Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion.—Part IV. 第十五章 基督教的传播——第四节
Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion.—Part IV.
第十五章 基督教的传播——第四节
The ancient and popular doctrine of the Millennium was intimately connected with the second coming of Christ. As the works of the creation had been finished in six days, their duration in their present state, according to a tradition which was attributed to the prophet Elijah, was fixed to six thousand years. 61 By the same analogy it was inferred, that this long period of labor and contention, which was now almost elapsed, 62 would be succeeded by a joyful Sabbath of a thousand years; and that Christ, with the triumphant band of the saints and the elect who had escaped death, or who had been miraculously revived, would reign upon earth till the time appointed for the last and general resurrection. So pleasing was this hope to the mind of believers, that the New Jerusalem, the seat of this blissful kingdom, was quickly adorned with all the gayest colors of the imagination. A felicity consisting only of pure and spiritual pleasure would have appeared too refined for its inhabitants, who were still supposed to possess their human nature and senses. A garden of Eden, with the amusements of the pastoral life, was no longer suited to the advanced state of society which prevailed under the Roman empire. A city was therefore erected of gold and precious stones, and a supernatural plenty of corn and wine was bestowed on the adjacent territory; in the free enjoyment of whose spontaneous productions the happy and benevolent people was never to be restrained by any jealous laws of exclusive property. 63 The assurance of such a Millennium was carefully inculcated by a succession of fathers from Justin Martyr, 64 and Irenæus, who conversed with the immediate disciples of the apostles, down to Lactantius, who was preceptor to the son of Constantine. 65 Though it might not be universally received, it appears to have been the reigning sentiment of the orthodox believers; and it seems so well adapted to the desires and apprehensions of mankind, that it must have contributed in a very considerable degree to the progress of the Christian faith. But when the edifice of the church was almost completed, the temporary support was laid aside. The doctrine of Christ’s reign upon earth was at first treated as a profound allegory, was considered by degrees as a doubtful and useless opinion, and was at length rejected as the absurd invention of heresy and fanaticism. 66 A mysterious prophecy, which still forms a part of the sacred canon, but which was thought to favor the exploded sentiment, has very narrowly escaped the proscription of the church. 67
千禧年那套古老而流行的教义，与基督的再临紧密相连。上帝创世之工既在六日内完成，那么照一则据说出自先知以利亚的传说，受造之物在现今状态下的存续，便定为六千年。61 依同样的类比可以推知：这段劳作与纷争的漫长岁月如今已近尾声，62 随之而来的，将是一个欢乐的、长达千年的安息日；届时基督将率领那一队凯旋的圣徒与选民——他们或已躲过死亡，或已神迹般复活——一同在地上作王，直到那最终普世复活所定的时辰。这一指望令信徒的心何等欢畅，以致他们很快便用想象中最绚烂的色彩，把这极乐国度的都城——新耶路撒冷——装点了起来。倘若那福乐只由纯粹的、属灵的欢愉构成，对城中居民而言未免太过高雅了——毕竟人们设想，他们仍旧保有人的本性与感官。至于伊甸乐园那种田园牧歌式的消遣，也已不再适合罗马帝国治下那种发达的社会状态。于是他们建起一座黄金与宝石砌成的城，又赐予四邻的土地以超乎自然的五谷与美酒；这片土地自会源源不断地出产万物，任那幸福而仁厚的居民尽情享用，绝不会有什么斤斤计较、划分私产的法律来横加约束。63 对这样一个千禧年的确信，经历代教父悉心灌输，代代相传：上溯殉道者查士丁 64 与曾亲炙使徒嫡传门徒的爱任纽，下迄君士坦丁之子的师傅拉克坦提乌斯。65 这一信念虽未必人人接受，却似乎是正统信徒中占主导的看法；它又如此契合世人的种种渴望与忧惧，想必对基督信仰的传播出力甚巨。然而，及至教会这座大厦即将落成，这道临时的支架便被撤去了。基督在地上作王的教义，起初被当作一则深奥的寓言，继而渐渐被视为一种可疑而无用的意见，最终则被斥为异端与狂热盲信炮制出来的荒诞之说而遭摒弃。66 有一部神秘的预言书，至今仍列于圣典正典之中，却因被认为偏袒这已遭推翻的旧说，险些逃不过教会的禁绝。67
Whilst the happiness and glory of a temporal reign were promised to the disciples of Christ, the most dreadful calamities were denounced against an unbelieving world. The edification of a new Jerusalem was to advance by equal steps with the destruction of the mystic Babylon; and as long as the emperors who reigned before Constantine persisted in the profession of idolatry, the epithet of Babylon was applied to the city and to the empire of Rome. A regular series was prepared of all the moral and physical evils which can afflict a flourishing nation; intestine discord, and the invasion of the fiercest barbarians from the unknown regions of the North; pestilence and famine, comets and eclipses, earthquakes and inundations. 68 All these were only so many preparatory and alarming signs of the great catastrophe of Rome, when the country of the Scipios and Cæsars should be consumed by a flame from Heaven, and the city of the seven hills, with her palaces, her temples, and her triumphal arches, should be buried in a vast lake of fire and brimstone. It might, however, afford some consolation to Roman vanity, that the period of their empire would be that of the world itself; which, as it had once perished by the element of water, was destined to experience a second and a speedy destruction from the element of fire. In the opinion of a general conflagration, the faith of the Christian very happily coincided with the tradition of the East, the philosophy of the Stoics, and the analogy of Nature; and even the