By Tin-chee Lo (盧天賜); January 7, 2013;
聖經內有兩項重要的斷言:
- 神不是邪惡的創始人 (author of evil).
- 聖經清楚地把過犯和罪的責任放置在人的身上。
隨着這兩個聲明 (Note), 產生了一個古今難題:
Q: 罪從那裡來?
歷世歷代對此問題的答案至少可分為五類 (A1 to A5), 如下:
A1: 人之可能犯罪是因他們赋予選擇的自由。 亞當與夏娃選擇罪, 這就是罪之源了。這是基督徒所獲得的一般 “標準答案”。大部份基督徒停留於此, 並以此答案為滿足。 可是這個答案並非沒有困難。
- 神造亞當與夏娃時他們是完美的; 為何完美的受造者會選擇邪惡?
A2: 亞當與夏娃是受騙的。 這答案的困難是:
- 聖經明說亞當與夏是明知故犯。
- 如真被騙或對他們的行為是無知, 為何耶和華神要求他們對自己的罪行負責並加予審判?
A3: 亞當與夏娃是被迫犯罪。
- 聖經記載並非如此。 如他們是被迫, 罪就不在他們身上, 應只在強制者的身上。
A4: 亞當與夏娃犯罪是因為他們有犯罪的傾向。 這說法產生下列問題:
- 他們犯罪的傾向從何而來?
- 如果是從上帝而來, 上帝豈非是不聖潔嗎?
- 如果是從魔鬼而來, 我們只是把問題往上推一級而沒有真正解決問題的困境。
A5: 亞當與夏娃並無犯罪的傾向, 他們的選擇並非出於理性, 他們的行動只是一個意外。新紀元運動者 (Winfrey Oprah and Eckhart Tolle) 用此說法來淡化罪的嚴重性。
- 意外不涉及道德責任。 但聖經明說他們的選擇是有責任的。
- 如果沒有渴望或傾向, 就沒有選擇的能力。我打開冰箱是因為我想吃東西 (desire)。 我今天想繪畫, 是因為我有喜歡繪畫的傾向 (disposition)。
A6: 你還能想出別的答案嗎?
- 請填上。
雖然好似我們還沒有真正回答此問題, 但要牢記的重點是:
邪惡從那裡來? 邪惡之源並沒有另人完全滿意的答案。 我們可窮盡一切的想像力去給別人留下一些印象深刻的 “聰明” 答案, 但人的理性是有殘缺和極限的。 基督教的真理不是可藉詭辯術來提供答案的。 無神論者常說, “邪惡的存在證明全善, 全知, 全能的神不存在。”
雖然基督徒不能完全明白邪惡的来源, 但我們沒有理由去忽視對神存在的大量正面的證據。 根據我們不知道的來否定我們所知道的, 這不但是拙劣的神學, 也是拙劣的科學。 基督徒雖不能完全解釋邪惡, 但聖經不斷地警誡我們要提防邪惡的影響力。 (1 Peter 5:8-9)
邪惡是個奥秘。 有些事是上帝 (用他無限的智慧) 不讓我們在世上知道的, 我相信這是為我們的好處, 比如, 他不告訴我們那一天死, 豈非恩典嗎? 經上說, “隱秘的事是屬耶和華我們 神的；惟有明顯的事是永遠屬我們和我們子孫的，好叫我們遵行這律法上的一切話” ( 申命記29:29)。 這就是奥祕。
但我們不要濫用這個名詞, 只要一碰到難題便不假思索地說, 這是個奧祕我們不用討論了, 這樣我們便不會長進了。 要達到 “這是個奧秘” 的結論是需要一個過程的, 就是要的確達到了人有限理性的窮巷時, 才可以用這句話, 有時這個過程可長達數世紀之久。 我認為過程比答案更重要, 因為我們反正將來在天上與主面對面時, 一定會從主裡得到正確的答案, 但在世上所經歷的過程就成為我們長進成聖的机会了。 有位神學家說得好, “神給我們知道的是足夠讓我們踏出信心的一步, 但祂也為我們保留一些東西好讓我們認識祂的偉大而去敬拜衪, 讚歎衪, 並遵行衪的旨意。”
Note: 神學上稱此為 “神義論 (theodicies)”。 即人們嘗試用人的理性去 “維謢” 神的公義。 就是: 神是公義但仍能允許邪惡存在於世而自己却不被罪污染。 神義論有好多類, 本文只論 “原罪的神義論”。 詳情請參看: “Reason to Believe” by R.C. Sproul; pp.117-129.
