What About . . .
怎么说…
The Bible
圣经
Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.The Bible continues to be the best selling book of all time. Throughout the ages, the Bible has provided inspiration, comfort and guidance to those who have read it. But is the Bible merely an inspirational book? It is this, but so much more!
Let’s spend a few moments reviewing some important truths about the Bible.
奉我们主耶稣基督的名问安。圣经仍是任何时候最畅销的书。贯穿历史时空，圣经已经为那些阅读它的人提供灵感，安慰和向导。但圣经仅仅是一本能启发人灵感的书吗？它的确是，但远远不止！
让我们花几分钟时间复习一下关于圣经的一些重要事实。
What is the Bible?
什么是圣经？
The word“Bible”is from a Greek word that means “book.” What is this “good book”? That question has a two-part answer.
“圣经”一词是从希腊文翻译过来的，原意是“书”。那么这本“好书”是什么呢？这个问题的答案分为两部分。
First, the Bible is actually a collection of books–66 of them to be exact–from the first book, Genesis, to the last, Revelation. These books cover thousands of years and were written in either Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek. There are many different kinds of writing in the Bible: historical narrative, prophecy, poetry, speeches, letters and so on. From a merely human perspective, there is no question that the Bible is a masterpiece of literature.
首先，圣经实际上是书卷的合集-具体来说共66卷-从第一本书《创世纪》，到最后一本书《启示录》。这些书卷覆盖上千年的年岁，由希伯来文，亚兰文或者希腊文写成。圣经中的写作题材有很多种类别：历史叙述，预言，诗歌，演讲，书信等等。单从人的角度来说，毫无疑问圣经是一本文学杰作。
Second, the much more important answer to the question, “What is the Bible?”is this: The Bible is the Word of God. The Bible is the collection of the thoughts–even the very words–that God gave to the authors of the Biblical books. The Bible is a gift God has given to His church. It is not a collection of ancient fables and myths. The Bible is the sure and certain means that God the Holy Spirit uses to communicate God’s Word to us today.
其次，对“圣经是什么？”这一问题的更重要的回答是这个：圣经是上帝的话语。圣经是上帝赐给圣经书卷作者们的思想合集，甚至可以说就是祂话语的合集。圣经是上帝恩赐给祂教会的一份礼物。它不是古老童话或寓言的合集。圣经是圣灵上帝用来将上帝的道在今天传递给我们的确实可靠的媒介。
How did we receive the Bible?
我们如何得到圣经的呢？
The Bible itself explains how we received it.“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16). We read else-where that,“Prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit”(2 Pet.1:21).
圣经自己解释了我们是如何得到它的。“圣经都是神所默示的，於教训、督责、使人归正、教导人学义都是有益的”（提后3:16）。我们在别处还读到，“因为预言从来没有出於人意的，乃是人被圣灵感动，说出神的话来”（彼后1:21）。
Because people knew that the Bible was the actual Word of God, it was copied and recopied with painstaking care and attention to detail, letter by letter,word by word. Though today we no longer possess the actual, original text of the Bible, we can be certain that the Holy Spirit has preserved the Word of God for us. Careful study of the many thousands of copies of the New Testament reveals that though there are minor differences between the various copies, there is no place where any key teaching of the Bible is contradicted.
因为人们知道圣经是上帝真实的话语，所以圣经得以反复誊写，并且誊写过程极其细心，照顾到每一个细节，每一个单词，甚至每一个字母。尽管今天我们不再拥有圣经的原本文件，然而我们仍然可以确信，圣灵已经为我们存留了上帝的话语。对新约成千上万份抄本的仔细研究显明，尽管在诸多抄本之间有一些细微的差别，然而没有哪一处可以找出任何相矛盾的圣经核心教导。
Our English Bibles are translations from the original languages. When we use reliable translations, we can be sure that we have the true Word of God. Whatever the Word of God is in Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek,it is also the Word of God in English, or in any other language, as long as the translation is faithful to the original languages. Reliable translations include the King James Version, the New King James Version, the old Revised Standard Version, the New International Version and the New American Standard Bible.
