NATURE AND NATURAL PHENOMENA ｜ 自然与自然现象

ENNATURE AND NATURAL PHENOMENA: the visible creation, heaven and earth. I. Regarded from an objective point. Three impressive facts demand thoughtful consideration at the outset—facts which form the basis and motive of all Scriptural statements concerning the visible creation. 1. The attractive visions and objects of Nature, all things grand and beautiful in the heavens and on the earth, are matched by corresponding spiritual capacities and susceptibilities in man to apprehend and rejoice in them: the same Being who "made everything beautiful" (Eccles. 3:11) created in man an intense sensitiveness to, and appreciative delight in, their wondrous and varied beauty. 2. The descriptions of God's working in heaven and earth, so frequently recurring in the poetical and prophetical pages of the Old Testament, incomparably surpass the uninspired literature of all time in every element of sublimity, elegance and force. 3. Higher than this refining office is the ulterior end of God Himself—the mastering practical aim of the manifold references to His own working which He has caused to be intertwined with the recitals, entreaties and promises of psalmists and prophets throughout. Everywhere these are interwoven as a groundwork of argument, a motive for appeal to men, to awaken their thought and inspire their confidence in the God who entreats and promises and warns; because in His visible works are clearly shown His resistless power, His marvelous wisdom, and His amazing goodness to His every creature. This appeal is twofold in form: on the one hand, the great visible structures of earth and moon, of sun and stars, with their ceaseless movements, reveal might and wisdom unlimited and eternal (Rom. 1:20. The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead); on the other hand, the fixed ordinances of day and night, summer and winter, seed-time and harvest, together with the fertility of the soil and the atmospheric phenomena, reveal His goodness and bounty, alike unlimited and gracious.

BSBRomans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse.

中自然与自然现象：即可见的受造界，天与地。一、从客观方面看。开宗明义就有三个引人深思的事实，值得郑重考量——圣经论可见受造界的一切陈述，皆以此三事为根基与动因。1. 自然界那些动人的景象与对象、天上地上一切宏伟秀美之物，在人里面恰有相应的属灵容量与感受力去领会、去欣悦：那位『使万物各按其时成为美好』（传道书 3:11）的神，也在人里面造了一种对这奇妙多姿之美的敏锐感知与欣赏之乐。2. 旧约诗歌书与先知书中屡屡出现的、对神在天地间作为的描写，在崇高、优雅、力度的每一个要素上，都无可比拟地超越了古往今来一切非受默示的文学。3. 比这陶冶心性之效更高的，是神自己更深远的目的——他使自己作为的种种记述，与诗人先知的叙事、恳劝、应许通篇交织在一起，其所怀实践性的主导意图正在于此。这些描写处处被编织进来，作为论证的底子、作为向人呼吁的动因：为要唤醒人的思想，激发人对这位恳劝、应许并警戒之神的信赖；因为在他可见的作为里，清清楚楚显出他不可抗拒的能力、他奇妙的智慧、以及他向每一个受造者惊人的良善。这一呼吁有两种形式：一面，地与月、日与星那些宏大可见的结构及其不息的运行，显明无限而永恒的能力与智慧（罗马书 1:20 —— 自从造天地以来，神的永能和神性是明明可知的，虽是眼不能见，但借着所造之物就可以晓得）；另一面，昼夜、寒暑、稼穑那些固定的常例，加上土壤的丰产与大气的种种现象，显明他同样无限而慈惠的良善与厚赐。

ENTestimonies, in a comprehensive way and largely figurative in form, to the wonder-working God in His processes of creation and upholding—showing His creative and sustaining energy, and its beautiful, beneficent product, as a ground of personal confidence in Him. Each statement is definitely connected with some Divine assurance of help and blessing: Gen. 1:1, 31. God created the heaven and the earth. And God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good. Neh. 9:6. Ps. 33:6-9. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made. Ps. 65:6-13. Ps. 121:2. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. Ps. 146:6. Job 9:8-10. Job 26:7-14. He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing (illustrating the scientist's assertion, "Whenever the Bible speaks clearly it affords a valuable clue to the scientific observer"). Job 38:1-7, 31-38. Isa. 40:12, 22, 26. Isa. 45:12, 18. Jer. 10:12, 13. Jer. 33:19-25. Ps. 104:24. O Lord, how manifold are Thy works! in wisdom hast Thou made them all. Ps. 119:90, 91. Thou hast established the earth, and it abideth. Job 38 is a poetic parallel to the prose of Moses; Ps. 19:1-6 and Ps. 104 are hymns of creation. Sun, moon and stars: Gen. 1:14-18. Ps. 8:3. Ps. 147:4. He telleth the number of the stars; He calleth them all by their names. Isa. 40:26. Jer. 31:35. Job 38:31-33. Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?

