第51章

类别:其他 作者:Hiram Corson字数:4912更新时间:18/12/28 10:40:35
”Forlife,withallityieldsofjoyandwoe,Andhopeandfear,——believetheagedfriend,——[245] Isjustourchanceo’theprizeoflearninglove,Howlovemightbe,hathbeenindeed,andis; AndthatweholdthenceforthtotheuttermostSuchprizedespitetheenvyoftheworld,And,havinggainedtruth,keeptruth:thatisall。[250] Butseethedoublewaywhereinweareled,Howthesoullearnsdiverselyfromtheflesh! Withflesh,thathathsolittletimetostay,Andyieldsmerebasementforthesoul’semprise,Expectpromptteaching。Helpfulwasthelight,[255] AndwarmthwascherishingandfoodwaschoiceToeveryman’sflesh,thousandyearsago,Asnowtoyoursandmine;thebodysprangAtoncetotheheight,andstaid:butthesoul,——no! Sincesageswho,thisnoontide,meditate[260] InRomeorAthens,maydescrysomepointOftheeternalpower,hidyestereve; And,astherebythepower’swholemassextends,Somuchextendstheetherfloatingo’erThelovethattopsthemight,theChristinGod。[265] Then,asnewlessonsshallbelearnedintheseTillearth’sworkstopanduselesstimerunout,Soduly,daily,needsprovisionbeForkeepingthesoul’sprowesspossible,Buildingnewbarriersastheolddecay,[270] Savingusfromevasionoflife’sproof,Puttingthequestionever,`DoesGodlove,Andwillyeholdthattruthagainsttheworld?’ YeknowthereneedsnosecondproofwithgoodGainedforourfleshfromanyearthlysource:[275] Wemightgofreezing,ages,——giveusfire,Thereafterwejudgefireatitsfullworth,Andguarditsafethrougheverychance,yeknow! ThatfableofPrometheusandhistheft,HowmortalsgainedJove’sfieryflower,growsold[280] (Ihavebeenusedtohearthepagansown) Andoutofmind;butfire,howe’eritsbirth,Hereisit,precioustothesophistnowWholaughsthemythofAeschylustoscorn,Asprecioustothosesatyrsofhisplay,[285] Whotoucheditingaywonderatthething。 Whilewereitsowiththesoul,——thisgiftoftruthOncegrasped,werethisoursoul’sgainsafe,andsureToprosperasthebody’sgainiswont,—— Why,man’sprobationwouldconclude,hisearth[290] Crumble;forhebothreasonsanddecides,Weighsfirst,thenchooses:willhegiveupfireForgoldorpurpleonceheknowsitsworth? CouldhegiveChristupwereHisworthasplain? Therefore,Isay,totestman,theproofsshift,[295] Normayhegraspthatfactlikeotherfact,Andstraightwayinhislifeacknowledgeit,As,say,theindubitableblissoffire。 Sighye,`Ithadbeeneasieroncethannow?’ TogiveyouanswerIamleftalive;[300] Lookatmewhowaspresentfromthefirst! YeknowwhatthingsIsaw;thencameatest,Myfirst,befittingmewhosohadseen: `ForsaketheChristthousawesttransfigured,HimWhotrodtheseaandbroughtthedeadtolife?[305] Whatshouldwringthisfromthee?’——yelaughandask。 Whatwrungit?Evenatorchlightandanoise,ThesuddenRomanfaces,violenthands,AndfearofwhattheJewsmightdo!Justthat,Anditiswritten,`Iforsookandfled’:[310] Therewasmytrial,anditendedthus。 Ay,butmysoulhadgaineditstruth,couldgrow: Anotheryearortwo,——whatlittlechild,WhattenderwomanthathadseennoleastOfallmysights,butbarelyheardthemtold,[315] Whodidnotclaspthecrosswithalightlaugh,Orwraptheburningroberound,thankingGod? Well,wastruthsafeforever,then?Notso。 AlreadyhadbegunthesilentworkWherebytruth,deadenedofitsabsoluteblaze,[320] Mightneedlove’seyetopiercetheo’erstretcheddoubt。 Teacherswerebusy,whispering`AllistrueAstheagedonesreport;butyouthcanreachWhereagegropesdimly,weakwithstirandstrain,Andthefulldoctrineslumberstillto-day。’