基督教与美国文化-2

We have given this summary of Puritan theology not only because of its influence in early New England, but because ideas like this permeated America for more than a hundred years. Outside of Massachusetts, other colonies did not have a Puritan majority enforcing their views on society through laws, but the clergy and people held a basically Calvinistic outlook on life for several generations. They may have disagreed with the distinctive points of Calvinism - namely, the absolute sovereignty of God in the salvation of sinners - but they would have agreed with the basic outline of Christian faith and its implications which I have given in the pages above.　　The Great Awakening brought a greater sense of these Puritan convictions to the southern colonies than had existed before, so that the Puritan consensus became almost universal in the colonies before the War for Independence. The framers of the Constitution embodied some features of Puritan theology in that document, as we shall see.　　既然神创造了物质世界，我们可以评论清教徒的工作观念是正确的。我们应该尽职照顾好我们的身体和周遭的世界，因为这些是神给我们的礼物让我们享用的。如果是出自于对神和其它人的爱，工作就可以是一种敬拜。科学、艺术、农业、工业…所有的工作都可以充满活力，只要人们追求以他们的工作来荣耀神及造就他人。　　我们在此摘要清教徒的神学，不仅是因为他们对早期新英格兰的影响，也因为与他们的想法类似的观念普及于整个美国超过一百多年。在麻州以外的殖民地并没有占多数的清教徒来透过法律推行他们的社会观念，但牧师和民众仍维持着基本的加尔文派生活见解达好几个世代。他们也许不同意加尔文派的独特观点，亦即神拯救罪人的绝对主权，但他们同意基督徒信仰的基本纲领以及我在前几页所提到的应用。　　「大复兴」运动(注:十八世纪初美国的宗教复兴运动)将更多清教徒的信仰带到南方的殖民地，因此在独立战争前，一致性的清教徒思想遍布基乎所有的殖民地。美国宪法的架构体现了一些清教徒神学的特征，我们将在以下讨论到。- Civil Rights 民权　　Puritans believed that they knew best how to serve God and did not allow much dissent about matters pertaining to religion. For example, when Roger Williams challenged both the theology of the church and the practice of taking land from Indians without payment, he was expelled. That is considered a blemish on their record by Americans today, but at least they were serious about their faith and knew the consequences of the spread of false beliefs. We may disagree with their remedy while admiring their insight into the power of ideas. Given their assumptions about government - that it was a sacred contract between believers and their God - their insistence upon orthodoxy and sincere faith as a qualification for voters and magistrates makes sense. Only those who understood God's laws and submitted to them would be able to maintain the human side of the covenant with God.　　清教徒相信他们清楚地知道如何服事神，所以他们不怎么容许对宗教事务的不同意见。譬如说，当罗杰威廉斯(Roger Williams)质疑教会的神学以及夺取印地安人土地的行为时，他　　被驱逐出教会。现在的美国人把这件事看作清教徒历史上的一个污点，但是至少它反映出清教徒对他们的信仰是认真的，并且知道散布假信仰的后果。当我们一方面欣赏他们能洞察到思想的力量，另一方面我们可以不同意他们采取的对策。基于他们对政府的假设─亦即政府是信徒与神之间的神圣契约，我们就可以理解为何他们坚持投票者与执法人员都具备正教信仰和真诚的信奉。只有那些了解并遵从神的律法的人有能力达成与神的圣约中人的责任。　　Furthermore, we need to know just how patient the leaders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony were towards Williams. When he arrived, he immediately began to stir up trouble by calling the King a liar, declaring the charter of the colony invalid, and criticizing all who differed with him. He suffered expulsion from the colony only after many warnings and requests that he temper his speech. Although his religious views differed from those of the Puritan leaders, they ordered him to leave Massachusetts primarily because of his political opinions, especially his attacks upon the King, which threatened the existence of the colony. Williams then founded Rhode Island as a haven for religious toleration. He discovered to his dismay, however, that those who congregated in that colony tended to take his earlier statements at face value and to resist all governmental authority. In other words, his anarchistic words later undermined his own rule of the new colony. Rhode Island quickly came to resemble a modern secular state with no uniting convictions. At the end of his life Williams regretted the intemperance and folly of his youth.　　另外，我们也必须要知道麻州湾殖民地的领袖们对罗杰威廉斯是如何的有耐性。当他一抵达麻州，就开始制造麻烦。他称呼英国国王是骗子，宣称殖民地的特许状无效，并批评所有与他意见不同的人。他多次被警告和要求减少批评，之后才因不合作而被驱逐出殖民地。虽然他与清教徒领袖们的宗教观点不相同，他们命令他离开麻州主要却是因为他的政治立场，尤其是他对英国国王的攻击威胁到殖民地的生存。罗杰威廉斯之后建立罗得岛殖民地成为宗教兼容的天堂，他却失望地发现聚集在该地的人倾向于只是接受他先前言论的表面意义而抵抗所有的政府权威。换句话说，他的无政府主义言论后来摧毁了他自己对新殖民地的治理，罗得岛殖民地很快地组织了一个没有统一信仰的世俗政府。在罗杰威廉斯晚年的时候，他对于自己年轻时的不节制和愚昧行为感到懊悔。　　The Salem Witch Trials have left another spot on the record of the Puritans. Contrary to popular belief, however, these trials were not typical of Puritan life. The entire affair lasted less than a year (1692) and involved no more than 100 people, 23 of whom died as a result.　　「沙仑镇巫术审判」(Salem Witch Trials)给清教徒留下了另一个污点。然而，与一般所相信　　的看法相反的，这些审判并非清教徒的典型生活。整个事件进行不到一年(1692)而且牵涉不超过一百人，其中二十三个人被处死。　　To understand this sad episode, we need to know several facts:　　为了了解这个不幸的事件，我们需要知道一些事实：　　- Occult activity is prohibited in the Bible, on which the Puritans based their laws. According to the Bible and Massachusetts law at that time, persons known to be witches deserve death. Why. Because, if there is only one God, and if he directs human events and graciously reveals his will to those who seek him, then to try any other way to know or control the future amounts to idolatry.　　清教徒法律所依据的是圣经，而圣经中禁止巫术活动。根据圣经和麻州当时的法律，当女巫的人应该被判死刑。为什么？因为如果神是独一无二的，而祂引导人类历史并出于恩典将祂的旨意启示给寻求祂的人，那么尝试用任何其它方式知道或控制未来就构成偶像崇拜。　　- Furthermore, fortune-telling and witchcraft have often led to harmful behavior. At the time. for example, dozens of reliable witnesses watched in horror as victims of curses suffered from what can only be called supernaturally-induced pain, scalding, burns, terrors, convulsions, and the like. The phenomena seem strange to moderns, but residents of Haiti and Africa know the power of Voodoo-like witchcraft. Magistrates, knowing of such suffering, had a duty to find and eliminate the cause.　　况且，算命和巫术经常导致伤害的行为。例如说，当时许多可靠的见证人惊骇地目睹了被诅咒的受害人遭受折磨，这些折磨只能被称为是超自然现象，包括疼痛、烫伤、闹饮、恐惧、痉挛等等。这些现象在现代人看来似乎是奇怪的，但海地和非洲的居民却知道这种类似于巫毒教的巫术的力量。执法人员知道这些害人的事，他们有责任去找出原因并除掉祸害。　　