相对主义与教会Relativism and the Church
作者: Rev. Lane Keister 翻译: 骆鸿铭
相对主义是攻击教会的第三颗“狼牙”。我认为,这颗牙是特别难处理的,因为它是如此的普遍,而且很难对抗。你甚至无法总是用逻辑来对抗,因为他们通常完全地拒绝逻辑(至少,他们是这样说的)。其后果对教会来说是很严重的。每一件事都变成“关系性的”(relational),对真理的委身就失去了根基(见Sittema, With a Shepherd’s Heart, p. 61)。唯一一件绝对错的事是持守绝对的价值(62-63页)。教会管教就变得极端困难,因为长老们竟然胆敢告诉我,我正在犯罪!(他们不是也是罪人吗!)人们失去了这个信念,就是圣经真的是神的话。
Relativism is the
third tooth in the mouth of the wolf that attacks the church. This one is
particularly nasty, in my opinion, because it is so prevalent, and so hard to
fight. You can’t always even use
logic to fight this one, because they usually reject logic outright (at least,
they say they do). The consequences are severe for the church. Everything
becomes “relational,” while commitment to truth simultaneously erodes (see Sittema,
With a Shepherd’s Heart, p. 61). The only thing that is absolutely wrong is to
hold absolute values (pp. 62-63). Church discipline becomes extremely
difficult, since how dare those elders tell me that I am sinning! People lose
conviction that the Bible is really God’s Word.
Sittema给我们5个建议,如何对抗这种可怕的错误。1. 大声并经常地宣告圣经之无谬误和绝对的权柄。2. 以正确的名称称呼罪:罪!3. 教导圣经(我会包括背诵圣经);4. 用圣经来责备罪人;以及5. 用榜样来带领。我会在这里加上其他有帮助的建议,特别是针对年轻人的,他们是最受相对主义毒害的。 6. 用要理问答教导年轻人,让要理问答成为他们生命的一部分。 7. 讲道时要反驳电视的言论(如果电视完全掌握了我们年轻人的时间,我们如何对抗相对主义的教导呢?此外,电视通常很少有价值。) 8. 教导青少年和大学生护教学,好让我们不只是知道有相对主义,也知道如何理解相对主义,并加以避免,甚至帮助其他人避免。
Sittema gives us
five suggestions on how to fight this horrific error. 1. Proclaim loudly and
often the infallible and absolute authority of the Bible; 2. Call sin by its
rightful name: sin! 3. Teach the Bible (I would include with this Bible
memorization); 4. Rebuke sinners with the Bible; and 5. Lead by example. I
might add a few other suggestions here that will help, especially geared
towards young people, who are the most affected by relativism. 6. Teach young
people the catechisms, so that it’s in their blood. 7. Preach against the
television (who can fight the indoctrination of relativism if the television
has such a complete grasp of the time of our young people? Plus, there is
usually little of value on the TV) 8. Teach apologetics to the youth groups and
to college age folks, so that they are not only aware of relativism, but also
how to understand it and avoid it, and even maybe help others avoid it.