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2020-03-07



17 問題與回答 4:應用神的話和遵行神的話林慈信


伯克富《系統神學》導論| 林慈信牧師講授
目錄

17 問題與回答 4:應用神的話和遵行神的話。

從「正統教義」的角度來解釋聖經。清教徒的教義式解經講道。

Q:我的問題就是說:聖經裡面出現的是遵守神的話,可是我們一般上教會或者神學院,都說應用神的話。應用跟遵行之間有什麼不一樣?為什麼我們不直接用遵行,而要用應用?

A:(哇!這麼好的問題。)一般神學院講的是應用神的話,而不是遵行神的話,那應用和遵行有什麼分別?為什麼我們不用遵行這兩個字呢?為什麼不直接就用遵行呢?好,我是用最壞的打算來回答你的問題。

 今天的福音派的神學院,受了很多不同方面的影響。新正統跟後現代已經講了很多,就不再講下去了。另外再講一個,就是杜威的實用主義。杜威是胡適先生的老師。在杜威之前,還有一位威廉·雅各(或威廉·詹姆士,William James)。他是 19 世紀中的實用主義哲學家。杜威是第二位,跟雅各(或詹姆士)是換湯不換藥的。

怎麼樣換湯不換藥呢?我們就講杜威好了。他們是不相信宇宙有真理的,這兩位哲學家是對基督教非常敵視的。所以胡適說:少討論一點主義,多解決一些問題。他的意思是說:宇宙沒有真理,你們基督教不要搞那麼多教義,你只要把教學或者學習的環境,搞得讓學生能夠發揮他裡面的潛能。學生在一個理想的環境裡面,他就會去發掘、就會探索,會學到東西的。實用主義是影響美國最深的教育哲學。

我現在來批判一下「歸納式查經法」。我是很喜愛「歸納式查經方法」的,但是還是要對它有一個批判。就是說,沒有聖靈重生的人,可以通過「歸納式查經法」真的來認識神嗎?答案是:可能的。假如他在「歸納式查經」,特別是「福音性查經」,包括他做了一個「福音性歸納式查經」小組的組長,帶領人查經的時候,聖靈光照他,使他扎心知罪,他就認罪悔改信主了。這是有可能的,也常常發生,感謝主。

但是,實用主義本身是不假設、不相信宇宙有絕對真理的。它絕對不會宣稱《聖經》就是絕對真理。 我們基督教教育的老師,一般是從美國的神學院拿到基督教教育學的博士,或者至少是高等的碩士。基督教教育,特別是福音派或者一般保守派的神學院裡面,他們的教育哲學是不加思索,而且是亂七八糟的。我舉個例子。有一位 Biola University 的基督教教育的教授,寫了一本叫做《基督教教育哲學 Philosophy of Christian School Education)的書,很貴的,25 美金。我買的目的是要知道,在福音派神學院裡面,基督教教育教授(不論他是什麼派別),是怎麼講哲學的。結果我看到(這本書目前還在出版,祂是用上一代的一位教授的原著,修改發揮一下),他完全不瞭解柏拉圖、亞里斯多德,他對這些希臘哲學作出來的應用,或者中古時期的經院主義所作出來的應用,簡直是亂扯。我不是說他講得不對,我說他根本沒有瞭解到哲學是什麼。所以,基督教教育教授裡面,有一些是完全不懂哲學的,寫出來的書是一點都沒有幫助的。結果他就把他福音派裡的那些信仰講出來了,他就借了哲學家的口來發揮他本來就要講的,很顯明的、很基本的一些常識。這是第一點。

 第二,基督教教育本身不是不重要,但是因為他的哲學底子不強、神學底子也不強,所以,他基本上在作一些教學法(pedagogy)的教導。這些教學法的背後,那些對人是什麼?孩子是什麼?人有罪嗎?罪又讓人的學習帶來什麼樣的影響?教學法要考慮到人的罪跟重生的必須嗎?重生的人我們怎麼教導他們?聖經的地位是什麼?教義的地位是什麼?人的環境情況是怎麼樣?孩子生長的環境是怎麼樣?怎麼從聖經的角度來看性向的不同?人分四種不同的性向,或者是六種,或多少種,這些理論合理嗎?這些問題他都不刻意去思考的。所以,基督教教育一般是教你怎麼樣在教會裡面推動教育事工、教導事工。

 我在這方面曾經有一次講座,英文是 How Should We Then Teach?” 中文是「下一代的教育」。一年前我在檳城曾經講過這一方面。就是說,你問的問題是「為什麼講應用,不講遵行」,我答案就是說:因為受了這種教育哲學的影響,我們喜歡用一些世俗的詞彙解釋「應用」。「解釋」這個字聖經裡不是沒有的。在路加福音 24:25-2644-47,「耶穌開他們的心竅,叫他們能明白聖經」,那個字就是「釋經學」(hermeneutics)這個字的字根(hermeneuo),所以聖經裡面有「解釋」這個字。「應用」反而是用「你們要晝夜思想」、「遵行」、「謹守遵行我的話」,那些詞是聖經裡面有的。神學家,包括基督教教育專家,他們一般都喜歡用聖經裡沒有的詞彙,像:「應用神的話」啊、「去探索神的話」啊…等等。

我沒有說,不可以用聖經以外的詞。伯克富用一大堆,對不對?這個星期我們已經用了可能一百個名詞都不止了。不過每一個名詞,比方說剛才有人問:「應用神的話就是認識神嗎?」我每一個字都先和你挖裡面的定義,然後才回答你的問題。所以我們不是不可以用聖經以外的詞。「應用」這個詞不是不能用。傅蘭姆常常用的,「解釋和應用是同一碼事」。但是,我們首先要假設(假設講得有點不太正統,不太屬靈),或者我們首先要預先地相信:神存在,祂是宇宙的主。

 好了,現在我們來問:用「應用」這個字好,還是用「遵行」這個字好?
 可能用「遵行神的話」,對非基督徒來說,聽起來有點武斷,那是必然的,那是十字架的絆腳石。兩千年來,我們都知道的,我們是教導、鼓勵、激勵弟兄姊妹遵行神的話的。所以,你說「應用」和「遵行」有什麼分別?在傅蘭姆的理解是沒有什麼分別的。

那麼,為什麼不直接用「遵行」呢?因為我們的傳道人、神學教授,受了這些從杜威來的教育哲學,要我們少談理論,多談「實際」。而他們這個「實際」的定義是什麼,他們又不說出來。

 昨天我不是跟各位開了一個玩笑嗎?說什麼是實際,是不是自助餐廳裡面龍蝦一出來你就拿兩大盤,不要吃虧?什麼是實際?望子成龍是實際嗎?實際就是你今天,這個星期跟家庭一起很溫馨,很親密,就是實際嗎?一個家庭可以很溫馨、很親密但是完全不敬畏上帝的,他的價值觀就是經濟的安全…等等。所以,什麼叫「實際」?實際就是讓小孩子有自我形象這方面的健康嗎?那是完全世俗心理學的觀念。

「實用」、「應用」、「實際」都是同一類的詞彙。「應用」就是要把聖經化為「實際」。那什麼叫「實際」?「實際」是敬畏耶和華,遵行祂的話,順服祂的話,愛祂,以祂為樂,以祂為望,敬拜祂,為祂而活,甚至為祂而死,背起十字架來捨己跟從祂。這叫「實際」,而不是在方法上。比方說,「實際」不是說你買了一個機器,比方說你買了一個鬧鐘,壞了,OK,你打開說明書,一、二、三、四,你怎麼拆的,零件在哪裡,哪裡需要換,哪裡需要改。這就叫做實際嗎?不是的。當然機器壞了,你要懂得怎麼去修理。

為什麼要知道怎麼修理?因為你要用。為什麼要用?因為人生的最高目標是榮耀神跟享受祂。所以你需要鬧鐘,早上叫你起來,去榮耀神跟享受祂。這麼說不過分啊!哥林多前書 10:31,「凡事要為榮耀神而行,無論吃喝」。

什麼叫「實際」呢?我們對「實際」( practical)這兩個字,實在需要重新去考慮。
不然的話,100 年來,自從胡適先生把杜威的教育哲學帶到中國,我們一直以來是用一些很世俗的定義來用「實際」、「應用」這些詞的。

我不是說不能用這些詞,能夠。但是假如教會裡面有這種敬畏神、遵行祂的話這種
精神氾濫在教會中,那用這些詞不是問題。問題是現在不單單是杜威的教育哲學,還有心理學,就是專門講自我形象的那種心理學,很快地就會有新紀元的邪教、異教的思想出現在我們的教育材料中,這是必然的。世界上哲學、宗教發生什麼事,馬上就進到神學院--除非神學院警惕、抗爭,不然的話,神學院講什麼,講台跟主日學再過一兩年都出現這樣的觀念。因為,我們買的這些書籍都受了這些思想的影響,所以我們要從根那裡去解決這個問題。

這是個很好的問題,為什麼我們不用「遵行」,而用「應用」?我剛才說,我是用最壞的打算來回答你的問題。用最好的打算來回答你的問題,就是套用傅蘭姆所說的:「解釋跟應用是同一碼事」;因此我們說:「應用跟遵行是同一碼事」。假如我們知道「解釋神的話」就是「應用神的話」,「應用神的話」就是「敬畏神的話」,你用「應用」沒有問題。好,還有問題嗎?

Q:請問,用「應用」的話,會不會有一種危機,就是說:無形中,把世俗的「實用主義」思想帶進了講台或教會?

A:假如用「應用」這兩個字,會不會無意中把世俗的「實用主義」的觀念帶入教會?答案是:自從有了基督教教育課程以來,這種事就每天都發生在教會當中。對不起,我已故的父親是基督教教育的教授。是的,我們要很小心。比較可行的做法就是:廣泛的教導如何思考神的話--廣泛的。

 《歸納式查經》、《讀經的藝術》這種的書,只能夠帶我們走到一個初級的終點,進到所謂中級班(當然沒有所謂初級和中級)。我的意思是說,除了歸納式查經、原文解經等等,我們必須要從教義、正統教義的角度來解釋每一段經文。這句話是違反了全世界福音派神學院裡面大部分聖經教授的教導原則的。我這句話不誇張的。
 我再說一次。假如我們要真正看到實用主義是為神的道彰顯的話,我們要刻意的、好好的、謹慎的把基要的教義--如:三位一體、基督神人二性、基督是先知、祭司、君王,替我們代罪…等等、聖靈的重生是必須的、什麼叫做屬靈?那就是稱義和成聖,什麼叫成聖?…--放在我們解釋聖經的過程中。你這樣做,在一般的神學院裡讀新約、舊約課,你一定不及格。因為他們不成熟。他們的教授要你解釋這段聖經,就解釋這段聖經。好了,你解完了,你做好了你的希臘文功課,你解釋完這段聖經之後呢,你說:咦,這段羅馬書就等於以賽亞書講的…你就寫了。或者教授要你念舊約,要用希伯來文解釋以賽亞書第 53 章。你解了之後,咦,這就是講耶穌基督囉。「不及格!」現在很多的老師會說「不及格,重做!不可以以經解經。我要你解釋的就是這段經文,你不可以扯到聖經的另外一個約那邊的。」這是因為聖經老師不成熟。 這句話不是我講的,是巴刻講的。不過,現在我也講了。巴刻說:「你們這些聖經老
師啊,你們都在山底下面的井底蛙。你們要跑到山頂上面來看一看。你們要從神學,就是正統的教育來看。」愛德華茲是這樣說的(Johnson Edward 18 世紀復興時期的清教徒牧師),他說:「我們對每一段經文的理解,在於我們對整本聖經的理解。」意思就是說:你沒有系統神學,就不能解釋聖經。但是,沒有人是沒有系統神學的。簡單的說,換言之,我們每一個人都是帶著系統神學的「有色眼鏡」來讀聖經的。沒有一個人不是的。

 《讀經的藝術》這一類書的作者們、所有的新舊約老師,都是帶著「有色的神學眼鏡」來讀聖經的。問題是,我們的這副神學有色眼鏡是「正統的神學」嗎?是「正統的教義」嗎?還是受了「實用主義」、「新正統」、「後保守派」等等的影響?所以,我們要做的就是一種「教義式的解經講道」(Doctrinal Expository Preaching)。

清教徒是這樣讀聖經的。我的意思是說,清教徒是這樣預備講章的,他站在講台也是一樣。今天我們讀經,讀哪一段。好了,他讀了。牧師讀完聖經之後,他會把這段經文的要點再說一次。就是說,這段經文告訴我們什麼…,有什麼事實(fact)。他這個事實的意思,就是說,這段經文教導我們什麼關於神、神的計畫、神的應許、神的旨意。然後,再來一點一點地解釋這些要點。他每一個要點都很長的,比方說這篇講道有三個要點,他每個要點可能是兩行半這麼長的一句話的。假如你想知道,我可以讀一、兩個例子給各位聽。然後,他再來一個很長的應用。我的意思是說,

清教徒的講道是刻意地把每一段經文的「教義」講出來。 那應用方面呢?他在應用方面,是把這些神的屬性、神的應許、神的誡命,來刺透人的良心。這個叫應用,而不是說這個機器壞掉了,你怎麼拆零件;不是在這個這麼肉體、物質的世界裡的應用。乃是說,首先,刺透我們的良心:「這段經文講神的偉大,你怎麼看?你的心忽略了神的偉大嗎?你有常常思考神的偉大嗎?神的偉大成了你最大喜樂了嗎?」他會問你很多很多這類的問題。這個是清教徒解經應用部分。

 所以,有些清教徒的講章前面有三個主題解釋了這段經文的教義之後,後面可能有1618 個應用,很長的。所以清教徒講道可以講兩個鐘頭,因為他們的應用方面很長。他們的應用都是從經文中摘幾個要點,從經文裡面的教義發揮出來的。好,還有什麼問題嗎?

