Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion.—Part III. 第十五章基督教的传播——第三节

Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion.—Part III.

第十五章基督教的传播——第三节

In consequence of this opinion, it was the first but arduous duty of a Christian to preserve himself pure and undefiled by the practice of idolatry. The religion of the nations was not merely a speculative doctrine professed in the schools or preached in the temples. The innumerable deities and rites of polytheism were closely interwoven with every circumstance of business or pleasure, of public or of private life, and it seemed impossible to escape the observance of them, without, at the same time, renouncing the commerce of mankind, and all the offices and amusements of society. ⁴⁰ The important transactions of peace and war were prepared or concluded by solemn sacrifices, in which the magistrate, the senator, and the soldier, were obliged to preside or to participate. ⁴¹ The public spectacles were an essential part of the cheerful devotion of the Pagans, and the gods were supposed to accept, as the most grateful offering, the games that the prince and people celebrated in honor of their peculiar festivals. ⁴² The Christians, who with pious horror avoided the abomination of the circus or the theatre, found himself encompassed with infernal snares in every convivial entertainment, as often as his friends, invoking the hospitable deities, poured out libations to each other’s happiness. ⁴³ When the bride, struggling with well-affected reluctance, was forced in hymenæal pomp over the threshold of her new habitation, ⁴⁴ or when the sad procession of the dead slowly moved towards the funeral pile, ⁴⁵ the Christian, on these interesting occasions, was compelled to desert the persons who were the dearest to him, rather than contract the guilt inherent to those impious ceremonies. Every art and every trade that was in the least concerned in the framing or adorning of idols was polluted by the stain of idolatry; ⁴⁶ a severe sentence, since it devoted to eternal misery the far greater part of the community, which is employed in the exercise of liberal or mechanic professions. If we cast our eyes over the numerous remains of antiquity, we shall perceive, that besides the immediate representations of the gods, and the holy instruments of their worship, the elegant forms and agreeable fictions consecrated by the imagination of the Greeks, were introduced as the richest ornaments of the houses, the dress, and the furniture of the Pagans. ⁴⁷ Even the arts of music and painting, of eloquence and poetry, flowed from the same impure origin. In the style of the fathers, Apollo and the Muses were the organs of the infernal spirit; Homer and Virgil were the most eminent of his servants; and the beautiful mythology which pervades and animates the compositions of their genius, is destined to celebrate the glory of the dæmons. Even the common language of Greece and Rome abounded with familiar but impious expressions, which the imprudent Christian might too carelessly utter, or too patiently hear. ⁴⁸

正因秉持这一信念，基督徒的首要职责——也是最难尽到的一项职责——便是洁身自守，不为偶像崇拜所玷污。异邦的宗教，绝非只是学派里讲授、庙宇中宣扬的一套玄想教义。多神教的神祇成千上万，仪典名目繁多，早已同公私生活、营生与娱乐的每一处细节交织在一起；要想避而不奉，就几乎等于同人世断绝往来，抛开社会中一切职务与消遣。⁴⁰ 无论议和还是开战，凡属大事，其筹备与告成都要举行隆重的献祭；官员、元老、士卒，或主持、或与祭，概莫能免。⁴¹ 公共竞技表演乃是异教徒欢庆敬神的要项；人们相信，君王与百姓为各自的节庆而举办的赛会，正是诸神最乐于领受的献礼。⁴² 基督徒怀着虔敬的憎恶，避开竞技场与剧场那些可憎的场面；可即便在寻常的欢宴之上，也照样落入地狱布下的重重罗网——因为每逢席间，友人总要呼求护佑宾主的神明，彼此奠酒，祝愿对方幸福。⁴³ 新娘半推半就、佯作娇羞，在婚礼的盛仪中被人簇拥着跨过夫家的门槛，⁴⁴ 送葬的行列则载着哀戚，缓缓向火葬的柴堆移去；⁴⁵ 每逢这类人生大事，基督徒宁可离弃至亲挚爱，也不肯沾染那些渎神仪式里注定要背负的罪愆。凡与塑造或装饰偶像稍有牵连的技艺行当，无不沾上偶像崇拜的污点；⁴⁶ 这道裁断未免过于严酷，因为它把社会上以自由职业或手工谋生的绝大多数人，统统打入了万劫不复之地。只消放眼古代留存至今的种种遗物，便不难看出：除诸神的直接造像与祭祀所用的圣器之外，希腊人凭想象所塑造、并奉为神圣的那些优美形象与动人虚构，也被异教徒当作最华贵的装饰，遍布于屋宇、衣饰与器具之上。⁴⁷ 甚至音乐、绘画、雄辩与诗歌诸艺，也同出于这一不洁的源头。照教父们的说法，阿波罗与缪斯女神不过是地狱魔君的喉舌，荷马与维吉尔则是他最杰出的仆役；那贯注于两位天才诗篇、令其栩栩生辉的绚烂神话，其用意本是为群魔歌功颂德。甚至希腊与罗马的日常言语里，也满是习以为常却亵渎神圣的说法；粗心的基督徒稍不留神，便可能脱口而出，或过于隐忍地听人道来。⁴⁸

The dangerous temptations which on every side lurked in ambush to surprise the unguarded believer, assailed him with redoubled violence on the days of solemn festivals. So artfully were they framed and disposed throughout the year, that superstition always wore the appearance of pleasure, and often of virtue. Some of the most sacred festivals in the Roman ritual were destined to salute the new calends of January with vows of public and private felicity; to indulge the pious remembrance of the dead and living; to ascertain the inviolable bounds of property; to hail, on the return of spring, the genial powers of fecundity; to perpetuate the two memorable æras of Rome, the foundation of the city and that of the republic; and to restore, during the humane license of the Saturnalia, the primitive equality of mankind. Some idea may be conceived of the abhorrence of the Christians for such impious ceremonies, by the scrupulous delicacy which they displayed on a much less alarming occasion. On days of general festivity it was the custom of the ancients to adorn their doors with lamps and with branches of laurel, and to crown their heads with a garland of flowers. This innocent and elegant practice might perhaps have been tolerated as a mere civil institution. But it most unluckily happened that the doors were under the protection of the household gods, that the laurel was sacred to the lover of Daphne, and that garlands of flowers, though frequently worn as a symbol either of joy or mourning, had been dedicated in their first origin to the service of superstition. The trembling Christians, who were persuaded in this instance to comply with the fashion of their country, and the commands of the magistrate, labored under the most gloomy apprehensions, from the reproaches of his own conscience, the censures of the church, and the denunciations of divine vengeance. ⁴⁹ ⁵⁰

