司布真与“降格争议”Spurgeonand the Downgrade Controversy
作者/譯者：Paul Mizzi/Duncan Liang
浸信会传道人司布真,以及他所参与的反对人称之为“降格”的自由主义的斗争The Baptist preacher C.H.
Spurgeon and his involvement in the controversy against liberalism known as the
“Downgrade.”
“降格争议”涉及的主要问题Major issues of the “Downgrade Controversy”
司布真勇敢地遵从了那“要为从前一次交付圣徒的真道竭力争辩”的命令，尽管他恨恶为争论而争论，然而他把抵制在福音派（特别是在浸信会联盟）中人所能见，从保守的基督教真理中后退的倾向视为己任。The appeal to “earnestly contend for the faith once delivered
unto the saints” was heroically
obeyed by Spurgeon. Though he hated controversy for its own sake, yet he
accounted it his duty to resist a palpable trend within evangelicalism (and
particularly within the Baptist Union) that regressed from conservative
Christian truth.
司布真审视在抗罗宗教会内部日渐升起的高等批判运动，他很不情愿，不得不开口捍卫真道。在这场争论中事情是怎样发展的，有哪些主要问题？十九世纪科学，哲学，语言和历史都录得许多的进步，可以说另外一次的文艺复兴正在形成，许多人开口表达对事物准确和进步的新的关切。As Spurgeon
assessed the steady rise of Higher Criticism within the Protestant Churches, he
reluctantly had to speak up in defence of the Faith. How did the state of
things come about, and what were the major issues in the Controversy? During
the nineteenth century many advances in science, philosophy, languages and
history were registered. It could be said that another Renaissance was taking
place; a new concern for accuracy and progress was voiced by many.
然而在这场前进的努力中，已经建立起来的基督教教条开始受到公开的质疑，甚至被人否认；古来的来源被批判性地加以审查，传统上为人接受的东西落在人的查验之下。在福音派内部存在着一种看法，就是如果其他领域可以取得进步，那么为什么教会内部不可以进步？我们的属灵认识为什么要保持静止不动？However, in this
effort to advance, established Christian dogma began to be openly questioned
and even denied; old sources were critically examined; what was traditionally
accepted was brought under examination. Within evangelicalism, it was reasoned
that if in other spheres advances were possible, then why not within the
church? Why should our spiritual knowledge remain static?
那些举起所谓进步旗帜的人愿意对圣经内容采取一种不那么严格，更少批判性的态度，在司布真身为成员的浸信会联盟里，有几位领袖人物存在着一种越来越明显的倾向，他们改变强调坚持点，离开那古旧的福音。Those who raised
the banner of so-called progress were willing to adopt a less rigid and less
uncritical attitude to the contents of Scripture. There was in the Baptist
Union, of which Spurgeon was a member, a growing shift of emphasis, by several
of its leaders, away from the old gospel.
这并不令人感到惊奇，因为在这时候，在达尔文所著《物种起源》一书中所宣扬的进化论在各个方面都开始受人注意。另外，大不列颠正看到德国高等批判运动的入侵，它怀疑圣经的准确性和可靠性。许多传道人被带领走上歪路，进到无知的辩论和空谈的里面，而这一切都是在进步的名义下进行的。This is not
surprising, since it was the time during which the influence of Darwin’s theory of evolution, as propounded in his
book The Origin of Species, was being felt all around. Besides, Great Britain
was witnessing an influx of Germany’s higher criticism, casting doubt on the
integrity and reliability of Holy Scripture. Many preachers were being led
astray into idle and vain speculation...in the name of progress.
尽管许多教义，比如永远的惩罚，基督的神性等受到了质疑，但超越其他一切的主要问题是圣经是否为神默示，是否可靠。圣经作为不死的神无误的话语，作为信心和行为唯一的准则正受到攻击。这场争论的名字来自这个事实，就是那真正的圣经神学，由圣经塑造，蕴藏在圣经中的抗罗宗信仰，正处在“降格”之中。Though many
doctrines came to be questioned, such as eternal punishment and the deity of
Christ, the major issue above all else was the inspiration and absolute
reliability of Scripture. The Scripture, as the inert Word of the undying God,
as the sole rule of faith and practice, was being undermined. The Controversy
took its name from the fact that true scriptural theology, the Protestant Faith
as shaped by and embedded in Scripture, was on the ‘downgrade.’
