忏悔录 Confessions | BookⅦ Chapter4 新柏拉图学说

BookⅦ Chapter4

新柏拉图学说

And Thou, willing first to show me how Thou resistest the proud, but givest grace unto the humble, and by how great an act of Thy mercy Thou hadst traced out to men the way of humility, in that Thy Word was made flesh, and dwelt among men: Thou procuredst for me, by means of one puffed up with most unnatural pride, certain books of the Platonists, translated from Greek into Latin.

最先你愿意使我看到你是怎样“拒绝骄傲的人，把恩宠赐给谦虚的人”。[6]你以多大的慈爱揭示人们谦虚的道路，既然“你道成了肉身，寓于人世”，[7]你让一个满肚子傲气的人把一些由希腊文译成拉丁文的柏拉图派的著作介绍给我。

And there in I read, not indeed in the very words, but to the very same purpose, enforced by many and divers reasons, that In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God: the Same was in the beginning with God: all things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made: that which was made by Him is life, and the life was the light of men, and the light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. And that the soul of man, though it bears witness to the light, yet itself is not that light; but the Word of God, being God, is that true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. And that He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. But, that He came unto His own, and His own received Him not; but as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, as many as believed in His name; this I read not there.

我在这些著作中读到了以下这些话，虽则文字不同，而意义无别，并且提供了种种论证：“在太初已有道，道与神同在，道就是神；这道太初即与上帝同在，万物由此而成，没有他，便没有受造；凡受造的，在他之内具有生命，这生命是人的光；这光在黑暗中照耀，黑暗却没有胜过他”；人的灵魂，虽然，“为光作证，但灵魂不是光”，道，即上帝自己，才是“普照一切世人的真光，他已在世界上，世界本是借他造成的，但世界不认识他。”至于“他来到了自己的地方，自己人却不接纳他，凡接纳他的人，即信他名字的人，他给他们成为上帝子女的权利”[8]，这些话，我没有读到。

Again I read there, that God the Word was born not of flesh nor of blood, nor of the will of man, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God. But that the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, I read not there.

同样，我看到：“道，是主，不是由血气，也不是由肉欲，也不是由男欲，而是由上帝生的”，但我读不到：“道成肉身，住在我们中间”。[9]

For I traced in those books that it was many and divers ways said, that the Son was in the form of the Father, and thought it not robbery to be equal with God, for that naturally He was the Same Substance. But that He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and found in fashion as a man, humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, and that the death of the cross: wherefore God exalted Him from the dead, and gave Him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father; those books have not.

我在这些著作中，还看到用不同的字句称：“圣子本有圣父的形象，并不以自己与上帝同等为僭越”，因为他的本体是如此；可是，“他反而屈尊降贵，甘取奴仆的形象，成为人的样式，既取了人的样式，就自卑自贱，存心顺服，以至于死，而且死在十字架上，所以上帝高举他，使他的圣名超乎万名之上，使天上、人间、地下的一切，闻耶稣之名而屈膝，众口同声称耶稣为主，而归荣于圣父”，[10]这种种都不见于这些著作中。

For that before all times and above all times Thy Only-Begotten Son remaineth unchangeable, co-eternal with Thee, and that of His fulness souls receive, that they may be blessed; and that by participation of wisdom abiding in them, they are renewed, so as to be wise, is there. But that in due time He died for the ungodly; and that Thou sparedst not Thine Only Son, but deliveredst Him for us all, is not there. For Thou hiddest these things from the wise, and revealedst them to babes; that they that labour and are heavy laden might come unto Him, and He refresh them, because He is meek and lowly in heart; and the meek He directeth in judgment, and the gentle He teacheth His ways, beholding our lowliness and trouble, and forgiving all our sins. But such as are lifted up in the lofty walk of some would-be sublimer learning, hear Him not, saying, Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls. Although they knew God, yet they glorify Him not as God, nor are thankful, but wax vain in their thoughts; and their foolish heart is darkened; professing that they were wise, they became fools.

至于“你的独生子是在一切时间之前，超越一切时间，永不改变，与你同是永恒，灵魂欲得幸福，当与丰满的他联络；灵魂欲得智慧当受自有智慧的更新，然后拥有智慧”，这些都不见于上述著作中。而“他按所定的日子为罪人死”，“你不爱惜你的独子，使他为我们众人舍命”，[11]却找不到。这是因为“你将这些事向智慧人就隐瞒了，而启示给愚拙人”，“使劳苦和负重担的人都到他那里去，他要使他们安息，因为他是良善心谦的”，[12]他引导温良的人遵循正义，从自己的道路指示善良的人，他看见我们的卑贱、我们的困苦，他赦免我们的罪。至于那些趾高气扬、自以为出类拔萃的人，便听不到：“跟我学习，因为我是良善心谦的，你们将找到你们灵魂的安息”，[13]“他们虽然知道上帝，却不因为他是上帝而荣耀他，也不感谢他，他们的思想成为虚妄，无知的心就昏暗了，自称聪明，反成愚拙。”[14]

And therefore did I read there also, that they had changed the glory of Thy incorruptible nature into idols and divers shapes, into the likeness of the image of corruptible man, and birds, and beasts, and creeping things; namely, into that Egyptian food for which Esau lost his birth right, for that Thy first-born people worshipped the head of a four-footed beast instead of Thee; turning in heart back towards Egypt; and bowing Thy image, their own soul, before the image of a calf that eateth hay.

为此，我在这些著作中又看到了：“你光荣不朽的身体，穿上了各种偶像的衣冠”，人哪，鸟哪，兽哪，蛇哪，什么都有[15]。这是埃及人的佳肴，以扫竟为此而失掉了他长子的名分，[16]你选民族，[17]不敬拜你，而去敬拜一只走兽的头颅。他转向埃及，使他们的灵魂——你的肖像——膜拜一只吃草的牛犊。

These things found I here, but I fed not on them. For it pleased Thee, O Lord, to take away the reproach of diminution from Jacob, that the elder should serve the younger: and Thou calledst the Gentiles into Thine inheritance. And I had come to Thee from among the Gentiles; and I set my mind upon the gold which Thou willedst Thy people to take from Egypt, seeing Thine it was, where so ever it were. And to the Athenians Thou saidst by Thy Apostle, that in Thee we live, move, and have our being, as one of their own poets had said. And verily these books came from thence. But I set not my mind on the idols of Egypt, whom they served with Thy gold, who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator.

我在那些著作中读到这一切，可是我没有兴趣。主，你愿意除掉次子雅各的耻辱，使 “长子伺候次子”，[18]你又呼召外族来享受你的产业。我正从外族归向你，我爱上了你命你的子民从埃及带走的金子，因为金子无论在哪里，都是属于你的。你通过你的使徒保罗告诉雅典人说：“我们在你之内生活、行动、存在”，[19]该派的有些学者也如此说，其实他们的学说源于此。我并不在意于那些“将上帝的真理变成谎言，不敬拜造物主而去崇拜受造之物”[20]的人们用你的金子祭祀埃及的偶像。