The Christian Understanding of History

By Kenneth Scott Latourette

Presidential address delivered at the annual meeting of the American Historical Association in Washington on December 29, 1948. American Historical Review 54: 2 (January 1949): 259-76.

基督徒的歷史觀

賴德烈

在美國歷史協會1948年會上的主席特別報告。

（發表在美國歷史回顧 54卷2期）

------------------------------------------------------作者簡介-----------------------------------------------------------

賴德烈（Kenneth  Scott  Latourette，1884年8月6日－1968年12月26日），美國東方學家和歷史學家， 前耶魯大學東方系和神學院教授。 他是美國研究中國的先驅之一，受教於衛三畏的兒子衛斐列並以早期中美關係（1784-1844）為研究課題獲得博士學位。一生致力於東方史（主要是中國歷史）的研究和教會歷史的研究和推廣。賴德烈是一個虔誠的基督徒。 1910年以傳教士的身份到中國傳教2年，後因身體的緣故提前回國。 出於中國人給他的良好印象和一個基督徒對中國人這一群未得之民的深切關切，他熱愛中國和中國人。在他的基於基督教的歷史觀里，中國將是神國下一波擴張的目的地。

本文是他在美國歷史協會上作為協會主席所作的特別報告。在他的報告裡， 他在宏觀上強調了基督教對於歷史發展的脈衝式的影響， 並例舉了基督教對於文化和文明帶來的祝福。文章里充滿了一個基督徒所有的建立在理性分析的樂觀精神： 耶穌及其基督教將在歷史中得勝。

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歷史存在模式嗎？所有的歷史學家都從其研究領域的大量已發生的事件中精選事例。他們是按自己的意願選擇還是按着歷史事件的內在規律？如果模式存在的話，它是否能被辨別？歷史是有規律可循的嗎？如果是，規律是什麼？歷史是有意義嗎，還是簡單的毫無意義的雜音和狂暴？歷史存在終點並向其運行還是在做無方向的運動？這些問題一直困擾我們這個行當的人。這些問題在各種各樣的地區，文化和時代裡都不斷地被提出並有了許多答案。無論在古老的尼羅河文明和兩河文明，在希伯萊-巴勒斯坦，在中國，在印度，在希臘，在羅馬，在中世紀的歐洲，或在現代西方，這些問題都直接或間接地提出來和考慮過。

Do patterns exist in history? All historians make selections from the multitude of happenings which constitute the quarry in which they work. Do they do so arbitrarily or in accord with what is inherent in the events? If there are patterns, can they be discerned? Is history governed by laws? If so, what are they? Does history have meaning, or is it simply sound and fury, signifying nothing? Does it have an end toward which it is moving, or is it movement without direction? These are questions which continue to trouble members of our craft. In various lands, cultures, and ages they have been repeatedly raised and many answers have been given. Whether in the ancient civilizations of the Nile and the Tigris-Euphrates Valley, in Hebrew Palestine, in China, in India, in Greece, in Rome, in the Middle Ages of Europe, or in the modern Occident, explicitly or by implication they have been posed and pondered.

我們不需要窮盡目錄就知道決定從過去紛亂的歷史記錄中做出選擇的目的的範圍之廣，觀察這個星球上人類活動軌跡的人用來的研究困擾歷史學家的眾多事件的相關性的模式的數量之多， 我們認為的決定歷史事件的發展和意義（和決定這些事件是否有界定人類生活的意義）的規律的種類之繁。古往今來的許多史官吏們的注意力都集中在那些似乎對群體生活有重大影響的人物—統治者，政治家，藝術家，文學家，學者和宗教領袖。另外（象在早期的中國）歷史也源於對某個家族對祖先的崇拜和家族榮譽的維護。也有一部份歷史是一些關於公眾人物的記憶：他們希望他們的偉大功績永垂史冊----從古代的碑文和歷代史記到今天美國總統的積累保存的檔案和宗卷，以及從印刷術發明以來不斷累積泛濫的個人傳記。在選擇的原則上，歷史事件的許多組合都受到對某個朋友，老師或聖哲的崇敬和愛戴或對某宗教或政治信仰（例如孔子，佛祖，耶穌，和列寧）的長傳於世的關心的影響。有些歷史學家着眼於某個戰爭或對一系列戰爭的描述----伯羅奔尼撒海戰，高盧戰爭, 美國內戰以及兩次世界大戰。許多人專注國體和政治。特別近代有的人把經濟因素視為決定性的因素。 也有人試圖辨析出一門社會的科學。由於受到過去塑造了西方幾代人思維方式的思潮的影響，歷史學家也在辯論歷史是否是一門科學。無論他們的答案是什麼，一般來講他們是試圖把科學方法應用到他們的工作中去。現代歷史學家通常相信因果關係—目前的事件和運動主要是有以前的事件和運動決定的。所以有人聲稱一切都可以以時間序列來演示。也有人聲稱至少在過去2500年裡歷史沒有呈現如何意義和模式。經常會有像楊朱那樣的學說出現，根本不承認主體的存在。那些像印度人一樣把世界和人生看成是虛幻的民族自然對歷史沒有多少尊重甚至根本沒有尊重。在每個世紀都有人認為歷史是循環的。希臘人是這樣認為的，現代佛教徒和許多廣受歡迎的西方作家也認為如此。而其他人認為進步是明顯可辨的，無論是緩慢的運動，脈動或辯證的過程。有人非常激情地確信這個過程會導致一個理想的社會，人類所有的問題都得以解決。另外的人，儘管也相信進步，並不認為人類會永遠脫離爭鬥。這些僅僅是歷史學家試圖記錄或理解過去歷史的許多態度中的有數的幾個。其他的將會在更全面的分析綜合里涉及到。

We need no full catalogue to recall how various have been the purposes which have governed selection from the fragmentary records of the past, how numerous have been the patterns which observers of man's course on this planet have seen as giving coherence to the many incidents which are the crude stuff with which historians deal, how diverse have been the laws which have been said to mold the course of events, and the meaning--or the absence of meaning--which has been thought to characterize the stream of human life. Many scribes, both ancient and modern, have centered their stories upon men and women who have loomed large in the collective life of the group--rulers, statesmen, artists, authors, scholars, religious leaders. Some of this, as in early China, has been from a mixture of reverence for ancestors and the desire of insuring prestige to a particular family. Some has been at the instance of those in the public eye who have wished to perpetuate the memory of their greatness--from some of the most ancient inscriptions and chronicles to the archives amassed and preserved by recent Presidents of the United States and the spate of autobiographies which has been mounting since the invention of the printing press. Many arrangements of events have had as their principle of selection admiration and affection for a friend, a teacher, or a saint, or concern for the perpetuation and spread of a religious or political faith--as in the case of Confucius, the Buddha, Jesus, and Lenin. Some historians have centered their narratives upon a war or series of wars--the Peloponnesian struggle, the Gallic Wars, the American Civil War, and World Wars I and II. Many have concentrated on the state and politics. Some, especially in recent times, have viewed economic factors as determinative. Others have attempted to discern a science of society. Influenced by the temper which has characterized much of the Occidental mind for the past few generations, historians have debated whether history is a science. Whatever their answer, in general they have attempted to apply scientific methods to their work. Modern historians usually believe in causation--that events and movements are in large part or entirely determined by preceding events and movements. Yet there are those who declare a time sequence to be all that can be demonstrated. For at least twenty-five hundred years there have been those who have insisted that no meanings or patterns are to be observed in history. Often, as in the case of Yang Chu, this has been in protest against those who believed such to exist. Those who have viewed this world, including human life, as illusion, as has been so widely the case in India, naturally have had little or no regard for history. Many observers across the centuries have believed that history is cyclical, repeating itself. This has been true of the Greeks, of many Buddhists, and of some of the most widely read of modern Occidental authors. Others have held that progress is discernible, whether by steady movement, by pulsations, or by the dialectical process. Some are passionately convinced that progress culminates in an ideal society in which all man's ills will have been resolved. Others, while believing in progress, do not envision mankind as ever escaping from struggle. These are merely a few of the many attitudes which men have taken as they have sought to record or to understand the past. Some contradict one another. Others can be embraced in a larger synthesis.

面臨着這許多種的令人信服的學說， 老練的歷史學家避免傾向於其中的任何一種就一點不奇怪了。可是如果沒有一些基本的選擇（不管是人為的純粹主觀的還是人的關心的歷史事件本身帶有的）， 歷史就沒有辦法寫成。對過去這個協會的主席特約報告的調查就會發現，對於那些被選舉來領導這個榮譽團體的人來講，沒有一個主題比歷史的可能模式和意義更有吸引力。有幾篇報告評價對於歷史的解釋甚至所有的解釋。但更多的是提供了解釋。為了不至於引起同行的過分評價，這些解釋以謙遜和小心的方式提出：經常是模式以隱含的方式提出或已隱含在假定當中。

Faced with this multiplicity of convictions, it is not surprising that the experienced historian tends to be wary of committing himself to any of them. Yet history cannot be written without some basis of selection, whether artificial and purely subjective or inherent in man's story. A survey of the presidential addresses made before this Association reveals the fact that no one single topic has so attracted those who have been chosen to head this honorable body as have the possible patterns and meanings of history. A few of the addresses have been critical of particular interpretations or even of all interpretations of history. More have presented interpretations--although usually with such modesty and cautious tentativeness as befits those who submit themselves to the judgment of their peers. Frequently the patterns have been assumed or implied.

