我們為什麼要說「上帝告訴我」 ？Why Do We Say, ‘God Told Me’?

作者：Nancy Guthrie  翻譯:  駱鴻銘

http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/why-do-we-say-god-told-me

http://www.crtsbooks.net/blog/post/2015/10/19/God_Told_Me.aspx

當我聽見有人說「上帝告訴我……」我必須承認，我內置的警鈴就會大作——除非這句話後面跟著的是聖經的經文。我知道有許多人認為，正常的基督徒生活就應該這樣運轉——即我們與上帝若有真正的團契相通，就應該能感受到祂通過一個內在的聲音對我們說話。但是我對這種說法有點存疑。這不是因為我認為上帝今天沒有能力對祂的百姓說話，或對此不感興趣。事實上，我拒絕這樣的說法，恰恰是因為上帝今天正在對祂的百姓說話。祂今天對我們說話，乃是透過聖經。

When someone begins a sentence with “God told me . . .” I have to admit a silent alarm goes off somewhere inside me—unless the phrase is followed by a verse of Scripture. I know that many see this as the way the Christian life is supposed to work—that if we are really in fellowship with God we will be able to sense him speaking to us through an inner voice. But I'm not so sure. And it's not because I think God is incapable of or uninterested in speaking to his people today. In fact I resist this language precisely because God is speaking to his people today. He speaks to us through the Scriptures.

當我們讀經時，我們不只是讀一段上帝過去所說過的話的記錄，上帝在此時此地透過這本奇妙的書裡面的話，主動地對我們說話。希伯來書的作者清楚說明了這點。他引用舊約聖經的經文，不是把它們當作是上帝在過去對祂百姓說的話，而是上帝今天正在對祂百姓說話（來一6、7、8，二12，三7，四7）。他寫到，「上帝的道是活潑的、是有功效的」（四12）。它會揭露我們淺薄的信念和隱藏的動機。上帝的道是針對個人的。當我們閱讀、聆聽、研讀，並默想聖經經文，你和我就是在聽見上帝對我們說話的聲音——清清楚楚，滿有權威，也是針對個人的。

When we read the Scriptures we are not just reading a record of what God has said in the past. God actively speaks to us in the here and now through the words of this amazing book. The writer of Hebrews makes this point clear when he quotes Old Testament passages and presents them not as something God said to his people sometime in the past, but as something God is currently saying to his people (Hebrews 1:6,7,8, 2:12, 3:7, 4:7). He writes that “the word of God is living and active” (4:12). It is exposing our shallow beliefs and hidden motives. This word is personal.  You and I hear the voice of God speaking to us—unmistakably, authoritatively, and personally—when we read, hear, study, and meditate on the Scriptures.

再多一些，來點不同的

Something More, Something Different

但是我們有許多人對此感到不滿足，想要點不同的。我們讀聖經，親眼見到上帝在整個救贖歷史裏，以奇妙的方式對一些個別的人說話。約伯聽見上帝在旋風裏說話。摩西聽見上帝從燃燒的荊棘裏呼召祂。撒母耳聽見上帝在黑暗中呼喚他。大衛透過先知拿單聽見上帝說話。以賽亞感受到燒著的火炭，並且聽見保證，說他的罪孽已經被除掉，他的罪也被赦免了。掃羅和那些與他同行的人，在往大馬色的路上聽見耶穌問到，掃羅為什麼要逼迫祂。先知和教師在安提阿聽見聖靈告訴他們要分派巴拿巴和掃羅。約翰感到得榮耀的耶穌觸摸他，並且聽見祂的保證，告訴他不需要害怕。

But many of us want something more, something different. We read the Scriptures and witness God speaking to individuals in amazing ways throughout the history of redemption. Job heard God speaking from the whirlwind. Moses heard him calling from the fiery bush. Samuel heard him calling in the dark. David heard him speak through the prophet Nathan. Isaiah felt the burning coal and heard assurance that his guilt was taken away and sin atoned for. Saul and those traveling with him on the road to Damascus heard Jesus asking why Saul was persecuting him. Prophets and teachers at Antioch heard the Holy Spirit tell them to set apart Barnabas and to send out Saul. John felt the glorified Jesus touch him and heard his assurance that he didn't have to be afraid.

