什么是邪恶？为什么神允许邪恶存在于他的创造中？ What is evil and why does God permit it in his creation?
圣托马斯·阿奎那教导说，从广义上讲，邪恶是应该存在的东西的缺失或缺乏。 St. Thomas Aquinas teaches that in a general sense, evil is an absence or lack of what should be there.
从技术角度讲，我们称之为缺失。 Technically speaking, we call this a privation.
因此，邪恶不是一种存在或本性，而是某种东西的缺失。 So, evil is not a being or a nature, it's the absence of something.
假设我说，我要画一个圆，但我没有画完。 Suppose I say, I'm going to draw a circle and then I don't finish it.
你可能会说，嘿，这是一个不好的圆，有一部分缺失了。 You might say, hey, that's a bad circle, part of it's missing.
你指出的是一种缺失。 You're pointing out a privation.
但请注意，我并没有直接造成本身就是坏的东西。 Notice, though, that I haven't directly caused something that is bad in itself.
这个圆就其现有的部分而言是好的，只是没有完全画完。 The circle is good as far as it goes, it just doesn't go all the way.
但如果我画出整个圆岂不是更好吗？ But wouldn't it have been better if I had caused the whole circle to exist?
嗯，一般来说，是的。 Well, in general, yes.
但也许我没有这样做是有充分理由的。可能我是在试图说明什么是缺失。 But perhaps there was a good reason why I didn't. Maybe I was trying to illustrate what a privation is.
在这种情况下，这个有缺陷的圆可能是某个更大项目的重要 组成部分，是某种更高的善，比如帮助你理解邪恶的问题。 In that case, this defective circle would be an essential part of some larger project, some higher good, like bringing you to understand the problem of evil.
这就是阿奎那处理邪恶问题的方法。 This is how Aquinas approaches the problem of evil.
神创造了一个可变的物质世界，为了使这样的世界存在，事物必须生长、死亡和腐烂。 God has created a changeable world of material things, and in order for such a world to exist, it's necessary that things grow, die, and decay.
阿奎那称这些为自然之恶。 Aquinas calls these things natural evils.
羚羊吃草，狮子吃羚羊。 Gazelles eat grass and lions eat gazelles.
他将自然之恶的概念置于更广阔的背景中。 He sets this idea of natural evil in a larger context.
这是整个宇宙生态系统的善所必需的特征。 It's a necessary feature of the good of the whole ecosystem of the whole universe.
现在，当阿奎那谈到人类经历的邪恶时，他不再谈论自然之恶。 Now, when Aquinas talks about the evil that human beings experience, he no longer speaks of natural evil.
相反，有两种独特类型的邪恶与理性和自由的生物有关。 Rather, there are two unique types of evil that pertain to rational and free creatures.
拉丁语中的「pena」之恶。 The evil of pena in Latin.
这通常被翻译为痛苦之恶、惩罚之恶或刑罚之恶。 That's translated typically as the evil of pain or penalty or punishment.
还有拉丁语中的「culpa」之恶，被翻译为过错之恶或罪责之恶。 And the evil of culpa in Latin, translated as the evil of fault or of guilt.
那么，举个例子。 So, an example.
假设比利小子上班迟到了。 Suppose Billy the Kid wakes up late for work.
他没有马，所以他偷了邻居的马。 He doesn't have a horse, so he steals his neighbors.
这是不好的。 This is bad.
当然，对他的邻居来说是不好的，但对比利来说更糟，因为他故意拒绝遵 从正确理性的指引，犯下了严重的不义行为，这是一个不配为人的行为。 Of course, for his neighbor, but even more for Billy, who has willfully refused to do what right reason tells him and has committed a serious injustice, an act unworthy of a human person.
这就是阿奎那所说的过错之恶或罪责之恶，这是一种道德自杀。 This is what Aquinas calls the evil of fault or of guilt, and it is a kind of moral suicide.
比利被警长逮捕，被判入狱。 Arrested by the sheriff, Billy is sentenced to prison.
这对他来说也是一种恶，因为他现在失去了行动自由。 This, too, is an evil for him because he's now deprived of his freedom of movement.
