For many people, church history is a sort of fuzzy subject.

对许多人来说，教会历史是一个有点模糊的主题。

Jesus founded the church, there were crusades, people built huge cathedrals, Protestants broke away and started their own churches, and then the Mass was changed into English.

耶稣建立了教会，后来发生了十字军东征，人们建造了宏伟的大教堂，新教徒脱离教会自立门户，后来弥撒改用英语。

More or less, right?

差不多吧？

Over the course of 2,000 years, there have been popes, councils, saints, and sinners that have greatly influenced the life of the Church.

在两千年的历程中，教宗、大公会议、圣人和罪人都极大地影响了教会的生活。

We've dealt with heresies and wars, growth and decline, innovations and adaptations.

我们经历过异端和战争，成长和衰退，创新和适应。

To have a grasp of it all is beyond even the most learned of scholars.

要全盘掌握这一切，即使是最博学的学者也力不从心。

But that doesn't mean that we can't understand the basics.

但这并不意味着我们不能理解基本原理。

Even if we can't name every pope or explain every event, every Catholic should have a general understanding of how the Church has progressed from period to period.

即使我们不能说出每一位教宗的名字或解释每一个事件，每个公教徒都应该对公教会如何从一个时期发展到另一个时期有一个大致的了解。

So what are the major epics of the Church, and why is it important to study today?

那么，教会有哪些主要的史诗，为什么在今天研究它们很重要？

This is Catholicism in Focus.

这里是「聚焦天主教」。

INTRO A few notes before we begin.

引言 在我们开始之前有几点需要说明。

First, 15 minutes is nowhere close to enough time to cover even the basics.

首先，15分钟远远不足以涵盖哪怕是最基本的内容。

There will be important things left out.

必有重要的事被遗漏。

I apologize.

我道歉。

Second, history is not an exact science.

第二，历史不是一门精确的科学。

In choosing what to include and exclude, weaving together events into coherent narratives, there is an implicit bias on the part of the historian.

历史学家在选择取舍史料、将事件编织成连贯的叙事时，难免会带有隐含的偏见。

What I'm sharing is not the dogmatic telling of Church history, because such a task is impossible.

我所分享的并非教会历史的教条式叙述，因为这是不可能完成的任务。

Meaning, finally, I hope you will take this as your first resource, not your last.

最后，我希望你会把这当作你的首选资源，而不是最后的选择。

It's a basic introduction, not a definitive conclusion.

这只是基本的介绍，并非定论。

Okay.

好的。

Start the clock.

开始计时。

We begin our study with the Early Church, a time often referred to as the Patristic period after the Fathers of the Church.

我们从早期教会开始研究，这一时期常被称为教父时期，因为当时有教会的教父们。

It's a time of growth and fervent faith, but also of bloodshed and turmoil.

这是一个成长和热诚信心的时代，但也是一个血腥和动荡的时代。

While the Church eventually reached all corners of the earth, it began as a small sect within Judaism.

教会虽然最终传遍天下，但起初不过是犹太教内的一个小教派。

The early Christians were Jewish in culture and did not see themselves as a part of a new religion.

早期的基督徒在文化上是犹太人，并不认为自己是一个新宗教的一部分。

They continued temple worship and kept Jewish law.

他们继续在殿里敬拜，遵守犹太律法。

As people like St. Paul began evangelizing non-Jews, though, this raised a controversial question.

然而，当像保罗这样的人开始向非犹太人传福音时，却引发了一个有争议的问题。

How are converts to be received?

当如何接纳归信者？

Some argued that they must be circumcised and follow Jewish purity laws, while others claimed that Jesus abolished the need for such works.

有人辩称他们必须受割礼，遵守犹太人的洁净律法；也有人主张耶稣已经废除了这些行为的必要。

Thus, the first major decision in the Church.

这样，教会做出了第一个重大决定。

In the year 48, leaders met for a council in Jerusalem, where a compromise was struck.

主后48年，教会领袖们在耶路撒冷开了一次大公会议，达成了一项妥协方案。

New converts need not be circumcised, but they were not to eat meat sacrificed to idols, could not consume blood, and must refrain from illicit sexual intercourse, arguably the most important core of the Jewish law.

新归信的人不必受割礼，但不可吃祭偶像之物，不可吃血，也要禁戒淫乱，这些可以说是犹太律法中最重要的核心。

Some rigorous continued to protest these concessions, but there was no going back.