我們許多人讀到這些記載，並且假定聖經所呈現的是所有跟隨上帝的人都會有的正常經歷。但真是這樣嗎？高偉勳（Graeme Goldworthy）在他的書（《福音與智慧》 [Gospel and Wisdom]）裏談到這個問題。他寫到：「聖經中所有關於個人的特殊引導，都和這個人在實現上帝救恩的籌算中的地位有關。」他補充說：「在聖經裏，從來沒有一個例子是上帝對尋常的以色列信徒或基督徒，在他們個人存在狀態的細節裏，給予特殊和具體的引導。」

Many of us read these accounts and assume that the Bible is presenting the normal experience of all who follow God. But is it? Graeme Goldsworthy speaks to this question in his book Gospel and Wisdom. He writes, “Every case of special guidance given to individuals in the Bible has to do with that person's place in the outworking of God's saving purposes.” He adds, “There are no instances in the Bible in which God gives special and specific guidance to the ordinary believing Israelite or Christian in the details of their personal existence.”

聖經裏是否有一些例子是人們描述一種上帝透過內在的聲音向他們說話的感覺的呢？我們聽到上帝以一種聽得到的聲音說話的記錄，通過一種超自然的異夢或異象，人的手在牆上寫字，叫人瞎眼的閃電，或者從天上來的雷聲。這和大多數人所說的、上帝告訴他們一些事情的方式有很大的不同。他們描述說聽見上帝的聲音——一個想法進入到他們的腦海裏，而他們「知道」這是上帝在說話。有一個專門訓練人如何聽見上帝聲音的知名教師寫到：「上帝在你心中的聲音，聽起來往往就像自發的想法的湧流。」但是聖經哪裡有教導我們要追求或期望聽見上帝以這種方式對我們說話呢？

Are there instances in the Scriptures in which people describe a sense of God speaking to them through an inner voice? We read accounts of God speaking in an audible voice, through a supernatural dream or vision, a human hand writing on a wall, a blinding light, or a thunderous voice from heaven. This is quite different from the way most people who say that God has told them something describe hearing his voice—as a thought that came into their mind that they “know” was God speaking. One prominent teacher who trains people on how to hear the voice of God writes, “God's voice in your heart often sounds like a flow of spontaneous thoughts.” But where in the Bible are we instructed to seek after or expect to hear God speak to us in this way?

有些人暗示，這種與上帝有著對話性的關係的情形，不僅是可能的、甚至是常態，這指向約翰福音第十章。在那裡，耶穌把自己描寫成一個好牧人，說：「我的羊聽我的聲音。」不過，在這段經文裡，耶穌不是在描述一種持續不斷的神聖溝通的方法，而是對祂當時的猶太人用一種他們懂得的比喻向他們說話——一位牧人和祂的綿羊。祂的重點是猶太人中的選民會認識祂就是先知書裡所寫的那位牧人，也會回應祂的呼召，悔改相信；外邦人當中的選民也一樣，好叫他們合成一群，一個教會，以祂為元首。

Some who suggest that a conversational relationship with God is not only possible but even normative point to John 10 in which Jesus describes himself as the good shepherd, saying, “My sheep hear my voice.” However, in this passage Jesus is not prescribing a method of ongoing divine communication. He is speaking to the Jews of his day using a metaphor they understand—a shepherd and his sheep. His point is that the elect among the Jews will recognize him as the shepherd the prophets wrote about and will respond to his call to repent and believe, as will the elect among the Gentiles so that they will become one flock, one church, with him at the head.

渴望上帝的指引

Longing for God's Guidance

因此，我們為什麼會說以這樣的方式聽見上帝？在我們的成長過程中，人們告訴我們，我們必須與上帝「建立個人的關係」，還有什麼比聽見祂對我們說一些關係到我們個人的事和個人的需要的話更加親密的呢？有時候如果我們打破沙鍋問到底，我們會明白，我們這樣說是因為我們想要讓別人驚訝、我們與上帝竟然有這麼緊密的關係，保證要讓他們知道，我們手頭的事情已經徵詢過祂的意見。另一個理由也許是，當我們說「上帝告訴我……」，會證明對我們是有用的。如果你要我在秋季教兒童主日學，而假使我說上帝告訴我，我必須和丈夫一起參加成人主日學，這比起我只是說我不想去，或已經決定不去，聽起來要來屬靈許多，你也更難挑戰我的說法。

So why do we speak about hearing God in this way? We grew up being told that we must have a “personal relationship with God,” and what is more personal than hearing him speak to us about our individual issues and needs? Sometimes if we dig deep we realize we speak this way because we want to impress others with our close connection to God and make sure they know we've consulted with him on the matter at hand. Another reason may be that to say, “God told me . . .” can prove useful to us. If you've asked me to teach children's Sunday school this fall, it sounds far more spiritual and makes it far more difficult for you to challenge me if I say that God told me I need to sit in adult Sunday school with my husband than if I simply say that I don't want to or have decided not to teach.