四面八方都埋伏着凶险的诱惑，只待冷不防袭击那疏于防范的信徒；一到隆重的节庆之日，这些诱惑更是加倍猛烈地扑将上来。一年之中，节庆的编排布置又是这般巧妙，以致迷信总披着欢愉的外衣，往往还披着德行的外衣。罗马礼制中一些最为神圣的节庆，各有其旨：或在一月朔日献上公私两方的祝愿，恭迎新岁；或虔诚追念逝者与生者；或勘定地产不容侵犯的界址；或于春回大地之际，礼赞繁衍生息的和煦之力；或纪念罗马两大值得铭记的纪元——建城之始与共和肇立之时；又或在农神节那宽厚放纵的日子里，重现人类太初的平等。基督徒对这类渎神典礼何等深恶痛绝，只消看他们在一桩远不那么触目的事上尚且那样谨小慎微，便可想见几分。逢普天同庆之日，古人惯于在门上悬挂灯彩与月桂枝，头戴花环。这一无伤大雅、颇为雅致的风俗，本或可当作纯粹的世俗习尚而予以通融。无奈事有不巧：门户归家神庇佑，月桂乃爱慕达佛涅者的圣木，而花环虽常用作喜庆或哀悼的标志，追根溯源却本是献于迷信之用的。有些战战兢兢的基督徒，在这件事上被人说动，顺从了本邦的风尚与官府的号令；随后却陷入最阴郁的惶恐——良心的谴责、教会的斥责，以及上帝必将降罚的警告，重重压在心头。⁴⁹⁵⁰

Such was the anxious diligence which was required to guard the chastity of the gospel from the infectious breath of idolatry. The superstitious observances of public or private rites were carelessly practised, from education and habit, by the followers of the established religion. But as often as they occurred, they afforded the Christians an opportunity of declaring and confirming their zealous opposition. By these frequent protestations their attachment to the faith was continually fortified; and in proportion to the increase of zeal, they combated with the more ardor and success in the holy war, which they had undertaken against the empire of the demons.

要守护福音的贞洁，使之不受偶像崇拜那股传染之气的沾染，所需的正是如此这般战战兢兢的勤谨。至于信奉官定宗教的人们，则出于教养与习惯，漫不经心地奉行着公私各种迷信仪节。然而这些仪典每举行一次，便给基督徒一个机会，去申明其满腔的反对，并使之愈加坚定。一次次这般表态，使他们对信仰的执守不断加固；热忱愈涨，他们在这场向魔鬼国度所发动的圣战中，也就打得愈发奋勇，愈见成效。

II. The writings of Cicero ⁵¹ represent in the most lively colors the ignorance, the errors, and the uncertainty of the ancient philosophers with regard to the immortality of the soul. When they are desirous of arming their disciples against the fear of death, they inculcate, as an obvious though melancholy position, that the fatal stroke of our dissolution releases us from the calamities of life; and that those can no longer suffer, who no longer exist. Yet there were a few sages of Greece and Rome who had conceived a more exalted, and, in some respects, a juster idea of human nature, though it must be confessed, that in the sublime inquiry, their reason had been often guided by their imagination, and that their imagination had been prompted by their vanity. When they viewed with complacency the extent of their own mental powers, when they exercised the various faculties of memory, of fancy, and of judgment, in the most profound speculations, or the most important labors, and when they reflected on the desire of fame, which transported them into future ages, far beyond the bounds of death and of the grave, they were unwilling to confound themselves with the beasts of the field, or to suppose that a being, for whose dignity they entertained the most sincere admiration, could be limited to a spot of earth, and to a few years of duration. With this favorable prepossession they summoned to their aid the science, or rather the language, of Metaphysics. They soon discovered, that as none of the properties of matter will apply to the operations of the mind, the human soul must consequently be a substance distinct from the body, pure, simple, and spiritual, incapable of dissolution, and susceptible of a much higher degree of virtue and happiness after the release from its corporeal prison. From these specious and noble principles, the philosophers who trod in the footsteps of Plato deduced a very unjustifiable conclusion, since they asserted, not only the future immortality, but the past eternity, of the human soul, which they were too apt to consider as a portion of the infinite and self-existing spirit, which pervades and sustains the universe. ⁵² A doctrine thus removed beyond the senses and the experience of mankind might serve to amuse the leisure of a philosophic mind; or, in the silence of solitude, it might sometimes impart a ray of comfort to desponding virtue; but the faint impression which had been received in the schools was soon obliterated by the commerce and business of active life. We are sufficiently acquainted with the eminent persons who flourished in the age of Cicero and of the first Cæsars, with their actions, their characters, and their motives, to be assured that their conduct in this life was never regulated by any serious conviction of the rewards or punishments of a future state. At the bar and in the senate of Rome the ablest orators were not apprehensive of giving offence to their hearers by exposing that doctrine as an idle and extravagant opinion, which was rejected with contempt by every man of a liberal education and understanding. ⁵³

