Tuesday, March 6, 2012

爲何與父神不親?

前次我寫過一篇“慈愛的基督,嚴厲的天父”,提到有不少人與父神感到不親近的問題。耶穌來到世上只有一個使命,就是要讓世人知道天父的慈愛,可惜好多人還是不肯藉著基督去到上帝面前。他們心目中的上帝形象很不好,只是不說出來而已。爲什麽這樣呢?

首要的原因,按照心理治療的家庭理論,是許多人心中的父親形象/榜樣都不好。他們不是在情感上太遙遠,不關心兒女,就是要求太嚴厲,缺乏耐心引導。--這是不甚健康的家庭關係,健康的親子關係卻不是這樣的。我自己的父親給我留下這樣的印象:他總是工作很忙,可是他不會沒有時間觀察、聆聽、和勉勵孩子們。他允許我們姐妹有自己的主見,表示讚賞。我曾經寫過不止一篇紀念他的文章。我信主時就十足地指望天上父親超過我父親,祂若是過分嚴厲我大概就不會選擇信祂。無論如何,人們無意中把自己心目中的最佳的父親尊長形象投射在上帝,難免出差錯。他們至少應該觀察生活中的良父,來了解父神如何喜悅、引導、憐恤、和欣賞自己的兒女

第二個原因我想是教義。神學家若是有個情感疏遠的父親,他們從哲學研究出發所闡釋的神學教義必然也反映出來。有個關於代罰原則的教義(penal substitution),説是天父上帝有個絕對的道德標準,人類卻因爲犯罪墮落而變得不再完全,必須受到永恒的刑罰。基督是道德完全的,他愛我們,替我們受了懲罰,於是上帝公義的忿怒得到滿足,祂看我們有了基督的完全。在關於教義的質疑那篇文章裏,我曾經說過這個代罰原則的聖經根據是不足的。如果上帝有個絕對的道德標準,而祂在創造亞當的時候卻沒有告訴他,那麽不是上帝不夠仁至義盡,就是我們的猜測不對頭。(“你必死”與“你必永遠受地獄之火”並不相同,後者是一個對前者的解釋。)事實上,我相信吩咐亞當不要吃禁果的是道成肉身之前的聖子,因爲我忘記在何處讀到過聖經學者的考證結論,凡耶和華與人打交道,對談,顯現説話的那位都是聖子。

代贖原則是中世紀天主教神學發展初階的產物,宗教改革家路德又把它發揮,但我有理由相信,這個教義並非耶穌和使徒所傳福音真道的一部份。哲學不能夠幫助我們認識上帝,因爲祂不是一個冷冰冰的哲理神,乃是注重關係、充滿信實慈愛的神。

第三個原因是我們敬拜的詩歌中常常唱那個代贖原則。現在的牧師已經很少在講臺宣講代贖原則了,可是有不少詩歌反復這麽唱。中文的詩歌似乎還好,雖然常常提到罪債,很少公然歌頌上帝的忿怒被基督滿足,而英文的現代詩歌則好像這類題材佔了不小的比重。昨天我們教會還唱了一首You Are My King,是音樂敬拜歌唱家Chris Tomlin寫的詞曲。歌中的“你”當然是基督,不是天父:

I'm forgiven because you were forsaken 因你被撇棄,我得到赦免
I'm accepted, You were condemned我得到接納,你被定罪
I'm alive and well 我好好地活著
Your spirit is within me 你的靈在我裏面
Because you died and rose again 因爲你已死而復活

這首歌裏有沒有父神呢?當然有,祂在十字架上撇棄了基督,祂定罪“我”唱詩的人,只是耶穌替我受了刑罰,我現在活著多虧我的大君王基督!所有的感恩頌讚都歸給主耶穌、歸給聖靈!這幅畫栩栩如生地把父排斥在敬拜之外,把唱詩的人放在其中,充滿了情感,勝過萬言的三一論解釋講道。難怪上帝的兒子耶穌無法把我們帶到父的面前,我們根本體會不到基督對父神的欣賞和愛戴。但是,我相信聖父從未撇棄十字架上的耶穌,理由請參閲我一年前翻譯的那篇文章,也歡迎您發表不同的看法和理由。

新約作者們從來沒有說過耶穌釘十字架是被神定罪。耶穌降世為人,作我們的贖罪祭,這不是聖子自己的主意,乃是慈愛天父的旨意,要打開一條路,帶許多兒子進入祂榮耀聯結和愛的圈子。

15 comments:

  1. 其實我認為路德的主張中並沒有包含代贖原則,而事實上他本人就是反對中世紀哲學,因為他早年是從哲學來認識上帝,卻只看到一位無血無淚的"父親",之後卻在羅馬書中看見了神的愛,嚴格上來說這才是他提出"唯獨聖經"的目的,意即認識神是透過聖經而不是哲學

    但是路德眼中的神也不是像您的網誌寫的這麼"慈愛",他眼中的神反而是"以賽亞的神",是那一位奧秘又自隱的上帝,可以參考他的十架神學(theologia crucis)

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  2. 謝謝!是的路德沒有主張代贖,他是以代贖原則為正確前設,發展出偉大的罪義交換(the great exchange)神學--即罪人的罪歸給耶穌,他受死,而耶穌的義歸到信徒身上。

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  3. 基督教錯誤的'地獄觀'也讓很多人唔解了神的愛. 我還是覺得東方教會對地獄的解釋比基督教合理,既沒有否認永恆刑罰,也沒有否定神永不止邊的愛:

    "Hell is not punishment for sin. Hell is the ongoing refusal to accept God's acceptance. The torment of hell is the result of SIN reaching its ultimate result - death. In other words, people who refuse to accept the Father's love will be punished by their SIN not punished by God. Heaven and hell are determined by how one relates to the love of God.The love and present of God to a believer is a comforting embrace but to the arrogant and independent God-hater, that same love and present is a suffocating stench that torments."

