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第十二讲、第6章:启示与人的主体性(续)

主讲:林慈信教授_校对:刘加立弟兄_英文:cherry姐妹_文字:飞弟兄

《圣言论》第12讲 Chapter 6 :Revelation and Human Subjectivity continued 继续第六章:神的启示和人的主体性

我们前面提过士莱马赫了。在这一章,我们开始要讲巴特。

Karl Barth, though his emphasis is elsewhere as we will see, also identifies revelation with human subjectivity at a certain level. 我们会看到巴特他所强调的,是在另外一些的概念里。但是在某一个层次上,我们可以看到巴特也把神的启示与人的主体性或者主观是认同的。For him, Scripture is the word of God only as it “becomes” the word of God to an individual by a present event.4 对巴特来说,圣经是神的话,但是,是什么意思呢?唯有当圣经在现今的一个事件里,对某某人说,它成为神的话的时候,圣经才是神的话的。

我再讲一次,当圣经透过一个现今的事件,对人来说成为神的话,它才是神的话。

Its being, as the word of God, is entirely in its becoming the word. 它所是,它是神的话,完全是因为它变成、成为神的话。We never “have” God’s word, 我们从来不会拥有神的话的,but only the recollection of its being given in the past 我们只有能够回忆,神的话在过去曾经被赐下and the expectation or hope that we will hear it again in the future. 我们也期待、也盼望将来会再一次听到神的话,但是我们从来没有拥有,没有有神的话的。

Otherwise, Barth thinks, God’s words become objects, to be “possessed,” “manipulated,” or “preserved” by human beings. 不然的话,巴特说,上帝的话就成为客体这东西,能够拥有的,能够操纵的,能够被人保存下来的。Thus, he believes, God loses control over his own words. 这样子,他认为,上帝就不再控制他自己的话了。So the biblical text should never be simply equated with God’s word. 因此圣经这本书呢,不能够就是说是神的话,不等同的。It is a human document, prone to error, even in its theological assertions. 圣经这是一本人写的书,是会错误的,就算在他的神学的宣称上都有错误的。

But that is of no concern to faith, in Barth’s view. 但是按照巴特的观点来说,这个信心不需要关心这些事的。Whether there are errors in the biblical text is of no consequence: 圣经有没有错不重要:errors do not prevent God from speaking his instantaneous, unpreservable words. 若有错误的话,没有防止上帝讲祂的激发的、不能保存的话语的。The erroneous text may “become” the word of God anytime God wants it to.上帝随时祂若愿意的话,这个错误的文本就可以成为神的话的。(刚才我们讲这段最重要的是 the scripture is the word of God only as it becomes the word of God to an individual by a present event。圣经只有当它在现今的时候,向人成为神的话的时候,它才是神的话的。我们从来不会有神的话的。

注脚四Footnote 4 :More recent Barth scholars emphasize that for Barth, the Bible “is” the word of God; it does not only “become” the word. 最近这几年来研究巴特的学者们,他们强调对巴特来说,圣经是神的话,它不单单成为神的话的。Indeed, it “becomes” because it “is.” 它成为神的话,因为它就是神的话。But its “being is in becoming,” 但是傅兰姆说:不是的!圣经所是的,是透过它所成为的,或者说它的存有在于它的生成, its “being is in becoming,”所以,圣经所是的,它的实存,它的存有so its “being” the word of God is simply its capacity to become the word of God. 圣经是神的话呢,这句话什么意思呢?只不过是它有能力成为神的话而已。In my judgment, the consequences are the same, 傅兰姆说,对我来说结果是一样的,whether the Bible “is” the word in its becoming, or whether the Bible merely becomes the word without being it. 不论你说当圣经成为神的话的时候,圣经是神的话,或者说圣经只不过是成为神的话,而没有是神的话,结果是一样的。In neither case are we authorized to receive the words of Scripture as God’s personal words, 在两种的情况之下,我们都不被准许去领受圣经的话,就是神亲自所讲的话,except on those special occasions when he chooses to speak through the Bible.除了那些特殊的场合,上帝选择他要透过话语,透过圣经向我们说话。注脚四结束。

I have some sympathy with Kierkegaard, who was wrestling with dead orthodoxy in the Danish Lutheran state church. 傅兰姆说,我很同情祁克果,他当时所挣扎的就是在丹麦的路德宗的国家的教会里,那种死沉沉的正统信仰。He recognized the biblical importance of a living experience with God, 他看到,圣经里面讲到一个与神的活的经验是很重要的,上帝进入到时间进入到一个个人的经验里的,in which God actually enters time and enters the experience of the individual. But可是, his contrasts between objective and subjective tend to set asunder what Scripture brings together. 但是祁克果把客观的和主观的好像拆开了,拆开了一些圣经是结合的事情。In Scripture, subjective revelation is the Spirit’s illumination of objective revelation. 在圣经里,主观的启示是什么呢?就是圣灵光照人来认识客观的启示。It brings the objective truth of Scripture into our hearts, 圣灵光照的时候呢,就把圣经客观的真理带进了我们的心中communicating to us a vital personal relationship with Christ.圣灵就向我们传达一个带来一个与基督的活泼的个人的关系。

