第一章 论上帝——创造者
4# 自初期教会时代至今，基督教已走过从婴儿期到暮年期的历程。
它的婴儿期，就是使徒们仍在世的时候。那时，他们走遍天下宣讲悔改和信靠救主上帝的道。他们所传的核心不外乎这两件事，正如《使徒行传》所载：保罗“对犹太人和希腊人证明当向上帝悔改，信靠我主耶稣基督”（20:21）。
有一件事值得记念：就在数月之前[ 本书写于1771年 ]，主召集了祂的十二门徒——他们如今已成为天使——差遣他们遍行整个灵界，吩咐他们在那里重新传扬福音。因为主昔日借着他们所建立的教会，如今已哀败凋零，几乎荡然无存。究其根源，是世人将神性三一割裂为三个独立的位格，竟认为每一个位格都单独是上帝、单独是主。
【2】由此，一种近乎疯狂的状态席卷了整个神学领域，进而侵蚀了本应称为 “基督教” 的教会。称之为 “疯狂” 毫不为过：这种观念将人的心智拖入迷乱，使人竟分不清上帝究竟是一位还是三位。口称一位，心信三位；口与心相背，思与言相悖。这种分裂最终导致的结果，就是上帝在人心中归于虚无。今日大行其道的自然主义[ 原文是Naturalismus，自然主义，一切现象都可以用自然法则、自然过程解释，不存在超自然力量。类似但不等同于唯物主义（Materialismus）。唯物主义的特征是：世界的本源是物质，精神 / 意识依附于物质而存在。绝大多数唯物主义者，都是自然主义者；但自然主义者，不一定是严格的唯物主义者。举例：有一种非唯物主义的自然主义：承认存在 “灵性层面”，但坚持灵性也属于自然秩序，依然拒绝一切超自然、神性干预。这类人是自然主义者，但不算传统唯物主义者 ]，其根源正在于此。试想：当人口称一位上帝、心中却想着三位时，这三个观念岂不会在心中相互抵消、最终化为乌有？如此一来，人即便谈论上帝，也不过是在念叨一个空洞的 “上帝” 之名，对祂毫无真正的认识。
【3】正因为对上帝的观念连同对祂的一切认知已如此支离破碎，我打算按顺序讨论：上帝——创造者；主——拯救者；圣灵——运行者；最后讨论神性的三一。这样做的目的是要修复这些碎片。当人的理性借着圣言及其光照被说服：神性的三一是存在的，并且就在拯救者主上帝耶稣基督里面——如同灵魂、身体以及从二者所发出的活动在人里面一样——这件事就得以成就。这样，《亚他那修信经》中的话就得以成立：“在基督里，上帝与人，即神性与人性，并非两位，而是一个位格；正如理性的灵魂和肉体合成一人，上帝和人合成一位基督。”[ 参《亚他那修信经》第35-37条 ]
4# 自主的时代以来，基督教会经历了从婴儿期到高龄的各个生命阶段。它的婴儿期是使徒们的一生，使徒们在全世界传讲悔改和对主神救主的信仰。从使徒行传中的这些话明显看出，这些就是他们所传讲的两个要点：
保罗向犹太人和希腊人证明当向神悔改，信靠我们的主耶稣基督。（使徒行传20:21）
一个值得注意的事实是，就在几个月前（本书完成于1771年），主召集了祂那现为天使的十二个门徒，派他们到灵界，命他们在那里重新传福音，因为如今主通过他们建立的教会已经接近完结，几乎没有人幸存。这事已经发生了，因为神性三位一体被分成三个位格，他们每一位都是神和主。
因此，一种疯狂不仅入侵了整个神学，还入侵了以主命名的基督教会。我说“疯狂”，是因为它把人们的心智推向混乱失常，以至于他们不知道是有一位神还是有三位神。嘴上有一位神；但心智的思维里面却有三位神；因此，心智和嘴唇，也就是说，思维和言语有冲突，或说不一致；这种冲突或混乱的结果是：根本没有神。当今盛行的自然主义并非来自其它源头。你若愿意，请认真想一想，嘴上说的是一位神，心智想的是三位神，当这两种观念在中途或里面相遇时，这一个观念不会消灭或毁灭另一个观念。因此，当一个人思想神时，他若思想，只会想到神这个纯粹的头衔或名字，却没有认识祂的感觉。
既然神观，以及关于祂的一切知识或概念都如此支离破碎，那么我建议依次讨论神创造者、主救赎主、圣灵运作者，最后讨论神性三位一体，以便将支离破碎的东西重新整合起来。当人的理性因圣言和它所给予的光照，或说由此而来的光而确信存在一个神性三位一体，这三位一体就在主神救主耶稣基督里面，就像灵魂、身体和来自它们的活动形成人里面的一个三位一体时，这种情况就会发生。因此，《亚他那修信经》中的这一条是真的：在基督里面，神与人、或神性与人性，非为二，乃在一个位格里面；如理性灵魂与肉体成为一人，神与人成为一基督。
4. Chapter 1: God the Creator
SINCE the time of the Lord, the Christian church has passed through various ages; it has gone from infancy to extreme old age. Its infancy occurred when the apostles were alive and were preaching two things throughout the whole world: repentance and faith in the Lord God the Savior, as one can see from these words in the Acts of the Apostles: "To both Jews and Greeks Paul proclaimed repentance before God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts of the Apostles 20:21).
It is worth noting that several months ago the Lord called together his twelve disciples, who are now angels, and sent them out to the entire spiritual world with the command to preach the gospel there anew, since the church established by the Lord through those disciples is so close to its end today that scarcely any of it remains in existence. Also worth noting is that the church's deterioration was the result of its splitting the divine Trinity into three persons, each of whom is God and Lord.