Q:就是說,我們必須從「正統教義」的角度來解釋聖經。

A:我們必須從「正統教義」的角度來解釋聖經。是的。解釋每一段聖經,每一卷聖經。是的。

Q:我們知道說,整本的《聖經》都指向耶穌基督和祂的救贖。

A:對的,整本《聖經》、包括舊約,都是指向耶穌基督並他的救贖。

Q:那麼,可不可以把這句話這樣來理解:從「正統教義」的角度來解釋聖經,就是我們的每一篇道都要把人帶到耶穌基督面前。

A:對。所以,每一篇道都要把人帶到耶穌基督面前。是的。我舉一個例子。我們講舊約經文,你不可以把尼希米就當作「工商管理的典範」,太多這種書了:「領袖學」,讀尼希米記,記上代價,衡量工作,分配工作。尼希米記不是講「工商管理」的,不是講「領袖學」的。尼希米記是講被擄之後,神的子民怎麼被塑造為一個比較沒有那麼大的榮耀,但是懂得自己是誰,而且有神的律法,也願意順服,被神的律法管教這種的形象,直到主耶穌道成肉身。簡單地說,尼希米記是講舊約的歷史最後一段,神的子民的外形,就是人數少了,聖殿沒有這麼榮耀,城牆終於辛辛苦苦地圍好了,特別是很有趣的,有女性(姊妹)在迦南做了雙倍的工作,很有趣的,對不對?這個群體知道自己是屬於神的,有神的律法,直到主道成肉身。那個是尼希米記真正的意義。

你怎麼應用的?我是這樣應用的:尼希米記既然是舊約歷史最後的一段,請問新約歷史最後的一段是什麼?哦,使徒行傳 27-28 章,保羅在羅馬,雖然是被軟禁,還是卷起袖子來不斷地傳福音。至少在歷史方面,歷史書講的最後的那一段。請問我們今天,福音派的教會要怎麼樣建造我們的教會模式,直到主耶穌第二次來呢?我們可以延伸這樣看。但是我們先來看舊約時期歷史的尾聲,新約時期歷史的尾聲,然後現在我們是主復活升天之後,還沒有再來之前,這一段的教會時期裡,我們應當打造怎麼樣的教會呢?這樣看尼希米記,我覺得就是以「救贖歷史」為中心。當然,神的道的核心就是耶穌基督,因為耶穌已經來,已經復活、已經升天。

 再給各位一個例子。我們威敏斯特神學院的早會是很短的,連唱詩、禱告、讀經和最後的講道一起,一共是 15 分鐘。有一次我們的舊約老師講道。(我看,時間快到了。)他講什麼?他講的是亞干(約書亞記第七章)。亞干一個人犯罪,整個以色列民都受到神的審判。(我看時間快到了,你要講什麼?)他講,是的,神是要在祂的子民當中施行審判的。(然後,我再看時間快到了快到了,只有兩分鐘差不多…)他說,是的,有一天,神要再來審判,不過祂不是施行審判,乃是擔當審判。講完了,結束禱告。他的意思是說,這一次在舊約裡面神的審判,就是說明主耶穌要來的時侯,祂所擔當的審判是怎麼樣的嚴厲:神的聖潔和憤怒傾倒在耶穌基督身上,就好像當時神這樣懲罰祂的子民,至少有那種的程度跟嚴厲。但是,新約給我們看到的,是神是怎麼樣來施行(inflict)審判的呢?是把這種審判,這種的打擊傾倒在祂自己,就是三位一體的第二位,神的兒子的身上。

 所以,從亞干可以講耶穌的。從參孫也可以講耶穌的。參孫是一個很糊塗的神的僕人。對不對?祂是神的僕人,是神膏的士師。但是,參孫的死,的確救了以色列民。耶穌基督是一個絕對不糊塗的、無罪的神的僕人,神的子民的領袖。祂藉著祂的捨命,拯救神的子民。所以有些地方,參孫和主耶穌是相似的,他們的職分是相似的,但他們的品格是完全不一樣的。所以,參孫的事件指向耶穌基督,亞干的事件指向耶穌基督。但是要小心,我們不要作「靈意解經」(按:指「寓意解經」,一種不屬聖靈的,屬人的私意解經。

George Fox 的說法:一種無休止的、不慎重的想像)。我們要把這件事情放在救贖歷史裡面,神怎麼對待祂的約民(Gods covenant people),然後才應用到今天。

Q:因為你剛才講到清教徒的教義式解經講道。因為現在我們在學校學的講道法,有主題式的講道、經文式的講道,還有解經式的講道。我想問的是「經文式、解經式的講道」,這兩個講道跟清教徒的「教義式解經講道」有沒有結合點?

A:請問「經文式講道」和「解經式講道」有什麼區別?

Q:「經文式講道」就是拿一節經文來說。「解經式講道」我們可能是拿一段經文來解釋。就好像「教義式的講道」就是把這一段經文的教義講出來。

A:不要緊。不過我覺得第二、第三不是同樣的嗎?

Q:不是,我們在串的時候,比方說用一節經文跟整段的經文可能會不一樣。

A:經文可能是一節經文的,司布真有時講道也是用一節的,不過他可以發揮。好。經文、解經和主題,還有什麼?

Q:我們比較注重、比較側重的就是:「解經式講道」和「教義式講道」有沒有一個結合點(引用清教徒的這個方式)?

A:問得很好。因為聖經新舊約 66 卷從來沒有告訴我們怎麼講道,聖經也沒有告訴我們每天靈修 10 節,20 節,兩章,還是舊約 1 章,新約 3 章,或者 4 章。聖經沒有告訴我們的,對不對?「講道法」是人造出來的,很多是很有用的。都是為了教會的好處,才會有「講道學」、「講道法」這門學問出來嘛。很多「講道學」、「講道法」肯定就是從「文學」跟「修辭學」那裡借一些觀念過來的,因為聖經沒有「講道法」的。你說耶穌講比喻,我們也講比喻;那保羅講神學,我們也講神學嗎?以賽亞講預言,我們也講預言嗎?當然不是嘛。所以,我們怎麼樣來解釋這本 66 卷的聖經呢?

 好,「經文式的講道或者釋經」,就是看一節經文。一節經文我們盼望不是斷章取義(out of context),當然不可以斷章取義。你說希伯來書也斷章取義的引用舊約。但他們是聖靈默示的,他們可以做,我們不可以做,就這麼簡單。

 好,不可以斷章取義。「經文式的講道」就是處理一節;「解經式的講道」可能是處理 10 節到 20 節,這都是很正確的做法。然後,我這個人可能比較好奇,所以當我作「解經式講道」的時候,我偶爾會用 3 章聖經或者整卷聖經,如希伯來書或者雅各書。

然後,最後焦點放在,比方說雅各書 2:24,你們的信不但是出於信心,也出於行為。但從 1:1 一直講到 2:24,好讓我們看清楚 2:24 的意義,所以是由一節或一段或好幾段的經文作單位的。而「主題、或者教義式的講道」,就是用整本聖經作單位。不論是「主題式的講道」或者是「教義式的講道」,有斷章取義的,有不斷章取義
的。

不論你是用「教義式」或者用「主題式」的,都可能走樣,都可能不是按照聖經所講的。比方說:「聖經如何看成功」這個講題,你怎麼去抓聖經經文呢?盼望你從箴言那裡找,就是:「晝夜思想耶和華的律法的」,「敬畏耶和華的凡事亨通」。你不要去亂扯嘛,對不對?所以,主題的和教義的講道,都可以用的。

「教義式的講道」又分:從「救贖歷史的角度」來看,或者從「系統神學的教義」來看,對不對?比方說我剛才說的亞干的例子、參孫的例子,就是從「救贖歷史的角度」來看,或說「從舊約看基督,從基督看舊約」。

 另外一種「教義式的講道」,比方說我們講「得救的確據」,我們會用《威敏斯特信仰告白》第 18 章作為我們基本的信念。那篇道可能我們是用了希伯來書 6:4-6 的;可能我們用馬太福音 13 章撒種的比喻;可能我們用約翰福音 3 1-8 節講重生的這段經文;但是我們同時要強調的教義是《威敏斯特信仰告白》裡得救的確據,那是教義式的。所以,你可以引用不同的經節,畢竟我們的《信經》(就是《威敏思特信仰告白》)列出幾百段的、上千的經文。所以,你可以用那些經文,或者你去找《主題匯析聖經》(那本不是改革宗的,是很好的福音派的,可能是「四點的加爾文主義」[按:有一小部分法国改革宗受阿米念派影响的妥协折衷派,稱之為亞目拉督派或后救赎主义者(Amyraldist),他們在加爾文主義五要點上,接受阿米念派的「普遍救赎」、「不确定赎罪」观念,但其它四点仍持守改革宗信仰]的,一本很好的參考工具)。

「教義式的講道」就是從一個專題、一個教義,然後盼望我們所抓的經文:第一,不是斷章取義的;第二,是跟這個主題真的有關係的。換言之,串珠不能亂串的。不是聖經裡的串珠都可以用的。串珠只不過是把聖經裡這個字所出現過的地方告訴你,最穩妥的就是看經文彙編了,它給你整頁的經文。主題匯析聖經就是給你一個捷徑(shortcut),讓你快快地抓到一些經文。

所以,研究聖經有一節的研究,一段的研究,一卷書的研究;救贖歷史的一個階段的,或者救贖歷史的整個全部,就是:從基督看舊約,從舊約看基督;最後,從教義來看;還有最後的最後,有一些非教義專題,就是說:聖經怎麼看核子戰爭?怎麼看基因工程?——那些不是傳統教育學所處理的問題。這些問題你肯定要建立起好的「聖經神學」或者「系統神學」,就是教義的根基,然後針對這個問題,從經文那裡去作應用、延伸;最後你作出一些相對的,你想出來的,或者書本裡所說的一些應用。

所以,我把講道要處理的單元,作這個原則來給你放一個框架:一節(經文),一段(經文),一卷(書卷);一個階段,整個救贖歷史;某一個教義,甚至整個教義系統;最後是教義系統裡沒有的專題。都可以講的,都是正當的。因為,聖經沒有告訴你每一次講道要處理 10 節聖經,定出 3 個要點,最後加 1 個故事。這是很好的講道法。幾百年來我們都用這種講道法。很好,但不是唯一就是了。

我是最近這幾年才從一種內疚感釋放出來,因為我最不懂怎麼講那種我以前小時候,或者我小孩子三歲的時候,有一天發生了什麼事,用這種扣人心弦的故事來作結束,或者每一點,甚至乎講道法現在告訴你,比方說告訴你第一點是什麼,第一點下面,11+或者 1a,你講 1a 之前,先講個故事,然後再把 1a 那個要點拿出來,你都要包裝得好好的,我最不會講這種故事。所以我後來想一想,究竟教會需要什麼?是的,我神學院所學到的講道法就是三點加一個故事,或者三點加一首詩--短詩(poem)。但是,我是熱愛系統神學的,我又看到這些教義的原則,實實在在是教會需要的。所以,曾幾何時,大概過去5 年,我就開始不向聽眾道歉,就講起「教義式的講道」來。結果我發現,平信徒有回應。因為有些原則,比方說,「什麼叫實際?是不吃虧就是實際嗎?不是的。是敬畏耶和華的開端才是實際。」這是我兩篇的講章。那,這篇講章想了 30 年了。我還記得 1979年,我就開始寫一篇文章:《什麼叫實際?》,沒有寫完,每次都沒有完,但終於「講」出來了。

 所以,我目前快要進入到我人生的第七個十年,就是還沒有到六十多歲之前,我已經定意、我自己給自己定位:我的講道法是「教義式的解經講道」。一般來說,你去「講道法」的書裡能找到「教義式的講道」。我又不甘心,因為「教義式的講道」總會給人罵為不是釋經學的,不是「釋經的講道」;所以,我講的是「教義式的釋經講道」(Doctrinal Expository Preaching)。 特別是面對中國大陸的群體,從傳福音開始,從福音預工開始,我發覺我從大學年齡所學到的「歸納式查經」:耶穌基督在路加福音 5:1-11,請問這段經文有哪些人物?發生在什麼地方?加利利海在哪裡,你可以找到嗎?耶穌基督為什麼去找彼得?哦,去借他的船。當天他是向誰講道?他講道之後,耶穌基督向彼得要求的是什麼?…這是「歸納式查經法」,很正確的一些觀察、解釋,加上一些應用的問題。我發覺中國大陸群體,大概大部分的人不耐煩這種很精準、正確的「歸納式查經法」。

 所以,曾幾何時,1988 年,就是六四之前,在美國,我就開始用好像《新約概論》
這種的書,或者《研經版聖經》裡面,每一卷書前面的介紹,這卷書的作者,主題,特別是主題那一段。曾幾何時,我就開始用很大的一塊聖經,一卷的來講資訊。我發覺很多對聖經接觸比較有限的,不論是信徒或福音朋友,他們就比較快地能夠掌握,(對不起,我這樣說,很自大狂地說,)他們會說這樣的信息不浪費他們的時間。他們難得地又打工,又念書,又要看小孩子(當然,不信的「信徒」當然會這樣看嘛),難得來教會 1 個小時,聚餐完了,又唱詩之後,難得有這 40-50 分鐘,他要抓到一些重點…所以,我因為有神給我很優秀的老師們,(不論是大學的哲學,還是神學院裡的聖經神學、解經,還有系統神學),所以我把他們的精華,比方說「約」是舊約的,「天國」是福音的,「恩典」跟「信心」是保羅書信裡面的…等等,把他們的精華刻意地倒在我個別的講章裡面--刻意的。這是犯了絕大部分講道學的規則的。所以,我差不多每一次講道都是違規的--假如是用今天的講道法來說。但是我說,時代的需要、中國大陸群體的品味,就是說:你不要浪費我的時間,請告訴我你究竟要講什麼--這種的品味和需求,已經不容許我們平面的,就是不立體地去解經講道。這是我的經驗談。

 上面那段不屬絕對真理,不是聖經所教導的,《威敏斯特信仰告白》也沒有這樣講,所以不屬於改革宗神學本質裡面的,只是個人的經驗談,只是我服事的經驗分享。

Q:有一個人這樣來解釋雅各,他說雅各是瘸腿的,就是說,他把雅各的遭遇,雅各這個人應用到他,因為他本身是殘疾的,然後他就把這段經文應用到所有殘疾人的身上。如果說,從一段經文當中,提取一個跟當事人所解釋的人相同的情境當中的一個共通點,然後來應用,這樣適合不適合?這是第一個問題。第二個問題是,靈意解經跟影射式、延伸式的應用有什麼欠缺,對照影射式或延伸式的應用,有什麼錯誤或者說欠缺?

