两个神学传统的故事：荷兰和苏格兰改革宗传统ATALE OF TWO THEOLOGIES: THE DUTCH AND SCOTTISH REFORMED TRADITIONS
作者：Justin Holcomb 译者：骆鸿铭
经常有人把改革宗神学定义为只是所谓的“加尔文五要点”：人的全然败坏，无条件的拣选，限定的救赎，不可抗拒的恩典，以及圣徒的坚忍。虽然强调神如何拯救罪人很有价值，但是它未能捕捉到改革宗思想传承的全部广度。
Too
often, Reformed theology is defined merely by the so-called five points of
Calvinism: total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement,
irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints. While this emphasis on how
God saves sinners has value, it fails to capture the full breadth of the
heritage of Reformed thought.
从加尔文的著作，产生了改革宗神学的两个主要流派：苏格兰加尔文主义（Scotish Calvinist），以及荷兰改革宗（Dutch Reformed）。苏格兰传统所特别强调的，是救恩的教义以及救恩的次序（ordo salutis, order
of salvation）。而荷兰改革宗传统除了重视改革宗的救恩教义外，也强调世界观、文化参与和耶稣在生活所有领域的主权。让我们感到意外的是这两个支流在过去鲜少有互动。我们就来简单地看看这两个改革宗神学的传统。
There
are two major streams of Reformed theology that developed out of the work of
John Calvin: the Scottish Calvinist stream, and the Dutch Reformed stream. The
Scottish tradition has a strong focus on doctrines of salvation and the ordo
salutis (order of salvation). But another dimension is found in the Dutch
Reformed tradition, which celebrates Reformed doctrines of salvation but also
emphasizes worldviews, cultural engagement, and the lordship of Jesus over all
aspects of life. Surprisingly, the two streams have interacted relatively
rarely. Let’s take a short tour of the Scottish and Dutch Reformed theological
traditions.
苏格兰改革宗传统
The
Scottish Reformed Tradition
改革宗传统的苏格兰支流是从宗教改革直接诞生的。在宗教改革的早期，约翰·诺克斯（JOHN KNOX，1514-1572）参与了苏格兰教会的改革；不过，他也因此遭到监禁，最后被放逐。在放逐时，他旅行到加尔文在瑞士日内瓦的基地。他倾心于预定论的教义，有些人甚至说他比加尔文更“加尔文主义”。诺克斯最终还是回到了苏格兰，并且成为苏格兰教会——长老会的起源——的领袖人物。
The
Scottish branch of the Reformed tradition was immediately born out of the
Reformation. In the early days of the Reformation, pastor-theologian John Knox
(1514–1572) was a part of a group trying to reform the Scottish church;
however, his involvement led to his imprisonment and eventual exile. While in
exile, he traveled to John Calvin’s base of operations in Geneva, Switzerland.
There, Knox became enamored with the doctrine of predestination and, some
argue, more “Calvinist” than Calvin himself. Knox eventually returned and
became the leading figure in the founding of the Church of Scotland, which is
the origin of Presbyterianism.
苏格兰改革宗神学传统（包括英格兰的清教徒，例如理查·巴克斯特和约翰·欧文）在接下来的世代中，赢得了一个名声，就是大力地宣讲地狱的悲惨，深入教会会员的私人生活且严厉地施行教会惩戒（有如“道德的暴君”），并且压制艺术。美国的神学家，例如伟大的约拿单·爱德华兹也深受苏格兰改革宗神学和哲学的影响，而獲得类似的批评。虽然这些共同的批评中都有一些事实的成分，但是这些实践是在一个独特的文化处境中出现的，我们不能单单以此为标准来论断苏格兰改革宗传统。
Subsequent
generations within the Scottish Reformed theological tradition (including
English Puritans such as Richard Baxter and John Owen) gained a reputation for
being pervasively gloomy preachers of hell, for exercising harsh church
discipline while delving into the private lives of church members (i.e., of
“moral tyranny”), and for suppressing the arts. American theologians such as
the great Jonathan Edwards were also influenced by Scottish Reformed theology
and philosophy and inherited some of these same critiques. While there is
likely a bit of truth in each of the common criticisms, such practices arose
out of unique cultural situations and should not be the only measures by which
Scottish Reformed theology is judged.
苏格兰改革宗教义和实际生活从来不是割裂的
The
Reformed doctrine of the Scots was never separated from practical living.
