둔와신후담의 서학비판이론과 쟁점

Abstract

Shin Hu-tam (愼後聃, 1702-1761), a leading scholar of the Sǒngho school, is the most systematic critic of the Anti-Western Faction (Kongsǒpa) known for their opposition to the Western learning (Shǒhak) in the late Chosǒn dynasty. In his work titled Comments on Western Learning (西學辨, Sǒhakpyǒn), Shin focuses on the basic doctrinal differences between Confucianism and Christianity. According to his analysis, the Catholic doctrine was a distinctive contrast to Confucian thought in the fundamentals of their respective world-views. Shin points out that the core of Catholic doctrine is the conception of tienzhu (Lord of Heaven) and linghun (anima, soul). He insists that the Confucian conception of ultimate being and the soul is completely different from that of Christianity. This was highlighted when the Catholic conception of ultimate being and soul stimulated many christians to reject the confucian ancestor worship in late Chosǒn dynasty. Shin's discussion shows the characteristic of doctrinal disputes between scholasticism and Neo-Confuciaism. From his viewpoint, Catholicism was a heterodoxy like Buddhism that did not seek public righteousness but sought private gain. Shin's rejection of western science as well as Catholic doctrine can be characterized by a Sino-centric consciousness that had been prevalent during the Chosǒn dynasty.