A:第一,用自己的經驗來解經,有很多的限制--除非是那段經文你是好好地從上下文看,不斷章取義,而且,不論是殘障的,或者是自卑的…等等,這些主題我們要從救贖歷史和系統教義裡面,先去得到一個基本原則,然後回來問:這段經文究竟是不是在講神怎麼對待殘障人?然後,雅各是不是真的是殘障人?

照我的理解,聖經裡面沒有說。假如真的要講神如何對待殘障人,這個是可以講的。
我寧願去舊約那裡去找那些寡婦、大痲風病人等等,看神怎麼特別愛他們。我們不是不可以講神特別愛殘障人的。可以講的,但是取材要正確,不要斷章取義。

 第二,靈意解經和延伸式的應用有什麼分別?它的分別是:「靈意解經」是從一段具體的經文或者一個具體的救贖歷史,去投射到一個跟這段經文或這個救贖歷史沒有關係的一個原則。靈意解經是這個意思。比如從五餅二魚,五個餅代表什麼,兩條魚代表什麼;挪亞洪水四十天,四十天代表什麼…聖經裡面沒有講的,你去搞一個應用出來,或者一個投射出來,就是靈意解經。

我這樣說好了,但是我們可以作一個正確的應用的。我現在畫一個三角形是這樣的:
 救贖歷史 T1 Tn象徵 預表 比喻 應用

 靈意解經
T1 Truth Symolized (象徵的真理)
Tn Truth Typified (預表的真理)

 一條長的,左邊垂下,再斜斜地上來。不正確的是靈意解經;正確的就是經文的應用,平行的線,從左到右的。是,舊約有預言耶穌基督,或者說舊約預備新約,這個是從救贖歷史看的。斜斜的這條線是代表「預表」。

剛才我說的參孫這種例子,就是從舊約來看新約,但不僅僅是預言或預備,它是有一個意義的。不過「預表」都是指耶穌基督,預表就是舊約怎麼預備耶穌基督的意思。所以,是從一件事情或一個人的職分,首先看他這個人:參孫,參孫是個士師,士師是什麼意思?大衛是個王,什麼意思?先搞清楚這個。然後,這個王,這個士師,這個祭司,他跟新約的耶穌基督是有關係的--有所同,有所不同。

 所以這一位參孫,這一位祭司或者君王,是怎麼樣的預表耶穌基督?這個不是靈意解經。你先看清楚他這個職位,或當時的情況是什麼,然後看他是怎樣預表耶穌基督的。然後,這些大原則,比方說耶穌基督是先知、祭司、君王,聖經裡面有嗎?你參考一下系統神學所引用的經文,應該有的。這一種職位或一個情景,跟新約的耶穌基督有沒有關係?要有經文的根據,然後去作這種預表,這樣就不是靈意解經了。好,我們時間差不多了,

結束禱告。
 禱告:求天父繼續地憐憫我們,給我們在你的道上長進,給我們懂得怎麼自己去挖掘你的道理中豐富的真理,提高自己對你自己話語的悟性,也提高我們對這個世界的瞭解,叫我們站得穩,做一個你忠心的僕人。主我們這些都是為了你的教會,為了你的榮耀,求主繼續堅定我們的心志,是為了你所愛的教會而去努力,去改善我們的閱讀或者是學習的方式。謝謝主,我們不需要放棄我們對你的熱忱去追求學問,我們對你的熱忱,也不摒棄我們對你的話、在這個世界上學問的追求。求主讓我們找到一個整合的姿態,叫我們心中滿足,也知道自己在長進,奉主耶穌得勝的名求,阿們。

2018-06-22


基督的門徒將上帝的話藏在心裡Disciples Hide God’s Word inTheir Hearts

作者:  Robert W. Carver  譯者: Maria Marta

「我?要背誦聖經? 但我已不再是小孩子了。 此外,我現在教孩子學習。 我教;  他們學。」  也許這些都不是成年基督徒的原話,但它們可能代表了許多人的態度。這些人多年來一直從未真正背誦過特定的經文(或者根本沒有背誦)

然而,對真正的基督門徒, 一個真正希望像基督的門徒而言,背誦聖經是一項重要的操練。如果你小時候背過聖經,你可能了解這句經文的意義:「我將你的話藏在心裡,免得我得罪你」(詩篇一一九11)。詩篇一一九篇不僅是聖經中最長的一章,而且還具有顯著的文體特征。 這首希伯來詩分為二十二詩節(譯按:詩節stanza是一首詩最大的結構單位,包含兩行或更多行詩verse line,行詩是較小的結構單位),每一詩節的第一個字母均按希伯來字母表順序排列。詩節內的每一行詩又都用同一個字母起首。這種按字母順序排列的結構有助於記憶經文。

這首詩篇不但其篇幅和形式值得注意,而且更以其崇高的主題著稱。從開始到結束,每一節經文都是關於上帝的道。以希伯來字母Beth(第二個字母)開頭的詩節的首行詩句是「少年人用什麼潔淨他的行為呢?是要遵行你的話」(9節),尾行詩句是「我要默想你的訓詞,看重你的道路。我要在你的律例中自樂,我不忘記你的話」(15-16節)。 避免陷入和逃避我們靈魂的敵人的網羅的關鍵是要認識上帝的說話,默想上帝的說話,牢記上帝的說話。聖經「要熟記上帝說話」的命令位於這些教誨的正中。

猶太父親要肩負的神聖任務之一,就是要讓兒子熟悉妥拉(創世記 至申命記),和強調準確背誦上帝說話的重要性(申六4-7)。 因此,在孩子的最早期,會聽到法律書的朗誦,重要的段落被一遍又一遍的重複朗誦。 由於大多數家庭都太窮了,以至於無法擁有自己的舊約書卷集,因此培養記憶能力是必要的。

背誦聖經將獲得許多益處。其中最重要的是聖經幫助我們抵抗撒旦的誘惑。耶穌在曠野對仇敵每一次試探的回應都是「經上記著」,就是這方面最好的例證(太四4710)。此外,聖經刻在你的心版上,方便你終日不住地思想(詩一一九97) ;有助於我們的思想被內住的聖言塑造,以致我們的心意得以更新(羅十二2; 林後十5)。將上帝的真理存記在心裏,在做決定、輔導、見證、教導等工作時,我們更容易記起它們。當我們被懷疑和沮喪困擾等負面情緒困擾時,上帝真理的儲存將是我們這艘被風暴襲擊的方舟的安全與穩固的錨。

所以切勿拖延。 現在就開始。 選擇一節經文(或一個段落)。記下來。定期重溫。對某人讀出來。學習聖經不是為了誇耀,而是為了將所學的真道活出來,並讓別人從你身上看見基督。

Robert W. Carver served as associate professor of Greek and Bible at Clearwater Christian College in Clearwater, Fla., for more than thirty-five years.

本文原刊於Tabletalk雜誌2018年六月號

Disciples Hide God’s Word in Their Hearts
by Robert W. Carver

“Me? Memorize Scripture? But I’m not a child anymore. Besides, I teach children now. I teach; they learn.” Though perhaps not the actual words of adult Christians, these sentiments may represent the attitude of many. They haven’t really memorized specific Scriptures in many years (or perhaps not at all).

However, for a true disciple of Christ, who truly wants to be like Christ, memorizing Scripture is a vital discipline. If you did memorize Scripture as a child, you probably learned Psalm 119:11: “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” Psalm 119 is not only the longest chapter in the Bible, but it also is marked by noteworthy stylistic features. The Hebrew poem is divided into twenty-two stanzas, one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Each verse within a stanza begins with a particular letter. This alphabetical structure was an aid for memorization.

When we are beset with doubts and depression, the hidden store of God’s truth will be a sure and steady anchor for our storm-tossed ark.
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Not only for its length and its literary form is this psalm noteworthy, but also for its lofty subject. From its beginning to its end, every single verse is about the Word of God. Stanza beth begins: “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word” (v. 9). The stanza ends: “I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word” (vv. 15–16). The key to avoiding and escaping the snares of the enemy of our souls is to know the Word, meditate on the Word, and remember the Word. Nestled right in the middle of these instructions is the biblical mandate to memorize it.

One of the sacred tasks of a Jewish father was to acquaint his son with the Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy) and to stress the importance of memorizing with precision what God had said (Deut. 6:4–7). Thus, the Law would be recited in the child’s hearing from his earliest days, and key passages would be repeated over and over. Since most homes were too poor to own their own collection of the Old Testament scrolls, the cultivation of the memory was essential.

One who memorizes Scripture will reap many benefits. Foremost is Scripture’s aid in resisting Satan’s enticements. Jesus’ response of “It is written” to each of the adversary’s temptations in the wilderness is the greatest illustration of this (Matt. 4:4, 7, 10). Furthermore, Scripture written on the tablets of the heart is there for meditation all the day long (Ps. 119:97). It aids the renewing of our mind so that our thinking is shaped by the indwelling Word (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 10:5). God’s truth stored up in the heart will come more readily to mind in decision making, counseling, witnessing, teaching, etc. When we are beset with doubts and depression, the hidden store of God’s truth will be a sure and steady anchor for our storm-tossed ark.

So don’t delay. Start now. Choose a verse (or passage). Write it out. Review it regularly. Be accountable to someone. Learn it not to boast but so that you may live it and so that Christ may be seen in you.


2018-01-21

上帝的话语:恩典的管道TheWord as a Means of Grace

作者: Carl Trueman   译者/校对者述宁/

导言
Introduction1

中世纪天主教会与宗教改革的教会之间关于恩典的理解差异,最为明显地体现在他们各自敬拜场所的建筑上。进入一个中世纪中期(High Middle Ages)宏伟的大教堂,如科隆大教堂,就是进入一个专注于圣礼(特别是弥撒)并且处处体现圣礼的地方。一进入教堂,人的眼光就被吸引到高高的祭坛上,因为建筑师知道他的神学:在礼仪中发生的最重要的事情就是弥撒庆典,在其中基督实际降临下来,在恩典中和他的子民相遇;因着饼和酒变成了主耶稣的身体和血,基督与他的百姓同在。天堂与人间相遇,因此所有的目光都应该关注于这个奥秘发生的地方。The differences over grace between the medieval Catholic Church and the churches of the Reformation are nowhere more obviously apparent than in the architecture of their respective places of worship. To enter one of the great cathedrals of the high Middle Ages, such as that of Cologne, is to enter a space that is focused on and saturated in the sacraments, specifically the Mass. As one enters the building, one’s eyes are drawn to the high altar because the architect knew his theology. He knew that the most important thing that happened in the liturgy was the celebration of the Mass, where Christ literally came down to meet his people in grace. As the bread and wine became the body and blood of the Lord Jesus, Christ was present with his people. Heaven met earth and all eyes should thus be focused on the place where this mystery took place.

而进入一个更正教的大教堂,比方说爱丁堡的圣吉尔斯大教堂(St. Giles’),像进入了一个完全不同的世界。人们不仅是找不到传统的中世纪式敬虔的精致美学特点,他们的眼光也不是被吸引到任何祭坛上,而是被吸引到抬高了的讲台那里。同样,建筑师充分理解他的神学:在更正教教会的敬拜中发生的最重要的事情就是读经,尤其是(按小教理问答中使用的副词)宣讲上帝的道。上帝的临在不是通过发生在祭坛上的面包和酒的事件。能够领会上帝的不是眼睛和舌头,而是耳朵。上帝来到他的百姓那里乃是藉着他的传道人的口对他的道的宣讲。事实上,正如《第二瑞士信条》(the Second Helvetic Confession)极为醒目地在其开篇第一章所表达的:
Enter a Protestant cathedral, say, St. Giles’ in Edinburgh, and one enters a very different world. Not only are the usual elaborate aesthetics of medieval piety missing, one’s eyes are drawn not to any altar but rather to the elevated pulpit. Again, the architect knew his theology well, for the most important thing that happens in a Protestant service is the reading and especially (to use the adverb employed in the Shorter Catechism) the preaching of God’s word. God’s presence is mediated not under the accidents of bread and wine at the altar. It is not the eyes and the tongue that apprehend God. It is the ears.  God comes to his people but through the declaration of his word by the mouths of his preachers. Indeed, as the Second Helvetic Confession so dramatically expressed it in the very first chapter:

我们相信,在现今,当上帝的话语在教会中由合法呼召的传道人宣讲出来,那么就是上帝的话语本身在被宣讲并且被信众所接受。
We believe that today, when this word of God is proclaimed in the Church by preachers who have been legitimately called, then the very word of God itself is proclaimed and received by the faithful.

这里的语句强调:上帝的话语本身。当传道人忠实地讲道时,会众实际上听到的是上帝的话语。我们可以用另一种方式说:当传道人忠实地讲道时,事实上就是上帝在对会众说话。
The language is emphatic: the very word of God itself. When the preacher preaches faithfully, the congregation actually hears God’s word. We might put this another way: when the preacher preaches faithfully, it is really God who speaks to the congregation.

当然,信条的作者海里希•布林格(Heirich Bullinger)并不认为他的讲道因此就应该被视为上帝的话语而被纳入到上帝所默示的圣经正典中。他所要表达的观点是这样的:当上帝的话语被正确地解析和宣告时,上帝通过传道者的言语满有权柄和能力地对他的子民说话。布林格的这种表述,代表了宗教改革的更正教传统:上帝以恩典对待他的子民的首要途径是上帝的话语,而不是圣礼。上帝通过宣告出来的话语对他的百姓说话,圣礼因为依附于上帝的话语而获得其意义。这一点也在改革宗教会中通过建筑风格得到了加强:将圣礼用的桌子象征性地放置在讲台的前方较低的位置。
Of course, Heinrich Bullinger, the Confession’s author, did not believe that his sermons were so to be seen as the word of God that they should therefore be inserted into the canon of inspired scripture. The point he was making was this: when God’s word was correctly parsed and proclaimed, God spoke to his people through the words of the preacher in an authoritative and powerful way. In so doing, Bullinger stands as representative of the Reformation Protestant tradition: it is the word of God, not the sacraments, which was the primary means of God dealing graciously with his people. God addressed his people through the word proclaimed; the sacraments gained their significance from being attached to the Word, a point which was also architecturally reinforced in Reformed by having the table placed symbolically in front of, and beneath, the pulpit.

