기독교 수용의 역사성에 비해 회심을 단행한 지식인들의 사유 변화는 별다른 주목을 받지 못했다. 기독교 토착화과정에서 유교적 지식인들은 기독교 관련 문서 번역과 교리 전파 등 중요한 역할을 담당했다. 최병헌의 삶은 당대 유교적 지식인의 기독교 경험과 실천을 보여주는 하나의 사례이다. 그의 종교 담론은 문명론과 기독교적 세계관이 만나는 지점에서 형성되었다. 한국에서 활동한 당대 선교사들의 정교분리 원칙과 달리 종교와 정치를 상호 보완적 관계로 파악했다. 이처럼 종교와 정치를 불가분의 관계로 보면서도 종교가 정치의 근본이라는 점을 강조한 것은 유교의 정치ㆍ사회적 전통과 기독교 문명론의 영향이다. 정교일치 관념은 사회적 기능을 다한 유교 대신에 기독교 수용을 정당화하는 논리로도 작동했다. 최병헌이 선유활동의 명분으로 제시한 신민의 도리, 정치와 종교의 보완, 기독교 인애의 실천 등도 문명론과 정교관의 연장선에 있다.
문명론과 기독교 세계관의 접합을 확인할 수 있는 초기 저술로 『성산명경』을 들 수 있다. 대화체 몽유록 소설 형식을 차용한 『성산명경』은 자신의 개종 체험을 담아낸 것이라 할 수 있다. 유불도와 기독교 간의 대화는 세계 창조론, 인간 영혼론, 내세론 등으로 이어졌는데, 유교도가 기독교를 인정한 이유는 기독교 교리에 대한 승인이 아니라 기독교 문명의 힘 때문이었다. 이는 유교적 지식인이었던 최병헌의 기독교 수용과 개종이 철저하게 서양 문명론 위에서 형성되었다는 증거이다. 최병헌의 회심은 유교 지식체계의 균열에서 비롯되었지만 유교의 가치를 전복하는 데로 나아가지 않았다. 기독교 진리의 절대성을 확신했지만 동양 고전과 재래 학술사상의 가치에 대한 인정은, 그를 단순한 서구주의자로 치부할 수 없게 한다.
Relatively very little attention has been given to the changes of thought that the converted intellectuals went through, compared to the historicity of the acceptance of Christianity. During the naturalization of Christianity, Confucian intellectuals played a vital role in translating its literature and propagating its doctrines. The life of Cheo Byeong-heon shows clearly the typical experience and practice of a contemporary intellectual. His religious view was formed at the intersection of the theory of civilization and the Christian world view. Unlike missionaries of the day adhering to the separation of church and state, he grasped them as complementary. It was the coalescence of Confucian political and social tradition and the civilization paradigm of Christianity that led him to see the indivisible relation between religion and politics, and to stress religion as basic to politics. The unity of church and state functioned as a logic justifying the acceptance of Christianity in place of Confucianism which lost its social validity. What he suggested as reasons for his activities as royal commissioner, including the duty of subjects, the complimentary relation between politics and religion, and the practice of Christian benevolence, are also closely related to his view about civilization and the relation of church and state. This coalescence of the theory of civilization and the Christian world view is most clearly revealed in his early work, Syeongsan Myeong Gyeong (The Clear Mirror of Sacred Mountain). This work, a dialogic novel of wondering-in-dreams, reflects his experience of conversion. The dialogue between the three traditions (Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism) and Christianity leads to the discussions about world creation, theory of human soul and afterlife. His reason for accepting Christianity is not about its creeds but about the hegemony of Christian civilization, showing that his conversion took place under the influence of the ideology of Western civilization. His change of heart originated from the crack of Confucianism, but it did not go as far as to subvert its values. Though assured of the absolute truth of Christianity, he can not be considered simply as an advocate of the West in that he approved the values of Oriental classics and traditional ideas.
Relatively very little attention has been given to the changes of thought that the converted intellectuals went through, compared to the historicity of the acceptance of Christianity. During the naturalization of Christianity, Confucian intellectuals played a vital role in translating its literature and propagating its doctrines. The life of Cheo Byeong-heon shows clearly the typical experience and practice of a contemporary intellectual. His religious view was formed at the intersection of the theory of civilization and the Christian world view. Unlike missionaries of the day adhering to the separation of church and state, he grasped them as complementary. It was the coalescence of Confucian political and social tradition and the civilization paradigm of Christianity that led him to see the indivisible relation between religion and politics, and to stress religion as basic to politics. The unity of church and state functioned as a logic justifying the acceptance of Christianity in place of Confucianism which lost its social validity. What he suggested as reasons for his activities as royal commissioner, including the duty of subjects, the complimentary relation between politics and religion, and the practice of Christian benevolence, are also closely related to his view about civilization and the relation of church and state. This coalescence of the theory of civilization and the Christian world view is most clearly revealed in his early work, Syeongsan Myeong Gyeong (The Clear Mirror of Sacred Mountain). This work, a dialogic novel of wondering-in-dreams, reflects his experience of conversion. The dialogue between the three traditions (Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism) and Christianity leads to the discussions about world creation, theory of human soul and afterlife. His reason for accepting Christianity is not about its creeds but about the hegemony of Christian civilization, showing that his conversion took place under the influence of the ideology of Western civilization. His change of heart originated from the crack of Confucianism, but it did not go as far as to subvert its values. Though assured of the absolute truth of Christianity, he can not be considered simply as an advocate of the West in that he approved the values of Oriental classics and traditional ideas.