作者：派博（John Piper） 譯者：駱鴻銘
1. 讀出作者的意思，而不是你自己的意思
1.
Read for the author’s meaning, not your own.
在我們閱讀時，我們的目的是想知道作者要我們在他的作品裏明白什麼、經歷到什麼。他寫作是有目的的。這是永遠不會變的。這是一個過去的、在歷史中出現的客觀事件。When we read, we
want to know what an author intended us to see and experience in his writing.
He had an intention when he wrote. Nothing will ever change that. It is there
as a past, objective event in history.
我們不只是為了主觀的經歷來讀。我們閱讀是為了發現更多客觀的事實。當我在閱讀時，我不會滿足於我心裏在想什麼。一個句子或一個字詞，或一封書信的意義，在於作者想要我們明白什麼，因此，所有良好的閱讀，明白作者想要表達的意思，是第一個目標。We are not reading
simply for subjective experiences. We are reading to discover more about
objective reality. I’m not content with
what comes to my mind when I read it. The meaning of a sentence, or a word, or
a letter is what the author intended for us to understand by it. Therefore,
meaning is the first aim of all good reading.
2. 問一些問題，以便解開聖經豐富的內容。
2.
Ask questions to unlock the riches of the Bible.
當我們閱讀時，除非碰到一個需要解決的難題、一個有待挖掘的奧秘、或一個有待破解的謎題，否則我們通常不會真正去思考。除非我們的心思受到挑戰，我們才會從被動的閱讀轉移到主動的閱讀，我們的心思才會專注，不會到處遊蕩。
When
we read, we do not generally really think until we are faced with a problem to
be solved, a mystery to be unraveled, or a puzzle to be deciphered. Until our
minds are challenged, and shift from passive reading to active reading, we
drift right over lots of insights.
問自己一些問題是一種製造難題或有待解決的謎題的方法。這意味著：問自己一些問題的這個習慣，會讓我們的思想甦醒、維持活力。它會在我們閱讀時刺激我們的頭腦，讓我們深入去挖掘一段經文真正的意思。Asking ourselves
questions is a way of creating a problem or a mystery to be solved. That means
the habit of asking ourselves questions awakens and sustains our thinking. It
stimulates our mind while we read, and drives us down deep to the real meaning
of a passage.
2.1 問關於「字詞」（words）的問題
2.1
Ask about words.
問關於定義的問題。在這個特定的句子裡，這個詞是什麼意思？請記得，我們是在問作者用這個詞的意圖是什麼，而不是「我認為」這個詞是什麼意思。問這個問題的前提是，字詞在不同句子裡，會有不同的意思。Ask about
definitions. What does this word mean in this specific sentence? And remember,
we’re asking what the
author intended by the word, not what we think it means. This assumes words
will have different meanings in different sentences.
2.2 問關於「詞組」（phrase）的意思。
2.2
Ask about phrases.
一個詞組（phrase）是一組沒有動詞的字詞，以描述某個動作、人物或事物。例如，「靠著聖靈治死罪」。「靠著聖靈」描述這個活動。它告訴我們「如何」治死我們生命中的罪。仔細查考類似這樣的詞組，並具體地問它們是要解釋什麼。A phrase is a group
of words without a verb that describe some action or person or thing. For
instance, “Put sin to death by
the Spirit.” “By the Spirit” describes the activity. It tells
us how we kill sin in our lives. Look closely at phrases like these and ask
what specifically they’re explaining.
2.3 問關於一些命題之間的關係。
2.3.
Ask about relationships between propositions.
命題（proposition）是一組帶有主詞和動詞的字詞。一些命題之間的關係是我們問的問題中，最重要的問題之一。通常會有一個小小的連接詞告訴我們答案（例如：但是，如果，而且，因此，為了，因為；等等）。有時候不同的神學系統，其主要的差異就取決於這些關聯。A proposition is a
group of words with a subject and a verb. How propositions relate to each other
is one of the most important questions we can ask. Often, there will be a small
connecting word that holds the answer (e.g. but, if, and, therefore, in order
that, because, etc.). Sometimes the major differences between whole theologies
hang on these connections.
2.4 問經文脈絡（context）如何幫助我們界定字詞和詞組的意思。
2.4
Ask how the context helps define the meaning of words and phrases.