於是歷史學家就出於兩難之中。 一方面， 他為難地意識到有許多提出來的歷史的解釋和哲學思想， 然而卻不能全部地接受其中任何一種。另一方面， 他面臨只有一種選擇：必須採取行動確定哪怕是任意的一種選擇原則， 並不斷地被要找到一個具有客觀現實性框架和意義的希望所困擾。

The historian, then, is faced with a dilemma. On the one hand he is painfully aware of the many interpretations and philosophies of history which have been put forward and is therefore hesitant to accept wholeheartedly any one of them. On the other hand he is confronted with the necessity of acting on some principle of selection, even though it be arbitrary, and is haunted by the persistent hope that a framework and meaning can be found which possess objective reality.

這種希望在現今尤其不定。我們似乎生活在一個重大變革的時代。 作為歷史學家，我們對過去許多巨變的時期非常熟悉。 確實，如果我們對描述歷史的特性有共識的話，那就是變化。似乎是沒有一種文化（如果我們能夠同意它存在的話）和組織能夠永遠保持不變。至少我們知道，人類從來沒像今天這樣在巨變中前進。從來沒像今天這樣這麼多的文化似乎處於解體的過程中。也從來沒有一個時代人類面臨這麼多的好的和壞的可能選擇。人類作為一個整體也從來沒有像現在被那些用各種各樣的教條般的對歷史的解釋和在痛苦的轉型的引導所困擾。

This hope is peculiarly insistent in our day. We appear to be living in a time of major revolution. As historians we are familiar with many earlier periods of rapid change. Indeed, if there is one feature which we are agreed upon as characterizing history it is flux. It seems probable that no culture--if we can assent to the existence of such an entity--and no institution remains permanently unaltered. Yet so far as we are aware, never before has all mankind been so drastically on the march. Never at any one time have so many cultures been in what appears to be disintegration. In no other era have all men been faced with such colossal possibilities of what they deem good and ill. Never before has the race as a whole been so assailed by those who urge upon it dogmatically one or another interpretation of the historical process to explain and to guide in humanity's painful transition.

在這種情況下， 我能否斗膽請你們考慮一下最古老的歷史觀之一： 基督徒的歷史觀？我的確意識到許多人現在認為它太過時了， 是與一個已被棄絕的一段思想相連的，只有那些與現代社會脫節的可憐蟲才堅持的觀念。我這樣作是因為我接受基督徒的歷史觀並越來越被其精確的洞察所吸引。 但我不是作為一個先入為主的主張者和一長串不斷的尋求證明神與人關係的人們之一 來再一次吸引你們的注意力。相反， 我是與你們一起提出一個問題： 基督徒的歷史觀能不能為迷惑我們許多優秀的思想家的奧秘提供線索。

May I make bold under these circumstances to invite your consideration to one of the oldest interpretations of history, the one which bears the name Christian? I do so realizing that many now regard it as quite outmoded, as associated with a stage of thinking which mankind is discarding, and as being held only by those who are victims of what is indulgently denominated social lag. I do so as one who accepts the Christian understanding of history and is more and more attracted by what he believes to be the accuracy of its insight. But it is not as an advocate, as one in the long succession of those who would seek to justify the ways of God to men, that I would once more draw your attention to it. I would, rather, raise with you the question of whether the Christian understanding of history may not offer the clue to the mystery which fascinates so many of our best minds.

我能否概括一下什麼是基督徒的歷史觀？然後在提出在什麼程度上我們可以用今天歷史學家採用的方法來代替實驗， 下一步則指出採用這些方法的途徑和從這些實驗中得到的可能結論？一方面我們通過基督徒歷史觀所得的結論來推論主題的結論， 另一方面，基督徒的觀點通過基督教的在世界上的擴展不斷地被更多的個人和更大的團體所接受， 並且通過了各種新舊挑戰， 越傳越廣。 另外最近的歷史經驗為這個熟悉的問題提供了新的答案。

May I first outline what the Christian understanding of history is? Then may I go on to suggest the degree to which it eludes testing by the methods employed by historians of our day? May I next note the ways in which it can be approached by these methods and indicate possible conclusions from these tests? The subject is rendered pertinent partly by reason of the claims which continue to be made for the Christian understanding of history, partly because, through the geographic expansion of Christianity, the Christian view is held by individuals and groups in more and more peoples and is, indeed, more widely spread than any other, in part from the challenges, some old and some new, to which the view is submitted, and because recent experience may shed fresh light on a familiar question.

基督徒的歷史觀是什麼？乍一眼似乎沒有一種觀點能夠被所有的基督徒接受並冠以基督徒的名字， 而是有許多種，相互聯繫卻針鋒相對， 沒有多少共性的東西。有些差別在基督教初期就存在於最早的新約的信仰和信條里。但大多數產生於對於這些信條的各種各樣的解釋里。

What is the Christian understanding of history? At first sight there may seem to be no single view held by all Christians and given the Christian name, but rather a number of views, related but reciprocally contradictory and having little in common. Some differences are to be found near the very beginning of Christianity and are   imbedded in the earliest documents of the faith, those assembled in the New Testament. Most of the others arise from varying interpretations of these documents.

重要差別在這裡。 耶穌談了許多關於天國或神的國的事。我們假定他這樣做是出入神的旨意，因為有一段我們所有基督徒都會的祈求禱告， “願你的國降臨，與願你的旨意行在地上，如同行在天上”。希伯來語詩詞的風格是第二段用不同的詞來重複第一段的意思。但基督徒對於這個祈求禱告得答覆的方式和時間意見不一。在歷史中，神的國是通過不同階段緩慢地， 需要人的配合最後等神的旨意完全實現才能到來？這種觀念為十九世紀後期的新教徒們廣泛接受， 直到今天在一些地方仍然存在。 據信可以在耶穌的話中找到確證。 明顯地，這與進化觀點相近並為許多接受進化假設的人所喜歡。 相反的觀點是世界不是在變好，而是在變得更壞。神，無需要人的參入， 會把歷史帶到一個突然的終點並完成他的旨意。許多傑出的學者都堅持認為耶穌自己也期望這種結局快來。許多世紀以來，有些人不時地相信歷史馬上就要結束了。這些人今天就確實在我們當中。有些基督徒認為神的國是教會。其他人不這樣認為。有些人堅持人類因為罪墮落而毫無希望，任何使自己變好的努力都註定要失敗， 唯一能做的是靜靜地等候神自己實現他的目的。其他人， 對人的能力有更多的信心， 認為神基於人的工作來實現天國。

The chief differences are quickly summarized. Jesus had much to say of what he called the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God. Presumably he meant by this the doing of God's will, for one of the central petitions of the prayer which all Christians agree to have been taught by him, "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven," in the fashion of Hebrew poetry makes the second part repeat in different words the idea in the first part. But Christians disagree as to how and when that petition is to be answered. Is the Kingdom of God to come by slow stages and by the cooperation of men until God's will is perfectly accomplished--within history? This view was widely cherished in Protestant circles late in the nineteenth century and in some quarters survives today. It is believed to have support in the words of Jesus. This, obviously, is akin to evolution and has been congenial to many who have accepted the evolutionary hypothesis. The opposite view has been held that the world is becoming no better, and, indeed, may even be deteriorating, and that God by His own unaided act will bring history to a sudden dramatic end and will then accomplish His perfect will. Eminent scholars have contended that Jesus himself expected this consummation and very soon. From time to time through the centuries there have been those who have believed the end of history to be imminent. Indeed, we have them with us today. Some Christians identify the Kingdom of God with the Church. Others would not so identify it. Some have held that the human will is so hopelessly corrupted by sin that every effort by man to better his condition is foredoomed and that we must quietly wait for God to accomplish His purposes. Others, with more confidence in human ability, make God dependent on man's efforts in bringing in the Kingdom.

