12、神的無所不知  神看見併知道萬事OMNISCIENCE  GOD SEES AND KNOWS

《简明神学》Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs，巴刻（J. I. Packer）著/張麟至译，更新传道会，2007年。

http://www.geocities.ws/gary_bee_za/packer/omniscience.htm

耶和華的眼目無處不在，惡人善人祂都鑒察。（箴15:3）

“無所不知”壹字的意思是“知道每壹件事”。聖經宣告，神的眼目遍及各地（伯24:23；

詩33:13–15；139:13–16；箴15:3；耶16:17；來4:13）。祂鑒察所有人的心，察驗每個人所走的道路（撒上16:7；王上8:39；代上28:9；詩139:1–6,23；耶17:10；路16:15；羅8:27；啟2:23）——換句話說，祂知悉萬人在每壹時辰所作的每壹件事。而且祂知道未來，併不亞於所知的過去與現在；祂知道未來可能發生的事件，不亞於已經發生的真實事件（撒上23:9–13；王下13:19；詩81:14–15；賽48:18）。祂不需要“搜尋”某事件的消息，好像電腦讀檔案那樣；所有祂的知識總是立即、直接呈現在祂的心思內。聖經的作者常對神的心思在這方麵的度量深感訝異（詩139:1–6；147:5；賽40:13–14,28； 另參羅11:33–36）。

神的知識與祂的全權有關聯：祂知道每壹件事——包括這事件的本身以及牠與所有其他事件間的關繫，因為祂創造牠、維持牠，而且每壹時刻祂使這事按著祂為牠所定的計劃進行（弗1: 11）。認為神可以知道併預知每壹件事，卻控製不了牠的這種想法，顯明不隻是不合聖經，也沒有意義。對信徒而言，神無所不知的知識會給我們帶來很大的把握：信徒絕不被神遺忘，而且神現在、將來都必按祂的應許眷顧我們（賽40:27–31）。然而，對任何壹位非信徒而言，神具有包羅萬有知識的這項真理必定帶給他們畏懼之心，因為牠提醒人：人不可能隱藏自己的罪，叫神看不見（詩139:7–12；94:1–11；約1:1–12） 。

OMNISCIENCE

GOD SEES AND KNOWS

The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good. PROVERBS 15:3

Omniscient is a word that means “knowing everything.” Scripture declares that God’s eyes run everywhere (Job 24:23; Pss. 33:13-15, 139:13-16; Prov. 15:3; Jer. 16:17; Heb. 4:13). He searches all hearts and observes everyone’s ways (1 Sam. 16:7; 1 Kings 8:39; 1 Chron. 28:9; Ps. 139:1-6, 23; Jer. 17:10; Luke 16:15; Rom. 8:27; Rev. 2:23)—in other words, he knows everything about everything and everybody all the time. Also, he knows the future no less than the past and the present, and possible events that never happen no less than the actual events that do (1 Sam. 23:9-13; 2 Kings 13:19; Ps. 81:14-15; Isa. 48:18). Nor does he have to “access” information about things, as a computer might retrieve a file; all his knowledge is always immediately and directly before his mind. Bible writers stand in awe of the capacity of God’s mind in this regard (Pss. 139:1-6; 147:5; Isa. 40:13-14, 28; cf. Rom. 11:33-36).

God’s knowledge is linked with his sovereignty: he knows each thing, both in itself and in relation to all other things, because he created it, sustains it, and now makes it function every moment according to his plan for it (Eph. 1:11). The idea that God could know, and foreknow, everything without controlling everything seems not only unscriptural but nonsensical.

To the Christian believer, knowledge of God’s omniscience brings the assurance that he has not been forgotten, but is being and will be cared for according to God’s promise (Isa. 40:27-31). To anyone who is not a Christian, however, the truth of God’s universal knowledge must bring dread, for it comes as a reminder that one cannot hide either oneself or one’s sins from God’s view (Pss. 139:7-12; 94:1-11; John 1:1-12).

