In this chapter, Lewis picks up where he left off in the previous chapter, asserting that Jesus is indeed God. He argues that someone who claimed what Jesus did must either be a lunatic, a devil, or the real God.本章Lewis接着上一章结尾处的内容,重申耶稣确实是上帝。他的理由:宣称耶稣所宣称内容的人要么是疯子,要么是魔鬼,要么是真正的上帝。
Lewis then explores the purpose of Jesus's coming to Earth,introducing the central Christian belief that Jesus came to die, and that his death somehow reconciled us with God and gave us a fresh start. He acknowledges that there are many theories attempting to explain how this works. Before presenting his own interpretation, Lewis emphasizes that the theories about Christ's death are not Christianity itself; they are merely explanations. He states, “A man can eat his dinner without understanding exactly how food nourishes him. A man can accept what Christ has done without knowing how it orks: indeed, he certainly would not know until he has accepted it.”然后,Lewis探讨了耶稣来到这个世界的目的,介绍了基督教的核心信仰,即“耶稣来是为了死,他的死以某种方式使我们与上帝和解,并给了我们一个重新开始的机会“。他承认,有很多理论试图解释这是如何运作的。在提出自己的解释之前,Lewis强调,关于基督之死的理论不是基督教本身,它们只是解释而已。他说道:“一个人可以在不完全理解食物如何滋养他的情况下吃晚饭。一个人可以接受基督所做的一切,而不需要知道它是如何起作用的:事实上,他只有接受了才能理解这如何运作。”
Regarding the Christian belief that Christ volunteered to bear our punishment, Lewis questions why, if God wanted to forgive us, he didn't simply do so instead of punishing an innocent person. He clarifies that the "punishment" here is a debt or "paying the penalty" and uses the analogy of a kind friend who helps you get out of a hole using his own resources to illustrate this point.关于基督信仰中基督自愿承担我们本该受的惩罚这一教义,Lewis质疑,如果上帝想原谅我们,为什么他不直接原谅,而是要去惩罚一个无辜的人。他澄清到,这里的“惩罚”是一种债务或“支付罚款”,并使用一个仁慈的朋友用自己的资源帮助你脱离困境的类比来说明这一点。
Lewis then delves into his explanation of how and why thisprocess works and why it could only work in this manner—that Jesus, fully manand fully God, could achieve what was necessary. Humanity went astray byputting itself at the center, trying to be 'like god'. Thus, fallen humanitydoesn't just need improvement; it needs to completely surrender, admitwrongdoing, and start anew—i.e., repent. The catch is: “Only a bad person needsto repent; only a good person can repent perfectly. The only person who coulddo it perfectly would be a perfect person—and he would not need it.”然后是本章中最精彩的部分:Lewis深入解释了这个过程如何、以及为何有效,以及为什么它只能以这种方式有效——耶稣,既完全是人又完全是上帝,可以实现所需的一切。人类因自我为中心而误入歧途,试图变得“像神”一样。因此,堕落的人类需要的不仅仅是改进,而是完全臣服,承认错误,并重新开始——即悔改。问题在于:“只有坏人需要悔改;而只有好人能完美地悔改。唯一能够完美地做到这一点的人是完美的人——而他并不需要悔改。”
This repentance—to surrender, to suffer and die, is not inherent in God’s nature; it's a path He had never walked. The only way for God to experience this was to become a man, allowing Him to surrender His will, and suffer and die because He was a man; and He could do it perfectly because He was God. 这种悔改——臣服、受苦和死亡——并不是上帝本性的内在特质;这是他从未走过的道路。上帝唯一能够体验这一切的方式就是成为一个人,这使他能够将自己的意志臣服于神的意志,并且受苦和死亡---因为他是一个人;而只有他能够完美地做到这一点--因为他是上帝。
I have to admit that I never questioned that Jesus is fullyman and fully God before. Lewis’ logic is so reasonable that I can’t find a wayto counter him but to accept it. In histypically humble and humorous way, Lewis advises us, “this is only one morepicture. Do not mistake it for the thing itself, and if it does not help you,drop it.”我必须承认,我以前从未质疑过耶稣既是完全的人又是完全的神。Lewis的逻辑如此合理,以至于我找不到反驳他的办法,只能接受它。以他一贯谦逊而幽默的方式,Lewis建议我们,“这只是另一幅图画。不要把它当成实物,如果它对你没有帮助,就放弃它吧。”
In
summary, Lewis introduces the central Christian belief that Christ came and
died for us, somehow reconciling us with God. He reasons and explains how and
why this works and only works in this particular way—only Christ, who is both
fully man and fully God, can pay our debt. 总结,Lewis在本章介绍了基督教的核心信仰,即基督来到世上并为我们而死,以某种方式使我们与上帝和解。他推理并解释了这如何以及为什么以这种特定方式运作——只有既是完全的人又是完全的神的基督,才能偿还我们的债务。
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