[2] As a result, a kind of brain fever spread throughout the whole theology and infected the church that calls itself Christian from the name of the Lord. I call it a brain fever because this development has so deranged human minds that they do not know whether there is one God or three. The mouth says there is one, but the mind thinks there are three. The mind, then, is at cross-purposes with its own mouth, and thought with its own speech; this results in no knowledge of God at all. The materialist philosophy that rules today has no other source. As long as "one" is what the mouth is saying and "three" is what the mind is thinking, do they not inwardly meet halfway and obliterate each other? Then if thinking about God occurs at all, it scarcely goes beyond thinking the word "God. " The word is denuded of any meaning that would entail actually having a concept of him.
[3] Because the idea of God and every notion of him has been torn to pieces, I intend to discuss in sequence God the Creator, the Lord the Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit the Effecter, and then to discuss the divine Trinity, with the purpose of mending what has been torn. This mending will occur when human reason is convinced from the Word and its light that there is a divine Trinity; that it exists within the Lord God the Savior Jesus Christ like the soul, the body, and the effect of one person; and that the following statement in the Athanasian Creed is valid:
In Christ, God and a human being, or the divine nature and the human nature, are not two; they are in one person. Just as the rational soul and the flesh is one human being, so God and a human being is one Christ.
4. CHAPTER ONE
GOD THE CREATOR
The Christian church has from the Lord's time passed through all the stages of life, from infancy to extreme old age. Its infancy was during the lifetime of the Apostles, who preached all over the world repentance and belief in the Lord God the Saviour. It is clear that these were their two main points from a passage in the Acts of the Apostles:
Paul proclaimed both to Jews and Greeks repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, Acts of the Apostles 20:21.
It is a notable fact that several months ago the Lord called together his twelve disciples who are now angels, and sent them out throughout the spiritual world with orders to preach the Gospel there anew, since the church the Lord established through their ministry is to-day so close to its end that hardly any remains survive. This has come about because the Divine Trinity has been divided into three persons, each of whom is God and Lord.