了解这一点是至关重要的。更正教信仰不仅仅是一套神学教义,这些教义与实践有着直接的关系。如果认真地对待宗教改革对于恩典的理解,那么阅读上帝话语,特别是宣讲上帝的话语就处在更正教实践的中心。宣讲圣道是恩典的一种途径,并且事实上是恩典的主要途径。这是上帝为其恩典性目标所命定的途径。为了使组成教会的男女老少能在他们的生命中结出果子,上帝首要的行动就是在讲台上宣告他大能的拯救行动。
Understanding this point is crucial. Protestantism is not simply a set of theological doctrines. Those doctrines stand in direct relation to practice. If the Reformation understanding of grace is taken seriously, then the reading and especially the preaching of the Word of God, will stand at the center of Protestant practice. Preaching the word is a means of grace, in fact the primary means of grace. It is the means God has appointed for bringing his gracious purpose to fruition in the lives of the men and women who make up the church. God acts first and foremost in the proclamation from the pulpit of his mighty saving acts.

这意味着,传道人需要明白他们所做的是执行一个需要谨慎和热忱的神学性行动,因为他们所处理的是上帝的话语,并且是把最为重要的信息传递给人的耳朵。这也有赖于确信,因为信息的力量最终并不在于他们这些信使身上,而是在于通过信息说话的上帝。那些不明白这一任务的各种要素的传道人,再没有什么能比他们更快让教会衰亡了。传道人需要明白上帝的恩典,不仅仅是因为他们由此就能够宣讲恩典的内容,更是因为这恩典使他们能够宣讲!
That means that preachers need to understand that what they do is perform a theological action which demands care and earnestness because they handle the Word of God and bring the most important message of all to people’s ears. And it also rests upon confidence because the power of the message does not reside ultimately in them as messengers but in the God who speaks through the message. Nothing kills churches faster than preachers who do not seem to understand these various elements of the task. Preachers need to understand God’s grace, not simply so that they can preach its content but also so that they can preach, period.

一种关于上帝之言说God`s Speech的神学
A Theology of God’s Speech

改教家们事实上所有反伯拉纠者对恩典的理解的核心理念是恩典从根本上讲是外来的。对于改教家们而言,事实上也是对保罗而言,这恩典主要是通过被宣告的上帝话语闯入个人的生命之中。福音不是一种体验,它是对耶稣基督的身份的宣告,这身份包括组成按他的形像所造的人类身份的所有内容。然而,为了了解改教家们的立场,我们需要明白圣经中关于言说的教导,特别是关于上帝的言说的教导。这为更正教的思想提供了基础,即被宣告出来的上帝的话语是如何拥有救赎大能的。
At the heart of the Reformers’—indeed, of all anti-Pelagian—understandings of grace is the idea that grace is something which ultimately comes from without. For the Reformers, as indeed for Paul, this grace breaks into the lives of individuals primarily through the Word proclaimed. The gospel is not an experience, it is the declaration of the identity of Jesus Christ, with all of that entails for the identity of human beings made in his image. Yet in order to understand the Reformers’ position, we need to understand something of the biblical teaching on speech, specifically God’s speech. This provides the foundation for the Protestant understanding of how the Word proclaimed can be powerful unto salvation.

从圣经中呈现的对上帝作为的描述,改教家们得到了了解上帝话语的线索。除了上帝存在的事实,圣经揭示关于上帝的最早事件之一就是上帝主要通过话语行事。这就是在创世记第一章中世界如何被造出来:上帝说话,运用他的话语;一开始是虚无,上帝说话,事物就出现了,上帝说话使它们成为存在。
The Reformers took their cue on the Word of God from the description of how God acts which they found presented in scripture. One of the very first things which the Bible reveals about him, beyond the fact of his mere existence, is that he is one who acts primarily through speech. This is how the creation is brought about in Genesis 1. God speaks, he uses words. There was nothing, God spoke, and then there was something, that which God had spoken into existence.

现在,可以合理地推测“说”一词对于上帝和人类并不相同:例如,上帝的“说”不涉及使用声带,而且——直到物质被创造出来——不存在任何可以与物理声音联系在一起的振动。然而,圣经却清楚地暗示,与上帝的创造作为最为接近的类比,就是人类的“说”这一行为。
Now, presumably speech is not predicated of God and humans in a univocal manner: God’s speech did not involve the use of vocal chords, for example, and until matter was created there could have been none of the vibrations which we associate with physical sound. Yet by implication the Bible makes it clear that the closest analogy to God’s creative act is the human act of speech.  

这是更正教信仰的伟大洞见之一,这个观念是我们得以了解上帝及其所创造的世界的核心要点。我们应该注意到,上帝说话——这一创造性力量与我们早先所看到的路德对十字架和称义的理解是相关的。上帝通过宣告,让某一事物成为它本质上所不是的;因信凭着恩典而称义,则取决于这种宣告的能力。上帝的说话决定现实(reality),创造现实。因此,事实上有罪的人被上帝宣告为义,因为他披戴了基督归算(imputed)给人的、外在的(extrinsic)义。他虽然不是世界所认为的任何“真实的”义人,但他真正是义的,仅仅因为上帝说他是这样。
It is one of the great insights of Protestantism that this is central to how we are to understand God and the world he created. We should note that this creative power of God’s speech correlates with what we saw earlier with regard to Luther’s understanding of the cross and of justification. Justification by grace through faith depended upon the power of God’s declaration to make a thing to be that which it intrinsically was not. God’s speech determines reality, creates reality. Thus, the person who is actually sinful is declared by God to be righteous because clothed in the imputed, extrinsic righteousness of Christ. He is not righteous in any way that the world would recognize as being “real.” But he is really righteous simply because God has said that he is such.

这与十字架的作为类似:基督被挂在十字架上,表面上看是一个被撕裂、被打败的罪人,但他实际上却是上帝圣洁、得胜的羔羊;对世界而言,十字架显然意味着那个被挂在上面的人的惨败,但上帝宣告的事实正相反,这是征服罪恶的一个壮观而决定性的胜利。没有任何经验主义的观察可以让人得出这个结论,只有通过上帝的话语启示出来的真理才能够。只有抓住那话语的信心才能承认真理。因此,由信心所抓住的那话语使十字架成为上帝救赎的大能。
This finds its parallel in the work of the cross. Christ hangs on the cross, apparently a crushed, defeated sinner yet in reality the holy, triumphing Lamb of God. To the world, the cross is obviously a crushing defeat of the one who hangs there. But God declares that it is the opposite, a spectacular and decisive triumph over evil. No empirical observation can lead to this conclusion, only the revelation of the truth via the Word of God can do so. Only faith grasping that word can acknowledge the truth. And thus that word grasped by faith makes the cross the power of God to salvation.

当然,在创世记第一章里所描述的创造是上帝一系列言语性的行动。重复的语句“上帝说……”,标注了被造界的不同部分并将其带入存在。上帝的话语并不仅仅是描述性的,它是强有力的、创造性的。诗篇33:6很好地总结道:“诸天藉耶和华的命而造,万象藉他口中的气而成。
Creation is, of course, described in Genesis 1 as a series of verbal actions by God. “And God said….” is the repeated refrain which punctuates the account and brings into existence various parts of the created realm. God’s word is not simply a descriptive thing. It is a powerful, creative thing. Psalm 33:6 summarizes this well: “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their hosts.”  

话语的这种超越性、创造性的力量正是路德所理解的语言本质的核心内容,正如他在《创世记讲座》著名的段落中所说的:
This transcendent creative power of words lies at the heart of Luther’s understanding of the nature of language, as he makes clear in a famous passage in his Lectures on Genesis:

谁能设想这些显然不能继续存在于水中的活物被从水中带出来的可能性?但上帝只说了一句话,鸟儿就被立刻从水中带出来。只要上帝说话,所有的事情都是可能的,所以由水中可以造鱼也可以造鸟。因此,任何鸟类和任何鱼类,不过是神圣语言规则中的名词;通过这种语言规则,那些不可能的事情变得非常容易,而那些明显相反的事物却变得非常相似,反之亦然。[2]
Who could conceive of the possibility of bringing forth from the water a being which clearly could not continue to exist in water? But God speaks a mere Word, and immediately the birds are brought forth from the water. If the Word is spoken, all things are possible, so that out of the water are made either fish or birds. Therefore any bird whatever and any fish whatever are nothing but nouns in the divine rule of language; through this rule of language those things that are impossible become very easy, while those that are clearly opposite become very much alike, and vice versa.2

把被造物描述为“不过是神圣语言规则中的名词”,这句话令人赞叹不已,它阐明了路德的语言哲学的明确含义:言语构造了现实。正是上帝的话让海洋产生出飞鸟来,而就自然而言这是不可能的事。这是中世纪晚期的唯名论,它与后现代主义文学理论的某些方面有一定的相似之处,后者强调了词语的建构性。在某种程度上,我们都能感受到语言的创造性力量:使用种族性称谓被认为是令人讨厌的,因为这对被如此称呼的人产生了一些作用,这诋毁了他们,从而对他们的现实有负面的转化。语言是创造性的,这是我们本能地知道的,关于言论自由和政治正确性的激烈辩论就证明了这点。
The phrase that describes creatures as “nothing but nouns in the divine rule of language” is fascinating, drawing out the clear implications of Luther’s linguistic philosophy: words constitute reality. It is God’s speech which makes the sea produce birds, a natural impossibility. This is the late medieval nominalism which we noted earlier and which bears some similarities to certain aspects of postmodern literary theory which emphasizes the constructive nature of words. To an extent we can all sense the creative power of language: the use of a racial epithet is regarded as obnoxious because it does something to the people to whom it is applied. It denigrates them and thus transforms reality for them in a negative way. Language is creative and we instinctively know that, as demonstrated by the heated debates over freedom of speech and political correctness.

然而,路德这里对语言的理解,在一个非常重要的方面并不是和激进的后现代主义者一致的。对于路德来说,语言是创造性的,因为它是由上帝所说出的,并且上帝用这种言辞作为工具来决定现实实际的样子。上帝本身是不可知的,在他发言之前,人类不能对他可能做的或不做的事加以限制。但是,当他说话时,他的能力运用那言语创造事物,并且构建现实。这一现实具有一定的稳定性和确定性,正是因为这是掌管着所有事物的全权而全能的上帝的言语。相比之下,我可能会整天朝着大海尖叫呐喊,命令它献出鱼和鸟,但这不会起作用,因为我仅仅是一个被造物,而不是创造者。这位说话的、掌管万物的上帝,他的语言是创造性的。而从“上帝通过他的话语说话”转换到“传道人向会众传讲上帝的话语”,了解这一点是关键所在。
Yet Luther’s understanding of language here is not that of radical postmodernists in one very important way. For Luther, language is creative because it is spoken by God and he uses this speech as the instrument for determining what exactly reality is. He is in himself unknowable. Prior to his speaking human beings cannot put a limit on what he may or may not do. But when he speaks, his power uses that speech to bring things into being and to constitute reality. That reality has a stability and a certainty to it precisely because it is the speech of the sovereign and omnipotent God who rules over all things.   By contrast, I might scream and shout at the ocean all day long, commanding it to give forth fish and birds but it will not happen because I am a mere creature and not creator. It is because it is God who speaks, God who controls all things, that his language is creative. This is a crucial point to understand when it comes to making the transition from God speaking in his Word to the preacher speaking God’s word to the congregation.

关于上帝的言语,还有一个进一步的重要方面。上帝的言语创造和决定现实,但魔鬼的计谋却是要创造一个替代性的语言世界,它具有栩栩如生的现实外表,但从根本上讲却是虚假的。以下就是路德所描述的发生在伊甸园里的诱惑:
There is also a further aspect to God’s speech which is important. As God’s speech creates and determines reality, so the scheme of the Devil is to create an alternative linguistic world which possesses a compelling appearance of reality but which is ultimately false. Here is how Luther describes the temptation in the Garden:

摩西非常谨慎地说:“蛇说”,也就是说,蛇用话语来攻击上帝的话语(the Word)。耶和华对亚当所说的话语是:“只是分别善恶树上的果子,你不可吃。”对于亚当而言,这话语就是福音和律法,这是他的敬拜,这是他纯洁无罪的状态下能够献给上帝的事奉和顺服。而撒但正是要攻击并试图摧毁这些。他的意图不只是——正如那些无知的人所以为的那样——指出那树的存在,并发出采摘它的果实的邀请。他确实指出了它的存在,但他随后又添加了另一个新的说明,就像他现在在教会里所做的那样。[3]
Moses expresses himself very carefully and says: “The serpent said,” that is, with a word it attacks the Word. The Word which the Lord had spoken to Adam was: “Do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” For Adam this Word was Gospel and Law; it was his worship; it was his service and the obedience he could offer God in this state of innocence. These Satan attacks and tries to destroy. Nor is it only his intention, as those who lack knowledge think, to point out the tree and issue an invitation to pick its fruit. He points it out indeed; but then he adds another and a new statement, as he still does in the church.3

这一点是了解什么是讲道以及讲道为何重要的关键点。蛇提出另一种替代性的话语,藉此来挑战上帝的话语。加尔文这样说道:“他想给女人注入疑惑,以引诱她相信那并非来自上帝的话,为此含糊其辞地给出一个似是而非的理由。[4]
This point will be critical in understanding what preaching is and why it is important. The serpent is challenging God’s Word by presenting another, alternative Word. Calvin puts it this way: “he wished to inject into the woman a doubt which might induce her to believe that not to be the word of God, for which a plausible reason did not manifestly appear.”4

蛇的诡计是语言性的:通过暗示另一种解释来破坏上帝所设定的现实。上帝和撒但之间的争战引发了语言的争战。
The serpent’s game is a linguistic one: undermining how God had specified reality to be by hinting at an alternative account. The struggle between God and Satan then, begins a struggle over speech.

