作者: R.C.
Sproul 作者/譯者：Maria Marta/誠之
聖經有多種解讀，我怎麼知道哪一種才是正確的？這是一個困擾著我們所有人的問題。我們可以說一些理論性的內容，但我寧願花時間在實際應用上。
羅馬天主教認為教會其中一項功能，是解釋聖經唯一的權威。羅馬天主教認為我們不但擁有一本無誤的聖經，我們也能擁有對聖經無誤的解讀。雖然這稍微改善了這個問題，但是並沒有完全消除。我們還是需要去詮釋這個無誤的、對聖經的解讀。遲早這個問題會落到我們這些有誤的人的手上，我們必須去釐清詮釋的問題。我們之所以會陷在這樣的窘境之中，是因為對教皇和教會大公會議對聖經的解讀，就像對聖經的解讀一樣，也有各式各樣不同的詮釋。
有些人幾乎絕望地說：「如果神學家們對聖經的詮釋不能達成一致的看法，我作為一個簡單的平信徒，怎樣知道誰的詮釋才是正確的呢？」
我們在醫學上也有同樣的意見分歧。一個醫生說我需要開刀，另一個說我不需要，我怎麼知道哪個醫生告訴我的是實情？我是在用我的生命作賭注，看我所信仼的是哪個醫生。專家們在對重要的事情上持不同的意見，實在令人煩惱，而詮釋聖經的重要性，遠超過我是否需要把闌尾割掉。如果不同的醫生給你不同的診斷，你會怎麼做呢？你會去找第三個醫生。你會盡力去調查，看他們的學歷，那些曾接受過最好訓練的醫生，就是最值得信賴的醫生；然後你聽從這些醫生從專業的角度為你提供的方案。對聖經詮釋的差異，我也持同樣的觀點。
我首先要知道是誰在詮釋聖經？他是否受過教育？我打開電視，看到電視佈道家的各種教導，坦白地說他們沒有接受過專業的神學訓練和聖經研究。他們沒有學術的資格。我知道有些沒有學術資格的人也可以正確地解釋聖經，但是他們對聖經的詮釋，有可能不像那些多年精心研究並受過嚴格訓練能對付聖經難題的人那麼準確。
對所有的人來說，聖經是一本打開的書，無論想在聖經裡找到什麼，每個人都有公平的機會。我們需要看教師的學歷證明。不但如此，我們不希望只依賴某個人的意見。這就是為什麼當涉及到聖經詮釋時，我常建議人們盡可能地找到好的資料來源，而且不只是當代的來源，也要來自基督信仰歷史上公認的偉大思想家。
How Do I Know Who’s Right?
FROM R.C. Sproul
There are so many different
interpretations of what the Bible is saying. How do I know which one is right?
That’s a problem that plagues all of us. There are some theoretical things we
can say about it, but I’d rather spend time on the practical.
The Roman Catholic Church believes
that one function of the church is to be the authorized interpreter of
Scripture. They believe that not only do we have an infallible Bible but we
also have an infallible interpretation of the Bible. That somewhat ameliorates
the problem, although it doesn’t eliminate it altogether. You still have those
of us who have to interpret the infallible interpretations of the Bible. Sooner
or later it gets down to those of us who are not infallible to sort it out. We
have this dilemma because there are hosts of differences in interpretations of
what the popes say and of what the church councils say, just as there are hosts
of different interpretations of what the Bible says.
Some people almost despair, saying
that “if the theologians can’t agree on this, how am I, a simple Christian,
going to be able to understand who’s telling me the truth?”
We find these same differences of
opinion in medicine. One doctor says you need an operation, and the other
doctor says you don’t. How will I find out which doctor is telling me the
truth? I’m betting my life on which doctor I trust at this point. It’s
troublesome to have experts differ on important matters, and these matters of
biblical interpretation are far more important than whether or not I need my
appendix out. What do you do when you have a case like that with variant
opinions rendered by physicians? You go to a third physician. You try to
investigate, try to look at their credentials to see who has the best training,
who’s the most reliable doctor; then you listen to the case that the doctor
presents for his position and judge which you are persuaded is more cogent. I’d
say the same thing goes with differences of biblical interpretations.
The first thing I want to know is,
Who’s giving the interpretation? Is he educated? I turn on the television and
see all kinds of teaching going on from television preachers who, quite
frankly, simply are not trained in technical theology or biblical studies. They
don’t have the academic qualifications. I know that people without academic
qualifications can have a sound interpretation of the Bible, but they’re not as
likely to be as accurate as those who have spent years and years of careful
research and disciplined training in order to deal with the difficult matters
of biblical interpretation.
The Bible is an open book for
everybody, and everybody has a fair shot of coming up with whatever they want
to find in it. We’ve got to see the credentials of the teachers. Not only that,
but we don’t want to rely on just one person’s opinion. That’s why when it
comes to a biblical interpretation, I often counsel people to check as many
sound sources as they can and then not just contemporary sources, but the great
minds, the recognized minds of Christian history. It’s amazing to me the
tremendous amount of agreement there is among Augustine, Aquinas, Anselm,
Luther, Calvin, and Edwards—the recognized titans of church history. I always
consult those because they’re the best. If you want to know something, go to
the pros.
“There are so many different
interpretations of what the Bible is saying. How do I know which one is right?”
and other questions can be found in our Questions Answered section. Learn more
in R.C. Sproul’s free Crucial Questions booklet Can I Trust the Bible?