[2] As a result the whole of theology, and so the church which is named Christian after the Lord, has been pervaded by a kind of insanity. I say 'insanity' because it has driven people's minds to such a pitch of delirium that they do not know whether there is one God or three. One is what they say, three is what they think. So there is a conflict between the mind and the lips, the thought and its expression, and this conflict ends by their thinking that there is no God. This alone is the source of the nature-worship prevalent to-day. Pray consider whether, when the lips speak of one God and the mind thinks of three, each idea does not annihilate the other when they clash midway. Thus if anyone thinks of God at all, he does so as hardly anything but a bare title, with no feeling of knowing Him.
[3] Since the idea of God and all knowledge of Him has been so fragmented, I propose to discuss in turn God the Creator, the Lord the Redeemer, the Holy Spirit the Active Force, and finally the Divine Trinity, so that what has been broken into fragments may be put together again. This happens when a person's reason is convinced from the Word and the enlightenment it gives that there is a Divine Trinity, and that this is in the Lord God the Saviour Jesus Christ, just as the soul, the body and the activity coming from them form a trinity in man. This article in the Athanasian creed is therefore valid:
In Christ, God and Man, or the Divine and the Human, are not two, but in one person; as the rational soul and the flesh are one man, so too God and Man are one Christ.
4. CHAPTER 1. GOD THE CREATOR.
Since the Lord's time the Christian Church has passed through the several stages from infancy to extreme old age. Its infancy was in the lifetime of the apostles, when they preached throughout the world repentance and faith in the Lord God the Savior. That this is what they preached is evident from these words in the Acts of the Apostles:
Paul testified, both to the Jews and to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts of the Apostles 20:21).
It is a noteworthy fact that some months ago the Lord called together His twelve disciples, now angels, and sent them forth throughout the spiritual world, with the command to preach the gospel there anew, since the church that was established by the Lord through them has at this day become so far consummated that scarcely a remnant of it survives; and this has come to pass, because the Divine trinity has been divided into three persons, each one of whom is God and Lord.
[2] Because of this a sort of frenzy has invaded not only all theology, but also the church that from the Lord's name is called - Christian. It is called a frenzy because men's minds have been made so demented by it as not to know whether there is one God or three. On the lips there is one God; but in the thought of the mind there are three; consequently the mind and lips, that is, the thought and speech, are at variance; and the result of this variance is that there is no God at all. The naturalism that prevails at this day is from no other source. Consider, if you will, with the lips speaking of one and the mind thinking of three, whether one of these statements does not, when they meet within, cancel the other. Consequently when a man thinks about God, if he thinks at all it is nothing more than thought from the mere name God, unaccompanied by any sense of the meaning of the name that involves any knowledge of God.
[3] The idea of God, with all conception of Him, having been thus rent asunder, it is my purpose to treat, in their order, of God the Creator, of the Lord the Redeemer, and of the Holy Spirit the Operator, and lastly of the Divine trinity, to the end that what has been rent asunder may be again made whole; which is done when the reason of man is convinced by the Word and by light therefrom that there is a Divine trinity, and that the trinity is in the Lord God the Savior Jesus Christ, like the soul, the body, and what goes forth from these, in man; and that thus this article in the Athanasian Creed is true:
In Christ God and man, or the Divine and the Human, are not two, but are in one person; and as the rational soul and the flesh are one man, so God and man are one Christ.
4. CHAPTER I. GOD THE CREATOR
The Christian Church from the time of our Lord has passed through the various stages from infancy to extreme old age. Its infancy was in the time of the Apostles, when they preached throughout the whole world repentance and faith in the Lord God the Savior. That this was the substance of their preaching is evident from these words in the Acts of the Apostles, in which Paul testified:
"both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" Acts 20:21.
It is worthy of note that several months ago 1 the Lord called together His twelve disciples, now angels, and sent them forth into the whole of the spiritual world, commanding them to preach the Gospel there anew, since the Church He had established through their labors has to-day so nearly reached its consummation that scarcely anything of it remains. This has come to pass because the Divine Trinity has been separated into three Persons, each of whom is God and Lord.
[2] In consequence of this, a kind of insanity has pervaded the whole of theology, and also the Christian Church, so called from the name of the Lord. The term "insanity" is used because it has rendered men's minds so confused that they do not know whether there is one God or three; one is on their lips, but three are in their minds, so that their minds and their lips, or their thought and their speech, are at variance. The result of this confusion is the denial that there is a God. This is the source of the materialism prevalent to-day. For while the lips speak of one God, and the mind thinks of three, does not the one idea destroy the other?