我们的【中】英文圣经是从原文翻译过来的。当我们使用可靠译本的时候，我们可以确信我们拥有上帝真实的话语。只要翻译忠实于原文，那么无论上帝的话语在希伯来文，亚兰文或希腊文里面是什么，它在英文或者任何其它语言译本里面也仍是上帝的话语。可靠的译本包括钦定本，新钦定本，旧的标准圣经修订本，新国标本以及新美标准本（译者注：英语世界当然没提及我们用的中文和合本）。
Why is the Bible so important?
为什么圣经如此重要？
Someone may say,“The Bible is important to me because it tells me what to do”and another person might say,“The old stories remind me of my childhood”or “The Bible is a guide-book for daily living.”These answers all have a grain of truth, but they miss the real reason why the Bible is so important: It is the sure and certain source for knowing who Jesus Christ is and what He has done for us.
一个人可能说，“圣经对我很重要因为它告诉我要做什么”另一个人可能会说，“那些老旧故事使我想起我的童年”或者“圣经是一本每日生活的指导手册。”这些答案都有真理的成份，然而他们错过了那真正的原因，圣经为什么如此重要，因为圣经是认识耶稣基督是谁以及祂为我们做了什么的确实可靠的资料。
Jesus said,“The Scriptures testify about me”(John 5:39). The main message of the Bible is the good news of God’s work to reconcile the world to Himself through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Throughout Old and New Testaments, the central message of the Scripture is the account of how God was in the world preparing it to receive His Son and then what His Son did when He was here. It also tells how the church received this glorious message of salvation, and how it grew and spread throughout the known world. Luther once compared the Bible to the swaddling clothes the baby Jesus was wrapped in. Thus the Bible is Christ-centered.
耶稣说，“给我作见证的就是这经”（约翰福音5:39）。圣经的主要信息是上帝作工要藉着耶稣的生，死和复活使世人与祂自己重归和睦的好消息。贯穿整个旧约和新约，圣经的中心信息就是对上帝如何在世人中间预备他们接纳祂的儿子，以及祂的儿子来到此地之后所做之事的描述。圣经也讲述了教会是如何领受这荣耀的救恩信息以及如何增长扩展遍满整个已知世界的。路德曾将圣经比作婴孩耶稣所使用的裹布。可见圣经是以基督为中心的。
Our Lord Jesus said,“If you remain in my Word, truly you are my disciples”(John 8:31). The divine authority and reliability of the Bible does not rest on the persons God used to write the Bible, nor on the endorsement of the Bible by the church, but rests entirely on the fact that it is the Word of the Lord. How do we know this? This confession of the Bible’s complete authority is part of the certainty of the faith God gives to us as a gift.
我们的主耶稣说，“你们若常常遵守我的道，就真是我的门徒”（约翰福音8:31）。圣经的神圣权威以及可靠性不是依赖于上帝使用去写圣经的那些人，也不是依赖于教会对圣经的背书（见证），而完全是依赖于这个事实，即圣经是主的话语。我们如何知道这个的？上帝将信心的确据作为一份礼物赐给我们，而对圣经完整权威的认信正是信心之确据的一部分。
Real human beings were given real words from God to write down. As our Lord Jesus Christ was both true God and true man, so the Bible is truly the Word of God and also the writing of human beings. Even as our Lord Jesus took on human fresh free from sin and error, so God used human beings to provide a written revelation of Himself that is free from error. Thus, we believe that the Bible is both incapable of error (infallible) and free from error (inerrant).