一些严谨的人继续抗议这些让步，但已无法回头了。

Paul's missionary efforts, now made easier, flourished across the Mediterranean, transforming Christianity into a largely Gentile religion.

保罗的宣教事工因环境改善而遍及地中海各地，使基督教逐渐成为一个以外邦人为主的宗教。

There was a sense of urgency in the early years that Jesus would be returning immediately, and so missionary work took priority over forming the domestic Church.

在早期，人们普遍感到耶稣即将再临，因此宣教工作比建立家庭教会更为紧迫。

As the decades passed, however, it became clear that structures were necessary to organize the Church.

然而，随着岁月的流逝，教会显然需要一些架构来组织自己。

This includes three developments.

这包括三个发展。

1.

1.

The clergy, the institution of bishops, presbyters, and deacons to serve as permanent leaders of worship and service.

圣职人员，即主教、长老和执事的制度，作为敬拜和服侍的永久领袖。

2.

二。

The New Testament, developing an authoritative list of apostolic writings for use in catechesis and worship.

新约圣经发展出一套权威的使徒著作清单，用于教理讲授和敬拜。

3.

三。

And finally, the Creed, the codification of core beliefs for teaching and correcting the faith.

最后，信经是核心信仰的编纂，用以教导和纠正信心。

Unfortunately, the Church at this time was seen as a major threat to the Roman Empire, resulting in various forms of persecution.

不幸的是，当时的教会被视为对罗马帝国的重大威胁，导致了各种形式的迫害。

Figures like Justin Martyr and Irenaeus wrote defenses of the faith, converting some, but also fanning the flames at times.

像殉道者游斯丁和爱任纽这样的人物，写作护教文章，使一些人归信，但有时也助长了敌对的火焰。

Christians made it clear that they were never going to worship the Roman gods.

基督徒明确表示，他们绝不会去拜罗马的神明。

The worst of this was under the Emperor Diocletian, who tried to destroy all places of worship, forced Christians to turn over religious books, and denied their right to assembly.

在戴克里先皇帝统治时期，基督徒遭受了最严重的迫害。他试图摧毁所有敬拜场所，强迫基督徒交出宗教书籍，并剥夺他们集会的权利。

Because of this, Christians spent the first few centuries celebrating their two core rituals, baptism and Eucharist, at the direct hand of the bishop, largely within house churches, often in secret, and remained small relative to the wider world.

因此，在最初的几个世纪里，基督徒们在主教的直接带领下，主要在家庭教会中，常常是秘密地举行他们的两个核心仪式：洗礼和圣餐，相对于更广阔的世界而言，他们的人数仍然很少。

This all changed quite rapidly in the 4th century with the rise of Constantine to power, ushering in our second period, one that I'll refer to as the institutionalization of the Church.

这一切在四世纪时随着君士坦丁掌权而迅速改变，开启了我们的第二个时期，我称之为教会制度化的时期。

In 313, after winning a battle that he attributed to the Christian god, Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, officially legalizing the Christian faith.

公元313年，君士坦丁在一场战役中获胜后，将胜利归功于基督的神。随后，他颁布了《米兰敕令》，正式承认基督教信仰的合法地位。

A decade later, in 325, he made it the official religion of the Empire.

十年后的公元325年，他将基督教定为帝国的官方宗教。

This very well may be the most significant event in Church history, irreparably changing the place of the Church in the world.

这很可能是教会历史上最重大的事件，它将不可挽回地改变教会在世界上的地位。

For starters, it immediately saw the influx of new converts.

首先，教会立即看到新归信者涌入。

Some no longer afraid of persecution, others looking for political advancement, meaning that the way of worship had to change significantly.

有些人不再惧怕逼迫，另一些人则寻求政治上的进步，这意味着敬拜的方式必须有重大的改变。

House churches were replaced first by large Roman halls, but these too served to be inadequate in size.

起初，家庭教会被罗马大厅所取代，但这些大厅的规模也不够大。

Before long, the bishop was unable to serve all of his people at one time, and so presbyters were deputized to celebrate the sacraments in the bishop's name in satellite places of worship named parishes.

不久之后，主教已无法同时服侍所有信徒，于是便派遣长老以主教的名义，在称为教区的附属敬拜场所主持圣事。

Figures like John Chrysostom, Theodore of Mopsuesta, Ambrose of Milan, and Cyril of Jerusalem emerged as central catechetical leaders, forming programs and rituals to initiate converts on a large scale.

