小孩子般的智慧

摘要

我們談論的是信心和上帝的工作,那麼我們就不能看著理性或它的工作。唯獨上帝在此工作。與上帝的工作相比,理性是死的、瞎的,猶如一根愚蠢的木頭。



馬太福音18:3 你們若不回轉,變成小孩子的樣式,斷不得進天國。

親愛的朋友啊,理性對信心和上帝的話語有什麼好處呢?理性豈不猛烈地反對信心和上帝之道,以致於沒有人因為理性而到信心這裡來嗎?如果不刺瞎理性,又羞辱它,它就不能容忍上帝之道,所以,我們必須向著理性死,變成一個沒有理性的、沒有智慧的傻子,如同小孩子一般,否則我們就不能相信,並接受上帝的恩典。基督說:「你們若不回轉,變成小孩子的樣式,斷不得進天國。(太18:3)」基督豈不常告訴我們必須變成小孩子式的傻子嗎?他豈不常譴責理性嗎?
同理,請你告訴我小孩子有怎樣的理性,值得基督擁抱他、祝福他,並將天堂賜給他們呢?他們難道不是沒有理性的嗎?為甚麼他命令把孩子們帶到他面前,並祝福他們呢?他們從哪裡得到信心,使他們成為天國的孩子呢?是的!正是因為他們沒有理性,是愚蠢的,所以,他們比成人和智者,更有適於信心,因為理性常是阻礙,拒絕把自己的大頭擠過窄門。
如果我們在此談論的是信心和上帝的工作,那麼我們就不能看著理性或它的工作。唯獨上帝在此工作。與上帝的工作相比,理性是死的、瞎的,猶如一根愚蠢的木頭,所以,聖經說:「上帝在聖徒之中顯為可畏(詩68:35詩篇68:35 上帝啊,你從聖所顯為可畏。[一])」,豈不正對嗎?又說:「天怎樣高過地,照樣,我的道路高過你們的道路;我的意念高過你們的意念。(賽55:9)」——馬丁路德(教會講道2)(AE 76:263 from Concordia Publishing House Saint Louis, MO)

註解一:回到原文
詩篇68:35 上帝啊,你從聖所顯為可畏。


As Wise As A Little Child
Matthew 18:3 Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Dear friend, what good does reason do for faith and God’s Word? Is it not [reason] which most strongly opposes faith and the Word of God, so that no one can come to faith because of [reason]? It will not tolerate God’s Word unless it is blinded and disgraced, so that we must die to [reason] and become fools, as unreasonable and unwise as a little child, before we believe and receive God’s grace. Christ says: “Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18 [:3]). How often does Christ tell us that we must become children and fools? How often does He condemn reason?
37. Likewise, tell me what kind of reason the little children had whom Christ embraced and blessed and to whom He gave heaven? Were they not still without reason? Why, then, does He command them to be brought to Him and bless them? Where did they get the faith which makes them children of the kingdom of heaven? Yes, just because they are without reason and foolish, they are better adapted for faith than adults and the wise, for whom reason is always in the way and refuses to push its big head through the narrow door.
If we are talking here about faith and God’s work, then we must not look at reason or its works. Here God works alone, and reason is dead, blind, and like a stupid log in this work, so that Scripture is right when it says, “God is astonishing in His saints” [cf. Ps. 68:35 (67:36 Vg)]. Likewise: “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55 [:9]). (AE 76:263 from Concordia Publishing House Saint Louis, MO)(Church Postil II)