- The ministers of New England disapproved of the trials because the judges were accepting accusations without sufficient evidence. The leading pastor, Cotton Mather, represented the other ministers when he wrote an open denunciation of the proceedings.　　新英格兰的牧师反对审判，因为法官接受没有足够证据的控告。牧师领导人 Cotton Mather 代表其它的牧师公开发表了对进行审判的书面批评。　　- Because of pressure from these ministers, the new Governor, General William Phips, called a halt to the trials.　　由于受到这些牧师的压力，新的州长威廉飞普士将军( General William Phips)命令停止审判。　　- Three years later, Samuel Sewall, of the judges at the trials, publicly confessed his sin, as did twelve men who had served on juries: They all knew that their haste and credulity had caused needless innocent deaths.　　三年之后，该案的法官撒母耳西华(Samuel Swall)和陪审团的十二个成员公开地认罪　　，他们承认他们的草率和轻信造成了无辜者不该有的死亡。　　Thus, the trials did not result from Puritan religion; they proceeded for a while despite protests from leading pastors.　　因此，这些审判并非肇因于清教徒的宗教；尽管教会领袖们的抗议，审判仍然持续了好一阵子。Summary 总结　　How then do we evaluate the Puritan attempt to create a "theocracy" - a government seeking to enforce God's laws, as understood by the leaders of a particular religious denomination. Frankly, I find this question to involve complex issues which defy easy solution.　　我们如何评价清教徒对创造一个「神的政府」的尝试.这个政府追求的是如何去实行某一个宗教派别的领袖所理解的神的律法.老实说,我发现这个问题太复杂而无法用一个简单的方式来回答.　　On the one hand, 一方面,　　- The belief that we know the truth leads to pride and can result in intolerance.　　我们以为自己知道真理的信念会使我们骄傲而导致排他　　- Intolerance can lead to discrimination and tyranny.　　排他又将导致歧视和独断　　- Christians differ with each other about the proper interpretation of the Bible. To empower one type of Christianity and disenfranchise others seems to deny the godliness or intelligence of other believers.　　基督徒之间对圣经的正确解释有不同的看法，采取一个教派的看法而摒除其它宗派似乎否定了其它基督徒对神的虔诚或他们的聪明才智。　　- Favoring one denomination over others produces resentment; it can also lead to complacency in the "favored" ones, causing them to rely on governmental coercion rather than love and truth to spread their beliefs.　　偏袒某一教派将会造成愤慨，也会导致该教派的自满，造成他们倚靠政治压迫而非爱和真理来传播他们的信仰。　　- Religious intolerance tends to corrupt those in power, for they assume that they know more than they really do.　　宗教上的排他容易使那些掌权的腐败，因为他们以为他们知道的多于他们真正知道的。　　- History is littered with tyranny and corruption when a particular "orthodoxy" receives state sanction: Russia, Roman Catholic nations, modern Islamic countries, Buddhist Nepal, Tibet, and Thailand, Communist nations, and even, to some degree, Confucian "orthodoxy" in imperial China - all provide evidence of the danger of wedding "church" and state.　　历史上，当某一个「正统派」宗教掌握政治裁判的权力之后，就充满了暴政与腐败。例如俄罗斯、罗马天主教国家、现代伊斯兰教国家、佛教尼泊尔、西藏、泰国、共产国家、甚至儒家「正统」下的帝制中国(在某种程度上)，都显示出政教合一的危险性。　　- These reasons, and many others, convinced almost all colonists later to allow religious toleration and to drive more of a wedge between the church and the government.　　这些原因和其它一些原因，使得几乎所有殖民者后来认可宗教上的宽容，并在教会和政府之间画上界限。　　On the other hand: 另一方面:　　- Almost all the colonies had an established religion, which was some form of Christianity. The southern colonies, for example, for a long time used tax monies for the support the Church of England; they sometimes even required attendance at church services. "Established" churches existed even after the Constitution was adopted.　　几乎所有的殖民地都有一个被认定的宗教，也就是某一个基督教宗派。例如南方的殖民地很长的一段时间用税金来支持英国国教，他们有时甚至强迫人们上教堂。「被认定」的教会直到美国宪法实施后在大部分的州还依然存在。　　- All colonies required belief in the Triune God for office-holding. The colonists believed that someone who denied the existence and sovereignty of God would not fear him and would thus not seek to promote virtue and justice.　　所有的殖民地都要求唯有相信三位一体之神的人方可任公职。他们相信否定神的存在与主权的人不会敬畏祂，也因此不会寻求美德和公义的提升。　　- Almost all Americans - even non-orthodox ones like Thomas Jefferson - considered the ethical teachings of the Bible to be valid for all time. They accepted the idea that civil laws ought to reflect Biblical law as much as possible.　　几乎所有的美国人，即使是那些非正统教派的人如汤姆逊杰佛森 (Thomas Jefferson )　　，认为圣经的道德教导是任何时代都正确的。他们接受一个想法，就是法律应当尽可能地对应圣经的律法。　　- Those who reject this position today have nothing better to offer. Every law embodies an assumption about truth and justice. There is no such thing as a neutral state or a neutral law. In fact, the ethical teachings of the Bible have impressed millions of people around the world and throughout the centuries and have at various times been codified in the laws of many European nations, beginning with the Roman Empire.　　今天那些反对这种立场的人没有办法提出更好的标准。每一条法律都有关于真理与公正的假设，没有所谓的中性状态或中性法。事实上，多少个世纪以来圣经的道德教导打动了世界上千百万的人，从罗马帝国开始，在不同的时候将这些教导编入许多欧洲国家的法典之中。　　- The modern secular state draws its inspiration from atheist humanism and finds its roots in the French Revolution, which issued in slaughter and tyranny and spawned such offspring as Fascism and Communism, with the consequent deaths of millions and the deprivation of civil rights of more.　　现代的世俗国家由无神论的人文主义中攫取灵感，并植根于法国大革命。法国大革命导致屠杀与专制暴政，并孕育出法西斯主义和共产主义，结果是造成千万人的死亡以及更多人的民权被剥夺。　　- Abandonment of Biblical law as the basis for civil law in America in this century has brought the entire nation to a state of moral and even legal crisis, as, Justice Robert Bork has detailed in The Tempting of America.　　How could this tension be resolved. As we shall soon see, the several provisions of the Constitution, especially the First Amendment, represent a grand experiment, almost unique in world history.　　本世纪里美国扬弃了以圣经的律法作为人民法律的基础，其作法已经使整个国家处于道德甚至法律的危机之中，如同法官罗伯布克(Robert Bork)在「美国所面临的诱惑」(The Tempting of America)一书中所详细描述的。　　这样的危机该如何化解？我们很快就会看到，美国宪法中的几条提案，特别是第一修正案，代表了一个伟大的实验，几乎是世界历史上绝无仅有的。