[325] Thus,whattheRoman’sloweredspearwasfound,Abartomewhotouchedandhandledtruth,Nowprovedtheglozingofsomenewshrewdtongue,ThisEbion,thisCerinthusortheirmates,Tillimminentwastheoutcry`SaveourChrist!’[330] WhereonIstatedmuchoftheLord’slifeForgottenormisdelivered,andletitwork。 Suchworkdone,asitwillbe,whatcomesnext? WhatdoIhearsay,orconceivemensay,`WasJohnatall,anddidhesayhesaw?[335] Assureus,ereweaskwhathemightsee!’—— 284。themythofAeschylus:embodiedinhis`PrometheusBound’。 295。theproofsshift:seepp。37and38。{Inetext,shortlybeforetwoexcerptsfrom`ADeathintheDesert’,ChapterII,Section1 ofIntroduction。}Objectiveproofs,inspiritualmatters,needreconstruction,againandagain;andwhatevermaybetheircharacter,theyareinadequate,andmustfinally,intheChristianlife,besupersededbysubjectiveproofs—— byman’swinninghiswaytothekingdomofeternaltruthwithinhimself——thekingdomofthe”whatIs”。 307-310。SeeMatt。26:56;Mark14:50;John18:3。 326-328。whattheRoman’sloweredspearwasfound[tobe,namely],abar,[etc。,]nowproved[tobe,etc。]。 329。ThisEbion,thisCerinthus:see`Gibbon’sHistoryoftheDeclineandFalloftheRomanEmpire’,Chaps。15,21,47。Andsee,especially,theablearticles,”Cerinthus”and”EbionismandEbionites”,inthe`DictionaryofChristianBiography’,etc。,editedbyDr。WilliamSmithandProfessorWace。”`Ebion’asanamefirstpersonifiedbyTertullian,wassaidtohavebeenapupilofCerinthus,andtheGospelofSt。Johntohavebeenasmuchdirectedagainsttheformerasthelatter。St。PaulandSt。LukewereassertedtohavespokenandwrittenagainstEbionites。The`ApostolicalConstitutions’(vi。c。6) tracedthembacktoApostolictimes;Theodoret(Haer。fab。II。c。2) assignedthemtothereignofDomitian(A。D。81-96)。Theexistenceofan`Ebion’is,however,nowsurrendered。”FromArt。Ebionismin`Dict。ofChristianBiography’。 AndseeProf。GeorgeP。Fisher’s`BeginningsofChristianity’,1877。”Cerinthus,amanwhowaseducatedinthewisdomoftheEgyptians,taughtthattheworldwasnotmadebytheprimaryGod,butbyacertainpowerfarseparatedfromhim,andatadistancefromthatPrincipalitywhoissupremeovertheuniverse,andignorantofhimwhoisaboveall。HerepresentedJesusashavingnotbeenbornofavirgin,butasbeingthesonofJosephandMaryaccordingtotheordinarycourseofhumangeneration,whileheneverthelesswasmorerighteous,prudent,andwisethanothermen。Moreover,afterhisbaptism,ChristdescendeduponhimintheformofadovefromtheSupremeRuler,andthatthenheproclaimedtheunknownFather,andperformedmiracles。ButatlastChristdepartedfromJesus,andthatthenJesussufferedandroseagain,whileChristremainedimpassible,inasmuchashewasaspiritualbeing。” `TheWritingsofIrenaeus,transl。byRev。AlexanderRoberts,D。D。,andRev。W。H。Rambaut,A。B。’,Edinburgh,1868。Vol。I。,BookI。,Chapxxvi——”Isthisindeedaburthenforlatedays,AndmayIhelptobearitwithyouall,Usingmyweaknesswhichbecomesyourstrength? Forifababewereborninsidethisgrot,[340] Grewtoaboyhere,hearduspraisethesun,Yethadbutyonsoleglimmerinlight’splace,—— Onelovinghimandwishfulheshouldlearn,WouldmuchrejoicehimselfwasblindedfirstMonthbymonthhere,somadetounderstand[345] Howeyes,borndarkling,apprehendamiss: IthinkIcouldexplaintosuchachildTherewasmoreglowoutsidethangleamshecaught,Ay,norneedurge`Isawit,sobelieve!’ Itisaheavyburthenyoushallbear[350] Inlatterdays,newlands,oroldgrownstrange,Leftwithoutme,whichmustbeverysoon。 