525. 第5节 承认并发现自己的罪, 是悔改的开始
在基督教界, 没有不承认罪的人。 因为每个人自童年时就被教导何为恶, 成为少年时则被教导何为罪恶。 所有年轻人学习这一切是通过父母与老师, 还通过十诫, 十诫是基督教国家的每个人手里拿的第一本教材。 随着他长大, 又通过教会布道和家庭教导学习, 成年后则通过圣言学习。 此外, 还通过公义的民法, 民法教导的事和十诫以及圣言其它部分教导的一样。 因为罪恶不是别的, 正是恶意攻击邻舍, 而恶意攻击邻舍就是恶意攻击神, 这就是罪。 但对罪的承认起不到任何效果, 除非人检查自己生活中的行为, 查看自己是否私下或公开做了这类事。 在此之前, 所有这些纯粹是知识, 牧师的说教只不过是左耳进, 右耳出的噪声, 最终仅成为一个想法, 停留在肺里的虔诚, 并且很多纯粹是想象与幻想。 但是, 如果人由于承认罪而反省自己, 发现自己的罪, 对自己说: “这恶就是罪”, 并出于永恒惩罚的恐惧忌讳它, 那么情况就完全不同了。 然后, 牧师的教导和教会的演讲第一次被听到耳朵里, 并直达内心, 因此人就从异教徒变成基督徒。
525. Having a Concept of Sin and Then Looking for Sin in Ourselves Is the Beginning of Repentance
It is impossible for anyone in the Christian world to lack a concept of sin. Everyone in Christianity from early childhood on is taught what evil is, and from youth on is taught which evils are sinful. All adolescents learn this from their parents and teachers, and also from the Ten Commandments, which for all who grow up in Christianity is the first book they own. As they get a little older, they are further taught this by the preaching they hear in church, by instruction they receive at home, and most thoroughly by [their own reading of] the Word. Beyond that, they are also exposed to it by the civil laws of justice, which teach much the same things as the Ten Commandments and the other injunctions in the Word.
The evil that is sinful is simply evil against our neighbor; and evil against our neighbor is also evil against God, which is what sin is.
Nevertheless, having a concept of sin does nothing for us unless we examine the actions we have taken in our lives and see whether we have either openly or secretly done any such thing.
Before we take this action, everything about sin is just an idea to us; what the preacher says about it is only a sound that comes in our left ear, goes out our right ear, and is gone. Eventually it becomes a subject relegated to vague thoughts and mumbled words in worship, and for many it comes to seem like something imaginary and mythical.
Something completely different occurs, however, if we examine ourselves in the light of our concepts of what is sinful, discover some such thing in ourselves, say to ourselves, "This evil is sinful," and then abstain from it out of fear of eternal punishment. Then for the first time we receive the instructive and eloquent preaching in church in both of our ears, take it to heart, and turn from a non-Christian into a Christian.
525. V. Recognition of sin and a person's self-examination are the beginnings of repentance.
No one in the Christian world can fail to recognise sin. For everyone there from childhood is taught what is evil and from boyhood what is sinful. All youths learn this from their parents and schoolmasters, as well as from the Ten Commandments, the first text put into the hands of everyone in Christian countries. As he grows up, he learns this later on from sermons in church and instruction at home. It is fully taught by the Word, and moreover by civil law and justice, which say the same as the Ten Commandments, and other parts of the Word. Sinful evil is nothing else but evil directed against the neighbour; and is also directed against God, and this is sin.
But the recognition of sin is useless, unless a person examines what he does in his life, and observes whether he did such a thing in secret or openly. For up to this point all that is mere knowledge; and then the arguments of the preacher are merely a noise in the left ear, which goes through to the right ear and so out. Finally it becomes no more than a thought, a piety on the part of the lungs, in many cases mere imagination and a chimera. But it is quite the reverse, if a person, recognising what is a sin, examines himself, finds one in himself and says to himself, 'This evil is a sin,' and fearing everlasting punishment abstains from it. Then for the first time the preacher's teaching and oratory in church is taken in with both ears and reaches the heart, so that he turns from being a pagan into a Christian.
