神的不可捉摸The Incomprehensibility Of God

作者: 史鮑爾 (R.C. Sproul) 译者: 姚錦榮

摘自《神學入門》《Essential Truths of the Christian Faith》P29 ,更新傳道會出版

瑞士神學家巴特(KarlBarth)在美國講學時，有一個學生問他說：『巴特博士，在神學研究中，你覺得最深邃的道理是甚麽?』巴特思索了一會兒，回答說：『耶穌愛我我知道，因有聖經告訴我。』(一首兒童聖詩歌詞)學生們面對這個平凡的答案，禁不住咯咯地笑了起來，可是當他們發現巴特竟是那麽認真不茍地在回答時，笑浪聲便開始顯得不自然。

巴特用一個很平凡的答案，去回答一個極深奧的問題，為要引出兩個非常重要的觀念：

(1)在最平凡的基督教真理裏，包含著極深邃的內涵，足夠讓最優秀的頭腦窮其一生之力去尋索。

(2)再深邃的神學認知，也永遠超越不了一個小孩子對神屬性之奧秘和豐富的理解程度。

加爾文用的是另一種比喻，他說神是用孩提的語言向我們說話。父母怎樣用『兒語』對嬰孩說話，照樣當神與我們這些低等凡人溝通時，祂也紆尊降格，用孩提的語言向我們說話。

沒有人有完全認識神的能力，人有一種與生俱來的障礙，使我們不能完全並透徹地明白神——我們是有限的受造者，而神卻是無限的。問題就出在這裏，有限的人如何能理解無限的神呢?中古世紀的神學家有一句格言，成了日後一切神學研究的金科玉律——，『有限的不能掌握(或包容)無限的。』顯而易見，無限的個體永遠不可能擠進有限的空間裏。

這個格言傳遞出一個非常重要的正統基督教教義，就是神的不可捉摸(incomprehensibilityofGod)。這個名詞乍聽之下可能會引起人的誤解：如果說有限的不能「掌握」無限的，那麽我們對神不是便一無所知了嗎?如果神超越人的理解程度，那豈不是說，我們一切的宗教講論都不過是神學上的胡言亂語，我們的信仰只建築在一個給未知之神的祭壇上?

當然不是這樣，神的不可捉摸並不表示我們對神一無所知，而是說，我們所擁有的知識是局部的、是有限的，我們不可能完全或透徹地認識神。神透過啟示向我們顯示有關祂自己的事，這樣的知識既真實、又有用。我們只能按照神所選擇啟示祂自己的程度去認識祂，有限的也能『掌握』無限的，但有限的永遠不能把無限的『囊括』在指掌之中。我們對神的理解永遠都是不完全的。

聖經這樣說：『隱秘的事，是屬耶和華我們神的；惟有明顯的事，是永遠屬我們和我們子孫的。』(申29：29)馬丁路德指出，神有兩方面的事——隱秘的事和明顯的事，有些與神有關的知識是我們不可能知道的，我們只能從神已啟示的亮光中去認識祂。

記住

有限的不能包容無限的無限的

隱藏的事＝神隱藏的層面

明顯的事＝神已啟示的層面

總結

1．即使在最平凡的基督教真理中，也包含了極深邃的含義。

2．無論我們的神學知識有多深，我們永遠都不能全然理解有關神的本質和屬性的奧秘。

3．沒有人能完全認識神。

4．有關神的不可捉摸之教義，並不是說我們不能認識神，而是說我們對神的認識因受人性的限制，所以是有限的

The Incomprehensibility of God

The Swiss theologian Karl Barth was asked by a student during a seminar in the United States, "Dr. Barth, what is the most profound thing you have ever learned in your study of theology?" Barth thought for a moment and then replied, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so." The students giggled at his simplistic answer, but their laughter was of a nervous sort as they slowly realized Barth was serious.

Barth gave a simple answer to a question of profundity. In doing so he was calling attention to at least two vitally important notions: (1) That in the simplest Christian truth there resides a profundity that can occupy the minds of the most brilliant people for a lifetime. (2) That even in learned theological sophistication, we never really rise above a child's level of understanding the mysterious depths and riches of the character of God.

John Calvin used another analogy. He said that God speaks to us in a kind of lisping. As parents engage in "baby talk" when addressing their infant children, so God, in order to communicate with us lowly mortals, must condescend to speak to us in lisps.

No human being has the ability to understand God exhaustively. There is a built-in barrier that prohibits a total, comprehensive understanding of God. We are finite creatures; God is an infinite being. Therein lies our problem. How shall the finite comprehend the infinite? Medieval theologians had a phrase that has become a dominant axiom for all subsequent study of theology, "The finite cannot grasp (or contain) the infinite." Nothing is more obvious than that an infinite object cannot be squeezed into a finite space.

This axiom conveys one of the most important doctrines of orthodox Christianity. It is the doctrine of the incomprehensibility of God. The term can be misleading. It may suggest to us that since the finite cannot "grasp" the infinite, that we can know nothing about God. If God is beyond human comprehension, does that not suggest that all of our religious talk is only so much theological babbling and that we are left with, at best, an altar to an unknown God?

This is by no means the intent. The incomprehensibility of God does not mean that we know nothing about God. Rather, it means that our knowledge is partial and limited, falling short of a total or comprehensive knowledge. The knowledge that God gives of Himself through revelation is both real and useful. We can know God to the degree that He chooses to reveal Himself. The finite can "grasp" the infinite, but the finite can never hold the infinite within its grasp. There is always more to God than we apprehend.

The Bible says it this way: "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever" (Deuteronomy 29:29). Martin Luther referred to two aspects of God—the hidden and the revealed. A portion of the divine knowledge remains hidden to our gaze. We work in the light of what God has revealed.

1.         There is profound meaning in even the simplest of Christian truths.

2.         No matter how deep our knowledge of theology, there will always be much about the nature and character of God that will remain a mystery to us.

3.         No human being can have a comprehensive knowledge of God.

4.         The doctrine of the incomprehensibility of God does not mean that we can know nothing about God. It means that our knowledge is limited, bounded by our humanity.