如果你不知道字詞的意思，你就無法準確地明白一個命題的意思，而如果你不明白這個命題的意思，你就無法明白字詞的意思。這是一個迴圈，但這不是一個叫人絕望的迴圈。字詞所具有的共享的意思是有局限範圍的。You can’t know accurately what a proposition means
until you know the meaning of the words, and you can’t know the meaning of words until you know the meaning
of the proposition. It is a circle, but it’s not a hopeless circle. Words have
a limited range of shared meanings.
對一個字詞的意思所作的錯誤假設，通常在句子或段落的結尾就會得到糾正。即便字詞本身可以有好幾個意思，圍繞著它們的命題內容和命題之間的關係，通常會澄清作者的意圖，作者要用它們表達什麼具體的意思。Wrong guesses about
a word’s meaning are often
set right by the end of the sentence or paragraph. Even though words, in and of
themselves, can have several meanings, the content and relationships of the
propositions around them usually clarify the specific meaning the author
intended them to have.
2.5 問這段經文和聖經其他部分的關聯。
2.5
Ask about connections with other parts in the Bible.
我們必須問我們所閱讀的一段經文的意思，和其他經文要如何互相配合。聖經其他地方是否能確認這段經文的意思？是否有和這段經文互相矛盾或不一致的地方？We have to ask how
the meaning we’re seeing in a
passage fits together with other passages. Are there confirmations elsewhere in
the Bible? Are there passages that seem contradictory or inconsistent?
當我感到兩節經文或段落之間有張力存在，我從來不會假設聖經是不一致的。我會假設我還沒有看到所有我必須看到的。倘若我看到的還不足以解釋表面的不一致，就要問更多有可能會幫助我更明白的一些問題只有其他少數的幾件事，比起這個問經文實際上是如何前後融貫一致（雖然從表面來看，它們是前後不一致的）的習慣，會使我們更深、更豐富地認識上帝。When I feel tension
between two verses or passages, I never assume the Bible is inconsistent. I
assume I’m not seeing all I need to see. If I have not seen enough to explain
the apparent inconsistency, asking more questions will likely help me see more.
Few things make us deeper and richer in our knowledge of God and his ways than
this habit of asking how texts cohere in reality when at first they don’t look
like they do.
2.6 問關於應用的問題。
2.6
Ask about application.
聖經作者寫作的目的，不只是要我們「知道」，更是要我們「成為什麼樣的人」，以及「作什麼事」。因此，我們必須養成一個習慣，問一些關於應用的問題。如何應用在我們身上、應用到教會、應用到我們的人際關係、應用到世界。這個應用的任務是沒完沒了的。應用經文的方式有成千上百種，也可以把經文應用在成千上百種的處境和人際關係裏。我們的任務不是知道所有的應用，而是在我們的生活中，在應用經文的意思上不斷地成長。The aim of biblical
writers is not only that we “know,” but that we “be” and “do.” So we need to form
the habit of asking questions concerning application. To us. To our church and
our relationships. To the world. The task of application is never done. There
are millions of ways a text can be applied, and millions of situations and
relationships for them to be applied. Our job is not to know every application,
but to grow in applying the meaning of Scripture to our lives.
2.7 問有關情感的問題——內心的正當回應。
2.7
Ask about affections — appropriate responses of the heart.
閱讀聖經的目標不只是頭腦的回應，而是內心的回應。人類感情的整個範疇都是對聖經的意義的可能回應方式。上帝賜下聖經的目的，不只是要讓我們的頭腦有知識，更是為了轉變我們的內心——我們的情感。尊崇上帝的話，不只是靠正確的理解，更要靠正確的情感。The aim of our
Bible reading is not just the response of the mind, but of the heart. The whole
range of human emotions are possible responses to the meaning of the Bible. God
gave us the Bible not just to inform our minds, but also to transform our
hearts — our affections. God’s word is honored not just by being understood
rightly, but also by being felt rightly.
3. 在聖經的每一頁，都禱告祈求上帝的幫助。
3. At
every page, pray and ask for God’s help.
上主啊，讓我們的心倚靠祢的話，賜給我們渴慕的心。開啟我們的眼睛，明白其中的奧妙。制服我們的意志，並賜給我們順服的心靈。讓我們看見祢，看見祢為我們的生命所指示的道路，好滿足我們的心。O Lord, incline our
hearts to your word. Give us a desire for it. Open our eyes to see wonders
there. Subdue our wills and give us an obedient spirit. Satisfy our hearts with
a vision of yourself and your way for our lives.