country, which, from religious motives, had been chosen for the origin and principal scene of the conflagration, was the best adapted for that purpose by natural and physical causes; by its deep caverns, beds of sulphur, and numerous volcanoes, of which those of Ætna, of Vesuvius, and of Lipari, exhibit a very imperfect representation. The calmest and most intrepid sceptic could not refuse to acknowledge that the destruction of the present system of the world by fire was in itself extremely probable. The Christian, who founded his belief much less on the fallacious arguments of reason than on the authority of tradition and the interpretation of Scripture, expected it with terror and confidence as a certain and approaching event; and as his mind was perpetually filled with the solemn idea, he considered every disaster that happened to the empire as an infallible symptom of an expiring world. 69
一面向基督的门徒许诺尘世统治的幸福与荣耀，一面又向不信的世人宣告最可怕的灾祸。新耶路撒冷的建造，须与那神秘的巴比伦之毁灭齐头并进；而只要君士坦丁以前历代皇帝仍固守偶像崇拜，“巴比伦”这一称号便被扣在罗马城与罗马帝国头上。于是有人开列出一整套祸患的清单，把凡能降临于一个繁荣民族的种种道德之灾与自然之灾一一罗列：内讧不休，最凶悍的蛮族自北方未知之地长驱入侵；瘟疫与饥荒、彗星与日食、地震与洪水。68 凡此种种，无非是罗马那场大浩劫的一个个前兆与警讯——到那时，西庇阿家族与诸恺撒的故邦，将被一场自天而降的烈焰吞噬，而那七丘之城连同她的宫殿、神庙与凯旋门，都将葬身于一片浩瀚的硫磺火湖之中。不过，有一点或许还能稍慰罗马人的虚荣：帝国的气数将与世界本身的气数同尽；这世界既曾一度毁于水，注定还要再遭一次迅疾的浩劫，毁于火。在“天下终将付之一炬”这一看法上，基督徒的信仰恰好与东方的传统、斯多葛派的哲学以及自然的类比不谋而合；甚至那片土地，出于宗教缘由而被选定为这场大火之发端与主舞台，就自然与物理的成因而言，也最宜担此角色：那里有深邃的洞穴、硫磺的矿床，还有众多的火山——而埃特纳、维苏威与利帕里的火山，也不过是其中极不完全的一斑罢了。纵是最冷静、最无畏的怀疑论者，也不能不承认：现今这个世界体系毁于烈火，本身就是极有可能之事。基督徒立论，靠理性那些靠不住的推断处少，靠传统的权威与圣经的诠释处多；他既恐惧又笃信地盼着这一天，视之为必将来临之事；而由于这一庄严的念头终日盘踞心头，帝国每逢一场灾难，他都看作世界正在气绝的确凿征兆。69
The condemnation of the wisest and most virtuous of the Pagans, on account of their ignorance or disbelief of the divine truth, seems to offend the reason and the humanity of the present age. 70 But the primitive church, whose faith was of a much firmer consistence, delivered over, without hesitation, to eternal torture, the far greater part of the human species. A charitable hope might perhaps be indulged in favor of Socrates, or some other sages of antiquity, who had consulted the light of reason before that of the gospel had arisen. 71 But it was unanimously affirmed, that those who, since the birth or the death of Christ, had obstinately persisted in the worship of the dæmons, neither deserved nor could expect a pardon from the irritated justice of the Deity. These rigid sentiments, which had been unknown to the ancient world, appear to have infused a spirit of bitterness into a system of love and harmony. The ties of blood and friendship were frequently torn asunder by the difference of religious faith; and the Christians, who, in this world, found themselves oppressed by the power of the Pagans, were sometimes seduced by resentment and spiritual pride to delight in the prospect of their future triumph. “You are fond of spectacles,” exclaims the stern Tertullian; “expect the greatest of all spectacles, the last and eternal judgment of the universe. 71b How shall I admire, how laugh, how rejoice, how exult, when I behold so many proud monarchs, so many fancied gods, groaning in the lowest abyss of darkness; so many magistrates, who persecuted the name of the Lord, liquefying in fiercer fires than they ever kindled against the Christians; so many sage philosophers blushing in red-hot flames with their deluded scholars; so many celebrated poets trembling before the tribunal, not of Minos, but of Christ; so many tragedians, more tuneful in the expression of their own sufferings; so many dancers.”
异教徒中最睿智、最有德之人，仅因不识或不信神圣的真理便遭定罪打入地狱，这在当今时代看来，实在有悖于理性与人道。70 但早期教会的信仰远为坚定，竟毫不迟疑地把绝大部分人类交付永刑。对苏格拉底、或其他几位在福音之光尚未升起之前便求诸理性之光的古代贤哲，人们或许还容得下一线仁慈的指望。71 但众口一词地断言：凡在基督降生或受死之后，仍执迷不悟地崇拜魔鬼的人，既不配、也休想指望上帝那被触怒的公义施予赦免。这类严酷的观念，为古代世界所未闻，如今看来，竟给一套本讲求仁爱与和睦的体系注入了一股苦涩之气。血缘与友谊的纽带，屡屡因信仰之别而被生生扯断；而基督徒在今世既饱受异教徒势力的欺压，有时便被怨愤与属灵的骄傲所诱，转而以憧憬来世的凯旋为乐。“你们爱看各种表演，”严峻的德尔图良厉声说道，“那就等着看万象中最盛大的一场吧——那便是对全宇宙最后的、永恒的审判。71b 当我看见如许骄矜的君王、如许世人臆想的神祇，在黑暗最深的渊底呻吟；看见如许曾迫害主名的官长，在比他们当年为焚烧基督徒所点燃的更猛烈的烈火中熔化；看见如许睿智的哲学家，连同受其蒙蔽的门徒，在炽红的火焰中面红耳赤；看见如许著名的诗人，在审判席前瑟瑟发抖——那审判席前坐的不是米诺斯，而是基督；看见如许悲剧演员，此刻倾诉起自身的苦难来，嗓音倒愈发悦耳动听；还有如许多的舞者——那时，我将何等惊叹、何等大笑、何等欢欣、何等雀跃。”
Doubtless there were many among the primitive Christians of a temper more suitable to the meekness and charity of their profession. There were many who felt a sincere compassion for the danger of their friends and countrymen, and who exerted the most benevolent zeal to save them from the impending destruction.
无疑，早期基督徒当中，也有许多人的性情更合乎他们所信之教的温良与仁爱。有许多人对亲友同胞的危境怀着真诚的悲悯，并以最仁厚的热忱竭力搭救他们，使之免于那迫在眉睫的毁灭。
The careless Polytheist, assailed by new and unexpected terrors, against which neither his priests nor his philosophers could afford him any certain protection, was very frequently terrified and subdued by the menace of eternal tortures. His fears might assist the progress of his faith and reason; and if he could once persuade himself to suspect that the Christian religion might possibly be true, it became an easy task to convince him that it was the safest and most prudent party that he could possibly embrace.