屈梭多模、莫普绥提亚的狄奥多尔、米兰的安波罗修、耶路撒冷的区利罗等人物成为教理讲授的中心领袖，制定大规模引导归信者的课程和仪式。

Of course, the legalization of the religion presented an uncomfortable problem of what to do with those who renounced the faith out of fear of persecution just a decade earlier.

当然，宗教合法化也带来了一个令人不安的问题，那就是如何处理那些在十年前因惧怕迫害而背弃信仰的人。

Could they be readmitted?

他们可以重新被接纳吗？

Did they need to be rebaptized?

他们需要重新受洗吗？

Were the sacraments of traitors even valid?

叛徒所施行的圣事真的有效吗？

In short, thanks to St. Augustine, yes, no, and yes.

简而言之，多亏了奥古斯丁，是的，不是，也是的。

This controversy, known as Donatism, was only one of many that the Church faced as the religion grew, requiring the declaration of creeds and pronouncements of dogmas.

这场争议被称为多纳徒派之争，是教会随着信仰的发展而面临的众多争议之一，因此需要宣布信经和教义。

Ecumenical councils in Nicaea, Constantinople, Ephesus, and Chalcedon were held to define the nature of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, the relationship with the Father, and general order of the Church, ultimately defining and combating heresies like Docetism, Montanism, Adoptionism, Sabellianism, Arianism, Pelagianism, and Gnosticism.

尼西亚、君士坦丁堡、以弗所和迦克墩举行了大公会议，以确定耶稣和圣灵的本质、与圣父的关系以及全体主教的总体秩序，最终定义并打击了幻影说、孟他努派、养子说、撒伯流派、亚略主义、伯拉纠派和诺斯底主义等异端。

The institutionalization of the Church in this time made it easy for the religion to increase its footprint across the ancient world, allowing for five major hubs of authority to develop—Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Constantinople.

在这个时期，教会的制度化使得这个宗教很容易在古代世界扩大其影响力，从而形成了五个主要的权力中心——罗马、亚历山大、安提阿、耶路撒冷和君士坦丁堡。

For a few centuries, the leaders of each represented diversity in ritual and spirituality, but maintained communion with one another.

几个世纪以来，各地的领袖在礼仪和灵修方面虽然多样，但彼此仍然保持相通。

Unfortunately, as the political world in the region began to change, so too did the relationship between these five metropolitans, ushering in a third period of Church history, that of a kingdom in isolation.

不幸的是，随着该地区政治局势的变化，这五位都主教之间的关系也发生了变化，开启了教会历史的第三个时期——一个孤立的王国。

Over the course of the 5th and 6th centuries, the secular power of the Roman Empire weakened, fell, and moved to Constantinople in the east, leaving a political vacuum in the west.

在五、六世纪期间，罗马帝国的世俗权力逐渐衰弱，最终崩溃，并迁都至东方的君士坦丁堡，在西方留下了一个政治真空。

The Church, now prominent and established on the world stage, filled that role.

教会如今在世界舞台上已经显赫一时，确立了地位，担当起了这个角色。

Popes like Leo the Great and Gregory the Great began to assert the papacy into worldly matters.

像良一世和额我略一世这样的教宗开始将教宗制度的影响力伸入世俗事务。

Leo famously had a standoff with Attila the Hun, saving the city of Rome from attack, and Gregory, a master administrator and fundraiser, almost single-handedly cared for the poor and maintained the public works of Rome in the absence of a working government.

利奥教宗以与匈奴王阿提拉对峙而闻名，使罗马城免于攻击。额我略教宗是杰出的行政管理者和募款人，在政府无法运作的情况下，几乎是独力照顾穷人和维持罗马的公共工程。

It didn't take long for popes to be seen as holding an office akin to emperors and kings, wielding temporal authority over its land.

不久之后，教宗就被视为与皇帝和国王拥有相似的地位，对其领土行使属世的权力。

They negotiated with foreign rulers, commanded armies, and influenced governments.

他们与外国统治者谈判，指挥军队，并影响政府。

The Church in the east did not experience the same development.

东方教会并未经历同样的发展。

As society crumbled in the west, it thrived in the east, allowing for trade and communication between the remaining four metropolitans to continue, fostering communal authority rather than an absolute monarchy.

当西方社会崩溃之时，东方却欣欣向荣，使得其余四个大都会之间的贸易与交流得以持续，促进了共同权威而非专制君主的统治。

It is here that we see the seeds of division begin to grow.

我们在此看见分裂的种子开始萌芽。

While many will look to 1054 as the moment of schism between the two churches, tensions had existed for centuries prior.