BSBPsalm 104:24 How many are Your works, O LORD! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures.

中以总括的方式、多用比喻的笔法，为这位在创造与托住万有之进程中行奇事的神作证——显明他创造与维系的大能，以及这大能所成就的美善果实，作为人亲身信赖他的根据。每一处陈述都明确地与神某项帮助赐福的保证相连：创世记 1:1, 31 —— 起初，神创造天地。神看着一切所造的都甚好。尼希米记 9:6。诗篇 33:6-9 —— 诸天借耶和华的命而造。65:6-13。121:2 —— 我的帮助从造天地的耶和华而来。146:6。约伯记 9:8-10。26:7-14 —— 神将北极铺在空中，将大地悬在虚空（此节印证了那位科学家的断语：『凡圣经说得明白之处，都为科学观察者提供了宝贵的线索』）。38:1-7, 31-38。以赛亚书 40:12, 22, 26。45:12, 18。耶利米书 10:12-13。33:19-25。诗篇 104:24 —— 耶和华啊，你所造的何其多，都是你用智慧造成的。119:90-91 —— 你坚定了地，地就长存。约伯记 38 章是摩西散文记事的诗体对应；诗篇 19:1-6 与 104 篇是创造之颂歌。日、月、星辰：创世记 1:14-18。诗篇 8:3。147:4 —— 他数点星宿的数目，一一称它的名。以赛亚书 40:26。耶利米书 31:35。约伯记 38:31-33 —— 你能系住昴星的结吗？能解开参星的带吗？

EN[The really impressive lessons of the stars relate to the greatness and eternity of God; His unity; His omnipresence and all-pervading power; and especially the wonderful manner in which, by a few simple laws, He has built and organized the glorious architecture of the heavens—radiant throughout with a clear intelligence, which we, His creatures, can recognize and measurably comprehend. Astronomy stands unrivaled among the sciences in the emphasis with which she teaches these lessons: no other so forcibly, so overwhelmingly, impresses the thoughtful mind with the infiniteness of God, and the relative insignificance of man and the little globe upon which we live. "What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest him?"—this the student of astronomy learns to say with a profounder and more intelligent humility than any other person can. And, on the other hand, he too is likely to recognize more distinctly than most other men the high dignity of our human nature, made in the image of God and partaking of the Divine; able in a very real sense to "comprehend" the whole material universe, to share the thoughts of God, and think them after Him. Vast as the Solar System really is, it is hardly more than the merest speck as compared with the universe of the stars: for the stars, which to the eye look like mere glimmering points of light, and even defy the power of the telescope to give them any apparent size, are really suns—some of them certainly many times vaster than our own—all shining, not like the planets with borrowed light, but each with a special radiance of its own, and appearing small only because of their inconceivable remoteness. The Stellar Universe itself is so vast that no telescopic power as yet available can penetrate beyond its limits—if limits there are. It is enough for us that observation gives no evidence, no suggestion even, of a limit or a bound; however far we penetrate, there seems still to be an infinity beyond. The words of the German poet are fully justified by the results of the most modern science: "End there is none to the universe of God; lo! also there is no beginning." And through it all—pervasive, immanent, active—is everywhere the living presence of the Almighty. C. A. Young.]

BSBPsalm 8:3, 4 3 When I behold Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place— 4 what is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You care for him?