真实的人从上帝那里领受确实的话语，然后写下来。就如我们的主耶稣既是真神又是真人那样，圣经确实是上帝的话语，同时也是人写的。甚至就像我们的主耶稣取了人的肉身却没有罪和错误一样，上帝也使用人写下对祂自己的书面启示，同样没有错误。因此，我们相信圣经不仅不具备出错的能力（无缪的）而且也确实没有错误（无误的）。
The Bible has a very important distinction one needs to keep in mind in order to understand the Bible correctly: the difference between Law and Gospel. The Bible reveals God’s perfect holiness and righteousness, and His expectation of perfection. His Law, summarized best in the Ten Commandments, reveals our sinful rebellion and our inability to save ourselves. The Gospel is the joyful news that our Lord Jesus Christ has given us complete forgiveness from our sins through His life, death and resurrection for us. The proper distinction between Law and Gospel is the key to understanding the Bible correctly.
圣经还有一个非常重要的区分，为了能够正确地理解圣经，一个人需要将之放在心上，这区分就是：律法与福音之间的不同。圣经启示了上帝的完美圣洁和公义，以及祂对完美的要求。祂的律法，在十诫中最完美地得到总结，启示了我们有罪的背叛以及我们自我救赎的无能为力。福音就是那个甜美的消息，即我们的主耶稣基督藉着祂的生，死和复活，这些都是为了我们，已经赐给我们完全的赦免，使我们脱离我们的罪。律法和福音之间的合理区分是正确理解圣经的关键。
The most important message of the Bible is not the Law of God. The Bible is not merely a collection of principles for daily living. The Bible is not a textbook that answers every possible question we may have. Nor for that matter is the Bible a book that predicts every last detail about the future. The central and most important teaching in the Bible is the Gospel, the good news of God’s gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. The Gospel is the message that predominates throughout the Bible, from Old Testament to New Testament. Thus the Bible is Gospel-centered.
圣经最重要的信息不是上帝的律法。圣经不仅仅是每日生活准则的合集。圣经也不是用来回答我们可能有的任何问题的教科书。说到这个，圣经也不是一本预测未来的每一份细枝末节的书。圣经的中心教导并且最重要的教导是福音，即上帝藉着耶稣基督赐下救恩礼物的好消息。福音才是那个贯穿旧约与新约，在整本圣经中占据主导地位的信息。因此，圣经是以福音为中心的。
We know that the Bible was not given merely for the sake of itself. We are not saved because we own a Bible. We are saved by our Lord Jesus Christ, who is revealed in the Bible. We believe the Bible because it is the Lord’s Word. We believe in Him, thus we believe His Word to be true. We receive what He has given. He has given us the Scriptures. Thus, the Bible is the foundation and touchstone for everything that the church believes, teaches, confesses and practices. Why? Because the Bible is the inspired, Christ-centered and Gospel-centered Word of the Lord.
我们知道圣经不是单单为了它的存在而赐下的。我们不是因为自己拥有一本圣经而得救。我们得救是藉着圣经所启示的，我们的主耶稣基督。我们相信圣经，因为它就是主的话语。我们信靠祂，因此我们相信祂的话语是正确的。我们领受祂所赐的。祂赐给我们圣经。因此，圣经是一切教会所相信，所教导，所认信，所实践之事的根基和柱石。为什么？因为圣经是主的话语，是圣灵默示的，以基督为中心，以福音为中心的。
How Do We Use the Bible?
我们如何使用圣经呢？
The Bible is foundational for the church’s ministry. The Bible was never intended to stand alone or apart from the community of faith we call the Christian church. It is sad when some people think that, if they just read the Bible, they can stay away from church. We receive our Lord’s gifts with joy and do not say,“We want this, but not that.” It would be misleading if our high respect for the Scriptures was used to drive a wedge between the Bible and the church.The church is the gathering of God’s people around the Lord’s Word and Sacraments. The Scriptures are the sure and certain revelation of God’s Word and thus are to be read, studied and meditated on by Christians at church and at home.