I have less sympathy for Brunner. 傅兰姆说,我对布伦纳就没有这么同情了。His insistence that objective words and facts compromise the personal character of relationships is nonsense. 他坚持那客观的话和客观的事实,就把人际关系的那种位格的、亲密的性质妥协掉,这个是废话。It is not true on the human level.人与人之间的关系就不是这样子的。 A friendship may sometimes be compromised when facts come to light,是的,有的时候有一些的事实暴露出来的时候,人与人之间的友谊可能会妥协, but more often factual knowledge enriches such relationships. 但是很多时候,更多的时候,事实的一些知识是让我们人与人之间的关系更加的丰富。And Scripture never suggests that a factual knowledge of God’s character, his words, and his deeds diminishes the quality of our friendship with him—quite the contrary. 圣经从来没有讲过说,当我们有一些关于上帝的本性、祂的话语、祂的作为的知识的时候,这些事实的知识就会削减我们与他的友谊的的数值的,刚好是相反。

As for Barth, his conception is also unbiblical. 对巴特,他的观念,他的概念也是不符合圣经的。Scripture never says that “the being of God’s word is in its becoming.” 圣经从来没有说它的存有就是它是神的话,是在于它的生成,是当它成为神的话的时候才是神的话。

Rather, in Scripture God simply speaks his personal words, 很简单的,在圣经里面神就是讲了祂亲自讲的话,and people are expected to believe, obey, rejoice, mourn, give thanks, and so forth. 那上帝是要求人相信,顺服,喜乐,哀痛啊,感恩等等。Revelation in Scripture is not something instantaneous, 圣经里的启示这个观念不是一个激发的一件事,appearing for a moment and then disappearing, 一个一秒钟出现,另外一秒钟的消失了,leaving only its “recollection and expectation,” as Barth says. 留下的只不过是“过去的回忆和将来的期待”,好像巴特所讲的一样。。Rather, 不是的,不是这样子的,反之,revelation is to be preserved from one generation to the next (as Ps. 78:1–8). 神的启示是一代留存到下一代的。(诗篇78:1-8节)。

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The Ten Commandments, written by the finger of God, 上帝亲手用手指写的十诫,were to be kept by the ark of the covenant, 是由约柜保存住的,the holiest place in Israel (Deut. 10:5). 就是以色列最圣洁的至圣所那里,保存住上帝亲手所写的字的。(申命记10:5)That document is to be read over and over again, in every sabbatical year (Deut. 31:10–13). 这个文件啊,每一个安息年要不断的去诵读的(申命记31:10-13)。The apostolic tradition of the gospel of Christ is also something given once for all 关于耶稣基督的福音,使徒所留下来的传统,他说,他们所讲的他们所写的也是一次过给教会的that is to be preserved and guarded (Jude 3).5 教会要保存它为它维护着,为它争辩(犹大书第3节)。

Does the objective preservation of the text compromise God’s sovereignty over his Word? 圣经的文本客观的被保存下来,这个事实是否妥协了上帝掌管他的话语的主权呢?Certainly not. 肯定没有。The document is the constitution of God’s covenant people. 圣经这本书是上帝的约民,祂的子民的宪章。It is the very expression of his sovereign authority.圣经就是表达了上帝的主权的权柄的。 It validates God’s sovereign right to impose on his people everlasting ordinances. 圣经就支持着证明了上帝有主权的权柄,在祂的子民之上颁布了一些永恒的典章。The objectivity of revelation is precisely what protects it from human manipulation. 圣经避免被人操纵,就是透过启示的客观性来保护了它。

Orthodox Reformed theology正统的改革宗的神学 does not reject a subjective element in revelation, 正统的改革宗没有拒绝在上帝的启示里有主观的因素的,but it formulates it rather differently. 但是说法就非常不同了。In a Reformed understanding, there is both objective and subjective revelation. 改革宗理解到有客观的启示,有主观的启示的。God reveals himself in creation and in Scripture, objectively. 上帝透过创造和圣经是客观的自我启示了祂自己。But that objective revelation is of no use to us unless the Holy Spirit illumines our hearts and minds. 但是这个客观的启示对我们是没有用的,除非圣灵光照我们的心,光照我们的思想。

As sinners, we suppress God’s revelation (Romans 1 again). 我们身为罪人呢,我们是压抑阻挡上帝的启示的(又指出罗马书第一章)。It is the gracious, regenerating work of the Spirit that enables us to understand, believe, and obey. 就是因为圣灵开恩做成祂的重生的工作,这样子使我们能够明白、相信和顺服的。So on the Reformed view, 所以根据改革宗的观点来说,there is a sense in which revelation is not completed until it becomes subjective by the Spirit’s work.6  所以从某一种意义上来说,上帝的启示还没有完成,直到透过圣灵的工作,它成为一个人的主观的经历的。(参考本书的第41章到44章)。