二、西塞罗的著作⁵¹，以最鲜活的笔触，描摹出古代哲学家在灵魂不朽问题上的蒙昧、谬误与游移。每当他们想要武装弟子、使之无惧死亡，便谆谆申说一个虽显而易见却不免令人黯然的道理：那致命的一击使我们魂消形灭，也就把我们从人生的种种苦难中解脱出来；既已不复存在，自然再无从受苦。不过，希腊与罗马也有寥寥数位贤哲，对人性抱有更为崇高、在某些方面也更为中肯的看法；然而不得不承认，在这类高远的探究中，引领其理性的往往是想象，而撩拨其想象的，又是他们的虚荣。他们洋洋自得地审视自己心智的广度，在最深奥的思辨与最重大的事业中调动记忆、想象与判断诸般才能；又念及那份对声名的渴慕早已把自己送往身后的世代，远远越过了死亡与坟墓的界限——于是便不甘与田野间的走兽同类而语，更不愿设想：这样一个他们由衷钦敬其尊贵的存在，竟会局限于一小片土地、区区数年的光阴。怀着这一先入为主的偏爱，他们搬来形而上学这门学问——或者不如说，这套辞令——为自己助阵。他们很快便发现：既然物质的种种属性无一能套用于心智的活动，人的灵魂便必定是一种有别于肉体的实体——纯粹、单一、属灵，不可消解；一旦挣脱肉体这座牢笼，还能领受远为高超的德行与福乐。循着柏拉图足迹的哲学家们，从这些貌似堂皇高贵的原理出发，却推出了一个殊难成立的结论：他们不但断言人的灵魂将来不朽，还断言它过去亦本永恒，动辄把它视作那贯注并维系宇宙的无限自存之灵的一部分。⁵² 这样一套超乎感官、超乎人类经验之外的学说，或可供哲人于闲暇时消遣把玩，又或在孤寂无声之际，为灰心丧气的德行送去一缕慰藉；可是在学园里所得的这点浅淡印象，一投身于尘世的往来与俗务，很快便消磨殆尽。西塞罗以及最初诸恺撒当政之际那些显赫人物，其行事、性情与动机，我们都了解得相当透彻，足以断言：他们此生的举止，从不曾受来世赏罚这类郑重信念的约束。在罗马的法庭与元老院上，最善辩的演说家们尽可把这套学说斥为荒诞不经的无稽之谈，说凡受过通达教育、有见识者无不嗤之以鼻，却全然不担心会因此开罪听众。⁵³

Since therefore the most sublime efforts of philosophy can extend no further than feebly to point out the desire, the hope, or, at most, the probability, of a future state, there is nothing, except a divine revelation, that can ascertain the existence and describe the condition, of the invisible country which is destined to receive the souls of men after their separation from the body. But we may perceive several defects inherent to the popular religions of Greece and Rome, which rendered them very unequal to so arduous a task. 1. The general system of their mythology was unsupported by any solid proofs; and the wisest among the Pagans had already disclaimed its usurped authority. 2. The description of the infernal regions had been abandoned to the fancy of painters and of poets, who peopled them with so many phantoms and monsters, who dispensed their rewards and punishments with so little equity, that a solemn truth, the most congenial to the human heart, was oppressed and disgraced by the absurd mixture of the wildest fictions. ⁵⁴ 3. The doctrine of a future state was scarcely considered among the devout polytheists of Greece and Rome as a fundamental article of faith. The providence of the gods, as it related to public communities rather than to private individuals, was principally displayed on the visible theatre of the present world. The petitions which were offered on the altars of Jupiter or Apollo expressed the anxiety of their worshippers for temporal happiness, and their ignorance or indifference concerning a future life. ⁵⁵ The important truth of the immortality of the soul was inculcated with more diligence, as well as success, in India, in Assyria, in Egypt, and in Gaul; and since we cannot attribute such a difference to the superior knowledge of the barbarians, we must ascribe it to the influence of an established priesthood, which employed the motives of virtue as the instrument of ambition. ⁵⁶

既然哲学纵使竭尽其最崇高的努力，也不过软弱无力地指出人对来世的一点渴望、一点指望，至多是一点或然而已，那么，除了神的启示，就再没有什么能确证那片幽冥之境确实存在、并描摹其情状了——人的灵魂一旦脱离肉体，便注定要归往那里。不过我们不难看出，希腊与罗马那些流行的宗教，本身有几处缺陷，使之远不足以担此艰巨之任。其一，他们那套神话体系，拿不出任何确凿的凭据来支撑；异教徒中最明智者，早已不承认它那僭窃而来的权威。其二，冥界的景象，全凭画师与诗人的臆想去描绘；他们在那里塞满了形形色色的幽灵与怪物，分派赏罚又那样毫无公道，以致一桩最合乎人心的庄严真理，竟被这些荒诞不经的胡乱编造裹挟其间，遭到压抑与糟蹋。⁵⁴ 其三，在希腊与罗马虔诚的多神教徒看来，来世之说几乎算不上什么根本的信条。诸神的眷顾，所关切的是邦国群体，而非私人个体，因而主要施展在今生这座看得见的舞台上。在朱庇特或阿波罗祭坛前呈上的祈愿，道出的都是信众对今世福祉的焦切，以及他们对来世的懵然无知或漠不关心。⁵⁵ 灵魂不朽这一要紧的真理，反倒在印度、亚述、埃及与高卢得到更勤勉、也更见成效的宣讲；我们既不能把这等差别归因于蛮族见识更高，就只能归因于一个盘踞已久的祭司阶层的影响——他们把劝人向善的种种说辞，当作了实现自身野心的工具。⁵⁶

