我發現瓦器貼的帖，英文部分和中文的翻譯是不同的內容。

巴刻說，當代的福音派非常需要重新認識改教時期的認信，即以神為中心的思維方式：
a God-centered way of thinking, an appreciation of his sovereignty, an appreciation of how radical the damage of sin is to the human condition and community, and with that, an appreciation of just how radical and transforming is the power of the Lord Jesus Christ in his saving grace.

其實，他的意思就是加爾文五點的第一點：人的全然敗壞（罪對人的影響是徹底的），是無法對福音做出回應的：“We human individuals are impotent of spiritual response”。人不是只需要神的幫助，而是需要神徹底的重生。

巴刻說，如果我們沒有救恩完完全全是神的工作，是神差派救主，是祂賜給我們信心的恩賜，好讓我們能對救主能做出回應 （信心不是你本來就擁有的，是神以祂的主權賜給屬祂的百姓的），我們就無法真正告訴人，福音真正的意義：“if we do not appreciate that our salvation is God's work in that absolutely radical sense, that is, God sends the Saviour, God gives us the gift of faith to respond to the Saviour, then we will not even be able to tell people what the gospel means. ”

“You see, we ought to be telling people that they are helpless, that they need Christ, and that they must ask God for new hearts and for the ability to trust Christ. In other words, you have got to tell them of their own spiritual inability right from the start. If on the other hand we forget this and go around saying that God is just there to help you, and that you call on him whenever you need to, that he is a sort of cosmic bell-hop, well, then we are misrepresenting the gospel in an absolutely fundamental manner. ”

他也說到學習神學的必要性。

有沒有人要翻譯英文的部分啊？
無句兄？
瓦器？

AN INTERVIEW WITH Dr. J. I. Packer

Question: Dr. Packer, you have done a great deal of writing and speaking
on the subject of the need for a new reformation, a new awareness of the
sovereignty and grace of God in our day. How do you assess the condition
of the state of evangelicalism as it presently exists, and what do you think
we can do about that condition?

Packer: I see evangelical strength needing desperately to be undergirded
by Reformation convictions, otherwise the numeric growth of evangelicals,
which has been such a striking thing in our time, is likely never to become
a real power, morally and spiritually, in the community that it ought to
be. I mean by Reformation truth, a God-centered way of thinking, an appreciation
of his sovereignty, an appreciation of how radical the damage of sin is
to the human condition and community, and with that, an appreciation of
just how radical and transforming is the power of the Lord Jesus Christ
in his saving grace. If you do not see deep into the problem, you do not
see deep into the solution. My fear is that a lot of evangelicals today
are just not seeing deep enough in both the problem and the need. But Reformation theology takes you down to the very depth of the human problem. And actually,the Reformation itself was a recovery of the tremendous contribution that the great St. Augustine made back at the turn of the fourth and fifth centuries.
He was the man who, more than anyone else in Christendom, saw to the heart
of the real problem. He saw how much damage sin had done, how completely
we were oriented away from God by nature. He is the one who left us that
phrase 'original sin' which he got from the text of Psalm 51:5: 'Surely
I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.' He
also saw in response to our sinful condition, how great a work of transformation
was needed by the grace of God in human lives. The sixteenth-century Reformers
stood on Augustine's shoulders at this point. Of course, they clarified
the great truth that justification by faith is the way in which the grace
of God reaches us. We need, even today, a Christianity that is as deep and
strong as that. And this, it seems to me, is where modern evangelicalism
is lacking.

Question: Would you say that there is a connection or a similarity between
the man-centered theology of evangelicalism and the general humanistic spirit?

Packer: Yes, although I think that it is an indirect connection. Secular
humanism, you see, is very man-centered. It encourages every individual
to regard his or her own personal happiness as the supreme value. And the
kind of evangelical religion which does not challenge this self-centered,
self-absorbed standpoint, but, rather, reinforces it by making one's religious
experience the most important thing in the world, or God's gift of personal
contentment, happiness, joy, good feelings, or that kind of thing, is simply
echoing the tenets of this type of modern humanism. A Reformational emphasis,
however, challenges this by asserting that God is the centre, not man.
We must recognize that he is at the heart of things and that we exist for
his glory, that is to say, we exist for him, not he for us. And it is only
as we set ourselves to glorify him as the one who supremely matters that
we are going to enter into the joy and fulfillment which being a Christian
brings. The first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism puts it so
well: 'What is the chief end of men?' answer: Man's chief end is to glorify
God and enjoy him forever. The enjoyment comes as we set ourselves to glorify
God. But if our concern is with the enjoyment, then we won't be glorifying
God.

