梅晨：基督教是一種教義Machen: Christianity Is ADoctrine
可是有人會說：「基督教是一種生活，不是教義」。有些人常常把這句話掛在嘴邊，看起來敬虔，其實錯得離譜，即使不是基督徒，也可以看得出來。「基督教是一種生活」是陳述歷史，而不是陳述理念。說「基督教是一種生活」，和說「基督教應該是一種生活」，或者「理想的基督教是一種生活」，是很不一樣的。「基督教是一種生活」這句話必須接受歷史的檢驗，就像「羅馬帝國在尼羅當皇帝的時候，有自由民主」這句話必須接受歷史的檢驗一樣。我們可以說：「如果羅馬帝國在尼羅當皇帝的時候有自由民主，那就太棒了」，但這句話不是在講歷史。歷史只問：「羅馬帝國在尼羅當皇帝的時候，到底有沒有有自由民主？」。基督教是一個歷史現象，就和羅馬帝國、普魯士帝國、美國是一個歷史現象一樣。既然是歷史現象，就得用歷史證據檢驗。
Christianity
they will tell us is a life and not a doctrine. Now that seems to be a devout
and pious utterance, but it is radically false all the same, and to see that it
is false you do not need even to be a Christian, you need have just common sense
and common honesty. For when you say that Christianity is this or that, you are
making an assertion in the sphere of history. You are not saying what you think
ought to be true, but what you think actually is a fact. When people say that
Christianity is this or that—some have ventured the absurd assertion that
Christianity is democracy —when you say Christianity is this or that, you are
making an assertion in the sphere of history. It is just like saying that the
Roman Empire under Nero was a free democracy. It is possible that the Roman
Empire under Nero might have been a great deal better if it had been a free
democracy, but the question is whether as a matter of fact it was a free
democracy or not. So when you say that Christianity is a life, not a doctrine,
you are making an assertion in the sphere of history, because Christianity is
an historical phenomenon exactly like the Roman Empire, like the kingdom of
Prussia or the United States of America.
摘錄自《基督教真偽辨》Christiannity and Liberalism，19頁，梅晨（J. Gresham Machen）著/包義森（Rev. Samuel Boyle) 譯，改革宗出版有限公司，2003。