但这第二种恶，即入狱，与第一种不同。 But this second evil, being in prison, is not the same kind as the first.
这是比利因自己所犯的恶而遭受的恶，被称为惩罚或刑罚。 It's an evil Billy suffers in response to an evil that he committed, and it's called a penalty or punishment.
我们应该如何比较这两种恶？ How should we compare these two evils?
嗯，过错之恶更糟糕。 Well, the evil of fault is worse.
通过犯罪，比利自由选择使自己成为一个坏人。 By sinning, Billy has freely chosen to make himself a bad man.
相比之下，比利的惩罚虽然从某种意义上说对他是一种恶，但却是善良和公正的 ，甚至可以帮助比利变好，特别是如果他接受并将其作为对自己过错的补偿。 By contrast, Billy's punishment, while an evil for him in one sense, is good and just, and it can even help Billy become good, especially if he accepts it and offers it in reparation for his fault.
神从不愿意罪恶或过错之恶。 God never wills the evil of sin or of fault.
罪是我们的过错，不是神的。我们选择某些部分的善 ，违背正确理性的秩序，不关心由此造成的损害。 Sin is our fault, not God's. We choose some partial good, contrary to the order of right reason, not caring about the damage that will result.
神允许我们这样做，但他绝不是其原因。 And God permits us to do this, but he in no way is its cause.
但神确实愿意这种道德之恶所带来的惩罚，既是 为了恢复正义的秩序，也是为了纠正作恶者。 But God does will the punishment that follows from this moral evil, both in order to restore the right ordering of justice and also to correct the wrongdoer.
就像法官和其他诚实的公民正当地希望小偷被逮捕并得到公正的惩 罚，就像比利可以将他的惩罚作为对他所做恶行的补偿，我们也可 以将我们所遭受的所有恶作为对我们和他人所犯罪行的补偿。 Much like a judge and other honest citizens rightly desire a thief to be arrested and given a just punishment, just like Billy can offer up his punishment in reparation for the evil he did, so we too can offer up all the evils we suffer in reparation for the sins we and others have committed.
让我们提出一个更难的问题。 Let's pose a harder question.
为什么神允许无辜者受苦？ Why does God permit the suffering of the innocent?
我们正在进入深水区，我们只能简略地勾勒出一个答案。 We're entering deep waters here and we can only sketch a very brief answer.
人类的苦难、肉体的死亡、遭受迫害和不公，这些都是非常 真实和可怕的恶，它们不是神对我们最初计划的一部分。 Human suffering, bodily death, undergoing persecution and injustice, these are very real and terrible evils and they were not part of God's original plan for us.
他在恩典中创造了我们的始祖，赐予他们免于疾病、苦难和死亡的特殊特权。 He created our first parents in grace with the special privilege of being free from illness, suffering, and death.
这些恶只是因为我们始祖的罪而进入世界，我们继承了这 原罪的可怕后果，包括苦难、死亡，甚至倾向于犯罪。 Those evils only entered the world because of the sin of our first parents and we inherit the terrible consequences of this original sin, suffering, death, and even an inclination to sin.
这很像一个出生于海洛因成瘾母亲的婴儿。 It's a lot like a baby born to a mother who's a heroin addict.
那个婴儿继承了母亲成瘾的可怕后果。 That baby inherits the terrible consequences of the mother's addiction.
对于那些遭受这些的人来说，它们是痛苦之恶或惩罚之恶。 In those who suffer them, they are the evils of pain or penalty.
它们可以成为展现伟大道德高尚和善良的机会，比如当一个人在疾病 中将生命奉献给神，或者当某人坚持真理甚至宽恕不公正的迫害者。 They can be the occasion for great moral nobility and goodness, like when a person offers his life to God in the midst of illness or when someone perseveres in the truth and even forgives an unjust persecutor.
最难回答的问题是，为什么存在罪？ The hardest question is, why does sin exist?
因为每一种罪都涉及一种缺失，即应该存在的东西的缺失 ，我们在处理非存在，而非存在严格来说是不可理解的。 Because every sin involves a privation, a lack of what should be there, we're dealing with non-being and non-being is, strictly speaking, unintelligible.