主要的争战方The main combatants
作为一个热爱神和他的真理的人，司布真不能继续保持沉默。当他察觉到这样的光景时，他被迫要采取公开的行动。他开始给浸信会联盟写信，要求联盟采纳一种福音派的信仰宣言。到那时为止，加入联盟的唯一条件就是人要相信成年人全身浸入受洗。司布真意识到，面对向福音发起的进攻，这个要求是何等不足。As a lover of God
and His truth, Spurgeon could not remain silent. When he became aware of this
situation he was forced to taken public action. He began by writing to the
Baptist Union and requested that it should adopt an evangelical statement of
faith. Till then, the only condition for membership in the Union was that one
believes in adult baptism by immersion. Spurgeon realized how minimal this was
in the face of the attacks that were being made upon the Gospel.
因着联盟对那些削弱圣经真理的人不采取纪律措施的缘故，他的请求就越显得重要。纳塔尔主教科连索于1862年在南非因着攻击摩西五经的真实性而被革职。然而当他回到英格兰的时候，人们却没有坚持说他被革职是正当的。司布真写道：“神的话语在这个世代是一件小事；一些人甚至不相信它是受到默示的；那些宣称敬畏它的人树立起其他的书籍，作为对它的一种对抗。嗨，现在有地位极高的教会显贵写文章反对圣经，然而却能找到主教为他们辩护。” His request was
all the more important because no disciplinary action was being taken against
those who undermined Bible truth. Colenso, Bishop of Natal, was deposed in
South Africa in 1862 for impugning the authenticity of the Pentateuch. However
on his return to England the validity of his deposition was not upheld.
Spurgeon wrote: “God’s Word, in this age, is a small affair; some do not even
believe it to be inspired; and those who profess to revere it set up other
books in a sort of rivalry with it. Why, there are great Church dignitaries
now-a-days who write against the Bible, and yet find bishops to defend them.”
新派神学有许多的支持者。它在公理会里头占了主要地位。戴尔（R.W. Dale）公开宣告反对罪人永远受惩罚的教义。他选择了永灭论。更加伤害的是他采纳了一种立场，就是在教义上接受基督的神性，这对得救的信心来说并不是必要条件。他宣称，如果我们摒弃圣经无误这古旧的信念，基督对于我们也没有迷失。戴尔是如此厚颜无耻，以致他对一群牧师宣告：“我们之间现在没有权威加以阻隔 - 在你和我服事的会众，和那正是神的真理的他之间没有权威置身其中。” The New School of
Theology had many supporters. It was dominant in Congregationalism. R.W. Dale
had declared openly against the eternal punishment of the wicked. He opted for
the theory of annihilation. To add insult to injury, he took the stand that a
doctrinal acceptance of the deity of Christ was not a sine qua non for saving
faith. Christ is not lost to us, he claimed, if we discard the old belief in
the inerrancy of Scripture. Dale was so brazen-faced that he declared to a group
of ministers: “There is now no authority to come between us - to come between
the congregation to which you and I have to minister, and Him who is the very
truth of God.”
侯顿（R.F. Horton）和 麦肯南（Alexander MacKennal） 是 戴尔的支持者。他们很狡猾地把教条说成是一种终极的声明，教义则是某种不断进步的事情，就这样把两者分开。他们宣称我们应当保留教义（因为它是受人影响的），而拒绝教条。侯顿以“进步”的名义拒绝的其中一条教条就是圣经是神所默示的。R.F. Horton and
Alexander MacKennal were Dale’s supporters. They
cunningly distinguished between dogma as a final statement, and doctrine which
was something always progressing. While we should retain doctrine (because it
is pliable by men), we should reject dogma, they claimed. One of the dogmas
Horton rejected, in the name of “progressive” views, was the inspiration of the
Bible.
司布真不能接受这一切。如果圣经降服在那仅仅是人的随意思想之下，那么信仰就变得极为危险地充满主观性。他写道：“现在这变成了一个严重的问题，就是那些坚守从前一次交付圣徒的真道的人在和那些离开，接受了别的福音的人来往要到哪个地步。基督徒相爱是有根据的，分争是严重的罪，应当避免。但是我们和那些离开真理的人结盟有多大的正当理由呢？”对司布真来说情况到了危急的地步：真理受到攻击，照他的判断对方已经是偏向“别的福音”了。Spurgeon would have
none of this. Should the Bible be surrendered to the whims of mere men, then
the Faith becomes so dangerously subjective. He wrote: “It now becomes a
serious question how far those who abide by the faith once delivered to the
saints should fraternize with those who have turned aside to another gospel.
