谢谢。 Thank you.
早期教会中有哪些关键人物吗？ Is there any number of key players in the life of the early Church?
人们会想到提摩太、提多、马太、马可、抹大拉的马利亚、腓力、雅各和约翰。 One thinks of Timothy and Titus, of Matthew, Mark, and Mary Magdalene, of Philip, James, and John.
但是，没有彼得和保罗，基督教运动就不可能兴 起和存续。他们是两个不可或缺的关键人物。 But the two indispensable players, the two without whom the Christian movement never would have emerged and survived, were Peter and Paul.
为什么是他们两个？ Why these two?
彼得是十二使徒的领袖，是耶稣亲自拣选的新以色列的领导者。 Well, Peter was the head of the Twelve, the one chosen by Jesus Himself to be the leader of the New Israel.
他是复活的坚定见证人，他是磐石。 He was the unwavering witness to the Resurrection; he was the Rock.
那保罗呢？ And Paul?
保罗是第一位伟大的基督教神学家，他首次全面洞察了耶稣从 死里复活的深远意义，因此使基督教成为一个全球性的现象。 Paul was the first great Christian theologian, the first one who saw the full implications of the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead, and therefore allowed Christianity to emerge as a worldwide phenomenon.
这两个人如此重要，以至于他们不仅具有历史意义 ，而且至今仍是教会生活中决定性的典型代表。 These two were so central that they remain not merely of historical interest, but they endure as determining archetypes in the life of the Church to the present day.
全世界的天主教主教每五年都必须进行一次所谓的「边界朝圣」访问罗马。 Each Catholic bishop in the world is required every five years to make what is called an Ad Limina visit to Rome.
在这次朝圣过程中，主教们确实会拜访教宗，但他们的首要目的是 在彼得和保罗这两位伟大使徒的坟墓前祷告，并从中汲取力量。 In the course of that pilgrimage, the bishops do indeed visit with the Pope, but their primary purpose is to pray at the tombs of the two great apostles, Peter and Paul, and to draw strength from them.
教会直觉到，这两位圣徒在死后两千年后仍然是至关重要的人物。 The Church has intuited that those two saints remain, 2000 years after their deaths, the crucial figures.
十二使徒原本代表以色列的十二个支派，他们的使命是聚集整个世界。 So the Twelve Apostles, who were meant to be the Twelve Tribes of Israel, their job was to gather the world.
他们明白这一点，如果耶稣是以色列的主，那么他就是世界的主。 They understood that, and if Jesus was the Lord of Israel, He was the Lord of the world.
所以他们都出去了。 So they all went out.
彼得和保罗来到这里，多马，据说去了印度。 Peter and Paul come here; Thomas, they say, went to India.
其他使徒们走遍了已知的世界，传播这个信息。 The other apostles went all over the known world to bring this message.
这就是为什么那种认为耶稣只是给他们一些漂亮的 属灵观念的观点，完全无法解释他们所做的事。 And that's why the view that, Oh, Jesus just kind of inspired them with some nice spiritual ideas, makes zero sense of what they did.
谁会费心跑到世界的尽头？ Who would have bothered going to the ends of the world?
谁会为了宣告这个信息而献出生命？ Who would have died to announce that message?
我们现在在罗马，这里挤满了基督徒，这本身就证明了他们是多么认真地对待自己的使命。 So the very fact that we're here in Rome with these teeming masses of Christians bears witness to how seriously they took this task of theirs.
他出生时名叫西门·巴·约哈嫩，约翰的儿子西 门，来自加利利海北岸的一个小渔村迦百农。 He was born Shimeon bar Yohanon, Simon son of John, from that little fishing village of Capernaum on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee.
他没有受过良好的教育。 He wasn't well educated.
他说自己的母语亚兰语，可能出于礼仪原因懂一点希伯来语，出于商业原因懂一点希腊语。 He spoke his native Aramaic, probably a little Hebrew for liturgical reasons, and Greek for business reasons.
他不算富有，但也不算贫穷。 He wasn't rich, but he wasn't exactly poor.
现在有证据表明，加利利的渔民在罗马帝国的整个东部地区经商。 There's evidence now that Galilean fishermen did business all over the eastern end of the Roman Empire.
一天，拿撒勒的耶稣来到迦百农。 One fine day, Yeshua from Nazareth came to Capernaum.
他上了彼得的船，说：「把船开到深水处，下网捕鱼。」 He got into Peter's boat and said, Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.
这就是耶稣的作风：当他上了你的船，就会带你到深水区。 So it always goes with Jesus: when He gets into your boat, He takes you out into deep water.
经验丰富的渔夫西门说：「主啊，我们已经整夜劳力，但既然 你这么说，我就下网。」结果他们捕到了奇迹般的大量鱼。 Simon, the experienced fisherman, said, Lord, we've been at it all night, but if you say so, he lowered the nets, and they took in that miraculous draft of fishes.
彼得跪在耶稣面前说：「主啊，离开我，因为我是个罪人。」 Peter fell at the knees of Jesus and said, Lord, leave me; I'm a sinful man.
这个场景生动地展现了彼得的性格：鲁莽、诚实、有缺陷。 That scene captures so much of Peter's character: brash, honest, flawed.
西门确实放下了一切——家和生计——成为耶稣最亲密的跟随者之一。 Well, Simon did leave everything—home and livelihood—and became one of Jesus' intimate followers.
他在耶稣生命中的重大事件中都在场。 He was with Him at the major events of His life.
比如在变像山上，耶稣登上高山，衣服变得洁白耀 眼，并开始与摩西和以利亚交谈时，他就在场。 He was there, for instance, at the Transfiguration, when Jesus went up the high mountain, His clothes became dazzlingly white, and He began speaking to Moses and Elijah.
是彼得说：「主啊，我们在这里真好。」 It was Peter who said, Lord, it's good for us to be here.
圣托马斯阿奎那曾思考：为什么彼得会在变像山上？ Thomas Aquinas wondered, Why was Peter there at the Transfiguration?
他的答案是？ His answer?
因为他最爱耶稣。 Because he loved Jesus the most.
这是属灵生命的关键：你主要是通过像彼得那样爱上基督来认识祂。 That's a clue in the spiritual life: you come to know Christ primarily by falling in love with Him the way Peter did.
在加利利海那个风暴之夜，耶稣在水面上向门徒走来时，他也在场。 He was there on that stormy night on the Sea of Galilee when Jesus came walking across the water toward the disciples.
门徒们都很害怕，但耶稣说：「是我，不要害怕。」 They were terrified, but Jesus said, It is I; do not be afraid.
是彼得说：「主，如果是你，请叫我从水面上到你那里去。」 It was Peter who said, Lord, if it is you, call to me, and I will come to you across the sea.
主说：「来吧。」彼得就在水面上向耶稣走去。 And the Lord said, Come, and Peter walked on the water toward Jesus.
当他看到周围的波浪时，就开始下沉。 When he looked around at the waves, he began to sink.
这也是教会生活的一个教训。 That too is a lesson for the life of the Church.
只要我们的眼目专注于基督，就能在历史的风暴中行走。 As long as we keep our eyes fixed on Christ, we can walk on the stormy waters of history.
当我们移开目光，就会下沉。 When we look away, that's when we sink.
在耶稣生命的高潮时刻，当黑暗势力围绕着他时，彼得发现自 己身处大祭司家的院子里，被一群寻找替罪羊的暴徒包围。 At the climax of Jesus' life, when the dark powers were gathering around Him, Peter found himself in the courtyard of the high priest's house in the midst of a scapegoating mob.
你是和他在一起的！ You were with Him!
我认出你了！ I recognize you!