虽然许多人认为1054年是东西方教会分裂的时刻，但是几个世纪以前就已经存在着紧张关系。

As the two became more and more isolated from one another, diverging language, theology, liturgy, culture, and governance began to develop.

随着双方越来越疏远，他们在语言、神学、礼仪、文化和管理方面开始出现分歧。

But little communication that remained was fraught with confusion, at times falling apart over mere mistranslations.

但是仅存的一点交流也充满了困惑，有时仅仅是因为翻译错误就陷入瘫痪。

The Church in the west, seeing itself as the first among these great cities, tried to assert itself into the spiritual matters of the east, claiming authority over all of Christendom.

西方教会自视为这些大城之首，试图将自己的权威强加于东方教会的属灵事务之上，声称对整个基督教世界拥有权柄。

By the year 800, it began to assert temporal authority as well, when Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as the emperor of the newly formed Holy Roman Empire.

到了公元800年，当教宗利奥三世为查理曼加冕为新成立的神圣罗马帝国的皇帝时，公教会也开始宣称拥有属世的权柄。

Isolated from one another, it eventually reached a point that the only communication between the two seemed to be miscommunications and excommunications.

彼此隔绝之下，最终到了一个地步，两者之间似乎只剩下误会和绝罚的交流。

Unsurprisingly, as the Church grew in worldly power, so too did the clericalism and abuse within it.

不出所料，随着教会在世俗权力上的增长，其内部的教权主义和滥用也随之增加。

Greater emphasis was placed on clerical state, making clearer distinctions between clergy and lay in the liturgy.

在礼仪中更加强调圣品阶级，使圣职人员和平信徒之间的区别更加明显。

Monasteries grew as powerful empires within the empire, amassing wealth and land.

修道院逐渐成长为帝国内部的强大势力，积累了大量财富和土地。

And given how much power bishops and priests held in the world, controversies arose as to how bishops were chosen and where priests were assigned.

鉴于主教和祭司在世上掌握着如此大的权力，关于主教的选择和祭司的派任，争议也随之而起。

Unlike today, there were no seminaries at this time, and the Church didn't always have control over who was elected the bishop.

与今日不同的是，当时并没有神学院，教会也不总是能够控制谁被选为主教。

Symony flourished in this time, allowing local secular leaders to appoint worldly and untrained men to church positions, treating holy orders as mere political positions.

在这个时期，买卖圣职之风盛行，地方世俗领袖得以任命世俗和未经训练的人担任教会职位，将圣职视为单纯的政治职位。

Add this to the fact that culture itself had declined since the fall of Rome, limiting trade, travel, education, communication, and cultural advancement, and what you get is the beginning of the so-called Dark Ages.

再加上自罗马衰亡以来文化本身已经衰退，限制了贸易、旅行、教育、交流和文化进步，由此开始了所谓的黑暗时代。

Like any period of history, though, this would not last.

然而，正如历史上任何一个时期一样，这不会持续下去。

By the middle of the 11th century, the Church and world entered a new period, one of rebirth.

十一世纪中叶，教会和世界进入了一个新的时期，一个复兴的时期。

In 1059, Pope Nicholas II set about reforming how the Church was governed, decreeing that only cardinals elected the pope, excluding emperors and nobles.

「公元一〇五九年，教宗尼古拉二世着手改革教会的管理方式，颁布法令规定只有枢机主教才有权选举教宗，剥夺了皇帝和贵族的此项权力。」

The Church was to be led by the Church alone, not secular authorities.

教会应当只由教会自己领导，而不是由世俗当局领导。

In 1075, Pope Gregory VII made yet another important leap, issuing the decree Dictatus Pape, regaining spiritual authority over all bishops.

公元1075年，教宗额我略七世又迈出了重要的一步，颁布了《教宗敕令》，重新获得了对所有主教的属灵权柄。

They were not temporal princes, but spiritual shepherds, and as such were to be appointed by and serve the pope, not the local monarch.

他们不是世俗的君主，而是属灵的牧者;因此，他们应当由教宗任命，事奉教宗，而不是由当地君主任命和事奉。

By the beginning of the 12th century, it was finally the assertion and common practice of the Church that the clergy, not secular rulers, appointed and invested bishops with spiritual authority.

到了十二世纪初，教会终于明确主张并普遍实行由圣职人员而非世俗统治者任命主教，并授予他们属灵权柄。

As easy it is to blame the Church for what some of its bishops and priests did in the early Middle Ages, the reality is that many of them weren't, in fact, actually chosen by or working for the Church directly.

