基督徒有真有假,真正的基督徒也有软弱和坚强之分。如果我们真的是基督徒,如果我们是真的按照上帝的圣言去行,即使我们仍然是一小群,也能够像当初的保罗一样震动这个罪恶的世界。“找不着他们,就把耶孙和几个弟兄拉到地方官那里,喊叫说:那搅乱天下的也到这里来了”(徒17:6)。此处的“搅乱天下”在英文钦定本中就是turned the world upside down。一位研究清教徒历史的著名学者就曾经以此撰述:《搅乱天下:英国革命时期的激进观点》。3
问题是目前的基督教、目前的基督徒还有自己的观点吗?美国惠顿大学基督教思想教授诺勒曾经感叹:“福音派思想的丑闻就是没有什么福音派思想”(the scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind)。4 高登-康威尔神学院历史和系统神学教授外勒斯先生发表其三部曲:1)《真理无处容身—福音派神学到底发生了什么?》;2)《处于荒原中的上帝—真理在一个逐渐丧失梦想的世界中的处境》;3)《美德的丧失—为什么教会必须恢复其道德的异象》。5 思想上的贫乏和冷漠所导致的就是信仰上的肤浅、行动上的软弱。基督教在西方文化争战的领域中,已经越来越丧失了自己在真理上的见证,更不用说为这个思想混乱、道德滑坡的世界指明方向了。
英文的政治politics来自希腊文polis,这个词是“城市”、“城邦”的意思。因此,“政治”原本的意思就是城市中市民之间的交流。亚里士多德认为,人是“政治性的动物”,这并不是说人生来就想争权夺势,而是说我们人性的本质就在于我们与群体中的其他人之间要有理性的交流。因此,“政治就是城市,也就是社会群体,根据公众的益处而调整自己的生活。”在现代话语中,“政治”这个词更加强调的是权力之争。这种权力之争不仅仅局限在国家生活中,也包括其他领域,比如church politics, corporate politics, union politics, school politics。有时候这种斗争主要是思想上或感情上的,目的就在于说服别人。有时候这种斗争涉及暴力,更多的时候则是见不到明显的暴力。29
钟马田强调,政治是“妥协的艺术”(the art of the possible)。作为基督徒,我们必须深深地晓得在这个世界上任何政治都是不完全的:“基督徒必须作为公民而行动,在政治和其他事务中尽职尽责,目的就在于得到可能得到的最好的条件。但是,我们始终必须牢记政治是‘妥协的艺术’。因此,基督徒一开始就必须牢记他只能得到有可能得到的。因为他是基督徒,他必须竭力争取最好的能够得到的东西,同时又要满足于得到并不是完全合乎基督徒的原则的东西”(The Christian must remember as he begins that he can only get the possible. because he is a Christian he must work for the best possible and be content with that which is less than fully Christian)。 30
2、仆人政治观
与当今世界上盛行的以争权夺利为特色的“政治”相比,圣经上提倡以“非于役人,乃役于人”( Not to be served but to serve)为特征的仆人政治观(可10:45)。
美国宪法第一个修正案所规定的分离乃是教会作为一个组织与国家作为一个组织的分离;国家不能把某个特定的教会或宗派作为在税收上特别支持的对象。41 因此,政教分离原则绝不是指“宗教和国家的分离”(separation between religion and state),而是指“教会与国家的分离”(separation between church and state)。 42 更重要的是政教分离绝不是“上帝与国家的分离”(separation between God and state)、“基督教与国家的分离”(separation between Christianity and state )、“道德与国家的分离”(separation between morality and state)、“圣经与国家的分离”(separation between Bible and state)!43
1778年,华盛顿在签发给部队的命令中强调说:“我们正在热心地履行我们作为好公民和士兵当尽的责任。但是,我们不应忽略在敬虔方面更崇高的责任。我们固然欣赏与众不同的爱国者特质,但是,我们最大的荣耀就是赞美那更与众不同的基督徒特质(the more distinguished character of Christian)。” 48
马太•亨瑞注释《马太福音》28章19节“使万民作我的门徒”(μαθητεύσα τε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη)时指出,这段经文的意思就是“尽你自己最大的努力,使所有的国家都成为基督教国家”(do your utmost to make the nations Christian nations)。 50
Francis Scott Key (1779-1843) ,美国律师和诗人,美国国歌《星条旗永不落》(The Star Spangled Banner)的作者,“那些感到自己是在侍奉上帝,在自己所行的一切事上尊崇上帝的爱国者,有全能上帝所赐给他们的引领的应许。哪怕是在他们个人极大的黑暗中,他们也会在上帝的圣言中发现‘脚前的灯,路上的光’。因此,他所寻求的是要在世人面前使他的国家成为基督教国家,并且使这个国家的国格确实与基督教国家的名字相称。” 51
对于基督徒而言,真正的自由并不是无法无天、随心所欲的自由,而是上帝的律法之下的自由。Katherine Lee Bates(1859-1929)是美国教育家和诗人,她所撰写的著名的爱国歌曲就是《美哉美国》(America the Beautiful),这是美国国庆节必唱的歌曲:
O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law! 59
美哉福地先民足跡,堅忍激勵不移,
一心建立自由樂土,远及曠野無際!