我不认识他，彼得说。 I don't know Him, Peter said.
另一个人说，你的口音暴露了你。 Another person said, Well, your accent gives you away.
你是个加利利人，是他的门徒。 You're a Galilean; you're one of His followers.
我告诉你，我不认识他，彼得坚持说。 I tell you, I don't know Him, Peter insisted.
第三个人说，我确实看见你和耶稣在一起，你是他的门徒。 A third person said, Sure, I saw you with Jesus; you're one of His disciples.
彼得发誓说，我告诉你，我不认识他。 Swearing, Peter said, I tell you, I do not know Him.
就在这时，鸡叫了，正如耶稣预言的：西门，我告诉你，鸡叫之前，你要三次不认我。 At that point, the cock crowed, as Jesus predicted it would: Simon, I tell you, before the cock crows, you will deny three times that you even know me.
此时，彼得出去，痛苦地哭了。 At that point, Peter went out and wept bitterly.
复活后，彼得和门徒们回到加利利海继续捕鱼。 After the Resurrection, Peter and the disciples returned to ply their trade on the Sea of Galilee.
他们捕鱼时，在远处岸边看到了耶稣。 While they were fishing, they spotted Jesus on the far shore.
这个细节很奇特；根据福音书，说彼得是gimnos（希腊 语中的赤身露体）——他赤身裸体，然后披上衣服来见主。 This little detail is odd; from the Gospels, it says Peter was gimnos in Greek—he was stripped naked—and he threw on clothes and came to see the Lord.
这让人想起亚当的形象，在犯罪之前，他在主面前毫无 自觉地赤身露体，而犯罪之后，他用遮羞布遮盖自己。 It calls to mind a figure of Adam, who was unselfconsciously naked in the presence of the Lord before his sin, but after sin, covered himself with a loincloth.
于是彼得意识到自己的不认主，遮盖自己并来到耶稣面前。 So Peter, aware of his denial, covers himself up and comes to Jesus.
然后是那段美丽的对话：西门，你爱我吗？ Then that beautiful conversation: Simon, do you love me?
主啊，你知道我爱你。 Lord, you know I love you.
主就说，那么，你就牧养我的羊。 Then the Lord said, Well then, feed my sheep.
第二次，西门，你爱我吗？ The second time, Simon, do you love me?
主啊，你知道我爱你。 Lord, you know I love you.
那就牧养我的羊羔。 Then feed my lambs.
第三次，西门，你爱我吗？ Then a third time, Simon, do you love me?
主啊，你无所不知；你知道我爱你。 Lord, you know everything; you know I love you.
那就牧养我的羊。 Then feed my sheep.
圣奥古斯丁精彩地评论说，他三次不认主，所以也要三次重新肯定他的爱。 St. Augustine's magnificent commentary was that three times he denied, and so three times he was compelled to reaffirm his love.
同时，基督徒生活的一个本质：我们对耶稣的爱必须始终导向彼此相爱。 Also, something essential to the Christian life: our love for Jesus must always conduce toward a love for one another.
牧养我的羊，牧养我的羊羔。 Feed my sheep; feed my lambs.
现在你明白了我说彼得是教会生活中决定性的典型代表是什么意思。 You see now what I mean when I say Peter is a determining archetype in the life of the Church.
通过观察他与耶稣关系的各种变化和形式，我们可以看到自己与主的关系。 In looking at him and his relationship to Jesus in all of its variations, all of its forms, we can see our own relationship to the Lord.
我的意思是，所有圣徒都是罪人——这是G.K.切斯特顿的名言。 I mean, all saints are sinners—that's G.K. Chesterton's line.
我的宗教中的圣徒，意味着知道自己是罪人的人。 That there are saints in my religion just means people that know they are sinners.
这是个很棒的说法：我们都是罪人，但圣徒深知这一点，因为他们面向光明。 It's kind of a cool line: we're all sinners, but the saint deeply knows it because the saint is ordered to the light.
当你朝着光明开车时，你会更清楚地看到挡风玻璃上的污渍。 So when you're driving your car toward the light, you see more fully the marks on the windshield.
如果你背离光明，你会说，我的挡风玻璃很干净，嘿，我表现得不错。 If you're driving away from the light, you say, My windshield's fine, so hey, I'm doing pretty well.
这恰恰表明你没有朝向上帝。 That is a pretty sure sign you're not directed toward God.
但如果你面向上帝，你就会说，不，不，我看到了自己所有的缺陷。 But if you are, then you say, No, no, I see all my flaws.
无论是方济各，还是利西约的特蕾莎，伟大的圣徒们都会第一个说，看，我是最大的罪人。 And the great saints, whether it's Francis or whether it's Thérèse of Lisieux or any of them, they're the first ones to say, Look, I'm the worst sinner.
但这对我来说完全说得通，因为他们在光明中。 But that makes perfect sense to me, yeah, because they're in the light.
这一点很重要，我要说。 That's important, I would say.
是的，比如看看圣彼得。 Yeah, I mean, look at St. Peter.
耶稣一出现，彼得就跪下说，主啊，引导我；我是个罪人。 The minute Jesus appears to him, Peter falls to his knees and says, Lord, lead me; I'm a sinful man.
这是他说的第一句话，因为他就在光明的面前。 I mean, that's the first thing he says because he's right in the presence of the Light.
这就是你知道的时候。 That's when you know it.
这并不意味着你要放弃；我的意思是，你很清楚自己的缺陷。 It doesn't mean you give up; I mean, you're well aware of your own flaws.
有一个西门生平中的特定事件，我想聚焦于此。 There's one particular event in the life of Simon upon which I'd like to focus.
我们必须回到该撒利亚腓立比地区，耶稣与门徒之间那次非凡的对话。 We have to go back to that extraordinary conversation between Jesus and His disciples in the region of Caesarea Philippi.
我已经分析过耶稣所问的那个特别的问题：人们说我是谁？ I've already analyzed the peculiarity of the question that Jesus asked: Who do people say that I am?
现在让我看看他收到的一些答案。 Let me now look at some of the answers He received.
门徒们回答：有人说是摩西或以利亚；还有人说是耶利米或其他先知。 The disciples speak up: Some say Moses or Elijah; others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.
耶稣就像今天的名人，一定引起了很多舆论热议。 Jesus, like a celebrity today, must have stirred up a great deal of popular buzz.
关于他是谁，一定有很多不同的看法，门徒们的回答反映了这种大众共识。 There must have been a lot of opinions being shared about who He was, and the disciples' answer reflects that popular consensus.
这些答案有一个共同点：它们都是错误的。 Here's what all those answers have in common: they're all wrong.
当人们说教会不是民主制时，他们的意思是：基督的身份绝不能仅仅由大众共识来决定。 When people say the Church is not a democracy, this is what they mean: the determination of who Jesus Christ is can never simply be a matter of popular consensus.
然后西门说：你是基督，是永生神的儿子。 Then Simon speaks up: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
你是基督；他用亚兰语会说是弥赛亚。 You are the Christ; he would have said Mashiach in his Aramaic.
你是受膏者。 You're the Anointed One.
彼得知道他是要聚集众支派、洁净圣殿、作以色列之主的那一位。 Peter knew He was the one who would gather the tribes, who would cleanse the Temple, who would rule as Lord of Israel.
但随后他加上了一句非凡的话。 But then he adds an extraordinary line.
你是永生神的儿子。 You are the Son of the living God.
你不仅仅是众先知中的一个，不仅仅是众多宗教先知中的一员。 You are not just one more in a long line of prophets; you're not just one more religious seer among many.
你是神的儿子。 You are the Son of God.