尽管很容易就中世纪早期一些主教和神父的所作所为而责备教会，但事实是，他们中有许多并非由教会直接选任或受雇。

They were controlled by secular authorities.

他们受世俗当局的控制。

And what a difference it makes when the bishop isn't under the thumb of a king that might be motivated by entirely worldly things.

当主教不受国王摆布，不受世俗事物驱使时，情况会有多大的不同啊。

In the succeeding centuries, the Church blossomed on many fronts.

在随后的几个世纪里，教会在许多方面蓬勃发展。

Universities were founded in Paris, Bologna, Salerno, Oxford, Cambridge, Salamanca, Padua, and Naples, drastically improving the theological and pastoral quality of the clergy, but also developing the riches of the Church's thought.

大学先后在巴黎、博洛尼亚、萨莱诺、牛津、剑桥、萨拉曼卡、帕多瓦和那不勒斯建立，极大地提高了神职人员的神学和牧灵素质，同时也丰富了教会的思想宝库。

Coinciding with the rediscovery of Aristotle, men like Anselm, Peter Lombard, Thomas Aquinas, and Bonaventure helped the Church, for the first time, develop a systematic approach to things like the Trinity, creation, incarnation, and most important of all, the sacraments.

与亚里士多德哲学的再度发现相呼应，安瑟伦、彼得·伦巴第、托马斯·阿奎那和文德等人首次帮助教会系统地阐述了三位一体、创造、道成肉身，以及最重要的圣事等教义。

It was also a time of immense spiritual reform, led primarily by the mendicant orders, Franciscans and Dominicans.

这也是一个巨大属灵改革的时代，主要由方济各会和多明我会这两个托钵修会所领导。

Moving out of the monastery, these popular creatures lived simply, in stark contrast to the clergy of the day, setting up missions all around Europe, caring for the poor, and revitalizing the faith, both popularly and doctrinally.

这些受欢迎的修士离开修道院后，过着简朴的生活，与当时的神职人员形成鲜明对比。他们在欧洲各地设立宣教站，关怀穷人，在民间和教义上重振信心。

While historically complicated, to say the least, the Crusades represent a major step in the Church's rebirth as well, rousing a sense of mission outside of oneself, collaborating with Christians in the East, and recapturing what was lost.

十字军东征的历史无疑是复杂的，但它代表了教会复兴的一大步，唤起了为他人服务的使命感，与东方的基督徒合作，夺回失去的领土。

And of course, how can we forget the Renaissance itself?

当然，我们怎能忘记文艺复兴时期本身呢？

The building of cathedrals, production of major paintings, advances in music, growth of cities, and early development of the sciences.

「建造大教堂、创作重要绘画、音乐的进步、城市的发展，以及科学的早期发展。」

All of this was commissioned by the Church out of a sense of wonder for God and the world.

这一切都是教会出于对神和世界的敬畏之心而委托创作的。

For many, this was one of the most hopeful periods in Church history.

对许多人来说，这是教会历史上最充满希望的时期之一。

Unfortunately, not everything was reformed in this period.

不幸的是，并非所有的事物都在这个时期得到改革。

The papacy was divided at times, warring over lands and authority.

教宗制度曾一度分裂，为了土地和权力而争战。

The secular clergy remained largely uneducated.

世俗教士大多未受过良好教育。

The Black Death wiped out many of those willing to care for the poor, and those becoming unhappy with abuses of the Church were growing in number.

黑死病夺去了许多乐意照顾穷人的人的性命，而那些对教会的弊端感到不满的人也日益增多。

By the 15th and 16th centuries, we see a Church, on the one hand, intellectually and culturally seeking higher than it ever had before, while on the other hand, fraught with scandal and poor catechesis at the lowest levels.

到了十五、十六世纪，我们看到一个教会，一方面在智识和文化上追求前所未有的高度，而另一方面，却在最底层充斥着丑闻和糟糕的教理讲授。

Indulgences were sold, heresies preached, abuses plagued the liturgy, and revelry and superstition pervaded the culture.

赎罪券被出售，异端邪说被传播，礼仪充斥着弊端，狂欢和迷信弥漫于文化之中。

Thus, in 1517, the Church was made to reckon for its continued issues and for the next 500 years found itself in a period defined by siege from the outside world.

因此，在1517年，教会被迫为其持续的问题负责，并在接下来的500年里发现自己处于一个被外部世界围攻的时期。

Martin Luther, an Augustinian friar, ushered in the Reformation with his 95 Theses, a list of accusations against the Church.

