Roughly speaking，Humanities scholarship can traditionally be divided into two categories，The first category is the study of history and philology，The other category is the study of philosophy and theology。relatively speaking，The former category is rational and scientific academic research，The latter category is dogmatic、Scholastic theology and biblical studies。But，After the establishment bet365 premier league odds modern humanities academic system，Including philosophy、Many humanities disciplines including theology and religious studies，Both must be studies in history and philology，i.e. rational and scientific academic research。

　　Renan: A bet365 premier league odds with philological achievements

1848，The 25-year-old French religious scientist Ernest Renan， 1823-1892) once said: "Modern spirit，i.e. rationalism、Criticism、Liberalism，It was born on the same day as philology。Chinese scholars are the founders of modern spirit。”Renan calls himself an “instinct philologist”，Others call him the "embodiment of modernity" in the West。He was one bet365 premier league odds most famous French humanities scholars in the 19th century，In classical languages ​​(Semitic)、History bet365 premier league odds Origin of Early Christianity、Theology、Philosophy、Political theory and Orientalism and many other fields，Both have many important inventions and achievements。His writings，Such as "The Origin of Language", "The Life of Jesus", "History bet365 premier league odds Origin of Christianity", "History bet365 premier league odds Israelites", "Islam and Science", "The Future of Science", etc.，They are all humanistic masterpieces with far-reaching influence。However，Can make Renan an outstanding modern humanities scholar、The only way for thinkers，Undoubtedly, it is the philology that he has devoted his whole life to.。

Renan’s hometown is a small town called Treguier in the Brittany region of northwest France。He grew up in a devout Catholic family，Received the influence of Catholic faith and the cultivation of Catholic theology from an early age，From hometown to Paris，Has been receiving theological training in the monastery。Because of his outstanding talent since childhood，Therefore, it has received the attention bet365 premier league odds church and the key training of many theological masters，He himself also regards becoming a Catholic priest as his vocation in life。But，With the continuous deepening of academic training in Catholic theology，His secular language、The understanding of humanistic knowledge such as philosophy and history has also been deepened，Gradually becoming more religious、Theology and Scientific Reason、There is an increasingly serious cognitive conflict between free will。Especially when he applied philological methods such as Historical Criticism and Higher Criticism in the German academic tradition that he most admired to the textual study bet365 premier league odds Bible，This conflict becomes increasingly irreconcilable，It even directly led to the collapse of his faith in God and Jesus，He finally broke away from the Catholic Church，Become a secular philologist。

Renan’s textual philological research on the Bible shows，bet365 premier league odds not the gospel of God，Jesus is not the Son of God，He is more like a historical figure。Whether it is the Old Testament or the New Testament，The different chapters should be written by a specific author in different time periods，The gospel they convey、Dogma，Story told、History，Language spoken、Myths and symbols, etc.，Not consistent、Impeccable。Opposite，They are written by different authors，From different eras and social and cultural backgrounds，They should all be the objects of study by philologists，The discovery and correct interpretation of its meaning are only things that philologists can do。

Obviously，Philology changed Renan from a devout Catholic to a rationalist、Modern humanities scholar marked by free thought and critical spirit。Philosophical Studies bet365 premier league odds Bible and Religion，Finally overturned the authority of Catholic theology，Break the spiritual and ideological constraints imposed by Catholic dogma，It not only gives Renan an independent spirit and free thoughts，Converting the study of theology (religion) and philosophy into a science、Rational Humanities，And it opened up a rationality for the world、Freedom、A new era of independence and critical spirit。Without a doubt，The modern spirit advocated by Renan，It is the basic spirit of Chinese literature，It is also the most basic principle and the most important symbol of modernity。