中〔星辰真正震撼人心的教训，关乎神的伟大与永恒；关乎他的独一；关乎他的无所不在与遍透万有的能力；尤其关乎那奇妙的方式——他只用寥寥几条简单的定律，就建造并组织起诸天这座辉煌的建筑，其中通体辉映着一种清晰的智性，而我们这些受造者竟能辨认、并在一定程度上理解它。在教导这些功课的力度上，天文学在诸科学中无与伦比：没有哪一门科学能如此有力、如此压倒性地，把神的无限、把人与我们所居这颗小小星球的相对渺小，印进沉思者的心里。『人算什么，你竟顾念他？世人算什么，你竟眷顾他？』——学天文的人学会说这句话时，其谦卑之深沉、之明达，是任何别人都不及的。而另一方面，他也比大多数人更清晰地认出我们人性的高贵尊严：照神的形像造的、有分于神性的；在一个极真实的意义上能够『把握』整个物质宇宙，能分享神的思想，并跟着神把这些思想想一遍。太阳系纵然真的浩大，与恒星的宇宙相比也不过是最微小的一点：因为那些在肉眼看来只是一点点闪烁微光、甚至连望远镜也无法赋予其可见大小的星辰，其实都是太阳——其中有些确实比我们的太阳大出许多倍——它们都在发光，不像行星那样借光而明，而是各有自己特别的光辉；它们看起来小，只因其遥远得不可思议。恒星宇宙本身如此浩瀚，以致迄今可用的任何望远镜之力，都无法穿透到它的边界之外——如果它有边界的话。对我们来说，只需知道这一点就够了：观测既未提供任何证据，甚至未提供任何暗示，说明有一个界限或边缘；无论我们穿透多远，其外似乎仍有无限。那位德国诗人的话，被最现代的科学成果完全证实了：『神的宇宙没有尽头；看哪，也没有开端。』而贯穿这一切的——遍在的、内蕴的、活跃的——处处是全能者活的同在。杨氏（C. A. Young）〕

ENNature and Revelation. The Works and the Word proceed from the same Author and Source, and so must harmonize and be at one. Yet it is not the direct and essential purpose of the Word to disclose the nature and the method of the working, but simply the fact and the Author. Heb. 11:3. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. Ps. 19:1-4. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. [The study of Nature is one of the best comments on the Great Book. The Bible shows us the unity of nature in the plan and creation of God; the presence of one pervasive Spirit of force and life everywhere—and personal, because it is the fount of personality. Bp. Goodsell. — The system of nature in which we live impresses itself on the mind as one system: it is under this impression that we speak of it as the Universe; it was under the same impression, but with a conception specially vivid of its order and its beauty, that the Greeks called it the Kosmos. Duke of Argyll. — If nature and the Bible are from the same Author, they must not only be in harmony, but coincident to the extent that they cover the same ground. Hence we find, in fact, that nature teaches the same truths as to the efficiency of power, controlling intelligence, tempering justice, goodness and truthfulness of God its Author, as does the Bible. S. S. Laws.]

BSBPsalm 19:1, 2 1 For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.

中自然与启示。『作为』与『话语』出于同一位作者、同一个源头，因此必然和谐、必然合一。然而，话语（圣经）的直接而本质的目的，并不在于揭示那作为的性质与方法，只在于揭示那作为的事实与作者。希伯来书 11:3 —— 我们因着信，就知道诸世界是借神的话造成的；这样，所看见的，并不是从显然之物造出来的。诗篇 19:1-4 —— 诸天述说神的荣耀，穹苍传扬他的手段。这日到那日发出言语，这夜到那夜传出知识。〔研究自然，是对那部大书最好的注解之一。圣经向我们显明自然在神的计划与创造中的合一；显明一位遍在之力与生命之灵处处的同在——而且是有位格的，因为它正是位格之源。古德塞尔主教（Bp. Goodsell）——我们所居其中的这个自然系统，给心灵的印象是『一个系统』：正是在这一印象之下，我们称之为『宇宙』（Universe，直译：合而为一者）；也正是在同一印象之下——只是对其秩序与美有一种格外鲜明的感受——希腊人称之为 Kosmos（秩序、美饰）。阿盖尔公爵（Duke of Argyll）——若自然与圣经出于同一位作者，二者就不但必须和谐，而且在它们涵盖同一领域的范围内必须相合。因此我们确实看到：论到其作者神的能力之效、掌管之智、调和之公义、良善与真实，自然所教的与圣经所教的正是同样的真理。劳斯（S. S. Laws）〕

ENNature and Law. The laws of nature—the principles of orderly movement and progress uniformly operative in the natural world—are simply God's ways of working in nature. They are not self-operative, nor have they any immanent vital force; they are the orderly methods of the Divine Agent and Designer, acting upon and within the material structures He has planned and produced. Without His energy directly and continuously exercised, nature would cease to be. Hence there can be no such entity, of fact or even of thought, as a natural law having "life in itself"; much less, therefore, has "natural law" any place or function in the "spiritual world." [The living God works in and through nature, and apart from Him nature would neither work nor be. My only objection to the formula "Natural law in the spiritual realm" is that it states the truth in an inverted form: it puts the cart before the horse. Law has its fons et origo in the spiritual realm, and thence it issues to crystallize and rule in the domain of nature. All law is ethical in its source and outworking. The universe, from center to circumference, from star-dust to souls, in all the provinces and ranges of being, is a moral empire. The division of law into natural and moral—with its subdivisions into mechanical and vital and economic and political—is a convenient device for tabulation; but law as law is inherent in things as constituted, and is only another name for that rational order which is the precipitate of the dynamic reason of God. So Kepler was right when he described the astronomer as a man who "thinks God's thoughts after Him." This is the endeavor and the goal of all science. A. J. F. Behrends.]