奥古斯丁修会修士马丁·路德发表了《九十五条论纲》，列举了对教会的一系列指控，由此拉开了宗教改革的序幕。

Distracted by the reforms taking place among the Franciscans and unable to immediately satisfy Luther's complaints, a movement soon developed and divisions increased.

方济各会内部正在进行改革，使人分心，路德的申诉又不能立即得到满足，于是一场运动很快兴起，分歧日益加深。

Other reformers like John Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli appeared with their own complaints, and soon enough, the Church was left scrambling to keep everything together.

其他改革家如加尔文和慈运理也提出了自己的不满之处，很快地，教会就忙于应付这一切，竭力维持教会的完整。

One of the issues that allowed these reforms to flourish was the fact that the Catholic Church had never officially codified its doctrines or practices.

让这些改革得以蓬勃发展的一个问题是，公教会从未正式将其教义或做法编纂成法典。

Prior to this, the Church was led largely by convention, that we'd always done something a certain way, or ad hoc decrees, specific responses to specific problems.

在此之前，教会主要是靠惯例来领导，我们总是以某种方式做某事，或是根据具体问题作出具体回应的特别法令。

By now it was clear that a complete declaration of faith was necessary.

此时很明显，有必要作一个完整的信仰宣言。

And so, in 1569, the Church met for the Council of Trent to unify and codify every aspect of the Church.

因此，在1569年，公教会召开了特伦托大公会议，以统一并编纂公教会的各个方面。

Definitions were given to theological concepts, rules were set for common practices, and reforms implemented.

「神学概念被下定义，共同实践的规则被设立，改革措施也付诸实施。」

It was here that a new liturgy was defined, replacing all other liturgies less than 200 years old, to bring absolute uniformity to the Church throughout the world.

正是在这里，一个新的礼仪被确立，取代了所有不到两百年历史的礼仪，为要使全世界的教会完全统一。

Unfortunately, the damage had already been done, and what the Church experienced for the next few centuries was a hostile outside world.

不幸的是，伤害已经造成，在接下来的几个世纪里，教会所经历的是一个充满敌意的外部世界。

It was a time of great war and constant strife, first against Protestants, but eventually against a world growing ever more secular that sought to remove religion from the public sphere.

那是一个战火纷飞、争斗不休的时代，起初是与新教徒对抗，但最终却是面对一个日益世俗化的世界，试图将宗教从公共领域中驱逐出去。

The Scientific Revolution, liberal philosophy, unrestricted capitalism, and democracy sought to upend the world previously defined by the Church's authority.

科学革命、自由主义哲学、不受限制的资本主义和民主，试图颠覆先前由教会权威所定义的世界。

More than in any other time since the early days of persecution, the outside world was treated as dangerous and disordered, the Church the only refuge of truth and goodness, a perfect society lacking nothing the world could provide.

自从早期受迫害的时代以来，外部世界从未像现在这样被视为危险和混乱不堪，教会成为真理和美善的唯一庇护所，一个完美的社会，世界无法提供她所缺乏的任何事物。

A quintessential document that captures the vibe of this period is the Syllabus of Errors, a literal list of everything wrong with the world.

《谬误录》是这一时期最具代表性的文件，它确切地列出了世界上的种种弊病。

Somewhat paradoxically, it was also the period of greatest missionary fervor in the Church's history.

有点自相矛盾的是，这也是教会历史上传教热忱最高涨的时期。

Motivated by a worldview that saw everything and everyone outside of the Church as damned, missionary orders like the Franciscans, Dominicans, and the newly formed Jesuits traveled to Asia, Africa, and the Americas, desperate to save as many people as possible.

受到一种认为教会之外的一切事物和所有人都被诅咒的世界观的驱使，方济各会、多明我会和新成立的耶稣会等传教修会前往亚洲、非洲和美洲，迫切希望拯救尽可能多的人。

For some today, this represents the height of Catholicism.

对于今天的一些人来说，这代表了天主教的最高境界。

Meticulously ordered liturgies, clear and certain doctrinal statements, urgency and mission, and large beautiful fortresses to keep unwanted dangers out.

一丝不苟地安排礼仪，清晰明确的教义陈述，迫切而有使命感，宏伟壮丽的堡垒将危险阻挡在外。

There is no doubt that it was a time in history with the clearest boundaries both in mission and identity.

