Martin Luther: An Introduction His Life and Work (by Bernhard Lohse)
5.5.1 The Uniqueness of Luther's Understanding of Reason
…路德進行神學工作的方式乃是有別於經院神學家(scholastic)的方式。他極少針對理性的知識論式定義(epistemological definition)加以關注，或是針對理性與啟示，或是本性與恩典的界限加以定義。…相對於經院神學對待理性的方式，路德明確地表現出對於理性格外犀利的批判。當然，當路德描寫理性與信心的關係時，稱之為「盲眼的」或是「魔鬼的妓女」時，他並非簡單地叨念或是斷言他自己的神學觀念無關於理解和見識(insight)。毋寧說，路德在非常早期之時已經瞭解到我們無法在關於上帝的知識之事物中進行一種「中性的」(neutral)搜尋真理。在我們認識上帝的企圖中，罪也同樣表現出它自己。更直接地說，我們僅僅認識我們想要認識有關上帝的部分而已(we only know what we want to know about God)。在這件事上，理性和意志乃是彼此平行的。更明確地說，認識的行動也是受到意志的影響。
5.5.2 The Question of the Natural Knowledge of God
路德有關上帝的自然知識(the natural knowledge of God)之問題的答覆是帶有矛盾情結的(ambivalent)。經常路德似乎是同意經院神學派所主張之「理性具有某些上帝的知識」。因此，理性知道有一位上帝，即使它無法正確地談論這位上帝。路德也說過理性認識一些關於上帝的良善、憤怒或是公義的事物。…理性也知道關於上帝的誡命，並且也知道是非對錯。甚至理性也知道，除非我們我們除去罪孽，否則無法進天堂。…這些知識乃是被寫在我們所有人的心中。另一方面，路德也說過理性既不認識，也不明白任何有關上帝的事。特別值得注意的是，這些關於理性對於上帝之理解的負面論述，經常是跟隨著理性確實知道某些關於上帝之事的論述之後。…雖然理性之道我們應該依循正確的認識上帝的方式，但理性卻不知道通往上帝的正確之道。…路德總是將「是否有上帝」的問題和「我們是否有上帝」的問題一同提出。一如路德所描述的，理性總是透過有色的鏡片去看，並且無法從其眼睛上移除。結果就是理性所看見的每件事必定是有色的。因此，我們乃是根據我們自己的期待與盼望，去建立與創造我們自己的「上帝的形象」。…伴隨這些關於「上帝的知識」的論述，路德也提出一些有關理性能夠知道上帝不是什麼的重要論述。在此範圍內，理性能夠維持自己是對於與超越性之際遇(an encounter with transcendence)的開放性。…雖然理性不明白在上帝眼中唯有信心才是對的和好的，但它仍然知道不信、殺害和不順服是邪惡的。…路德清楚地拒絕任何藉助理性來到上帝面前的企圖。理性的「確證」是錯誤的。雖然如此，路德仍然指出，理性關於上帝不是什麼的「否定」是正確的論述。
5.5.3 Luther's Relationship to Philosophy
路德對於哲學的態度與他對於上帝的自然知識之問題的答覆是類似的。…路德拒絕神學對於哲學的倚賴，尤其是拒絕上帝的哲學性概念，因為這並未注意到我們與上帝的關係。路德察覺到哲學對於經院神學之恩典教義的影響，尤其是在聖禮的教義方面，導致於從聖經論述中偏離。路德特別批判任何未參照罪的真實性、我們受制於死亡與魔鬼，以及我們透過耶穌基督而得到救贖之描寫人的哲學。
2007年9月20日 星期四
2007年8月15日 星期三
Luther Discover the Gospel: Coming to the Truth and Confessing the Truth
篇名：Luther Discover the Gospel: Coming to the Truth and Confessing the Truth
作者：Robert Rosin(Professor of Historical Theology at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO)
出處：Concordia Journal, Apr. 2006, 147-160
1.在149頁作者對於「認信」(confess)提出了個體(individual)與群體(corporate/collective)兩個角度的理解：
首先，關於個體角度的理解，作者指出：
"To Confess" is first a personal action, an expression of what I believe, and one's heart is truly in it. But there is also matter of the individual's intellectual commitment, not that faith or confessing is the equivalent of an intellectual exercise, ... but we know that God has given us our reason and all our sense and we do indeed think about and reflect what we believe.