Christian love has its claims, and divisions are to be shunned as grievous
evils; but how far are we justified in being in confederacy with those who are
departing from the truth?” For Spurgeon the situation was critical: the truth
was under fire and in his assessment the opponents had turned to “another
gospel.”
在尽最大努力警告和呼吁那些浸信会联盟内部在位的人，特别是它的秘书布斯（S.H. Booth）之后，司布真于1887年10月28日退出了该联盟。他的理由是联盟宁愿要宗派的和睦而不尽对付谬误的责任，因着对罪的容忍，这使得基督徒的退出成为无可避免的事。After doing his
utmost to warn and appeal those in authority within the Baptist Union,
especially its secretary S.H. Booth, Spurgeon withdrew from it on October 28th,
1887. His reason was that the Union was preferring denominational peace to the
duty of dealing with error and thus, by tolerating sin, they made the
withdrawal of Christians unavoidable.
他的立场不可动摇。在《军刀与镘刀》杂志上他对此事讲得十分清楚：“相信基督赎罪祭的信徒现在与那些轻慢这点的人公开结盟；相信圣经的信徒与那些否认完全默示的人结盟；那些持守福音教义的人与那些称人的堕落是一个故事，否认圣灵的位格，称因信称义是不道德的，坚持死后还有另外一个机会的人公开结盟。... ...我们庄严地确信，我们不应该假装有相交。与显露出来，重大的错误相交就是在罪中有份。” His stand was
unshakeable. In The Sword and the Trowel, he expressed it clearly: “Believers
in Christ’s atonement are now in declared union with those who make light of
it; believers in Holy Scripture are in confederacy with those who deny plenary
inspiration; those who hold evangelical doctrine are in open alliance with
those who call the fall a fable, who deny the personality of the Holy Ghost,
who call justification by faith immoral, and hold that there is another
probation after death...It is our solemn conviction that there should be no
pretence of fellowship. Fellowship with known and vital error is participation
in sin” (emphasis in the original).
后来他写道：“我希望全体基督教界明白，我向联盟全部的要求就是它要建立在圣经的基础上。” Later he wrote: “I would like all Christendom to know that all I
asked of the Union is that it be formed on a Scriptural basis.”
从这场争议中学到的功课Applied lessons from the
Controversy
争议本身从来就不是令人愉快的事情，但就好像所有其他争战一样，神呼召教会战斗，“在你们中间不免有分门结党的事，好叫那些有经验的人，显明出来” (林前11:19)。每一位信徒应当牢记在心最大的教训就是要预备站在破口之中，不为敌人的猛烈进攻所吓倒。尽管世人都要跌倒，但基督徒要宣告和捍卫真道。司布真因为涉及到这场争议当中而健康恶化，然而他不愿沉默不语。“我因信，所以如此说话”(林后 4:13)。我们越蒙恩赐，对我们在前线进入阵地的呼召就越急迫。司布真看到这点，他忠心地服从。Controversy is
never pleasant in itself, but as in every other battle that the church is
called to fight, “there must be also heresies among you, that they which are
approved may be made manifest among you” (1 Corinthians 11:19). The prime
lesson to be taken to heart by every believer is to be ready to stand in the
breach and not be intimidated by the onslaught of the enemy. Though the world
fall, yet the Christian is to proclaim and defend the Faith. Spurgeon’s health
suffered because of his engagement in the Controversy, and yet he would not
keep silent. “I believed, and therefore have I spoken” (2 Corinthians 4:13).
And the more gifted we are the more urgent becomes the call the take our place
on the front. Spurgeon saw this and faithfully obeyed.
尽管相对而言很少人站在司布真一边，然而他没有被吓倒。真理一定要被证明为正确，现在历史已经证明了这位真理捍卫者的正确。我们这些今天的基督徒感激他面对邪恶浪潮的勇敢。那么我们岂不也是蒙了呼召去同样行，与敌人争战，放弃舒适和受人尊敬吗？Though
comparatively few sided with Spurgeon, yet he would not be deterred. Truth must
be vindicated...and history has now vindicated Truth’s Defender. We Christians today are appreciative of
his boldness to withstand the evil tide. Are we then not called to do the same,
that is, to engage the enemy and forego comfort and respectability?