圣经从根本上来说是用于教会的事工。圣经从来不是单独，或者脱离我们称之为基督教会的信仰群体存在着。当一些人以为只要他们读圣经，他们是可以远离教会的时候，这是可悲的。我们带着喜乐领受我们主的所有恩赐，不要说，“我想要这个，但不要那个。”如果我们对圣经的高举被用于在圣经与教会之间打入一桩楔子，那么这是错误和误导人的。教会是上帝子民围绕主的话语和圣礼的聚集。圣经是上帝话语确实可靠的启示，因此是用来让基督徒在教会和家中阅读，查考以及默想的。
We Lutherans realize that Scripture must be interpreted according to the central truth of the Bible, the Gospel, not picked apart and made to teach things that actually conflict with the Gospel. Therefore, we pay close attention to the grammar and words of the Bible, seeking out the intended meaning, which is the plain sense of the text. We recognize that God the Holy Spirit works through the Scriptures to create and sustain the church as it comes together around the preaching of the Word and the administration of the Sacraments.
我们路德宗基督徒意识到到圣经必须依照圣经的中心真理，即福音，来阐释，而不是被挑拣并重整用以教导那些实际上与这福音相冲突的事情。因此，我们非常重视圣经的语法和用词，找出原意，就是文本的纯粹意思。我们认识到，每当教会围绕圣道的传讲以及圣礼的实施聚集的时候，圣灵上帝就藉着圣经作工，创造和供应教会。
Whenever the Word of God is preached, taught, studied, read, learned or meditated on, the Holy Spirit is actively turning people from their sin and drawing them to Christ for their salvation. Thus, we will want to be in the Word daily. At home we read and meditate on the Word through our private and family devotions. At church, our hymns and liturgy are anchored in the Word of God. Our pastors preach to us on the basis of the Scripture lessons appointed for each Sunday in the church year. Our school teachers lead our children into a deeper knowledge of the Word of God. In Sunday school, children learn the biblical accounts and thus have a foundation for their lives. In youth and adult Bible studies, the Scriptures are studied in a variety of ways so they can inform and enlighten us and help us understand how we live out our lives as God’s people.
每当上帝的话语被宣讲，教导，查考，阅读，学习或者默想的时候，圣灵就在积极地作工，使人转离他们的罪，并且引领他们到基督那里得着他们的救赎。因此，我们必然渴望每日在圣道里面。在家中我们藉着自己个人的和家庭一起的灵修去阅读和默想圣道。在教会中，我们的赞美诗和崇拜仪文都扎根在上帝的话语里面。我们的牧师基于教会年历中每一主日所布置的圣经功课向我们讲道。我们的学校教师带领孩子们在上帝的话语上有更深的认识。主日学里面，儿童学习圣经故事，也因此为他们的生命建造根基。在少年或者成人查经学习里面，圣经以各样不同的方式被查考，好让上帝的话语启导和引领我们，帮助我们理解我们作为上帝的子民该如何活出我们的生命。
What a blessed gift the Holy Scriptures are to us and to all people! Everything God wants us to know about Himself is contained in His Word. Through the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit reveals the truth about our sinful condition and the joyful news of God’s saving work for us through His Son,Jesus Christ. Truly, God’s Word is a lamp to our feet and a light for our path (Ps.119:105). For that reason we pray,“Lord,keep us steadfast in your Word.”
圣经对我们以及所有人来说是一份多么值得称颂的礼物啊！关于祂自己，上帝想让我们知道的一切都包含在祂的话语里面。藉着圣经，圣灵启示关于我们有罪状况的真相，以及上帝藉着祂儿子耶稣基督为我们所做救赎之工的令人欢喜的好消息。实实在在地，上帝的话语是我们脚前的灯，我们路上的光（诗篇119:105）。为这个缘故，我们祈祷说，“主，保守我们稳健在你的话语中。”
— Dr.A.L.Barry
President The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
https://michigandistrict.org/about/beliefs/whatabout
Translated by Lutheran Translation Society
November 10, 2017
翻译由路德宗翻译社提供