清教徒的釋經
THE PURITANS AS INTERPRETERS OF SCRPTURE
(J.I. Packer, A Quest for Godliness, chapter 6, pp. 97-105.)
林慈信譯

引言：羅傑斯牧師論《聖經》
INTRODUCTION:
JOHN ROGERS’ SERMON ON THE BIBLE

We introduce … by repeating John Howe’s account of an episode described to him by Dr Thomas Goodwin. During his student days, said Howe, Goodwin,

having heard much of Mr. Rogers of Dedham [an early Puritan Boanerges] took a journey … to hear him preach on his lecture day. … Mr. Rogers was … on the subject of … the ????ures. And in that sermon he falls into an expostulation with the people about their neglect of the Bible; … he personates God to the people, telling him, “Well, I have trusted you so long with my Bible; you have slighted it, it lies in such and such houses all covered with dust and cobwebs; you care not to listen to it. Do you use my Bile so? Well, you shall have my Bible no longer.” And he takes up the Bible from his cushion, and seemed as if he were going away with it and carrying it from them; but immediately turns again and personates the people to God, falls down on his knees, cries and pleads most earnestly, “Lord, whatever thou dost to us, take not thy Bible from us; kill our children, burn our houses, destroy our goods; only spare us thy Bible, only take not away thy Bible.” And then he personates God again to the people: “Say you so? Well, you will use it, whether you will love it more … observe it more … practice it more, and live more according to it.” By these actions (as the doctor told me) he put all the congregation into so strange a posture that… the place was a mere Bochim, the people generally … deluged with their own tears; and he told me that he himself, when he got out … was fain to hang a quarter of an hour upon the neck of his horse weeping before he had power to mount; so strange an impression was there upon him, and generally upon the people, upon having been expostulated with for the neglect of the Bible.

清教徒為聖經運動；《聖經》，世上最寶貴的珍藏
A BIBLE MOVEMENT; GREATEST TREASURE ON EARTH

上面的故事正好說明清教徒的核心信仰。會眾的反應顯示，羅傑斯指到他們良心最敏感的一點。因為清教徒骨子裡是一場《聖經》運動。對一位清教徒來說，《聖經》實在是這世界能提供最寶貴的珍藏。他最深的信念是，敬畏上帝就必須敬重《聖經》，事奉上帝就必須遵行《聖經》。在清教徒的思想中，沒有比忽略創造萬物的上帝所寫的話更為侮辱祂；也沒有比珍貴《聖經》、研讀它、順服它、宣揚它的教訓更能高舉祂。清教徒的標記就是深深的尊敬《聖經》 – 永活上帝的的永活話語 ，同時全心去認識、遵行《聖經》所吩咐的一切事。
This anecdote takes us to the very heart of Puritanism. The congregation’s reaction shows that Rogers was touching their conscience at its most sensitive point. For Puritanism was, above all else, a Bible movement. To the Puritan the Bible was in truth the most precious possession that this world affords. His deepest conviction was that reverence for God means reverence for ????ure, and serving God means obeying ????ure. To his mind, therefore, no greater insult could be offered to the Creator than to neglect his written word; and conversely, there could be no truer act of homage to him than to prize it and pore over it, and then to live out and give out its teaching. Intense veneration for ????ure, as the living word of the living God, and a devoted concern to know and do all that it prescribes, was Puritanism’s hallmark.

我們在這裡要研究清教徒解釋《聖經》的原則與方法，和檢討它們的素質。
參考材料非常豐富：解經指引，講章，論文，《聖經》注釋。我們可以隨意採用任何著作，因為我們會發現，清教徒們的信念在任何課題上差不多是完全一致的。
Our present task is to study the principles and methods, and to assess the quality, of Puritan biblical interpretation. Source-material, consisting of both hermeneutical directories and sermons, treatises and commentaries, is abundant. We may draw on these sources indiscriminately, for on all the matters we shall discuss we find the Puritans to be virtually unanimous.

一般的觀察：清教徒的聖經觀
GENERAL REMARKS: PURITANS’ VIEW OF BIBLE

我們首先注意清教徒如何面對《聖經》；我們要指出三點。
Three general statements about the way the Puritans tackled the interpretative task can be made at once.

