作为神学的翻译｜《Seeing Christ in All of Scripture》书评之一

释经工作坊的讨论中，有很多问题涉及“以基督为中心”的讲道，虽然我们还在释经学的讨论阶段，离开讲道学还早。

威敏的几位教授合写了一本只有87页的小书，名字叫《Seeing Christ in All of Scripture》，亚马逊上有一份评论，粗略地翻译了一下，附在后面。这份书评是2018年下半年写的，而2018年4月，脸书上曾劭恺和王志勇在中文神学圈里对此有过（激烈的）讨论。原时间线已经不在，不过有心人将过程备份在了自己的博客上，可以参见“Alex vs. some pastor on FB…Fun!”（存取时间，2021年7月29日）。

我自己的释经进路和对此问题的一点意见，从前写过，可以参见《事工哲学（44）｜示例、预表与历史人物》，但并没有和以上所提的各位互动，只是在另一个群里略微回答了一个问题，指出按照我的理解，约瑟不能算是基督的预表，就收获了这么20多项预表的证据。嗯，不错，约瑟有件彩衣，基督有件内衣，而我有一条牛仔裤和一件无花果树编成的苏格兰裙子，而挪亚竟然不穿衣服（显然是基督的反题）。

我不反对圣约神学和“基督为中心”的讲道。只要别太过于牵强的寓意解经，变成传道人掌握了“奥义”，唯有牧者知道如何“从任何经文联系到基督”，每次都让会众恍然大悟的诺斯替倾向，或者每次讲道都是前面逐节注释经文，仿佛流动圣经注释汇编，最后无论经文，应用总是“FFC我们做不到然而我们不用做到因为基督都为我们做了感谢基督不杀之恩”那种听了题目和开头就知道走向的讲道，我都会迫不及待地赞同说“你是对的！”。

好了，下面是书评。

Westminster Theological Seminary (WTS) is at the heart of the socalled Christocentric hermeneutical approach to Scripture in which Christ is found in every text, Old and New Testament. This short and general book written by five professors at the seminary, documents what WTS now teaches concerning Scripture and its interpretation, especially since 2006 when distinctive lines were drawn (p. 80). As Kevin Vanhoozer writes in his endorsement, “This is as clear a statement of the ‘Westminster way’ of reading Scripture of which I am aware.” It should be noted that Vanhoozer is not necessarily in agreement with the “Westminster way”, he is merely stating that this little volume explains it well.

威斯敏斯特神学院（WTS）是所谓的“以基督为中心的解释学方法”的核心重镇。这种方法试图从每一处经文中发现基督——无论是旧约还是新约。这本由该神学院五位教授撰写的简短而概括的书，记录了WTS现在关于圣经及其解释的教导，特别是自2006年该学院在此释经方法上有了清晰转向之后的方法（第80页）。正如范胡泽（Kevin Vanhooze）在他的推荐语写道：”这是我所知，对‘威斯敏斯特读经方式’的一种清晰的陈述”。应该指出的是，范胡泽并不一定同意 “威斯敏斯特方式”，他只是说这本小册子很好地解释了它。

Much of what Seeking Christ in All of Scripture outlines would be accepted and appreciated by any who take a conservative view of inspiration and inerrancy. Also, most of the hermeneutical principles mentioned are agreed upon by all who embrace the literalgrammaticalhistorical approach to biblical interpretation. For example, there can be no reasonable argument with the progressive nature of biblical revelation (pp. 14, 21, 75, 83, 85), or that biblical exegesis is the attempt to determine the author’s meaning in the immediate context (pp. 25, 27). Agreement with the Westminster Confession of Faith’s statement, “The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man” (p. 44) will find no debate among conservative theologians. Appendix A, containing J. Gresham Machen’s address at the opening day of WTS, is a joy. Appendix B clearly states what the current board of WTS believes. All of this, and much more, is encouraging.