那漫不经心的多神教徒，如今遭逢新奇而意外的恐怖，任凭祭司还是哲学家都无法为他提供确实的庇护；面对永刑的威胁，他往往吓破了胆，就此屈服。他的恐惧，或许反倒有助于其信仰与理性的长进；而他一旦能说服自己去怀疑基督教或许当真不假，那么要让他相信皈依此教乃是他所能选择的最稳妥、最明智的一方，便不费什么周章了。
III. The supernatural gifts, which even in this life were ascribed to the Christians above the rest of mankind, must have conduced to their own comfort, and very frequently to the conviction of infidels. Besides the occasional prodigies, which might sometimes be effected by the immediate interposition of the Deity when he suspended the laws of Nature for the service of religion, the Christian church, from the time of the apostles and their first disciples, 73 has claimed an uninterrupted succession of miraculous powers, the gift of tongues, of vision, and of prophecy, the power of expelling dæmons, of healing the sick, and of raising the dead. The knowledge of foreign languages was frequently communicated to the contemporaries of Irenæus, though Irenæus himself was left to struggle with the difficulties of a barbarous dialect, whilst he preached the gospel to the natives of Gaul. 74 The divine inspiration, whether it was conveyed in the form of a waking or of a sleeping vision, is described as a favor very liberally bestowed on all ranks of the faithful, on women as on elders, on boys as well as upon bishops. When their devout minds were sufficiently prepared by a course of prayer, of fasting, and of vigils, to receive the extraordinary impulse, they were transported out of their senses, and delivered in ecstasy what was inspired, being mere organs of the Holy Spirit, just as a pipe or flute is of him who blows into it. 75 We may add, that the design of these visions was, for the most part, either to disclose the future history, or to guide the present administration, of the church. The expulsion of the dæmons from the bodies of those unhappy persons whom they had been permitted to torment, was considered as a signal though ordinary triumph of religion, and is repeatedly alleged by the ancient apoligists, as the most convincing evidence of the truth of Christianity. The awful ceremony was usually performed in a public manner, and in the presence of a great number of spectators; the patient was relieved by the power or skill of the exorcist, and the vanquished dæmon was heard to confess that he was one of the fabled gods of antiquity, who had impiously usurped the adoration of mankind. 76 But the miraculous cure of diseases of the most inveterate or even preternatural kind can no longer occasion any surprise, when we recollect, that in the days of Irenæus, about the end of the second century, the resurrection of the dead was very far from being esteemed an uncommon event; that the miracle was frequently performed on necessary occasions, by great fasting and the joint supplication of the church of the place, and that the persons thus restored to their prayers had lived afterwards among them many years. 77 At such a period, when faith could boast of so many wonderful victories over death, it seems difficult to account for the scepticism of those philosophers, who still rejected and derided the doctrine of the resurrection. A noble Grecian had rested on this important ground the whole controversy, and promised Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch, that if he could be gratified with the sight of a single person who had been actually raised from the dead, he would immediately embrace the Christian religion. It is somewhat remarkable, that the prelate of the first eastern church, however anxious for the conversion of his friend, thought proper to decline this fair and reasonable challenge. 78
三、据说基督徒即便在今生，也领受了远超其余世人的种种超自然恩赐；这些恩赐必定既宽慰了他们自己的心，也往往叫不信者心悦诚服。上帝有时为宗教之故而暂停自然的法则，凭亲自的干预偶尔行出一些奇迹；然而除这些偶发的奇迹之外，基督教会自使徒及其最初门徒的时代起，73 便一直宣称神迹之能代代相承、绵延不绝：说方言、见异象、作预言的恩赐，驱逐魔鬼、医治病人、使死人复活的能力。与爱任纽同时代的人，据说时常蒙赐通晓外邦语言之能；偏偏爱任纽本人向高卢土著传福音时，却只能独自与一种粗野方言的重重困难苦苦缠斗。74 那神圣的默示，无论借醒时的异象还是睡中的异象传达，据说都极慷慨地遍赐给各等信徒——妇女与长老同蒙，孩童与主教并领。当他们虔敬的心灵经过一番祷告、禁食与守夜的操练，已足以承受那非凡的感动时，他们便神魂出窍，在忘我的迷狂中道出所受的默示；此刻他们不过是圣灵的传声之器，正如笛管之于吹奏之人。75 我们还可补上一句：这些异象的用意，多半不外乎揭示教会未来的历史，或指点其当下的治理。魔鬼获准附于某些不幸之人身上、恣意折磨他们，而将它们从这些人体内逐出，则被视为宗教一场虽属寻常、却也显赫的胜利，古代的护教士屡屡援引此事，当作基督教真确性最令人信服的凭证。这一庄严可畏的仪式，通常当众举行，观者云集；患者靠驱魔者的法力或手段得以解脱，而那败下阵来的魔鬼，则当众招认自己原是古代神话中的某位神祇，曾亵渎地僭夺了世人的崇拜。76 至于神迹般治愈那些最顽固、甚至近乎邪祟的疾病，一旦想起在爱任纽的时代、约当二世纪之末，死人复活远算不上什么稀罕之事，便再不足为奇了；据说每逢必要之时，凭着严格的禁食与当地教会的合力祈求，这神迹便屡屡应验；而那些应其祈祷而复生之人，此后还在他们中间活了许多年。77 在这样一个信仰足以夸称屡屡奇迹般地胜过死亡的时代，那些依旧否弃、讥讽复活教义的哲学家，其怀疑之顽固，似乎便有些难以索解了。一位高贵的希腊人曾把整场争论都押在这一要害之上，向安条克主教塞奥菲鲁斯许诺：只要能让他亲眼见到哪怕一个当真从死里复活的人，他立刻就皈依基督教。颇为耐人寻味的是：这位东方首要教会的高级教士，纵然一心盼着友人归信，却认为还是回绝这一公允而合理的挑战为宜。78
The miracles of the primitive church, after obtaining the sanction of ages, have been lately attacked in a very free and ingenious inquiry, 79 which, though it has met with the most favorable reception from the public, appears to have excited a general scandal among the divines of our own as well as of the other Protestant churches of Europe. 80 Our different sentiments on this subject will be much less influenced by any particular arguments, than by our habits of study and reflection; and, above all, by the degree of evidence which we have accustomed ourselves to require for the proof of a miraculous event. The duty of an historian does not call upon him to interpose his private judgment in this nice and important controversy; but he ought not to dissemble the difficulty of adopting such a theory as may reconcile the interest of religion with that of reason, of making a proper application of that theory, and of defining with precision the limits of that happy period, exempt from error and from deceit, to which we might be disposed to extend the gift of supernatural powers. From the first of the fathers to the last of the popes, a succession of bishops, of saints, of martyrs, and of miracles, is continued without interruption; and the progress of superstition was so gradual, and almost imperceptible, that we know not in what particular link we should break the chain of tradition. Every age bears testimony to the wonderful events by which it was distinguished, and its testimony appears no less weighty and respectable than that of the preceding generation, till we are insensibly led on to accuse our own inconsistency, if in the eighth or in the twelfth century we deny to the venerable Bede, or to the holy Bernard, the same degree of confidence which, in the second century, we had so liberally granted to Justin or to Irenæus. 81 If the truth of any of those miracles is appreciated by their apparent use and propriety, every age had unbelievers to convince, heretics to confute, and idolatrous nations to convert; and sufficient motives might always be produced to justify the interposition of Heaven. And yet, since every friend to revelation is persuaded of the reality, and every reasonable man is convinced of the cessation, of miraculous powers, it is evident that there must have been some period in which they were either suddenly or gradually withdrawn from the Christian church. Whatever æra is chosen for that purpose, the death of the apostles, the conversion of the Roman empire, or the extinction of the Arian heresy, 82 the insensibility of the Christians who lived at that time will equally afford a just matter of surprise. They still supported their pretensions after they had lost their power. Credulity performed the office of faith; fanaticism was permitted to assume the language of inspiration, and the effects of accident or contrivance were ascribed to supernatural causes. The recent experience of genuine miracles should have instructed the Christian world in the ways of Providence, and habituated their eye (if we may use a very inadequate expression) to the style of the divine artist. Should the most skilful painter of modern Italy presume to decorate his feeble imitations with the name of Raphæl or of Correggio, the insolent fraud would be soon discovered, and indignantly rejected.
