We Should Study Systematic Theology with Reason

First, it is right for us to reason from Scripture. We find in the New Testament that Jesus and the New Testament authors often quote a verse of Scripture and then draw logical conclusions from it. They reason from Scripture. It is therefore not wrong to use human understanding, human logic, and human reason to draw conclusions from the statements of Scripture. Nevertheless, when we reason and draw what we think to be correct logical deductions from Scripture, we sometimes make mistakes. The deductions we draw from the statements of Scripture are not equal to the statements of Scripture in certainty or authority, for our ability to reason and draw conclusions is not the ultimate standard of truth—only Scripture is.

我們應該運用理性推理來學習系統神學

在新約里，我們發現耶穌和新約的作者們，往往先引用一節經文，然後從中作出合理的結論：他們從聖經的話中作推理。所以，使用人的理解、人的邏輯和人的推理，從聖經的敘述中作出結論，是沒有錯的。雖然如此，在我們從聖經的話中作推理，並作出我們認為是正確的邏輯推論時，有時仍會犯錯誤。我們從聖經敘述里所推演出來的結論，在其確定性或權威性上，並不等同於聖經敘述本身，因為我們的推理與作結論的能力，並非終極的真理標準——只有聖經才是。 

What then are the limits on our use of our reasoning abilities to draw deductions from the statements of Scripture? The fact that reasoning to conclusions that go beyond the mere statements of Scripture is appropriate and even necessary for studying Scripture, and the fact that Scripture itself is the ultimate standard of truth, combine to indicate to us that we are free to use our reasoning abilities to draw deductions from any passage of Scripture so long as these deductions do not contradict the clear teaching of some other passage of Scripture.

那麼，我們使用推理能力，從聖經敘述中作出推論的限度何在呢？有兩件事實幫助我們回答這個問題：運用推理而得到經文敘述本身之外的結論，在研讀聖經時是合宜的，甚至也是必要的 ; 聖經本身是真理的終極標準。這兩件事實合併起來指出：我們可以使用推理能力，而對聖經中任何一段經文作推論，但這些推論不能與聖經別處經文的清楚教訓互相矛盾。

This principle safeguards against our misguided or incorrect logical deductions from Scripture. Our supposedly logical deductions may be erroneous, but Scripture is not erroneous. Thus, for example, we may read Scripture and find that God the Father is called God (1 Cor. 1:3), that God the Son is called God (John 20:28; Titus 2:13), and that God the Holy Spirit is called God (Acts 5:3–4). We might deduce from this that there are three Gods! But then we find the Bible explicitly teaching us that God is one (Deut. 6:4; James 2:19). Thus we conclude that what we thought to be a valid logical deduction about three Gods was wrong and that Scripture teaches both (a) that there are three separate persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), each of whom is fully God, and (b) that there is one God. But how can this be? In our human experience, we understand what it means to know three separate persons—three friends, for example. But these three friends are three separate beings. How can God be three persons and yet one being?

這個原則對於我們使用邏輯推理而從聖經經文作結論的事，加上了一道保護。因為我們認為的邏輯推論可能會是錯誤的，但聖經本身是不會有錯誤的。因此，舉例來說，我們讀聖經時發現父神被稱為神（林前1: 3），子神被稱為神（約20: 28 ; 多2: 13），而聖靈之神也被稱為神（徒5: 3-4），由此我們可能推論說有三位神 ; 但是我們又發現聖經明確地教導我們只有一位神（申6: 4 ; 雅2: 19）。最後我們就要下結論說：我們所認為有關三位神的有效邏輯推論，是錯誤的 ; 而聖經的教導乃是：（1）神有三個有區分的位格（父、子、聖靈），每一個位格都是完全的神 ; 以及（2）只有一位神。 

Second, Christian theology can tolerate a paradox, but God never asks us to believe a contradiction. We cannot understand exactly how these two statements about God can both be true, so together they constitute a paradox (“a seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true”). We can tolerate a paradox (such as “God is three persons and one God”) because we have confidence that ultimately God knows fully the truth about himself and about the nature of reality and that in his understanding the different elements of a paradox are fully reconciled,¹⁶ even though at this point God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isa. 55:8–9). But a true contradiction (such as, “God is three persons and God is not three persons”) would imply ultimate contradiction in God’s understanding of himself or of reality, and this cannot be.

我們不能透徹地了解這兩個敘述怎麼可能同時為真——它們加在一起就構成了一個弔詭（paradox，即 “一個似乎矛盾的敘述，但其中兩部分都是真的”）。[10]我們能接受弔詭（例如: “神有三個位格,卻是一位神”），因為我們有信心神至終全然知道關於祂自己和實存之本質的真理，而且在祂的了解中，弔詭里的不同成分是完全調和一致的，即在這個點上，神的意念是高過我們的意念（賽55: 8-9）。然而真正的矛盾（contradiction）（例如： “神有三個位格，而神又沒有三個位格”），則意味著神對祂自己和對實存的了解，至終有了矛盾，但這是不可能的。 

When the psalmist says, “The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever” (Ps. 119:160), he implies that God’s words are not only true individually but also viewed together as a whole. Viewed collectively, their “sum” is also “truth.” Ultimately, there is no internal contradiction either in Scripture or in God’s own thoughts.

當詩人說： “你話的總綱是真實 ; 你一切公義的典章是永遠長存”（詩119: 160），他的意思是說，不只神一句句的話是真實的，祂整體的話也是真實的，即祂話語的 “總和”也是 “真理”。至終而言，在聖經里或在神自己的思想里，都沒有內在的矛盾。

 Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, Second Edition. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2020), 18–19.