| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立臺北大學 === 社會學系 === 98 === Civil society as a sociological concept increasingly draws attention of students of religious sociologists. However, only a very few empirical studies have been done in this area of study. The purpose of this paper is to explore the possibility of religious groups in the making of civil society. In light of secularization theory and theory of public religion, this paper tries to tackle with the issue of Christian churches involving in public affairs. A social survey on three churches in Taipei addressing to this issue is administered.
The study finds that denominational membership and the individual belief are the two major sources of Christians’ differential participation in public affairs. Members of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan in average, in comparison with those of the other two churches, show the highest interest in public affairs. Besides, the individual piety makes a differences too. However its impact is comparatively low. The differences that membership make can be traced back to the different traits of these three churches. In other words, different churches beliefs and therefore their religious spirits, have a clear bearing on their members’ differential motivation for participating in public affairs. Specifically, the church emphasizing more on social gospel will inspire its members to be more active in public affairs, whereas the church tending toward evangelicalism will be otherwise.
The limited scope of this social survey prevents us from generalizing the research results. Yet, as a preliminary study, this paper reveals strong association between denominations and their members differential interests in public affairs. However, the general tendency of religious privatization in Taiwan that other studies have revealed may be a deterrent for the development of public religions in the long run.
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