- Race Relations 种族关系　　Native Americans: 美国原住民　　The Pilgrims entered into a treaty of friendship with the local Indians, a treaty both sides kept for fifty years. The Puritans, however, began to anger the natives when they seized land. Roger Williams objected that the Indians deserved payment, but the leaders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony disagreed. Many now believe that they were guilty of theft. Despite valiant attempts by some to take the Gospel to Indians, most colonists treated them badly. As more and more Europeans landed, the Native Americans had either to retreat from their ancestral lands or fight battles that they almost always lost. The growth of the United States took place at the cost of exploitation, treachery, and genocide.　　新教徒与当地的印第安人订立了双方保持了五十年的友谊条约，然而清教徒因取得土地而触怒印第安人。罗杰威廉斯为此抗议，认为印第安人应该得到报酬，但麻州湾殖民地的领袖们不同意。现在许多人认为清教徒在这件事上犯了偷窃的罪。虽然有一些人勇敢地尝试把福音传给印第安人，大部分殖民者对印第安人很不好。随着越来越多欧洲人登陆美国，印第安人只好撤离他们祖先居住之地，或是打他们几乎总是输的仗。美国的拓展其实是建立在剥削利用、背叛承诺、和集体屠杀之上的。　　Black Africans: 非洲裔美国人　　Africans had long carried on a slave trade. Muslim conquerors worked through black middlemen to sell slaves; various black tribes sold their enemies into slavery. Thus, we can say that "European merchants did not initiate, but rather, exploited, an existing slave trade and made it incomparably worse."　　非洲人长久以来就有奴隶交易。伊斯兰教征服者透过黑人经纪人贩卖奴隶；一些黑人部落将他们的敌人卖为奴隶。所以我们可以说，「欧洲商人并非草创奴隶交易的人，然而他们却扩展了既有的奴隶买卖并使得它糟糕到了极点。」　　Soon after Europeans began to colonize North America, greedy merchants brought African slaves to do the hard work. Lazy English "gentlemen" in Virginia discovered that the blacks could stand the heat, humidity, and back-breaking toil required to raise tobacco and other crops. A slave economy gradually developed, one which finally seemed essential for the life of the southern colonies. Anglican ministers occasionally opposed slavery, but backed down when "gentlemen" who financed the church forbade them to interfere.　　欧洲人开始到北美殖民不久，贪婪的商人把非洲奴隶带来做劳苦的工作。在维吉尼亚的懒惰的英国「绅士」们发觉黑人可以忍受炎热、潮湿、和腰酸背痛的苦工，以种植烟草和其它作物。一个奴工经济逐渐形成了，最后发展成几乎是南方殖民地生活所不可或缺的要素。英国国教的牧师有时候反对奴隶制度，但是当身为教会财主的「绅士」们禁止牧师干预时，他们就退缩了。　　In later chapters we shall trace the conflict between Christian conscience - most Americans gradually came to believe that slavery was wrong - and the economic and political complexities involved in abolishing slavery. The story does not make happy reading.　　以后的几章中我们将追溯「基督教良心(大部分美国人逐渐相信奴隶制度是错误的)」与「废除奴隶制度所牵涉的经济及政治的复杂性」之间的冲突。Comparison with China 与中国的比较　　When we consider the basic ideology of traditional Chinese society -Confucianism - and the reigning ideas of modern Chinese society - secular humanism - we can understand why China and America have such different forms of government.　　当我们思考传统中国社会的基本意识型态─儒家，以及现代中国社会的治理观念─世俗人文主义，我们就可以理解为什么中国和美国会在政府型态上有如此的差异。　　Early Americans believed that man was created in the image of God, and thus must be respected. Without such a concept, Chinese have often tended to show lack of respect for human life and freedom. Furthermore, the Christian view that man is also fallen and thus tends towards evil contrast with the Chinese concept of man as basically good. Thus, Chinese social theory provides for rule by "just" men - the Emperor, Confucian magistrates, the Communist Party - who can be trusted to do what is right. History has demonstrated the error of this optimistic evaluation of man's character.　　早期美国人相信人是按照神的形象造的，所以必须要被尊重。中国人不具有这个观念，往往容易不尊重人的生命和自由。除此之外，基督教认为人是堕落的，因此会倾向于罪恶，这观念与中国人认为人性本善的观念是相对立的。因此，中国的社会理论是提供给「公正的」人治理，就是那些被信任做正确事的人─皇帝、儒家官员、共产党。历史验证了这种对人性的乐观评价之错误。　　The doctrine of man's sin led Americans to form a government with very limited powers; the opposite ideology created the all-powerful Chinese central government.　　人有罪性的教义使美国人组织一个权力很有限的政府；人性本善的意识使中国人组织一个具有所有权力的中央政府。　　On the family level, the Christian teaching about the family contrasts in some ways with that of traditional Chinese customs: In particular, women have always been more highly valued in American culture because of the influence of the Bible.　　在家庭的层面，基督教对家庭的教导在某些方面与传统中国习俗形成对比：特别是，妇女的价值在美国文化里一直都比较高，这是由于圣经的影响。Conclusion: 结论:　　By the end of the seventeenth century, hardy English settlers had established permanent colonies along the Atlantic seaboard. Although their motives combined a lust for greed and glory, some of them also sought to please God. The influence of Christianity upon the founding of America was deep and wide, so much so that we cannot comprehend American history without taking the Christian faith of the early Americans into account.　　十七世纪结束之前，刻苦耐劳的英国殖民者在美国的大西洋岸建立了永久殖民地。虽然他们的动机参杂了求取名利，当中的一些人也还是追求取悦神。基督教对美国创建的影响既深且广，其程度使得我们在理解美国历史时，不能不将早期美国人的基督教信仰列入考虑之中。　　For further reflection:　进一步的响应:　　1. What other differences can we discern between early American and Chinese societies.　　我们还能区别哪些美国早期社会与传统中国社会的差异？　　2. How do the motives of the first settlers in America compare and contrast with those of Chinese immigrants to this country.　　美国最早的移民的动机和中国到美国来的移民的动机如何比较与对照？　　. Excerpted from his Book of Prophecies, as quoted in Mark A. Beliles and Stephen K. McDowell, America's Providential History (Charlottesville: Providence Foundation, 1989), 45.　　. Keillor, Steven K., This Rebellious House (Downers Grove: inter-Varsity Press, 1996), 37.　　. Beliles and Mcdowell, op. cit., 81-81.　　. As we have noted already, public statements often convey what the writers think "ought to happen" rather than what they actually intend. Other evidence would confirm that the Pilgrims and many of the Puritans, however, actually believed what they wrote.　　. 1 Peter 4:3-4 彼得一书四章3~4节　　. John W. Whitehead and Alexis Irene Crow, Home Education: Rights and Reasons (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 1993) provides well-referenced information about the Puritan and early American family in chapters eight and nine. 在第八章和第九章中提供许多关于清教徒与早期美国家庭的参考资料　　. Weldon M. Hardenbrook, Missing From Action: Vanishing Manhood in America (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1987) 34-37.　　.See, for example, Karen Guffey, "Anne Bradstreet: Puritan Poet," in Mark Sidwell, ed., Scenes From American Church History (Greenville, South Carolina: Bob Jones University Press:1991) 13-16.　　