525. V. RECOGNITION OF SIN AND THE DISCOVERY OF SOME SIN IN ONESELF, IS THE BEGINNING OF REPENTANCE.
No man in the Christian world can be without recognition of sin, for everyone is taught from infancy what evil is, and from childhood what the evil of sin is. All youths learn this from parents and teachers, also from the Decalogue (which is the primary instruction given to all within Christendom), also, in their subsequent progress, from preaching at church and instruction at home, and in fullness from the Word; and furthermore from the civil laws of justice, which teach the same things as are taught in the Decalogue and other parts of the Word. For the evil of sin is no other than evil against the neighbor, and evil against the neighbor is also evil against God, which is sin. But recognition of sin effects nothing until a man examines the actions of his life, and sees whether he has secretly or openly done any such thing. Until then, there is nothing but knowledge, and what the preacher then says is a mere sound going in at the left ear and out at the right, and finally it becomes a mere matter of thought and something devout in the breathing, and with many merely imaginative and chimerical. But it is wholly different if man, according to what he recognizes as sin, examines himself, discovers something in himself, says to himself, "This evil is a sin," and from fear of eternal punishment abstains from it. Then what has been said in churches in the way of instruction and devotion is first received by both ears, is communicated to the heart, and from a pagan the man becomes a Christian.
525. V. REPENTANCE BEGINS WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF SIN AND THE EXAMINATION OF SOME PARTICULAR SIN IN ONESELF.
No one in the Christian world can be without the knowledge of sin, for there every one is taught from infancy what evil is, and from childhood what is the evil of sin. All young persons learn this from parents and teachers, and also from the Decalogue, the first Book placed in the hands of all throughout Christendom; and in the subsequent stages of life, from public preaching and private instruction at home, and in all fullness from the Word. They learn it also from the laws of civil justice, which embody the teaching of the Decalogue and other parts of the Word. For the evil of sin is evil against the neighbor; and evil against the neighbor is also evil against God, and this is sin.
The knowledge of sin, however, is of no avail unless a man examines his own actions, and sees whether he has committed any particular deed, either secretly or openly. Before this is done it is all mere knowledge, and what proceeds from the preacher is only sound, passing in at one ear and out at the other; and it finally becomes nothing more than the expression of pious thought, for the most part unreal and fanciful. But it is altogether different when a man examines himself according to his rational conception of sin, and, coming upon some evil, says to himself, "This is a sin," and abstains from it through fear of eternal punishment. Then for the first time the instruction heard in the church, from sermon and prayer, claims his attention and enters his heart; and the man from being a pagan, becomes a Christian.
525. Quod cognitio peccati, et exploratio alicujus apud se, poenitentiam inchoet.
Cognitio peccati nemini in Christiano Orbe deesse potest; quisque enim ibi ab infantia instruitur quid malum, et a pueritia quid malum peccati; hoc discunt omnes ephebi a parentibus et magistris, et quoque ex decalogo, qui est Liber initialis omnibus intra Christianismum, et in progressu postea a praedicationibus in Templis, et ab instructionibus in Domibus; et in plenitudine e Verbo; et insuper a legibus justitiae civilibus, quae similia docent quae Decalogus, et quae Verbum alibi: nam malum peccati non aliud est, quam malum contra proximum, et malum contra proximum, est etiam malum contra Deum, quod est peccatum. Sed cognitio peccati non facit quicquam, nisi homo exploret suae vitae acta, et videat num tale quid in occulto aut in manifesto fecerit; prius est omne id modo scientia, et tunc id quod concionator profert, est modo sonans quid in aure sinistra, e qua transit in dextram, et aufugit; et tandem fit illud duntaxat cogitativum et devotum pulmonare, et apud plures imaginarium et chimaericum: Sed aliter prorsus, si homo secundum cognitiones, quid peccatum, explorat se, et offendit aliquod apud se, et secum dicit, hoc malum est peccatum, et ex timore poenae aeternae abstinet ab illo: tunc primum Praedicatio instructiva et oratoria in Templis, recipitur utraque aure, et infertur in cor, et homo ex pagano fit Christianus.