Question: Dr. Packer, you mentioned just a moment ago, in referring to the
proliferation and growth of evangelicalism, the lack of any real significant
power of the cross and the gospel. Do you believe that modern evangelicals
have lost their grip on the biblical gospel?

Packer: Well, in one particular respect we have got it all wrong. We are
inclined to believe that God exists for us, God is waiting for us, God is
there to make us happy. But in the gospel, God does not play the role of
a butler. In the Gospel we are told that God, the Creator who made all things
for his own praise and glory, has gone into action as mankind's redeemer.
We human individuals are impotent of spiritual response, that is, response
to God in any shape or form; but God first of all sends us a Savior to make
atonement for our sins, and then he sends the Holy Spirit to change our
hearts and make us willing to see and respond to Christ. Now, if we do not
appreciate that our salvation is God's work in that absolutely radical sense,
that is, God sends the Saviour, God gives us the gift of faith to respond
to the Saviour, then we will not even be able to tell people what the gospel
means. You see, we ought to be telling people that they are helpless, that
they need Christ, and that they must ask God for new hearts and for the ability
to trust Christ. In other words, you have got to tell them of their own
spiritual inability right from the start. If on the other hand we forget
this and go around saying that God is just there to help you, and that you
call on him whenever you need to, that he is a sort of cosmic bell-hop, well,
then we are misrepresenting the gospel in an absolutely fundamental manner.
Until the gospel is understood as a message that obliges us to say that
we are hopeless, helpless, lost, and ruined, requiring also that God does
the work of salvation from start to finish, then we are not presenting the
gospel as it is revealed in the New Testament.

Question: Given the current trends of the evangelical movement, what do
you see for the future?

Packer: I think that there is a big risk of fragmentation. Modern evangelicalism
is simply too worldly, and the influence of the world is usually always
a fragmenting influence. I think perhaps that evangelicalism has not yet
learned the way of unity on anything except the outward trappings of united
evangelistic efforts. And that in itself is only a shallow uniting factor
because the gospel as understood by some doesn't correspond to the gospel
as understood by others. And when it comes to all goals and objectives beyond
evangelism, then I think that evangelicals are very seriously divided. There
are some tightly connected with right wing politics, yet their are others,
because of their emphasis on end times speculations, who really do not think
that involvement in society is important at all. There are some who are
only interested in the supernatural works of the Holy Spirit, such as faith
healing or speaking in tongues, while others seem only interested in the
implementations of psychology or self-help type programmes. So I see grave
risks of fragmentation down the road. The only thing that can unite us is
a bigger, broader, deeper, wider and more generally agreed upon theology.
And I find that theology only in the Reformation heritage.

Question: If the theology is the only thing that will unite us, do you really
think unity is at all achievable? Because from our perspective, the average
evangelical, indeed the average Christian, it seems, is intimidated by theology.

Packer: First of all, theology simply means the study of God. This is something
that every Christian needs to realize. I think the way that the word has
been used in the past has frightened many Christians away from it, even
though they never stopped to consider what the word actually meant. People
got the idea somewhere that theology is the business of the seminary professors
and the clergy, but has very little to do with the day to day living of the
Christian life. It's something people seem to think you can get along without,
provided that you read your Bible daily and think one or two guiding thoughts
from your passage to keep you on the rails. I do not believe it is at all
like that. But theology means the study of God, and if we are to love God,
as we are commanded, with all our 'minds' them we need to be in the business
of theology. So when I speak of theology, I am referring to the truth that
God has given us all in S-cripture which we all need to learn and digest. It
is truth for life! Now, I am a professor of theology, but I must tell you
that in all of my teaching and writing, I am trying to show that theology
is supremely practical. If this could be seen, then I think people's fear
of theology could melt away and they would appreciate, and benefit from,
serious theological instruction. Again, if you will allow me to beat the
drum once more, this is a Reformational emphasis. If you actually get around
to reading the Reformers, such as Luther or Calvin, you will find that they
did all their work from a pastoral standpoint, but at every point they are
applying truth to the lives of people. What they were trying to do throughout
their earthly lives was to build the people up in God's truth so their lives
might bring glory to their Creator and Redeemer. It's as practical and down
to earth, and as pastoral as that. That's what we need to get back to first,
I think.