早期教会的种种神迹，历经世代相沿、早已得到公认，晚近却遭一部大胆而巧妙的探讨之作抨击；79 此书虽深得公众青睐，却似乎在我国以及欧洲其他新教教会的神学家中间，激起了一片哗然。80 我们在这题目上意见分歧，与其说取决于某一具体的论据，不如说取决于各人治学与思索的习惯；而尤为取决于：我们平素要求何等程度的证据，才肯认定一桩神迹属实。史家的职责，并不要求他在这桩微妙而重大的争论中插进一己之见；但有一层难处他也不该讳言：要想觅得一套既能调和宗教之利、又能调和理性之利的学说，要想把这套学说恰当地施用，更要想精确地划定那段幸运时期的界限——那时期免于谬误、免于欺罔，我们或许愿把超自然的恩赐一直延展到那时为止——谈何容易。从最早的教父到最晚的教宗，主教、圣徒、殉道者与神迹一脉相承，中间不曾有过间断；而迷信的滋长又是这般循序渐进、几乎难以察觉，以致我们竟不知该在哪一具体的环节斩断这条传统的锁链。每个时代都为其独有的种种奇事作证，其证词看来也不比前一代人的更轻、更不足信，直到我们在不知不觉间陷入自相矛盾之讥：倘若我们在二世纪曾如此慷慨地把信任给了查士丁或爱任纽，却在八世纪不肯以同等的信任待尊者比德，在十二世纪也不肯以同样的信任待圣者伯纳德，那便说不过去了。81 倘要凭神迹显而易见的用处与适宜与否来评判其真伪，那么每个时代都有不信者待说服、有异端待驳倒、有拜偶像的民族待归化；要为上天的干预找出充分的理由，从来都不难。然而，既然凡信奉天启的人都深信神迹之能确曾有过，凡通情达理的人又都确信它早已止息，那么显而易见，必定有某一时期，神迹之能或骤然、或渐次地从基督教会撤去了。无论人们为此选定哪一个年代——使徒之死、罗马帝国的归信、抑或阿里乌派异端的消亡 82——当时在世的基督徒竟浑然不觉，都同样叫人诧异。他们的法力早已丧失，却仍旧撑着那份声称不放。轻信顶替了信仰的职分；狂热被容许披上默示的辞令；本属偶然或人为造作的种种结果，也被归于超自然的缘由。若不久前当真经历过真正的神迹，本该使基督教世界识得天意运行之道，也本该让他们的眼睛（容我用一个很不贴切的说法）习惯于那位神圣艺术家的笔法。倘若近代意大利最高妙的画家胆敢在自己拙劣的仿作上署下拉斐尔或科雷乔的大名，这狂妄的骗局立刻就会被识破，遭人愤然斥退。
Whatever opinion may be entertained of the miracles of the primitive church since the time of the apostles, this unresisting softness of temper, so conspicuous among the believers of the second and third centuries, proved of some accidental benefit to the cause of truth and religion. In modern times, a latent and even involuntary scepticism adheres to the most pious dispositions. Their admission of supernatural truths is much less an active consent than a cold and passive acquiescence. Accustomed long since to observe and to respect the invariable order of Nature, our reason, or at least our imagination, is not sufficiently prepared to sustain the visible action of the Deity.
无论人们对使徒时代以后早期教会的神迹持何看法，二、三世纪的信徒身上那种毫不设防的柔顺心性——如此触目——总归歪打正着，替真理与宗教的事业帮了几分忙。到了近代，纵是最虔诚的心灵，也总粘附着一种潜伏的、甚至不由自主的怀疑。他们对超自然真理的接纳，与其说是主动的认同，不如说是冷淡而被动的默许。我们早已惯于观察并敬重自然那恒常不变的秩序，于是我们的理性——至少我们的想象——已不足以承受上帝那可见的作为。
But, in the first ages of Christianity, the situation of mankind was extremely different. The most curious, or the most credulous, among the Pagans, were often persuaded to enter into a society which asserted an actual claim of miraculous powers. The primitive Christians perpetually trod on mystic ground, and their minds were exercised by the habits of believing the most extraordinary events. They felt, or they fancied, that on every side they were incessantly assaulted by dæmons, comforted by visions, instructed by prophecy, and surprisingly delivered from danger, sickness, and from death itself, by the supplications of the church. The real or imaginary prodigies, of which they so frequently conceived themselves to be the objects, the instruments, or the spectators, very happily disposed them to adopt with the same ease, but with far greater justice, the authentic wonders of the evangelic history; and thus miracles that exceeded not the measure of their own experience, inspired them with the most lively assurance of mysteries which were acknowledged to surpass the limits of their understanding. It is this deep impression of supernatural truths which has been so much celebrated under the name of faith; a state of mind described as the surest pledge of the divine favor and of future felicity, and recommended as the first, or perhaps the only merit of a Christian. According to the more rigid doctors, the moral virtues, which may be equally practised by infidels, are destitute of any value or efficacy in the work of our justification.