在17-18世纪时，预定、拣选、遗弃和救赎的范围，还有圣徒的坚忍，受到苏格兰农夫的极大的关注。虽然这些农夫对这些教义的关心起源于他们的领袖对这些教义的关注，但是加尔文救恩论的教义的确说到了教会会员所面对的实际和攸关生命的需要。
During
the 17th and 18th centuries, the topics of predestination, election,
reprobation, the extent of the atonement, and the perseverance of the saints
gained the attention of the Scottish peasants. While the peasants’ concerns for
these doctrines arose because of their leaders’ focus on them, the doctrines of
Calvinist soteriology addressed practical and existential needs that church
members faced.
虽然苏格兰改革宗神学在后来转趋比较严厉的加尔文主义形式，其原先的信条（1560年苏格兰信条）持守的是比较偏向宣教的教会本质和福音布道的神学焦点。苏格兰的改革宗教义和实际的生活从来不是割裂的。苏格兰改革宗教会把西敏信仰告白当作他们的教义标准（在圣经之下），并试着把这些伟大的神学真理应用在他们每天的生活当中。
While
it is true that Scottish Reformed theology drifted into some heavier-handed
forms of Calvinism, its original confession (the Scots Confession of 1560)
upheld the missional nature of the church and the evangelistic focus of
theology. The Reformed doctrine of the Scots was never separated from practical
living. The Scots looked to the Westminster Confession of Faith as their
doctrinal standard (underneath Scripture) and sought to implement those great
theological truths into their everyday lives.
荷兰改革宗传统
The
Dutch Reformed Tradition
加尔文主义在1560年代，宗教改革的第三波来到荷兰。荷兰的加尔文主义对早期改革宗信经和信条做出了一些重大的贡献：1561年代比利时信条为荷兰改革宗教会下了最初的定义；1563年的海德堡要理问答，成为荷兰和德国的改革宗之间的一道合一的桥梁；而1619年的多特大会成了改革宗教会的联合大会。
Calvinism
arrived in the Netherlands in the third wave of the Reformation in the 1560s.
Dutch Calvinism contributed some of the most important early Reformed creeds
and confessions: the Belgic Confession of 1561 gave original definition to the
Dutch Reformed Church, the Heidelberg Catechism of 1563 served as a bridge
fostering unity between the Dutch and German Reformed, and the Canons of Dort
in 1619 served as a Reformed ecumenical council.
过了一段时间之后，荷兰的改革宗教会堕落成为神学自由主义。当时，在19世纪末，新加尔文主义者如凯柏（ABRAHAM KUYPER），巴文克（HERMAN BAVINCK）和伯克富（LOUIS BERKOH）的著作，把荷兰教会从沉睡中唤醒，并且塑造了我们今日所知的荷兰改革宗神学学派（请留意日后的帖子，会介绍这些人物）。
Over
time the Dutch Reformed Church drifted into theological liberalism. Then, in
the late 19th century, the work of neo-Calvinists such as Abraham Kuyper,
Herman Bavinck, and Louis Berkhof awoke the Dutch church from slumber and
shaped what is now known as the Dutch Reformed school of theology (stay tuned
for more posts on each of these figures).
虽然荷兰改革宗思想和更广的改革宗传统有许多共同之处，但是有几个特点使它显出不同。DOUGLAS WILSON说的几句话，捕捉到了荷兰改革宗的思想：“全面的基督，全面的生活”（ALL OF CHRIST FOR
ALL OF LIFE），以及凯柏著名的话：“对人类生存领域的每一寸，基督这位万有的主宰，莫不说：‘我的！’”。
While
Dutch Reformed thought has much in common with the broader Reformed tradition,
several features set it apart. Some of the best summaries of Dutch Reformed
thought are captured in Douglas Wilson’s phrase, “All of Christ for all of
life,” and in the famous words of Abraham Kuyper: “There is not a square inch
in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign
over all, does not cry, ‘Mine!’”
基督徒当在生活的所有层面经历神的恩典
Christians
are to experience the grace of God in all aspects of life.
凯柏坚持基督在所有生活中的主权，并敦促基督徒不要抛弃文化和社会中的一些领域，把它们当作是“世俗的”。他相信神在创造的不同领域里已经设立权柄的结构，当我们认识这些领域之间的范围，就可以帮助我们维系并且平衡社会中的公义和秩序。
Kuyper
argued for the lordship of Christ over all of life and urged Christians not to
dismiss certain fields of culture and society as “worldly.” He believed that
God had established structures of authority in different spheres of creation,
and recognizing the boundaries between these spheres helped maintain and
balance justice and order in society.