. "Children, obey your parents": Ephesians 6:1 「你们作儿女的，要在主里听从父母」以弗所书六章1节　　. The Book of the General Lawes and Liberties of the Inhabitants of Massachusetts (Cambridge, 1648), p. A-2, as cited in Whitehead, HERAR, p. 183.　　. Helpful information about early American education can be found in John W. Whitehead and Alexis Irene Crow, Home Education: Rights and Reasons (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 1993), chapters 3, 5, and 8. 该书中有关于美国教育的有用资料　　.Exodus 20:9 出埃及记二十章9节　　. Genesis 2:15; 3:17-19 创世纪二章15节；创世纪三章17~19节　　. Acts 20:34-35; Colossians 3:23 (see also Ephesians 6:5-10) 使徒行传二十章34-35节；哥罗西书三章23节　　. 2 Thessalonians 3:10 帖撒罗尼迦前书三章10节　　. 1 Thessalonians 4:11 帖撒罗尼迦前书四章1节　　. Martin Luther, The Babylonian Captivity, as quoted in Chuck Colson & Jack Eckerd, Why America Doesn't Work (Dallas: Word, 1991), 36. The next paragraphs come largely from this excellent book. 以下的几个段落大部分出自于这本书　　. Ibid. 37.　　. Ibid., 38　　. Mark 4:19; 1Timothy 6 马可福音四章19节；提摩太前书六章　　. 1 Timothy 5:3-8 提摩太前书五章3-8节　　. See, for example, Deuteronomy 15:7, 11; Psalm 72:13; Proverbs 14:21; Isaiah 58:7; Ezekiel 16:49; Luke 14:21; 18:22. 申命记十五章7节；诗篇七十二章13节；箴言十四章21节；以赛亚书五十八章7节；以西结书十六章49节；路加福音十四章21节，十八章22节　　. 2 Corinthians 8:9 哥林多后书八章9节　　. See, for example, Exodus 23:3; Leviticus 19:15 出埃及记二十三章3节；利未记十九章15节　　. Deuteronomy 15:11; John 12:8 申命记十五章11节；约翰福音十二章8节　　. Proverbs 20:13; 21:17 箴言二十章13节；二十一章17节　　. Marvin Olasky, The tragedy of American Compassion (Washington: Henry Regnery, 1992), 7 The following paragraphs will include a discussion of American compassion up into the early nineteenth century, since the Puritan views of work influenced American society long after Puritanism as a governing system disappeared. 接下来几段包括了讨论直到十九世纪初美国社会对穷人的同情心，因为在新教徒社会制度消失了很久之后，清教徒的工作观仍一直影响着美国社会。　　. Ibid., 7-8　　. Ibid., 7　　. Quoted in Olasky, 9　　. On Puritan theology, see especially C. Gregg Singer, A Theological Interpretation of American History (Nutley, New Jersey: The Craig Press, 1969), 10-21.　　. Singer, op cit., p.7.　　. Keillor, 67-69　　. Critical information about Williams, gleaned from original sources, can be found in America: The First 350 Years (Forest, MS:Covenant Publications, ), 24-27.　　. Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 19:31; 20:6,27; 1 Samuel 28:3,9 出埃及记二十二章18节；利未记十九章31节；利未记二十章6节，27节；撒母耳记上二十八章3节，9节　　. I am indebted, once again, to the original research found in America: The First 350 Years, 28-34. Quotations from those living at the time of the trials convinced me that what I read in history books gave a misleading impression.　　. Robert H. Bork, The Tempting of America (New York: The Free Press, A Division of Macmillan, Inc, 1990)　　. Keillor, 47.　　. Keillor, 49-52Two 第二章 The Road to Independence 独立之路　　By gaining independence from Great Britain, the former colonists created the United States of America and ushered in the modern age of international relations.　　美洲殖民者由大英帝国独立出来，建立了美国，也迈入了国际关系的现代纪元。　　By "modern age" I refer to the breakup of European colonial empires - a process begun in America even while the British Empire continued to expand elsewhere - and the formation of non-monarchial governments. Inspired by the American example, dozens of colonies or sections of empires have attempted to throw off the yoke of subservience to foreign governments and create a new, independent, and "republican" government.　　所谓的「现代纪元」我指的是欧洲殖民帝国的瓦解(其过程开始于美国，虽然当时大英帝国仍然在其它地方扩展其殖民地)，以及非君主专制政府的出现。藉由美国独立的启发，数十个殖民地和帝国的属地致力于挣脱外国政府的枷锁，以建立崭新独立的「共和」政府。　　We must, therefore, carefully examine the process by which British subjects in North America gained their independence and established a constitutional republic. At the same time, we need to engage in a rigorous critique of this epoch-making development. Otherwise, we shall misunderstand what happened and fail to learn the proper lessons.　　因此，我们要仔细审视北美的英国属地独立及建造宪政共和体制的过程，同时我们要用严格的批判眼光来看待这项划时代的发展，否则我们将误解曾发生的事并无法学取正确的教训。Spiritual Decline 属灵上的衰退- The Half-Way Covenant 半路圣约　　As the years passed, the Puritans and their neighbors prospered greatly. Perhaps because of growing comfort, the offspring of the original settlers lost their zeal for God and his kingdom. Many of them they became immersed in the quest for wealth and security. Soon, their religious leaders realized that the children of many Christians lacked evidence of true and saving faith in Christ. That posed a serious political and ecclesiastical crisis. Remember that only those who could give a "credible profession of faith" in Christ - one backed by a change in life - could become church members. Since the "Covenant" governing society included only church members, the pool of potential voters and office-holders was rapidly shrinking. Soon the state would have no one eligible to govern it!　　经过一些年之后，清教徒与他们邻近的人有极繁荣的发展。或许因为他们过得越来越舒适，初期垦荒者的子孙们失去了对神以及牠的国度的热心，许多人沉溺于追求财富和金钱带来的安全感。不久之后，他们的宗教领袖了解到许多基督徒的子女缺乏对基督的真实及救赎的信心表现，这个情况造成一场政治及教会的危机。记得清教徒认为只有那些对基督有「可靠的信心」的人，也就是以生命的改变来证明其信心的人，可以成为教会的一员。既然以「圣约」治理的社会只能由教会成员组成，可能成为投票者及行政者的人就迅速的减少，很快地政府就会没有合法的人来统治了。　　Over the protests of many pastors, in 1662 a compromise emerged (later called the Half-Way Covenant): Allow children of believers to remain as members of the church and therefore under its care and discipline. Their children, likewise, could be presented for baptism as infants but, like their parents, could not partake of the Lord's Supper until they had shown evidence of sincere faith in Christ. Thus, the church remained "pure" in the sense that only believers received Holy Communion, but the need of the society to be governed by "church members" was met.　　在一六六二年，不顾许多牧师的抗议，他们达成一种妥协(后来被称为「半路圣约」)，允许教徒的子女保持教会成员的身份，也因此受教会的照顾与管教。子女们可以在婴孩时受洗，但是如同他们的父母一样，直到他们表现出对基督的真诚信心的凭证时才可以参加圣餐。因此，教会维持着只有信徒方可接受圣礼的「纯正」，另一方面符合了社会必须由「教会成员」来治理的要求。　　