然而，在基督教最初的那几个世纪，世人的处境却大不相同。异教徒中最好奇、或最轻信的人，往往被说动，加入了一个自称当真握有神迹之能的团体。早期基督徒终日行走于神秘的境地，他们的心智，在惯于相信种种最不寻常之事的操练中得到磨砺。他们觉得——或者说自以为——四面八方无时不有魔鬼来袭，又有异象来抚慰、预言来指教，还靠教会的祈求，屡屡从危难、疾病乃至死亡本身之中奇迹般地获救。这些奇迹，无论真实还是想象，他们既常自以为是其对象、其凭借、或其见证；这便恰好使他们能同样轻易、却远为合理地，接纳福音史中那些确凿的奇迹；于是，那些并未超出他们自身经验尺度的神迹，反倒使他们对那些公认超乎其悟性所及的奥秘，生出最鲜活的确信。正是这种对超自然真理的深刻感受，冠以“信仰”之名而备受推崇；人们把这种心境说成是上帝恩宠与来世福乐最可靠的凭据，并将它推许为一个基督徒首要的、或许也是唯一的功德。照那些较为严苛的神学家看来，道德上的种种德行，既然不信者也一样能践行，那么在使我们得称义这桩事上，便谈不上有什么价值或功效。
Notes 注释
61
See Burnet’s Sacred Theory, part iii. c. 5. This tradition may be traced as high as the the author of Epistle of Barnabas, who wrote in the first century, and who seems to have been half a Jew. * Note: In fact it is purely Jewish. See Mosheim, De Reb. Christ. ii. 8. Lightfoot’s Works, 8vo. edit. vol. iii. p. 37. Bertholdt, Christologia Judæorum ch. 38.—M.
参见 Burnet’s Sacred Theory, part iii. c. 5。此说的渊源可上溯至《巴拿巴书信》的作者——他生活在一世纪，看来是个半犹太人。* 编者注：事实上，此说纯属犹太传统。参见 Mosheim, De Reb. Christ. ii. 8；Lightfoot’s Works, 8vo. edit. vol. iii. p. 37；Bertholdt, Christologia Judæorum ch. 38。—M
62
The primitive church of Antioch computed almost 6000 years from the creation of the world to the birth of Christ. Africanus, Lactantius, and the Greek church, have reduced that number to 5500, and Eusebius has contented himself with 5200 years. These calculations were formed on the Septuagint, which was universally received during the six first centuries. The authority of the vulgate and of the Hebrew text has determined the moderns, Protestants as well as Catholics, to prefer a period of about 4000 years; though, in the study of profane antiquity, they often find themselves straitened by those narrow limits. * Note: Most of the more learned modern English Protestants, Dr. Hales, Mr. Faber, Dr. Russel, as well as the Continental writers, adopt the larger chronology. There is little doubt that the narrower system was framed by the Jews of Tiberias; it was clearly neither that of St. Paul, nor of Josephus, nor of the Samaritan Text. It is greatly to be regretted that the chronology of the earlier Scriptures should ever have been made a religious question—M.
安条克的早期教会推算，从创世到基督降生约有六千年。阿非利卡努斯、拉克坦提乌斯以及希腊教会把这一数字减为五千五百年，优西比乌则满足于五千二百年。这些推算都以《七十子译本》为据——头六个世纪里，此译本普遍通行。及至以《武加大译本》和希伯来文本为权威，无论新教徒还是天主教徒，晚近学者都倾向于采用约四千年这一时段；尽管在研究世俗上古史时，他们又每每觉得这道狭窄的界限捉襟见肘。* 编者注：晚近较为博学的英国新教徒，如 Dr. Hales、Mr. Faber、Dr. Russel，连同欧陆诸学者，都采用较长的年代系统。几乎可以肯定，那套较短的系统出自提比里亚的犹太人之手；它显然既非圣保罗的系统，也非约瑟夫斯或《撒玛利亚五经》的系统。早期经文的年代学竟一度被弄成一桩宗教问题，实在令人扼腕。—M
63
Most of these pictures were borrowed from a misrepresentation of Isaiah, Daniel, and the Apocalypse. One of the grossest images may be found in Irenæus, (l. v. p. 455,) the disciple of Papias, who had seen the apostle St. John.
这些图景多半是从对《以赛亚书》《但以理书》和《启示录》的曲解中借来的。其中最粗鄙的一幅意象见于爱任纽（l. v. p. 455）——他是帕皮亚斯的门徒，而帕皮亚斯曾亲见使徒圣约翰。
64
See the second dialogue of Justin with Triphon, and the seventh book of Lactantius. It is unnecessary to allege all the intermediate fathers, as the fact is not disputed. Yet the curious reader may consult Daille de Uus Patrum, l. ii. c. 4.
参见查士丁与特里丰的第二篇《对话录》，以及拉克坦提乌斯的第七卷。既然此事并无争议，也就不必把其间历代教父一一列举。不过好奇的读者可参看 Daille de Uus Patrum, l. ii. c. 4。
65
The testimony of Justin of his own faith and that of his orthodox brethren, in the doctrine of a Millennium, is delivered in the clearest and most solemn manner, (Dialog. cum Tryphonte Jud. p. 177, 178, edit. Benedictin.) If in the beginning of this important passage there is any thing like an inconsistency, we may impute it, as we think proper, either to the author or to his transcribers. * Note: The Millenium is described in what once stood as the XLIst Article of the English Church (see Collier, Eccles. Hist., for Articles of Edw. VI.) as “a fable of Jewish dotage.” The whole of these gross and earthly images may be traced in the works which treat on the Jewish traditions, in Lightfoot, Schoetgen, and Eisenmenger; “Das enthdeckte Judenthum” t. ii 809; and briefly in Bertholdt, i. c. 38, 39.—M.
查士丁就其本人及其正统弟兄对千禧年教义的信仰所作的见证，表述得再清楚、再郑重不过（Dialog. cum Tryphonte Jud. p. 177, 178, edit. Benedictin.）。若这段重要文字的开头看似有什么前后不一之处，我们尽可随意把它归咎于作者本人，或归咎于誊抄者。* 编者注：千禧年一说，在英国国教会一度列为第四十一条信纲（见 Collier, Eccles. Hist. 所载爱德华六世时期的信纲），其中称之为“犹太人昏聩的无稽之谈”。这一整套粗鄙而属世的意象，都可在论述犹太传统的著作中寻得踪迹，如 Lightfoot、Schoetgen 与 Eisenmenger 之作；《Das entdeckte Judenthum》t. ii 809；以及 Bertholdt, i. c. 38, 39 的简述。—M
66
Dupin, Bibliotheque Ecclesiastique, tom. i. p. 223, tom. ii. p. 366, and Mosheim, p. 720; though the latter of these learned divines is not altogether candid on this occasion.