儘管這些差別很明顯也很重要，但他們都在大多數基督徒都基本同意的框架里。 他們用不同的方式闡述信仰，但許多表述都建立在很大程度的共識上。基督徒相信神是宇宙的創造者和統治者。 他的統治範圍無邊無際， 或者有人無法想象的距離， 無數的星斗和無法認識的微小的原子世界，或者是人所稱的物質世界或精神世界。這意味着人生活在宇宙當中，歷史也在其中發生。一切現實的存在都歸於宇宙且在神的掌控當中， 人類的一切戲劇性的活動都是神的宏大的一體創造的一小片。因此基督徒的觀點認為，最終神會以他的方式在人類的一切中掌權。 基督徒堅持認為， 儘管人在身體上脆弱，但他們是按與神的相似的性情所造，且有與神交通的可能性。 為此， 在基督徒眼裡， 人類是一個整體。歷史也包含了整個人類機器相關的一切。神在按他的形象造人時，他給了人類一定程度的自由意志。儘管人類的自由受到了各種因素的限制， 其中包括遺傳，身體和社會環境等，但它是真實存在的。人類歷史很大一部分是悲劇，而悲劇的主要內容是人類對自由的濫用。人類很容易忘記他們是被造物。 人以這樣或那樣的方式把自己放到完全自治的程度， 尋求他自己的意願而不是神的意願。他對其他事物的忠心超過了對神的忠心， 沒有把該給神的獻給神。一個人想象中的安全感和快樂，家庭，自己的一套思想，國家或其他組織甚至教會都被看的比神高。按基督徒的說法，神，在宇宙和歷史中永遠工作的神，用審判和憐憫兩種方法對付人的意願的悖逆。通過時刻被稱為殘酷的寫在宇宙結構上和人類自己的結構和環境裡的律法， 神審判人類和人類在神里所做的一切。這樣人類的苦難和挫折就來了。但神希望人類悔改，而且只要人類真心悔改，不管多少次，不管是個人的悔改還是團體的悔改，他都原諒人類， 並重新給人類機會成長達到他為他們所預定的目的。最終神必然勝利。歷史將會達到一個頂峰。不管是在時間當中還是時間以外，神的旨意將會完成， 他的完全的主權遍及全地。

Striking and important though these differences are, they occur within a framework to which most informed Christians give general assent. They state their faith in a wide variety of ways, but back of the many formulations lies a large measure of agreement. Christians believe that God is the creator of the universe and rules throughout all its vast reaches, whether, to man, the unimaginable distances and uncounted suns or the inconceivably minute world of the atom, whether in what men call matter or in what they call spirit. This means that man lives and history takes places in a universe, that all of reality is one and under the control of God, and that the human drama is part and parcel of the far larger unity of God's creation. Ultimately and in His own way, so the Christian view maintains, God is sovereign in the affairs of men. Physically frail though he is, man, the Christian declares, was created in the likeness of God and with the possibility of fellowship with God. For this reason, as the Christian sees it, mankind is one; history embraces all mankind and is universal. In creating man in His image, God gave to man a certain measure of His own free will. Man's freedom is limited by various factors, among them heredity and physical and social environment, but his freedom is still real. Human history is in large part tragedy, and the tragedy consists in man's abuse of his freedom. Man is prone to ignore the fact that he is a creature. In one fashion or another he arrogates to himself full autonomy and seeks to do not God's will but his own will. He places other loyalties above his loyalty to God and gives to them the allegiance due to God. Thus one's own fancied security and pleasure, the family, a set of ideas, the state or some other organization, even a church, may be given priority. God, who is always working in the universe and in history, meets this perversion of man's will, so the Christian goes on to say, in two ways, by judgment and by mercy. Through what are sometimes described as His inexorable laws written into the structure of the universe and so in man's own constitution and environment, God judges man and whatever man sets up in place of God. Hence comes most of man's misery and frustration. But God wishes man to repent, and as often as men truly repent, whether individually or in groups, He forgives them and gives them fresh opportunity to grow toward the purpose which He has for them. Ultimately God will triumph. History moves toward a culmination. Whether within or beyond time God's will is to be accomplished and His full sovereignty will be seen to have prevailed.

至今為止基督徒的宇宙觀和歷史觀也與非基督徒的幾個觀點相符。 我們在這裡講的是猶太教，一定程度上的伊斯蘭教， 以及在中國，古波斯和其他地方的有神論或接近有神論的系統。

Thus far the Christian understanding of the universe and of history resembles several non-Christian views. What is here outlined is largely true of Judaism, to a certain extent of Islam, and has partial parallels in theistic or near-theistic systems in China, ancient Persia, and elsewhere.

基督徒的歷史觀的獨特之處在於歷史事件的多次出現。 它的核心不是一套思想觀念，而是一個人。歷史學家採用B.C.和A.D來記錄歷史。 他們也知道許多別的記錄方法。 由於在過去的許多世紀裡基督教的有力的影響，這種特別的年表記錄法才被廣泛採用。對於基督徒來講， 這種年表記錄法絕不是一種俗成約定而已，它是歷史固有的一部分。基督徒們堅持神在拿撒勒人耶穌身上一勞永逸地顯示了他自己並開始做工。 大多數基督徒都相信耶穌是神的肉身體現。歷史學家也相當清楚歷史上的爭論和教會鬥爭， 其中的許多與神通過耶穌的神人兩重性所顯出的超然神聖素質， 愛， 形成了鮮明的對比。許多爭論意氣性的是一個更大的問題的一部分。 這個我們以後會談到。 基督徒相信這個問題最有戲劇性和決定性的論述是在耶穌被釘十字架這件事上。撇開爭論中的苦毒不談， 或者部分地由於它， 關於在耶穌身上的人性和神性的爭論是人的思想和精神努力想明白基督徒所堅持的這件特別事件的意義。絕大多數基督徒都同意基督教早期文件中所表明的： 耶穌是自有永有神的道所成的肉身。基督徒相信神的國源於耶穌。部分原因是全人全神的耶穌在他的教導和生命里展現了神對人的期望和使人可能成為什麼。 另外也因為在耶穌里和通過耶穌，神啟示了他的最內在的素質並成就了他最重要的核心工作。

The distinctively Christian understanding of history centers upon historical occurrences. It has at its heart not a set of ideas but a person. By a widespread convention historians reckon history as b.c. and a.d. They are aware of many other methods of recording dates and know that this particular chronology has acquired extensive currency because of the growing dominance during the past few centuries of a civilization in which Christian influences have been potent. To the Christian, however, this reckoning of time is much more than a convention. It is inherent in history. In Jesus of Nazareth, so the Christian holds, God once for all disclosed Himself and acted decisively. The vast majority of Christians believe that Jesus was God incarnate. Historians are well aware of the long debates and the ecclesiastical struggles, some of them in stark contradiction to the love which is the supreme Christian virtue, over the relation of the divine and human in Jesus. That so many of the debates should have been an occasion for this temper is part of a larger problem to which we must later recur and which had its most dramatic and, so Christians believe, its decisive expression in the crucifixion of Jesus. In spite of and, perhaps, in part because of their acrimony, the controversies over the relation of the human and divine in Jesus are evidence of the struggle of the human mind and spirit to comprehend what Christians hold to have been a quite unique event. The large majority of Christians agree with the conviction expressed in one of the early Christian documents, that in Jesus the eternal Word which was and is God became flesh. In Jesus, so Christians maintain, God's Kingdom began in a fresh way. This was partly because Jesus, being both God and man, disclosed by his life and his teachings what God intended man to be and what man might become. It was also because in and through Jesus God revealed His inmost nature and accomplished a work of central and supreme importance.

神像基督徒所聲稱的是愛。英語中的“愛“字是笨拙的和多義的。它被用來表示許多含義的。早期基督徒所用的希臘語則比較清晰， 但仍然不夠。當”愛“字用在神身上時，基督徒是指一種自我奉獻， 這種意思無法用語言完全表達清楚， 只有通過在耶穌身上彰顯出來，特別是在他的死里。在這裡，正像最早的一個基督徒所聲稱的， 儘管他的死顯出的是軟弱和愚蠢，但神的大能和智慧卻藉此顯示出來【林前1:18-25.】。釘十字架帶來的是復活。 基督徒認為，通過復活， 肉體的死不僅沒有終結一切， 而且可能進入永生並超越歷史的一個階段。這個階段不止是現狀的繼續--這裡可能對一些人來講是極其不幸的--而且是一個與神和神的愛密切交通的階段。在最早的記錄里，神在耶穌身上所完成的不叫基督教， 而是叫福音：”好消息“。 他福音通過清除人的邪惡和罪來審判人，並釋放生命以對付邪惡和罪。 神在歷史中對人的希望是”效法他兒子的模樣“【羅  8:29】

God, so the Christians declare, is love. The English word "love" is clumsy and ambiguous. It is used to cover a wide range of meanings. The Greek which the early Christians employed was more discriminating. But even that was inadequate. In "love," as that term is applied to God, the Christian discerns a self-giving which can never be perfectly described in words but which was disclosed in Jesus. This love was especially seen in the death of Jesus. Here, as one of the earliest Christians declared, although it appeared to be weakness and folly, were displayed both the power of God and the wisdom of God.1 The crucifixion was followed by the resurrection. Through the resurrection, so Christians believe, God demonstrated that physical death not only does not end all but that it may be a stage in an endless life beyond history which is not merely continued existence--this might be and presumably will for some men be extraordinarily unhappy--but which is one of growing fellowship with God, God who is love. In the earliest documents the name for what God did in Jesus is not Christianity: it is Gospel, "Good News." The Gospel judges man by making clear as in no other way man's perversity and sin. It also releases life to overcome that perversity and sin. The purpose of God in history is that men shall be "conformed to the image of His son."

