作者/摘錄/譯者:
Gresham Machen/ Shane Lems/誠之
對追求這種宗教——強調「效法基督」的宗教——的人來說，「罪」似乎從來不曾出現在他們的腦海裏。但是，事實上，罪在人與神之間造成了一個巨大無比、非常可怕的鴻溝。雖然這樣的信念在今天這個時代裏是不受人歡迎的，但它們卻是基督信仰裏最核心的一些觀念。從一開始，基督教就是一個屬於破碎心靈的人的宗教；它是根據這個信念，即人與神之間存在著一個巨大的鴻溝，而這個鴻溝除了上帝之外，沒有任何人可以填平。聖經告訴我們這鴻溝是如何填平的；這也意味著聖經記錄的是事實。
若沒有上帝的救贖行動，詩篇作者和先知們一切高貴的理想、耶穌所有的教訓和榜樣，還有什麼用處呢？它們只能帶給我們絕望。我們基督徒關心的，不僅僅是上帝命令我們作什麼，我們更關心上帝在過去成就了什麼；我們關心的是一個凱旋的事實陳述；我們的救恩完全要倚靠歷史；聖經本身包含了這個歷史，而除非這個歷史是真實的，否則聖經就失去了權威，而我們這些相信聖經的人就失去了盼望。 (J. Gresham
Machen, The Virgin Birth of Christ [New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers,
1932], 385).
“It
seems never to have occurred to the adherents of this religion [an imitation of
Jesus religion] that there is such a thing as sin, and that sin places an awful
gulf between man and God. But those
convictions, though they are unpopular at the present time, are certainly quite
central in the Christian religion. From
the beginning Christianity was the religion of the broken heart; it is based
upon the conviction that there is an awful gulf between man and God which none
but God can bridge. The Bible tells us
how this gulf was bridged; and that means the Bible is a record of facts.”
Of
what avail, without the redeeming acts of God, are all the lofty ideals of
Psalmists and Prophets, all the teaching and example of Jesus? In themselves they can bring us nothing but
despair. We Christians are not
interested merely in what God commands, but also in what God did; in a
triumphant indicative; our salvation depends squarely upon history; the Bible
contains that history, and unless that history is true the authority of the
Bible is gone and we who have put our trust in the Bible are without hope” (J. Gresham Machen, The Virgin Birth of
Christ [New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1932], 385). http://www.wtsbooks.com/virgin-birth-of-christ-gresham-machen-9780227676301?utm_source=slems&utm_medium=blogpartners