How do we evaluate this development. Some believe that the harsh experiences of the first-generation Pilgrims and Puritans resulted in "dramatic" conversions, whereas the "steady state religious experiences" of their children lacked the same decisive stage (this is, they had no dramatic conversion experience). According to this theory, the second generation may have been as devout as the first, but their integrity kept them from claiming to have the same kind of crisis-type conversion their parents had undergone and thus required as evidence of true faith. If the Puritans had defined the nature of conversion and true faith differently, their children would perhaps have "qualified" for admission to Holy Communion.　　我们如何评断这一种发展？有些人相信第一代新教徒和清教徒的艰苦经验导致「戏剧性」的信教经验，然而他们子女的「稳定宗教经验」缺乏同样的决定性阶段(亦即他们没有戏剧性的宗教信仰经验)。按照这样的理论，第二代也许如第一代同样虔诚，但是诚实性使他们不能宣称具有其父母所经历的危机形态信仰转变，和以此信仰转变作为真正信心的证据。如果清教徒当初所定义「接受信仰的本质和真正的信心」不是那样子的话，他们的子女也许就「有资格」参加圣礼　　(注：Ehcia之著作，42页)。　　On the other hand, this writer believes that the Puritans suffered the consequences of two errors: (1) The belief that Christians could create a New Heaven and a New Earth in America (see below). (2) The practice of infant baptism, which makes the children of believers into "members" of the church of God. The first requires church members to govern society and the second declares (potentially) unconverted adult non-believers as church "members." Thus, the very foundational principle of the state - that it was a covenant between believers and their God - was quickly undermined by this "Half-Way Covenant." It would have been better for the Puritans to rely on the persuasive power of God's word and their own example to influence the political life of the colony. But that would come only later.　　另一方面，本书作者相信清教徒犯了两个错误，结果使他们受其害:第一，他们相信可以在美洲建立一个新天新地(见下)；第二，他们实行对婴孩施洗以使信徒的孩子成为神的教会的成员。第一个错误使他们要求教会成员治理社会，第二个错误使他们宣称那些(有可能)不决志的成年非信徒为教会成员。因此，政府的最根本原则，也就是政府是信徒与神的圣约，很快地被这种「半路圣约」给破坏了。如果清教徒当初倚靠神的话之说服力和他们自己的榜样去影响殖民地的政治生活，情况就会比较好，但是到了后来他们才这么做。- The Salem Witch Trials (1692) 沙仑镇(Salem)巫术案　　We have already looked at this unhappy incident in one town of Massachusetts. The trials point towards the widespread use of various occult practices in the Colonies at this time - a most ominous development, for the Bible utterly forbade such activity. When the citizens and leaders of Salem realized that their haste had led to a number of innocent deaths, confidence in their entire religious outlook declined. Even though the religious leaders of the colony had opposed the proceedings, some citizens came to the conclusion that witches did not exist and that, therefore, the world view of the church's leaders was wrong.　　我们已经看过这件发生在麻州一个小镇的不幸案例。这个案子针对的是当时在殖民地广泛流行的各种灵媒和巫术，由于圣经对此是绝对禁止的。当沙仑镇的居民和领袖了解到他们的草率导致许多无辜的人死亡后，他们对其整个宗教观点的信心就降低了。尽管殖民地的宗教领袖们曾经反对审判，一些民众则认定巫术不存在，所以教会领袖的世界观是错误的。- Slavery 蓄奴　　The first Africans were brought to American in 1619. Gradually, Africans became slaves and the institution of slavery developed. Before long, it had gripped the South, especially Virginia, so powerfully that slaves formed the basis of the economy, especially in the coastal areas. Colonists in the North and in the western areas, which were more mountainous, did not need slaves as much as did the owners of large plantations growing tobacco, cotton, and indigo.　　第一批的非洲人于一六一九年被带到美洲。渐渐地，非洲人成为奴隶，蓄奴因此开始了。不久之后，蓄奴在南方尤其是维吉尼亚州变得非常重要，奴隶成为南方经济的基础，特别是在沿海各地。在北部和西部的地方由于多山，殖民者不像南部那些大片种植烟草、棉花和染料植物的地主需要许多的奴隶。　　Slavery received support from most Christians for many years. Throughout the history of the Christian Church up to that time, slavery had not been opposed. Moses had allowed the Israelites to hold Gentile slaves. Christ had not spoken against slavery; Paul had given regulations for the proper relationships between slaves and masters. On the other hand, the Bible contains teachings which would ultimately undermine slavery: All men are created in the image of God - how can they be treated as inferior beings.　　长久以来大部分基督徒支持蓄奴，纵观整个的基督教教会历史，直到当时为止蓄奴始终未曾被反对过。摩西曾允许以色列人蓄养外邦奴隶，基督耶稣未曾说过反对蓄奴的话，保罗也曾教导仆人和主人的正确关系。另一方面，圣经里有彻底瓦解奴隶制度的教导：所有的人都是按照神的形象造的，因此奴隶怎么可以被视为较低等的人？　　God established marriage - how can Christians participate in a system that usually destroys marriages. Contrary to abolitionist propaganda, Christian slave owners tried to find ways to keep families together. The system as a whole, however, tended to break up marriages. God commands that the laborer be paid - but slaves have to work for nothing. God commands us to love our neighbor as ourself; no one wants to be a slave; no one, therefore, should enslave another.　　神设立了婚姻，基督徒怎么会参与一个经常破坏婚姻的蓄奴制度？主张奴隶废除者宣传所有拥有奴隶的人都破坏奴隶的家庭，但拥有奴隶的基督徒其实为了保持奴隶家庭的完整而尝试各种办法。然而，奴隶制度整体而言是易于拆散奴隶的婚姻的。神命令要付酬劳给工作的人，但奴隶却必须工作却无酬劳。神吩咐我们要爱邻舍如爱自己，没有人想要当奴隶，因此没有人应该奴役他人。　　A few colonial American Christians, mostly Quakers, began to realize the force of these (and other) truths and to speak out against slavery late in the seventeenth century. The Quakers finally eliminated slavery among their membership by 1775.　　十七世纪末时，一些美洲基督徒殖民者，大部分是贵格教派的人(Quakers)，开始了解到这些(和其它的)真理的力量并大声疾呼反对蓄奴。贵格教派的人最后在一七七五年完全铲除了他们的成员中的蓄奴。　　Many white Christians tried to allelviate the harshness of slavery by inviting slaves to participate in their worship , as in Williamsburg, Virginia. Clergymen often took the Christian message of God's love and the hope of eternal life to the Negroes.　　许多白人基督徒，如在维吉尼亚的威廉斯堡(Williamsburg)的人，为了减轻奴隶所受的虐待之苦，邀请奴隶参加他们的崇拜。神职人员经常将神的爱和永生盼望的基督教信息传讲给黑奴。　　Others either participated in slavery or condoned it; some went so far as to mistreat Negro Christians who tried to worship with them. This outrageous behavior led to the formation of separate Negro churches, as the gospel spread among the slave population. The Christian faith provided hope and the power to persevere under trial to many slaves in coming years.　　其它的人或参与蓄奴或宽恕蓄奴，有的人过分到虐待与他们一起崇拜的哈黑奴基督徒。这种粗暴的行为导致黑奴组织自己的教会，将福音传播于黑奴之间。基督教信仰为许多黑奴带来希望和力量，在他们后来的困苦中能不屈不挠。　　