基督徒對歷史的理解還包括在十字架受死和復活以後，神繼續提供聖靈工作。通過聖靈，人可以被重造並進入神在創世時就為人計劃好的榮耀的永遠的生命。那些具有永遠生命的人身上充滿了信心，盼望和（尤其是神的最本質的素質）愛。他們建立了團契，即教會。 教會是在歷史中有形的， 但從來沒有完全等同於任何歷史表述並超越歷史。歷史是神尋找人的過程。神是法官，但他審判那些他可以拯救和轉換的人。神的恩典（即人不配得的和無法贏得的）尊重人的自由意志並主動提供道成肉身，十字架和聖靈便及我們。 對基督徒來講，這就是歷史的意義和統一核心。

The Christian understanding of history goes on to say that following the crucifixion and the resurrection God continued to operate through what Christians call the Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit men can be remade and can enter upon the radiant, eternal life which from the beginning was God's plan for men. Those who have that life are characterized by faith, hope, and especially love, the kind of love which is of the very nature of God. They form a fellowship, the Church, which takes on a visible form or forms within history but which is never completely identical with any historic expression and continues beyond history. The course of history is God's search for man. God is judge, but He judges man that He may save him and transform him. God's grace, the love which man does not deserve and cannot earn, respects man's free will and endeavors to reach man through the incarnation, the cross, and the Holy Spirit. Here, to the Christian, is the meaning of history and its unifying core.

從一開始，基督徒的歷史觀就包含了所有人。在基督徒看來，人不一定是宇宙中心。也許在其他星球上或星系中，神也按他的形象有所創造，並賦予自由意志，這自由意志也被濫用。如果這樣的話， 他的愛也會星球他們。 果然神是愛，他的愛必須在全員宇宙起作用。即在其他星球上，他的愛也普及到所有人。 耶穌要求早期的使徒“到地極”去做“我的見證”【使1:8】， 給他們使浸， 並教導他們耶穌一開始教導他們的話。想必這是以後所有基督徒的責任。這意味着基督徒的生活目的是像耶穌一樣對神全然順服。這意味着整個人類社會的轉變：全然符合神對人類的意志。然而從一開始耶穌或基督徒們就沒有期望在整個歷史裡人類會“滿有耶穌長成的身量”【弗  4:13】， 在歷史終結以前， 麥子和稗 子, 好和壞，都會生長【馬太 13:24-30】。在歷史意外，也許是在時間以外，神將“使 天 上 地 上 一 切 所 有 的 ， 都 在 基 督 里 面 同 歸 於 一”  【弗 1:10】。 神永遠是主權的神，在十字架和符合里標明他的得勝【Col. 2:15】。但他的主權在歷史以外顯得完整。

From the outset, the Christian view of history has embraced all men. From the Christian standpoint man is not necessarily central in the universe. There may be many other beings and on other planets or in other stellar systems, whom God creates in His likeness, to whom He gives free will, and who abuse that free will. If so, His love also seeks them. If God is love, His love must be at work in all the universe. Yet on this planet God's love certainly includes all men. The early disciples were commanded to be "witnesses" "unto the uttermost parts of the earth,"3 to "make disciples of all nations," baptizing them, and teaching them to observe all that Jesus had commanded his original followers.4 This, presumably, also becomes the obligation of all subsequent Christians. It implies that the Christian goal can be nothing short of the full obedience of all men to God as He disclosed Himself in Jesus. This would entail the complete transformation of human society to bring society into entire conformity with God's will for man. Yet it seems clear that neither Jesus nor the early Christians expected within history the full conformation of mankind to the "measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."5 Both the wheat and the tares, the good and the evil, were expected to "grow" until the consummation of history. Beyond history, presumably outside of 'time, God is "to gather together all things in one in Christ, which are in heaven and which are on earth."7 God has always been sovereign, and in the cross and the resurrection He signally triumphed,8 but beyond history His sovereignty is to be seen as complete.

基督徒的歷史觀與其他觀點截然不同。 它與波斯的二元論形成鮮明的對比： 後者意味做善和惡各有其源。這種二元論表明良善的神在歷史中並無完全主權， 因為他沒有創造整個宇宙。 然而基督教卻認為神是一切的創造者和一切之主。只有一個完全主權的神才能像基督徒相信那樣赦免罪。基督教也不像印度哲學那樣的泛神論， 因為它不認為神是被人所稱惡的源頭。基督教聲稱人的苦難源於人濫用神所賜的自由意志。按基督徒的理解， 歷史不是全然周期性的， 它認可年代和朝代，但它承認新的思想進來， 新的事物發生。 基督徒眼裡的偉大事件是耶穌，耶穌是獨一無二的。所以最後的結局也是過去沒有的。有的對歷史的解釋期望歷史中出現完美， 一個理想的人類社會的到來。這是共產主義的信息。 孔德和黑格爾也有過大概的想法。基督徒的歷史觀並不一定否認這個過程。明顯地，在我們能夠說進程是否發生以前， 衡量進步的標準要首先確立。 基督徒的標準是非常基督徒化的--像神在耶穌里所顯明的那樣，在神的形象上成長。基督徒還沒有在進步是否在歷史中發生形成一致意見： 有人說是也有人說不。但很少（如果有的話）基督徒堅持人類將在歷史中達到完全的定命。

he Christian understanding of history differs radically from other views. It is in contrast with the ancient Persian dualism, for the latter implies separate origins of good and evil. This dualism means that the good God is not sovereign in history, because He has not created the universe as a whole, whereas Christianity regards God as creator and lord of all. Only a sovereign God can forgive sins as the Christian believes Him to do. Nor is Christianity pantheistic, as is so much of Indian philosoephy, for it does not make God the author of what men call evil. Man's misery, so Christianity declares, arises from the abuse of the free will which God has given him. The Christian understanding of history is not exclusively cyclical. It recognizes eras and ages, but it holds that novelty enters, that new things happen. The great event, as the Christian sees it, was Jesus and Jesus was without precedent. So, too, the consummation will be new. Some interpretations of history seem to expect perfection within history, the coming of the ideal human society. This is the communist message. It appears to have been true of Comte and of Hegel. The Christian understanding of history does not necessarily deny progress. Obviously, the criteria for measuring advance must be established before we can say whether progress has occurred, and the Christian criteria are peculiarly Christian--growth in the likeness of God as God reveals Himself in Jesus. Christians are not agreed as to whether progress occurs in history. Some affirm it and others deny it. Yet few if any Christians have maintained that man will attain his full destiny within history.

所以這些是， 或將是歷史學家的所要面臨的共同問題。這是簡單地闡述一下大多數基督徒一直持守信的信念。許多基督徒會加點東西或強調一下。許多基督徒會認為這還不夠完整和全面。 但絕大多數會說就目前的認識來講，它是一個過去和現在堅持的基督徒歷史觀的一個總結。如果不是有必要在這裡評定基督徒對歷史的理解，我不會不斷地重複。

All this is, or should be, a commonplace to historians. It is simply an attempt at a restatement of what the majority of Christians have always believed. Many Christians would add to this or would amplify it. Many would regard it as inadequate and incomplete. Yet the overwhelming proportion would say that so far as it goes it is a summary of what Christians have held and hold today to be the Christian view of: history. I would apologize for repeating it were it not necessary for any assessment of the Christian understanding of history.

如果歷史學家要採用目前這個行當里的成員傾向使用的標準進行評估的話， 要特別注意基督徒觀點的幾個特徵。

Several features of the Christian outlook must be especially noted if the historian would seek an appraisal by the standards which the members of his craft are currently inclined to apply.

首先， 他要明白這是一個直率的觀點和一套與人類通常提倡的完全相反的價值觀念。聖經告訴我們除非我們重生，否則我們不僅進不了神的國，連看也看不見（或者也許是認不出來）【約3:3, 5】。 大家記得使徒的王子（彼得)就是因為順從人的想法而不是神的想法而被耶穌訓斥【馬太. 16:23】。 這是因為他沒有想到上十字架的命定而勸告他的主人避開它。在耶穌以前幾個世紀，有一個關於耶穌以前最偉大的先知之一的故事講到他所想象的神不是電閃雷鳴， 也不是狂風，而是安靜細小的聲音【王上 19:11-13】。 耶穌以前另外一個先知也強調神的意念非同人的意念，神的道路非同人的道路【賽55:8】。保羅在論到上十字架時宣稱”智慧人“和文士（即學者）全然忽略了十字架的意義， 神叫這世上的智慧變成愚拙【林前. 1:20】。用另外的話講， 如果人能明白神眼裡的歷史，歷史學家應該把注意力放在那些平時被忽略的事件上。從基督徒的眼光來看， 一般的歷史學家完全歪曲了歷史的真相併忽略了最重要的特徵。在這裡我們插入一句： 這對研究教會史的人以及研究政治史，經濟史和知識史的人同樣適用。

First of all, he must be clear that here are frankly a perspective and a set of values which are the complete reverse of those which mankind generally esteems. We are told that unless a man is born again not only can he not enter, but he cannot even see (or presumably recognize) the Kingdom of God.9 On one memorable occasion the "prince of the apostles" was rebuked by Jesus for thinking like man and not like God.10 This was because he was shocked by the prospect of the crucifixion and sought to dissuade his master from it. Centuries before Jesus a famous story of the one of the prophets who was counted as among his greatest predecessors declared that God was not in the thunder nor in a mighty wind, where He was expected, but in a still small voice.11 Another of the prophets in whose succession Jesus stood was emphatic that God's thoughts are not man's thoughts nor man's ways God's ways.12 Of the crucifixion Paul declared that the "wise man" and the "scribe," namely the scholar, completely miss its significance and that God makes foolish the wisdom of this world.13 In other words, if he is to understand history as God sees it, the historian must focus his attention upon events which he would normally ignore. From the Christian standpoint, the usual historian has an entirely distorted view of history and misses the most important features. This, may we add parenthetically, may be true of those who deal with ecclesiastical as well as with political, economic, or intellectual history.