第一：聖經時代與今天文化隔閡不大
FIRST: NO DISTANCE BETWEEN BIBLICAL TIMES AND PRESENT AGE

第一，清教徒解經家是「前現代人」，意思是他們並沒有今天大部份的人那樣覺得文化之間、時代之間的差異與隔閡。他們也沒有今天很多《聖經》學者一樣持着一些「宗教進化」的猜測理論。這些理論簡直使《聖經》學者癱瘓。清教徒沒有覺得自己與《聖經》人物和後者的經歷之間，因着時間的過去而有什麼差距；反之覺得與他們有一種親切感，因為大家都屬同一人類，同樣面對、敬畏這位不變的上帝，與祂相交；同樣在一些相同屬靈問題上掙扎。（這種信念智慧嗎？絕對是！）
First, Puritan exegetes are pre-modern, in the sense that they do not bring to the Bible the pervasive sense of difference and distance between cultures and epochs that is so much part of today’s mind-set; nor do they bring with them the imaginative ideas of religious evolution that cripple so many modern biblical scholars and corrupt so much of their expository work. Instead of feeling distant from biblical characters and their experiences because of the number of centuries between them, the Puritans felt kinship with them because they belonged to the same human race, faced, feared, and fellowshipped with the same unchanging God, and struggled with essentially the same spiritual problems. (Was that wisdom? Yes!)

第二：文法/歷史解經法
SECOND: GRAMMATICAL-HISTORICAL EXEGESIS

第二，清教徒所採用的「文法 – 歷史解經法」，雖然在表達上比較單純，其實是非常高水準的。任何熟讀清教徒（如亨利馬太）的注釋的人，馬上會看到這一點。
Second, Puritan grammatical-historical exegesis of texts, though often naively expressed, is remarkably competent, as any knowledgeable reader of, for instance, Matthew Henry’s great expository commentary on the whole Bible will soon see.

第三：解經的目的：應用

第三，清教徒解釋《聖經》的目的是要應用經訓，因為，應用《聖經》是他們所關注的核心，也是他們特殊的強項。我們馬上會發現這一點。
Third, Puritans exegeted ????ure in order to apply it, and as application was the focus of their concern so it was the area of their special strength, as will appear.

兩項預設TWO PRESUPPOSITIONS

清教徒的解經建立在兩項預設上；他們的方法可以用六點來歸納。
Two presuppositions governed their approach to interpretation; six rules sum up their method.

第一預設：《聖經》的本質FIRST: NATURE OF ????URE

第一項預設有關《聖經》的本質。對清教徒來說，《聖經》的全部與每一部份都是上帝口中的話語：筆之於書的上帝的話，上帝心意的啟示，上帝旨意的宣告，都為教導人。《聖經》的內容是上帝永恆的真理，或說《聖經》所記錄的歷史過程就是上帝在創造宇宙以前的永恆計劃在歷史中的實現。從這意義上來看，「《聖經》所立定、所寫下的，都是上帝心裡的《聖經》的摘錄與副本；《聖經》在永恆里於上帝的心中寫成。」因此我們必須相信，這麼多不同背景與性格的作者、以這麼多不同的手法與問題所傳遞的，是上帝同一心意的統一表達 (the unified expression of a single divine mind)，是上帝旨意與計劃的完整、一致（雖然不簡陋）的啟示。
The first presupposition concerns the nature of ????ure. To the Puritans, ????ure, as a whole and in all its parts, was the utterance of God: God’s word set down in writing, his mind opened and his thoughts declared for man’s instruction. The content of ????ure is God’s eternal truth, or the historical process which the Bible records and interprets is just the temporal outworking of God’s eternal plan, formed before the world was. In this sense, “what our ????ures have set down and written, is all but extracts and copies taken out of the ????ures in God’s heart, in which they were written from everlasting.” That which was delivered by such a multiplicity of human authors, of such different background and characters, in such a variety of styles and literary forms, should therefore be received and studied as the unified expression of a single divine mind, a complete and coherent, though complex, revelation of the will and purpose of God.
對研究《聖經》的清教徒來說，是上帝在說預言，上帝在記錄歷史、詮釋教義、宣揚讚美、寫下異象（這些是《聖經》的內容）；他也知道，讀《聖經》的人必須相信這些不僅是上帝在古時候祂默示諸卷《聖經》時候所說的話，而是上帝對每一個時代的每一位信徒所說的話。 華森 (Thomas Watson) 說：「你要這樣想：上帝在《聖經》的每一行都在向你說話。」因為，事實就是如此。「《聖經》所說的，就是上帝所說的。」
To the Puritan Bible student, it was God who had uttered the prophecies, recorded the histories, expounded the doctrine, declared the praises, written the visions, of which ????ure was made up; and he knew that ????ure must be read, not merely as words which God spoke long ago, in the actual inspiring of the biblical books, but as words which God continues to speak to every reader in every age. “Think in every line you read that God is speaking to you,” says Thomas Watson – for in truth he is. What ????ure says, God is saying.