在这场争战最激烈的时候，司布真所讲的话值得我们思考。“不管是浸信派教会，或者圣公会，或者长老宗教会，只要错误偏离了基督的道路，它对我们任何人来说就根本算不上什么；我们所关心的是基督，以及基督的真理，我们要越过人所造的一切障碍，加以跟随。”司布真伟大之处在于他看到，即使他自己要与他自己的宗派脱离关系，只要真理这样要求，他就会这样做。许多时候我们看到自己在捍卫我们自己的宗派，丑陋的，所有的我们都捍卫，而不停下来思考我们自己的宗派可能根本就是错了。In the heat of the
battle, Spurgeon made comment that is worthwhile considering. “Whether it be
the Baptist Church, or the Episcopalian, or the Presbyterian Church which errs
from Christ’s way, it is nothing to any one of us which it may be; it is Christ
we are to care for, and Christ’s truth, and this we are to follow over all the
hedges and ditches of men’s making.” Spurgeon was magnanimous enough to see
that even though he had to disassociate himself from his own denomination, he
would do it if the truth so demanded. Many times we ourselves are found
defending our own denomination, warts and all, and do not stop to consider that
our own denomination might be in error after all.
还有，司布真不愿意“把维护真理降服在维护宗派的兴旺和合一之下”。真理比合一更重要，因为真正合乎圣经的合一（那得神欢喜的合一）总是围绕在他的真理周围的。合一不是一群人同在一个屋檐下；它是一群人坚持，任信同一个真理。当基督徒相信，顺服同一神的话语时，合一就显明出来了。这是和我们今天相关的功课！Again, Spurgeon was
not ready “to subordinate the
maintenance of truth to denominational prosperity and unity.” Truth is more essential than unity, for true
biblical unity (that pleases God) is always around His Truth. Unity is not a
group of people under one roof; it is a group of people holding fast and
confessing the same Truth. Unity becomes visible when Christians believe and
obey the same Word of God. A relevant lesson for us today!
司布真高举旌旗的时候，绝大多数的人满足于维持现状。如果他们正巧在浸信会联盟内，尽管他们看到了里面的罪恶，他们是不会退出的。那使大部分的人留在司布真正确离开的联盟内的原因是，他那个时候大多数的浸信会信徒认为他们的教会有一个全国性的机构，这对他们的好处来说至关重要。差传和许多其他的活动是通过联盟的渠道进行的，一家浸信派教会脱离联盟还怎能生存？这个问题是在许多人的脑海里的，但司布真坚信向神忠心（尽管这实际意味着不再如此受人欢迎，也许“成功”的机率低了）比“生存”更重要。As Spurgeon lifted
the standard high, the vast majority were content to maintain the status quo.
If they happened to be in the Baptist Union, they would not pull out, even
though they saw the evil therein. And the factor which retained the multitude
in the Union which Spurgeon rightly left was that most Baptists of his day
regarded a national organisation of their churches as essential to their
well-being. Missions and many other activities were channeled through the
Union; how could a Baptist church survive outside the Union? This was the
question in the minds of many, but Spurgeon was convinced that faithfulness to
God (even though it practically meant less affectivity and perhaps a slower
rate of “success”) was more important than “surviving.”
成为一个会带来安全和受人承认的大机构的会员，这并不能保证我们可以维持一种与众不同的基督徒品格。要“做大”，一家机构就不得不预备把那些构成正统基督教信仰的内容减少到最低点，还要采取一种“爱”，使人不愿意去质疑任何宗派在神面前的立场是否纯正。司布真准备好（尽管他是抱着最好的愿望）挺身而出，被数算（全部人里唯一的一个），而不愿意迷失在一大群的不信当中。Being a member in a
big organisation which promises safety and recognition is not a guarantee of
maintaining a distinctively Christian character. To remain “big,” an
organisation has to be ready to reduce what constitutes the content of orthodox
Christianity to a minimum, and also adopt a “love” which made men unwilling to
question the standing of any denomination in the sight of God. Spurgeon was
ready (though he had hoped for the best) to stand up and be counted (all alone)
rather than being lost in a morass of unbelief.
司布真他自己给了我们选择，我们这个时代的人认真思想以后可以加以学习。他写道：“对基督徒来说，和不传讲基督的福音的牧师联系在一起，结盟，这就是招致定罪。” Spurgeon himself
gives us the options, from which, upon due reflection we may learn in our
generation. He wrote: “For Christians to
be linked in association with ministers who do not preach the gospel of Christ
is to incur guilt.