Dupin, Bibliotheque Ecclesiastique, tom. i. p. 223, tom. ii. p. 366；以及 Mosheim, p. 720——尽管这两位博学的神学家中，后一位在此事上未免有欠坦诚。
67
In the council of Laodicea, (about the year 360,) the Apocalypse was tacitly excluded from the sacred canon, by the same churches of Asia to which it is addressed; and we may learn from the complaint of Sulpicius Severus, that their sentence had been ratified by the greater number of Christians of his time. From what causes then is the Apocalypse at present so generally received by the Greek, the Roman, and the Protestant churches? The following ones may be assigned. 1. The Greeks were subdued by the authority of an impostor, who, in the sixth century, assumed the character of Dionysius the Areopagite. 2. A just apprehension that the grammarians might become more important than the theologians, engaged the council of Trent to fix the seal of their infallibility on all the books of Scripture contained in the Latin Vulgate, in the number of which the Apocalypse was fortunately included. (Fr. Paolo, Istoria del Concilio Tridentino, l. ii.) 3. The advantage of turning those mysterious prophecies against the See of Rome, inspired the Protestants with uncommon veneration for so useful an ally. See the ingenious and elegant discourses of the present bishop of Litchfield on that unpromising subject. * Note: The exclusion of the Apocalypse is not improbably assigned to its obvious unfitness to be read in churches. It is to be feared that a history of the interpretation of the Apocalypse would not give a very favorable view either of the wisdom or the charity of the successive ages of Christianity. Wetstein’s interpretation, differently modified, is adopted by most Continental scholars.—M.
在拉奥迪西亚会议上（约公元 360 年），《启示录》被亚细亚诸教会——正是它当初所致书的对象——不动声色地排除于圣典正典之外；而从苏尔皮基乌斯·塞维鲁的抱怨中可以看出，这一裁断在他那个时代已得到大多数基督徒的认可。那么，《启示录》如今何以又普遍为希腊教会、罗马教会与新教教会所接纳？其缘由或可归结如下。其一，希腊人被一名冒名顶替者的权威所折服——此人于六世纪冒充亚略巴古的丢尼修。其二，特兰托会议唯恐文法学家凌驾于神学家之上，遂决意为《拉丁武加大译本》所收的全部经卷盖上无谬的印记，而《启示录》幸而也在其列（Fr. Paolo, Istoria del Concilio Tridentino, l. ii.）。其三，把这些神秘的预言掉转矛头、用以攻击罗马教廷，这般好处使新教徒对如此有用的盟友怀有异乎寻常的敬重。就这一并不讨巧的题目，可参看现任利奇菲尔德主教那些精巧而雅致的讲论。* 编者注：《启示录》之被排除，多半要归因于它显然不宜在教堂中诵读。只怕一部《启示录》诠释史，无论就基督教历代的智慧还是其仁爱而言，都难以呈现一幅令人称道的图景。韦特施泰因的诠释，经不同程度的修正后，为欧陆多数学者所采纳。—M
68
Lactantius (Institut. Divin. vii. 15, &c.) relates the dismal talk of futurity with great spirit and eloquence. * Note: Lactantius had a notion of a great Asiatic empire, which was previously to rise on the ruins of the Roman: quod Romanum nomen animus dicere, sed dicam. quia futurum est tolletur de terra, et impere. Asiam revertetur.—M.
拉克坦提乌斯（Institut. Divin. vii. 15, &c.）以极大的激情与雄辩，铺陈了这番关于未来的凄惨预言。* 编者注：拉克坦提乌斯设想，在罗马的废墟上，将先兴起一个庞大的亚洲帝国：quod Romanum nomen … animus dicere, sed dicam, quia futurum est, tolletur de terra, et imperium in Asiam revertetur.（大意：罗马之名——我心中不愿说出，却终须说出，因为这是注定的——必将从大地上被抹去，帝国也将重归亚洲。）—M
69
On this subject every reader of taste will be entertained with the third part of Burnet’s Sacred Theory. He blends philosophy, Scripture, and tradition, into one magnificent system; in the description of which he displays a strength of fancy not inferior to that of Milton himself.
在这一题目上，凡有品味的读者，都会从 Burnet’s Sacred Theory 的第三部分获得一番享受。他把哲学、圣经与传统熔铸成一套恢弘的体系；在铺叙这套体系时，他所展现的想象之力，较之弥尔顿本人也不遑多让。
70
And yet whatever may be the language of individuals, it is still the public doctrine of all the Christian churches; nor can even our own refuse to admit the conclusions which must be drawn from the viiith and the xviiith of her Articles. The Jansenists, who have so diligently studied the works of the fathers, maintain this sentiment with distinguished zeal; and the learned M. de Tillemont never dismisses a virtuous emperor without pronouncing his damnation. Zuinglius is perhaps the only leader of a party who has ever adopted the milder sentiment, and he gave no less offence to the Lutherans than to the Catholics. See Bossuet, Histoire des Variations des Eglises Protestantes, l. ii. c. 19—22.
然而，无论个别人如何措辞，这仍是所有基督教会公开的教义；甚至连我们自己的教会，也无法拒绝从其信纲第八条与第十八条中必然推出的结论。詹森派勤于研读众教父的著作，尤以异乎寻常的热忱坚持此说；而博学的蒂耶蒙先生每逢述及一位有德的皇帝，无不宣判其堕入地狱而后已。茨温利大概是唯一一位采纳较温和之见的宗派领袖，可他既开罪了路德宗，也开罪了天主教徒。参见 Bossuet, Histoire des Variations des Eglises Protestantes, l. ii. c. 19—22。
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Justin and Clemens of Alexandria allow that some of the philosophers were instructed by the Logos; confounding its double signification of the human reason, and of the Divine Word.
查士丁与亚历山大里亚的克莱门特都承认，有些哲学家曾受“逻各斯”（Logos）的教诲；这是把逻各斯的双重含义——人的理性与神圣的道——混为一谈了。
711
This translation is not exact: the first sentence is imperfect. Tertullian says, Ille dies nationibus insperatus, ille derisus, cum tanta sacculi vetustas et tot ejus nativitates uno igne haurientur. The text does not authorize the exaggerated expressions, so many magistrates, so many sago philosophers, so many poets, &c.; but simply magistrates, philosophers, poets.—G. —It is not clear that Gibbon’s version or paraphrase is incorrect: Tertullian writes, tot tantosque reges item præsides, &c.—M.