美哉美國,福哉大地,上帝匡正扶佑,
堅定你靈助人律己,享受法制自由!
注释:
1、 J. Philip Wogaman, Christian Perspectives on Politics (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2000), preface.
2、王志勇:“雅和博圣约世界观四大种子,”《基督教圣约世界观经学院里默想录》书稿。
3、Christopher Hill, The World Turned Upside Down: Radical Ideas During the English Revolution (London: Penguin History, 1975).
4、Mark A. Noll, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994), p. 3.
5、David F. Wells, No Place for Truth, or Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology? (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993); God in the Wasteland, the Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994); Losing Our Virtue, Why the Church Must Recover its Moral Vision (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998).
6、孔子:《论语•卫灵公第十五》。
7、孔子:《论语•八侑第三》。
8、孔子:《论语•颜渊第十二》。
9、孔子:《论语•八侑第三》。
10、孔子:《论语•里仁第四》。
11、孔子:《论语•颜渊第十二》 。
12、孔子:《论语•里仁第四》。
13、孔子:《论语•宪问》。
14、《孟子•公孙丑下》。
15、《孟子•滕文公章句下》。
16、《孟子•公孙丑上》。
17、《孟子•告子上》。
18、《孟子•告子下》。
19、吴经熊:《圣咏译义》,1:1-6。
20、Phillips Brooks. In his sermon, Going up to Jerusalem. John Bartlett, Bartlett's Familiar Quotations (Boston and Company, 1855, 1980), p. 619.
21、选自王志勇《基督教圣约世界观经学默想录》,未出版稿。
22、参考Abraham Kuyper, Lectures On Calvinism (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1931).
23、林荣洪:《中华神学五十年:1900-1949》(香港:中国神学研究院,1998年),2页。
24、赵天恩、庄婉芳:《当代中国基督教发展史:1949-1997》(台北:中福出版有限公司,1997年),59页。
25、Ray Penning, "Political Ministers of God," in Joel R. Beeke, Living for God's Glory: An Introduction to Calvinism (Orlando, Florida: Reformation Trust, 2008), p. 365.
26、see Gerald R. McDermott, One Holy and Happy Society: The Public Theology of Jonathan Edwards (University park, Pa.: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1992), p. 137.
27、D. Martyn LIod-Jones, "The French Revolution and After," in The Christian and the State in Revolution Times (London: The Westminster Conference, 1975), p. 106.
28、John Adams. July 12, 1782, in a letter regarding politics, written from Holland. W. Cleon Skousen, The Making of America (Washington: The National Center for Constitutional Studies, 1985), p. 195.
29、J. Philip Wogaman, Christian Perspectives on Politics, pp. 12-13.
30、D. Martyn LIoyd-Jones, "The French Revolution and After," in The Christian and the State in Revolutionary Times , p. 108.
31、See Abraham Kuyper, Lectures on Calvinism (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1931), pp. 78-109.
32、John Witherspoon, May 17, 1776, in his sermon entitled, "The Dominion of Providence over the passions of Men," see John Eidsmoe, Christianity and the Constitution-The Faith of Our Founding fathers (Grand rapids: Baker, 1993), p. 85.
33、John Witherspoon, May 17, 1776, in his sermon entitled, "The Dominion of Providence over the passions of Men," see David Barton, Keys to Good government (Aledo, TX: Wall Building Press, 1994), p. 10.
34、中文译文参看http://www.chinaelections.org/newsinfo.asp?newsid=45906,2011年6月2日查考。
35、John Adams. August 28, 1811, to Dr. Benjamin Rush. Norman Cousins, In God We Trust-The Religious Beliefs and Ideas of American Founding Fathers (NY: Harper & Brothers, 1958), p. 101.