耶稣回应说：约拿的儿子西门啊，你是有福的，因 为这不是血肉之人启示你的，乃是我在天上的父。 Jesus responds, Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because no mere man has revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.
西门是怎么知道这一点的？ How did Simon know this?
不是因为他天生聪明，也不是因为他受过良好教育——他根本没有接受过教育。 It wasn't because of his native intelligence; it wasn't because of his splendid education—he didn't have one.
也不是因为他特别擅长评估民众的共识。 It wasn't because he was specially skilled at assessing the consensus of the people.
这是圣灵的特殊恩赐，是从上帝来的礼物。 It came as a special charism of the Holy Spirit; it came as a gift from God.
然后耶稣说，我要称你为矶法。 And then Jesus adds, I will call you Kephas.
这是亚兰语，意思是磐石。 That's in Aramaic; it means the Rock.
就是岩石，在希腊语中是彼得罗斯，拉丁语是彼得鲁斯，英语是彼得。 Rocky, rendered in Greek as Petros, Latin Petrus, and English Peter.
我要在这磐石上建立我的教会。 And upon this rock, I will build my Church.
我要把天国的钥匙给你。 I will give to you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven.
教会建立在彼得的这个认信之上，建立在这个以恩赐方式赐予的对耶稣的认识之上。 The Church rests upon this confession of Peter; it rests upon this charismatically given knowledge of who Jesus is.
请注意，耶稣在这里用的是将来时：我要在这个 根基上建立我的教会，阴间的权势不能胜过它。 And mind you, Jesus speaks here in the future: I will build my Church upon this foundation; the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
他不仅仅是在说彼得个人，而是指所有在历代中分享他恩赐、分享他职分的人。 He can't just be speaking of Peter personally, but of all those who down the ages would share in his charism, would share in his office.
新约最一致的声明之一是，彼得是复活的耶稣的决定性见证人。 One of the most consistent claims of the New Testament is that Peter was the definitive witness to the risen Jesus.
一再地，我们听到：主已复活，并向西门显现。 Again and again, we hear, The Lord is risen, and He has appeared to Simon.
五旬节之后，这位曾经摇摆不定的使徒变成了坚 强和坚定的象征，他的宣讲始终以复活为中心。 After Pentecost, the often wavering apostle became a tower of strength and resolve, and his proclamation centered consistently around the Resurrection.
他在耶路撒冷五旬节那天的讲道是有说服力的传 福音的杰作，可能代表了他的典型讲道风格。 His speech in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost is a masterpiece of persuasive evangelism and probably typical of his preaching.
你们以色列人哪，请听我的话：拿撒勒人耶稣，这位神用大能为你们证实的人。 You that are Israelites, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power.
这人是按着神明确的计划和预知被交给你们的；你们钉他十字架，但神使他复活。 This man was handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God; you crucified Him, but God raised Him up.
所以，让以色列全家确切地知道，神已经立他为主，为基督。 Therefore, let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made Him both Lord and Messiah.
这篇讲道如此有力，路加告诉我们，听众们心中被刺痛。 So powerful was this speech that the audience, Luke tells us, was cut to the heart.
彼得的继承者一直有着以这种方式见证耶稣复活的根本任务。 The successors of Peter have always had the fundamental task of witnessing in just this way to the Resurrection of Jesus.
彼得在公元一世纪五十年代末或六十年代初来到罗马。 Peter came here to Rome in the late 50s or early 60s of the first century.
他为什么来这里？ Why did he come here?
因为他知道耶稣是犹太人的王，这意味着，进一步说，他是所有国家的主。 Well, he knew that Jesus was the King of the Jews, and that meant, by extension, the Lord of all the nations.
所以，他当然来到了这个世界帝国的中心。 So, of course, he came here to this center of world empire.
他可能在我身后的特拉斯特维尔区定居。 He probably settled in this neighborhood of Trastevere behind me.
在一世纪，这里是犹太人居住区。 In the first century, it was the Jewish quarter.
彼得宣告耶稣从死里复活。 Peter proclaimed Jesus risen from the dead.
传统说马可圣徒，第一位传福音者，是彼得的同伴和翻译。 Tradition says that St. Mark, the first evangelist, was Peter's companion and translator.
许多人说，彼得讲道的内容和节奏可以在马可福音中看到。 Many say that the content and rhythm of Peter's preaching can be seen in the Gospel of Mark.
彼得在公元65或66年左右死于尼禄对早期教会的迫害，成为最著名的受害者。 Peter died around 65 or 66 as the most prominent victim of Nero's persecution of the early Church.
他在我站立的地方几百码外被钉十字架，在亚尼库勒姆山和梵蒂冈山之间，城墙外。 He was crucified just a few hundred yards from where I'm standing, in between the Janiculum and Vatican Hills, outside the city walls.
在那些日子里，他很可能是在尼禄马戏场被钉十字架，沿着他们称之为脊柱的中轴线。 In those days, he was crucified most likely in the Circus of Nero, along the spina—they called it—along the spine of that circus.
那里矗立着奥古斯都从埃及带回的一座宏伟方尖碑。 There stood a great obelisk that Augustus had brought back from Egypt.
如果彼得在那里被钉十字架，那可能是他最后看到的景象之一。 If Peter was crucified there, it's probably one of the last things that he saw.
现在它就矗立在圣彼得广场的正中央。 It's currently standing right in the center of St. Peter's Square.
彼得死后，他们将他的身体取下，埋葬在梵蒂冈山上的一个小墓地。 After Peter's death, they cut down his body and buried him in a little cemetery up on the Vatican Hills.
在四世纪，第一位基督教皇帝君士坦丁在那里建造了一座宏伟的大教堂，这座教 堂持续了几个世纪，直到十五世纪末被拆除，现在的圣彼得大教堂随之建成。 In the 4th century, the first Christian emperor, Constantine, built a great basilica on the site that lasted for many centuries, until the end of the 15th century, when it was torn down and the present great basilica of St. Peter's was erected.
在二十世纪中期，庇护十二世允许在圣彼得大教堂下进行发掘。他们发 现了那个一世纪的墓地，并在一块石头上找到了一段引人入胜的涂鸦。 In the middle of the 20th century, Pope Pius XII gave permission for excavations underneath St. Peter's. They discovered that first-century cemetery, and they found in one block of stone a fascinating bit of graffiti.
上面写着：彼得在此。 It said, Petros Aeneas—Peter is within.
当他们打开那个坟墓时，发现了一个60至70岁之间、体格健壮的男子的骨骼。 When they opened up that grave, they found the bones of a man between the ages of 60 and 70, a man sturdily built.
我想让你看到的是：基督教不是一种哲学，不是一套抽象的信念。 Here’s what I want you to see: Christianity is not a philosophy; it's not an abstract set of convictions.
基督教是建立在一个人身上的——这位拿撒勒的耶稣，西门彼得的朋友。 Christianity is based upon a person—this Yeshua of Nazareth, who is the friend of Simon Peter.
如果你查看约翰一书，你会发现这句话：我们把生命之道传给你们。 If you look in the First Letter of John, you find this line: We proclaim to you the Word of Life.
听起来很抽象，但他接着说，这是我们亲眼看见、亲手摸过的。 Sounds abstract enough, but then he goes on, which we have seen with our eyes and which our hands have touched.
这就是基督教的基础——像西门彼得这样的人所知道的生命之道。 Now that's the foundation of Christianity—the Word of Life that people like Simon Peter knew.
西门彼得亲眼看见，亲手摸过。 Simon Peter saw Him with his eyes and touched Him with his hands.
这就是基督教赖以建立的个人基础。 That is the personal foundation upon which Christianity rests.