创世记的最初几章还指出了另一个关于言语的重要神学事实:把上帝与人类(而不是其他的被造物)联系在一起的,就是说话、沟通和用话语做事的能力。事实上,话语,特别是它的意涵、规则和主权,是上帝形像的一部分,而人类正是按这形像被造的。没有其他哪种被造物被赋予了语言的能力,没有任何其他被造物被赋予了随这一能力而来的使命。如此,上帝用他大能的话语创造了亚当并且给他命名。对亚当的命名标志着他(上帝)对这个人(亚当)的主权。然后他赋予亚当管理其他被造物的权柄,而他(亚当)给它们起名明确表明了这一点。创世记2:19-20说得很清楚:耶和华神将各种被造物带到亚当那里,叫他为它们起名。无论他给每个被造物取了什么名字,那就是它们的名字。亚当因此有责任带给上帝所造的被造物一定的秩序。因此,我们也可以说,相对于上帝的话语,在一种从属意义上,亚当的话语也是“创造性的”。人类的话语带有能力,可以用来规范并由此(在被造物的范围内)改变现实。
The early chapters of Genesis also point to another significant theological fact about speech: one of the things which connect God to human beings and to no other creature is the ability to talk, to communicate and to do things with words. Indeed, speech, particularly as it connotes rule and sovereignty, is part of the image of God in which human beings are made. No other creature is given the power of speech, and no other creature is given the mandate which comes with that power. Thus, as God creates by the word of his power and names Adam. This naming of Adam is the sign of his authority over the man. He then gives to Adam authority over all other creatures, a point made clear by his responsibility to name them. Genesis 2:19-20 makes this clear: the Lord brings the creatures to Adam, that he might name them; and whatever name he gave to each creature, that was its name. Adam is thus responsible for bringing a certain element of order to the creation which God has made. We might thus say that Adam’s speech too is “creative” in a subordinate manner to that of God himself. Human words carry power and can be used to order and thus (within creaturely limits) to change reality.

话语的这种创造性能力并不仅限于创世记前面的章节。在整本旧约中,上帝的话语一直是他行动的主要方式,并且不断地重塑现实或创造新的事物。他呼召亚伯拉罕,并赐他圣约的应许。他从燃烧着的荆棘中呼召摩西,又在西奈山上对摩西说话,赐给他律法。布林格意味深长地将这些称为“讲道”:
This creative power of speech is not restricted to the early chapters of Genesis.   Throughout the Old Testament, God’s speech continues to be the primary mode of his action and continues to reshape reality or to bring new things into being. He calls Abraham and gives him a covenant promise. He calls to Moses from the burning bush. He speaks again to Moses on Sinai and gives him the Law. Significantly, Heinrich Bullinger refers to this as “preaching.”

在西奈山上上帝亲自向以色列的会众讲道讲述得如此直白好让他们可以明白包含了所有敬虔之实质的十诫。[5]
In the mount Sina [sic] the Lord himself preached to the great congregation of Israel, rehearsing so plainly, that they might understand those ten commandments, wherein is contained every point of godliness.5

通过使用这种讲道的语言,布林格指向他所看到的一个明确的类比,就是上帝在与他的子民相交过程中的行动,与上帝的仆人向上帝子民传讲上帝话语时的行动之间的类比。上帝通过他的话语来做事。他创造,他命令,他应许。他也通过他仆人宣讲他的话语来做事。因此,圣经中上帝也通过不同的先知说话:他给他们详细的文字,以对他的子民甚至是对其他国家说话,或者用他们的话来完成他自己的旨意。[6]对于了解改教后教会中恩典和讲道之间的联系,这是非常重要的:新约以及之后的后使徒时期的传道人是旧约先知的继承者,因为他们将上帝的话语带给上帝的子民以及周边世界。他们所宣讲的话语是上帝用来成就他旨意的途径,其力量因此来源于上帝的作为,而不是传道人的口才。
By using this language of preaching, Bullinger points towards a clear analogy which he sees between the act of God in addressing his people and that which God’s servants do when they speak God’s words to his people. God does things through his Word. He creates, he commands, he promises. And he does things through his Word proclaimed by his servants. Thus, God in the Bible also speaks through various prophets, giving them detailed words to say to his people or even to foreign nations, or using their words to accomplish his own purposes.6 This is a very important for understanding the connection between grace and preaching in the Reformation church: New Testament and then post-apostolic preachers are the successors of the Old Testament prophets as they bring God’s Word to bear upon God’s people and upon the world around. The word they proclaim is the means God uses to accomplish his purposes. Its power is thus rooted in divine action, not in the eloquence of the preacher.

其中一个明显的含义是,神圣的话语不仅仅是(甚至不可能主要是)关乎信息沟通。它是上帝的临在和能力的典型模式。话语是上帝临在的方式,或者,用一个更现代的表述,是他如何使他的临在被感觉到的方式。上帝的话语创造了宇宙,也创造了上帝的子民。上帝呼召亚伯兰,使他成为万国的父。遇见上帝就是上帝或者他所选择的代言人向其说话。犹太人的与众不同在于上帝以一种特殊的方式对他们说话,就是通过他的盟约应许向他们说话。他的统治是借助和通过他的话语来实施的。犹太人是拥有上帝的律法和应许的人,它们是上帝对他们施行恩典的管道。
One obvious implication of this is that divine speech is not simply, or perhaps even primarily, a matter of communicating information. It is the typical mode of his presence and power. Speech is how God is present or, to use a more modern idiom, how he makes his presence felt. God’s speech created the universe and it also created the people of God. God called Abram and made him the father of all nations. To meet God is to be addressed by him or by his chosen speakers. The Jews were special because God spoke to them in a special way, by means of his covenant promises. His rule was exercised by and through his Word. The Jews were those who had God’s Law and his promises. These were the means by which God was gracious to them.

上帝通过话语而临在并不限于在犹太人中间。当上帝对外邦人讲话时,他也临在于他们中间,无论是在一般性情况下,比如对巴比伦的审判,还是出于怜悯,比如像乃缦这样的特殊情况,他使用并且通过他的话语对他们行使他的主权。当上帝不再说话,这就是他从他的百姓那里收回他的恩惠的记号。因此,阿摩司预言上帝话语的缺乏会导致人们在地上流荡,四处寻求上帝,却徒然而返。沉默的上帝就是“不在场”的上帝。
This presence of God by speech is not restricted to the Jews. When God addressed the Gentiles, he was present to them also, whether in general matters, such as the judgment against Babylon or in mercy, as in the particular case of Naaman. His sovereignty over them was also exercised in and through his Word. When God ceased to speak, it was a sign that he had withdrawn his favor from his people. Thus Amos predicts a famine of the Word of God which will cause the people to wander over the face of the earth seeking God but doing so in vain. A silent God was an absent God.

当我们进入新约时看到其中上帝话语的力量继续被强调。在耶稣接受洗礼时圣父让圣灵以鸽子的形式降临在他身上公开地承认他的儿子。事实很明显现在上帝在基督里与他的百姓同在而这一临在是通过话语被显明出来的。在基督里显明出来的恩典,是通过口头宣告为开端的。之后,当基督在旷野中面对魔鬼的试探时,他所选择的武器就是上帝的话语,话语是支撑基督的武器。当魔鬼故伎重演,像在伊甸园里那样歪曲上帝的话语,基督娴熟地运用上帝的话语,赶跑了他的敌人。之后,福音书里有许多例子,基督运用言语赶鬼,医治病人,甚至让死人复活。他大能的作为并不都是语言性的(例如医治患血漏病的女人),但大多数时候是的。通过话语这一途径,基督展现他的主权,并把恩典带进个人的生命之中。
When we move to the New Testament, the power of the speech of God continues to be emphasized. At Jesus’ baptism, the Father publicly recognized his Son by speech, as the Holy Spirit descends upon him in the form of a dove. The point is clear: God in Christ is now present with his people, a presence signified by the Word. The economy of grace which is manifested in Christ is inaugurated by a verbal declaration. Then, when Christ is confronted with the Devil’s temptations in the wilderness, his weapon of choice is the Word of God. The Word is the means by which Christ is upheld. As the Devil does what he did in the Garden, that is, pervert the Word, so Christ aptly applies it and puts his enemy to flight. Then there are the many examples throughout the gospels of Christ’s speech casting out demons, healing the sick and even raising the dead. Not all his acts of power are linguistic (for example, the healing of the woman with the flow of blood) but most are. The Word was the means by which Christ demonstrated his sovereignty and brought grace to bear in the lives of individuals.

这种话语导向的显明上帝临在和大能的途径,在耶稣升天后的使徒教会中继续。讲道是使徒行传的叙述核心,也是在保罗新约书信中,上帝恩典的目标实际得以实现的核心。改教家们看到,正是通过话语的宣告,使徒们扩展上帝的国度。预言性的话语是拆毁幻想、建立现实的话语。因此,传道人站在当代的属灵争战的中心,既是为了审判,也是为了恩典。
This Word-oriented means of God’s presence and power continued into the post-ascension apostolic church. Preaching is central to the narrative of the Book of Acts and lies at the heart of the practical realization of God’s gracious purposes in Paul’s New Testament letters. It was by means of verbal declaration that the Reformers saw the apostles expanding the kingdom. The prophetic Word was a word which tore down illusions and built up realities. Thus, the preacher stood at the very center of the spiritual struggle of the present age, both for judgment and for grace.

被传讲的话语和上帝的恩典
 The Word Preached and the Grace of God

毫不奇怪,改教家们认为他们自己是持守圣经立场的,即强调上帝的话语是他施行审判和恩典的作为的途径。因此,在宗教改革中,讲道就是力量,讲道的职分是教会内最重要的一个职分。所有权威的改教家们都是传道人,讲台是他们职业生涯的中心。他们的各种改革都是围绕着宣讲话语,并被它所驱动。
It is not surprising that the Reformers saw themselves a standing in continuity with this biblical emphasis on God’s Words as his means of action, both for judgment and for grace. Thus, in the Reformation, preaching was power and the preaching office was the most significant one within the church. All of the major Reformers were preachers, with the pulpit being the center of their professional lives.

这明显具有文化因素:在一个文化水平很低的年代,许多人常常是通过传道人来了解周围世界。因此,路德的讲道经常会以一个附录结束,它和讲道的主要内容没有什么联系,主要是对时事的某些评论。[7]讲道的这种政治意义有助于人们理解,为什么英国在1617世纪一直试图规范这种做法,甚至在16世纪30年代试图完全压制它。
Their various reformations were all centered on and driven by the proclamation of the Word. There were obvious cultural aspects to this: in an age of low literacy, the preacher was often the person through whom many people obtained their understanding of the world around. Thus, Luther’s sermons often ended with an appendix, not connected to the main exposition which offered commentary on some aspect of current affairs.7 This political significance of preaching helps to explain the constant attempts in England to regulate the practice in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and even to suppress it entirely at points in the 1630s.

然而,讲道在文化方面的力量显然只是其中一小部分内容,并且不是改教家们特别感兴趣的事情。对他们来说,我们在上面提到的关于话语的圣经神学才是其驱动因素。上帝讲道,因此他的仆人必须讲道。传道人拥有能力,是因为他们的言语以某种方式与道相关联,并且因此是上帝在这个世界上完成他旨意的途径。确实,宗教改革的传道人在某些方面把自己看做是圣经中的伟大先知的继承者。这经常反映在他们对讲道工作所用的称谓上。在宗教改革时期的苏黎世和后来在伦敦举行的牧者大会被称为“预言”,因为在那里他们会听到彼此如何传讲上帝之道,并且相互批评和鼓励。威廉•帕金斯(William Perkins)关于如何讲道的经典文章就以“预言的艺术”为题。传道人不只是讲师或老师。他的任务不仅仅是描述性的。他的任务不亚于预言:他宣讲上帝的话语,是要推翻人类对世界的虚构和幻想,取而代之的是建造现实,就是按照上帝通过他权能的话语所宣告的现实。正如《第二瑞士信条》所宣称的那样,被传讲的上帝话语就是上帝的话语。
Yet the cultural power of preaching is clearly only a small part of the story and not one which would have interested the Reformers to any significant degree. For them, the biblical theology of the Word which we have noted above was the driving factor. God’s preached and so his servants must preach. Preachers had power because their words connected in some way to the Word and were thus the means of God accomplishing his purposes in this world. Indeed, Reformation preachers saw themselves as the successors in some ways of the great prophets of scripture. This is reflected often in the language they applied to the preaching task. The gatherings of ministers in Reformation Zurich and later in London, where they would hear each other proclaim the Word and offer critique and encouragement, were known as “prophesyings.” William Perkins classic text on how to preach was entitled The Arte of Prophesying. The preacher was not merely a lecturer or teacher. His task was not simply descriptive. His task was no less than prophetic: in proclaiming the Word of God he was to tear down human inventions and illusions about the world and to build in their place reality as God had declared it to be through the Word of his power. As the Second Helvetic Confession declared, the Word of God preached is the Word of God.