We might naturally expect that a principle so essential to religion, would have been revealed in the clearest terms to the chosen people of Palestine, and that it might safely have been intrusted to the hereditary priesthood of Aaron. It is incumbent on us to adore the mysterious dispensations of Providence, ⁵⁷ when we discover that the doctrine of the immortality of the soul is omitted in the law of Moses; it is darkly insinuated by the prophets; and during the long period which elapsed between the Egyptian and the Babylonian servitudes, the hopes as well as fears of the Jews appear to have been confined within the narrow compass of the present life. ⁵⁸ After Cyrus had permitted the exiled nation to return into the promised land, and after Ezra had restored the ancient records of their religion, two celebrated sects, the Sadducees and the Pharisees, insensibly arose at Jerusalem. ⁵⁹ The former, selected from the more opulent and distinguished ranks of society, were strictly attached to the literal sense of the Mosaic law, and they piously rejected the immortality of the soul, as an opinion that received no countenance from the divine book, which they revered as the only rule of their faith. To the authority of Scripture the Pharisees added that of tradition, and they accepted, under the name of traditions, several speculative tenets from the philosophy or religion of the eastern nations. The doctrines of fate or predestination, of angels and spirits, and of a future state of rewards and punishments, were in the number of these new articles of belief; and as the Pharisees, by the austerity of their manners, had drawn into their party the body of the Jewish people, the immortality of the soul became the prevailing sentiment of the synagogue, under the reign of the Asmonæan princes and pontiffs. The temper of the Jews was incapable of contenting itself with such a cold and languid assent as might satisfy the mind of a Polytheist; and as soon as they admitted the idea of a future state, they embraced it with the zeal which has always formed the characteristic of the nation. Their zeal, however, added nothing to its evidence, or even probability: and it was still necessary that the doctrine of life and immortality, which had been dictated by nature, approved by reason, and received by superstition, should obtain the sanction of divine truth from the authority and example of Christ.

有一条对宗教如此攸关的原理，我们本来自然会指望：它当以最明白无误的言辞，启示给巴勒斯坦的选民，并大可托付于亚伦世袭的祭司一系。然而我们唯有俯首敬拜天意那神秘莫测的安排：⁵⁷ 因为我们发现，灵魂不朽之说，在摩西律法中竟只字未提；先知书里对它也只是隐晦暗示；而在埃及之囚与巴比伦之囚之间那段漫长的岁月里，犹太人的指望与畏惧，似乎都被圈囿在今生这狭小的范围之内。⁵⁸ 居鲁士准许这个流亡的民族返回应许之地，以斯拉又把他们古老的宗教典籍整理复原；此后，撒都该与法利赛这两个著名教派，便在耶路撒冷悄然兴起。⁵⁹ 前者出身于社会中较为富贵显赫的阶层，严守摩西律法的字面本义；他们虔诚地摒弃灵魂不朽之说，认定这一见解在他们奉为信仰唯一准绳的圣书里得不到丝毫支持。法利赛人则在圣经的权威之外，又添上传统的权威；他们以“传统”为名，接纳了若干出自东方各族哲学或宗教的思辨教义。命定或预定之说、天使与灵体之说，以及来世赏罚之说，都在这些新信条之列。法利赛人以生活的清苦严谨，把犹太民众的主体拉入了自己一党；于是在哈斯蒙尼历代君王兼祭司长治下，灵魂不朽便成了犹太会堂中占上风的信念。犹太人的性情，断不甘于那种足以满足多神教徒的冷淡疲软之认可；他们一旦接受了来世的观念，便以那股始终是这个民族标志的热忱，将它紧紧拥入怀中。然而，他们的热忱丝毫无补于此说的凭据，甚至无补于它的或然；这生命与不朽的道理，虽由天性所启示、为理性所首肯、又为迷信所接纳，却仍有待从基督的权威与身教中，取得神圣真理的印可。

When the promise of eternal happiness was proposed to mankind on condition of adopting the faith, and of observing the precepts, of the gospel, it is no wonder that so advantageous an offer should have been accepted by great numbers of every religion, of every rank, and of every province in the Roman empire. The ancient Christians were animated by a contempt for their present existence, and by a just confidence of immortality, of which the doubtful and imperfect faith of modern ages cannot give us any adequate notion. In the primitive church, the influence of truth was very powerfully strengthened by an opinion, which, however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, has not been found agreeable to experience. It was universally believed, that the end of the world, and the kingdom of heaven, were at hand. ⁵⁹¹ The near approach of this wonderful event had been predicted by the apostles; the tradition of it was preserved by their earliest disciples, and those who understood in their literal senses the discourse of Christ himself, were obliged to expect the second and glorious coming of the Son of Man in the clouds, before that generation was totally extinguished, which had beheld his humble condition upon earth, and which might still be witness of the calamities of the Jews under Vespasian or Hadrian. The revolution of seventeen centuries has instructed us not to press too closely the mysterious language of prophecy and revelation; but as long as, for wise purposes, this error was permitted to subsist in the church, it was productive of the most salutary effects on the faith and practice of Christians, who lived in the awful expectation of that moment, when the globe itself, and all the various race of mankind, should tremble at the appearance of their divine Judge. ⁶⁰

福音向世人许下永福，条件不过是皈信其道、恪守其诫；这样一桩合算的交易，难怪会有大批人趋之若鹜——无论原先属何种宗教、身居何等阶层、来自罗马帝国的哪一行省。古时的基督徒，一面鄙夷今生的存在，一面又对不朽怀着笃定的信心；这般气概，今人那半信半疑、残缺不全的信仰，是无从让我们窥其万一的。在原始教会中，真理的感召力还因一种观念而大为增强——这种观念，尽管以其实用与古老而值得敬重，却终究未能经受住经验的检验。人们普遍相信：世界的末日与天国的降临，都已近在眼前。⁵⁹¹ 这桩奇事即将临近，使徒早有预言；他们最早的门徒又把这一传言保存下来。凡按字面去理解基督本人言论的人，都不得不指望：人子将驾云再度荣耀降临，而且就在那一代人尚未完全凋零之前——那一代人曾亲眼见过他在世时的卑微光景，或许还将目睹犹太人在韦帕芗或哈德良治下所遭的劫难。十七个世纪的流转，已教会我们：对预言与启示那些神秘的言辞，不可拘泥太甚。然而，当年出于某种睿智的旨意，这一谬误被容许长存于教会之中，倒对基督徒的信仰与行止产生了极为有益的效果；他们时时怀着敬畏，恭候那一刻的到来——到那时，大地本身，连同人类形形色色的族类，都将在他们那位神圣审判者显现之前战栗不已。⁶⁰

Notes 注释

Tertullian has written a most severe treatise against idolatry, to caution his brethren against the hourly danger of incurring that guilt. Recogita sylvam, et quantæ latitant spinæ. De Corona Militis, c. 10.