把这根方尖碑从尼禄马戏场的正中央挪到这里，这本身就 充满讽刺和挑衅，仿佛罗马在说：看，我们才是胜利者！ It's all kind of ironic and edgy to take that obelisk that was right around here, right in the center of Nero's Circus, and it was Rome's way of saying, Hey, we are triumphant!
我们征服了埃及，夺走了他们的方尖碑，现在它属于我们了。 We conquered Egypt; we took their obelisk, and now this is ours.
现在我们把它竖在那里，仿佛在说：你们没有赢。 And now we put it up there and say, Well, you didn't win.
我知道你们钉死了彼得，但看吧，这是彼得的教会，彼得 的继承者就住在那里，这就是彼得当年看到的方尖碑。 I know you crucified Peter, but look, here's Peter's Church, and there's Peter's successor living right up there, and that's the obelisk he saw.
这一切都是一种温和但又直接的挑衅。 So it's all meant to be kind of a gentle in-your-face.
每次来这里，我都为此感到兴奋。 I do revel in that when I come here.
早期教会中第二位不可或缺的人物是保罗，他生于公元10年左右，在 小亚细亚东南部的塔尔苏斯城，是耶稣的后辈同时代人，原名扫罗。 The second of the indispensable players in the early Church was Paul, born Shaul (Saul) in the town of Tarsus in the southeast quadrant of Asia Minor around the year 10, making him a younger contemporary of Jesus.
作为一个散居犹太人的孩子，扫罗出生在犹太与希腊 混合的文化中，并在早年某个时候成为罗马公民。 A child of diaspora Jews, Saul was born into a mixed culture—Jewish and Greek—and he became, at some point in his early life, a Roman citizen.
因此，他集合了那个时代和地方的三大文化于一身，这使他在适当的 时机到来时，特别适合将以色列上帝的信息传播到更广阔的世界。 Therefore, he combined in his person the three great cultures of his time and place, and this made him, when the propitious moment arrived, particularly apt as a bearer of the message of the God of Israel to the wider world.
年轻的扫罗可能接受了相当不错的古典教育，阅读柏拉图 、亚里士多德、埃斯库罗斯、索福克勒斯和荷马的作品。 Young Saul probably received a fairly decent classical education, reading Plato, Aristotle, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Homer.
但扫罗最重要的智识形成来自于他沉浸在希伯来圣经的世界，这从他很小的时候就开始了， 并在他作为少年被送到耶路撒冷，在当时最著名的拉比之一迦玛列门下学习时达到了顶峰。 But Saul's most significant intellectual formation came through his immersion in the world of the Hebrew Scriptures, which began when he was very young and intensified when he was sent, probably as a teenager, to Jerusalem in order to study at the feet of Gamaliel, one of the leading rabbis of the time.
在耶路撒冷跟随迦玛列期间，扫罗钻研圣经，参与圣殿的礼仪和仪式。 In Jerusalem with Gamaliel, Saul searched out the Scriptures and participated in the liturgies and rituals of the Temple.
尽管迦玛列以在解读传统犹太教时相对开明而闻名，扫罗却走向了 相反的方向，正如他后来所说，成为了对祖先传统极其热诚的人。 Though Gamaliel was known to be relatively broad-minded in his reading of classical Judaism, Saul moved in the opposite direction, becoming, as he would later put it, zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.
进入二十多岁后，最令这个年轻的犹太zealot困扰的是兴起的基督教运动。 As he moved into his twenties, what bothered this young Jewish zealot most was the emerging Christian movement.
这怎么可能不令他困扰呢？ And indeed, how could it not?
一个被钉十字架的木匠竟然是以色列的弥赛亚，这与虔诚犹太人的所有期待背道而驰。 The claim that a crucified carpenter was the Messiah of Israel ran counter to all the expectations of pious Jews.
因此，扫罗怀着狂热的激情追击早期基督教团体，他无疑将他们视为背叛和不忠的犹太人。 Thus, Saul set out with fanatic passion to persecute the early Christian community, which he undoubtedly saw as a group of renegade and unfaithful Jews.
在《使徒行传》中有一段令人毛骨悚然的描述，说扫罗向基督徒 发出杀人的威胁，并闯入他们家中，用锁链将他们拖到监狱。 There is a chilling passage in the Acts of the Apostles that describes Saul as breathing murderous threats against Christians and entering their homes to drag them away in chains to prison.
新约中第一次提到扫罗，是在描述第一位基督教殉道者司提反被石头打死的事件中。 The very first reference to Saul in the New Testament is in connection with the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr.
当一群人用石头打死司提反时，扫罗被描绘成带着赞同的目光旁观。 As a stone-throwing mob is putting Stephen to death, Saul is pictured as looking on with approval.
我们没有意识到耶稣的信息有多么危险，他的存在 有多么具有威胁性——对现状构成了多大的挑战。 We don't realize how dangerous the message of Jesus was and how dangerous His person was—what a threat it was to the status quo.
当然，现在依然如此。 It still is, of course.
被驯化的基督不会造成问题，这就是永恒的诱惑： 将他驯化，把他变成一个温和、无害的属灵形象。 It's the domesticated Christ who's not a problem, which is why that's a permanent temptation: to domesticate Him, to make Him kind of a nice, harmless spiritual figure.
但他永远是颠覆性的，最初的基督徒当然知道这一点；他们承受了最大的冲击。 But He remains permanently disruptive, and the first Christians certainly knew that; they bore the brunt of it.
他们知道这一点，所以我相信他们都知道自己将迎来殉道的结局。 They knew it, so I'm convinced they all knew they were going to meet martyr's deaths.
扫罗得到上级的许可，远赴大马士革根除基督徒，并将他们锁链捆绑带回。 Saul received permission from his superiors to go as far as Damascus to root out the Christians and to bring them back in chains.
在前往那里的路上，发生了一件改变不仅是他自己，还改变了整个世界的事。 On the way there, something happened to Saul that changed not only him but changed the world.
用扫罗自己的话说：他看到一道光，听到一个声音说，扫罗，扫罗，你为什么逼迫我？ Here’s Saul's own language: he spoke of a light and the hearing of a voice that said, Shaul, Shaul, why are you persecuting me?
当他说，你是谁，主啊？ And when he said, Who are you, Lord?
那声音回答，我就是你所逼迫的耶稣。 the voice answered, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
起来，进城去，你将会被告知当做什么。 Get up and go into the city, and you'll be told what to do.
我现在站在罗马圣母玛利亚普波洛教堂里，面对卡拉瓦乔的伟大杰作《圣保罗的转变》。 I'm standing here in the great Church of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome, in front of Caravaggio's great masterpiece, The Conversion of St. Paul.
这是他对我所描述场景的描绘。 It's his depiction of the scene I've been describing.
看看扫罗多么年轻！ Look how young Saul is!
我们常常只想象保罗是个秃顶、长胡子的老人，但在这 个转变的时刻，他可能只有二十多岁，也许快三十岁。 Often we don't think of St. Paul as anything but a bald-headed, long-bearded old man, but at this time, the time of the conversion, he would have been in his mid-twenties, maybe late-twenties.
你看，卡拉瓦乔是如何捕捉到那全部狂热的能量和激情的。 If you see him there, look how Caravaggio has captured all of that fanatical energy and passion.
他穿着盔甲，头盔上的羽毛已经从头上掉落。 He's in that armor; he's got that helmet with the plume that has fallen from his head.
看看侧面的剑，看看那件罗马风格的红色披风。 Look at the sword to the side; look at that Roman-style red cape.
这是一个狂热、武装且危险的人，正要前往大马士革。 There’s somebody who is fanatical, armed, and dangerous as he's going off to Damascus.
他清楚地知道自己在做什么。 He knows exactly what he's doing.