根据凯柏的看法，神在地上的统治是透过祂的教会，信实地参与到文化当中。这个信念使得荷兰的神学家强调基督徒的文化行动。凯柏希望基督徒明白，每个世界观都有其独特的哲学前提，而基督教信仰也有一些前提假设，塑造了基督徒如何在生活的所有领域里行动。基于神绝对的主权，基督徒要在生活所有的领域经历神的恩典，不只是在教会的活动或崇拜服事中。
According
to Kuyper, God’s rule on earth is brought about through the faithful cultural
presence of his church. This belief led the Dutch theologians to emphasize
cultural action on the part of Christians. Kuyper wanted Christians to
understand that each worldview has its own unique philosophical assumptions,
and that the Christian faith has assumptions that shape the way believers
should act in every area of life. As a result of God’s absolute sovereignty,
Christians are to experience the grace of God in all aspects of life, not just
in church activities and worship services.
荷兰改革宗神学的最高点大概非伯克富的系统神学莫属了（我个人就是在17岁时读了伯克富，才接受改革宗神学的）。
The
high point of Dutch Reformed theology is arguably Louis Berkhof’s Systematic
Theology (full disclosure: I first came to Reformed theology through reading
Berkhof when I was 17).
荷兰改革宗神学和美国的老普林斯顿神学学派（来自苏格兰的加尔文传统）共享了许多重要的基要真理，但是他们在一些领域有重大的差异。荷兰改革宗持守的信念是人们在宗教上不是中立的，不存在“客观”的理性能力。这意味着信徒和非信徒之间，没有共同的立场（COMMON GROUND）。这个世界也许包含了众多首尾一致（COHERENT）的世界观，而这就让护教学成为世界观之间的冲撞，而不只是在证据上的辩论。
Dutch
Reformed theology shared important essentials with the Old Princeton school of
theology (from the Scottish Calvinist tradition) in the United States, but they
differed significantly in some areas. The Dutch held to the belief that people
have no religiously neutral, “objective” rational faculty. This meant there was
no common ground, necessarily, shared between believers and nonbelievers. The
world could contain numerous coherent worldviews, and this made apologetics
more a clash of worldviews than a debate over evidence.
（苏格兰支流的）普林斯顿强调圣经无误和命题真理的教义，而荷兰改革宗则强调圣灵在圣经里对圣经所作的见证的教义，来确认圣经的可信性。
While
the (Scottish stream) Princetonians emphasized a doctrine of Scripture that
focused on inerrancy and propositional truth, the Dutch Reformed stressed the
inner testimony of the Holy Spirit’s witness to validate Scripture’s
trustworthiness.
互补而不是矛盾
Complementary,
Not Contradictory
表面看来，苏格兰和荷兰的改革宗教会在它们各自的强调上有如南辕北辙，但是很重要的是要看到他们各自的传统所处的文化环境实在有重大的不同。荷兰的神学家所面对的是教会屈服于19世纪的现代自由神学，并试图在美国殖民地找到一个文化的家。如此，他们强调基督在当时的许多意识形态中间有着最高的主权，还有他们对文化的审慎态度，是可以理解的。可以说，荷兰改革宗神学是宗教改革更广大原则的一个具体应用。
It
may seem like the Scottish and Dutch streams of the Reformed church are miles
apart in their emphases, but it is important to see that the cultural
situations in which each of the traditions developed were significantly different.
The Dutch theologians were facing a church giving in to modernist theological
liberalism in the 19th century and trying to find a cultural home for
themselves in their new settlements in the United States. As such, their
emphases on the supreme reign of Christ over the ideologies of the day and
their careful conception of culture are to be expected. In a way, Dutch
Reformed theology was a specific application of the broad principles of the
Reformation.
苏格兰和荷兰改革宗神学家关注的焦点都是塑造门徒
The
Scottish and the Dutch Reformed theologians were focused on making disciples.
苏格兰改革宗关注的焦点更多是在宗教改革的主要教义，而不是他们在新的文化处境中的具体应用。此外，苏格兰改革宗的焦点也在于把宗教改革带到临近的区域，这解释了他们对宣教的强调。
The
focus of the Scots was more on the primary doctrines of the Reformation than on
their specific application to new cultural situations. Moreover, the Scottish
Reformed focused on taking the initial Reformation to the surrounding regions,
which explains their emphasis on missions.
苏格兰和荷兰改革宗教会并不像他们表面看来的有那么大的距离。他们共同享有改革宗的基本教义，虽然他们强调的是不同的层面。然而，即使在这些不同的焦点上，苏格兰和荷兰改革宗神学家都同样强调塑造门徒，并把福音带到他们周围的世界。两个传统都是今日改革宗运动的榜样。
The
Scottish and Dutch Reformed churches are not as far apart as it may first
appear. They shared the same basic Reformed doctrines, though they emphasized
different aspects. Nevertheless, even in these different points of focus, both
the Scottish and the Dutch Reformed theologians were focused on making
disciples and bringing the gospel to bear on the world around them. Both
traditions are examples for the Reformed movement today.