德尔图良写过一篇极其严厉的檄文声讨偶像崇拜，告诫教中弟兄：沾染此罪的危险时时刻刻都在。Recogita sylvam, et quantæ latitant spinæ.（试想那片林莽，其中潜伏着多少荆棘。）见 De Corona Militis, c. 10。

The Roman senate was always held in a temple or consecrated place. (Aulus Gellius, xiv. 7.) Before they entered on business, every senator dropped some wine and frankincense on the altar. Sueton. in August. c. 35.

罗马元老院开会，向来在某座神庙或经祝圣的场所举行。（见 Aulus Gellius, xiv. 7。）议事之前，每位元老都要往祭坛上洒些酒、撒些乳香。见 Sueton. in August. c. 35。

See Tertullian, De Spectaculis. This severe reformer shows no more indulgence to a tragedy of Euripides, than to a combat of gladiators. The dress of the actors particularly offends him. By the use of the lofty buskin, they impiously strive to add a cubit to their stature. c. 23.

见 Tertullian, De Spectaculis。这位严厉的卫道者，对欧里庇得斯的一出悲剧，与对角斗士的一场厮杀，同样不肯稍假辞色。演员的行头尤其惹他反感：他们脚踏高底厚靴，竟妄想给自己的身量凭空添上一肘，实属亵渎。见 c. 23。

The ancient practice of concluding the entertainment with libations, may be found in every classic. Socrates and Seneca, in their last moments, made a noble application of this custom. Postquam stagnum, calidæ aquæ introiit, respergens proximos servorum, addita voce, libare se liquorem illum Jovi Liberatori. Tacit. Annal. xv. 64.

古人以奠酒作为宴饮之收束，这一习俗在任何一部古典著作中都可寻见。苏格拉底与塞涅卡临终之际，都曾高贵地援用此俗。Postquam stagnum, calidæ aquæ introiit, respergens proximos servorum, addita voce, libare se liquorem illum Jovi Liberatori.（他步入温水池中，将水洒向身旁的仆从，并出声道，这是以此酒浇奠给解放者朱庇特。）见 Tacit. Annal. xv. 64。

See the elegant but idolatrous hymn of Catullus, on the nuptials of Manlius and Julia. O Hymen, Hymenæe Io! Quis huic Deo compararier ausit?

参看卡图卢斯为曼利乌斯与尤利娅的婚礼所作的那首颂歌，辞藻虽美，却满含偶像崇拜之意。O Hymen, Hymenæe Io! Quis huic Deo compararier ausit?（啊，许门，许门涅俄斯，伊俄！谁敢与这位神明相比？）

The ancient funerals (in those of Misenus and Pallas) are no less accurately described by Virgil, than they are illustrated by his commentator Servius. The pile itself was an altar, the flames were fed with the blood of victims, and all the assistants were sprinkled with lustral water.

古时的葬礼（如米塞努斯与帕拉斯的葬礼），维吉尔描摹得一丝不苟，其注家塞尔维乌斯又阐发得详尽入微。那火葬的柴堆本身即是一座祭坛，火焰以牺牲之血来饲，在场者也一律以净礼之水洒濯。

Tertullian de Idololatria, c. 11. * Note: The exaggerated and declamatory opinions of Tertullian ought not to be taken as the general sentiment of the early Christians. Gibbon has too often allowed himself to consider the peculiar notions of certain Fathers of the Church as inherent in Christianity. This is not accurate.—G.

Tertullian de Idololatria, c. 11。　＊编者按：德尔图良这些夸张而近乎叫嚣的见解，不应被当作早期基督徒的普遍看法。吉本往往过于随意，把某些教父的独特观念视为基督教本身所固有——此说并不确切。——G

See every part of Montfaucon’s Antiquities. Even the reverses of the Greek and Roman coins were frequently of an idolatrous nature. Here indeed the scruples of the Christian were suspended by a stronger passion. Note: All this scrupulous nicety is at variance with the decision of St. Paul about meat offered to idols, 1, Cor. x. 21— 32.—M.

参看蒙福孔《古物图释》各卷。就连希腊、罗马钱币的背面，也往往带有偶像崇拜的意味；只是在这一点上，基督徒的顾忌被一种更强烈的欲望压了下去。＊编者按：这一整套战战兢兢的讲究，与圣保罗关于祭过偶像之肉的裁断正相抵牾，见《哥林多前书》十章21—32节。——M

Tertullian de Idololatria, c. 20, 21, 22. If a Pagan friend (on the occasion perhaps of sneezing) used the familiar expression of “Jupiter bless you,” the Christian was obliged to protest against the divinity of Jupiter.

Tertullian de Idololatria, c. 20, 21, 22。倘若一位异教徒朋友（或许是趁人打喷嚏之际）顺口说一句“愿朱庇特保佑你”，基督徒便有义务当场声明：朱庇特并非神明。

Consult the most labored work of Ovid, his imperfect Fasti. He finished no more than the first six months of the year. The compilation of Macrobius is called the Saturnalia, but it is only a small part of the first book that bears any relation to the title.

