作者: Megan Almon 翻譯: 駱鴻銘
如果有人问你，「什麼是基督教」？你会怎样回答？基督教是个宗教？是一种关係？是一种看待世界的方法？还是一种世界观？
If
someone were to ask you, “What is Christianity?” —how would you respond? A
religion? A relationship? A way of seeing the world? A worldview?
所有的人，不管他们是否意识到，都在用某种方式来看待这个世界。有些人认為，哲学根本是在浪费时间，但这也是一种哲学观点。你的世界观是由一些因素所共同塑造的，包括家庭，文化，教育和经歷，等等。成為基督徒的意思，就是相信基督教的世界观最能合理地解释事实的真相。
Everybody,
whether they’re aware of it or not, sees the world in a certain way. For those
who think that philosophy is a waste of time—that’s a philosophy. Your
worldview is shaped by a number of factors including but not limited to family,
culture, education, and experiences. To be a Christian is to believe that
Christianity is the worldview that makes the most sense of reality.
拼图PIECE BY PIECE
我们对世界的看法与事实真相发生碰撞时，会有不同的结果。如果这些看法符合事实，结果就是和谐的。当错误的观念碰上事实，结果就是灾难。如果一个人不相信有重力，却相信人类可以展开翅膀飞翔，為了要测验这个信念，直接从屋顶往下跳，这必定会和事实发生碰撞（更不用说你会碰撞到地面）。When an individual’s ideas about the world rub up against reality,
there are consequences. If those ideas match reality, the result is harmony.
When false ideas meet reality, the consequences can be disastrous. Believe what
you wish about gravity, but someone who believes human beings can sprout wings
and fly is going to collide with the truth (not to mention the ground) when he
or she tests that belief by diving off of the roof.
举拼图為例。桌上堆满了一片片的拼图，我们的目标是把这些拼图拼在一起，好让拼起来的图案可以和盒子上的图片一模一样。每个人对上帝、人性、歷史、真理、知识和事实真相，都有自己的想法。这些看法未必和摆在他们面前的世界的图案一致。有些人的拼图块还堆在桌上，脑中从来没有闪过一幅完整的图画。有些人硬是想把一些不相合的拼图凑在一起。有些人则是根本拿错了拼图。
Think
of assembling a puzzle. Pieces are piled on the table, and the goal is to get
those pieces to fit together in such a way that the end result matches the
picture on the box. Everyone has ideas about God, humanity, history, truth,
knowledge, and reality that may or may not correspond to the picture of the
world in front of them. Some still have their pieces in a pile, and have never
given the bigger picture a passing thought. Some have pieces forced together
that just don’t fit. Some are working with the wrong pieces altogether.
那些小心一片一片按著图片来拼的人，总有完成拼图的一天，结果就是一个融贯完整而美丽的整体。而因為我们有来自上帝给我们的真相，就如同拼图盒子上的图片，我们就可以把我们的想法和这个图片来比较，衡量它们的準确性。The person who
carefully compares each piece to the picture is going to complete the puzzle
successfully, and the end result is a coherent and beautiful whole. And, like
the picture on the puzzle box, because we have reality in front of us, ideas
can be compared to it to weigh their validity.
心意更新而变化 BE TRANSFORMED
福音书的记载告诉我们，耶穌把一个新的世界观给了门徒。耶穌帮助他们了解到，祂所宣讲的国度比他们所能想像到的任何一个世界的国度还要大，甚至在许多方面都是相反的。很明显的，他们在使徒行传所宣讲的復活的君王，不是他们在耶穌开始传道时所理解到的君王。The gospel accounts
reveal Jesus giving his disciples a new worldview. Jesus helped them to
understand that the kingdom being proclaimed was greater than—and in many ways,
the opposite of—any worldly kingdom they could imagine. It is evident that the
good news about the resurrected King they proclaimed in Acts is not the king
they understood at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.
保罗在罗马书告诉所有的基督徒，要改变他们对世界的看法，更新变化：「不要效法这个世界，只要心意更新而变化，叫你们察验何為神的善良、纯全、可喜悦的旨意。」他甚至说我们所打的仗是发生在观念的领域：「我们争战的兵器本不是属血气的，乃是在神面前有能力，可以攻破坚固的营垒，将各样的计谋，各样拦阻人认识神的那些自高之事，一概攻破了，又将人所有的心意夺回，使他都顺服基督。」（林后10：4-5）Paul
tells Christians in the book of Romans to be transformed by changing the way
they think about the world: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be
transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what
is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (emphasis mine).
He even claims that the war we fight takes place in the realm of ideas: “For
the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy
strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the
knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Cor.
10:4–5).
基督徒们，你们是否正在把所有的心意夺回，使这些想法都顺服基督呢？你是否相信这个真理？这样作并不会让每件事都变得很顺利、很伟大，但是这会帮助你理解这个世界，正如它会帮助你明白，為什麼你真的拥有未来的盼望一样。Christian, are you
taking “every thought” captive to the obedience of Christ? Are you
believing the truth? Doing so won’t make everything
sunny and great, but it will help you make sense of the world, just as it will
help you understand why you truly have a future hope.
如同鲁益士在《极重无比的荣耀》裡写到的，「我相信基督教，正如我相信太阳已经升起一样，不只因為我看见了它，也因為透过它，我才能看见所有其他的事物。」As C. S. Lewis
wrote in The Weight of Glory, “I believe in
Christianity as I believe the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but
because by it I see everything else.”