聖經無限的深度
????URE’S DEPTHS UNLIMITED

正如上帝的心意是無法測度的，同樣地，《聖經》裡有無限的深淵，「它《聖經》所儲藏的珍寶是使用不盡的。」正如約翰羅賓遜說，在任何時候，「上帝還有更多的真理，要在祂聖潔的話語中展開。」我們解釋《聖經》的人永遠不可能窮究上帝的思想；我們萬不可這樣的想象。「你永不可像你擁有足夠的知識；你必須更完備的研究上帝的話…」上帝保守我們謙卑；祂使我們「不斷的依靠祂，借着祂的話來教導我們，向我們啟示祂自己；在這時代中，祂必不會帶任何人到人能了解，發現的經訓的盡頭。」
Just as God’s mind is unfathomable, so there are illimitable depths in ????ure: “the stores of truth laid up in it are inexhaustible.” It is always the case that, in the famous words ascribed to John Robinson, “the Lord hath more truth yet to break forth out of his holy word.” As interpreters, we never reach the end of God’s thoughts, and must nor permit ourselves to imagine otherwise. “Never think you have knowledge enough; study the word more fully. …” God safeguards our humility by keeping us “in continual dependence on him for teaching and revelations of himself out of the word, never in this world bringing any soul to the utmost of what is from the word to be made out and discovered.”
清教徒往往與奧古斯丁異口同聲說：《聖經》有淺水地，小羊都可以在那裡喝水，但是《聖經》也有深水處，大象可以在那裡游泳：這些深處就是有學問的、敬虔的人還需繼續探索。 因此，所有的基督徒都必須有這樣的心態來研究《聖經》：我們知道的太少，必須渴慕學習更多，必須仰望上帝向我們揭開祂自己的話語。
The Puritans often echo Augustine’s remark that, just as there are shallows in ????ure where a lamb may wade, so there are depths in ????ure where an elephant may swim – depths which the most learned and godly have yet to plumb. All Christians, therefore, should approach their study of ????ure knowing that they know but little, longing to learn more and looking to God himself to open to them his own word.

第二：聖經的內容：信仰與任務
信仰：認識上帝，上帝的旨意
SECOND: SUBJECT MATTER OF ????URE: FAITH AND DUTY
FAITH: KNOWING GOD, GOD’S WILL

第二方面的預設有關於《聖經》的內容，《聖經》的主題。「《聖經》主要教導什麼？」《小要理問答》第三問這樣問。答案是：「…人必須對上帝有怎樣的信仰，和上帝要求人要盡那些義務。」我們來考慮這答案的涵意。首先，《聖經》告訴我們，應該對上帝有怎樣的信仰。意思是：《聖經》向我們顯示關於屬靈事實的真理，這時墮落的理性不可能掌握的，只有聖靈才能使我們察驗。因此我們必不可信靠自己 (we must distrust ourselves)，承認我們在這世界的本性里，又無能又盲目。我們必須祈求聖靈來向我們解釋《聖經》。Thomas Goodwin 說：「使聖靈寫下這話語的。」
This brings us to the second presupposition, which concerns the subject-matter of ????ure. “What do the ????ures principally teach?” is the third question of the Shorter Catechism, and the answer is: “… what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.” Consider the implications of this answer. First, ????ure teaches us what to believe about God – that is, it sets before us spiritual truths concerning spiritual realities, truths beyond the grasp of fallen reason which only the Holy Spirit can enable us to discern. Therefore we must distrust ourselves, confess our natural inability and blindness in this realm, and invoke the aid of the Spirit to interpret ????ure to us. “It was the Spirit that wrote that word,” says Goodwin.
因此，沒有任何人私下的了解，若沒有天上的記錄官 （指聖靈）的幫助，能明白這些事。唯有聖靈在那地方隱藏了知識的寶藏，也只有聖靈知道在那裡；因此，藉禱告來揭開上帝的心懷，獲得知識的鑰匙，打開上帝的書房，領我們到祂的文件與筆記面前，是何等的有益！
… therefore … no man’s or men’s private understandings, without the aid of that public secretary of heaven, can understand them… he only hid the treasures of knowledge in that field, and he only knows where they lie; what an advantage is it then by prayer to unlock God’s breast, obtain the key of knowledge that unlocks God’s study, and can direct to all his notes and his papers!

歐文沒有寫得這樣的可愛，他直截了當地說：
Less quaintly, but more categorically, Owen makes the same point:
我相信 …這是基督教信仰的一項堅定不移的原則，就是：若要認識到上帝
在《聖經》裡的心意，必須不斷迫切祈求聖靈那屬天的幫助，因為若不是這樣，就沒有其它辦法。
I suppose… this may be fixed on as a common principle of Christianity; namely, that constant and fervent prayer for the divine assistance of the Holy Spirit, is such an indispensable means for the attaining the knowledge of the mind of God in the ????ure, as that without it all others will not be available [will not avail].

Baxter 說：「你讀經之前，讀經之後，誠懇地禱告，求聖靈，就是默示《聖經》的那一位，向你解釋，帶領你進入真理。」
“Before and after you read the ????ure,” says Baxter, “pray earnestly that the Spirit which did indite it, may expound it to you, and lead you into the truth.”