可参看奥维德最费心力的著作——他那部未竟的《岁时记》。他只写完了一年中头六个月。马克罗比乌斯有一部辑录名为《农神节》，可全书之中，唯有第一卷的一小部分与这题名沾得上边。

Tertullian has composed a defence, or rather panegyric, of the rash action of a Christian soldier, who, by throwing away his crown of laurel, had exposed himself and his brethren to the most imminent danger. By the mention of the emperors, (Severus and Caracalla,) it is evident, notwithstanding the wishes of M. de Tillemont, that Tertullian composed his treatise De Corona long before he was engaged in the errors of the Montanists. See Memoires Ecclesiastiques, tom. iii. p. 384. Note: The soldier did not tear off his crown to throw it down with contempt; he did not even throw it away; he held it in his hand, while others were it on their heads. Solus libero capite, ornamento in manu otioso.—G Note: Tertullian does not expressly name the two emperors, Severus and Caracalla: he speaks only of two emperors, and of a long peace which the church had enjoyed. It is generally agreed that Tertullian became a Montanist about the year 200: his work, de Corona Militis, appears to have been written, at the earliest about the year 202 before the persecution of Severus: it may be maintained, then, that it is subsequent to the Montanism of the author. See Mosheim, Diss. de Apol. Tertull. p. 53. Biblioth. Amsterd. tom. x. part ii. p. 292. Cave’s Hist. Lit. p. 92, 93.—G. ——The state of Tertullian’s opinions at the particular period is almost an idle question. “The fiery African” is not at any time to be considered a fair representative of Christianity.—M.

德尔图良曾为一名基督徒士兵的鲁莽之举撰文辩护——与其说是辩护，不如说是颂扬；那士兵抛掉了自己的月桂冠，使自己与教中弟兄都陷入了迫在眉睫的凶险。文中提到了两位皇帝（塞维鲁与卡拉卡拉），由此可见：不管蒂耶蒙先生作何期望，德尔图良撰写《论冠冕》一文，远在他堕入孟他努派谬说之前。见 Memoires Ecclesiastiques, tom. iii. p. 384。　＊编者按：那士兵并非满怀鄙夷地扯下冠冕、掷之于地，甚至根本没有把它扔掉；他只是把它握在手中，而别人则戴在头上。Solus libero capite, ornamento in manu otioso.（唯独他不戴冠，任那饰物闲置于手。）——G　＊编者按：德尔图良并未明白点出塞维鲁与卡拉卡拉这两位皇帝的名字，他只提到两位皇帝，以及教会所享的一段长久太平。学界一般认为，德尔图良约在公元200年皈依孟他努派；而他那部《论军人的冠冕》，最早也当写于公元202年前后、塞维鲁迫害之前——由此可以主张，该文成于作者转奉孟他努派之后。见 Mosheim, Diss. de Apol. Tertull. p. 53；Biblioth. Amsterd. tom. x. part ii. p. 292；Cave's Hist. Lit. p. 92, 93。——G　——德尔图良在那个特定时期究竟持何主张，几乎是个无谓的问题。这位“烈火般的非洲人”，无论何时都算不得基督教的公允代表。——M

In particular, the first book of the Tusculan Questions, and the treatise De Senectute, and the Somnium Scipionis, contain, in the most beautiful language, every thing that Grecian philosophy, on Roman good sense, could possibly suggest on this dark but important object.

尤其是《图斯库兰论辩集》第一卷，以及《论老年》与《西庇阿之梦》两篇，都以最优美的文辞，道尽了希腊哲学乃至罗马人的健全见识，在这一晦暗而重要的题目上所能提出的一切。

The preexistence of human souls, so far at least as that doctrine is compatible with religion, was adopted by many of the Greek and Latin fathers. See Beausobre, Hist. du Manicheisme, l. vi. c. 4.

人的灵魂先在之说，至少在其与宗教尚可相容的限度之内，曾为许多希腊与拉丁教父所采纳。见 Beausobre, Hist. du Manicheisme, l. vi. c. 4。

See Cicero pro Cluent. c. 61. Cæsar ap. Sallust. de Bell. Catilis n 50. Juvenal. Satir. ii. 149. ——Esse aliquid manes, et subterranea regna, —————Nec pueri credunt, nisi qui nondum æree lavantæ.

见 Cicero pro Cluent. c. 61；Cæsar ap. Sallust. de Bell. Catilin. 50；Juvenal. Satir. ii. 149。——Esse aliquid manes, et subterranea regna，…… Nec pueri credunt, nisi qui nondum ære lavantur.（冥魂与地下鬼国果真有其事——如今除了尚未花钱洗澡的孩童，便再没人相信了。）

The xith book of the Odyssey gives a very dreary and incoherent account of the infernal shades. Pindar and Virgil have embellished the picture; but even those poets, though more correct than their great model, are guilty of very strange inconsistencies. See Bayle, Responses aux Questions d’un Provincial, part iii. c. 22.

《奥德赛》第十一卷对冥间幽魂的描述，既阴郁又前后不贯。品达与维吉尔为这幅图景添了些润色；可即便这两位诗人，虽比他们那位伟大的范本更为严整，也犯下了极其离奇的自相矛盾。见 Bayle, Responses aux Questions d'un Provincial, part iii. c. 22。

See xvith epistle of the first book of Horace, the xiiith Satire of Juvenal, and the iid Satire of Persius: these popular discourses express the sentiment and language of the multitude.

参看贺拉斯《书札》第一卷第十六首、尤维纳利斯的第十三首讽刺诗，以及佩尔西乌斯的第二首讽刺诗：这些通俗篇章，道出的正是芸芸众生的心声与口吻。

If we confine ourselves to the Gauls, we may observe, that they intrusted, not only their lives, but even their money, to the security of another world. Vetus ille mos Gallorum occurrit (says Valerius Maximus, l. ii. c. 6, p. 10) quos, memoria proditum est pecunias montuas, quæ his apud inferos redderentur, dare solitos. The same custom is more darkly insinuated by Mela, l. iii. c. 2. It is almost needless to add, that the profits of trade hold a just proportion to the credit of the merchant, and that the Druids derived from their holy profession a character of responsibility, which could scarcely be claimed by any other order of men.

