抗罗宗与信条Protestantsand Creeds
作者: Kim Riddlebarger 译者: 王一
问：什么是基督徒所必须相信的？
Q.
What is then necessary for a Christian to believe?
答：就是在福音里所应许我们的一切，也就是我们基督教不容置疑的大公信条中简略地教训我们的。
（海德堡要理问答，第22问）（Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 22）
A.
All that is promised us in the gospel, which the articles of our catholic,
undoubted Christian faith teach us in sum.
(Heidelberg
Catechism, Q&A 22)
我永远不会忘记第一次在长老会教会（Presbyterian church）里参加敬拜的经历。我是在独立的圣经教会（independent Bible
church）长大的，从小就被灌输了基督徒是信圣经的，罗马天主教徒是依靠传统的思想。我们是“不要信条唯独基督”的（no creed but Christ）。你可以想象到当我听到长老会基督徒们充满热情认真地诵读使徒信经（Apostles’ Creed）时有多么惊讶，尤其是当读到“我信圣而公之教会”（the holy catholic church）时，实在令我难以启齿。
I’ll
never forget the first time I worshiped in a Presbyterian church. I had been
raised in independent Bible churches where it was a given that Christians
believed the Bible, while Roman Catholics relied on tradition. We had “no creed
but Christ.” You can imagine how I was taken aback when the Presbyterian
faithful recited the Apostles’ Creed with great gusto, including the line that,
at the time, I could not bring myself to repeat: “I believe…in the holy
catholic church.”
但很快我就发现很多抗罗宗基督徒（protestant）今天仍然诵读这个古老信条。事实上，这个信条在许多扎根宗教改革信仰的教会中发挥着巨大作用。海德堡要理问答（改革宗教会最钟爱的要理问答），甚至使用使徒信经来总结基督徒必须相信的教义内容。如果你问，“基督教的定义是什么？”答案就是，“基督教的定义就在这个信条当中。”
I
soon learned that many Pro-testants still recite this ancient creed. In fact,
the creed serves an important purpose in many of those churches whose roots are
deeply planted in the Reformation. The Heidelberg Catechism (the beloved
catechism of the Reformed branch of the Christian family in which I am now a
minister), even utilizes the Apostles’ Creed as a basic summary of those things
that every Christian must believe. If you were to ask, “What is it that defines
Christianity?” the answer would be “the definition of Christianity is given us
in the creed.”
海德堡要理问答从第23问到第58问逐一展开第22问中所介绍的“不容置疑的大公信条”，讲解了使徒信经中所阐述的各个教义。抗罗宗基督徒并非相信信经、信条和要理问答是无误的（infallible）——这个词只能用在圣经身上。但是认信的抗罗宗基督徒的确相信只要信经、信条和要理问答准确地总结圣经的教导，它们就具有可靠的权威性（authoritative），这也是它们被写下来的首要目标。
The
articles of our “catholic, undoubted Christian faith,” which question 22 of the
Heidelberg Catechism introduces, are unpacked in questions and answers 23–58 of
this catechism. This “unpacking” amounts to an exposition of the various
doctrines set forth in the Apostles’ Creed. Protestants do not believe that
creeds, confessions, and catechisms are infallible — that can only be said of
Scripture. But confessional Protes-tants do believe that creeds, confessions,
and catechisms are authoritative insofar as they accurately summarize the
teaching of Scripture, which is their primary purpose.
撒迦利亚•乌尔西努（Zacharius Ursinus）——海德堡要理问答的主要作者——告诉我们为什么在这个改革宗的要理问答中选择使徒信经来总结基督徒必须相信的教义内容，他说：“使徒信经是对基督教信仰的简要总结的形式，将教会和其成员与其他宗教区别开来。”（《海德堡要理问答注释（Commentary on the
Heidelberg Catechism）》，117页）
Zacharius
Ursinus — the primary author of the Heidelberg Catechism — tells us why the
Apostles’ Creed was chosen for his own distinctly Reformed catechism as the
summary of what it is that Christians must believe in order to be truly
Christians: “It signifies a brief and summary form of the Christian faith,
which distinguishes the church and her members from the various sects”
(Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism, p. 117).