毫无疑问，这是历史上在使命和身份方面界限最为分明的一个时期。

Of course, even the best of times has its issues, and this time period is no exception.

当然，即便是最美好的时代也有其问题，这个时期也不例外。

At times, uniformity led to rigidity, even idolatry to human laws.

有时，一致性导致了僵化，甚至对人为律法的偶像崇拜。

Certainty inhibited exploration and adaptation.

确定性抑制了探索和适应。

Society fostered impatience and overlooked true conversion.

社会助长了急躁之风，忽略了真正的归正。

And keeping everything out meant missing out on some truly good things about the world.

把一切都拒之门外，就意味着错过了世界上一些真正美好的事物。

By the end of the 19th century, the Church had begun to look deeply at itself and question its identity and mission in the world.

十九世纪末，教会开始深入反思自身，质疑自己在世上的身份和使命。

So begins the modern period.

如此，现代时期开始了。

For many, it's a period of updating, of adapting to the changes of the world.

对许多人来说，这是一个更新的时期，是适应世界变化的时期。

For others, it's a period of openness and dialogue, not only with outsiders, but with our own history.

对其他人来说，这是一个开放和对话的时期，不仅是与外人，也是与我们自己的历史。

Still more call it a time of reform, while others see nothing but the undoing of all that is good and holy.

仍有更多人称之为改革的时代，而另一些人却只看到所有美善圣洁之事被毁。

It's really hard to agree on anything these days, isn't it?

现在大家很难在任何事情上达成一致，不是吗？

The fact that it's less than a hundred years old and we're still living in it, I think the jury is still out on how this time will be remembered in history, but it's clear that it is a time of immense change, both inside and outside of the Church.

鉴于它不到一百年的历史，而我们仍生活在其中，我认为对这个时代在历史上将如何被铭记，现在下定论还为时尚早。但很明显，这是一个巨大变革的时代，无论是在教会内部还是外部。

The world of the mid-20th century looked nothing like the world of the Middle Ages.

二十世纪中叶的世界，与中世纪的世界全然不同。

Early efforts at humanism brought a semblance of peace between Protestants and Catholics.

早期人文主义的努力，为新教徒和天主教徒之间带来了一丝和平的迹象。

Technology revolutionized travel, communication, and daily life.

科技革新了交通、通讯和日常生活。

The Church was no longer under attack from foreign nations or cultural revolutions, and the world was looking, with hope, towards a more unified existence.

教会不再受到外国列强或文化革命的攻击，世界满怀希望地期待着一个更加团结的生活。

From the Church's perspective, research and scholarship had grown leaps and bounds.

在教会看来，研究和学术有了突飞猛进的发展。

In just the late 19th and early 20th centuries alone, significant early manuscripts had been rediscovered.

仅在十九世纪末和二十世纪初，就有重要的早期手稿被重新发现。

The historical study of scripture had begun to flourish, and translations of the patristic writers were becoming widespread.

圣经的历史研究开始蓬勃发展，教父著作的译本也越来越广泛。

As a result, the fields of liturgy, scripture, patristics, and ecumenism all experienced renewed fervor from academics and the faithful alike.

因此，礼仪学、圣经学、教父学和合一运动等领域，都受到学者和信徒的热烈欢迎，焕发出新的活力。

The tradition, it seemed, was far more expansive and complicated than our simple formulas and uniform liturgies had led us to believe.

这个传统，看来比我们简单的公式和统一的礼仪所让我们相信的要广泛和复杂得多。

An update was needed.

需要更新。

Enter the Second Vatican Council.

第二次梵蒂冈大公会议召开了。

From 1962 to 1965, the Church issued constitutions calling for the complete reform of the liturgy, redefining the nature of the Church, explaining the role and process of studying sacred scripture, and updating the mission of the Church to the world.

从1962年到1965年，公教会颁布了几项宪章，呼吁全面改革礼仪，重新定义公教会的本质，阐释研读圣经的角色和过程，并更新公教会在世界上的使命。

No longer a fortress defending itself against the world, the Church was to be a sacrament of salvation to it.

教会不再是一座自卫抵御世界的堡垒，而是要成为世界得救的圣事。

More than anything else, it seems, this was to be accomplished by the laity.

这个任务似乎主要要由平信徒来完成，胜过其他一切。

In almost every document, explicit focus is given, for the first time, to including, preparing, and commissioning the non-ordained to the life of the Church.