“一个不管它的成员教会是否属于共同信仰的联盟是没有尽到任何圣经所讲的功用。” “ A Union which can continue irrespective of
whether its member churches belong to a common faith is not fulfilling any
scriptural function.
“维护宗派的组织机构，而它却无力对异端实行纪律，这样的做法不能以维护‘基督教的合一’为理由而得到认可。” “The preservation of a denominational
association when it is powerless to discipline heretics cannot be justified on
the grounds of the preservation of ‘Christian
unity’.
“破坏教会合一的是谬误，留在一个纵容谬误的宗派联盟里就是支持分裂。” “It is error which breaks the unity of churches,
and to remain in a denominational alignment which condones error is to support
schism.”
当司布真退出浸信会联盟，从方方面面看他都是行了一件分裂的事。但事实上那些留在联盟内的人，不为他们的不信悔改的人，是在分裂上有罪。司布真的其中一篇题为《分开而非分裂》的文章中阐明了今天很多人都没有看到的这一点：“与对基要错误的放任纵容，或者不把‘生命的粮’给正在灭亡的灵魂的做法分开，这不是分裂，而只是真理，良心和神对所有要被神视为忠心的人的要求。” For all
appearances Spurgeon committed an act of schism when he pulled out of the
Baptist Union. But in reality it was those who remained within the Union,
unrepentant of their unbelief, who were guilty. One of Spurgeon’s articles,
entitled, “Separation not Schism,” elucidates the point, missed by many today:
“Separation from such as connive at fundamental error, or withhold the ‘Bread
of Life’ from perishing souls, is not schism, but only what truth, and conscience,
and God require of all who would be found faithful.”
“降格争论”也给我们教训，要小心实用注意。慕雷（Iain Murray）解释说，“降格争论”是“表明了许多牧师以更宽容的政策会获得更大的好处为理由，为他们不采取坚定的行动辩护。这是那些同情司布真的关切，但对他的退出表示遗憾的人的态度，他们把这件事情和假如他留在联盟内部可能施加的影响力作对比衡量。”（《被遗忘的司布真》第160页）但司布真驳斥他们在道德上的懒惰，他问道：“你我和以牺牲真理为代价，来维持我们的影响力和地位有何相干？为了得到可能最大的好处而去犯一些小小的错误，这从来就是不对的....你的责任就是做正确的事情：结果是在神的手中”（《被遗忘的司布真》第161页）。这是何等正确....然而我们是多么容易落在这个试探中啊！The Downgrade teaches us to
beware of pragmatism too. Iain Murray explains that it “showed a readiness on the part of many ministers to
justify their lack of firm action on the grounds of the greater good to be
gained by a more accommodating policy. This was the attitude of those who
sympathised with Spurgeon’s concern, but regretted his withdrawal as they
balanced it over against the influence he might have exerted had he stayed in
the Union” (The Forgotten Spurgeon, p. 160). But Spurgeon retorted to their
moral laziness by asking, “What have you and I to do with maintaining our
influence and position at the expense of truth? It is never right to do a
little wrong to obtain the greatest possible good....Your duty is to do the
right: consequences are with God” (ibid., p.161). How profoundly true....and
yet how prone we are to fall into that very temptation!
事后看，衡量这场争议的发展，我们意识到司布真是何等如英雄般勇敢，他是何等接受从上头而来的智慧的引导，而不是被世界的哲学所左右。我们是多么需要留心他的建议：“如果犯一件罪可能使我的用处增长十倍，我没有权利去这样做；如果一件义行可能看上去要摧毁我所有表面上的用处，我仍要这样做。尽管天塌下来，你我要做正确的事，无论后果如何，都要听从基督的命令” （《被遗忘的司布真》第162页）。像司布真一样，我们一定要避免那使神受辱的耶稣会一般的狡辩。Using hindsight and
evaluating the course of the Controversy, we realise how heroic Spurgeon was,
how he was guided by wisdom from above rather than being dictated to by worldly
philosophy. How we need to take heed of his advice: “If an act of sin would
increase my usefulness tenfold, I have no right to do it; and if an act of
righteousness would appear like to destroy all my apparent usefulness, I am yet
to do it. It is yours and mine to do the right though the heavens fall, and
follow the command of Christ whatever the consequences may be” (ibid., p.162).
Like Spurgeon we are bound to avoid Jesuitical sophistry that dishonours God.?