全然敗壞的教義反映了改革宗的原罪觀。原罪一詞在流行領域經常被人誤解。有些人以為「原罪」必定是指第一個罪--------我們在自己的生活中以不同的方式覆制最初所犯的那件罪，即亞當和夏娃第一次犯的罪。但這並不是教會歷史上所指的原罪的意思。相反，原罪的教義定義人類因第一個罪而所要承受的後果。
事實上，歷史上每一間擁有信經或認信告白的教會都同意，人類身上發生非常嚴重的事情，起因是第一個罪-------這第一個罪導致原罪。也就是說，由於亞當和夏娃犯罪，整個人類都墮落了，自墮落以來，作為人類，我們的本性受到邪惡力量的影響。大衛在舊約中宣稱，「哦，上帝，我是在罪孽裡生的，在我母親懷胎的時候就有了罪」（詩五十一5）。他不是說他母親生孩子是有罪的，也不是說他一出生就做了壞事。相反，他承認人類墮落的狀態------這種狀態是他父母的經驗的一部分，他自己把這這種狀態帶到這個世界。因此，原罪與人類墮落的本性有關。這個觀念是：不是因為犯罪才成為罪人，而是因為我們是罪人，所以會犯罪。
在改革宗的傳統中，全然敗壞並不是指徹底敗壞。我們經常使用全然作為絕對或完全的同義詞，所以全然墮落的概念使人聯想到一個觀念：每個人都壞到他真正可能壞的地步。你可能會想到如阿道夫希特勒（Adolf Hitler）這樣的歷史惡魔，說這個人身上絕對沒有值得救贖的美德，但我懷疑他對他的母親有一些感情。像希特勒那樣邪惡，我們仍可以從多方面設想，他可能甚至比實際上更邪惡。因此，全然敗壞的觀念並不是指所有人類都壞到真正可能達到的極限。它是指墮落是如此嚴重，以致於它影響了整個人。墮落占領和支配我們的本性，影響了我們的身體；這就是我們會生病，死亡的原因。墮落影響了我們的心、我們的思想，虽然我們仍然有思考能力，但聖經說我們的心思變得昏昧、動搖。人的意志不再處於道德力量的原始狀態。根據新約，現在我們的意志受到捆綁。我們被自己內心的邪惡和欲望束縛。我們的身體、思想、意志、靈魂------甚至全人------都受到罪的勢力的影響。
我喜歡用我喜愛的名稱來代替「全然敗壞」這一詞，它就是徹底敗壞。諷刺的是，徹底一詞源於拉丁文的「根」，即adix,，可以翻譯為根或核心。徹底一詞與滲透到事物的核心有關。它不是指表面的次要或膚淺。改革的觀點是，墮落的影響擴展或滲透到我們生存的核心。就連英語單詞的核心實際上也來自拉丁詞cor，意思是「心」。也就是說，罪來自我們的內心。從聖經的角度來看，這意味著罪來自我們生存的核心或中心。
因此，我們要效法基督模樣的要求，不僅是要作一些小調整或行為修改，而且更是要在內部作全面的更新。我們需要被重生，被重新創造，並藉著聖靈的大能加速進行。藉著聖靈改變核心，心，是一個人能夠脫離這種徹底敗壞狀態的唯一途徑。然而，甚至這種改變也不能立刻戰勝罪。我們期待在天堂上我們的罪得到徹底消除，并進入榮耀的狀態。
在下一篇文章，我們將思考郁金香（TULIP）中考慮U，即即無條件的揀選（unconditional election）
TULIP and Reformed Theology: Total Depravity
FROM R.C. Sproul
The doctrine of total depravity
reflects the Reformed viewpoint of original sin. That term—original sin—is
often misunderstood in the popular arena. Some people assume that the term
original sin must refer to the first sin—the original transgression that we’ve
all copied in many different ways in our own lives, that is, the first sin of
Adam and Eve. But that’s not what original sin has referred to historically in
the church. Rather, the doctrine of original sin defines the consequences to
the human race because of that first sin.
Virtually every church historically
that has a creed or a confession has agreed that something very serious
happened to the human race as a result of the first sin—that first sin resulted
in original sin. That is, as a result of the sin of Adam and Eve, the entire
human race fell, and our nature as human beings since the fall has been
influenced by the power of evil. As David declared in the Old Testament, “Oh,
God, I was born in sin, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Ps. 51:5). He
was not saying that it was sinful for his mother to have borne children;
neither was he saying that he had done something evil by being born. Rather, he
was acknowledging the human condition of fallenness—that condition that was
part of the experience of his parents, a condition that he himself brought into
this world. Therefore, original sin has to do with the fallen nature of
mankind. The idea is that we are not sinners because we sin, but that we sin
because we are sinners.
In the Reformed tradition, total
depravity does not mean utter depravity. We often use the term total as a
synonym for utter or for completely, so the notion of total depravity conjures
up the idea that every human being is as bad as that person could possibly be.
You might think of an archfiend of history such as Adolf Hitler and say there
was absolutely no redeeming virtue in the man, but I suspect that he had some
affection for his mother. As wicked as Hitler was, we can still conceive of
ways in which he could have been even more wicked than he actually was. So the
idea of totalin total depravity doesn’t mean that all human beings are as
wicked as they can possibly be. It means that the fall was so serious that it
affects the whole person. The fallenness that captures and grips our human
nature affects our bodies; that’s why we become ill and die. It affects our
minds and our thinking; we still have the capacity to think, but the Bible says
the mind has become darkened and weakened. The will of man is no longer in its
pristine state of moral power. The will, according to the New Testament, is now
in bondage. We are enslaved to the evil impulses and desires of our hearts. The
body, the mind, the will, the spirit—indeed, the whole person—have been
infected by the power of sin.
I like to replace the term total
depravity with my favorite designation, which is radical corruption. Ironically,
the word radical has its roots in the Latin word for “root,” which is radix,
and it can be translated root or core. The term radical has to do with
something that permeates to the core of a thing. It’s not something that is
tangential or superficial, lying on the surface. The Reformed view is that the
effects of the fall extend or penetrate to the core of our being. Even the
English word core actually comes from the Latin word cor, which means “heart.”
That is, our sin is something that comes from our hearts. In biblical terms,
that means it’s from the core or very center of our existence.
So what is required for us to be
conformed to the image of Christ is not simply some small adjustments or
behavioral modifications, but nothing less than renovation from the inside. We
need to be regenerated, to be made over again, to be quickened by the power of
the Spirit. The only way in which a person can escape this radical situation is
by the Holy Spirit’s changing the core, the heart. However, even that change
does not instantly vanquish sin. The complete elimination of sin awaits our
glorification in heaven.
In the next post, we’ll consider
the U in TULIP, unconditional election.