中文「宗教」一詞與英文”religion”一字，二者的個別文字意涵與深層義理，其實是有相當大的區別，其間所蘊含的差異是多重的，除了文字語意本身之外，最主要的是文化基底的不同。本文先就「宗教／religion」的意涵及語源切入，對東、西方宗教的基本概念與觀點作一些探源與澄清的功課。再以Paul Tillich（1957）所倡言的「終極關懷」概念切入，配合傅偉勳（1990）所提出的「後設宗教學」觀點，藉由對終極關懷理念之哲理析辯，試論東、西方宗教觀之對比與會通，在不同的信仰之間，找到共通的精神與理念，以及共同的難題與挑戰，希望有助於東、西方宗教間的溝通與對話。限於篇幅且為了討論的方便，本文以大乘佛教代表東方宗教，以基督宗教代表西方宗教。

The Chinese term ”zong-jiao” is the translation of the English word ”religion.” However, both the Chinese term and the English word have their own literal meaning and deeper implication. Strictly speaking, the distinction between Chinese and English terms is manifold, which cannot be simply referred as equivalents. In addition to the semantic aspect of words themselves, the major difference lies in the two respective cultural backgrounds. The author begins with a concise etymological analysis into the textual and contextual implication of both Chinese and English terms of ”religion,” in order to retrace and clarify the basic concept and perspective of Eastern and Western religions in their own right. This essay then addresses the contrast and compatibility between Eastern and Western religious perspectives in terms of the concept of ”ultimate concern” formulated by Paul Tillich and the approach of ”meta-religion” proposed by Charles W. H. Fu. Due to the limit of length and for the convenience of discussion, this essay takes Mahayana. Buddhism as the representative of Eastern religions and Christianity as the representative of Western religions. The author attempts to find out common difficulties and challenges as well as shared spirit and ideal between different faiths, in the hope to enhance the communication and dialogue between Eastern and Western religions.