　　Spinoza: Based the truth of bet365 premier league odds on science

Actually，Since classical times，The study bet365 premier league odds Bible is a typical textual philology study，To the Old Testament bet365 premier league odds Bible、New Testament in Hebrew、Determination of Greek and Latin texts、Annotations and Comparative Studies，Is an important part bet365 premier league odds practice of philology in the classical era。Just as the commentary on Homer was the most important tradition of philology in the Alexandrian era，The commentary on the Bible is a model style of philological practice among Christian scholars。After entering the Middle Ages，The study bet365 premier league odds Bible with textual philology as the main method was replaced by the allegorical method of interpreting the Bible under the control of scholasticism。People think that the spirit bet365 premier league odds Bible is not hidden under the text，But it is reflected in the text，What we can see from the words bet365 premier league odds Bible should be multi-layered meanings，The spiritual meaning is far more important than the literal meaning。The interpretation method under the influence of scholasticism pays more attention to theology、Preaching and practice，Chinese literature was forgotten。However，Finally able to break medieval scholasticism、The constraints and shackles imposed by theology on human thought，It is still philology that realizes the modern enlightenment bet365 premier league odds human spirit。

Obviously，The emergence of modernity and the spirit of modernism was far earlier than Renan’s time，One of its pioneers was a philologist who had a similar experience to Renan，He is a great enlightenment thinker、Dutch Philosopher、Theologian Spinoza (Baruch de Spinoza, 1632—1677）。Spinoza's "Tractatus Theologiae" is a charter document of Western modernity，It is used by a famous contemporary philology advocate、Mr. Sheldon Pollock, a professor at Columbia University in the United States, calls it "Political Theory of Philology"，Because at its core is the belief that a philological reading bet365 premier league odds Bible can change the relationship between knowledge and power，And thus create a fair democratic government。As the greatest rationalist philosopher bet365 premier league odds 17th century，Spinoza’s enlightenment thoughts also come from his philological literature、A historical approach to reading and interpreting the Bible，That is, the Bible and the gospel it preaches、Dogma studied as a secular language and historical document。He believes that the knowledge bet365 premier league odds Bible can only be found from the scriptures，So philology is the interpretation bet365 premier league odds Bible、The only correct way to show the original appearance bet365 premier league odds Bible。

Spinoza based the truth of philology on science，Considers that the philological method is completely consistent with the method of interpreting nature，The latter lies in constructing a natural history，And obtain the definition of natural things。Every passage in the Bible must have a true meaning，The exploration of this meaning is to examine how it organizes its language，To understand the nature bet365 premier league odds thoughts bet365 premier league odds authors bet365 premier league odds Bible verses。For this，Readers must liberate their minds from theological prejudices and the blindness of regarding human fictions as the teachings of God，We cannot blindly accept the interpretations of others (historical ancestors)，You cannot change the meaning bet365 premier league odds scriptures according to your own will or foresight。Therefore，Reading bet365 premier league odds Philology bet365 premier league odds Bible，Not only requires us to eliminate all previous possible interpretations，And we also need to completely abandon the readers themselves。It is this kind of philological reading bet365 premier league odds Bible，Eclipsing more than two thousand years of priestly and any other way of reading the Bible，This is a major revolution in the philological sense，It makes all the religious concepts that were respected in the past、Doctrine and opinion evaporate。

　　bet365 premier league odds and religious studies: the source of modern humanities

Actually，This kind of reading bet365 premier league odds Bible advocated by Spinoza and Renan, etc.、Interpretation and criticism，It’s just the most basic modern philology method。The importance of "Tractatus Theologiae"，In that it provides for the first time a very clear explanation of a complete and coordinated procedure for philological methods used in theological and religious studies with biblical studies as the main body。Spinoza considers good philological readings bet365 premier league odds Bible and other religious texts，The reader is required to be as familiar as possible with the original language bet365 premier league odds text，Understand the history of text dissemination and its current level of organization and determination，Be familiar with the salient features of text genres and the canonization process of texts。Spinoza also believed，The understanding bet365 premier league odds meaning bet365 premier league odds text should not be based on dogma，But based on a discourse analysis bet365 premier league odds coherence bet365 premier league odds text itself，Integration of all relevant passages within the text and in the author's other writings that may help clarify obscure points，Even the reconstruction of historical context，Analysis bet365 premier league odds historical limitations bet365 premier league odds author's biography and his writing intentions，Knowledge bet365 premier league odds characteristics bet365 premier league odds original readers and their thought world，And all relevant text comparisons, etc.。To this day，The above-mentioned "good reading" bet365 premier league odds Bible advocated by Spinoza is still for us to engage in religious studies、A relatively more correct academic method for studying religious classics such as the Bible。