《在所有经文中寻求基督》所概述的大部分内容，都会被那些保守地相信圣灵默示和圣经无误观点的人所接受和欣赏。此外，书中所提到的大多数释经学原则都是所有接受“字面语法历史”（literalgrammaticalhistorical）解释方法的人所同意的。例如，我们对圣经启示的渐进性没有什么好争论的（第14、21、75、83、85页），也同意圣经解释的主要意图是确定作者在直接上下文中的意思（第25、27页）。对于同意《威斯敏斯特信仰告白》的声明：“圣经对人主要的教训是：人对上帝当信什么，并且上帝要人当尽什么责任”（第44页），保守派神学家也不会有任何问题。附录A收录了梅钦（J. Gresham Machen）在WTS建校仪式上的讲话，读来更是令人愉快。附录B清楚地说明了WTS当前董事会的信念。所有这些（以及更多的内容）都令人鼓舞。

The reason for publishing the book, however, has to do with the WTS development and promotion of their unique hermeneutical approach known as Christocentric or redemptivehistorical. While only generally discussed, with virtually no examples and little specifics, enough is given to reveal a handle for understanding this interpretation methodology.

然而，出版这本书的原因与WTS发展和推广他们独特的释经学方法有关——这种方法被称为以基督为中心的释经或以救赎历史为中心的释经。虽然此书只是一般性的讨论，几乎没有任何实例，也没有什么具体内容，但已经足够帮助我们理解这种释经方法的不足。

• Christocentric hermeneutics teaches that Christ is not only the overall theme of Scripture but the central message on every page, and the central thrust of every passage is the gospel (p. 19).

– 以基督为中心的释经学认为，基督不仅是圣经的总体主题，而且是每一页的中心信息；每段经文的中心主旨都是福音（第19页）。

• In fact, “The Old Testament is a book about Christ and more specifically, about his suffering and glories that will follow” (p. 17). This assertion is proven, it is claimed, by Jesus’ comments to the Emmaus Road disciples in Luke 24:2527.

– 事实上，“《旧约》是一本关于基督的书，更具体地说，是关于他的受难和将来荣耀的书”（第17页）。据此书称，耶稣在路加福音24:2527对以马忤斯路门徒的教导证明了这一论断。

• Christocentric hermeneutics is developed out of the unifying principles of Covenant Theology (pp. 46). Therefore this approach is decisively covenantal and only those who hold to Covenant Theology would be inclinded to accept the system.

– 以基督为中心的释经学是从圣约神学（Covenant Theology）的统一原则中发展出来的（第46页）。因此，这种方法具有决定性依赖于圣约神学，只有那些坚持圣约神学的人才会倾向于接受这个系统。

• This is because only under covenantalism does Christ represent true Israel of the OT, and only under convenaltalism is the church the true Israel of the NT (pp. 2930, 81). Under this system Israel, as a specific nation and the chosen people of God, is a reference to Christ in the OT and has been absorbed into the church in the NT. Concrete promises made to Israel concerning land and physical blessing have been spiritualized and given to the church. Thus promises of future deliverance and a physical kingdom cannot be taken literally. Rather they are types of Christ and the gospel, and now fulfilled in the church.

– 这是因为，只有在圣约主义（covenantalism）之下，基督才代表了旧约中的真以色列，也只有在圣约主义下，教会才是新约里的真以色列（第2930页，第81页）。在这个体系下，以色列作为一个特定的国家和上帝的选民，在旧约中指向基督，在新约中则被吸收进入教会。神具体应许以色列的土地和物质祝福被完全属灵化解释，算为了神赐给教会的应许。因此，我们不能按字面意思来理解神将来要拯救以色列、建立一个真实王国的应许。相反，它们是基督和福音的预表，现在已经在教会中得到了实现。

• Those embracing the Christocentric approach do so because they believe the Bible requires a special hermeneutic and cannot be read as other literature (p. 10). This hermeneutic is circular in nature as opposed to linear. Those who prefer a line, including all who accept consistent literalgrammaticalhistorical hermeneutics, teach that we “first establish sound hermeneutical principles. Then interpret the Bible. Then form a systematic theology” (p. 11). The circle methodology begins with the Bible to derive hermeneutical principles. “Then we use hermeneutics to interpret the Bible…the third stage to the circle [is] systematic theology” (p. 11). This might sound good on the surface but it amounts to imposing upon Scripture a theological system. The presupposition is that Christ is found in every text of Scripture and spiritual redemption is always the theme. With this grid the student reads the Bible always looking for what they have already predetermined they will find. Thus, the Bible is not allowed to speak for itself.