单以高卢人为例，便可看到：他们不仅把性命，连钱财也一并托付于来世的担保。Vetus ille mos Gallorum occurrit … quos, memoria proditum est pecunias mutuas, quæ his apud inferos redderentur, dare solitos.（瓦莱里乌斯·马克西穆斯说，这使人想起高卢人那古老的风俗：据传他们惯于借出钱财，约定于冥府偿还。）见 Valerius Maximus, l. ii. c. 6, p. 10。蓬波尼乌斯·梅拉对同一习俗的暗示则更为隐晦，见 Mela, l. iii. c. 2。几乎无须补充：贸易的利润总与商人的信用成正比；而德鲁伊祭司凭其神圣的行当，博得了一种可靠可信的声誉，这是任何别的阶层都难以企求的。

The right reverend author of the Divine Legation of Moses as signs a very curious reason for the omission, and most ingeniously retorts it on the unbelievers. * Note: The hypothesis of Warburton concerning this remarkable fact, which, as far as the Law of Moses, is unquestionable, made few disciples; and it is difficult to suppose that it could be intended by the author himself for more than a display of intellectual strength. Modern writers have accounted in various ways for the silence of the Hebrew legislator on the immortality of the soul. According to Michaelis, “Moses wrote as an historian and as a lawgiver; he regulated the ecclesiastical discipline, rather than the religious belief of his people; and the sanctions of the law being temporal, he had no occasion, and as a civil legislator could not with propriety, threaten punishments in another world.” See Michaelis, Laws of Moses, art. 272, vol. iv. p. 209, Eng. Trans.; and Syntagma Commentationum, p. 80, quoted by Guizot. M. Guizot adds, the “ingenious conjecture of a philosophic theologian,” which approximates to an opinion long entertained by the Editor. That writer believes, that in the state of civilization at the time of the legislator, this doctrine, become popular among the Jews, would necessarily have given birth to a multitude of idolatrous superstitions which he wished to prevent. His primary object was to establish a firm theocracy, to make his people the conservators of the doctrine of the Divine Unity, the basis upon which Christianity was hereafter to rest. He carefully excluded everything which could obscure or weaken that doctrine. Other nations had strangely abused their notions on the immortality of the soul; Moses wished to prevent this abuse: hence he forbade the Jews from consulting necromancers, (those who evoke the spirits of the dead.) Deut. xviii. 11. Those who reflect on the state of the Pagans and the Jews, and on the facility with which idolatry crept in on every side, will not be astonished that Moses has not developed a doctrine of which the influence might be more pernicious than useful to his people. Orat. Fest. de Vitæ Immort. Spe., &c., auct. Ph. Alb. Stapfer, p. 12 13, 20. Berne, 1787. ——Moses, as well from the intimations scattered in his writings, the passage relating to the translation of Enoch, (Gen. v. 24,) the prohibition of necromancy, (Michaelis believes him to be the author of the Book of Job though this opinion is in general rejected; other learned writers consider this Book to be coeval with and known to Moses,) as from his long residence in Egypt, and his acquaintance with Egyptian wisdom, could not be ignorant of the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. But this doctrine if popularly known among the Jews, must have been purely Egyptian, and as so, intimately connected with the whole religious system of that country. It was no doubt moulded up with the tenet of the transmigration of the soul, perhaps with notions analogous to the emanation system of India in which the human soul was an efflux from or indeed a part of, the Deity. The Mosaic religion drew a wide and impassable interval between the Creator and created human beings: in this it differed from the Egyptian and all the Eastern religions. As then the immortality of the soul was thus inseparably blended with those foreign religions which were altogether to be effaced from the minds of the people, and by no means necessary for the establishment of the theocracy, Moses maintained silence on this point and a purer notion of it was left to be developed at a more favorable period in the history of man.—M.

《摩西的神圣使命》一书那位可敬的主教作者，为这一省略给出了一个十分奇特的理由，并极为巧妙地把它反将了不信者一军。　＊编者按：沃伯顿就这一引人注目的事实（就摩西律法而言，此事确凿无疑）所提出的假说，响应者寥寥；而且很难设想，作者本人的用意，除了炫示一番才思之外，还另有别的什么。近世作者对这位希伯来立法者何以对灵魂不朽缄口不言，提出了种种解释。据米夏埃利斯说：“摩西是以史家兼立法者的身份写作的；他所规范的，是本族的教规仪节，而非其宗教信仰；况且律法的赏罚俱在今世，他既无必要、身为世俗立法者也不宜以来世的刑罚相威吓。”见 Michaelis, Laws of Moses, art. 272, vol. iv. p. 209（英译本）；又见 Syntagma Commentationum, p. 80，转引自基佐。基佐先生又补上了“一位善思的神学家的巧妙推测”，这一推测与本编者久已抱持的一种看法颇为接近。那位作者认为：以立法者所处时代的文明程度，这一学说若在犹太人中流行开来，势必滋生出无数偶像崇拜式的迷信，而这正是摩西所要防止的。他的首要目标，是确立稳固的神权政治，使本族成为独一真神教义的守护者——日后基督教便要以此为基石。凡足以蒙蔽或削弱这一教义的东西，他都小心翼翼地加以摒除。别的民族早已把灵魂不朽的观念滥用到离奇的地步；摩西想要杜绝这种流弊，故而禁止犹太人求问招魂之人（即那些召唤亡灵者），见《申命记》十八章11节。凡思量过异教徒与犹太人当时境况、以及偶像崇拜如何轻易便从四面渗入的人，便不会诧异：摩西何以没有去阐发这样一种学说——它对本族的影响，或许弊多于利。见 Orat. Fest. de Vitæ Immort. Spe. 等，auct. Ph. Alb. Stapfer, p. 12, 13, 20。Berne, 1787。——摩西对灵魂不朽之说断不会一无所知：这既可从他著作中散见的种种暗示看出——如关于以诺被接升天的那一段（《创世记》五章24节）、关于禁绝招魂术的诫命（米夏埃利斯认为《约伯记》即出自摩西之手，尽管此说一般不为人所接受；另有一些博学之士则认为该书与摩西同时、且为他所知）——也可从他久居埃及、熟稔埃及智慧这一点上推知。然而这一学说若当真在犹太人中广为人知，那也必是纯然埃及式的，并且正因如此，与那个国度整套宗教体系有着千丝万缕的联系。它无疑与灵魂转世之说糅合在一起，或许还掺入了类似印度流溢说的观念——按那种说法，人的灵魂乃是神的一段流溢，甚至本就是神的一部分。摩西的宗教则在造物主与受造之人之间，划出了一道宽阔而不可逾越的鸿沟：正是在这一点上，它有别于埃及以及一切东方宗教。灵魂不朽之说既这样与那些异邦宗教难解难分，而那些宗教又是非从民众心中彻底抹去不可的，况且这一学说对建立神权政治也绝非必需，于是摩西便对此保持缄默；而关于它的一种更为纯正的观念，则留待人类历史上更合适的时机再去阐发。——M