即使當歷史學家注意到那些基督教歷史觀認為最重要的事件時，他也許忽略了他們的真正意義。下面的帶求 “父阿，赦免他們。因為他們所作的，他們不曉得”【路23:34】具有深遠的意義。如果那些釘死耶穌的人夢想到他們殺死了神的兒子時， 他們就會一直被扯進顫慄和恐懼中。

Even when the historian gives attention to the events which the Christian understanding deems most significant he may miss their real import. There is deep meaning in the plea, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."14 Had those who crucified Jesus dreamed that they were executing the Son of God they would, presumably, have drawn back in terror or in horror.

第二點，歷史學家必須意識到， 在耶穌的眼裡， 個人是具有顯著的重要性的。在這一點上，他聲言是表達神的意志。基督教信仰高舉個人。像我們以前所講的，每一個人都是準備與永生神相調的和相愛的。耶穌的注意力是在個人身上。他一個接一個地醫治。 他的一些最使人牢記的教導和比喻是講給個人聽的。他一遍遍地重複神賦予個人的價值。正像他講的，他對犯錯者的心意就像那個放下九十九隻在安全處的羊而去尋找那丟失的一隻直到找到為止的牧羊人對羊的心意一般【 路15:3-6】， 或者像那個期待失喪的兒子的回歸併在他出現和悔改後歡喜的父親一樣【路15:11-24】。

In the second place, the historian must recognize that from the viewpoint of Jesus the individual is of outstanding importance. In this he declared that he was expressing the mind of God. The Christian faith exalts the individual. Each human being, as we have said before, is regarded as intended for fellowship with the eternal God Who is love. It was to individuals that Jesus gave his attention. He healed men one by one. Some of his best remembered sayings and parables were to single persons. He spoke again and again of the value which God places on individuals. The concern of God for the erring, so he said, is like that of the shepherd who leaves the ninety and nine who are safe in the fold and seeks for the one sheep who is lost until he finds it,15 or like the father who longs for the return of a wayward son and rejoices when he appears, repentant.16

耶穌深切地關懷他的人民的命運。在他的時代，巴勒斯坦地區（的人民）正經歷着幾年後將變成一場公開的起義並導致耶路撒冷被毀滅的騷亂。像許多有智慧和深思的人一樣， 他也看到了日益積累的民族主義， 宗教狂熱和羅馬的力量， 預測到了將要發生的事情。如果耶路撒冷的人願意聽從他的話的話， 耶路撒冷會被饒恕， 毀滅可以避免。但是他們是那樣的盲目，城市的毀滅是註定了。 他為這種前景憂傷以致流淚痛哭【路19:41-44】。

Jesus was deeply concerned for the fate of his people. In his day Palestine was seething with unrest which a few years later broke out in open revolt and was followed by the destruction of Jerusalem. He clearly foresaw what was coming, as must any intelligent, well-poised observer who took account of the mounting nationalistic and religious fanaticism and who knew the power of Rome. He believed that the destruction had not been unavoidable, that had its inhabitants been willing to heed him Jerusalem might have escaped, but that they were so blind that the doom of the city was sealed. So deeply pained was he by the prospect that he wept.17

然而至今就我們所知耶穌從來沒有捲入政治之中。確實在他開始他的公開傳道生涯時， 他把進入政治領域的明顯的誘惑的想法推到一邊【路4:5-8】。更肯定的是，他被指控有叛族的企圖並被嘲弄性地以“猶太人的王”被釘死【Mark 15:18, 26; 路23:1, 2】。但這一點是非常清楚的： 他相信他的國“不屬於這個世界”【約18:36】， 在他的心中和他所相信的神的計劃中， 這個詞對他來講具有比人所能理解的賦有很多的意義。從政治智慧和謹慎的角度來看，耶穌所走的路簡直是瘋狂的。在去宣判他死刑的耶路撒冷的路上，他選擇了一條不得不承受當權的宗教權威的憤怒，回絕了逃離並拒絕他的追隨者組織或使用武力來維護他和他的事業。

Yet so far as we know Jesus never engaged in politics. Indeed, at the outset of his public career he had put aside as a palpable temptation the suggestion that he enter the political arena.18 To be sure, he was accused of treasonable aspirations and was crucified derisively as "the King of the Jews,"19 but it is quite clear that he believed his kingdom to be "not of this world"20 and that as applied to what he had in mind and what he believed to be God's purpose, the term had for him far other significance than that given it by men. From the standpoint of political wisdom and when viewed prudently the program which Jesus followed seemed the sheerest madness. On the visit to Jerusalem which issued in his death he pursued a course which could not but bring down on his head the wrath of the established authorities of religion and the state and yet he declined either to flee or to permit his followers to organize or to use armed force to defend him and his cause.

然而，第三點， 耶穌沒有置人類的社會結構不顧。他談了許多關於人和其他人的關係問題，聲言愛神的表現是愛鄰舍【 Matt. 22:34-40】。他經常提到的神的國就是社會。人要一個一個地進神的國。當他們（此時此地就能）進入時，他們要像裡面的人一樣行事， 就好像神國早已在了一樣。神國的標準高於任何社會所能實際達到的， 基督徒在裡面作永遠作為一股革命的力量。福音的目的不是挽救任何文化。文化和帝國的興起和衰落對個人的影響是重要的，但興衰對於文化和帝國本身的影響遠遠超過對個人的影響。在這裡，正像基督徒所堅持的， 福音的意志和堅固能力能夠使個人勝利榮耀地承受試煉。確實的是，從基督徒的觀點來看，一個帝國或文化的崩潰可以是一個建造一個更好的機會。基督徒要遠遠挑戰他們所處的文明。然而他們不是毀滅性的而是建設性的。他們是“世上的鹽和光”【Matt. 5:13, 14】。

However, in the third place, Jesus did not ignore the social structures of mankind. He said much of the relation of individuals to other individuals and declared that the corollary of love for God is love for one's neighbor.21The Kingdom of God, of which he so often spoke, is a society. Men are to enter that Kingdom one by one. When they enter it, as they can here and now, they are to act as its members and as though the Kingdom were already here. The standards of that Kingdom are so far above the actual attainments of any other society that Christians as members of the Kingdom are always a revolutionary force. It is not the purpose of the Gospel to save any culture. The rise and fall of cultures and empires are important in so far as they affect individuals, but the rise and fall may harm the individual no more than do the cultures and empires themselves. There is that in the Gospel, so Christians maintain, which enables individuals to pass through such experiences triumphantly, centers of healing and strength. Indeed, the collapse of an empire or a culture may make it possible to build what, from the Christian standpoint, is better. Christians must always challenge any civilization in which they are set. Yet they are not to be primarily destructive but constructive. They are to be "the salt of the earth" and "the light of the world."22

在這裡終於有一些歷史學家可以觸摸和開始測量的東西。他當然確定在什麼地方基督徒，因為為其信仰，可以成為歷史的塑造力量。但他要注意， 由於基督徒的整套價值觀與平常人不同，在他所掌握的文獻中基督徒的貢獻記錄也許沒有得到保存。 ”然而有許多在前的將要在後，在後的將要在前“【 Matt. 19:30】。他應該知道， “神的國來到，不是眼所能見的， 人也不得說，看哪，在這裡。看哪，在那裡。”【Luke 17:20, 21】

Here at last appears to be something tangible on which the historian would like to believe that he can lay his hand and begin to measure. Surely he can determine where Christians, because of their faith, have been a molding force in history. Yet he is warned that, since the Christian set of values is different from that of the rank and file of men, the record of the accomplishments of Christians may not be preserved in the documents on which he relies. "The last shall be first and the first last."23 The Kingdom of God, he is told, comes not by observation. Neither can men say about it "lo here and lo there."24

第四點，在基督徒對歷史的理解中，歷史和時間均為永恆所包圍。基督徒看待歷史事件為神在歷史裡的作為。它堅持人類的活動還沒有結束， 當歷史學家與這些歷史事件打交道時，他的眼光必須超越這些事件，甚至超越那些將來要發生的事件才能完全地認識神是如何與人交往的。出於必要和歷史時間的因素， 基督教着眼於時間上的事件但也穿越事件。

In the fourth place, the Christian understanding of history regards history and time as surrounded by eternity. Christianity centers upon historical events and views God as acting in history. Yet it holds that the human drama is not completed in time, and that one must go beyond the events with which the historian deals and even beyond what is still to occur in time in order completely to see God's dealings with man. Of necessity and by its very nature history deals with time. Christianity centers upon events in time and also transcends them.

當歷史學家不得不面對基督徒的歷史觀時， 他可能感到困惑甚至不耐煩。他可能苦笑着講基督教就像道教一樣聲言“知者不說， 說者不知。” 基督徒有一些關鍵的認知不會也不可能被歷史學家們常用的方法測試。例如，歷史學家既不可能完全肯定也不可能完全否定神按他自己的形象造人。在歷史中，人無法完全認識神。如果他可以被完全認識，他將是一個有限的並不再是基督徒信仰所認定的神。

When he is confronted with the Christian understanding of history the historian may well feel baffled and even impatient. He may say with a wry smile that the Christian is like the Taoist who declared that those who know do not speak and that those who speak do not know.25 Some of the key Christian convictions about history are not and cannot be subject to the tests which the historian is able to apply. For instance, the historian can neither absolutely prove nor disprove that God created man in His own image. Obviously he cannot reach beyond time and verify the Christian conviction concerning the goal of history. God cannot be fully known within history. If He could, He would be limited and would cease to be what the Christian faith believes Him to be.