What can we say, however, about the moral state of Christians who allowed slavery to develop. On the one hand, we need to realize that they were creatures of their age, as we are of ours, and that they were partly blinded by the assumptions common to their time. On the other, they should have listened to the arguments of the anti-slavery Quakers and re-considered their practices. This writer believes that the growth of slavery indicates a decline in spiritual vitality among Christians. We know that some slave-holding Anglicans in Virginia forbade their preachers from properly ministering to slaves and from questioning the morality of the institution of slavery; we also know that many of these men seemed to attend church more for the social and economic benefits than for spiritual nourishment.　　然而，我们如何说明那些允许蓄奴发展的基督徒他们的道德程度？一方面，我们要了解他们是那个时代的人，如同我们是所处这个时代的人，他们的部分看法受到当时普遍被接受的一些假设所蒙蔽。另一方面，他们当初应该听从贵格教会的人反对蓄奴的呼吁，重新考虑他们蓄奴的行为。我相信蓄奴的蔓延成长指明了基督徒信仰活力的衰退。我们知道一些蓄奴的维吉尼亚州英国国教徒禁止牧师以正当的方式传道给奴隶，也禁止牧师质疑奴隶制度的道德性；我们也知道他们当中的许多人似乎上教堂是为了社交和经济的目的，而非充实精神生活(注：Keillor所着之「This Rebellious House」，51页)。　　Was there any alternative to slavery. Economically, the costs had been calculated and demonstrated that paid employees would cost more than slaves. On the other hand, other factors could have played a more prominent role:　　是否有其它方式可以取代蓄奴？就经济的观点，曾有人计算及证明过雇用工人的花费要比蓄奴来得高(注：Keillor所着之「This Rebellious House」，44页)。但另一方面，其它的因素可能扮演更重要的角色:　　- If it is wrong to enslave another, then God must be able to provide for those who follow him without resorting to slavery.　　- Men work harder for profit; if Negroes had been paid, would they have produced more. Probably.　　- The major crop requiring slave labor at that time - tobacco - was a luxury item. Did Christians need to oppress others in order produce such unnecessary goods.　　- Christians may work for profit, but not if they have to violate God's laws to do so.　　- 如果奴役他人是错误的，神一定会供应那些遵行祂的话不蓄奴的人劳力上的需要。　　- 当有酬劳时，人会工作得更努力；如果黑奴当初工作有酬劳的话，他们是否会生产更多？大概有可能。　　- 当时需要黑奴的劳力种植的主要作物─烟草，是一种奢侈品。基督徒有必要压榨他人去生产这种可有可无的产品吗？　　- 基督徒可以为获取酬劳而工作，但是该工作是不可以违反神的律法的。　　As the years progressed, slavery alienated North from South, black from white, and rich from poor in America. Not only so, but, as the great Booker T. Washington was to observe in the late nineteenth century, slavery alienated men from the satisfaction of manual labor, which came to be seen as degrading by both blacks and whites.　　随着时间的演进，蓄奴使得美国的北方与南方分裂，黑人与白人不和，富人与穷人疏离。不仅如此，一如伟大的黑人布克华盛顿 (Booker Washington) 在十九世纪末所观察到的，蓄奴使得人无法体会到体力劳动中的满足感，这可以从黑人和白人都看不起体力劳动发现出来。- Arminianism 荷兰的新教神学　　Calvinists believe that salvation is not of ourselves, "it is the gift of God." They point to many scriptures which show that God chose those whom he would save even before he created the world, and that he brings them to faith in Christ according to his sovereign will. They insist also upon the responsibility of men to repent of their sins and believe in Christ. When the question comes, "Why do some repent and believe and others do not." Calvinists answer, "Because of God's sovereign grace."　　加尔文教派的人相信救赎不是我们自己的，「而是神的恩典」(以弗所书二章九节)。他们指出许多教义说明神在创世以前拣选那些祂要拯救的人，并根据祂的主权将他们带到基督的信仰里(例如约翰福音一章十二至十三节；三章八节；六章三十七、三十九、四十四、六十五节；罗马书八章二十八至三十节；九章十四至十八节；以弗所书一章三至十二节；彼得一书一章二节等)。他们也坚持人悔改及相信基督的责任，当被问到:「为什么一些人悔改及相信而其它人没有？」加尔文教派的回答是:「因为神的主权恩典。」　　Arminianism arose in response to Calvinism. Among other teachings, Arminians believe that man chooses God, not vice versa. They place the responsibility and the ability for salvation in man's will. This view of salvation sounds more democratic that Calvinism, and rapidly spread in the New World. Jonathan Edwards, considered the greatest thinker to be born in America, combated Arminianism in several sermons, including "God glorified in man's dependence." Although he and Whitefield (see below) preached the Calvininist view of salvation, the Wesleys and their followers strongly emphasized man's free will. This focus on man's ability, suited as it was to those who intended to conquer and new world and throw off all monarchies, became the dominant American form of Protestantism, and even influenced men like Thomas Jefferson. In fact, as we shall see, this focus on man's ability has stood near the core of American cultural values ever since.　　荷兰新教神学(或称亚美尼亚教派 Arminianism)因反对加尔文教派而崛起，他们的教义里相信人选择神，而非神拣选人。他们把获得救赎的责任与能力放在人的意志之中，这样的救赎观听起来比加尔文教派来得民主，也很快地传播在新大陆上。被认为是美国最伟大的思想家约翰生.爱德华(Jonathan Edwards)在好几场讲道中对抗荷兰新教神学，包括了他著名的「在人的倚靠中被荣耀的神」那场讲道。虽然他和怀特菲尔德(Whitefield,见下)传讲加尔文教派的救赎观，卫斯理兄弟(Wesleys)和他们的跟随者却极力强调人的自由意志。这种对人的能力的强调正符合那些想要征服新世界并丢弃所有君主制度的人之想法，遂成为美国基督教的主流，甚至影响了汤姆士.杰弗逊等人。事实上，我们将要看到，这种对人的能力的强调从此就一直接近于美国文化价值观的核心。　　I list this development under the sub-title "Spiritual Decline" because I think the Calvinist understanding does more justice to the Scriptures and gives greater glory to God. Many sincere Christians would disagree strongly with me on this, however.　　我将荷兰新教神学在美洲的发展列入「属灵的衰退」标题之下，是因为我认为加尔文教派对圣经的理解比较恰当，也将较多的荣耀归给神。然而，许多真诚的基督徒可能强烈反对我的看法。- Deism 自然神论　　Early American settlers of New England had brought considerable education with them. Their children maintained that high standard, as did the wealthy planters in the South. Despite the Atlantic Ocean, American intellectuals kept up with intellectual developments in England and on the Continent. Seventeenth and eighteenth-century American leaders often read several languages, classical and modern, and eagerly discussed a wide range of issues, including theology, philosophy, political theory, economics, and agriculture.　　早期在新英格兰的美国移民具有相当好的教育程度，他们的子女保持了同样的高教育水准，如同南方那些富有的殖民者所保持的。虽然有大西洋之隔，美国的知识分子并不落后于英国和欧洲大陆的知识发展。十七世纪与十八世纪的美国领袖常通晓多种古典和现代的语言，并热衷于讨论各样广泛的议题，包括神学、哲学、政治理论、经济、以及农业。　　