* 编者注：这段译文并不准确，第一句不完整。德尔图良的原文是：Ille dies nationibus insperatus, ille derisus, cum tanta sæculi vetustas et tot ejus nativitates uno igne haurientur.（大意：那一天为万邦所始料未及，为众人所讥笑；届时如许悠久的尘世连同它的一次次新生，都将被同一场烈火吞没。）原文并不支持那些夸张的说法，如“那么多官长”“那么多睿智的哲学家”“那么多诗人”云云，而只是笼统地说官长、哲学家、诗人。—G ——吉本的译文或转述是否有误，其实并不清楚：德尔图良写的是 tot tantosque reges item præsides, &c.（大意：如许众多而显赫的君王，还有那些总督，等等）。—M
71b
Tertullian, de Spectaculis, c. 30. In order to ascertain the degree of authority which the zealous African had acquired it may be sufficient to allege the testimony of Cyprian, the doctor and guide of all the western churches. (See Prudent. Hym. xiii. 100.) As often as he applied himself to his daily study of the writings of Tertullian, he was accustomed to say, “Da mihi magistrum, Give me my master.” (Hieronym. de Viris Illustribus, tom. i. p. 284.)
Tertullian, de Spectaculis, c. 30。要衡量这位热忱的非洲人所获权威之高，只消举出西普里安的见证便足够了——他是全体西方教会的导师与领路人（见 Prudent. Hym. xiii. 100）。每当他埋首于每日研读德尔图良的著作时，总习惯说一句：“Da mihi magistrum”（把我的老师给我）。（Hieronym. de Viris Illustribus, tom. i. p. 284。）
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The object of Tertullian’s vehemence in his Treatise, was to keep the Christians away from the secular games celebrated by the Emperor Severus: It has not prevented him from showing himself in other places full of benevolence and charity towards unbelievers: the spirit of the gospel has sometimes prevailed over the violence of human passions: Qui ergo putaveris nihil nos de salute Cæsaris curare (he says in his Apology) inspice Dei voces, literas nostras. Scitote ex illis præceptum esse nobis ad redudantionem, benignitates etiam pro inimicis Deum orare, et pro persecutoribus cona precari. Sed etiam nominatim atque manifeste orate inquit (Christus) pro regibus et pro principibus et potestatibus ut omnia sint tranquilla vobis Tert. Apol. c. 31.—G. ——It would be wiser for Christianity, retreating upon its genuine records in the New Testament, to disclaim this fierce African, than to identify itself with his furious invectives by unsatisfactory apologies for their unchristian fanaticism.—M.
德尔图良在这篇论著里疾言厉色，本意是要基督徒远离塞维鲁皇帝所举办的百年赛会；然而这并不妨碍他在别处显出对不信者满怀仁爱与善意：福音的精神有时也压倒了人性中激烈的情感。他在《护教篇》中说：Qui ergo putaveris nihil nos de salute Cæsaris curare, inspice Dei voces, literas nostras. Scitote ex illis præceptum esse nobis ad redundantiam benignitatis etiam pro inimicis Deum orare, et pro persecutoribus bona precari. Sed etiam nominatim atque manifeste orate, inquit (Christus), pro regibus et pro principibus et potestatibus, ut omnia sint tranquilla vobis.（大意：你若以为我们全不关心恺撒的安危，且看上帝的话语、我们的经书。你们从中可知，我们受命要广施恩泽，甚至为仇敌祈求上帝，为逼迫我们者祈福；基督更明明指名说：要为君王、为掌权者与有权柄者祷告，使你们诸事安宁。）Tert. Apol. c. 31。—G ——对基督教而言，与其为这位暴烈的非洲人那套非基督徒式的狂热作种种难以令人信服的辩解、从而把自身与他激愤的谩骂捆绑在一起，倒不如退守《新约》中它真正的根据，与他划清界限，才更为明智。—M
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Notwithstanding the evasions of Dr. Middleton, it is impossible to overlook the clear traces of visions and inspiration, which may be found in the apostolic fathers. * Note: Gibbon should have noticed the distinct and remarkable passage from Chrysostom, quoted by Middleton, (Works, vol. i. p. 105,) in which he affirms the long discontinuance of miracles as a notorious fact.—M.
尽管米德尔顿博士百般回避，人们仍无法忽视使徒教父著作中关于异象与默示的清晰痕迹。* 编者注：吉本本应留意米德尔顿所引克里索斯托那段鲜明而值得注意的文字（Works, vol. i. p. 105）——克里索斯托在其中明言，神迹早已长久绝迹，此乃尽人皆知的事实。—M
74
Irenæus adv. Hæres. Proem. p.3 Dr. Middleton (Free Inquiry, p. 96, &c.) observes, that as this pretension of all others was the most difficult to support by art, it was the soonest given up. The observation suits his hypothesis. * Note: This passage of Irenæus contains no allusion to the gift of tongues; it is merely an apology for a rude and unpolished Greek style, which could not be expected from one who passed his life in a remote and barbarous province, and was continually obliged to speak the Celtic language.—M. Note: Except in the life of Pachomius, an Egyptian monk of the fourth century. (see Jortin, Ecc. Hist. i. p. 368, edit. 1805,) and the latter (not earlier) lives of Xavier, there is no claim laid to the gift of tongues since the time of Irenæus; and of this claim, Xavier’s own letters are profoundly silent. See Douglas’s Criterion, p. 76 edit. 1807.—M.
Irenæus adv. Hæres. Proem. p. 3。米德尔顿博士（Free Inquiry, p. 96, &c.）指出：由于此项本领在一切超自然恩赐中最难靠人为造作来维系，故而也最早被人放弃。这一评论倒与他的假说正相吻合。* 编者注：爱任纽这段文字其实丝毫未提说方言的恩赐；它不过是在为一种粗糙欠雅的希腊文风致歉——一个毕生栖身于偏远蛮荒行省、又不得不终日操凯尔特语的人，本来就难望有更好的文笔。—M 编者注：除帕科米乌斯（四世纪的一位埃及修士，见 Jortin, Ecc. Hist. i. p. 368, edit. 1805）的传记，以及沙勿略晚出（而非早期）的几种传记外，自爱任纽以来，再无人声称拥有说方言的恩赐；而对这一说法，沙勿略本人的书信却讳莫如深。见 Douglas’s Criterion, p. 76 edit. 1807。—M
75
Athenagoras in Legatione. Justin Martyr, Cohort. ad Gentes Tertullian advers. Marcionit. l. iv. These descriptions are not very unlike the prophetic fury, for which Cicero (de Divinat.ii. 54) expresses so little reverence.