所以，我们可以解释罪是如何可能的。 So, we can explain how sin is possible.
受造物将注意力集中并将意志指向某些有限的善，忽视了这种选择将造成的缺陷或混乱。 The creature focuses its attention and directs its will to some limited good, disregarding the defect or disorder that that choice will cause.
但我们无法解释为什么受造物这样做，因为恶本身是不连贯的。 But we cannot explain why the creature does this, because evil is incoherent in itself.
它总是愚蠢的，自我毁灭的。 It's always stupid and self-defeating.
那么，为什么神允许它存在？ Why then does God permit it?
一些人用所谓的自由意志辩护来回答这个问题，说如果有自由，神就不可能阻止邪恶。 Some have answered this question by using the so-called free will defense, saying that if there's freedom, it's impossible for God to prevent evil.
这不是阿奎那的答案，他认为这存在严重的哲学问题。 This is not Aquinas's answer, and he thinks it has serious philosophical problems.
正如我们在关于预定和自由的视频中解释的那样，作为我们的创造者，神是我们自由的源 头，并在我们心中植入了对善的渴望，因此他可以在我们的意志中行动，引导它趋向善。 As we explained in the video on predestination and freedom, God as our creator is the origin of our freedom and implants in us our desires for good, and so he can act within our will, moving it to good.
因此，在任何特定情况下，神都可以引导我们自由地选择正确的事。 So, in any particular case, God could move us to freely choose the right thing.
那么，为什么他不总是这样做呢？ Why then doesn't he always do so?
在这里，我们遇到了一个对我们的头脑来说太深奥的 奥秘，即为什么神创造了这个世界而不是另一个。 Here we've reached a mystery too deep for our minds, why God has created this world and not another.
阿奎那认为我们无法说得更多，但他确实提供了两 个准解释，帮助我们一瞥神的眷顾的深邃智慧。 Aquinas doesn't think we can say much more than this, but he does offer two quasi-explanations that help us glimpse the deep wisdom of God's providence.
首先，我们可以确信神允许邪恶只是为了某种更好更高的 善，这不仅包括我们个人的善，还包括整个创造的善。 First, we can be sure that God only permits evil for the sake of some much better and higher good, including not only our individual good, but the good of the whole creation.
这非常神秘，因为我们看不到整体，也无法理解允许罪如何导致善，但我们知道这是真的。 This is very mysterious because we can't see this whole, and we can't conceive how permitting sin might lead to good, but we know it's true.
神是无限强大和无限善良的，能从每一种恶中带来更大的善。 God is infinitely powerful and infinitely good, able to bring an even greater good out of every evil.
我们也知道我们非常有限，特别是在理解整体方面。 We also know that we are very limited, especially in our understanding of the whole.
我们有点像一个尿布脏了的婴儿，因为父亲让他洗澡而大声哭闹。 We're kind of like a baby with a soiled diaper who screams because his father makes him take a bath.
他不理解父亲通过在婴儿看来毫无意义的痛苦为他 所做的好事，但实际上，这是为了婴儿的好处。 He doesn't understand the good that his father is accomplishing for him through what seems to the baby like pointless suffering, but in reality, it's for the baby's good.
最后，阿奎那说神允许罪的缺陷，是为了能以更伟大的方式彰显他作为我们救主的善良。 Finally, Aquinas says that God allows the defect of sin so that he can manifest his goodness in an even greater way as our Savior.
这是一个美丽而崇高的真理，它在十字架上达到了顶点。 This is a beautiful and high truth, and it reaches its pinnacle in the cross.
在那里，神自己将我们所有罪的重担担在他人性的肩 膀上，通过可怕的苦难承担它们，甚至直到死亡。 There, God himself takes upon his human shoulders the whole weight of our sins and bears them through terrible suffering, even unto death.
他这样做正是为了让他对我们罪人的救赎怜悯和爱更清 晰地彰显出来，使我们能从罪中被带到宽恕和永生。 He does this precisely so that his redeeming mercy and love for us sinners would shine out more clearly so that we might be brought from sin unto forgiveness and eternal life.
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