The term revelation has various uses, some objective, some subjective. 启示这个字的用法是不同的,有的时候是客观的,有的时候是主观的。When a government official announces the year’s budget in a document, we say that the budget has been “revealed,” even though nobody may have actually read the document. 当一个国家的政府正式的宣布,或者一个政府的官员宣布在一个文件里宣布,某一年的财政预算的时候,我们说这个财政预算就已经被显明了,被启示了,虽然可能没有人读过。

Einstein revealed his general theory of relativity to all, publicly, in 1915, 1915年,爱因斯坦就启示了显明了他的一般性的相对论,在1915年公开的启示了,even though few people on the earth could actually understand it. 可能地球上很少人能够明白这个相对论的。That is objective revelation, like the natural revelation in Romans 1, 这个是客观的启示,就好像罗马书第一章的自然启示一样,which reveals God clearly no matter how man chooses to respond. 上帝的自然启示是很清楚的启示了上帝,不论人选择了怎么样去回应。

But there are other cases in which something does not become revelation until someone actually knows it. 但是有其他的情况启示不成为启示,直到人具体的认识才算是成为启示的。The price of grain in China is public knowledge, but I don’t know it. 中国的米多少钱我不知道,但是它是公开的知识。It has been objectively revealed, 是客观的已经显明的,but it has not been revealed to me. 但是对我不显明。

Now, in Romans 1, the revelation is both objective and subjective. 在罗马书第一章,上帝的启示又是客观的,也是主观的。The passage does not contemplate anyone who is ignorant of this revelation 这段经文认为,没有一个人是无知的,不知道上帝的启示的or who has not responded to it.也没有一个人,没有对这个启示做出回应的。 Rather, everybody knows it, 每一个人都认识神的启示and knows God (v. 21) through it. 透过的启示,每一个人都认识神的,(罗马书第1章21节)。

A further distinction is also important if we are to understand the debate over revelation. 假如我们要明白这个启示的争论的话,还要做另外一方面的区分。There are different human responses to revelation: responses in unbelief and in faith. 人类对启示的回应有所不同的:有不信的回应,也有信的回应。

In Romans 1, the response of the pagans is to repress the truth, exchange it for a lie, and so on. 罗马书第一章,异教徒他们怎么回应神的启示呢?就是透过阻挡压抑真理,换一个谎言来等等。But in Matthew 11:27, 但是在马太福音第十一章27节,Jesus says that “no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”没有人认识父,耶稣说:除了子,向那些人显明父。 Now, Jesus here refers to a subjective revelation, 耶稣这里讲的是主观的启示,a revelation that brings knowledge to the hearer, 这种启示是让听的能够知道,and indeed knowledge as part of a close saving relationship with the Father and the Son, 这种的知识是与父与子一种亲密的,令人得救的关系的一部分,a knowledge in faith. 是透过信心而得到的知识。

This meaning of revelation can also be found in Ephesians 1:17,启示这个字的意义也可以从以弗所书第一章17节看到, where Paul prays that God will give to the Ephesians “a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of [Christ].” 保罗求神给以弗所的教会“智慧和启示灵,好叫他们认识基督。”

So we may distinguish three kinds of revelation: 所以我们可以区分出三种不同的启示:(1) objective revelation, 第一,客观的启示,(2) subjective revelation received in unbelief, 第二,是主观的启示,是以不信的心领受,and (3) subjective revelation received in faith.第三,就是主观的启示,是以信心领受的。

Now, since Schleiermacher, liberal theologians have tended to say that revelation doesn’t exist unless it is subjective, until someone knows it. 所以士莱马赫以来,自由派的神学家一般的倾向都是说,除非启示成为主观的,除非人认识启示,不然的话,启示不存在。I have sometimes described this tendency as the “subjective turn” in the history of the doctrine of revelation. 有的时候,我这样来描述这种的倾向,我说这个是在启示论的历史中的一个“主观的转折”。

Liberals have tended to disparage the idea of objective revelation, 自由派的神学家一般都藐视客观启示这个观念,the revelation that is “just there” in nature and Scripture regardless of what anybody thinks. 就是说,这种的启示“就是在那里的”,是存在的,在自然界,在圣经中存在,不论人怎么想。

Further, they have tended to believe that revelation is not revelation unless it is received in faith. 再者,自由派的一般会相信,启示不是启示,除非是以信心借着信心领受的。So if someone has not come to believe, 所以有人假如没有相信的话,then he has not actually received revelation. 他就没有真正的领受过启示。

This idea contributes to the universalistic tendencies in liberalism,这个观念就导致呢自由派神学有这种普救论的倾向, for it regards those who reject God as those who have not received revelation, 因为他们认为那些拒绝上帝的人是没有领受过启示的,rather than (as in Romans 1) those who have received it and have rejected it. 他们不会相信好像罗马书第一章说的,这些人是领受到启示却拒绝它的。

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