不過，我認為這事牽連更廣，不只是我們想要聽起來比較屬靈，或讓人難以挑戰我們的偏好或決定而已。我們真心渴望上帝的帶領。我們真心渴望上帝親自對我們說話，渴望一種與上帝的超自然經歷。然而我們卻不明白，當我們閱讀、研讀上帝的話，當有人教導並宣講上帝的話，這就是一種來自上帝的、個人性的話。因為聖經是「活潑的、有功效的」，上帝透過聖經對我們說話就是個人性的，是一種超自然的經歷。

But I think there is something more at work here than simply our desire to sound spiritual or to make it difficult for someone to challenge our preferences or decisions. We genuinely long for God to guide us. We genuinely long for a personal word from God, a supernatural experience with God. Yet we fail to grasp that as we read and study and hear the Word of God taught and preached, it is a personal word from God. Because the Scriptures are “living and active,” God's speaking to us through them is a personal, supernatural experience.

上帝已經說話，而且事實上，仍然通過聖經對我們說話。我們不再需要特殊啟示。我們所需要的是光照，而這恰恰是耶穌所應許的，當基督的話常在我們裡面，聖靈就會把祂的話帶給我們。上帝的聖靈乃是通過上帝的話來輔導我們、安慰我們、使我們知罪（約十六7-15）。通過聖經，我們聽見上帝教訓、督責、使我們歸正、教導我們學義（提後三16）。上帝的話通過更新我們的心思來轉化我們，好叫我們的思想會更像祂，而不是像世界。我們不需要上帝發號施令，每一件事都對我們下令，而是越來越能「察驗何為上帝善良、純全、可喜悅的旨意」（羅十二2）。

God has spoken and is, in fact, still speaking to us through the Scriptures. We don't need any more special revelation. What we need is illumination, and this is exactly what Jesus has promised the Holy Spirit will give to us as his word abides in us. The Holy Spirit of God works through the Word of God to counsel and comfort and convict (John 16:7-15). Through the Scriptures we hear God teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training us in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16-17). The Word of God transforms us by renewing our minds so that we think more like him and less like the world. Instead of needing God to dictate to us what to do, we become increasingly able to “discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).

我欣賞派博（John Piper）的信息裏所描寫的，他聽見上帝通過聖經說話的經歷。這個信息，「聖經有多重要」，這是在2010年的洛桑大會裏發表的：

I appreciate the way John Piper described his experience in hearing God speak through the Scriptures in his message “How Important is the Bible?” given at Lausanne 2010:

上帝沒有用其他方法對我說話，但是不要誤會，祂乃是以一種非常個人性的方式對我說話。我在清晨打開我的聖經，和我的朋友、我的救主、我的創造主、我的供應者會面。我和祂會面，祂也對我說話……我不是在否認上帝的護理之工，不是在否定各樣的環境，不是在否定人，我只是說我和上帝所擁有的唯一具有權威的相通，我唯一有把握的，是藉著這本書裡面的話而來的。

God talks to me no other way, but don't get this wrong, he talks to me very personally. I open my Bible in the morning to meet my friend, my Savior, my Creator, my Sustainer. I meet him and he talks to me. . . . I'm not denying providence, not denying circumstances, not denying people, I'm just saying that the only authoritative communion I have with God with any certainty comes through the words of this book.

如果我們再往回一些，愛德華茲曾經警告說：

And if we want to go back a little further, Jonathan Edwards warned:

我……從經驗中得知，有一些印象是以強力造成的，被放在真正的聖徒——是的、顯赫的聖徒——的心上；甚至是在恩典非凡的運作當中，在與上帝有甜蜜的相通當中，並伴隨著聖經的經文，而在心思上造成強烈的印象，但這些並不是它們是來自天上的啟示之確鑿的記號：因為我已經知道，這樣的印象失敗過，且被證明是無效的。

I . . . know by experience that impressions being made with great power, and upon the minds of true saints, yea, eminent saints; and presently after, yea, in the midst of, extraordinary exercises of grace and sweet communion with God, and attended with texts of Scripture strongly impressed on the mind, are no sure signs of their being revelations from heaven: for I have known such impressions [to] fail, and prove vain.