换句话说，如果你打算阐明基督教与其他所有宗教的不同，包括那些一神论（Monotheistic）宗教（例如，犹太教和伊斯兰教），使徒信经会为你提供一份基督教独有教义的优秀总结。信经阐述了三位一体的教义（doctrine of Trinity），阐述了救赎的基本工作——父上帝是万物的创造主（Creator），耶稣是唯一的救主（Savior），而圣灵赐我们信心使我们与基督联合。信经还肯定了福音的基本历史事实——我们的主是童贞女所生，祂受苦、受死并且身体复活。此外，信经也肯定了耶稣降在阴间（改革宗相信这是指耶稣在十字架上遭受上帝的忿怒），祂的身体复活和祂的升天，如今耶稣在天上统管万有直等祂在末日再来审判世界，叫死人复活。
In
other words, if you are to set out those things that differentiate Christianity
from all other religions, including monotheistic ones (for example, Judaism and
Islam), the Apostles’ Creed would provide an excellent summary of those
doctrines unique to Christianity. The creed sets forth the doctrine of the
Trinity. It sets forth the basic economy of redemption — the Father is the
creator of all things, Jesus is the only Savior, and the Holy Spirit is the one
who gives us faith and then unites us to Christ. The creed also affirms the
basic historical facts of the gospel — our Lord’s virgin birth, His suffering,
death, and bodily resurrection. Furthermore, the creed affirms Jesus’ descent
into hell (which the Reformed believe refers to Jesus’ suffering the wrath of
God upon the cross), His bodily resurrection, and His ascent into heaven where
Jesus now rules over all until He returns at the end of the age to judge the
world and raise the dead.
接下来，信经肯定了圣灵的位格和工作，一个“圣”（指那些以耶稣基督的救赎之工为属天唯一盼望的人）而“公”之教会，指的是普世教会（基督的身体）从建立直到耶稣再来一直存在。信经肯定了圣徒相通（被称义的罪人与复活的基督之间的团契），罪得赦免（基督的工作满足了一切公义，并为祂百姓的罪而受死），末日身体复活（因为耶稣第三天身体复活，当祂再来时我们也会身体复活）和永生（新天新地）。
Next,
the creed affirms the person and work of the Holy Spirit, the existence of a
“holy” (those whose only hope of heaven is in the redemptive work of Jesus
Christ) and “catholic” church, a reference to the universal church (the body of
Christ) that will exist from the time it was founded until Jesus returns. The
creed affirms the communion of saints (the fellowship of justified sinners with
the risen Christ), the forgiveness of sins (Christ’s work in fulfilling all
righteousness and dying for the sins of His people), the resurrection of the
body at the end of the age (as Jesus was raised bodily on the third day, so
will we when He returns) and life everlasting (new heavens and earth).
乌尔西努选择使徒信经作为要理问答中上帝的恩典一部分的框架结构，因为信经如此有效地总结了基督教信仰的根本内容，没有任何非基督徒愿意去背诵它。从这点来说，信条定义了什么是基督教，什么不是基督教。
Ursinus
chose the Apostles’ Creed as the skeletal structure for the section of his
catechism dealing with God’s grace because the creed so effectively summarizes
the basics of the Christian faith that no non-Christian could possibly recite
it. In this sense, the creed defines what is Christianity and what is not.
然而，当乌尔西努详细解释使徒信经时，他也努力地体现出在诸如唯独因信称义（justification by
faith alone）、基督工作的本质（nature of the work
of Christ）和圣礼（sacrament）等核心教义上，改革宗基督教信仰与罗马天主教的不同。这样，在阐明基督教信仰核心独有的教义同时，抗罗宗基督徒也揭露了罗马教会在许多关键要点上黯然违背了这些教义。
But
as Ursinus expounds upon the Apostles’ Creed, he also endeavors to demonstrate
how Reformed Christianity differs from Roman Catholicism on such essential
doctrines as justification by faith alone, the nature of the work of Christ, as
well as the sacraments. So, while the creed may set forth what is essentially
and uniquely Christian, Protestants contend that the Roman Church sadly
defaults on these same doctrines at a number of critical points.
正因为我们非常需要总结圣经的教导，与过去世代忠心的基督徒建立认同，许多抗罗宗教会仍然诵读使徒信经。这也是为什么改革宗教会将使徒信经视为对基督教信仰基本教义最好的总结，并在海德堡要理问答的核心部分详细阐述它。
Because
there is great need to summarize the teaching of Scripture and to identify with
the faithful who have gone before, many Protestant churches still recite the
Apostles’ Creed. This is why the Reformed churches consider the Apostles’ Creed
to be the best summary of the basic doctrines of the Christian faith, and this
is why an exposition of the creed lies at the heart of the Heidelberg
Catechism.