神的良善 The Goodness of God

作者: 史鮑爾 (R.C. Sproul) 譯者: 姚錦榮

摘自《神學入門》《Essential Truths of the Christian Faith》P46 ,更新傳道會出版

看小狗、小貓追逐自己的影子，是很有趣的事：牠們追逐時，影子也隨著牠們的身子轉動，使牠們一無所獲。然而神不是這樣，雅各說：「各樣美善的恩賜和各樣全備的賞賜，都是從上頭來的，從眾光之父那裏降下來的；在祂並沒有改變，也沒用轉動的影兒。」（雅1：17）。

神永不改變，在祂沒有任何「轉動的影兒」。這裏不單是說神不是物質，不可能有影子，更從象征和道德的意義上說明神是沒有「陰影」的。陰影代表黑暗，從屬靈的角度來說，黑暗代表邪惡，由於在神裏沒有任何邪惡的成分存在，因此在祂也沒有一點點兒的陰暗。神是眾光之父。

當雅各說，「在祂並沒有轉動的影兒」時，這不單是說神具有永恒不變的實存，這句話也道出了神的性情-------祂不單是全然良善，祂的良善更是永遠不改變的。神不知道如何作一位非良善的神。

神與良善之間密不可分，連異教的哲學家如柏拉圖也把最終之善、最高之善與神等同視之。神的良善是指祂的性情和作為而言，神的作為發自祂的本性，祂所作的源於祂所是的。正如壞樹不能結好果子，一位良善的神也不能結出壞果子來。

神的律法反映出神的良善。神之所以被稱為良善，並非因祂循了在祂以外的某項宇宙的定律，按此律審判後而被定為良善；也非因祂不必按律法規範行事，只憑自己的權柄宣稱自己的行為是善的，所以就算是良善的。神的良善不是隨心所欲，也不是變幻無常的。不錯，神的確遵循一個律，但這律就是祂自己的屬性之律。神永遠都是按自己永恒、不變、內在的良善本性行事。雅各說，所有美善的恩賜都是從神而來，神不單是良善的最終標準，祂也是良善的源頭。

新約聖經中最常被人引用的經文之一，是羅馬書八章28節：「我們曉得萬事都互相效力，叫愛神的人得益處，就是按祂旨意被召的人。」這段論天命的經節，雖是眾聽周知的，卻也是不容易理解的。如果說神能使一切發生的事情互相效力，叫我們得益處，那就等於說，舉凡一切發生在我們身上的事最終都是好的。但這裏我們要小心強調最終二字。在世上，許多日常發生在我的身上的事可能真是惡事（我們千萬不可稱善為惡，稱惡為善），我們會遇到逼迫、苦難、不公平，和種種邪惡的事，但是良善的神卻能超越這一切，使一切的事互相効力，叫我們得益。所以，最終來說，對基督徒而言，沒有什麽是絕對的悲劇。神的管治，使一切臨到的邪惡，最終能變得對我們有益。

馬丁路德明白凡事都有神美好的旨意，所以他說：「如果神叫我在街上吃糞，我也會照樣做，因為知道那是於我有益的。」

總結：

1.    受造之物都被籠罩在罪惡的險影之下。。

2.    神沒有陰影的。

3.    神不在律法之下。

4.    神並非與律法相分離。

5.    神是祂自己的律法。

思考經文：

出34：6-7；詩25：8-10；詩100：1-5；羅8：28-39；雅1：17

The Goodness of God

One of life's amusing moments comes when we observe a puppy or a kitten chasing its own shadow. It tries in vain to catch it. When it moves, its shadow moves with it. Not so with God. James declares: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning" (James 1:17).

God never changes. With him there is "no shadow of turning." This suggests not only that God is immaterial and therefore incapable of casting a shadow, but also that there is no "shadow side," in a figurative or moral sense, to God. Shadows suggest darkness, and in spiritual terms darkness suggests evil. Since there is no evil in God, there is no hint of darkness in Him either. He is the Father of lights.

When James adds that there is no "shadow of turning" with God, it is not enough to understand this merely in terms of God's unchanging or immutable being. This reference is also to God's character. Not only is God altogether good, He is consistently good. God doesn't know how to be anything but good.

So closely linked is goodness to God that even pagan philosophers such as Plato equated ultimate goodness, the highest good, with God Himself. God's goodness refers both to His character and His behavior. His actions proceed from and flow out of His being. He acts according to what He is. Just as a corrupt tree cannot bear incorrupt fruit, neither can an incorrupt God produce corrupt fruit.

The law of God reflects His goodness. God is said to be good not because He obeys some cosmic law outside of Himself that judges Him or because God so defines goodness that He can act in a lawless manner and by the sheer power of His authority declare His actions good. God's goodness is neither arbitrary nor capricious. God does obey a law, but the law He obeys is the law of His own character. He always acts according to His own character, which is eternally, immutably, and intrinsically good. James teaches that every good and perfect gift comes from God. He is not only the ultimate standard of goodness; He is the Source of all goodness.

One of the most popular New Testament verses is Romans 8:28: "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." This text on divine providence is as difficult to comprehend as it is popular. If God is able to make everything that happens to us work together for our good, then ultimately everything that happens to us is good. We must be careful to stress here the word ultimately. On the earthly plane things that happen to us may indeed be evil. (We must be careful not to call good, evil or evil, good.) We encounter affliction, misery, injustice, and a host of other evils. Yet God in His goodness transcends all of these things and works them to our good. For the Christian, ultimately, there are no tragedies. Ultimately, the providence of God works all these proximate evils for our final benefit.

Martin Luther understood this aspect of God's good providence when he said, "If God told me to eat the dung from off the streets, not only would I eat it, but I would know it was good for me."

1.         Creatures have shadows cast by the darkness of sin.

2.         There is no shadow side to God.

3.         God is not under Law.

4.         God is not apart from Law.

5.         God is a Law unto Himself.