聖經屬於所有時代The Bible Belongs to Every Age
作者: Stephen Nichols
譯者: Maria Marta
在1733-34年，喬納森愛德華茲 (Jonathan
Edwards) 和北安普敦的會眾經歷了一次復興。康涅狄格河流域、康涅狄格和馬薩諸塞殖民地的其他許多教會也經歷了復興。1733年秋天，愛德華茲作了一些言辭激烈的講道。其中一次是1733年11月宣講的《人想要的講道》。此次講道從舊約開始，他觀察到上帝子民一直不缺假先知：「假先知總是在他們的罪中奉承他們。」 真先知則斥責罪人。假先知任由罪人「在他們的罪中平安享樂」。接著，針對他那個時代的人對假先知的渴望，他指出：「若牧師們受差遣去告訴大家，他們可以滿足他們的欲望而毫無危險……那麽有些人就會多麽熱切地傾聽他們的話，寄予他們多麽高度的關注。」他補充說：「他們想要一個在他們的罪裏拯救他們的救主，勝過要一個拯救他們脫離罪的救主。」
愛德華茲回應當日那些自認比上帝說話懂得更多的人。他還寫論文回應那些自認比上帝說話明白得更多的學者。愛德華茲時代的英國學術界被啟蒙運動的新思想迷惑。自然神論者掌握實權。他們相信上帝創造世界後就撤手不管了，現在祂讓世界自行運轉。他們拒絕「上帝在祂的說話中啟示祂的旨意」這一觀點。他們拒絕基督道成肉身和基督之神性的教義。他們拒絕神跡的可能性，更莫提神跡的實際發生。他們已經「長大成人」。啟蒙運動思想家和神秘主義者資質深厚，以致無法屈從於古書。
哲學家們影響了教會。1727年，一群獨立的牧師在倫敦集會，討論基督的神性。他們恰恰17世紀堅定的清教徒的後裔。他們就基督的神性和基督喪失神性進行表決。這些人應該知道得更清楚，但他們卻屈從於當天的突發奇想。
愛德華茲與時俱進，跟上這些發展的步伐。他不是邊遠地區的牧師，他擁有最新書藉，洞悉最新觀念。他看到這些觀念將美洲殖民地的教會帶向何方。他發出警報。他也看到他的會眾是如何容易被錯誤的追求引入歧途。他更看到世俗是如何伏在門口，準備突然降臨在那些願意讓步的人身上。
所以，他不是浸沒在清教徒泡沫裏。他對自己的文化和會眾作出回應。他講道，寫書——都是為了捍衛聖經。
我們並不像愛德華那樣，處身歷史上的啟蒙運動初期，而是處身啟蒙運動的沒落期。我們生活在後現代主義初期。我們生活在那些拒絕聖經的人當中。我們生活在那些屈服於世俗爪子的人當中。罪也伏在我們的門口。
那麽愛德華茲提供什麽教牧建議呢?
他將他的會眾指向聖經。他根據聖經來反對啟蒙運動的思想家和自然神論神學家。他依靠上帝的話語。
正如愛德華茲指出，聖經屬於每一個時代。它不僅僅是第一世紀上帝真實的說話。它不僅僅是第一世紀上帝權威的說話。它不僅僅是第一世紀上帝必需的說話。它不僅僅是第一世紀上帝全備（足夠）的說話。
它是歷世歷代，包括二十一世紀的上帝真實、權威、必需、全備的說話。有時神學家說這些都是聖經的屬性。正如上帝的屬性幫助我們認識上帝一樣，聖經的屬性也幫助我們明白聖經。聖經首要的屬性是它的權威性。聖經具有權威性。讓我們再次傾聽殉道者彼得·維米利（Martyr Vermigli）對我們的提醒，這一切都歸結為「耶和華如此說」。若聖經是上帝的說話，它就具有權威性。
本文摘自Stephen Nichols博士所著的《A Time for
Confidence》一書。
The Bible
Belongs to Every Age
FROM Stephen
Nichols
In 1734 and
1735, Jonathan Edwards and the congregation at Northampton experienced a
revival. So did many other churches in the Connecticut River Valley in the
colonies of Connecticut and Massachusetts. In the fall of 1733, Edwards
preached some hard-hitting sermons. One of them, preached in November 1733, has
been titled “The Kind of Preaching People Want.” Edwards starts his sermon in
the Old Testament, observing that God’s people have had no shortage of false
prophets, “that always flattered them in their sins.” True prophets rebuke the
sinner. False prophets leave sinners “to the peaceable enjoyment of their
sins.” He then turns to the desire that people in his own day had for such
false prophets. Edwards continues, “If ministers were sent to tell the people
that they might gratify their lusts without danger… how eagerly would they be
listened to by some, and what good attention they would give.” He adds, “They
would like a savior to save them in their sins much better than a savior to
save them from their sins.”
Edwards was
responding to those of his day who thought they knew better than the Word of
God. He also wrote treatises to respond to the academics who thought they knew
better than God’s Word. The English academic world of Edwards’ day was
enthralled with the new thinking of the Enlightenment. The deists ruled. They
believed that God created the world and then backed away, and now He lets it
run along all on its own. They rejected the idea that God reveals His will in
His Word. They rejected the doctrine of the incarnation and the deity of
Christ. They rejected the possibility, let alone the actual occurrence, of
miracles. They had “come of age.” The Enlightenment thinkers and the deists
were far too sophisticated to submit to some ancient book.
The
philosophers had affected the church. In 1727, a group of independent ministers
met in London to debate the deity of Christ. These were the exact descendants
of the stalwart Puritans of the 1600s. They voted on the deity of Christ, and
the deity of Christ lost. These were men who should have known better. They
capitulated to the whims of the day.
Edwards kept up
with these developments. He was not a backwoods minister. He had the latest
books and kept current with the latest ideas. He saw where these ideas would
take the church in the American Colonies. He sounded the alarm. He also saw how
his congregation could be so easily led astray by the wrong pursuits. He saw
how worldliness crouched at the door, ready to overtake those who so willingly
gave in.
So, he was not
in a Puritan bubble. He responded to his culture and to his congregation. He
preached sermons and he wrote books—all defending the Bible.
We are not
historically situated at the dawn of the Enlightenment as Edwards was. We find
our place at the Enlightenment’s setting sun. We live in the dawn of
postmodernism. We live among those who reject the Bible. We live among those
who give in to the clutches of worldliness. Sin crouches at our door too.
So what
pastoral counsel did Edwards offer? He pointed his congregation to the Bible.
He argued against the Enlightenment thinkers and against the deist theologians
based on the Bible. He looked to the Word.
As Edwards
noted, the Bible belongs to every age. It is not simply the true Word for the
first century. It is not simply the authoritative Word for the first century.
It is not simply the necessary Word for the first century. It is not simply the
sufficient Word for the first century.
It is the true,
authoritative, necessary, clear, and sufficient Word for all centuries,
including the twenty-first. Theologians sometimes speak of these as the
attributes of Scripture. As the attributes of God help us to learn about God,
the attributes of Scripture help us learn about Scripture. The first and foremost
attribute of Scripture is its authority. Scripture is authoritative. We again
hear Peter Martyr Vermigli remind us that it all comes down to “Thus says the
Lord.” If Scripture is the Word of God, it’s authoritative.
This excerpt is
adapted from A Time for Confidence by Stephen Nichols
