- 信心的繼承和發展 --- p.62 / Chapter 3.1 --- 保羅 --- p.62 / Chapter 3.2 --- 親鸞 --- p.73 / Chapter 第四節 --- 總結 --- p.79 / Chapter 第三章 --- 拯救的結果：天國和淨土 --- p.81 / Chapter 第一節 --- 世人被拯救 --- p.81 / Chapter 1.1 --- 天國 --- p.82 / Chapter 1.2 --- 淨土 --- p.83 / Chapter 1.3 --- 小結 --- p.84 / Chapter 第二節 --- 天國和淨土的內容 --- p.84 / Chapter 2.1 --- 文本分析 --- p.84 / Chapter 2.2 --- 時間上：現在或者將來 --- p.97 / Chapter 2.3 --- 方式上：主動或者被動 --- p.98 / Chapter 2.4 --- 對象上：善人或者惡人 --- p.99 / Chapter 2.5 --- 其他方面 --- p.101 / Chapter 第三節 --- 天國和淨土的繼承和發展 --- p.102 / Chapter 3.1 --- 保羅 --- p.102 / Chapter 3.2 --- 親鸞 --- p.106 / Chapter 第四節 --- 總結 --- p.109 / Chapter 第四章 --- 拯救思想與社會場景的互動關係 --- p.111 / Chapter 第一節 --- 個人宗教信仰的轉變 --- p.111 / Chapter 1.1 --- 保羅：從基督信仰的迫害者到傳揚者 --- p.111 / Chapter 1.2 --- 親鸞：從天臺修行者到淨土信仰者 --- p.114 / Chapter 1.3 --- 小結：宗教信仰的重新選擇 --- p.117 / Chapter 第二節 --- 信仰群體的狀況 --- p.117 / Chapter 2.1 --- 保羅：猶太人和外邦人 --- p.117 / Chapter 2.2 --- 親鸞：僧侶和凡夫 --- p.120 / Chapter 2.3 --- 小結：信仰群體擴大化 --- p.122 / Chapter 第三節 --- 宗教社會處境 --- p.123 / Chapter 3.1 --- 保羅：羅馬帝國統治時期 --- p.123 / Chapter 3.2 --- 親鸞：日本社會轉型時期 --- p.126 / Chapter 3.3 --- 小結：宗教社會生活中的罪惡 --- p.128 / Chapter 第四節 --- 總結 --- p.128 / Chapter 第五章 --- 結論 --- p.131 / Chapter 第一節 --- 內容歸納 --- p.132 / Chapter 第二節 --- 方法反思 --- p.135 / 參考書目 --- p.138 / Chapter 一、 --- 有關保羅研究 --- p.138 / Chapter 二、 --- 有關親鸞研究 --- p.145 / Chapter 三、 --- 有關宗教比較研究 --- p.149