The Mystery of Original Sin
There are two important assertions in the Bible:
- God is not the author of evil.
- The Bible clearly places the responsibility of transgression and sin on human beings.
With these two assertions, there has been an ancient-to-modern unresolved problem:
Q: Where does sin come from?
The answers to this question over the ages can be divided into at least five categories (A1 to A5), as follows:
A1: People may sin because they are given the freedom of choice. Adam and Eve choose sin, which became the source of sin.
This is the general “standard answer” that Christians receive. Most Christians stop at this point with satisfaction. But this answer is not without difficulties.
- Adam and Eve were perfect when God created them; why the perfect creatures chose evil?
A2: Adam and Eve were deceived.
The difficulty of this answer is:
- The Bible states that Adam and Eve knowingly committed an act of disobedience.
- Why was the Jehovah God asking them to be responsible for their own crimes and adjudged them if they were deceived or ignorant of their actions?
A3: Adam and Eve were forced to sin.
- Biblical records do not agree.
- If they were compelled, sin will not be on them, but on the enforcer alone.
A4: Adam and Eve sinned because they had the inclination to sin.
This statement has the following problems:
- Where did their tendency to sin come from?
- Is God unholy if inclination to sin came from God?
- If it came from the devil, we just push the problem up one level without really solving the problem.
A5: Adam and Eve had no tendency to sin. Their choice was not from logical reasoning. Their actions were just an mere accident.
- Winfrey Oprah and Eckhart Tolle, the two prominent New Age Movement proponents, used this argument to downplay the gravity of sin.
- Accident does not involve moral responsibility. But the Bible states that Adam and Eve’s choices invoked moral responsibility.
- Without the desire or inclination, there is no ability to choose. I open the refrigerator because I want to eat (desire). I want to paint a picture today because I incline to paint. Adam and Eve did make a choice so they had inclination.
A6: Can you come up with any other answers?
Please fill in.
Although it appears that we have not really answered the very question “Where does the evil come from”, the key point to bear in mind is: We can exhaust all our imagination to leave some impressive “smart” answers to others, but we must realize that human reason is flawed and limited. The truth of Christianity cannot be answered by sophistry. Atheists often say, “The existence of evil proves that there is no God who is good, omniscient, and omnipotent.”
Although Christians do not fully understand the source of evil, we have no reason to ignore the abundant positive evidences of the existence of God. To deny what we have already known based on what we do not yet know is not only a poor theology but also a poor science. Although Christians cannot fully explain evil, the Bible continually warns us to beware of evil’s influences. (1 Peter 5: 8-9)
Evil is indeed a mystery. God, in His infinite wisdom, hides something from us that we will never understand them in this world. And I believe the concealment of God is to our benefit, for example, God does not tell me when is the date I should die. Is this to me not God’s grace? The Bible says, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29). The Origin of Sin is indeed a mystery.
Having said that, we must be careful not to abuse the term “mystery” whenever we encounter any bible difficulty. If we lightly say without hesitation that something is a mystery, we then stop pursue further understanding and research and as a result, we won’t grow in knowledge. It takes a process to reach the certainty of being able to say, “this is a mystery.” Historically, the process of reaching such conclusion may take several centuries but throughout the process, theologians learned. Therefore, I think the process is more important than the answer, because in the future when we see our Lord face to face in heaven, we will certainly get the correct answer from Him, but the process we have experienced in this world becomes opportunities for us to grow in faith and in holiness. One theologian puts it well, “God has put enough into the world to make faith in Him a most reasonable thing, and he has left enough to make it impossible to live by sheer reason alone.”
Note:
In theology this is called “theodicies.” That is, people try to use human reasoning to “defend” God’s righteousness. In this case, we rightly argue that God is righteous but still allows evil to exist in the world without being Himself contaminated by sin. There are many categories of the theodicies of the theology, this article deals with “the theodicy of the Original Sin.” For details see: “Reason to Believe” by RC Sproul; pp. 117-129.