Spinoza、The philological interpretation bet365 premier league odds Bible by Renan and others is a powerful resistance to the theologians and priests who rely on interpretation to exercise social and political power，So，Philology is the weapon that breaks down theology and theocracy，The scientific rationality it represents、Free will and critical spirit opened the door to Western modernity。Renan calls philology an exact science about the products of human intelligence，Even it is the scientific spirit itself，Many developments that humans have made since the 15th century，All can be attributed to the spirit of philology。Chinese literature extensively explores various issues，It also has very high requirements for scholars’ dedication，So it can be said，Philosophy is one bet365 premier league odds highest forms of modern academic research，It is the pioneer subject of modernity。Chinese scholars once had an impeccable academic aura surrounding them，There seems to be no task that philologists cannot accomplish in the humanities field。Philology is not just the right way to do the study of religion，Furthermore, the results achieved in the study of religion in philology have had a huge impact on religion itself。From Lorenzo Valla，1406-1457) Denial bet365 premier league odds authenticity of "The Gift of Constantinople"，In recent times, people have discovered that the relevant statements in the Quran are a misreading bet365 premier league odds Arabic text，Even intentional tampering, etc.，These are typical examples of how religious studies in philology can profoundly influence religious dogma and practice。

　The irony is，Despite the rapid development of religious studies，Its importance is increasingly revealed and proven，But so far，We have no way to be sure whether the centuries-old study of religion can really be called a "discipline of science"。Is today’s religious research really rational enough?、Modern spirit such as freedom and criticism，Or it may still remain in obedience to religious authority and dogma and appreciation of religious thoughts and teachings、Explanation and promotion，This is a big issue worthy of our deep reflection。Obviously，Even those religious scholars who once held high the banner of philology，They have not been able to completely transcend the social environment and Zeitgeist constraints of their times。For Spinoza，The true meaning bet365 premier league odds Bible is actually the meaning that conforms to his own philosophical thoughts。And Renan's instinctive love for philology and historical criticism enabled him to successfully break away from the shackles bet365 premier league odds Catholic Church and theology on his mind and spirit，But he has a lot to say about language、Research and Perspectives on Ethnicity and Race，such as the derogation of Jewish people and Semitic languages、Passion for the “language of heaven”—the so-called Indo-European language，And his "racial hierarchy of peoples" theory, etc.，In fact, they all deviate from the spirit of philology that he passionately advocates，Obviously reflects the profound impact bet365 premier league odds imperialist and colonial ideas of that era on him。

Today，As the source of modern humanities, philology has faded out of our academic horizons for a long time，The humanities have long been clearly divided into different disciplines such as literature, history, philosophy and religious studies，Regional studies that emphasize social science research methods have replaced traditional textual philology，More interpretable、The universal theoretical paradigm gradually takes over the humanities world，Chinese literature is constantly marginalized，Even forgotten by people。Meanwhile，The modern spirit born on the same day as philology，i.e. rationalism、Criticism and Liberalism，Also drifting away from humanities academics，It no longer seems to be the innate spiritual gene of modern humanities scholars，This is an academic and ideological regression。Therefore，We advocate the return bet365 premier league odds humanities to the philological tradition，And the study of religion undoubtedly needs to return to philology。

　　(Author’s affiliation: School of bet365 premier league odds, Tsinghua University)