中自然与律。所谓自然律——即在自然界中划一运作的、有序运动与演进的诸原则——不过是神在自然中的工作方式。它们并非自行运作，也不具有任何内蕴的生命力；它们是那位神圣行动者与设计者的有序方法，作用于他所规划、所造出的物质结构之上、之内。若没有他直接而持续施展的能力，自然就会不复存在。因此，无论在事实上还是在思想上，都不可能有一种『自身之内有生命』的自然律这种实体；既然如此，『自然律』在『属灵世界』里就更没有任何位置或功能可言。〔永活的神在自然之中、借自然而工作；离了他，自然既不会运作，也不会存在。我对『属灵界中的自然律』这一提法唯一的异议是：它把真理说反了；它本末倒置。律的『源头与本原』（fons et origo）在属灵界，由此发出，才在自然的领域里结晶成形、施行统辖。一切律，其源头与运作都是伦理性的。这宇宙，从中心到周缘，从星尘到灵魂，在存有的一切省份与层级上，都是一个道德的帝国。把律分为自然律与道德律——再细分为力学的、生命的、经济的、政治的——这是便于列表的方便手段；但律之为律，本是内在于事物之受造构成之中的，它不过是那种理性秩序的另一个名字，而那理性秩序正是神动态理性的析出物。所以开普勒说得对：他把天文学家描述为『跟着神把神的思想想一遍』的人。这正是一切科学的努力与目标。贝伦兹（A. J. F. Behrends）〕

ENNature, or the earth and heavens, as involved in man's moral career. The earth, we are told, was changed in its products and methods of production—and, we may infer, in its animal creation—as the result of man's disobedience and sin: Gen. 3:17-19. Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground. Rom. 8:19-23. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected the same in hope; because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. [The plain implication of this passage is that nature is a sufferer with man on account of sin; that there is a solidarity between man and the outward world, both in his Fall and in his Redemption. So far the passage is an echo of the statement in Genesis that the earth lies under a curse on account of human sin. Prof. Orr.] Further: 2 Pet. 3:7, 10, 13. The heavens and the earth which are now, . . . are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment. The heavens shall pass away with a great noise, . . . and the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. We know, at least, that the instability of the solar system is an open admission of scientific men. [The solar system is open to many causes which may at some time seriously derange it—many conceivable actions which would necessarily terminate in its destruction: such as the retardation of planetary motions caused by a resisting medium, or by encounter with a sufficiently dense swarm of meteoric matter. C. A. Young.]

BSBRomans 8:19, 20, 21, 22 19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the revelation of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time.

中自然（即天与地）如何被卷入人的道德命运。经上告诉我们：由于人的悖逆与犯罪，大地在其出产与出产的方式上起了变化——我们也可推想，其动物界亦然：创世记 3:17-19 —— 地必为你的缘故受咒诅；你必终身劳苦才能从地里得吃的。地必给你长出荆棘和蒺藜来……你必汗流满面才得糊口，直到你归了土。罗马书 8:19-23 —— 受造之物切望等候神的众子显出来。因为受造之物服在虚空之下，不是自己愿意，乃是因那叫他如此的；但受造之物仍然指望脱离败坏的辖制，得享神儿女自由的荣耀。我们知道，一切受造之物一同叹息劳苦，直到如今。〔这段经文明白的含义是：因着罪，自然与人一同受苦；在人的堕落与人的救赎两件事上，人与外部世界之间都存在着一种连带关系（solidarity）。就此而言，这段话是创世记『地因人的罪受咒诅』一语的回响。奥尔教授〕再者：彼得后书 3:7, 10, 13 —— 但现在的天地……为火存留，直留到……审判的日子。但主的日子要像贼来到一样；那日天必大有响声废去……地和其上的物都要烧尽了。但我们照他的应许，盼望新天新地，有义居在其中。至少我们知道：太阳系并不稳定，这是科学界公开承认的。〔太阳系面临许多可能在某一时刻严重扰乱它的原因——许多可以设想、并必然以其毁灭告终的作用：例如阻尼介质对行星运动的减速，或与足够密集的流星物质群相遭遇。杨氏（C. A. Young）〕