路德在1522年提供了一个展示对上帝话语的信心的很好例子。当时,他从瓦特堡回到维腾堡,以便恢复这个小镇的秩序,因为在那里的宗教改革运动已经落到了激进的废除偶像者操控之下,正迅速陷入到混乱当中。在当局要求恢复秩序的压力下,路德做了他所知道的能够改变现状的那一件事:他讲道。在这一系列讲道中,他提出了关于上帝话语的最著名的评论之一:
A good example of such confidence in the Word is provided by Luther in 1522. This was the moment when he returned to Wittenberg from his time at the Wartburg Castle in order to bring order back to a town whose Reformation had fallen under the sway of radical iconoclasts and was quickly descending into chaos. Under pressure from the authorities to restore order, Luther did the one thing he knew would have power to transform the situation: he preached. And during this series of sermons, he made one of his most famous comments about the Word of God:

我会传讲它,教导它,为此著书立传,但我不会强行约束任何人,因为信心必须自由生发,不受任何强迫。以我自己为例,我反对赎罪卷和所有教皇制度的信奉者,但我从不强制别人。我只是教导、讲道、撰写上帝的话语;其他我什么都没做。而当我睡觉时(参见可4:26-29),或者与我的朋友菲利普和阿姆斯多夫一起喝维腾堡啤酒时,上帝的话语大大地削弱了教皇权柄,而从来没有哪位国王或皇帝曾经给它造成过这样大的损失。我什么也没做;上帝的话语成就了一切。[8]
I will preach it, teach it, write it, but I will constrain no man by force, for faith must come freely without compulsion. Take myself as an example. I opposed indulgences and all the papists, but never with force. I simply taught, preached, and wrote God’s Word; otherwise I did nothing. And while I slept [cf. Mark 4:26–29], or drank Wittenberg beer with my friends Philip and Amsdorf, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that no prince or emperor ever inflicted such losses upon it. I did nothing; the Word did everything.8

路德的语言通常充满大量的修辞但其内容反映了他的神学改教首先是被宣告的道话语的运动因为这正是上帝达到他的恩典目的的方式。只要路德传讲这道他就可以确信上帝会用它来破除人的骄傲并以恩典把罪人带到基督那里。
The rhetoric is typical of Luther’s exuberance yet the content reflected his theology: the Reformation was above all a movement of the proclaimed Word because that was how God achieved his gracious purposes. As long as Luther preached that Word, he could be confident that God would use it to tear down human pride and bring sinners by grace to Christ.

讲道与成文的道
 Preaching and the Word Written

鉴于此,权威问题(从未远离宗教改革的现场)现在变得尖锐起来。如果说讲道是上帝实现其目的的主要途径,那么什么是衡量后使徒时期讲道的权威性规范标准呢?我们多次注意到,宗教改革涉及对中世纪教会圣礼中心论的恩典观的根本性批判,这一事实意味着,这也是对中世纪对教会和权威的理解的基本批判。鉴于此,这种讲道的内容就需要被关注。如果上帝的话语是恩典的主要途径,那么传讲上帝话语是否只是圣灵所激发的自发或狂热行为,还是某种需要被管理和规范的行为?
Given this, the question of authority—never far from the surface in the Reformation—now becomes acute. If preaching is God’s primary means of accomplishing his purposes, what are the authoritative norms for post-apostolic preaching? We have noted a number of times that the fact that the Reformation involved a fundamental critique of the medieval church’s sacramentally centered view of grace meant that it was also a basic critique of medieval understandings of church and authority. Given this, the question of the content of this preaching comes to the fore. If the Word is the primary means of grace, is preaching the word simply a spontaneous or ecstatic thing prompted by the Holy Spirit or is it regulated and normed in some way?

在回答这个问题时,首先要注意的是,讲道实践的内容是被两种理解所塑造:即对恩典的理解(上帝自由地给人恩惠)以及对称义的理解(上帝的义借着对上帝应许的信心被给予相信他的人)。那拯救含有应许性的内容,它要求讲道也必须含有特定的内容。一个应许,或者任何应许都需要有内容:被应许的事情和做出应许的那位。它也设定某些事情,比如应许者的基本正直性(integrity),即他能够、愿意并且会履行他的应许。
The first thing to note in answering this is that the practical content of preaching is shaped both by the understanding of grace—God’s freely bestowed favor—and of justification—God’s righteousness given to the believer via the instrumentality of faith in God’s promise. That salvation has a promissory content demands that preaching must have a specific content too. A promise, any promise, requires content: a thing promised and one who promises. It also assumes certain things, such as the promiser’s basic integrity—that he is able, desires and will deliver on the promise.

因此,讲道必须强调应许以及上帝这位应许者的品质。这就意味着谈论人的罪以及上帝的回应——即基督所体现出来的恩典。因此,讲道就是传讲基督,而基督也不是个无内涵的咒语,任何内容都可以倒入其中。而这指引传道人回到圣经,把它当作权威来规范讲道中的所有陈述。讲道要成为真正的讲道,它必须表达圣经的教导,那样它才带有上帝的能力。
Thus, preaching must highlight the promise and the character of the God who makes the promise. That means talking about human sin and the grace that is embodied in Christ which is the divine response. Thus, to preach is to preach Christ, and Christ is no empty cypher into which any content can be poured. And that points the preacher back to scripture as the norming authority of all statements made in sermons. For a sermon to be true preaching, it must express the teaching of the Bible. Then it comes with divine power.

虽然路德不是宗教改革运动中最伟大的释经家但是他因信透过恩典而称义的神学在许多方面为宗教改革的讲道设定了基本的标准。对照律法和福音而摧毁自义并产生在基督里的信心是基督徒生活的基础也是讲道内容的基础。正如传道人要将要理问答和敬拜仪式从律法转移到福音他在讲道中也应如此。恩典的模式要从讲台发出的讲道中被反映出来——事实上,被颁布出来。每篇讲道都应是人类境况以及上帝的恩典性回应的一个缩影。传道人必须首先宣讲律法,然后宣讲在基督里的应许。[9]这内容完全是由上帝的存在和作为来规范的——就是上帝在整个历史中的伟大作为,他圣经的话语,他儿子的道成肉身、生、死和复活所揭示出来的。必须教导这两者,否则就会出现问题,不是绝望就是放肆。[10]
In many ways, while Luther was not the greatest exegete of the Reformation, his theology of justification by grace through faith set the basic criteria for Reformation preaching. The antithesis of Law and Gospel as destroying self-righteousness and creating faith in Christ was foundational to the Christian life and foundational to the content of preaching. As his Catechisms and his liturgies move from Law to Gospel, so the preacher was to do this in his sermons. The pattern of the economy of grace was to be reflected, indeed, enacted, in the preaching which came from the pulpit. Each sermon was to be a microcosm of the human condition and the divine, gracious response. The preacher must first declare the Law and then declare the promise in Christ.9 This is content regulated entirely by the being and action of God as revealed in his great deeds throughout history, the words of his scriptures and the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of his Son. Both must be taught or else problems ensue, either despair or presumption.10

讲道是由圣经所规范的这种理解,是改教家们对于后使徒时期事工,以及对旧约先知事工的理解的另一个连接点。事实上,(旧约先知)是后使徒时期传道人的先例模式。加尔文自己对摩西和旧约先知的描述,也可以同样适用于当代传道人:
This understanding of preaching as regulated by scripture was another point of contact between the Reformers’s understanding of post-apostolic ministry and that of the Old Testament prophets. Indeed, the precedential model for the post-apostolic preacher. Calvin himself describes Moses and the Old Testament prophets in terms that might equally apply to contemporary preachers:

先是颁布了律法,后来派遣了先知作为律法的解释者。虽然律法的运用是多方面的,但分派给摩西和所有先知的特别职分是教导上帝与人之间和好的方法。[11]
[T]he law was promulgated, and prophets were afterwards added to be its interpreters. For though the uses of the law were manifold, and the special office assigned to Moses and all the prophets was to teach the method of reconciliation between God and man.11

加尔文使用“和好”一词,与保罗在哥林多后书第五章中对自己的使徒事工的描述(也暗示了那些追随他脚步的人的事工)相互呼应。后使徒时期的讲道应当像圣经时代的讲道一样:阐释上帝所启示的真理。当然,圣经记载的传道人所说的话,由于它们的经典地位,具有特殊的权威。但是,对于后使徒时期的传道人来说,一篇扎实的讲道,其原则——对上帝启示的阐释和应用——仍然是一样的。
Calvin’s use of the term ministry of reconciliation resonates with Paul’s characterization of his own apostolic ministry (and, by implication, that of those who follow in his footsteps) in 1 Corinthians 6. Post-apostolic preaching was to be like the preaching of biblical times: an exposition of God’s revealed truth. Of course, the words of the preachers recorded in the Bible possessed a peculiar authority by virtue of their canonical status. But the principle of a sound sermon—the exegesis and application of divine revelation—remained the same for post-apostolic preachers.

布林格对此如此表示:
Bullinger expresses the matter thus:

但是我们读到,在世界万物被创造的开始,耶和华就使用这种普通的手段。他要赐一些人知识和信心,就派遣教师给他们,藉着上帝的话向他们传讲真正的信心。不是人的能力、意志或事工给人带来信心,也不是因为人口所说出来的话语本身能够带给人信心,而是因为人的声音以及传讲上帝的话语,确实教导了我们什么是真信心,以及上帝的确愿意和要求我们相信。因为唯独上帝自己,透过差派圣灵进入人的心灵和头脑,打开我们的心,使我们的头脑信服,促使我们全心全意地相信那些,我们通过他的话语和教导要我们学习去相信的。主完全可以借助来自天上的神迹,不借助任何讲道,就把对基督的信心赐给了凯撒利亚的百夫长哥尼流;但他却借着一位天使,差遣他去听彼得讲道,而当彼得讲道的时候,上帝借着他的圣灵在哥尼流的心中作工,使他相信彼得所传的道。[12]
But we read, that the Lord hath used this ordinary means even from the first creation of all things. Whom he meaneth to bestow knowledge and faith on, to them he sendeth teachers, by the word of God to preach true faith unto them. Not because it lieth in man’s power, will, or ministry, to give faith; nor because the outward word spoken by man’s mouth is able of itself to bring faith: but the voice of man, and the preaching of God’s word, do teach us what true faith is, or what God doth will and command us to believe. For God himself alone, by sending his Holy Spirit into the hearts and minds of men, doth open our hearts, persuade our minds, and cause us with all our heart to believe that which we by his word and teaching have learned to believe. The Lord could by miracle from heaven, without any preaching at all, have bestowed faith in Christ upon Cornelius the Centurion at Cesaria: but yet by an angel he doth send him to the preaching of Peter; and while Peter preacheth, God by his Holy Spirit worketh in the heart of Cornelius, causing him to believe his preaching.12

布林格在这里清楚地表明,信心是讲道的结果。这不仅仅是因为讲道阐述了人类心智能够把握并相信的应许。更确切地说,讲道本身就是圣灵所使用用来创造这种信心的工具;或许,我们也可以加上使人的心刚硬的功用,比如法老的例子。
Here Bullinger makes it clear that faith is the product of preaching. This is not simply in the sense that preaching sets forth the promise that the human mind can then grasp and trust. Rather the preaching itself is an instrument used by the Holy Spirit as the means for creating this faith or, we might perhaps add in the case of, say, Pharaoh, of hardening the heart.

事实上在《论意志的捆绑》The Bondage of the Will关于法老的心变硬的这个圣经记载是路德用了较长的篇幅来分析的经文之一因为伊拉斯谟在他的《论自由意志》中使用了这个记载。在圣经叙述中存在着“法老使自己的心刚硬”到“上帝使法老的心刚硬”的转换,路德对这个问题的解答专注在被宣讲的话语的作用上。像所有未悔改重生的人一样,法老被罪恶所束缚。当上帝的话语临到,但主没有选择让圣灵用话语去释放他的时候,他的心就越来越刚硬,他也在邪恶中愈加难以自拔。这是因为,上帝的话语不是事实的堆砌,它对人们提出道德上的要求。它谴责他们的不义,并向他们指明基督的丰盛(all-sufficiency),而他的恩典本身揭示了人类的不足(insufficiency)。因此,法老的心既被主借着话语变刚硬了,同时法老也选择了让自己的心变硬,因为他没有借着信心回应上帝。[13]
Indeed, in The Bondage of the Will, the case of Pharaoh’s hardening is one of the biblical passages to which Luther had to respond at some length because of the use made by it of Erasmus in his Diatribe. Luther’s resolution of the problems of both the shift in narrative from Pharaoh hardening his own heart to it being hardened by God focuses on the role of the proclaimed Word. Pharaoh is, like all unregenerate people, in bondage to sin. When God’s Word comes from outside and the Lord chooses not to have the Spirit use that Word to liberate him, he grows harder and more implacable in his wickedness. This is because God’s Word is not simply a collection of facts. It makes moral demands upon people. It condemns their unrighteousness and points them towards the all-sufficiency of Christ whose grace in itself is also a reminder of human insufficiency. Thus, Pharaoh is both hardened by the Lord via the Word and yet chooses to be harden himself by not responding in faith to that which is presented to him.13

当然,在这背后的事实是,恩典是基于预定的神圣命定。因此传讲上帝话语就成为及时揭示拣选和实现拣选的途径。这就是加尔文在《基督教要义》第三卷中所做的反思的要点——为什么传讲福音对所有听到的人并没有显示出相同的拯救力量:
Behind this, of course, stands the fact that grace rests upon the divine decree of predestination. Preaching the Word thus becomes the means by which election is realized and revealed in time. This is the point Calvin makes in Book 3 of the Institutes when he reflects upon why the preaching of the Gospel does not seem to have the same saving power amongst all those who hear it:

实际上,生命之约并不是相同地传讲给所有的人的,且听到这信息的人也不都同样地接受,而这些不同彰显了神圣判断的深不可测,这无疑附属于上帝永恒拣选的目的。[14]
The covenant of life is not preached equally to all, and among those to whom it is preached, does not always meet with the same reception. This diversity displays the unsearchable depth of the divine judgment, and is without doubt subordinate to God’s purpose of eternal election.14

换句话说,讲道不仅仅是涉及如何描述事物,讲道是带有能力的。它是上帝为他的子民实现他恩典目的的途径。它本身就是一种属灵层面建设性的实践行为;它面向一个人,被上帝用来通过圣灵更新这个人,或者使他在罪中变为刚硬。一个人不可能听到上帝的话语却无动于衷,因为上帝的话语是上帝实现他恩典和审判这两个目的的途径。上帝的话语是起初上帝藉圣灵创造世界的工具,所以,他的话语在他的国度扩张的过程中仍是藉圣灵进行再创造的工具。
In other words, preaching is not simply a question of describing something; preaching is powerful. It is God’s means of bringing into reality his gracious purposes for his people. It is itself a spiritually constructive exercise which confronts the individual and is used by God to transform him through the Holy Spirit or to harden him in his sin. One cannot hear the Word of God and be left indifferent to it, for the Word of God is the means by which God works out his purposes, both of grace and of judgment. As God’s Word was God’s instrument for creation by the Spirit in the beginning, so his Word remains his instrument for recreation by the Spirit in the ongoing extension of his kingdom.