    ''I also maintain that those who are punished in Gehenna are scourged by the scourge of love. Nay, what is so bitter and vehement as the torment of love? I mean that those who have become conscious that they have sinned against love suffer greater torment from this than from any fear of punishment. For the sorrow caused in the heart by sin against love is more poignant than any torment. It would be improper for a man to think that sinners in Gehenna are deprived of the love of God. Love is the offspring of knowledge of the truth which, as is commonly confessed, is given to all. The power of Love works in two ways: it torments sinners, even as happens here when a friend suffers from a friend; but it becomes a source of joy for those who have observed its duties. Thus I say that this is the torment of Gehenna: bitter regret. But love inebriates the souls of the sons of Heaven by its delectability.'' St. Isaac the Syrian

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  4. 地獄是俾神的愛,神的同在"折磨",,俾自己的罪刑罰, 既無否定神無限,不止邊愛,也不否定永恆刑罰

    一遍東方教錯不錯的文章,透過聖經很詳細解釋地獄

    http://aggreen.net/beliefs/heaven_hell.html

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  5. http://aggreen.net/beliefs/heaven_hell.html

    很好的文章,用聖經解釋了地獄,一定要看

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  6. 謝謝您的分享!Peter Chopelas 說聖經裏面沒有提說關於“地獄”那個地方?我馬上想到路加福音書裏耶穌講過一個討飯的啦撒路和財主的比喻,二人死後的去處有深淵隔著。聖經裏還有“蟲是不死的,火是不滅的”之類的話。耶穌把地獄稱爲“為魔鬼和他的使者所預備的永火”(馬太福音25章),或者那不是地獄,不管是叫作什麽的地方?

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  7. peter chopelas說原文有 'hades'/ 'sheol','Tartarus', 'Gehennah', 'lake of divine fire',無地獄里個字,而里4個字意思不同不可互換,但 translator將里4個字隨便互換,完部變做hell, confuse哂 English readers


    even 'hell',原文解作, to hide/ cover (from GOd's unescapble and loving presence),係verb, 不是noun,後來D人將hell都變成noun/place.

    關於啦撒路和財主的比喻:
    In the Gospel story of Lazarus and the Rich Man, Jesus clearly states that they both end up in the same place, in Hades. Hades of course is used to mean the same thing as Hebrew "Sheol," it simply means the place everyone goes when they die. In Hades they can see each other and talk to each other, although they are far off from each other. "And in Hades, he lifts up his eyes, being in torment, and sees Abraham far off, and Lazarus in his bosom." [Luke 16:23]. All of them are in Ha rus received bad things, but now he is comforted, and you are in pain". See how he contrasts "but now" (in death), one is comforted, the other in torment. Neither does it says that God is punishing him, he is simply "in pain" while there. They were separated by a large gulf, but it is clearly spiritual and not physical, since they are not in the physical world, for neither would the Rich Man have a physical tongue to cool with physical water from Lazarus' physical finger. So it is a gulf that exists in the heart, a spiritual gulf that causes us to experience God's loving presence as paradise or torment. A gulf that was not placed there by God, but rather created by the choices and actions of the sinner.

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  8. 最好先成篇看一次,雖然有點長

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  9. http://godscharacter.com/index.php/articles/god-blog/225-our-god-is-a-consuming-fire

    Godscharacter.com也提過'fire'/'地獄' 的問題,與東方教會看法相同

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  10. 嗯,好像也有他的道理,會好好看一看。謝謝您!

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  11. 基督教和天主教都認為地獄是神是神向不聽從祂話的人盡情展露祂黑暗,暴力,邪惡一面的地方,祂恨不聽從祂話的人,把祂們打入萬劫不復的地獄,狠狠懲罰他們,將神描繪成'torture'。(西方教會的信徒最悲哀就是要愛上一個'torturer',還要效法祂,要像祂那麼殘忍)

    唯有東正教沒有這樣去看地獄,也沒有這樣去看神。

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  12. 基督徒不都這樣感受--愛一個torturer。某些教義害人,聽過就留給人這種印象,大多數信徒信主不是為了教義,乃是為其它種種原因,主要是祂透過人所傳遞的恩慈和愛。你單單讀聖經是讀不出來那些教義的。

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  13. 神的是,一套統一教義和神學不一定是好的。第一,教義/神學有甚麼錯誤的地方,會完全錯誤地影響人對神及神的愛的看法。統一的神學/教義也完全限制了人對神及神的愛的認識

    現在的神學及教義(特別西方神學)也越來越傾向把神描繪成一個justice father= harsh father,angry God, Sinner in the hand of angry God, torturer, sigh!!

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  14. 從小到大欠缺健康的親子關係,對上帝總是畏懼疏離多於愛.即使教會常常歌頌上帝的慈愛,卻無法感受更深.閣下有方法改善自身對torture的印象嗎?

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  15. 您是說改善自己對神的感受?除了認識到自己與父神不親的原因,還要認識到自己現在的感受是反常的。盡量多在生活中觀察和尋找健康良父的生活圖畫存在心中,比如父親教他孩子騎自行車,或者看顧幼童與他/她玩耍,陪孩子練球,欣賞孩子的成績等等。神的愛一般超過父母的愛,因為祂完全了解我們。

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