困難本身就在歷史學家所限定的研究方法中。他必須與記錄打交道。他必須通過任何暢通的渠道來試圖確定過去確實發生過什麼。歷史學家所接觸的記錄文件通常是充滿錯誤的。在評鑑他們和整理和解釋歷史事件時，歷史學家要靠推理。他知道在大多數的文件記錄及其整理和解釋中多存在主觀性， 而他永遠無法從中解脫。他試圖採用推理來把主觀因素降到最小， 但如果他是誠實的和具備常識的，他知道推理的局限， 也懷疑主觀因素永遠不可能完全去掉。歷史學家自己是歷史的一部分。 他自己就在其中， 不可能完全站在歷史之外， 用純粹的客觀性來觀察歷史。

The difficulty is inherent in the methods to which the historian is confined. He must deal with records. Through whatever channels are open to him he must attempt to determine what actually happened. The records which are accessible to the historian are usually very faulty. In appraising them and in arranging and interpreting events the historian relies on his reason. He knows that in most of the records and in his arrangement and interpretation of them there is subjectivity, a subjectivity from which he can never be entirely emancipated. He seeks through reason to reduce the subjective element to a minimum, but if he is honest and well equipped he knows something of the limitations of reason and also suspects that the subjective element can never be completely eliminated. The historian is himself part of history. He is caught in it and cannot fully stand apart from it or view it with undiluted objectivity.

歷史學家的工作中的這些限制阻礙了他的有效的工作， 甚至他的試圖對歷史解釋的評價。 這不單純是他把這些工具應用在基督徒歷史觀時其工作受到阻礙。歷史學家與可見的事件打交道，但存在那些人無法測量的不可見力量。如果他尊重歷史的話， 歷史學家永遠無法從價值中提取出事實。至少今天歷史學家所受的訓練使他無法這樣作。除非他是一個全然的懷疑論者，否則他會嘗試着發現價值體系標準。 基督教聲稱給他提供了一套絕對標準。然而當他採用他所慣用的程序來評價基督教或其他的價值體系時，他會感到彆扭和困惑。

These limitations on his work handicap the historian in all his endeavors, including his attempt to appraise any interpretation of history. It is not merely when he applies his tools to the Christian understanding of history that he is hampered. The historian is dealing with visible events, but there are also invisible forces which he cannot measure. If he is not to do violence to history the historian can never abstract fact from value. Yet his training, at least as usually given in our day, does not equip him to deal with the latter. Unless he is a thoroughgoing skeptic, the historian tries to discover a standard of values. Christianity professes to provide him with an absolute criterion. Yet by the processes which he normally employs the historian is clumsy and baffled when he comes to appraise the Christian or any other set of values.

然而，儘管有限制，歷史學家必須使用它們所掌握的工具。當他這樣作時，他會逐漸發現他更多的證據支持基督教對歷史的理解。歷史學家作為歷史學者本身既不能反駁也無法證明基督教的理論，但他會發現一些證據來說明基督教的理解的真實性的幾率很大。

However, limited though they are, the historian must employ such tools as he possesses. When he does so, much comes to light which tends to support the Christian understanding of history. The historian as historian can neither refute nor demonstrate the Christian thesis, but he can detect evidence which suggests a strong probability for the truth of the Christian understanding.

逐漸地， 我們會看到很明顯歷史應該在整體背景下觀察而中國背景就是宇宙。這就是基督徒爭辯的所在。通過科學方法， 越來越多的人承認宇宙是有序的。這就支持了神的存在。一個有序且能被人的推理來認識的宇宙暗示了一個原因和一個意志， 他們是宇宙成為人類思想所能貼近的。

Increasingly it is apparent that history must be seen in its entire setting and that that setting is the universe. This is what the Christian has all along contended. More and more man by the scientific method is recognizing that the universe is orderly. This supports theism. An orderly universe which can be explored by human reason implies a reason and a will controlling that universe to which the human mind is akin.

在地球上的生命發展過程中，似乎是有目的的。至少在目前，人好像是在這個星球上的生命的頂峰。 至少我們現在知道，人類是唯一的對自己的過去感興趣和努力去理解宇宙的動物、 這不大可能是盲目機會的結果。更多地，當生命上升到我們所理解的更高的階段時，生物過程似乎更多地對個體而不是對群體感興趣。當然，個體之間也越來越不相同。

In the development of life on the earth there seems to be purpose. Man appears to be the culmination, at least at this stage, of the life process on the planet. So far as we know, man is the only creature who is interested in his own past and in seeking to understand the universe. It is quite unlikely that this is the outcome of blind chance. Moreover, in support of the Christian conviction, as life reaches what we believe to be higher stages, the biological process appears to be increasingly interested in the individual rather than the mass. Certainly individuals are more and more differentiated from one another.

基督徒相信在歷史以外所發生的一切與地球上生命的發展緊密相連。 正像我們所講過的， 至少在目前，人類這種高級的發展形態是無法可比的。 但人類在歷史中明顯是不完全的。他有一種在其短暫的物質生命中無法滿足的渴望。 基督徒認為在物質生命死亡以後所發生的一切將是人類潛能的實現和渴望得以滿足的希望。 這就是神學中啟示論和末世論的內容。

The Christian belief about what happens beyond history gives relevance to the development of life on the earth. As we have said, it appears to be true that this development issues in ever higher forms of life of which man is, at least in the present stage, the highest. But man is obviously incomplete within history. He has longings which cannot be satisfied in the brief span of the existence of individuals in this flesh. The Christian view of history regards what occurs beyond physical death as essential to the realization of man's capacities and holds out confident hope of that fulfillment. This is what is embraced in what the theologian terms apocalypticism and eschatology.

基督徒關於人的概念為人類不斷陷入的悲劇性的困境提供了一個明了和合理的解釋。一方面，人類努力去了解宇宙並不斷添加其知識。這正說明了 如果人是(正如基督徒所聲稱的)按神的形象被造的話，人類按將按神的思想方式思考。當然，這也是很清楚的： 如果一個人嚴守基督徒聲稱的神寫在人的本質里的愛的律法， 他將會與那些他自己帶給自己的厄運無緣。他的一生將是敬神愛神和愛人的一生。將不會有戰爭。 人類將為了世人的共同物質和精神福祉在對環境資源的利用上合作。 對我們同樣明顯的是， 人類對律法的背離造成了他們自身的悲劇。 對周圍環境的知識的增加和掌控的增強, 越來越多的人在不斷利用環境取利的同時也為自己不斷製造災難。 確實地， 他們濫用這些知識， 已經威脅到了他們所創造的文明， 甚至人種本身的存在。 在這一點上， 基督徒認為審判也是神試圖把人類限制在他的意願裡面。

The Christian conception of man provides an intelligible and reasonable explanation of the tragic dilemma in which man increasingly finds himself. On the one hand man aspires to understand the universe and adds more and more to his fund of knowledge. This is what we would expect if man, as the Christian faith declares, is created in the image of God. Man is thinking God's thoughts after Him. It is clear, too, that were man to follow the law of love which the Christian declares is written by God in man's nature, he would be freed from the ills which he now brings on himself. He would live in reverence and love of God and love of his neighbor. War would be banished. Men would co-operate the globe over in utilizing the resources of their environment for the physical and spiritual well-being of all. Just as clearly, through his departure from this law man brings on himself misery. The more his knowledge and mastery of his physical environment increase, the more man employs them on the one hand for his benefit and on the other for his woe. Indeed, through his misuse of that knowledge he threatens the existence of the civilization which he has created and even the race itself. In this the Christian sees the judgment by which God seeks to constrain man to do His will.

但是什麼是基督徒所信仰的神在耶穌里顯示的救贖之愛？ 又有什麼證據表明它（救贖之愛）是現實的和有效的？ 下面的事實當然是很清楚的 耶穌曾經生活過， 曾經教導過， 曾經被釘死在十字架上 也從死里復活並深刻地影響了其門徒，  對其死而復活的確信而得的能力使門徒們為他起步去贏得世界 . 幾個世紀過去了， 從對其影響來看，歷史自身不斷地證明耶穌是在這個地球上生活過的最有影響的人， 而且這個事實的證據正在不斷增加。  它們不是均勻的增加， 而是呈呈脈衝的形式： 前進， 後退， 在向前。 在過去450年裡， 尤其是在感情150年裡，它得到了前所未有的增長。基督教在地理上已經超過了它自己過去孩子其他任何宗教所覆蓋的地區。 只有很少的人和有數的幾個部落沒有被組織化地代表。

But what of the redeeming love which the Christian believes God to have displayed in Jesus? What evidence, if any, is there that this is present and is proving effective? It is, of course, clear that Jesus lived, that he taught and was crucified, that his disciples were profoundly convinced that he was raised from the dead and in the strength of that conviction set out to win the world to allegiance to him. As the centuries pass the evidence is accumulating that, measured by his effect on history, Jesus is the most influential life ever lived on this planet. That influence appears to be mounting. It does not increase evenly but by pulsations of advance, retreat, and advance. It has had an unprecedented growth in the past four and a half centuries and especially in the last century and a half. Christianity is now more widely spread geographically than it or any other religion has ever been. Only a very few peoples and tribes exist where it is not represented by organized groups.