36、Timothy Dwight. July 4th, 1798, as president of Yale College delivered address entitled, The Duty of Americans, at the Present Crisis, Illustrated in a Discourse, Preaching on the Fourth of July, 1798. See Peter Marshall and David Manuel, The Glory of America (Bloomington, MN: Garborg's Heart 'N Home, Inc., 1991), 1.11.
37、Edmund Burke. March 22, 1775, in an address to Parliament, entitled Second Speech on the Conciliation with America-The Thirteen Resolutions. Sidney Carleton, ed., Burke's Speech on Conciliation with America (New York: Macmillan Company, 1895; 1911), p. 34.
38、Edmunds Burke. 1791, in A letter to a member of the National Assembly. See Keith Fournier, In Defense of Liberty (Virginia Beach, VA: Law & Justice, 1993), Vol. 2, No. 2, p. 5.
39、R. C. Sproul, Truths We Confess: A Layman's Guide to the Westminster Confession of Faith (Philipsburg, New jersey: P&R, 2007), vol. III, p. 3.
40、R. C. Sproul, Truths We Confess: A Layman's Guide to the Westminster Confession of Faith, vol. III, p. 4.
41、R. C. Sproul, Truths We Confess: A Layman's Guide to the Westminster Confession of Faith , vol. III, p. 4.
42、See J. Marcellus Kik, Church and State (New York, Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1963), p. 124.
43、Gary DeMar, God and Government: A Biblical and Historical Study (Atlanta, Georgia: American Vision, 2001), vol. I, p. 170.
44、Gary DeMar, God and Government: A Biblical and Historical Study, vol. I, pp. 170-171.
45、参看邓肇明:《沧桑与窘境:四十多年来的三字爱国运动》(香港:基督教中国宗教文化研究社,1997年);赵天恩、庄婉芳:《当代中国基督教发展史:1949-1997》(台北:中国福音会,1997年)。
46、丁光训,1980年,《景风》,第66期,1981年3月,1页。
47、《天风》,第603期(12),1960年6月17日。
48、George Washington, May 2, 1778, orders issued to his troops at valley forge. John Clement Fitzpatrick, ed., The writings of George Washington, from the Original Manuscript Sources 1749-1799, 39 vols. (Washington, D. C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1931-1944), Vol. XI, p. 343.
49、Stephen Grover Cleveland. George F. Parker, ed., The Writings and Speeches of Grover Cleveland (New York, Cassell Publishing Company 2006) , pp. 182-183.
50、Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible (Hendrickson Publisher, Inc.,2003), p. 1775.
51、Francis Scott key. February 22, 1812, in An Oration before the Washington Society of Alexandria, see Catherine Millard, A Children's Companion Guide to America's History (Camp Hill, PA: Horizon House Publishers, 1993), p. 1.
52、Jonathan Mayhew, 1771. See Clinton Rossiter, Seedtime of the Republic (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1953), p. 241.
53、Jonathan Mayhew, 1749, to the Council and House of Representatives in Colonial New England, see Dorothy Dimmick, Why Study the Election Sermons of Our Founding Generation? (San Francisco, CA: The American Christian Prompter, 1993)Vol. 4, No. 2, p. 3.
54、参考凡赫尔斯玛:《加尔文传》,王兆丰译(北京:华夏出版社,2006年),180页。
55、“It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. ”
56、Loren Baritz, City on A Hill: A History of Ideas and Myths in America (New York: John Willey & Sons, Inc., 1964), p. 3.
57、See Mark W. Karlberg, Covenant Theology in Reformed Perspective (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publisher, 2000), pp. 11-49.
58、http://baike.baidu.com/view/628311.htm, 2011年6月2日查考。THE MAYFLOWER COMPACT:In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign Lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland king, defender of the faith, etc., having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.
59、William J. Federer, America's God and Country, 2000, pp. 39-40.
60、余杰:《谁为神州理旧疆?》(台北:基文社,2010年),“以神为本”丛书总序,11页。
61、梁家麟、邢福增:《困乏多情:中港教会评论集(一)》(香港:建道神学院,1997年),111页。
62、陈佐人,“如云采般的见证,”余杰:《白昼将近—基督教信仰在中国》(香港:晨钟书局,2008年),xvi。
63、陈佐人,“如云采般的见证,”余杰:《白昼将近—基督教信仰在中国》(香港:晨钟书局,2008年),xvii。
64、余杰:《白昼将近》,6页。