[II] 为什么要研究哲学？WHY STUDY PHILOSOPHY? (3-4)
- 哲学读来有啥用？What use is philosophy?
这个年头，没有人为了找到一份高薪工作而去念哲学的。
One doesn’t study philosophy these days with the goal of landing on a high-paying job.
哲学有啥用处？
What use is it?
亚里斯多特可能提供了最好的回答：『全人类，本质上，都想要知道。』
Aristotle – perhaps best answer: “All men, by nature, desire to know.”
探险家为什么攀登希玛利亚山？『因为它在那里。』
Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climbed Everest “because it is there.”
同理，所有人都有愿望，想要了解他们的处境。
In the same way, all human beings have a desire to understand their environment.
有些人限于探索利奥塔的『小叙述』领域，但是我们上文已经看到，不容易遵守这规则。
Some confine their search to Lyotard’s “little narratives” – but it is not easy to observe that restriction.
苏格拉底，哲学圣人说：『没有自我反省的人生，是不值得活下去的。』
Socrates, great saint of philosophy, said: “The un-examined life is not worth living.”
[ 注脚五。Footnote 5. Plato, Apology, 38a.]
- 为什么要研究『哲学史』？ Why study the history of philosophy?
问的具体一点：为什么要研究『哲学史』？
A more specific question: Why study the history of philosophy?
一个基督徒，为什么要研究『哲学史』？
Why should a Christian study the history of philosophy?
不是所有基督徒都有义务作这个研究；不是所有基督徒都是材料。有人没有呼召，兴趣等。
Not all Christians are obligated/suited to study it. Some aren’t called/interested, etc.
但对那些有呼召，兴趣，背景等的基督徒，有好几方面的益处等着他们：
But for those who are, a number of benefits are promising:
2.1. 操练思考：清晰的思考；培养说服力，深度的思考。
Great Exercise of the Mind: Thinking clearly, cogently, profoundly.
哲学这行业的职务，就是要清晰地，有说服力地，言之有物（有深度）地思考。
Philosophers are in the business of thinking clearly, cogently, and profoundly.
因此，了解他们的思想，评估他们的思想，是操练理性极好的方法。
To understand and evaluate their work is excellent mental exercise.
从事哲学以外其他行业的人们，若接触一下哲学思想严谨的建构和论证，必获益良多。
People involved in non-philosophical fields can benefit from exposure to the rigor of philosophical formulations and arguments.
这包括基督徒啊。
That includes Christians.
照我看来，基督徒神学家，讲道者，教师们一般来说，都需要提高他们的思考能力，特别是论证(argumentation) 的能力。
And in my view, Christian theologians, preachers and teachers generally need to improve the quality of their thinking, particularly their argumentation.
[ 注脚六。很多神学家误以为，在辩论时能驳对多方的结论就够了，常常没有考虑那些导致对方的结论的论证 (arguments)。这就是为什么，很多神学著作缺乏说服力；很多分裂的持续是不必的。]
[Footnote 6. Many theologians seem to think that in a dispute it is sufficient to take issue with an opponent’s conclusions, without refuting the arguments that led to those conclusions. That is one reason why theological literature today is often unpersuasive, and divisions persist unnecessarily.]
2.2. 哲学对基督教神学深远的影响。
Philosophy had major influence on Christian theology.
几千年来，哲学对基督教神学有着巨大深远的影响。
Philosophy over the centuries has had a major influence on Christian theology.
例如，三一论和基督的位格的教义里的『本性』，『实质』，『位格』等概念，都是哲学名词，《圣经》里是找不到的。
The concepts nature, substance, and person found in the doctrines of the Trinity and the person of Christ, for example, are philosophical terms, not found in the Bible.
这不一定是坏事。
This is not necessarily a bad thing.
当我们把《圣经》应用在不同领域和不同争辩里时，我们必须翻译《圣经》成与那些处境（包括争辩）相关的语言。
When we apply Scripture to situations and controversies, we must often translate Scripture into language relevant to those situations.
[ 注脚七。就算是把《圣经》从希腊文译成英文的过程，也是把《圣经》应用在某些处境里：就是操英语人士所面对的处境。]
[Footnote 7. Even the translation of Scripture from, say, Greek to English is an application of Scripture to a group of situations, the situations encountered by English speakers.]
当然，除了哲学还有其他的科系也大大影响基督教思想：科学，历史，文学等。
Of course, fields of study other than philosophy have also influenced Christian discourse: science, history, literature, and so on.
但是记得：哲学的任务是建构，审核各种的世界观。
But remember that the work of philosophers is to formulate and examine worldviews.
而基督教神学既然也是一个世界观的论述，因此，它和哲学的互动显得特别重要。
Insofar as Christian theology is also the articulation of a worldview, its interaction with philosophy is especially important.
2.3. 西方哲学大多时候由非基督教的假设掌控着。
Western philosophy mostly governed by non-Christian assumptions.
很令人悲哀的是：在整个西方文明历史中，哲学大部分时间都由非基督教的假设所左右。
Sadly, through most of the history of Western civilization, philosophy has been governed by non-Christian assumptions.
中世纪，这个掌控中断了一段时期；而从早期教会以来，都有一些基督教哲学家。
The dominance of these presuppositions was interrupted during the medieval period, and there have been Christian philosophers since the beginning of the church.
但打从主前600年到主后400年，和1650年·至今，影响哲学界的思潮，主要是非基督教的。
But from around 600 B.C. to A.D. 400, and from around 1650 to the present, the dominant influences in philosophy have been non-Christian.
2.4. 因此：对基督教思想最艰巨的挑战，乃来自哲学。
THEREFORE: Hardest challenge to Christian thought came from philosophy.
记得，哲学的任务就是清晰地，具说服力地，有深度地思考：思考这个世界；
因此，对基督教思想的最艰巨挑战，乃来自哲学这领域。
Now, since the business of philosophy is to think clearly, cogently, and profoundly about the world, the hardest challenges to Christian thought have come from the discipline of philosophy.
因此，当基督徒研究哲学时，他们就会熟悉福音最强硬的对手：最有说服力的非基督教思想。
So when Christians study philosophy, they become acquainted with the most formidable adversaries of the gospel: non-Christian thought in its most cogent form.
熟悉这些思想，对福音事工大有益处。
Acquaintance with these is very beneficial for gospel witness.
本书就是特别关注基督教神学和非基督教哲学之间的互动和对话。
In this book, I will be especially concerned to describe the interaction, the dialogue, between Christian theology and non-Christian philosophy.
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