基督信仰是理性的嗎?IsChristianity Rational?
作者: R.C. Sproul 譯者: Maria Marta
必定是! 基督信仰是極理性的。現在我有一個曾問過自己的問題：「你是一個基督徒理性主義者，這是真的嗎？」我問答：「決不是真的！這是一種自相矛盾的說法。因為理性主義者是擁抱哲學的人，而哲學是置自己於基督教之上，與基督教對立的。」 因此，雖然真基督徒不是理性主義者，但基督信仰肯定是理性的。
基督信仰是前後一致的嗎？它明白易懂嗎？它可以理解嗎？它協調地融入一個首尾一貫的真理系統之內，抑或它與理性對立，是非理性的呢？它沈溺迷信，擁抱那些認為「基督教顯然是非理性」的基督徒嗎？我認為這（不明白這些問題）是一個巨大的悲劇。基督教的上帝滿足人類的思想。祂對我們說話。我們有一本是為我們的理解而寫成的書。
當我說基督信仰是理性的時，我的意思並非指基督信仰的真理大體上都可以由思辨哲學家從一些邏輯原則中推斷出來。有許多關於上帝本性的信息，我們能夠找到這些信息，只是因為上帝自己選擇向我們啟示。祂藉著祂的先知、歷史、聖經、祂的獨生子耶穌來啟示這些信息。
但祂所啟示的真理是可以理解的; 我們可以用我們的智力來明白。祂沒有要求我們：為要成為基督徒，我們應當拋棄我們的智力。有些人認為要成為基督徒，從現在開始，你不需要用你的頭腦了。新約呼召我們跨出那唯一的一大步，不是跨入黑暗，而是跨出黑暗，邁入光明，踏上我們能真正明白的道路。這並非說基督信仰所說的一切在理性上都是明顯清晰的。例如，我無法理解一個人如何同時具有神性和人性，關於耶穌，這就是我們所要相信的。這是一個奧秘------但奧秘與非理性不是同一件事。
奧秘不僅僅適用於宗教。我不明白地心吸力的極限強度。這些物理原理對我們來說是奧秘，但它們不是非理性的。「我有限的頭腦無法理解這些事情是如何發生的」是一回事，「盡管它們是公然的前後矛盾和非理性，但無論如何我都會相信它們」是另一回事。這不是基督教所教導的。基督信仰提到很多奧秘，但這些奧秘不能用非理性的措辭來清楚表達；若是能的話，我們便拋棄了基督信仰的真理。
在我們的【問題回答】（Questions Answered）專欄，可找到 < 基督信仰是理性的嗎? > 和其他問題的解答。
Is
Christianity Rational?
FROM
R.C. Sproul
By
all means! It is intensely rational. Now, I’ve had the question asked of me,
“Is it true that you are a Christian rationalist?” I said, “By no means! That’s
a contradiction in terms. A rationalist is somebody who embraces a philosophy
that sets itself over and against Christianity.” And so, while a true Christian
is not a rationalist, the Christian faith is certainly rational.
Is
Christianity coherent? Is it intelligible? Does it makes sense? Does it fit
together in a consistent pattern of truth, or is it the opposite of rational—is
it irrational? Does it indulge in superstition and embrace Christians who
believe that Christianity is manifestly irrational? I think that’s a great
tragedy. The God of Christianity addresses people’s minds. He speaks to us. We
have a Book that is written for our understanding.
When
I say that Christianity is rational, I do not mean that the truth of
Christianity in all of its majesty can be deduced from a few logical principles
by a speculative philosopher. There is much information about the nature of God
that we can find only because God himself chooses to reveal it to us. He
reveals these things through his prophets, through history, through the Bible,
and through his only begotten Son, Jesus.
But
what he reveals is intelligible; we can understand it with our intellect. He
doesn’t ask us to throw away our minds in order to become Christians. There are
people who think that to become a Christian, one must leave one’s brain
somewhere in the parking lot. The only leap that the New Testament calls us to
make is not into the darkness but out of the darkness into the light, into that
which we can indeed understand. That is not to say that everything the
Christian faith speaks of is manifestly clear with respect to rational
categories. I can’t understand, for example, how a person can have a divine
nature and a human nature at the same time, which is what we believe about
Jesus. That’s a mystery—but mysterious is not the same as irrational.
Mystery
doesn’t apply only to religion. I don’t understand the ultimate force of
gravity. These things are mysterious to us, but they’re not irrational. It’s
one thing to say, “I don’t understand from my finite mind how these things work
out,” and it’s another thing to say, “They’re blatantly contradictory and
irrational, but I’m going to believe them anyway.” That’s not what Christianity
does. Christianity says that there are mysteries, but those mysteries cannot be
articulated in terms of the irrational; if that were so, then we have moved
away from Christian truth.
Is
the Christian faith really rational? and other questions can be found in our
Questions Answered section.