然后是那道使他失明的光。 And then the light, which blinds him.
看看他无助地向上的眼神和手势。 Look at his eyes as he gestures helplessly upward.
这是失去力量的扫罗，软弱的扫罗。 There’s Saul disempowered, Saul in his weakness.
然后是这个，对我来说是卡拉瓦乔的绝妙之处：在保 罗转变的这幅画中，马反而成为了主角，多么奇特。 And then this, to me, wonderful Caravaggio touch: how odd that in this depiction of Paul's conversion, the horse seems to be the dominant player.
看看马是如何主导了整个构图。 See how the horse just dominates the composition.
现在看看马回望场景时的眼神。 And now look at the eye of the horse as he looks back at the scene.
扫罗不知道发生了什么，但你能捕捉到吗？ Saul doesn't know what's happening to him, but can you catch it?
马知道。 The horse does.
马似乎知道发生了什么。 The horse seems to know what’s happening.
我喜欢这一点：扫罗穿着盔甲、披风、头盔，手持利剑， 满怀狂热，正骑马奔赴大马士革，却被恩典击倒在地。 Here’s what I love about this: Saul, in his armor and his cape and his helmet and his sword, full of fanatical passion, galloping off to Damascus, is knocked to the ground by grace.
但是，当他有一天用谦卑的眼光回望这个场景时， 他就会知道；他就会理解发生在扫罗身上的事。 But see, when he will look one day with humble eyes at this scene, then he will know; then he will understand what happened to Saul.
那么，保罗在转变之后呢？ Now, Paul, after the conversion?
我们听说他去了大马士革，被门徒亚拿尼亚施洗 ，然后他说他去了阿拉伯，又回到大马士革。 We hear that he went to Damascus, he was baptized by Ananias, one of the disciples, and then he says he went to Arabia, then back to Damascus.
三年后他才回到耶路撒冷与门徒交谈。 Only three years later did he return to Jerusalem to talk with the disciples.
发生了什么？ What was going on?
这些年他在做什么？ What was he doing during these years?
我忍不住认为他在试图弄清楚究竟发生了什么。 I can't help but think he was trying to figure out what the heck had happened to him.
这是一个了解律法的人；他了解以色列；他知道这一切是怎么回事。 Here’s someone who knew the Law; he knew Israel; he knew what this was all about.
他满怀信心地奔赴追击教会，然后遇到了被钉十字 架并复活的耶稣，他知道自己必须重新调整一切。 He was galloping off to pursue the Church in full confidence, and then he met the crucified and risen Jesus, and he knew he had to reconfigure everything.
我们说保罗的转变，但这可能会产生错误的印象，好像他是从一种宗教转向另一种。 We speak of Paul's conversion, but that can give the wrong impression, as though he was moving from one religion to another.
不，不，他是在试图理解他对以色列的所有认知现在如何需 要在被钉十字架并复活的耶稣的光照下重新评估和思考。 No, no, he was trying to understand how everything he knew about Israel now had to be reassessed and rethought in light of the crucified and risen Jesus.
一旦他弄清楚了这一点，经过大约三年，他就准备好传道了。 Once he figured that out, it took about three years, then he was ready to preach.
是的，像他之前的其他圣经人物一样，扫罗通过改名来标志他的新身份；扫罗成为了保罗。 Yes, like other biblical figures before him, Saul signaled his new identity by changing his name; Shaul became Paul.
保罗意识到他的使命是向所有人宣告，无论是犹太人还是外邦人，他们都有了一位新的王。 Paul realized that his mission was to declare to everybody, Jew and Gentile alike, that they had a new King.
通过复活的大能，耶稣被显明为神对以色列所有应许的成就，因此也成为照亮万国的光。 Through the power of the Resurrection, Jesus was revealed as the fulfillment of all of God's promises to Israel and therefore as the light to all the nations.
保罗感到基督亲自委派他向世界传递这个信息。 Paul felt personally commissioned by Christ to be the bearer of that message to the world.
《使徒行传》的后半部分讲述了保罗在地中海世界狂热地奔波，向所有人宣告耶稣是主。 The second half of the Acts of the Apostles tells the story of Paul scurrying furiously around the Mediterranean world, telling anyone he could that Jesus was the Lord.
当你阅读那些气喘吁吁的篇章时，会被这个人无限的能量和坚定的专注所震撼。 When you read those breathless pages, you're struck by the boundless energy and unremitting focus of the man.
在第一次传道旅程中，保罗从叙利亚的安提阿出发，航行到塞浦路斯。 On his first missionary journey, Paul set out from Antioch in Syria and sailed to Cyprus.
他在岛的一端到另一端传道。 He preached his way from one end of that island to the other.
接着，他航行到小亚细亚，开始在培尔迦、特庇、路司得和以哥念的教会中传道。 Next, he sailed to Asia Minor and commenced to preach in established churches in Perga, Derbe, Lystra, and Iconium.
最后，他来到小亚细亚的西北海岸，他的使命在这里发生了决定性的转折。 Finally, he made his way to the northwest coast of Asia Minor, where his mission took a decisive turn.
当保罗在特罗亚——即特洛伊周围的地区——时，他做 了一个梦，一个马其顿人向他显现，说：来帮助我们。 While Paul was in Troas—that's the region around Troy—he had a dream in which a man from Macedonia appeared to him and said, Come and help us.
受此启发，保罗从亚洲短暂地跨越到希腊。 Inspired by this, Paul made the short journey from Asia to Greece.
天主教文化历史学家克里斯托弗·道森说，尽管当时没有评论家注意到保 罗的这次小小旅程，但事实上，这是过去两千年中最关键的事件之一，因 为它标志着基督教进入欧洲，开启了最终影响整个世界的文化革命。 The Catholic cultural historian Christopher Dawson has said that even though no commentator at the time would have noticed this little journey that Paul made, in fact, it was one of the most decisive events in the last 2000 years, for it represented the arrival of Christianity in Europe and therefore the beginning of a revolution in culture that would eventually affect the whole world.
保罗在欧洲的第一个重要站点是腓立比，这是一个罗马殖民 地，以马其顿的腓力二世命名，他是亚历山大大帝的父亲。 Paul's first important stop in Europe was the Roman colony of Philippi, named for Philip II of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great.
保罗可能是走我现在所走的伊格纳提亚大道进入城市的。 Paul would have arrived in town by the road that I'm walking on, called the Via Ignatia.
到达这里后，他传讲福音，建立了一个小型基督徒 团体，然后，按照保罗的常规，他因麻烦而入狱。 Once he was here, he preached the Gospel, established a small Christian community, and then, as was usually the case with Paul for his troubles, he ended up in prison.
那天晚上，当他和同伴西拉唱诗时，发生了地震，监狱的门被打开了。 That night, while he was singing hymns with his companion Silas, an earthquake struck, and the doors of the prison were thrown open.
以为囚犯已经逃跑，狱卒拔剑要自杀，但保罗阻止他，说：不要伤害自己，我们都在这里。 Supposing the prisoners had escaped, the jailer drew his sword in order to impale himself, but Paul stopped him, saying, Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.
那个受惊的人随即问他该如何得救。 The shaken man then asked what he must do to be saved.
保罗给出了简单而宏伟的答案：当信主耶稣基督，你和你一家都必得救。 The simple and magnificent answer Paul gave was, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.
这就是保罗所传的福音的核心：降服于被钉十字架并复活的基督这位新王。 There, in a nutshell, is the whole Gospel that Paul preached: submit to the lordship of a new King, Christ crucified and risen.
保罗后来写给腓立比教会的信，是基督教传统中的瑰宝，简明扼要地概括了他的教导。 The letter that Paul would later write back to the community of Philippi, one of the gems of the Christian tradition, provides a pithy encapsulation of his teaching.