其次，關於群體角度，作者則認為：
"Confess" is also a corporate/collective matter. ...It is a matter of individuals who confess finding others who confess the same thing, read the same thing, understand and believe the same thing from the Scripture, and those who find themselves with this in common stand together and confess as a group, as a community, as the church.
並 且作者也強調，這個形成認信群體的過程，並非因為其中的個人魅力或影響，而是"the Holy Spirit has put faith in our hearts one at a time, and I reflect this, and you reflect this, and we reflect this. That is how the Spirit works through the Word."
2. 在150頁，作者也論及神學與認信之間的關係，首先他指出"'Theology' is an attempt by believers to say, to reflect what God has revealed about Himself, to restate God first says to us. We seek to put in other words, honestly and faithfully, what God's message seems to be in particular circumstances in our life."並且"We speak theology with great care lest not what God has said to us but what we think or what we would like God to say."
3.在151-152頁，作者回顧了路德改教的時空背景，指出當時的地理、政治、社會背景的確都對改教產生一定的影響。但至始至終，"the Reformation is fundamentally a theological movement. It is a rethinking of how to talk about God (theology!) that arose not as some abstract intellectual movement but as a very real, very personal quest for a loving God."
4.在152頁，作者引述Prof. Koch對於"Luther's understanding of oratio, meditatio, tentatio making a theologian"的看法。Prof. Koch指出"The oratio was a prayer not just in general but to be led to the truth, to be led backinto the Scriptures. And then the meditatio is not merely a thinking or meditating within, but to complete that 'thinking about ' a person has to tell others, to speak forth, to confess what is found."
5.在156頁，作者精簡扼要地表達出中世紀經院神學的救恩觀："quid pro quo"，意即「取得這項是為了那項」("you get this for that")，而其中的關鍵字是"ergo"（即「因此」），一種本於因果邏輯的系統。
6. 在157頁，作者提到路德當時的大學中的神學教育幾乎全被三段式論證(syllogism)所掌控，但他受邀任教的威登堡大學則因為是新成立的大學，並未受此影響，反而是以"studia humanitatis"(the study of man, that is, the humanities, the liberal arts of Renaissance humanism)為主，重視修辭、語言如何用來解釋、改變與遊說等的價值。
7.在158頁，作者提到路德在使用這些方法教導聖經課程之後，也瞭解到自己正在採取一種不同的方法在進行神學表述：非邏輯的，而是文法的。而其中最重要的洞見是"the righteousness needed for salvation is not a quantity of good to be acquired by us but a quality given to us."
8. 在159頁，作者提到路德轉向文藝復興的人文主義(Renaissance humanism)方法來尋求幫助，並指出"Humanism was not the answer but it gave him tools to read the texts, and there he found spiritual answers."而作者也認為"The Reformation then can be seen as the product of a kind of educational curriculum movement and also as the product of an individual breakthrough that was multiplied among so many more as this new way, a reforming way of looking at God's revelation, grew and grew."接著作者進一步指出:
1o. 在160頁中，作者援引LCMS的主日禱文--"We ask for the Holy Spirit and the wisdom that comes down from above that the Word, as befits it, may not be bound but be preached to the joy and edification of Christ's holy people."而他認為"the point is not to look inward but to make that group of holy people larger. That means the doctrine has to be used."最後作者提出其結論：
作者：Robert Rosin(Professor of Historical Theology at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO)
出處：Concordia Journal, Apr. 2006, 147-160
1.在149頁作者對於「認信」(confess)提出了個體(individual)與群體(corporate/collective)兩個角度的理解：
首先，關於個體角度的理解，作者指出：
"To Confess" is first a personal action, an expression of what I believe, and one's heart is truly in it. But there is also matter of the individual's intellectual commitment, not that faith or confessing is the equivalent of an intellectual exercise, ... but we know that God has given us our reason and all our sense and we do indeed think about and reflect what we believe.
其次，關於群體角度，作者則認為：
"Confess" is also a corporate/collective matter. ...It is a matter of individuals who confess finding others who confess the same thing, read the same thing, understand and believe the same thing from the Scripture, and those who find themselves with this in common stand together and confess as a group, as a community, as the church.