See Le Clerc (Prolegomena ad Hist. Ecclesiast. sect. 1, c. 8) His authority seems to carry the greater weight, as he has written a learned and judicious commentary on the books of the Old Testament.

见勒克莱尔（Prolegomena ad Hist. Ecclesiast. sect. 1, c. 8）。他的话似乎分量更重，因为他曾为《旧约》各卷撰写过一部博洽而精当的注疏。

Joseph. Antiquitat. l. xiii. c. 10. De Bell. Jud. ii. 8. According to the most natural interpretation of his words, the Sadducees admitted only the Pentateuch; but it has pleased some modern critics to add the Prophets to their creed, and to suppose that they contented themselves with rejecting the traditions of the Pharisees. Dr. Jortin has argued that point in his Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, vol. ii. p. 103.

Joseph. Antiquitat. l. xiii. c. 10；De Bell. Jud. ii. 8。按其原话最自然的解读，撒都该人只承认摩西五经；然而某些近世评家却乐于把先知书也添入他们的信经，并推测他们不过是摒弃了法利赛人的传统而已。乔廷博士在其《教会史评注》（vol. ii. p. 103）中，对这一点作过论辩。

591

This was, in fact, an integral part of the Jewish notion of the Messiah, from which the minds of the apostles themselves were but gradually detached. See Bertholdt, Christologia Judæorum, concluding chapters—M.

其实，这原是犹太人弥赛亚观念中不可分割的一部分，连使徒们自己的头脑，也是逐渐才从中摆脱出来的。见 Bertholdt, Christologia Judæorum 末尾数章。——M

This expectation was countenanced by the twenty-fourth chapter of St. Matthew, and by the first epistle of St. Paul to the Thessalonians. Erasmus removes the difficulty by the help of allegory and metaphor; and the learned Grotius ventures to insinuate, that, for wise purposes, the pious deception was permitted to take place. * Note: Some modern theologians explain it without discovering either allegory or deception. They say, that Jesus Christ, after having proclaimed the ruin of Jerusalem and of the Temple, speaks of his second coming and the sings which were to precede it; but those who believed that the moment was near deceived themselves as to the sense of two words, an error which still subsists in our versions of the Gospel according to St. Matthew, xxiv. 29, 34. In verse 29, we read, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened,” &c. The Greek word signifies all at once, suddenly, not immediately; so that it signifies only the sudden appearance of the signs which Jesus Christ announces not the shortness of the interval which was to separate them from the “days of tribulation,” of which he was speaking. The verse 34 is this “Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass till all these things shall be fulfilled.” Jesus, speaking to his disciples, uses these words, which the translators have rendered by this generation, but which means the race, the filiation of my disciples; that is, he speaks of a class of men, not of a generation. The true sense then, according to these learned men, is, In truth I tell you that this race of men, of which you are the commencement, shall not pass away till this shall take place; that is to say, the succession of Christians shall not cease till his coming. See Commentary of M. Paulus on the New Test., edit. 1802, tom. iii. p. 445,—446.—G. ——Others, as Rosenmuller and Kuinoel, in loc., confine this passage to a highly figurative description of the ruins of the Jewish city and polity.—M.

这一期望，《马太福音》第二十四章与圣保罗的《帖撒罗尼迦前书》都为之张目。伊拉斯谟借助寓意与隐喻来化解其中的难处；博学的格劳秀斯则大胆暗示：出于某种睿智的用意，这一虔诚的骗局是被容许发生的。　＊编者按：某些近世神学家另有一解，既不诉诸寓意，也不诉诸欺瞒。他们说：耶稣基督在宣告耶路撒冷与圣殿的毁灭之后，谈到了自己的再临，以及先于再临而现的种种征兆；然而那些相信此刻已近的人，却在两个词的含义上误解了本意，这一谬误至今仍存留在我们所用的《马太福音》译本里（见二十四章29节、34节）。第29节我们读到：“那些日子的灾难一过，日头就要变黑”云云。那个希腊词的意思是‘一下子’、‘骤然’，而非‘立刻’；所以它只表示耶稣所宣告的征兆会骤然出现，并不意味着这些征兆与他所说的‘灾难的日子’之间相隔短促。第34节则是：“我实在告诉你们，这世代还没有过去，这一切事都要成就。”耶稣对门徒说这番话时所用的那个词，译者译作‘这世代’，其实意谓‘族类’、我门徒的世代传承；也就是说，他所指的是一类人，而非一代人。因此，据这些博学之士看来，其真意乃是：我实在告诉你们，你们不过是开端的这一族类，在此事成就之前决不会消亡；换言之，基督徒的绵延承续，直到主再临之时也不会断绝。见 Commentary of M. Paulus on the New Test., edit. 1802, tom. iii. p. 445—446。——G　——另有一些学者，如罗森米勒与库伊内尔（见该处注解），则把这段经文限定为对犹太城邦与政制之覆灭的一种高度比喻性的描写。——M

Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion.—Part III. 第十五章 基督教的传播——第三节