Isaac Newton, himself a devout Christian, awed the educated people of his time with his new explanations of the physical universe. It seemed as if scientific discoveries made sense out of the world. Was God's revelation in the Bible necessary. Was it true. Could man's unaided reason discern the laws that governed matter. Could reason go beyond that and penetrate the mysteries of the moral universe as well.　　艾萨克.牛顿(Issac Newton)是个虔诚的基督徒，他对宇宙的新诠释使得当时受过教育的人对他感到敬畏。科学上的发现似乎可以解释这世界的一切。神在圣经里的启示有必要吗？神的启示是真实的吗？人是否可以不靠启示而用理性来了解物质的定律？理性是否可能超越对物质的了解，去探寻道德世界的奥秘？　　Meanwhile, John Locke, in his Essay on Human Understanding, seemed to exalt human reason to a position higher than the Puritans had granted. Locke was willing to change his views if they could be disproved by the Bible; he himself was an Evangelical Christian, particularly in his old age. His writings, however, helped to fuel a movement towards greater autonomy for rational thought, unaided (or, some would say, "unfettered") by God's Word in the Bible.　　与此同时，约翰.洛克(John Locke)在他的「人类理解力之评论」(Essay on Human Understanding)中，似乎将人类的理性抬举到高于清教徒所认定的地位。洛克认为如果他的看法可以用圣经证明是错误的，他愿意改变其观点。洛克是一位福音派基督徒，尤其是到他晚年的时候。然而他的文章助长了一种运动，可以不藉由神在圣经里的话之帮助(或者有人会说「束缚」)而达到理性思想较大的自主性。　　Furthermore, his Two Treatises on Government offered an interpretation radically different from the covenantal concept of the Puritans. Instead of basing the authority of rulers upon the sovereignty of God and requiring both rulers and subjects to submit to God's law as revealed in the Bible, Locke held that the authority of rulers derives from the consent of the governed. The will of the people - however defined and expressed - effectively replaced the will of God.　　此外，洛克的「政府论二篇」对政府的定义提出了根本上不同于清教徒的圣约观念之诠释。他不主张政府的权力建立在神的主权的基础上，也不要求治理者和被治理者服膺神在圣经里启示的律法，而是主张政府的权力来自于人民的同意。人民的意愿(无论怎么定义与表达)结果就取代了神的意愿。　　Locke provided English Whigs with rhetorical ammunition against the idea of the Divine Right of Kings in their revolt against James II. He also influenced Rousseau and other French thinkers, who would themselves play a prominent role in the thought of men like Thomas Jefferson. In America, Locke "was the philosophical inspiration for the American Revolution, and, without him, the Declaration of Independence could scarely have been written."　　洛克的理论为英国民权党员提供了华丽的武器，在他们抵抗英王詹姆士二世的革命中用以反对「天赋君权」的观念。他也影响了卢梭(Rousseau)和其它的法国思想家，这些人对美国独立时的重要人物如汤姆士.杰弗逊(Thomas Jefferson)的思想有重要的影响。在美国，洛克是「美国革命的哲学启蒙者，没有洛克，独立宣言就几乎不可能写成」(注：Singer所着「A Theological Interpretation of American History」，Nutley， New Jersey： The Craig Press， 1969，三十三页)。　　Gradually, some aspects of the movement known as Deism gained influence among a few American intellectuals. Deists believed in the goodness and perfectibility of man, the power of human reason, and the universal benevolence of "God" - however he was to be defined. They rejected the authority of the Bible, miracles (including the incarnation of God's Son and the resurrection of Jesus), the deity of Jesus Christ, the necessity of repentance for sin and faith in Christ's sacrifice, and the return of Christ to judge the world and created a New Heaven and New Earth. They placed all their hopes in this world. Often, they saw Christianity not only as superstition but also as a hindrance to human progress. Like Thomas Jefferson, they may have admired the ethical teachings of Jesus, but that is all. Jefferson himself may not have been a full-fledged Deist, but he certainly shared some of the views held by Deists.　　渐渐地，自然神论的某些方面在美国知识分子之中产生了影响力。自然神论者相信人类的良善与完美、人类理性的能力、以及无论什么定义之下的「神」的普遍慈善。他们否定圣经的权威性、神迹(包括神的儿子道成肉身和耶稣的复活)、基督耶稣的神性、认罪悔改和相信基督之牺牲的必要性、以及基督要再来审判世界并建立新天新地。他们将所有的盼望摆在这个世界，他们经常把基督教不仅视为迷信，也是人类进步的阻碍。一如汤姆士.杰弗逊，他们也许欣赏耶稣基督的道德教导，但仅只于此。汤姆士.杰弗逊本人也许并非彻底的自然神论者，但他的确与自然神论者有一些相同的看法。　　As Deism gained influence among a few intellectuals, Americans, including some Christians unaware of the implications of what they were doing, began to shift their attention from pleasing God to enjoying this life; from obeying God's will to fulfilling their own will; from submission to God to personal freedom and autonomy; from reliance on the Bible for wisdom to trusting in their own ideas as to what was right. Rather than seeing themselves as in covenant with God, they saw only the "social contract," by which they imagined men had formed governments. In the words of the Declaration of Independence, they focussed on "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" rather than the pursuit of holiness so characteristic of the Puritans. Instead of seeing themselves as locked in a struggle with sin and Satan, they traced their problems to the government in England. Finally, instead of longing primarily for moral freedom, they concentrated upon recovering political freedom.　　就当自然神论者在美国知识分子之间造成影响之际，美国人开始将他们的注意力从取悦神转变为享受今世的生活，从顺服神转变为追求个人自由与自主，从倚靠圣经的智能转变为相信自己的是非判断，其中也包括一些未察觉到其作法所带来的影响的基督徒。他们不再视他们与神之间有圣约，而认为只有「社会契约」，藉此他们认为人组成了政府。在独立宣言中，他们着重于「生命、自由、以及追求幸福」，而非如清教徒般追求圣洁的生活。他们不认为自己受制于罪恶和撒旦的捆绑，却将他们的问题视为来自于英国政府。最后，他们不再渴慕道德的自由，而是专注于恢复政治上的自由。　　We must realize, however, that European Deism never took root in America. Perhaps the influence of the Bible prevented it. In any case, even a rationalist like Benjamin Franklin believed that God had personally intervened in American history. Thomas Jefferson, not an orthodox Christian by any standard, still thought that God worked out his justice in human events.　　然而，我们必须了解，欧洲的自然神论从未在美国生根。也许是圣经的影响阻止了其生根。无论如何，即使是理性主义者如班杰明.富兰克林(Benjamin Franklin)相信神亲自参与了美国的历史。汤姆士.杰弗逊从任何标准来看都不是一个正统的基督徒，他却仍然认为神在人类的事件中执行祂的公义。　　Furthermore, some scholars deny that Locke was a Deist or that the Declaration of Independence draws its inspiration from Deism or rationalism. They hold that concepts such as "inalienable rights" and 'Nature's law" trace their origin to the Middle Ages, when Christian thinking ruled the universities. They at least do prove that Christians had used terms like "natural law" to refer to that moral law which God had established in the universe and that operated among all men, Christian or pagan. Men of all cultures could discern this "law" through the use of their human reason, although the Bible presented God's full revelation of the perfect moral law.　　