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撮 要

「靈魂是否存在？」是極富爭議性也對人觀極為重要的問題，基督教傳統相信二元論（dualism），但一些當代神學家（如格林）和基督徒哲學家（如梅菲）則提倡一種基督教唯物論（Christian materialism），認為這立場不單更能回應時代的挑戰，其實也更符合聖經。本文對這種基督教物理主義作出評論，我首先指出從基督教傳統角度看甚有問題，接着我從哲學和神學角度探討基督教唯物論所面對的理性困難。我的結論是：基督教若放棄二元論，而向唯物論靠攏，其實得不償失，並非回應時代挑戰的良好方案。

ABSTRACT

“Does the soul exist?” This is a very important but also a very controversial question. The Christian tradition tends to believe in dualism, but some contemporary theologians (e.g., Joel Green) & Christian philosophers (e.g., Nancey Murphy) propose a kind of Christian materialism. They think that by adopting this position, Christianity not only can cope better with contemporary challenges, we can also be more faithful to the biblical tradition. This paper provides a critical evaluation of Christian materialism. I will first point out that this position is in conflict with our Christian traditions. Then I show that Christian materialism in fact faces rational difficulties from both philosophical & theological perspectives. I conclude that adopting Christian materialism is not a satisfactory way to cope with contemporary challenges because the costs outweigh the benefits.

原載於《建道學刊》61期（2024年1月），頁51-81。