– 拥护基督中心论的人采取这种释经方法，是因为他们相信圣经需要一种特殊的解释学，不能像其他文学作品那样阅读（第10页）。这种释经学在本质上是循环的，而不是线性的。那些喜欢线性释经的人，包括所有接受一致的“字面语法历史”解释学的人，教导我们“首先建立健全的解释学原则。然后解释圣经。然后建立系统神学”（第11页）。而循环释经方法从圣经开始，推导出释经学原则。“然后我们用释经学来解释圣经……循环的第三个阶段[是]系统神学”（第11页）。这在表面上听起来不错，但它相当于把某种神学体系强加给了圣经。这种方法的前设是，基督存在于圣经的每一段文字中，属灵的救赎始终是主题。有了这样的思维格局，学生在阅读圣经时总是在寻找他们已经预设好的东西。因此，这种方法没有允许圣经为自己说话。

• Not every covenantalist adopts Christocentric hermeneutics. As a matter of fact there has been much division even within Westminster over this subject. Some WTS professors (and most Reformed theologians elsewhere) would accept what is call a Christotelic approach. This system is dependent upon a “first readsecond read” treatment of the OT in particular. “The first read seeks to establish the original historical meaning or original human author meaning…the second read of the passage then seeks to show how in the light of the NT it is about Christ, to disclose its Christotelic content” (p. 84). But this is not enough for the Christocentric school of thought, and those professors accepting it have been dismissed by the school (pp. 7980). Christotelic teaches that the authorial intent of much of the OT was not Christcentered. With progressive revelation we can now see how some, but not all, OT passages spoke of Christ. Christ is still the overall focus of Scripture but every text does not speak of Him. Christocentric by contrast, claims every part of Scripture speaks of Christ and redemption (see pp. 8687).

– 并非每个圣约主义者都采用以基督为中心的释经学。事实上，即使在威斯敏斯特内部，在这个问题上也存在很多分歧。某些威敏的教授（以及大多数其他改革宗神学家）会接受所谓的“以基督为目的”（Christotelic）的方法。这一体系特别依赖于对旧约的“一读再读”。“一读旨在建立原始的历史意义或原始的人类作者意义……然后，对这段经文的再读旨在显明在新约的光照下它是如何关涉基督的，并揭示出经文的基督论含义”（第84页）。但这种立场对于“以基督为中心” 学派（Christocentric school）来说是不够强烈的，那些接受“以基督为目的”的教授已经被该学派解雇了（第7980页）。“以基督为目的”学派认为，旧约中大部分内容的本来意图不是以基督为中心的。随着渐进式启示的展开，我们现在可以看到一些旧约中的预表，但无法看出所有的旧约段落都在谈论基督。基督仍然是圣经的整体焦点，但不是每段经文都在谈论他。与此相反，“以基督为中心”的方法断定经文的每一部分都在讨论基督和救赎（见第8687页）。

The “Westminster way” of reading Scripture is described well in this small work. It is a system that requires adherence to Covenantal Theology, a presupposition based on a misreading of Luke 24:2527 that everything in Scripture is about Christ forced on to all biblical texts, a reliance upon typology and allegoricalism to find hidden meaning behind authorial intent and a rejection and replacement of consistent literalgrammaticalhistorical hermeneutics. The danger is Scripture is being interpreted through a theological lens rather than being interpreted in alignment with the intent of the Holy Spirit inspired authors. Other such approaches have been used in the past with devastating results. I would give this book four stars for content and one star for the Christocentric hermeneutical system it promotes.这本小书很好地描述了理解圣经的“威斯敏斯特方式”。这种释经体系需要完全遵守圣约神学，并解释一种对路加福音24:2527误读基础上的预设——即圣经中的一切都与基督有关。这个预设被强加给所有的圣经文本，迫使释经者依靠预表和寓意解经来寻找作者意图背后的隐藏意义，并拒绝和取代了一贯的“字面语法历史”释经学。这样做的危险在于，经文是通过神学视角来解释的，而不是按照圣灵默示作者的意图来解释的。过去人们也曾使用过类似的释经方法，其结果是破坏性的。我愿意给这本书的内容打四颗星，但只给它提倡的“以基督为中心”的解释学体系打一颗星。

Reviewed by Gary E. Gilley, Pastorteacher, Southern View Chapel

书评：Gary E. Gilley，南景教堂牧师兼教师

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