Athenagoras in Legatione；Justin Martyr, Cohort. ad Gentes；Tertullian advers. Marcionit. l. iv。这些描述，与西塞罗（de Divinat. ii. 54）颇不以为然的那种“先知的狂迷”相去无几。
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Tertullian (Apolog. c. 23) throws out a bold defiance to the Pagan magistrates. Of the primitive miracles, the power of exorcising is the only one which has been assumed by Protestants. * Note: But by Protestants neither of the most enlightened ages nor most reasoning minds.—M.
德尔图良（Apolog. c. 23）向异教官长抛出一句大胆的挑战。在早期教会的种种神迹中，唯有驱魔之能是新教徒也曾自承拥有的。* 编者注：不过承此能者，既非新教中最开明的时代，也非其中最善推理的头脑。—M
77
Irenæus adv. Hæreses, l. ii. 56, 57, l. v. c. 6. Mr. Dodwell (Dissertat. ad Irenæum, ii. 42) concludes, that the second century was still more fertile in miracles than the first. * Note: It is difficult to answer Middleton’s objection to this statement of Irenæus: “It is very strange, that from the time of the apostles there is not a single instance of this miracle to be found in the three first centuries; except a single case, slightly intimated in Eusebius, from the Works of Papias; which he seems to rank among the other fabulous stories delivered by that weak man.” Middleton, Works, vol. i. p. 59. Bp. Douglas (Criterion, p 389) would consider Irenæus to speak of what had “been performed formerly.” not in his own time.—M.
Irenæus adv. Hæreses, l. ii. 56, 57, l. v. c. 6。多德韦尔先生（Dissertat. ad Irenæum, ii. 42）断定：二世纪的神迹比一世纪还要多产。* 编者注：米德尔顿对爱任纽这一说法的诘难，实在难以驳倒：“奇怪得很，自使徒时代以降，头三个世纪里竟找不出这类神迹的哪怕一例；唯有优西比乌从帕皮亚斯的著作中略略提及一桩，而他似乎也把它归入那位浅陋之人所传的其余荒诞故事之列。”见 Middleton, Works, vol. i. p. 59。而道格拉斯主教（Criterion, p. 389）则认为，爱任纽所说的乃是“昔日曾行过”之事，并非发生在他自己的时代。—M
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Theophilus ad Autolycum, l. i. p. 345. Edit. Benedictin. Paris, 1742. * Note: A candid sceptic might discern some impropriety in the Bishop being called upon to perform a miracle on demand.—M.
Theophilus ad Autolycum, l. i. p. 345. Edit. Benedictin. Paris, 1742。* 编者注：一个坦率的怀疑论者，或许会觉得这位主教被要求应召行一桩神迹，多少有些不成体统。—M
79
Dr. Middleton sent out his Introduction in the year 1747, published his Free Inquiry in 1749, and before his death, which happened in 1750, he had prepared a vindication of it against his numerous adversaries.
米德尔顿博士于 1747 年发表其《导论》，1749 年刊行《自由探讨》（Free Inquiry），并在 1750 年去世之前，已为此书备好了一篇答辩，以回应众多论敌。
80
The university of Oxford conferred degrees on his opponents. From the indignation of Mosheim, (p. 221,) we may discover the sentiments of the Lutheran divines. * Note: Yet many Protestant divines will now without reluctance confine miracles to the time of the apostles, or at least to the first century.—M
牛津大学向他的论敌授予学位。从莫斯海姆的愤慨（p. 221）中，我们可以窥见路德宗神学家的态度。* 编者注：然而如今许多新教神学家已能毫不迟疑地把神迹限定在使徒时代，或至少限定在一世纪之内。—M
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It may seem somewhat remarkable, that Bernard of Clairvaux, who records so many miracles of his friend St. Malachi, never takes any notice of his own, which, in their turn, however, are carefully related by his companions and disciples. In the long series of ecclesiastical history, does there exist a single instance of a saint asserting that he himself possessed the gift of miracles?
颇为值得注意的是：克莱尔沃的伯纳德详细记载了他友人圣马拉基的诸多神迹，却对自己所行的神迹只字不提；而这些神迹，反倒由他的同伴与门徒一一细心记述了下来。在漫长的教会史中，可曾有过一个圣徒自称身怀行神迹之能的例子？
82
The conversion of Constantine is the æra which is most usually fixed by Protestants. The more rational divines are unwilling to admit the miracles of the ivth, whilst the more credulous are unwilling to reject those of the vth century. * Note: All this appears to proceed on the principle that any distinct line can be drawn in an unphilosophic age between wonders and miracles, or between what piety, from their unexpected and extraordinary nature, the marvellous concurrence of secondary causes to some remarkable end, may consider providential interpositions, and miracles strictly so called, in which the laws of nature are suspended or violated. It is impossible to assign, on one side, limits to human credulity, on the other, to the influence of the imagination on the bodily frame; but some of the miracles recorded in the Gospels are such palpable impossibilities, according to the known laws and operations of nature, that if recorded on sufficient evidence, and the evidence we believe to be that of eye-witnesses, we cannot reject them, without either asserting, with Hume, that no evidence can prove a miracle, or that the Author of Nature has no power of suspending its ordinary laws. But which of the post-apostolic miracles will bear this test?—M.
君士坦丁的归信，是新教徒最常划定的界限。较为理性的神学家不愿承认四世纪的神迹，较为轻信的则不愿否弃五世纪的神迹。* 编者注：这一切似乎都基于一个前提，即在一个缺乏哲思的时代，人们能在“奇事”与“神迹”之间划出任何清晰的界线——或者说，能在虔诚之心所视为的“天意干预”（因某些事出人意料、异乎寻常，或因种种次要原因奇妙地凑合而成就某桩非凡结果）与严格意义上的“神迹”（即自然法则遭暂停或遭违背）之间划出界线。一方面，人的轻信没有边界；另一方面，想象对身体的影响也没有止境；二者的限度都无从划定。然而，福音书所载的某些神迹，按已知的自然法则与运作方式来看，实属显而易见的绝无可能之事；倘若它们是凭充分的证据记录下来的——而我们相信那证据出自亲眼所见者之口——那么我们若要否弃它们，就只能要么像休谟那样断言：任何证据都不足以证明一桩神迹；要么断言：自然的创造主没有能力暂停他所定的常规法则。然而，使徒时代以后的神迹，又有哪一桩经得起这样的检验呢？—M