圣言和圣灵
Word and Spirit

宗教改革中,话语(圣言)与圣灵之间的这种联系对于区分主流更正教与其他激进的运动是至关重要的。事实上,在宗教改革初期,出现了比路德甚至慈运理更为激进的声音,他们不仅对传统天主教会提出了挑战,而且也给权威的改教家们带来了挑战。因此,在1521-1522年间,在路德藏身瓦特堡而不在维腾堡的时候,维腾堡的领导层欢迎所谓的茨维考(Zwickau[15]先知的到来。这三个人代表了在整个宗教改革中持续存在的一种神学倾向,甚至在今天的教会里我们也能找到它的翻版。他们所做的,是将圣灵和圣言完全分离开来,或者至少是和成文的圣经分离开来,其结果是混乱。实际上,这种立场使得教会领导权被那些最有魅力和最有影响力的人所控制,他们传递的信念是:他们的计划就是上帝自己的计划。
This connection between Word and Spirit is crucial in the Reformation for dividing magisterial Protestantism from more radical movements. Indeed, early on in the Reformation, more radical voices than those of Luther or even Zwingli emerged which posed a challenge not simply to traditional Catholicism but also to the magisterial Reformers themselves. Thus, in 1521-22, during Luther’s absence while he sojourned at the Wartburg, the Wittenberg leadership welcomed the arrival of the so-called Zwickau prophets to the town. These three men were representative of a theological tendency which was to continue throughout the Reformation and indeed finds counterparts even in the church today. What they did was offer a radical separation of Spirit from Word, or at least from the written word of scripture. The result was chaos. In effect, this position cedes church leadership to the most charismatic and forceful personalities who convey the conviction that their plans are those of God himself.

对于路德来说1521-1522年间他以前的朋友同时也是宗教改革的战友安德烈亚斯博登斯坦卡尔斯塔特Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt),就是一个主要的例子。卡尔施塔特声称,他在圣言之外被圣灵所引导,发展到一个更具活力的、在社会和政治实践上更激进的宗教改革版本。卡尔斯塔特曾经与路德并肩作战,但此时他已经受到别人的影响。路德这样谴责他前任同事的神学:
For Luther, the prime example of this in 1521-22 was his former friend and co-belligerent in the Reformation, Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt.  Karlstadt claimed to be led by the Spirit beyond the Word to a more dynamic and, in practice, socially and politically radical version of the Reformation. Karlstadt had once stood shoulder to shoulder with Luther but by this time he had come under the influence of others. Here is Luther’s denunciation of his former colleague’s theology:

但是如果你问一个人如何获得这种崇高的灵他们不会把你引向外在的福音而是引向某个想象的领域说保持在我现在的自我抽离的状态你将会有相同的经验。天上的声音会降临,上帝自己也会对你说话。如果你进一步询问这个“自我抽离”的性质,你会发现他们知道的,就像卡尔斯塔特博士所知道的希腊文和希伯来文一样多。你看到了魔鬼,敌对上帝的命令的人吗?他用他所说的“灵,灵,灵”这个词,把桥梁、途径、道路、梯子,以及圣灵临到你们的一切方式都拆毁了。他想要教导你的,不是上帝在洗礼的物质标志中的外在秩序和上帝圣言的口头宣告,不是圣灵怎样临到你,而是你如何接近圣灵。他们要你学习如何在云端行走和御风而行。他们不告诉你如何、何时、何地、是什么,而是要你体验他们所体验的。[16]
But should you ask how one gains access to this same lofty spirit they do not refer you to the outward gospel but to some imaginary realm, saying: Remain in “self abstraction” where I now am and you will have the same experience. A heavenly voice will come, and God himself will speak to you. If you inquire further as to the nature of this “self abstraction,” you will find that they know as much about it as Dr. Karlstadt knows of Greek and Hebrew. Do you not see here the devil, the enemy of God’s order? With all his mouthing of the words, “Spirit, Spirit, Spirit,” he tears down the bridge, the path, the way, the ladder, and all the means by which the Spirit might come to you. Instead of the outward order of God in the material sign of baptism and the oral proclamation of the Word of God he wants to teach you, not how the Spirit comes to you but how you come to the Spirit. They would have you learn how to journey on the clouds and ride on the wind. They do not tell you how or when, whither or what, but you are to experience what they do.15

问题显而易见:这种脱离了圣言、声称被圣灵直接感动的宣告,最终拒绝了任何批评,因为他们只承认某种主观的、神秘的权威。这种讲道,不受圣言的控制,只受传道人的品味和奇思异想的左右。
The problem was clear: claims to such direct inspiration from the Spirit, separate from the Word, were ultimately immune from criticism through their acknowledgment only of some kind of subjective, mystical authority. This preaching was preaching unregulated by the Word and subject only to the tastes and whims of the preacher.

相比之下,路德以及事实上所有其他权威的改教家们都关注保持圣言和圣灵的联合,这样,声称后者不能不涉及对前者的向外宣告,并且圣礼本身就与圣言紧密联系在一起。同样值得注意的是,路德在上面的段落谈论这种强调圣灵所隐含的神学方向:如果将圣言和圣灵脱离开来,基督教就会变成了一种对上帝的追求,就是人试图抓上帝的一种功德。而将圣灵与圣言联系在一起,就使圣灵成为中介,使恩典和基督教信仰能抓住罪人。激进的灵性主义者(spiritualist)具有某种形式的善功的义。而那些将圣言视为是上帝通过圣灵使用的管道的人却知道这是出于恩典。
 By contrast, Luther and indeed all the other magisterial Reformers were concerned to keep together both Word and Spirit, such that claims to the latter which did not involve the outward proclamation of the former, and the sacraments which were themselves tied to the Word. It is also worth noting the theological direction which Luther speaks of such a Spirit emphasis implying in the passage above. Detaching Spirit from Word turns Christianity into a quest for God, a work in which man engages in trying to reach out to the Divine. Tying Spirit to Word makes the Spirit the agent of grace and Christianity into something which seizes hold of the sinner. The spiritualist radicals have a form of works righteousness. Those who see the Word as the instrument of God through the Spirit know that this is of grace.

加尔文也同样强调圣言和圣灵的不可分离性:
Calvin is similarly emphatic on inseparability of Word and Spirit:

那些拒绝圣经的人,想象他们有一种奇特的方式看透上帝,如此被错谬影响只能视其为疯狂。最近出现了某些忘乎所以的人,他们虽然大展圣灵的优越,却拒绝一切圣经的阅读,并且嘲笑那些只喜欢他们所谓的僵死的和冰冷的文字的人的纯朴。但是,我希望他们能告诉我,给他们灵感的是什么样的灵,使他们升到了如此极端的高度,以至于他们竟敢鄙视圣经的教义,认为是破旧和幼稚的。如果他们回答说这是基督的灵,那他们的信心是非常可笑的;因为他们会承认(我猜想)初代教会中的使徒和其他信徒不是被任何其他的灵所光照,而这些人都没有学到藐视上帝的话,而是每一个人都充满了对它的崇敬,因为他们的著作最清楚地证明了这一点。[17]
Those who, rejecting Scripture, imagine that they have some peculiar way of penetrating to God, are to be deemed not so much under the influence of error as madness. For certain giddy men have lately appeared, who, while they make a great display of the superiority of the Spirit, reject all reading of the Scriptures themselves, and deride the simplicity of those who only delight in what they call the dead and deadly letter. But I wish they would tell me what spirit it is whose inspiration raises them to such a sublime height that they dare despise the doctrine of Scripture as mean and childish. If they answer that it is the Spirit of Christ, their confidence is exceedingly ridiculous; since they will, I presume, admit that the apostles and other believers in the primitive Church were not illuminated by any other Spirit. None of these thereby learned to despise the word of God, but every one was imbued with greater reverence for it, as their writings most clearly testify.16

因此,权威的改教家们强调需要把圣言与圣灵联系在一起。它们不能分开,更不要说让两者相互对立。分离它们只会导致主观性和混乱的噩梦。因此,圣经被确立为公开宣讲上帝话语的规范性标准。讲道的内容应当是圣经的内容,因此也受到后者的规范。这样,圣灵就会使用讲道把上帝的恩典带给那些听到的人。
Thus, the magisterial Reformers emphasized the need to tie together both the Word and the Spirit. They could not be separated, let alone set in some kind of opposition to each other. To separate them would lead simply to a nightmare of subjectivity and chaos. As a result, scripture was set forth as the normative criterion for the public proclamation of God’s Word. The content of preaching was to be the content of scripture and thus regulated by the same. Then this would be used by the Holy Spirit to bring God’s grace to bear upon those who heard.

因此,由圣经所规范的讲道不是僵死的文字。正如加尔文在上述引文之后的第三段话中,就哥林多后书3:8说道:“圣灵如此坚守自己的真理,正如他在圣经中所表明的那样,只有话语得到应有的尊敬和尊重时,他才会施加和发挥他的能力。”[18] 因此,按照圣经忠实地讲道就带来圣灵,这也是圣灵运行以施行其大能作为的途径。
Thus, preaching regulated by scripture was no dead letter. As Calvin says just two paragraphs after the above quotation, commenting on 2 Corinthians 3:8, “the Holy Spirit so cleaves to his own truth, as he has expressed it in Scripture, that he then only exerts and puts forth his strength when the word is received with due honour and respect.”17  Thus, faithful preaching of the Word in accordance with scripture brings the Spirit to bear and is the means by which the Spirit works in order to do his deeds of power.

这一点很重要,因为它有助于加强前面提到的事实,即对于改教家来说,讲道不是简单的信息交流。这是恩典的一种途径,一种真正的途径。事实上,这是恩典的根本途径,因为它弥补了圣经古老经文与会众之间的鸿沟,使基督的应许成为当下的现实。被传讲的上帝话语因此就是对抗性的(confrontational)、创造性的和转化性的,并且这与讲道者和他所传讲的经文,以及把他的言语转换成为上帝的言语的圣灵之间的关联有关。当然,对于路德来说,上帝的恩典只是在主耶稣基督的道成肉身中被显现出来,因此一切的讲道都必须最终把基督带给会众。基督是在圣经中所展开的上帝恩典目的的体现和实现。要将基督传讲出来,就要解释圣经是如何谈论他的。这就意味着讲道者必须用圣经记载的关于基督的事实来规范自己的宣告,而且也要接受其中所表达的诫命和应许的规范,它们清楚地说明了福音信息所指明的个体存在性危机。正如路德在《论基督徒的自由》中所说:
This is important because it helps reinforce the fact noted above, that preaching is not, for the Reformers, simply a matter of the communication of information. It is a means, a real means, of grace. Indeed, it is the principle means of grace because it bridges the gap between the ancient text of scripture and the congregation, bringing the promise of Christ to a present reality. God’s Word preached is thus confrontational, creative and transformative, and this is linked to the connection between the preacher and the text he preaches and the Spirit which takes his words and makes them the words of God. For Luther, of course, God’s grace is only manifest in the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ and thus all preaching must ultimately bring Christ to bear upon the congregation. Christ is the very embodiment and fulfillment of God’s gracious purposes as set forth in the Bible. To speak meaningfully about Christ is to explicate what the Bible says about him. That means that the preacher has to regulate his declarations by the facts set forth about Christ in scripture but also by the commands and the promises expressed therein which drive home the personal existential urgency of the gospel message. As Luther declares in The Freedom of the Christian Man:

基督徒把基督的工作、生活和话语只作为历史事实来传讲,就好像这些知识足以维持生命一样,这是不够的;但这在今天的时尚里被视为我们最好的传道人所必须的。远远不止这样,甚至基督徒一点都不谈论基督,而是教导人的律法和教父的法令。现在有不少传讲基督及宣读关于基督的信息的人,他们可以将人的感情转移到对基督的同情,对犹太人的愤怒,以及那些幼稚和暧昧的废话。相反,应该宣讲基督,直到对他的信心得以确立,使他不但可以成为救主,而且可以成为你和我的救主,并且使那些关于他的以及以他的名义所说的能够对我们产生果效。这样的信心是通过传讲基督而产生和持续的,即传讲他为何降世、他所带来和赐予了什么,以及我们接受他有什么益处。[19]
[I]t is not enough or in any sense Christian to preach the works, life, and words of Christ as historical facts, as if the knowledge of these would suffice for the conduct of life; yet this is the fashion among those who must today be regarded as our best preachers. Far less is it sufficient or Christian to say nothing at all about Christ and to teach instead the laws of men and the decrees of the fathers. Now there are not a few who preach Christ and read about him that they may move men’s affections to sympathy with Christ, to anger against the Jews, and such childish and effeminate nonsense. Rather ought Christ to be preached to the end that faith in him may be established that he may not only be Christ, but be Christ for you and me, and that what is said of him and is denoted in his name may be effectual in us. Such faith is produced and preserved in us by preaching why Christ came, what he brought and bestowed, what benefit it is to us to accept him.18

这是对传道人的强烈呼吁。讲道的目的当然不是告诉人们该如何过他们的生活,如何处理危机,或发挥他们的全部可能的潜力。它也不是简单地向他们描述基督,概述他做了些什么。它也不是通过触动人的情绪来激发人们对他的温暖而模糊的情感。基督的故事当然是能够激发强烈情感的故事,但这不是它的真正意义所在。基督不应该是一个鼓舞人心或感动人心的榜样。他是上帝的恩典的彰显,从世界之外进入,为充满罪恶并迷失的人带来救赎。因此,传道人的任务就应当专注于此。他的工作是让听到的人明白基督对自己的个人存在性意义,使他们认识到基督的话语和行为对他们有直接和永恒的意义。传道人决不能把自己当作讲师,只是解释一些历史事件。我,作为传道人,不能简单地宣告基督已经死了、复活了。我必须阐明他为什么死了、他为什么复活了。然后我必须使每个听众都听明白这对其个人的重要性。他们需要知道,我星期天上午对他们所说的话,将是他们整个星期听到的最重要的事情。这就是讲道作为一种恩典手段的意义所在。
This a powerful wake-up call to preachers. The purpose of preaching is certainly not to tell people how to live their lives, to handle crises or to reach their full potential, whatever that may be. Nor is it simply to describe Christ to them and outline what he did. Nor is it to inspire warm, fuzzy feelings about him by playing on their emotions. Christ’s story is certainly an emotionally powerful one but that is not where its true significance lies. Christ is not supposed to be an inspiring or moving example. He is the manifestation of God’s grace, coming from outside to bring salvation to a sinful and lost people. Thus, the preacher’s task is to be focused on that. His job is to press the personal existential significance of Christ upon those who hear, to make them realize that Christ’s words and actions of are of immediate and eternal significance to them. The preacher must not think of himself as a lecturer, simply explaining some historical events. I cannot as a preacher simply declare that Christ is died and risen. I have to bring out why he has died and why he risen. Then I have to drive home the personal importance of this for each and every person listening. They need to know that what I say to them on a Sunday morning is going to be the most vital thing they hear all week. That is what preaching as a means of grace means.

