作者: Lee Irons 翻译: 骆鸿铭
节译如下：
It’s
good to see that there are still some Reformed people these days who embrace
the label “evangelical” (see the posts by Stephen Nichols and Sean Lucas on the
Ref21 site). I don’t sympathize with the Reformed trend that utterly scorns and
detests the label. I have no desire to set myself apart as a “Reformed Confessionalist” who has nothing in common with evangelicalism.
This separatist attitude is wrong for several reasons:最近很高兴看到一些改革宗人士仍然拥抱“福音派”这个标签（见上面两位作者的链接）。我并不赞同改革宗人士的一个走向，即彻底谴责并厌恶这个标签。我无意把自己分别成一个“改革宗信条主义者”，认为自己与福音派没有半点交集。 基于下面几点原因，我认为这个分离主义的态度是错的：
(1)
It smacks of spiritual pride and elitism. I consider myself to be a Christian
first, then a Protestant, then an evangelical, and only then Reformed. To exalt
”Reformed” über alles is to downplay our central identity as Christians. To
exalt the Reformed confessions is to downplay the primary New Testament
confession that “Jesus is Lord.” I’m not a Reformed person who happens to be a Christian.
I’m a blood-bought Christian who happens to believe in the Reformed
understanding of the gospel. And I do not view myself as a superior Christian
for having this belief. It is only by the grace of God that I understand what I
do of the grace of God, and even then I betray it all too often in my
practice.(1) 它有点属灵骄傲与菁英的味道。我首先认为自己是个基督徒，然后是一个新教徒，然后是福音派，最后才是改革宗。高举“改革宗”在其它之上，是贬低了我们作为基督徒最基本的身份。高举改革宗信条也贬低了最基本的新约认信：“耶稣是主”。我不是恰巧是基督徒的改革宗人士。我是基督宝血所买赎的基督徒，刚巧相信改革宗对福音的理解。我不认为自己因有这个信仰，就比其他基督徒更优越。唯独靠着神的恩典，我才会明白我是怎么对待神的恩典的，即便如此，我也在我的实践中经常背叛这个恩典。
(2)
The current disdain for “evangelicalism” in Reformed circles is also wrong
because it places the accent on the distinctives of Reformed theology and
practice instead of on what we have in common with evangelicalism. But what we
have in common with evangelicals (being Christ-centered, cross-centered, and
gospel-centered) is far, far more important than our distinctives (our
Calvinistic soteriology, our covenant theology, our view of the church and the
means of grace, etc.). The distinctives of Reformed theology and practice are
useful only to the degree that they undergird and clarify the gospel, the
evangel.
(2) 目前在改革宗圈子内对“福音派”的轻蔑态度也是错误的，因为它刻意强调改革宗神学与实践的独特之处，而不是强调我们与福音派的共同点。而我们与福音派的共同点（都是以基督为中心，以十字架为中心，以福音为中心），要远远比我们的特点（我们的加尔文式的救恩论，我们的圣约神学，我们对教会与恩典的管道的看法，等等）重要得多。 改革宗神学与实践的特点是很有用的，但也只在一个程度上，即加强并澄清福音与福音的要点上。
(3)
Being “Reformed” but not “evangelical” undercuts the importance of seeking
fellowship, unity, and love with all Christians who confess the historic
ecumenical creeds (Nicea and Chalcedon) and the basics of the gospel
(justification by faith alone, substitutionary atonement), regardless of our
differences over secondary matters. The apostle John is fairly clear in his
epistles that if you claim to know God but do not love the brethren, then your
claim is proven to be empty. Confession of Christ as the Son of God and love
for the brethren go hand in hand. You cannot have one without the other.(3)只承认自己是“改革宗”，而不承认自己是“福音派”，破坏了寻求与所有承认历史上大公信经（尼西亚与迦克顿）的基督徒一起团契、合一与相爱的重要性，以及福音的基本要点（唯独因信称义，代替性的赎罪），即便我们在一些次要的事上有着差异。使徒约翰在他的书信中说得相当清楚，如果你宣称自己认识神，但却不爱弟兄，那么，你的宣称便是空洞的。认信基督是神的儿子与爱弟兄，是密不可分的，你不能只有一项，却没有另外一项。
None
of this means that we cannot be critical of the excesses and problems that we
see in evangelicalism. Yes, there are many who claim the name “evangelical” who
are false teachers and wolves in sheep’s clothing (I’m thinking particularly of
the prosperity gospel and some of the more radical emergent types). But the
same is true of many who claim the name “Reformed.” A search on the keyword
“Reformed” on the PC(USA) website turns up 3860 results (compared with 552
results on the OPC site). Consider also the very existence of the World
Alliance of Reformed Churches. If you think the term “evangelical” has been
distorted beyond recognition so that you no longer want to use that label, then
to be consistent, you shouldn’t call yourself “Reformed” either. Instead of
being too proud to call ourselves “evangelical,” we should join with those who strive to uphold
the historic meaning of the term. 这些并不表示我们就不能对福音派运动中过头的现象与问题，持一个批判的立场。是的，的确有些人自我宣称是“福音派”，却是假教师，是披着羊皮的狼（特别是一些宣扬成功福音的，以及一些极端的新兴教会的类型）。但是，同样的标准也适用于那些自称是“改革宗”的人。如果你用“改革宗”（reformed）作为钥字，搜索美国长老会（PCUSA。译注1）的网站，会得到3860个索引（相较之下，OPC，美国正统长老会，只有552个会员）。也可以考虑世界改革宗教会联盟（World Alliance of Reformed Churches,
http://warc.jalb.de/）之存在的事实。如果我们认为“福音派”这个词已经被扭曲了，我们不再能以这个名词来认识什么是福音派，以至于你不再想用这个标签（译注2），那么，为了有一致的立场，你也不应该称自己是“改革宗”。我们不是因为过于自豪而称自己是“福音派”，而是我们应该与那些努力维护这些名称之历史意义的人，联合在一起。