几乎在每一份文件中，首次明确关注的是，如何将非受圣职者纳入、预备并差遣他们参与教会的生活。

Things like the universal call to holiness, the use of the vernacular in lay ministers and liturgy, room for cultural adaptations to liturgy and law, the importance of scripture, and responsibilities exclusive to lay people underpinned the spirit of the Council.

大公会议的精神基础包括：普世蒙召走向圣德之路，在平信徒事奉和礼仪中使用白话文，在礼仪和法规中为文化差异预留空间，重视圣经，以及平信徒的专属职责。

And boy did it create a major shift in culture.

这的确在文化上引起了重大的转变。

On the one hand, the Church in Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America flourished like never before.

一方面，非洲、东南亚和南美洲的教会空前繁荣昌盛。

Local communities, now with more freedom to develop individually, have exploded with creativity.

如今地方社区拥有更多自主发展的自由，创意如雨后春笋般涌现。

What was lost in uniformity was more than made up for in depth and enculturation.

在深度和本地化方面的收获，远远弥补了在统一性上的损失。

On the other hand, disunity and abuse have flourished as well.

另一方面，分裂和滥用现象也在蔓延。

Without the strict guidelines of before, some have gone far beyond the intentions of the Council, undermining tradition and teaching error.

没有了从前严格的指导方针，有些人已经远远超出了大公会议的本意，破坏传统，传播谬误。

A race to the extremes has left the Church struggling to maintain unity since the Council, leaving some to feel as if we're on the brink of another schism.

自从大公会议以来，走向极端的竞争使教会难以维系合一，有人感到我们正处在另一次分裂的边缘。

Now, this, one could argue, is more reflective of the state of dialogue in the world today than anything the Church has done, but the problem does still exist.

现在，有人可能会争辩说，这更能反映当今世界对话的状态，而不是公教会所做的任何事情，但问题仍然存在。

While some would like to think that the Second Vatican Council appeared overnight and artificially forced reforms on the Church, the reality is that the Council, while sweeping in its changes, was the result of many decades of reform that was already taking place in universities and in local church communities.

有人以为第二次梵蒂冈大公会议是在一夜之间出现的，强行推行教会改革，但事实上，尽管这次大公会议带来了翻天覆地的变化，却是数十年来在大学和地方教会团体中已经进行的改革所结出的果实。

Like it or not, Vatican II itself was grounded in tradition, backed by decades of earlier reforms, and absolutely what the Church needed.

不管你喜不喜欢，梵蒂冈第二届大公会议本身是建基于传统之上的，有数十年来的改革作为后盾，绝对是教会当时所需要的。

What will its legacy ultimately be?

它最终会留下什么样的遗产呢？

Time will have to tell.

时间会证明一切。

But if there is one thing we can be sure of from our study of history, it is that it won't end here.

但是从我们对历史的研究中，有一件事我们可以确定，那就是这并不会就此终结。

Further reforms will be necessary in the future.

将来还需要进一步的改革。

As much as the Church is founded by Christ on the unchanging truth of His resurrection, it is an institution that is constantly changing how it expresses that truth.

教会虽然是基督在祂复活这一不变的真理上所建立的，但在表达这一真理的方式上，却是一个不断变化的机构。

Over two thousand years, our liturgy, prayer, law, formulations of doctrine, structures of governance, and relationship with the outside world have remained in process.

两千多年来，我们的礼仪、祷告、律法、教义的表述方式、治理结构，以及与外界的关系，一直都在发展的过程中。

This is not to say that it changes fundamentally or completely, but that it is never stagnant.

这并不是说它会从根本上或完全地改变，而是说它永不停滞。

As a Church guided by the Holy Spirit, we are a living institution.

作为一个被圣灵引导的教会，我们是一个活生生的机构。

Our mission never changes, but the world around us and the people that inhabit it always do.

我们的使命从未改变，但我们周围的世界和居住在其中的人却总是在变化。

The reason we study history is not so that we can conform to how things were done in the past, as if there is a singular way to be Church in any context.

我们研究历史的原因并不是为了要效法过去的做法，仿佛在任何处境中作为教会只有一种方式。

It is to remember that each generation has had to determine how to live and share the tradition in its own present time.

要记住，每一代人都必须决定如何在自己当下的时代中生活，并分享这传统。

What was effective at expressing the truth and fostering holiness in one period may not be the same for us.

在某个时期有效地表达真理、培养圣洁的方式，对我们来说可能并不一样。

We learn from the past, but we never forget that the Holy Spirit is with us in the present.

我们从过去学习，但我们永远不会忘记，圣灵现今与我们同在。