神学导论（一）阅读资料008B
林慈信
作个 「有道可传」 的教会﹕
21世纪福音派教会面临的信仰挑战
BE A CHURCH WHICH HAS A MESSAGE TO PROCLAIM:
Doctrinal Challenges Confronting the 21st Century Evangelical Church
我们活在一个不信的时代﹐一个充满着异教信仰的时代。西方社会 (美国) 已经成为一个抵挡基督教信仰的社会﹔而亚洲﹐非洲地区的教会正开始领导普世教会。
We live in an age of unbelief. We live in an age of pagan beliefs. Western (American) society has become an anti-Christian society. The church in Asia and Africa has begun to take over the leadership of the global body of Christ.
21世纪需要的﹐是认信的基督徒﹐认信的教会。21世纪需要有道可传﹐又好好忠心﹐勇敢去传的信徒与教会。
What the 21st century needs, are confessing Christians, and confessing churches. The 21st century needs Christians and churches with a message to proclaim: holding forth the Word of God, and faithfully, boldly proclaiming this Word.
有真正的认信﹐就有强而有力的讲台﹐主日学/查经班﹐强而有力的布道见证。
Where the church truly confesses her faith, there will be strong pulpits, strong Sunday Schools and Bible studies, and a strong witness in evangelism.
“我们争战的兵器﹐本不是属血气的﹐乃是在神面前有能力﹐可以攻破坚固的营垒﹐将各样的计谋﹐各样拦阻人认识神的那些自高之事﹐一概攻破了﹔又将人所有的心意夺回﹐使它都顺服基督。” (林后10﹕4-5)
“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (II Corinthians 10:4, 5)
我们有道可传吗﹖我们可传的道来自《圣经》﹐唯独来自《圣经》。因此谈到 「认信」﹐背后有一个很基本的预设观念 ﹕《圣经》里有一套教义真理。
Do we have a message to proclaim? Our message comes from the Bible, only from the Bible. When we seek to be Christians with a message to proclaim, we must hold a foundational presupposition: There is a system of doctrine contained in the Bible.
《圣经》是历史﹐是神在时间﹐在历史﹐文化中向人的启示。这启示的结果﹐是一本不自我矛盾的书﹐里面有一套真理 (教义) 。在《圣经》里﹐透过《圣经》﹐神教导我们一套一贯的教义(真理) 。《圣经》不只是给我们救恩的道理﹐然后一些互不相关的故事。不是。《圣经》是神的启示﹐里面含着一套教义 (真理) 。
The Bible is history; it is God’s revelation to man in time, history and culture. The product of this revelation is not a book with contradictions, but a book which contains a system of truth. In the Bible, through the Bible, God teaches us a consistent system of doctrine. The Bible does not merely teach us about salvation plus an assortment of stories. No. The Bible is God’s revelation; the Bible teaches a system of doctrine.
《圣经》里教导一套教义真理。我们依赖圣灵的引导研读《圣经》﹐可以发现﹐认识它。我们可以﹐应该笃信它﹐爱它﹐遵行它﹐宣讲它﹐教导它﹐并为它辩护。
There is a system of doctrine taught in the Bible. We can study the Bible, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to discover this system of doctrine. We can, and should believe, love, obey, proclaim, teach, and defend this system of doctrine.
「《圣经》教导一套真理」 是历代正统教会的信仰。这信念后还有一点预设﹕《圣经》有神自己设定的﹐单一﹐固定﹐不变的意义。《圣经》的原意与人的解释不同。《圣经》传达原来作者 – 圣灵 – 的意思﹐这意义是单一的﹐不变的。
The conviction that “there is a system of doctrine taught in Scripture” is the orthodox belief of the church through the centuries. There is a 2nd presupposition underlying this belief: the Bible has a singular, stable, unchanging, God-ordained meaning. The meaning intended by God is different from man’s interpretation. The Bible communicates the author’s (the Holy Spirit’s) original intention. This meaning is one and unchanging.
1974年﹐在洛桑全球福音大会上﹐薛华这样呼吁福音派的领袖们﹕基督教是一套特定的真理﹔基督教是一个系统﹐而我们必不可以对 「系统」 这个词感到羞耻。真理是存在的﹐而我们必须持守这真理。在一些边缘地带的问题上我们会有异议﹐可是在核心的事上﹐必不可以妥协。
At the Lausanne Congress (1974) Francis A. Schaeffer appealed to evangelical leaders:
Christianity is a specific body of truth; it is a system and we must not be ashamed of the word system. There is truth and we must hold that truth. There will be borderline things in which we have differences among ourselves, but on the central issues there must be no compromise.
(Francis Schaeffer, “Form and Freedom in the Church,” Let the Earth Hear His Voice: International Congress on World Evangelization, Lausanne, Switzerland, ed. J.D. Douglas; Minneapolis: World Wide Publications, 1975, pp. 361-379. 也以单行本出版
﹕Francis Schaeffer, 2 Contents, 2 Realities, Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP, 1974, p. 8.)
（林慈信）
网络圣约ccnci.org
中华展望圣约学院[email protected]（PayPal）