Whatisthedoubt,mybrothers?Quickwithit! Iseeyoustandconversing,eachnewface,Eitherinfields,ofyellowsummereves,[355] Onisletsyetunnamedamidthesea; Orpaceforshelter’neathaporticoOutofthecrowdinsomeenormoustownWherenowthelarkssinginasolitude; Ormuseuponblankheapsofstoneandsand[360] IdlyconjecturedtobeEphesus: Andnooneaskshisfellowanymore`WhereisthepromiseofHiscoming?’but`WasHerevealedinanyofHislives,AsPower,asLove,asInfluencingSoul?’[365]—— 346。darkling:anoldadverbialform;inthedark。 See`ParadiseLost’,III。39。”O,wiltthoudarklingleaveme?” Sh’s`M。N。D。’,II。2。86;”So,outwentthecandle,andwewereleftdarkling。”`Lear’,I。4。237;also`A。andC。’,IV。15。10。 353。Whatisthedoubt,mybrothers?:Headdresseshisbrothersofthefarfuture。Theeightfollowingversesareverybeautiful。 362-365。Thequestion,”WhereisthepromiseofHiscoming?” askedinJohn’sownday,givesplaceinthefarfuturetowhichthekenofthedyingApostleextends,tothequestionwhetherGodwasindeedrevealedinChrist,`AsPower,asLove,asInfluencingSoul’,orwhether,manhavingalreadyloveinhimself,Christwerenotamereprojectionfromman’sinmostmind(v。383)?Ifsothereisnothingtofallbackonbutforce,ornaturallaw。Thisanticipatedquestioningandreasoningextendsfromv。370tov。421——”Quick,fortimepresses,tellthewholemindout,Andletusaskandanswerandbesaved! Mybookspeakson,becauseitcannotpass; Onelistensquietly,norscoffsbutpleads`Hereisataleofthingsdoneagessince:[370] Whattruthwasevertoldthesecondday? Wonders,thatwouldprovedoctrine,gofornaught。 Remainsthedoctrine,love;well,wemustlove,Andwhatwelovemost,powerandloveinone,Letusacknowledgeontherecordhere,[375] AcceptingtheseinChrist:mustChristthenbe? HasHebeen?DidnotweourselvesmakeHim? Ourmindreceivesbutwhatitholds,nomore。 Firstofthelove,then;weacknowledgeChrist—— AproofwecomprehendHislove,aproof[380] Wehadsuchlovealreadyinourselves,Knewfirstwhatelseweshouldnotrecognize。 ’Tismereprojectionfromman’sinmostmind,And,whatheloves,thusfallsreflectedback,Becomesaccountedsomewhatoutofhim;[385] Hethrowsitupinair,itdropsdownearth’s,Withshape,name,storyadded,man’soldway。 HowproveyouChristcameotherwiseatleast? Nexttrythepower:Hemadeandrulestheworld: Certesthereisaworldoncemade,nowruled,[390] Unlessthingshavebeeneveraswesee。 Oursiresdeclaredacharioteer’syokedsteedsBroughtthesunuptheeastanddownthewest,Whichonlyofitselfnowrises,sets,Asifahandimpelleditandawill,——[395] Thustheylongthought,theywhohadwillandhands: Butthenewquestion’swhisperisdistinct,Whereforemustallforceneedsbelikeourselves? Wehavethehands,thewill;whatmadeanddrivesThesunisforce,islaw,isnamed,notknown,[400] Whilewillandlovewedoknow;marksofthese。 Eye-witnessesattest,sobooksdeclare—— Asthat,topunishorrewardourrace,ThesunatunduetimesaroseorsetOrelsestoodstill:whatdonotmenaffirm?[405] ButearthrequiresasurgentlyrewardOrpunishmentto-dayasyearsago,Andnoneexpectsthesunwillinterpose: Thereforeitwasmerepassionandmistake,Orerringzealforright,whichchangedthetruth。[410] Goback,far,farther,tothebirthofthings; Everthewill,theintelligence,thelove,Man’s!——whichhegives,supposinghebutfinds,Aslatehegavehead,body,hands,andfeet,Tohelptheseinwhatformshecalledhisgods。[415] First,Jove’sbrow,Juno’seyesweresweptaway,ButJove’swrath,Juno’spridecontinuedlong; Atlast,will,power,andlovediscardedthese,Solawinturndiscardspower,love,andwill。 WhatprovethGodisotherwiseatleast?[420] Allelse,projectionfromthemindofman!’