结论
Conclusion

1907苏格兰公理会神学家彼得泰勒福赛思Peter Taylor Forsyth在耶鲁大学举行的莱曼比彻Lyman Beecher讲座的开场白中如此讲道
In his Lyman Beecher lectures, delivered at Yale in 1907, the Scottish Congregationalist theologian, Peter Taylor Forsyth, began with this dramatic statement:

这也许是一个冒失的开场,但我还是斗胆地说,基督教的成败取决于讲道。事实本来就如此,至少在基督教世界的某些历史时期是这样的,在那些时候,信仰被更多地建立在圣经而不是教会之上。更正教信仰赋予圣经首要的地位;哪里如此对待圣经,那里讲道就是敬拜最鲜明的特征。[20]
It is perhaps an overbold beginning, but I will venture to say that with its preaching Christianity stands or falls. This is surely so, at least in those sections of Christendom which rest less upon the Church than upon the Bible. Wherever the Bible has the primacy which is given it in Protestantism, there preaching is the most distinctive feature of worship.19

当福赛思这样说的时候,他是和宗教改革开始的更正教思想相一致的。福赛思明白,讲道从根本上讲并不是传递信息,更不是在星期天早上让一群人娱乐几分钟。这关乎生与死,是一个极其严肃的事业,上帝正是通过它让人面对他们的罪以及在基督里的恩典。
In saying this, Forsyth stands in the line of Protestant thinking which goes right back to the Reformation. Forsyth understood that preaching is not ultimately about communicating information, still less entertaining a crowd for a few minutes on a Sunday morning. It is about life and death, an utterly serious undertaking through which God confronts people with their sin and his grace in Christ.

对那些持守宗教改革唯独恩典的救赎论的人来说,宣告上帝话语是恩典的主要途径。上帝使用它迫使人们思想他们的罪,驱使他们屈膝悔改,然后藉着信心将他们引到复活的基督那里。毕竟,上帝的话语被一周又一周地向会众宣告,而信心就是上帝所赐对这话语的应许的信靠;除此之外信心还会是什么呢?
For those who hold to the Reformation understanding of salvation by grace alone, the proclamation of the Word of God is the principle means of grace. It is the thing which God uses to force people to reckon with their sin, to drive them to their knees in repentance and then to draw them to the resurrected Christ by faith. After all, what is faith but the God-given trust in the promise of God’s Word as it is declared week by week to the congregation?

因此,改教家们对唯独恩典的强调是不能与他们所倡导的具体的教会生活形式隔离开来的。我们经常认为,形式和内容是可以被常规性地分开。有一整个行业致力于这一工作,在那里谈论处境化似乎超越了其他的事情。当然,关注处境很重要,改教家们明白这一点。路德曾经为一个学生哀叹,因为他对一群年老的寡妇和鳏夫传讲生育的功德和乐趣。所有改教家都注重圣经以及用白话讲道,但是信息的实质不是语境功能,而是来自上帝圣言的内容。
For this reason, the Reformers’ emphasis on grace alone cannot be separated from the specific form of church life which they advocated. We often think that form and content can be routinely separated. There is a whole industry committed to this, where talk of contextualization seems to trump everything else. Certainly attention to context is important. The Reformers understood this. Luther once bewailed a student who preached on the merits and joys of childbearing to an audience made up of elderly widows and spinsters. All the Reformers were committed to scripture and preaching in the vernacular. But the meat of the message was not a function of context but of the content of the Word of God.

因此,对于相信更正教唯独恩典的观点的人来说,那些把话语放在教会中心地位的事情是不可妥协的。首先,读经必须在每一次敬拜中占据显要地位。这是上帝恩典的基础所在,因为他在那里启示自己,在那里他描述和解释了人类的状况以及他因此而施行的伟大救赎作为。其次,讲道必须在敬拜的核心位置。因为,当传道人选取经文,阐述并应用经文,并相信圣灵会用这些言语来改变那些听见它们的人,这里就是上帝真正和他的子民相遇的地方。
Thus, those things which place the Word central in the church are non-negotiable to those who believe in the Protestant view of grace alone. The reading of the Word must occupy a prominent place in every service. That is foundational to God’s grace for it is there that he reveals himself, there that he describes and interprets the human condition and his great saving acts in response. And then preaching must lie at the very heart of the service, for that is where God truly meets his people, as the preacher takes the text of scripture, expounds and applies it, and trusts the Holy Spirit to take those words and use them to transform those who hear them.

这也对事奉的预备有影响。传道人应该训练有素,能够清楚地说话。他们应该能够正确地划分和应用真理的话语,这意味着要学习。当然,总会偶尔出现司布真或钟马田式的传道人,他们虽然接受过很少或根本没有任何正式的训练,但却是杰出的传道人;但他们是例外,而不是常态。这也是为什么改教家们要求把严格的学习当做是教牧事奉的先决条件:大多数有追求的牧者迫切需要这样的训练,以便他们得到一定程度的能力来承担教牧事奉的核心任务,即传讲上帝的话语。
This has implications for ministerial preparation. Preachers need to be well-trained and able to speak clearly. They need to be able rightly to divide and apply the word of truth and that means study. Yes, there will always be the occasional Spurgeon or Lloyd-Jones who, with little or no formal training are yet outstanding preachers; but they are the exceptions, not the rule. There is a reason why the Reformers required rigorous study as a prerequisite for pastoral ministry: most aspiring ministers urgently need that if they are to the central task of the ministry, preaching the Word, with any degree of competence.

这种关于恩典和讲道的观点也给会众带来责任。基督徒去教会的时候,他们要渴望与主相遇,主要是要听到上帝通过传道人的言语对他们说话。正是当他们听到上帝的话语,并凭着信心抓住这话语的时候,他们的心思意念才会被更新。
This view of grace and preaching also puts an onus on congregants. Christians need to attend church with a desire to encounter God primarily by hearing him speak to them through the words of the preacher. It is as they hear God’s Word and as they grasp it by faith that their hearts and minds will be transformed.

我曾经烦恼,因为在我听过的讲道中我只模糊地记得其中极少的细节。而现在我有时还会烦恼,因为我自己的讲道我只能模糊地记得很少的细节。但是,虽然我记不得在我整个求学过程中所上过的拉丁文课程的任何细节,但我仍然可以拿起一本拉丁散文或诗歌来阅读。我或许已经忘记个别课程的细节,但是我的头脑已经被发生在那里的事情改变了,从一个看拉丁文像一种不可理解的代码的人,变成了一个现在喜欢西塞罗等人的诗文和他们时代历史的人。
I used to fret that I could remember very few of the sermons I have heard in any detail. Now I sometimes fret that I can remember very few of the sermons I preach in any detail either. I also remember no details from any of the Latin lessons I took throughout my entire school career, and yet I can still pick up a book of Latin prose or verse and read it. I may have forgotten the details of individual classes but my mind was rewired by what happened there and I was changed from someone for whom Latin looked like an impenetrable code to someone who now delights in the cadences and periods of Cicero and his ilk.  

我相信讲道就是这样。并不是记得所有这些细节使我们成为在恩典中成长的人。真正产生作用的,正是周复一周、年复一年地聆听上帝话语带来的缓慢但不断增长的影响。这就是我们作为基督徒逐渐成熟的方式。上帝用这种恩典的途径使我们成为他恩典的器皿。这就是为什么,更正教关于恩典的神学必须把对上帝话语清楚、有力、毫不含糊的宣告放在其存在的中心。
I believe preaching is like that. It is not remembering all the details that makes us into those who grow in grace. It is the slow, incremental impact of sitting under the Word week by week, and year by year, that makes the difference. That is how we mature as Christians. God uses this means of grace to make us into vessels of his grace. And that is why a Protestant theology of grace must place the clear, powerful, unequivocal proclamation of God’s Word right at the very center of its existence.

 [1] 本文取自美南浸信会神学院学报The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology, 19.4, 2015。首次发表于2015924-25日在肯塔基州路易斯维尔美南浸信会神学院举行的美南神学院神学会议上。——编者注
[2] Martin Luther, Luther’s Works (LW), 1, p.49.
[3] Ibid., 1, p.146.
[4] John Calvin, Genesis, trans. J. King; Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010, 1, p.148.

[5] Decades, trans. H. I.; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1849, I. i, p.38.
[6] “但在过去,在上帝的儿子降生在这个世界之前,上帝一点一点地使圣先祖们的心,然后又使圣先知的心,与自己熟识,最后,通过他们的讲道和写作,教导整个世界。同样,我们的主基督又差遣圣灵,出于圣父和圣子,降在使徒身上,透过他们的口、话语和文字,使全世界都认识他。所有这些上帝的仆人,就好像上帝拣选的器皿,以真诚的心,从上帝自己那里领受上帝的启示。首先,他们以生动表达的声音,向世人传递他们之前了解到的上帝的圣言和话语;后来,当世界更多接近结束,他们中的一些人将它们写下,作为后代的纪念。”Decades, I. i, pp.38-39.
[7] 因此,同时最不幸的是,他最后一次在1546年的讲道中有一个附录,是针对犹太人的恶行的谴责。
[8] Luther, LW 51, p.77.
[9] “我们必须发出律法的声音,使人们恐惧并知罪,为了悔改归信、更好地生活。但是我们不能停在这里,因为那只会造成伤害而没有包扎,击打却不医治,杀害却不使生命复活,领人下地狱而不是带人回转,使人降卑而没有升高。所以,我们也必须传扬恩典的话语和赦免的应许,借以教导并唤起信心。如果没有这恩典的话语,律法的工作、懊悔、告解以及其余一切的作为和教导都是徒然的。”(Luther, LW, p.364.
[10] 随着宗教改革的进展,路德越来越担心,因为一些路德宗的传教士只宣告福音而不宣告律法。这导致了基督徒生活中的放肆和实践上的松懈。关于这一点,请参阅Carl R. Trueman, Luther on the Christian Life: Cross and Freedom, Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2015, pp.159-74.
[11] John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1.6.2.
[12] Decades, I. iv, pp.84-85.
[13] Luther, LW 33, p.183.
[14] Calvin, Institutes, 3.21.1.
[15] 德国中东部的一座城市。——编者注
[16] Luther, LW 40, p.147.
[17] Calvin, Institutes, 1.9.1.
[18] Ibid., 1.9.3.
[19] Luther, LW 31, p.357.
[20] P. T. Forsyth, Positive Preaching and the Modern Mind, London: Independent Press, 1907, p.1.

1 This article was first presented at The Southern Seminary Theology Conference on September 24-25, 2015 at the The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY.
2 Martin Luther, Luther’s Works (LW) 1, 49.
3 Ibid., 1, 146.
4 John Calvin, Genesis (trans. J. King; Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010) 1, 148.
5 Decades (trans. H. I.; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1849) I. i, 38. 6 “But in times past, and before that the Son of God was born in the world, God, by little and little, made himself acquainted with the hearts of the holy fathers, and after that with the minds of the holy prophets; and last of all, by their preaching and writings, he taught the whole world. So also Christ our Lord sent the Holy Ghost, which is of the Father and the Son, into the apostles, by whose mouths, words, and writings he was known to all the world. And all these servants of God, as it were the elect vessels of God, having with sincere hearts received the revelation of God from God himself, first of all, in a lively expressed voice delivered to the world the oracles and word of God which they before had learned; and afterward, when the world drew more to an end, some of them did put them in writing for a memorial to the posterity.” Decades I. i, 38-39.
7 Thus, and most unfortunately, his very last sermon of 1546 included an appendix which was simply a tirade against the evil of the Jews.
8 Luther, LW 51, 77.
9 “We must bring forth the voice of the law that men may be made to fear and come to a knowledge of their sins and so be converted to repentance and a better life. But we must not stop with that, for that would only amount to wounding and not binding up, smiting and not healing, killing and not making alive, leading down into hell and not bringing back again, humbling and not exalting. Therefore we must also preach the word of grace and the promise of forgiveness by which faith is taught and aroused. Without this word of grace the works of the law, contrition, penitence, and all the rest are done and taught in vain.” LW, 364.
10 As the Reformation progressed, Luther became increasingly concerned that some Lutheran preachers declared only the Gospel without also declaring the Law. This led to presumption and practical laxity in
The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 19.4 (2015) living the Christian life. On this point, see Carl R. Trueman, Luther on the Christian Life: Cross and Freedom (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2015), 159-74.
11 John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1.6.2.
12 Decades I. iv, 84-85.
13 Luther, LW 33, 183.
14 Calvin, Institutes, 3.21.1.
15 Luther, LW 40, 147.
16 Calvin, Institutes, 1.9.1.
17 Ibid., 1.9.3.
18 Luther, LW 31, 357.
19 P. T. Forsyth, Postive Preaching and the Modern Mind (London: Independent Press, 1907), 1.