許多世紀以來，《法華經》在眾多佛教文獻中一直被譽為是最具影響力 的作品之一。在最常被被閱讀與念誦的經典當中，它一直是世界各地佛教徒日常 修行的焦點。但是，它的哲學深度大家又真正瞭解了多少呢？經義是否在一片反 覆讀誦的熱情中被清楚掌握了呢？抑或是大家根本就誤解了《法華經》的形式與 內涵了呢？要回答這些問題，本文嘗試以詮釋學的角度來探索《法華經》。筆者 認為此經的作者或作者們對原始佛教思想做出了「批判的繼承與創造的發展」， 這是五階段的「創造性詮釋學」（Creative Hermeneutics）任務。為了證成上述觀 點，試分別論述：(1)《法華經》在佛教哲學中的地位；(2)「創造性詮釋學」與 原始佛教：階段一∼三；(3)作為「創造性詮釋學」作品的《法華經》：階段四與 五；(4)無相、空、無願「三門」（Three Gates）的邏輯；(5)《法華經》之外的佛 教。

　　　　　Over many centuries, the Lotus Suutra has been hailed as one of the most seminal texts in the voluminous catalogue of Buddhist literature. Among the most read and most frequently recited of all the suutras, it is the focus of daily practice for Buddhists around the world. Yet how much of its philosophical profundity is truly understood? Is the message of the text being heard clearly amid the fervor of prosaic study and rote chanting? Or has there been a fundamental misapprehension of both the form and content of the Lotus Suutra? To answer these questions, the following discussion adopts a hermeneutical approach to the Lotus Suutra. I suggest that the author or authors of the Lotus Suutra set themselves the fifth stage task of Creative Hermeneutics in“critically inheriting and creatively developing" the message of primal Buddhism. To justify that claim our ensuing discussion addresses (I) the place of the Lotus Suutra within Buddhist philosophy; (II) Creative Hermeneutics and primal Buddhism: stages 1 through 3; (III) the Lotus Suutra as a work of Creative Hermeneutics: stages 4 and 5; (IV) the logic of the Three Gates, and (V) Buddhism beyond the Lotus Suutra.