這種進展是與西方的擴張相聯繫的。 我們都知道擴張是一種最近的歷史現象。 我們也知道， 作為這種擴張發源地的西歐顯得有些乏力 ， 不時地，西歐的基督教也正在沒落。 然而在其他國家， 尤其是以西歐為源頭的美國， 這種擴張正在進行，這種源於西方的文化傳播的更廣更快。 它已經全球化。 西方文化的一部分顯然是基督教的產物。 在藝術， 文學， 思想， 教育（大學和其他新型的學校都歸功於它），道德方面， 在社會， 經濟和政治機構里， 基督教都起了重要的作用。 西方現在所理解的民主大體上是基督教的產物。 也有例子說明科學也源於基督教。 要精確度量耶穌對於西方文化的影響是不可能的。 圍繞這個問題可以著述千卷，但也無法得出確切的結論。 現在西方本身和其文化的擴張毫無疑問是對人類的一個祝福。 如果（我們承認）耶穌是這個文化發展和有力的擴張的重要因素的話， 我們可以儘管開口問基督徒認為的神通過耶穌所實現的救贖是不是足夠抵消人們津津樂道的伴隨着基督教擴張的種種問題了。

This advance has been associated with the expansion of the Occident. As we all know, that expansion is a recent historical phenomenon. As we also know, Western Europe, from which that expansion stemmed, appears to be waning and at times it seems that in Western Europe itself Christianity is declining. Yet nations, notably the United States, which trace their source to Western Europe, are still continuing the expansion of the Occident, and the culture which had its origin in the West spreads ever more widely and rapidly. It has become global. That Occidental civilization is in part the product of Christianity is obvious. In art, literature, thought, education (for universities and many other new types of schools have owed to it an incalculable debt), in morals, and in social, economic, and political institutions Christianity has been a major factor. Democracy as the West understands that term is largely its child. A case can be made for the claim that science sprang from Christianity. Precisely to what degree Jesus is responsible for Western culture is by no means clear. On that question large volumes could be written and the answers would not be definitive. Now the expansion of the Occident and its culture has by no means been an unmixed blessing to mankind. If Jesus has had a major share in the development of that culture and in its dynamic spread, we may well ask whether the redemption which the Christian declares that God wrought through him has been sufficiently potent to offset the ills that have accompanied the growth of what is often described as Christendom.

隨着耶穌影響的地理上的擴張， 隨後產生的各種各樣的結果表明了基督徒宣稱的耶穌的轉變大能在起作用。 由於它， 在人類歷史上前所未有數目的語言有了書寫形式。 識字不單純是一個祝福， 它更可以被用來並且已經用來豐富人類的生活。 通過西方人和文化的擴張， 人類第一次被聚集到一起。 從這是耶穌的影響的結果這個角度來看， 這是人類合一的夢想的部分實現。 人類合一也是基督徒歷史觀的一個特點。 控制甚至最後消除戰爭的努力以至於我們這個不斷縮小的地球不再是一個危險的村莊將歸功於耶穌。 正像弗朗西斯科•維多利亞(Francisco de Vitoria ) 和胡果•格老秀斯（Hugo Grotius）所見證的， 耶穌如果作為國際法的先鋒完全夠格。 耶穌對上一代人的海牙會議也有部分貢獻。 像萬國聯盟和聯合國這樣的全球範圍的合作也有證據歸功於耶穌。 儘管如此而， 他對這些偉大成績的貢獻還是難以精確估量。

As the influence of Jesus has spread geographically, various results have followed which are evidence that the transforming power which Christians claim for it is at work. Because of it more languages have been reduced to writing than through all other agencies in the history of mankind. Literacy is not an unmixed blessing, but it can be and has been used to further the enrichment of man's life. Through the expansion of Western peoples and their culture, mankind has for the first time been brought together. To the degree that this is the result of the influence of Jesus it is a partial implementation of the dream of the unity of mankind which is a feature of the Christian understanding of history. The struggle to regulate and eventually to eliminate the wars which make our shrinking globe so perilous a neighborhood owes much to Jesus. That he was potent in such pioneers of international law as Francisco de Vitoria and Hugo Grotius is well attested. He can also be shown to have had a part in the initiation of the Hague conferences of the last generation. Such attempts at world-wide co-operation as the League of Nations and the United Nations are demonstrably to some extent from him. However, just how large his share has been in these achievements cannot accurately be measured

耶穌在反對奴隸制和其他形式的人對人的剝削方面的作用是更加明了的。 眾所周 知， 在新世界第一個被按立的基督徒牧師巴托洛梅•德拉斯•卡薩斯（Bartolomé de Las Casas）在保護印第安人方面也是先鋒。 他反對西班牙熱恩對印第安人的暴行， 在印第安人法律里規定了人性的地位並試圖實施。  受到基督教信仰的激勵和堅固， 有一長列西班牙和葡萄牙平信徒和教士曾經努力地在兩個半球的殖民地里保護那些土著人不受他們同胞們的無情的虐待。基於他的基督教信念，威爾伯福斯呼籲並反對奴隸交易的事實人所共知。 在美國有貴格黨人， 賽繆爾。霍普金斯還有其他受芬尼的復興運動的影響人， 憑着委身於基督教信仰的敏感的良心， 投身到奴隸解放的運動里。 我們也都知道基督教傳教士大衛。列文斯頓在非洲試圖禁止奴隸交易的努力。在印度， 基督教是解放和提升被壓迫種族的最有力的力量。耶穌也是甘地的影響和激勵者。 在一塊塊土地上， 他不斷地解放着婦女。 在西方對於其他非西方的衝擊里， 受耶穌激勵的基督教差會和其他組織提高當地醫療水平，公共衛生設施， 改善農業生產方式，  是學校和大學提高到一個前所未有的水平。 不斷地， 耶穌的這些影響特徵散發開來，現在正以不同程度地影響人類

Much clearer is the decisive part which Jesus has had in the efforts to combat slavery and other forms of the exploitation of men by their fellows. It is significant that the first Christian priest ordained in the New World, Bartolomé de Las Casas, was the chief pioneer in the struggle to protect the Indians against the cruelties of the Spaniards, to write humane statutes in the Laws of the Indies, and to seek their enforcement. The list is long of the Spanish and Portuguese laymen and clergy who, inspired and sustained by their Christian faith, labored to guard the non-Europeans in the colonies in both hemispheres from the callous selfishness of their fellow countrymen. The place of his Christian faith in impelling Wilberforce in his campaign against the Negro slave trade is well known. So, too, is the role of the Quakers, Samuel Hopkins, and those touched by the Finney revival, consciences made sensitive by commitment to the Christian faith, in the movement for the emancipation of Negro slaves in the United States. We are all aware of the efforts of the Christian missionary, David Livingstone, to curb the slave trade in Africa itself. Less familiar is the share of such Christian missionary leaders as John Philip and Cardinal Lavigerie in the campaign against African slavery. Christianity has been one of the most potent forces making for the liberation and advance of the depressed classes of India. Jesus was a major inspiration of Gandhi. In land after land he has contributed to the emancipation of women. In the impact of Occidental upon non-Occidental peoples Christian missions and other agencies inspired by him have made for improved medical care, for public health, for better methods of agriculture, and for schools and universities better adapted to the new day than were their predecessors. Increasingly these features of the influence of Jesus have been spreading and now in varying measure embrace mankind.

有越來越多的教會組織變得全球化。 他們試圖使耶穌的影響持久化並使基督徒福音的核心—獻身和團契—實體化。 儘管他們的分歧和爭執是歷史學家熟悉的， 但教會卻擴張到世界各地。 最大的羅馬天主教會以擴展到世界的幾乎每一片土地和人民。 非天主教的教會也同樣遍布全地， 形成了包括羅馬天主教在內的新型的教會組織。

More and more the ecclesiastical organizations which we call churches are becoming world-wide. They seek, not unsuccessfully, to perpetuate the influence of Jesus and to incarnate the self-giving and the fellowship which are of the essence of the Christian Gospel. Their divisions and quarrels are familiar to the historian, but in spite of them the churches have become global. The largest, the Roman Catholic Church, is to be found in almost every land and people. The non-Roman Catholic churches are fully as widely distributed and have been drawing together through new types of organizations, several of which include some Roman Catholics.