ENThis leads to a final and supreme point: the relation of Nature to Christ. All things have been created through Christ and unto Christ; all things are summed up in Christ, as their source, as the sole principle and center of their unity, and as the Agent and Producer of their final and abiding consummation. Col. 1:16, 17, 20. For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible: all things were created by Him, and for Him; and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. And, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself. Eph. 1:10. That He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth. [It is none other than the Creator and Upholder of the universe that has died to save us. All nature assumes new significance now, as instinct with the same love and care that led our Lord to endure the cross. Nature is not itself God, and we are not pantheists; but nature is the constant expression of God. In it we hear the same Divine voice that spoke from Sinai under the old dispensation, and that uttered the Sermon on the Mount under the new. Ruskin once wrote: "The Divine mind is as visible in its full energy of operation on every lowly bank and moldering stone as in the lifting of the pillars of heaven and settling the foundations of the earth; and to the rightly perceiving mind there is the same infinity, the same majesty, the same power, the same unity, and the same perfection manifested in the casting of the clay as in the scattering of the cloud, in the moldering of dust as in the kindling of the day star." But how much more sacred and beautiful does the world become when we get back to Christ its Maker and its Life! When we recognize Him therein, nature may well be called a great sheet let down from God out of heaven, wherein is nothing common or unclean. The smallest diatom that clings to the waving reed is worthy of profound study, because the wisdom and will of Christ are displayed in it; and the Milky Way is but the dust thrown aloft by the invisible chariot wheels of the infinite Son of God, as He rides forth to subdue all things unto Himself. In this recognition of Christ as the Life of Nature, I see the guarantee that theology and science will come to complete accord. They are but pictures of Christ's working, taken from different points of view: theology tells us the Why, while science tells us the How. Reason and faith are not antagonistic to each other; they are working toward the same end—the discovery and unfolding of the truth as it is in Jesus. Their union is possible, simply because theology has been seeking Christ, and Christ is the truth; while science has been seeking the truth, and the truth is Christ. A. H. Strong.]

BSBColossians 1:16, 17 16 For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

中这就引向最后而至高的一点：自然与基督的关系。万有都是借基督造的，也是为基督造的；万有都在基督里同归于一——他是万有的源头，是万有合一唯一的原理与中心，也是万有最终恒久之成全的施行者与成就者。歌罗西书 1:16-17, 20 —— 因为万有都是靠他造的，无论是天上的、地上的，能看见的、不能看见的……一概都是借着他造的，又是为他造的。他在万有之先，万有也靠他而立。既然借着他在十字架上所流的血成就了和平，便借着他叫万有……都与自己和好了。以弗所书 1:10 —— 要照所安排的……使天上地上一切所有的，都在基督里面同归于一。〔那位为拯救我们而死的，不是别人，正是宇宙的创造者与托住者。如今整个自然界都有了新的意义——它洋溢着同一种爱与眷顾，正是这爱与眷顾引我们的主忍受了十字架。自然本身不是神，我们也不是泛神论者；但自然是神持续不断的表达。在自然里，我们听见的是同一个神圣的声音：旧约时代它从西奈山上说话，新约时代它讲出了登山宝训。拉斯金曾写道：『神圣的心思在每一道低矮的堤岸、每一块风化的石头上全力运作时，与它擎起诸天的柱子、奠定大地的根基时同样可见；对于感知得当的心灵而言，在泥土的塑造中与在云彩的铺散中，在尘土的风化中与在晨星的点燃中，所彰显的是同样的无限、同样的威严、同样的能力、同样的合一、同样的完全。』然而，当我们回到基督——世界的创造者与生命——这世界该变得何等神圣、何等美丽！当我们在其中认出他，自然大可被称为一块由神从天上缒下的大布，其中没有什么是俗物或不洁的。攀附在摇曳芦苇上最小的一枚硅藻，都值得深入研究，因为基督的智慧与旨意就展现在其中；而银河，不过是那位无限之神子驾着看不见的战车前行、要使万有归服于自己时，车轮扬起的尘土。在这样认出基督为自然之生命的认识里，我看见了神学与科学必将完全契合的保证。二者不过是从不同视角所拍下的、同一幅基督作为的图画：神学告诉我们『为何』，科学告诉我们『如何』。理性与信心并不彼此敌对；它们朝着同一个目标做工——发现并展开那在耶稣里的真理。它们的合一是可能的，理由很简单：神学一直在寻求基督，而基督就是真理；科学一直在寻求真理，而真理就是基督。斯特朗（A. H. Strong）〕