8、创造 神是造物主CREATION GODIS THE CREATOR

《简明神学》Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs，巴刻（J. I. Packer）著/張麟至译，更新传道会，2007年。

http://www.geocities.ws/gary_bee_za/packer/creation.htm

8、创造 
神是造物主

耶和华啊，你所造的何其多；都是你智慧造成的；遍地满了你的丰富。（诗104:24）

「起初神创造天地。」（创1:1）他以命令创造天地，并没有使用任何先存的材料。他决定要万有存在（「要有…….」），万有就存在了，并且按着次序形成它们。万有的存在是倚靠神的旨意而有的，且有别于神的存在。父、子、灵都一同在创造里有份（创1:2；诗33:6,9；148:5；约1:1-3；西1:15-16；来1:2；11:3）。当注意的要点如下：

(1)创造之工于我们乃是奥秘，远超过我们所能明瞭的。我们不能以命令创造，我们不能明白神如何能。

当我们说神「由无生有」时，就是认信这项奥秘，而不解释它了。说得清楚一点，我们也想不透：凭藉神而有的存在又如何成为与神有所区分的存在；我们也不明白：天使与人类都是凭藉神而有的存在，又如何不是机器人，而是能作自由抉择的受造物，使他们可在道德上向他们的造物主负责。圣经处处教导我们，事情就是这样。

(2)时、空是受造状态的维度，神却不「在」其中，神也不像我们要受时空的束缚。

(3)正如这世界的状态不是自我创造的，它也不像神一样是自我维持的。

这宇宙的稳定度乃是倚靠神恒常地托住它；这尤其是神子特定的职事（西1:17；来1:3）；否则各种受造之物，包括我们自己，就早已不存在了。正如保罗告诉雅典人说：“「神」……自己倒将生命、气息、万物，赐给万人……我们生活、动作、存留，都在乎他。”（徒17:25,28）

(4)创造性的介入是可能的（例如：有创造能力的神迹；藉着人的生殖活动而生下人；重生时重新定位人心以及重新导引人的欲求与精力），这和宇宙本身一样的古老。

就神过去施行造物之工的角度来看，在神托住万有的活动中，究竟他还有没有继续创造新的事物，这不是我们所能知晓的；但是我们可以确定，这世界对神仍是敞开的，容许他在任何时刻以创造的大能来介入。

认识神创造了环绕我们的世界，而我们自己也是其中的一部分，这乃是真宗教的基本。因为神造物工作奇妙的秩序、变化和美丽，人当赞美神为造物主。诗篇，如第一百零四篇，是这种赞美的楷模。人当信靠他为至高无上的耶和华，他有统管一切时间与其命运的永恒计划，无物例外；他有能力救赎、新造与更新。当我们纪念我

们所信靠的乃是那位全能的造物主时，这样的信靠就显得十分合理了。明白我们是时时刻刻倚靠创造主神，才得以存在，将帮助我们过一个敬拜神、委身于他、感谢他、对他忠诚而不羞辱他的生活。敬虔由此开始：至高无上的创造主神是我们心思的第一焦点。

CREATION

GOD IS THE CREATOR

How many are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your

creatures. PSALM 104:24

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). He did it by fiat, without any preexisting material; his resolve that things should exist (“Let there be...”) called them into being and formed them in order with an existence that depended on his will yet was distinct from his own. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were involved together (Gen. 1:2; Pss. 33:6, 9; 148:5; John 1:1-3; Col. 1:15-16; Heb. 1:2; 11:3). Points to note are as follows:

1. The act of creation is mystery to us; there is more in it than we can understand. We

cannot create by fiat, and we do not know how God could. To say that he created “out of

nothing” is to confess the mystery, not explain it. In particular, we cannot conceive how

dependent existence can be distinct existence, nor how angels and human beings in their

dependent existence can be not robots but creatures capable of free decisions for which

they are morally accountable to their Maker. Yet Scripture everywhere teaches us that

this is the way it is.

2. Space and time are dimensions of the created order; God is not “in” either; nor is he bound by either as we are.

3. As the world order is not self-created, so it is not self-sustaining, as God is. The stability

 of the universe depends on constant divine upholding; this is a specific ministry of the divine Son (Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3), and without it every creature of every kind, ourselves included, would cease to be. As Paul told the Athenians, “he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.... In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:25, 28).

4. The possibility of creative intrusions (e.g., miracles of creative power; creating new persons through human procreative activity; reorienting human hearts and redirecting human desires and energies in regeneration) is as old as the cosmos itself. How far God in his upholding activity actually continues to create new things that cannot be explained in terms of anything that went before, it is beyond our power to know; but certainly his world remains open to his creative power at every point.

Knowing that God created the world around us, and ourselves as part of it, is basic to true religion. God is to be praised as Creator, by reason of the marvelous order, variety, and beauty of his works. Psalms such as Psalm 104 model this praise. God is to be trusted as the sovereign LORD, with an eternal plan covering all events and destinies without exception, and with power to redeem, re-create and renew; such trust becomes rational when we remember that it is the almighty Creator that we are trusting. Realizing our moment-by-moment dependence on God the Creator for our very existence makes it appropriate to live lives of devotion, commitment, gratitude, and loyalty toward him, and

scandalous not to. Godliness starts here, with God the sovereign Creator as the first focus of our thoughts.