此外，一些学者否定洛克是一个自然神论者，也否定独立宣言受自然神论或理性主义的启发。他们认为诸如「不能夺取的权利」和「自然律」的观念溯源于中世纪，当时基督教思想在大学里成为主流(参见Gray T. Amos所着「Defending the Declaration」，Charlottesville；Providence Foundation，1989)。至少他们的确证明了基督徒用过像「自然律」这样的名词代表神在宇宙中所建立的、运行在所有基督徒与非基督徒当中的道德律。任何一个文化的人都可以透过他们的理性来认识这个「律」，尽管圣经所呈现的是神对完美的道德律的全部启示。　　We can say, therefore, that, although Deism began to influence the minds of some American intellectuals, so that leaders like Jefferson and Adams did not hold fully orthodox Christian beliefs, yet the "air" they breathed was so permeated with Christian assumptions that they could not fully escape reflecting Biblical ideas in their political writings.　　因此我们可以说，尽管自然神论开始影响一些美国知识分子的思想，使得早期领袖如杰弗逊(Jefferson)和亚当斯(Adams)不具有完全的基督教正统信仰，但是他们所呼吸到的思想「空气」却渗入了许多基督教的假设，使得他们无法完全摆脱在政治文件里反映出基督教思想。- Unitarianism 唯一神教派　　That the currents of European thought reached the shores of the New World can be proved by the appearance of Unitarianism. Christians believe that there is only one God. He is revealed, however, in three "persons" - neither fully separate from each other so as to comprise three gods nor fully identical so as to lose their distinctions. The crucial question, actually, is whether Jesus is fully divine. Christians point to his miracles, his claims about himself to be the Son of God and to forgive sins, his resurrection from the dead, and the teachings of the apostles, and conclude that Jesus is God. They note that the Old Testament name of God - Yahweh in Hebrew, translated as Kurios ("Lord") in the Greek version of the Old Testament - was applied hundreds of times to Jesus. By saying "Jesus is Lord," the Biblical writers claimed that Jesus was equal to God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.　　欧洲的思想潮流影响了新世界，可以由唯一神教派主义的出现得到证明。基督徒相信只有一位神，却是以三位一体显现，三个位格既非完全分开而构成三个神，也非完全相同以致于无法区别。实际上，最重要的问题是，到底基督耶稣是否具有完全的神性？基督徒指出耶稣基督的神迹、祂自我宣告是神的儿子并赦免罪、祂从死里复活、以及祂的门徒的教导而得到耶稣是神的结论。他们注意到旧约中神的名字─希伯来文「雅巍」(Yahweh)，在旧约希腊文译本中翻译为「主」(Kurios)，在新约中许多次被用来称呼耶稣。圣经作者说「耶稣是主」来宣称耶稣相同于圣父和圣灵。　　European rationalists began to propose a different view: That God does not interfere in the world that he has made; by definition, therefore, there can be no miracles. The Deists began with this and then they and others began to move towards other conclusions: Jesus, obviously, could not have worked miracles, nor could he have been born of a virgin, nor could he have risen from the dead. He must have been only a good man, a moral teacher. Man, moreover, is basically good and reasonable; he needs no redeemer to pay for his sins.　　欧洲理性主义者开始提出另一种看法，就是神不介入祂所创造的世界，因此根据这样的定义，不会有神迹发生。自然神论者由这种观点出发并与其它的人开始发展出他们的结论─显然地、耶稣未曾施行神迹、未曾由童贞女所生、也未曾由死里复活。祂必定只是一个好人，一个道德教师。此外，人类基本上是良善而有理性的，不需要救赎者为他们的罪付出代价。　　Jefferson's teacher at The College of William and Mary taught these concepts; so did the faculty at the major New England universities. Thus, some of the ruling elite in America gradually began to see Jesus as merely a great teacher. The full expression of this type of thinking came when clergy like James Freeman renounced allegiance to the ancient Christian creeds and promulgated Unitarian beliefs in King's Chapel in Boston. Although his formal break with Anglicanism came in 1782, by 1776 the shift to Unitarianism had already taken place.　　杰弗逊在威廉玛丽学院的老师教导上述这些观念；在新英格兰的主要大学的教授也是如此。于是，一些美国的领导菁英渐渐开始把耶稣看作只是一个伟大的教师。这样的思想被詹姆士福利曼(James Freeman)之类的神职人员充分地表达出来，他弃绝对古代基督教教义的忠诚并在波士顿的国王教堂(King's Chapel)宣传唯一神教派的信仰。虽然他与英国国教直到一七八二年才决裂，在一七七六年之前他就已经开始转移到唯一神教派。　　Deism and Unitarianism share much in common. The former intended to reject Christianity. The latter, however, saw itself as a branch within the Christian faith (much like "liberal" theologians today.) The two combined to produce a new phenomenon: Some form of rationalism affected many gentlemen leaders in all thirteen colonies.　　自然神论和唯一神教派有许多相同之处。前者意图拒绝基督教，后者却视自己为基督教信仰的一个支派(很像今天的「自由派」神学家)。两者的结合产生了一个新的现象─早期十三州的许多领袖都受到某种形式的理性主义的影响。(注：Keillor所着之「This Rebellious House」，79页)。The Great Awakening 大复兴　　　Early in the eighteenth century, God began to do a mighty work in England and in North America. In England, George Whitefield, John Wesley, and John's brother Charles began taking the Christian message beyond the walls of church buildings and into the fields where common people could hear the Gospel. They taught that all have sinned and fall short of God's glory; that Christ has died for sinners; that all who confess their sins, repent, and turn to Christ in faith could find forgiveness. They also emphasized the necessity of being "born again," referring to Jesus' conversation with an educated Jewish leader.　　十八世纪初期，神开始在英国和北美执行一项伟大的工作。在英国，乔治.怀特菲尔德(George Whitefield)、约翰.卫斯理(John Wesley)、和其兄查尔斯.卫斯理(Charles Wesley)开始把基督教的信息从教堂里传布到田野间，使一般的人都能听到福音。他们教导所有人都犯了罪并亏欠了神的荣耀；基督为罪人而死；所有认罪、悔改、回转相信基督的人都可以得到赦免。他们也强调「重生」的必要性，根据的是耶稣与犹太教师领袖尼哥底母的对话(约翰福音三章三节，五节)。　　Thousands of ordinary people on both sides of the Atlantic responded to this new preaching with sincere sorrow for their sins and deep faith in God. As a result, men stopped getting drunk and beating their wives; husbands returned home to love their wives and children and went back to work as honest and hard-working laborers. Entire communities felt the transforming influence of God's Spirit. Although most converts came from the lower classes, some aristocrats believed also. They began to work for social reform in the government in an attempt to rid England of some of the horrible corruption and oppression that was threatening to produce a revolution, like the one brewing in France.　　大西洋两岸数以千计的一般民众以真诚的悔改认罪与对神深刻的信心来响应这个新的布道。结果男人不再醉酒与殴打妻子；丈夫回到家庭中爱他们的妻子儿女，也回到工作中诚实而努力地工作。整个社会都感觉到圣灵改造的影响。尽管大部分悔改信主的人来自于中下阶层，一些贵族也信了主。他们开始在政府中实行社会改革，希望藉此拯救英国脱离一些可怕的腐败和压迫，这些问题有造成革命的威胁性，一如在法国蕴酿中的革命。