他写道，基督耶稣本有神的形状，却不以自己与 神同等为强夺的，反倒虚己，取了奴仆的形状。 He writes, Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave.
神将他升为至高，又赐给他超乎万名之上的名，使天上、地上 、地底下的万膝都要向他跪拜，万口都要称耶稣基督为主。 God highly exalted him and gave him the name above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
首先，我们注意到耶稣的神性被清楚地肯定；他有神的形状，拥有超越一切名的名。 First, we notice that the divinity of Jesus is clearly affirmed; he's in the form of God and has the name above any other name.
其次，我们看到这一肯定的后果：耶稣是主，是基利奥斯，在政治和 文化领域，乃至整个宇宙和看不见的秩序中，都当最终效忠于他。 And second, we see the consequence of this affirmation: Jesus is the Kyrios, the Lord, to whom final allegiance is due within the political and cultural sphere and indeed throughout the cosmos and the invisible order as well.
离开腓立比后，保罗来到帖撒罗尼迦，立即进入犹太人的会堂宣讲福音。 Having left Philippi, Paul came to Thessalonica and immediately went to the Jewish synagogue to proclaim the good news.
当他陈述他的信息时，有些人信服，但另一些人勃然大怒，并煽动暴民，使城里陷入骚乱。 As he laid out his story, some were persuaded, but others were enraged and managed to stir up a mob, which set the city in an uproar.
保罗的信息确实旨在颠覆世界，正因为它宣告了 一位新王，因此提出了一种全新的组织方式。 Paul's message was indeed designed to turn the world upside down precisely because it was the proclamation of a new King and therefore of an entirely new way of organizing things.
如果我们对信仰的教导常常是温吞且乏味的，那么真正的基督教宣 讲就像腓立比监狱中震动墙壁的地震一样具有颠覆性和爆发力。 If our teaching of the faith is too often tepid and uninspiring, authentic Christian proclamation is as subversive and explosive as the earthquake that shook the prison walls in Philippi.
保罗写信给他建立的这些教会，但他并不留下来管理他们。 Paul wrote to these communities which he had founded, but he didn't stay there to govern them.
他知道自己的工作是传福音，走遍世界。 He knew his job was to evangelize, to go around the world.
所以他会建立一个教会，可能找到一些本地领袖，然后继续前行。 So he would set up a church, probably find a little local leadership, and then he'd move on.
有些情况下，他们会写信给他，他就回信，回答许多实际 问题，这就是为什么保罗的一些书信充满了实际细节。 In some cases, they would write to him, and then he would write back, answering a lot of pragmatic questions, which is why some of Paul's letters are filled with practical details.
在这些信件中，你可能会发现一些神学思想。 In the midst of it, you might find some theology.
罗马书很特别，因为它是保罗最长的信，也是最复杂的神学著作，更像是一篇论文。 The letter to the Romans is distinctive because it's Paul's longest letter and also the most theologically complex; it's more like a treatise.
但它们确实是书信。 But they were indeed letters.
他通常会对秘书口述，有时会在信末写上，这是我亲手所写。 He would dictate them typically to a secretary, and sometimes he'd end the letter by saying, And this is written in my own hand.
在其中一封信中，他说，看我写得多大？ In one of them, he says, See how big I write?
所以他好像在最后亲自写信，但通常是秘书代笔。 So it was like he was actually writing the thing at the end, but the secretary was taking it down usually.
这些是写给这些教会的真实书信，然后会在会众中宣读。 They were real letters written to these communities, and then they were read to the congregation.
很可能，早期教会是所谓的家庭教会。 Most likely, the early churches were what they called household churches.
他们聚集在某人家中，组成小型基督徒团体。 They'd be in someone's home, and they'd gather the small Christian community.
然后，会有识字的人——当然并非人人都识字——站起来大声朗读保罗的信。 Then someone who could read—not everyone could, of course—would get up and read Paul's letter aloud.
每当想到这些信件穿越罗马邮政系统，我总是感慨万千。 I'm always moved when I think about these letters making their way through the Roman postal system.
按照我们的标准，这可能相当原始，但也不算太差。 By our standards, it's probably pretty primitive, although not bad.
这正是罗马道路系统的天才之处，他们的邮政系统相当不错。 That was part of the genius of the Roman road system, and the postal system was pretty good.
但一个小小的卷轴正进入罗马。 But a little scroll is coming into Rome.
有人会想到这封信将改变整个世界，并将在几个世纪里被讨论，成为巨大争议的源头吗？ Did anyone think that the letter arriving would change the whole world and would be written about for centuries, becoming the source of huge controversy?
显然不会。 Undoubtedly no.
但保罗将信寄给罗马的教会，他们很可能在某人家中聚会。 But Paul sends his letter to the Church in Rome, probably gathering in someone's home.
保罗传道旅程的下一站是雅典。 The next stop on Paul's missionary journey was Athens.
他来到这里的亚略巴古，这是古雅典的最高法院，也是公共辩论和交谈的场所。 He came here to the Areopagus, which was the high court of ancient Athens, the place of public debate and conversation.
保罗在这里的演讲为探讨他传道的核心主题提供了机会：耶稣从死里复活。 The speech that Paul gave here provides the occasion for exploring the central theme of his preaching: the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
保罗首先称赞雅典人的虔诚，这从他所见的众多神殿和祭坛可见一斑。 Paul began by complimenting the Athenians for their religiosity, evident in the many shrines and altars that he had seen.
他引起他们对一个特别的祭坛的注意，那是献给未识之神的祭坛。 He drew their attention to a particular altar, one to an unknown god.
那位对雅典的哲学家和神话创作者来说未知的神，将成为保罗宣讲的主题。 The nature of that god, unknown to the philosophers and myth-makers of Athens, would be the subject of Paul's proclamation.
他说，真神是创造天地万物的那一位，因此不住在人手 所造的殿中，也不是由人的艺术和想象塑造的形象。 The true God, he said, is the one who made the heavens and the earth in their entirety, and therefore He does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is He an image fashioned by the art and imagination of men.
请记住，保罗说这番话是在帕台农神庙的阴影下，那是古代世 界最令人印象深刻的宗教圣殿，供奉着雅典娜的巨大雕像。 Now keep in mind, Paul is saying this in the shadow of the Parthenon, which is the most impressive religious shrine in the ancient world and in which a giant statue of Athena was worshipped.
保罗一如既往地具有挑衅性。 Paul was being typically provocative.
然后他论到真神说：他已经定了日子，要藉着他所设立的那人，按公 义审判天下，并且叫所有人都信服，因为他已经使他从死里复活。 Then he said this about the true God: He has fixed a day on which He will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom He has appointed, and of this He has given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead.
这就是核心：耶稣从死里复活验证了他作为弥赛亚的身份，因此 成为保罗宣告耶稣为基利奥斯——世界的主和审判者的基础。 There’s the heart of it: the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead was the validation of His messianic claim and therefore the ground for Paul’s declaration of Jesus as the Kyrios, the Lord and Judge of the world.
当亚略巴古的学者们听到这番话时，许多人嘲笑 ，但也有少数人说：关于这事，我们再听你讲。 When the learned debaters here on the Areopagus heard this, many scoffed, but a few others said, We will hear you again about this.
如果那些感兴趣的人继续听下去，他们会听到什么？ If those few interested people had listened further, what would they have heard?
当时，有关死后发生什么的观点在有思想的人中确实众说纷纭。 There were, of course, many viewpoints among thoughtful people at the time concerning what happens after we die.
保罗对这些观点都很熟悉，但他关于复活的信息却是完全不同的。 Paul would have been acquainted with all of these perspectives, but his message of resurrection was something completely different.
他并没有说耶稣去了阴间，或者模糊地与神同在，也 没有表达有朝一日他会与圣徒一同复活的单纯希望。 He did not say that Jesus had gone to Sheol or that He was vaguely with God, nor did he express a mere hope that one day he would arise along with the saints.
他绝对没有声称耶稣的灵魂脱离了身体。 He most certainly did not claim that Jesus' soul had escaped from His body.
他宣告被钉十字架的拿撒勒人耶稣从死亡的领域身体复活，现在以一种转化的肉身存在。 He declared that the crucified Jesus of Nazareth arose bodily from the realm of the dead and exists now in a transfigured physicality.
保罗在哥林多前书第15章阐述了这一基本教义。 Paul lays out this basic teaching in the 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians.
我现在站在辩士台前，这是古代的演讲平台。 I'm here in front of the Bema; that was the ancient speaker's platform.
保罗很可能就是在这个地方传道。 Paul would have preached from this very spot.
我们几乎可以想象他向哥林多人大声宣讲这些话：我当日传给你们最重要的，就是我也领 受的：基督按圣经所说，为我们的罪死了，而且埋葬了，又照圣经所说，第三天复活了。 We can almost imagine him preaching these words aloud to the Corinthians: For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn have received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, and then He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.
现在听保罗是如何具体描述的：他向磯法——就是彼得显现，然后向十二使徒显现。 Now listen to how Paul specifies this: He appeared to Cephas—that's Peter—then to the Twelve.
后来一次性向五百多位弟兄姐妹显现，其中大部分到现在还活着，只是有些已经睡了。 Then He appeared to more than 500 brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.
然后向雅各显现，接着向所有使徒显现，最后也向我显现。 Then He appeared to James, and then to all the apostles, and last of all, He appeared to me.
这绝不是一个在谈论抽象哲学或神话的人会说的话。 This is just not the way someone who’s trading in abstract philosophy or mythology speaks.
保罗指名道姓地提到耶稣向哪些具体的人显现，并暗示你可以去向他们求证。 Paul is naming very specific, definite people to whom Jesus appeared, and he’s implying you could check with them if you want.
复活对保罗有多重要？ How important was the Resurrection for Paul?
听听哥林多前书第15章的这段话：若基督没有复活，你们的信便是徒然，你们仍在罪中。 Listen to this also from 1 Corinthians 15: If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins.
若只在今生指望基督，我们就是最可怜的人。 If for this life only we’ve hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
我们敬拜一位被钉十字架的上帝。 We worship a crucified God.
我是说，我们现在在帕台农神庙，你们崇拜古代创世的众神众仙——这 些强大的形象，而真神却在这个30岁的年轻人身上彰显自己，他在耶 路撒冷城外的酷刑工具上临死，说：神啊，我的神，你为什么离弃我？ I mean, here we are in the Parthenon, and you worship the gods and goddesses of ancient creation—these mighty figures that the true God makes Himself manifest in this 30-year-old guy dying on an instrument of torture outside Jerusalem, saying, God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
然后我们说，就是这样。 And then we say, That's it.
看，这就是保罗的信息。 See, that was Paul’s message.
保罗说这对希腊人是愚昧，对犹太人是绊脚石。 Paul said this is folly to the Greeks and it’s a scandal to the Jews.
换句话说，我说的这些必定会惹恼所有人。 In other words, what I’m saying is bound to annoy everyone.
没人会理解这个：一个30岁的男人在可怕的酷 刑工具上临死，说，神啊，你为什么离弃我？ No one will get this: a 30-year-old man dying on a terrible instrument of torture, saying, Why have you abandoned me, oh God?
那就是神！ That’s God!
那才是真神！ That’s the true God!
所以这正是神以充满怜悯的爱和至死的舍弃显现。 So it’s God revealed precisely as this face of compassionate love and of abandonment to the point of death.
这就是基督教的爆炸力。 That’s the dynamite of Christianity.
看，神没有使凯撒复活。 See, God did not raise Julius Caesar from the dead.
他没有使查理曼大帝复活。 He did not raise Charlemagne from the dead.
他没有使成吉思汗复活。 He did not raise Genghis Khan from the dead.
他使耶稣基督复活，这才是根本的区别。 He raised Jesus Christ from the dead, and that makes all the difference.
所以真神正是在那里彰显。 So the true God is revealed precisely there.
这就是保罗所拥有的爆炸力。 That’s the dynamite that Paul had.
这是他在哥林多某次逗留时获得的。 That’s what he got on one of his sojourns in Corinth.
保罗写了他最伟大的书信，罗马书。 Paul wrote the greatest of his epistles, the letter to the Romans.
这篇文本的主要主题是与基督联合。 The principal theme of this text is participation in Christ.
据说，如果你理解了这个在他著作中反复出现的小短语 "在基督里"的全部含义，就能理解保罗的全部思想。 It’s been said you’d understand all of Paul if you understood the full meaning of this little phrase in Christ, used over and over again in his writings.
这似乎指的是法国人所说的神秘参与——进入某种力量的内在。 It seems to designate what the French call participation mystique—mystical participation—to enter into the power of something.
看，对保罗来说，复活的耶稣是一种能量，是一个力场，或者 用他最喜欢的术语来说，是一个动力（dunamis）。 See, for Paul, the risen Jesus was an energy, was a field of force, or to use one of his favorite terms, a dunamis, a power.
其想法是进入那个力量柱。 The idea was to enter into that column.
我认为，这是圣保罗的主要思想：通过与基督的神秘联合，我们得以称义。 This, I think, is the master idea in St. Paul: it’s by mystical participation in Christ that we are set right, that we are justified.
那么，这个过程是如何发生的？ Now, how does that process happen?
对保罗来说，第一步永远是信心。 The first step for Paul is always faith.
我们是因信称义。 It’s by faith we are justified.
信心意味着信任；意味着信心，将生命交托给基督的能力。 Faith means trust; it means confidence, turning one’s life over to the power of Christ.
看，保罗知道我们的麻烦源于缺乏信心。 See, Paul knew our trouble began through lack of faith.
回到创世记的最初，你会发现亚当和夏娃试图掌握善恶的知识。 Go back to the very beginning of the book of Genesis, and you find Adam and Eve grasping at the knowledge of good and evil.
他们在追求神性，使自己成为生命的中心。 They’re grasping at godliness, making themselves the center of their lives.
由此而来的是自我的收缩，围绕自我的内陷。 What follows from that is a shrinking of the self, a caving in around the self.
我们开始生活在狭隘灵魂的极小空间里。 We begin to live in the very small space of the narrow soul.
什么是信心？ What’s faith?
这是将生命交托给一个无限超越我们的力量。 It’s a turning one’s life over to a power that stretches infinitely beyond us.
因此，这是对属灵冒险的邀请。 Therefore, it’s an invitation to a spiritual adventure.
这是保罗眼中称义的开始：信靠基督的能力。 That’s the beginning of righteousness for Paul: to trust in the power of Christ.
天主教徒，遵循保罗的教导，谈论称义，以及通过爱而来的称义增长。 Catholics, following Paul, talk about justification and then this increase in justification which comes through love.
保罗希望我们完全参与基督；他希望我们在基督的能力 和能量中畅游，这发生在我们被模塑成他的爱的时候。 Paul wants us fully participating in Christ; he wants us swimming in the power and energy of Christ, and that comes when we are conformed unto His love.
保罗在他伟大的哥林多前书中特别清晰地阐述了信心和爱的关系。 Paul gives particularly clear expressions to the relationship between faith and love in his magnificent First Letter to the Corinthians.
保罗属灵和神学思想最好的总结之一，是他写给这里基督教会的第一封信的第13章。 One of the very best summaries of Paul’s spiritual and theological thought is the 13th chapter of the First Letter he wrote to the Christian Church here.
这也被誉为西方文学传统的瑰宝之一。 It also ranks as one of the gems of the Western literary tradition.
我说的是关于爱的赞歌。 I'm talking about the hymn to love.
保罗在这里针对的是一个沉迷于属灵生活更为华丽表现的 基督徒团体——说方言、交易知识的言语、从事预言。 Paul was addressing a Christian community here that had become preoccupied with the more spectacular manifestations of the spiritual life—speaking in tongues, trading in words of knowledge, engaging in prophecies.
他想把他们带回到根本，因此他谈论了爱的至高无上。 He wanted to bring them back to what is fundamental, and so he spoke of the superiority of love.
哥林多前书第13章是这样开始的：我若说人间的语言 和天使的语言，却没有爱，我就成了鸣的锣、响的钹。 Here’s how 1 Corinthians chapter 13 begins: If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but do not have love, I’m a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
我若有先知讲道之能，也明白各样的奥秘、各样的知识，并且 有全备的信心，叫我能够移山，却没有爱，我就算不得什么。 If I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith enough to move mountains but have not love, I am nothing.
保罗自己说方言；他声称有第三层天的神秘体验。 Paul himself spoke in tongues; he claimed a mystical experience of the third heaven.
他确实赞美了信心，但在这里他断言没有爱，这一切都毫无意义。 He certainly sang the praises of faith, but he’s asserting here that without love, these all count for nothing.
这怎么可能是真的？ How could that be true?
这是真的，因为神就是爱。 It’s true because God is love.
爱是神的生命，属灵生活的全部目的是让这生命进入我们里面。 Love is the divine life, and the whole purpose of spirituality is to get that life in us.
因此，拥有神的生命的所有附属品而没有生命本身，确实毫无意义。 Therefore, to have all the accompaniments of the divine life without the thing itself indeed counts for nothing.
准备好了吗？ Ready to go?
我们将做一个小祷告，祈求神祝福我们的努力。 We’ll have a little prayer asking God’s blessing on our efforts.
我们将奉圣父、圣子和圣灵的名祷告。 We’ll have a prayer in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
阿们。 Amen.
什么是爱？ What is love?
爱首先不是感觉或情感，尽管它可以伴随这些。 Love is not primarily a feeling or emotion, though it can be accompanied by those.
相反，它是为他人的好而愿意。 It is, instead, willing the good of the other as other.
它是逃离自我中心的黑洞，为他人而活。 It is to escape the black hole of one’s own clinging egotism and to live for someone else.
这就是为什么保罗解释说，爱是恒久忍耐，爱是恩慈。 This is why Paul explains that love is patient, love is kind.
真正的爱不在意回报，只关心他人的好处，因此愿意等待任何阻力。 The person characterized by true love is not interested in reciprocation but simply in the good of the other, and therefore he’s willing to wait out any resistance.
这就是为什么，正如保罗坚持的，爱不嫉妒，不自夸，不骄傲。 This is why, as Paul insists, love is not envious or boastful or arrogant.
真正的爱不会与这种怨恨为伍，因为它希望他人成功。 True love has no truck with this sort of resentment, for it wants the success of the other.
一旦我们理解真爱的本质…… Once we understand the nature of true love...
我们就知道为什么，正如保罗所说，爱凡事包容，凡事相信，凡事忍耐。 We know why, as Paul says, it bears all things, believes all things, endures all things.
保罗以爱永不止息的观察结束了他的赞歌。 Paul concludes his hymn with the observation that love never ends.
在天堂，当我们完全分享神圣生命时，信心将会结束，因为我们将看见，而不仅仅是相信。 In heaven, when we’re sharing the divine life completely, faith will end because we’ll see and not merely believe.
在天堂，希望将会结束，因为我们将实现最深切的渴望。 In heaven, hope will end because we will have realized our deepest longings.
但在天堂，爱将持续，因为天堂的生命本身就是爱。 But in heaven, love will endure because the very life of heaven is love.
这就是为什么保罗在哥林多前书13章13节说：如今 常存的有信，有望，有爱，这三样，其中最大的是爱。 That’s why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:13, And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
说这番话时，保罗不仅总结了自己的神学；他总结了基督徒生活的本质。 In saying this, Paul sums up not only his own theology; he sums up the very essence of the Christian life.
其他一切都只是注解。 Everything else is commentary.
人们常问我，我怎样才能快乐？ So people say to me, How do I be happy?
我一直都不快乐；我只想快乐。 I’m unhappy all the time; I just want to be happy.
那就做最简单的爱的行动。 So you perform the simplest act of love.
找一个需要帮助的孩子，坐下来，帮助他。 Find some kid that needs help, sit down, and help them.
烤些饼干给某人，分发出去。 Bake cookies for someone and hand them out.
执行最简单的爱的行动，你就是在活出神圣的生命。 Perform the simplest act of love, and you are living the divine life.
你与此时此地创造宇宙的力量和谐共处。 You are in harmony with the power that’s here and now making the universe.
这就是基督教。 That’s Christianity.
这就是为什么保罗说爱是最大的。 That’s why Paul says the greatest of these is love.
爱是永存的；爱是长存的，这就是为什么其他一切都只是注解。 Love is what remains; love is what abides, and that’s why everything else is commentary.
这就是为什么我一开始就提到彼得和保罗是教会生活中永恒的典型。 That’s why I mentioned at the outset that Peter and Paul are enduring archetypes in the life of the Church.
彼得，带领最初的十二使徒的人，代表着职位、结构、等级 制度和领导权——教会为实现其目标而建立的所有方式。 Peter, who led the original band of the Twelve, stands for office, structure, hierarchy, and headship—all those ways that the Church is ordered to achieve its purpose.
而保罗，作为外邦人的使徒走遍各国，代表着使命、文化参与和宣讲。 And Paul, who went out to the nations as an evangelist to the Gentiles, stands for mission, the engagement of the culture, and proclamation.
这两者在密切的和谐中，推动了教会跨越世纪，传遍全球。 The two together, in intensive harmonies, have propelled the Church through the centuries and around the world.
彼得和保罗的精神引领基督教传教士走向全球每一个角落。 The spirit of Peter and Paul has led Christian missionaries to every corner of the globe.
举一个相对近代的例子，欧洲传教士在19世纪中期将信仰带到撒哈拉以南非洲。 To give just one example from relatively recent history, European missionaries brought the faith to sub-Saharan Africa in the middle of the 19th century.
那次非洲传教最非凡的成果之一，是乌干达充满活力和年轻的教会在可怕的迫害中的见证。 One of the most extraordinary fruits of that African mission was the witness of the vibrant and youthful Church of Uganda in the face of terrible persecution.
1885年，一位特别邪恶的乌干达国王向宫廷中的一些年轻基督徒索取性favors。 In 1885, a particularly wicked Ugandan king sought sexual favors from certain young Christians in his court.
当这些年轻人拒绝时，他们被残酷地处死，从而加入了伟大的殉道者行列。 When the young men refused, they were brutally put to death and joined thereby the great company of martyrs.
如今，非洲大陆最盛大的礼仪之一，就是在这些勇敢和忠诚的见证者的节日举行。 One of the most festive liturgies on the African continent today takes place on the feast day of these courageous and faithful witnesses.
教父特土良说，殉道者的血是基督徒的种子。 The Church Father Tertullian said, The blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christians.
在这个案例中是真的吗？ Is that true in this case?
你告诉我。 You tell me.