並 且作者也強調，這個形成認信群體的過程，並非因為其中的個人魅力或影響，而是"the Holy Spirit has put faith in our hearts one at a time, and I reflect this, and you reflect this, and we reflect this. That is how the Spirit works through the Word."
2. 在150頁，作者也論及神學與認信之間的關係，首先他指出"'Theology' is an attempt by believers to say, to reflect what God has revealed about Himself, to restate God first says to us. We seek to put in other words, honestly and faithfully, what God's message seems to be in particular circumstances in our life."並且"We speak theology with great care lest not what God has said to us but what we think or what we would like God to say."
3.在151-152頁，作者回顧了路德改教的時空背景，指出當時的地理、政治、社會背景的確都對改教產生一定的影響。但至始至終，"the Reformation is fundamentally a theological movement. It is a rethinking of how to talk about God (theology!) that arose not as some abstract intellectual movement but as a very real, very personal quest for a loving God."
4.在152頁，作者引述Prof. Koch對於"Luther's understanding of oratio, meditatio, tentatio making a theologian"的看法。Prof. Koch指出"The oratio was a prayer not just in general but to be led to the truth, to be led backinto the Scriptures. And then the meditatio is not merely a thinking or meditating within, but to complete that 'thinking about ' a person has to tell others, to speak forth, to confess what is found."
5.在156頁，作者精簡扼要地表達出中世紀經院神學的救恩觀："quid pro quo"，意即「取得這項是為了那項」("you get this for that")，而其中的關鍵字是"ergo"（即「因此」），一種本於因果邏輯的系統。
6. 在157頁，作者提到路德當時的大學中的神學教育幾乎全被三段式論證(syllogism)所掌控，但他受邀任教的威登堡大學則因為是新成立的大學，並未受此影響，反而是以"studia humanitatis"(the study of man, that is, the humanities, the liberal arts of Renaissance humanism)為主，重視修辭、語言如何用來解釋、改變與遊說等的價值。
7.在158頁，作者提到路德在使用這些方法教導聖經課程之後，也瞭解到自己正在採取一種不同的方法在進行神學表述：非邏輯的，而是文法的。而其中最重要的洞見是"the righteousness needed for salvation is not a quantity of good to be acquired by us but a quality given to us."
8. 在159頁，作者提到路德轉向文藝復興的人文主義(Renaissance humanism)方法來尋求幫助，並指出"Humanism was not the answer but it gave him tools to read the texts, and there he found spiritual answers."而作者也認為"The Reformation then can be seen as the product of a kind of educational curriculum movement and also as the product of an individual breakthrough that was multiplied among so many more as this new way, a reforming way of looking at God's revelation, grew and grew."接著作者進一步指出:
Although it grew out of Luther's study and university classroom, theology turned out to be no abstract subject but rather a very personal engagement with God. We see that how we approach theology, the method we use for thinking and talking about God as we engage His Biblical revelation, makes all the difference in the world. That's why we spend so much time not only on proclamation of the Word but also on education, on how we study--both professionals and laypeople--because how we learn shapes what we learn and what we then confess.9. 在159頁，作者指出"In fact, because doctrine (teaching) is for use and not to be set on the shelf, I think it could even be argued that people who do have the right content but do nothing with it (that is, only 'circle the wagons' in a defense posture) are not really orthodox after all."
1o. 在160頁中，作者援引LCMS的主日禱文--"We ask for the Holy Spirit and the wisdom that comes down from above that the Word, as befits it, may not be bound but be preached to the joy and edification of Christ's holy people."而他認為"the point is not to look inward but to make that group of holy people larger. That means the doctrine has to be used."最後作者提出其結論：
There was no guarantee that positive things would come from Luther's confessing, no guarantee that a reformation would be happen. ...It was only up to him to confess. Then it was up to the Holy Spirit to work and produce fruit That's one final lesson for us to learn. We also cannot control. We can only seek to use the best tools available (as Luther did), to make the best presentation, the best confession we can (as Luther tried to do), and then what follows is God's doing. We might be disappointed, ... But we can never be disappointed in what we have: the love of God in Christ, the confidence that by faith alone and by God's grace alone we have life eternal. This is what we confess.
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