基督徒相信神的愛的轉變大能，通過耶穌不但出現在集體的運動里， 更主要地顯示在個人身上。 他們其中的一些人就在歷史學家手頭的資料里： 大數的保羅， 奧古斯丁， 弗蘭西斯， 馬丁路德， 羅耀拉，喬治。福克斯， 以及約翰。衛斯理。 實際上， 這個名單要幾頁紙才能完全。但從一個基督徒的觀點來看， 一個完整和詳細的名單是不可能的， 因為有上百萬的信徒根本沒有資料存留。  更難的是， 對於所存留的資料， 我們不可能確定這些人的那些特性是由基督教信仰改變的， 那些不是。 對於基督徒認為獎賞的性情的改變， 從質上來講也不可能測量。 他們是真實的， 但是沒有辦法用歷史學家慣用的方法來度量。 我們也不可能測量他們對於別人和作為一個整體的人類社會 起的作用。 我們知道的是在基督教信仰的影響下人的性格發生了變化。 有時這些•變化是突然的， 但更多的是逐漸的， 甚至是沒有感覺的。對一些人的 生活來講， 這些變化是明顯的， 對更多的人來講是輕微的。 但當我們看到他們時，我們會認出來這些變化。 他們是在登山寶訓里， 在福音書的其他篇章里， 在新約的書信里提到的特性。 通常我們發現這些素質是供應該那一小群完全委身做基督徒的人。 實際上， 那些在他們身上基督教信仰顯著成為一種生命改變的力量的人一直是少數。 然而他們的影響超出了他們的疆界。

The transforming love of God through Jesus is seen, so the Christian believes, not only in collective movements but also and primarily in individuals. Some of these individuals loom large in the records which are at hand for the historian. Among these are Paul of Tarsus, Augustine of Hippo, Francis of Assisi, Martin Luther, Ignatius Loyola, George Fox, and John Wesley. Indeed, the list could be extended to many pages. What from the Christian standpoint would be a full and therefore an accurate list can never be compiled, for it would need to include untold millions for whom no record survives. Moreover, for those whose records we have, we cannot determine with complete accuracy just which qualities and changes of character are due to the Christian faith and which to other factors. For the qualities of character, too, which the Christian view prizes no accurate measurements are possible. They are real, but are not capable of being plumbed by the methods which are at the historian's disposal. Nor can we judge their full effects on other lives and upon human society as a whole. Yet we have enough information to permit some generalizations which possess rough accuracy. We know that under Christian influence changes in character take place. Sometimes these appear to be sudden. More often they come by gradual, almost imperceptible stages. In some lives they are outstanding. In many they are slight. Yet when we see them we recognize them. They are the qualities commended in the Sermon on the Mount and in other parts of the Gospels and in the Epistles of the New Testament. Often we find them nourished in small groups of those who have sought to commit themselves fully as Christians. Indeed, those in whom the Christian faith predominates as a transforming force have always been small minorities. Yet often they have had effects which far outstrip their own borders.

基督教的這些對整個社會， 對個人，對群體所產生的結果正是來自於被基督徒們稱為聖靈的存在。 正像基督徒聲稱的， 這些結果是源自神聖的源泉--聖靈 它由耶穌的性情表現出來並與他一直同在。 他們遠遠超過一個偉大生命的身後影響。 基督徒認為在歷史上神通過也是神自己的聖靈繼續起作用。 於是，神尊重人的意志卻繼續把他的愛來澆灌世人。 基督徒相信通過聖靈耶穌的影響隨着世紀的流逝不減反爾增加。

These many results of Christianity, in society at large, in individuals, and in groups, are what we would expect from what the Christian calls the Holy Spirit. They are, so the Christian maintains, in consequence of stimuli issuing from the divine initiative, stimuli marked by the characteristics displayed in Jesus and tied up historically with him. Yet they are more than the lengthened influence of a great life. The Christian understanding of history is that it is through the Holy Spirit which is God Himself that God continues to work in history. Thus God respects man's will but continuously brings His love to bear on man. It is through the Holy Spirit, the Christian believes, that as the centuries pass the influence of Jesus grows rather than wanes.

在一些地區的某個地方隱藏着對基督教歷史觀中的最困擾的問題之一的可能解釋。 為什麼基督徒認為善和惡在個人和群體裡同時存在？ 為什麼這兩者在教會團體裡存在？ 而教會團體有是神的愛的結果， 是充滿愛的基督徒社會的體現？為什麼人類的一些常見的災難， 尤其是戰爭， 在受基督教影響的地區和人民中達到最高峰？ 為什麼一些像神的恩賜禮物和基督教的影響被扭曲以致傷害人類？ 在這裡我們想到科學和它的結晶經常被用在人類的毀滅上。 神已經失敗了？ 他的主權與世界妥協了嗎？ 他通過耶穌的救贖已經足夠了嗎？ 儘管耶穌的影響在增加， 但它仍然是一股微小的力量 遠遠不及其敵對勢力並驅使它更加活躍？ 從而基督徒的歷史觀是一個幻覺？

Somewhere in this region lies a possible explanation of one of the most perplexing questions provoked by the Christian understanding of history. Why is it that what the Christian deems evil and good continue side by side in individuals and in groups? Why do even ecclesiastical bodies display both, bodies presumably the result of God's love, the embodiment of the Christian community of love? Why do some of the chronic ills of mankind, notably war, attain their most colossal dimensions in lands and through peoples that have long been under Christian influence? Why are some of what seem to be the gifts of God and the effects of Christianity twisted to man's hurt? Here we recall the fashion in which science and its fruits are so often turned to man's destruction. Has God failed? Is His sovereignty compromised? Is His salvation through Jesus frustrated? Is the influence of Jesus, though growing, always to be a minority force, outstripped by the forces opposed to it and perhaps even provoking them to greater activity? Is, therefore, the Christian view of history an illusion?

當我們對這些不斷出現的問題思考時， 我們要提醒我們自己基督徒的歷史觀承認人的自由意志，即人可以接或者拒絕神的愛。 我們必須想到這個問題不是個新問題。 這個問題在耶穌在十字架上時就一生動的形式提出。 在這裡， 基督徒看到人對神的心意的盲目和人類的自負與神的顯示自己愛的方式的似乎軟約和無效形成鮮明的對比。 這確實是從基督徒的教育里得到的關於神和人的與事實相符的真實關係。 當神的愛被最清楚地顯示時， 人的叛逆也最明顯。 神的審判和義在十字架上和對神的恩賜的其他悖逆上顯示出來。

As we meditate on these persistent questions we need to remind ourselves again that the Christian understanding of history presupposes a degree of freedom of man's will, sufficient for man to accept or reject God's love. We must also recall that the issues are not new. They are posed in their most vivid form in the crucifixion of Jesus. Here, as the Christian sees it, man's blindness to God's purpose and man's self-assertiveness were in stark contrast with the seeming weakness and futility of God's chosen way of showing His love. Indeed, this is what we should expect if the Christian teaching of man and God is in accord with the facts. Man's rebellion becomes most marked when God's love is most clearly displayed. In the cross and in the other perversions of God's gifts is seen the judgment as well as the love of God.

然而， 如果神是愛的神和有主權的神， 他的審判應該是通向他的愛的凱旋的道路。 因此， 在耶穌受刑後 在那些意識到耶穌死的意義， 自由地接受了寬恕和神的愛的人的身上釋放出一種新鮮的力量就不奇怪了。 十字架成為基督教信仰的象徵， 也是成千上萬歌基督徒凱旋版地面對內外的惡者的信心和力量源泉。 同樣地， 在耶穌受難後神所顯示的愛在那些有耶穌明顯影響的文化里以痛苦的形式顯現， 使百萬民眾有機會試圖消除在他們身上顯是症狀的惡魔， 從而無論在個人生活中還是整個人類生活中產生比過去要好的美好。

Yet, if God is love and is sovereign, His judgments must be a way to the triumph of His love. It is, therefore, not surprising that following the crucifixion there came a fresh release of power in the lives of those who began to see something of the significance of the death of Jesus and freely accepted the forgiveness and love of God. It is understandable that the cross became the symbol of the Christian faith and has been the confidence and inspiration of millions to face triumphantly the evil in them and about them. Similarly the abuses of God's love which have followed the crucifixion and have been painfully apparent in those cultures where the influence of Jesus has been most marked have been the occasion for millions to seek to eliminate the evils of which they are the symptoms and thus have given rise to something better than had been there before, both in individual lives and in the collective life of mankind.

爭鬥在繼續。 文明變得更加複雜。 全人類正被捆綁在一起， 局部的不合影響整體。 然而與不合相爭的因素正在聚集， 越來越多地被整個世界感受到。 他們不斷地視耶穌為源泉， 從基督徒所相信的他的出生， 他的死和他的復活吸取力量。 這就是對基督徒的歷史觀的正確性的重要信心之一。 歷史學家， 無論基督徒還是非基督徒， 可能不知道神是否能在歷史上取勝。 他無法結論性地展示基督教歷史觀的有效性。 然而他可以認為這些深刻認識的可靠性是非常可信的。 這是我們能夠在任何知識領域用人類理性所能得到的結論。

The struggle continues. Civilization becomes more complex. All mankind is bound together ever more closely in the bundle of life and the disorders of one segment affect the whole. Yet the efforts to combat these disorders mount and more and more make themselves felt throughout the earth. Increasingly they have a major source in Jesus, and what Christians have believed about his birth, his life, his death, and his resurrection. Here is one of the strongest reasons for confidence in the accuracy of the Christian view of history. The historian, be he Christian or non-Christian, may not know whether God will fully triumph within history. He cannot conclusively demonstrate the validity of the Christian understanding of history. Yet he can establish a strong probability for the dependability of its insights. That is the most which can be expected of human reason in any of the realms of knowledge.