[3] Consequently if a man thinks at all, he thinks of God as a mere name without any definite meaning. Since the idea of God, with every conception regarding Him, has been destroyed I propose to treat in due sequence of God the Creator, of the Lord the Redeemer, and of the Holy Spirit the Operator, and finally of the Divine Trinity, in order that what has been destroyed may be restored. This will happen whenever human reason is convinced by enlightenment from the Word that there is a Divine Trinity, and that this Trinity is in the Lord God the Savior Jesus Christ, just as the soul, the body and the operating energy are in man; and therefore that this article in the Athanasian Creed 2 is true:
In Christ, God and Man, or the Divine and the Human, are not two, but are in one Person; and as the rational soul and body is one man, so God and Man is one Christ.
Footnotes:
1. This was written A.D. 1771.
2. Athanasian Symbol or Creed. Although bearing the name of Athanasius, it was probably composed by Hilary, in the century after the formulation of the Nicene Creed, A.D. 325. The name was given to it about the year A.D. 670 as an excellent system of the doctrines of Athansius concerning the Trinity and the Incarnation, principally in opposition to the Arians. It is received by the Romish Church and also by the Reformed.
4. CAPUT PRIMUM - DE DEO CREATORE.
Ecclesia Christiana a tempore Domini transierat aetates ab Infantia ad ultimam Senectam; Infantia ejus fuit tempore quo vixerunt Apostoli, et in toto Mundo praedicaverunt Poenitentiam et Fidem in Dominum Deum Salvatorem, quod duas illas, constat ex his in Actis Apostolorum,
"Paulus contestatus est et Judaeis 1 et 2 Graecis Poenitentiam ad Deum, et Fidem in Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum," 20:21. Memorabile est, quod Dominus ante aliquot Menses convocaverit duodecim suos Discipulos, nunc Angelos, ac illos in Universum Mundum Spiritualem emiserit, cum mandato ut Evangelium e novo ibi praedicarent, quoniam Ecclesia a Domino per illos instaurata hodie in tantum consummata est, ut vix aliquae reliquiae ejus supersint; et quod hoc evenerit, quia Divinam Trinitatem in tres Personas, quarum unaquaevis est Deus et Dominus, partiti sunt;
[2] et quod inde emanaverit sicut phrenesis in universam Theologiam, et sic in Ecclesiam, quae a nomine Domini Christiana vocatur; dicitur phrenesis, quia mentes humanae, per id in tale delirium actae sunt, ut non sciant Numeri Deus unus sit, vel num tres sint, unus est in oris loquela, sed tres in mentis cogitatione, quare dissidet mens ab ore suo, seu cogitatio a loquela sua; ex quo dissidio resultat, quod nullus Deus sit; naturalismus 3 hodie regnans non aliunde est; expende, si libet, dum os loquitur unum, et mens cogitat tres, annon intus in media via unum expungit alterum vicissim; inde homo vix aliter de Deo cogitat, si cogitat, quam ex nuda voce Deus, absque aliquo sensu qui involvit cognitionem ejus.
[3] Quoniam idea de Deo, cum omni notione ejus, ita discerpta est, volo in suo ordine de Deo Creatore, de Domino Redemptore, et de Spiritu Sancto operatore, et demum de Divina Trinitate, agere, ob causam, ut discerptum resarciatur, quod fit, dum Ratio humana ex Verbo et inde lumine convincitur, quod Divina Trinitas sit, et quod haec sit in Domino Deo Salvatore Jesu Christo, sicut Anima, Corpus, et Procedens in homine; et quod sic valeat hoc in Symbolo Athanasiano, Quod in Christo Deus et Homo, seu Divinum et Humanum, non sint duo, sed in una Persona; et quod sicut Anima rationalis et Caro unus est homo, ita Deus et Homo unus sit Christus.
Footnotes: