第五课 使徒信经

文档下载: 

A. The Text Of The Apostles’ Creed 《使徒信经》的文本

I believe in God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

我信上帝，全能的父，创造天地的主。

我信我主耶稣基督，上帝的独生子； 因着圣灵成孕，由童贞女马利亚所生； 在本丢彼拉多手下受难，被钉于十字架，受死，埋葬； 降在阴间； 第三天从死人中复活； 升天，坐在全能父上帝的右边； 将来必从那里降临，审判活人，死人。

我信圣灵； 我信圣而公之教会； 我信圣徒相通； 我信罪得赦免，我信身体复活； 我信永生。 阿们！

B. Characteristics Of The Apostles’ Creed 《使徒信经》的特点

  1. The creed is Trinitarian. It has three parts that confess the three Persons of the Godhead revealed in Bible verses such as Matthew 28:19-20.

    该信经是三位一体式的。它有三个部分，分别认信马太福音28:19-20等圣经经文中所启示的神的三个位格。

  2. The creed presents an orderly, historical, scriptural treatment of the divinely revealed plan of salvation.

    信经对神所启示的救赎计划进行了有序的、基于史实的、符合圣经的处理。

  3. The creed treats the fundamental articles of the Christian faith.

    信经论述了基督教信仰的基本条款。

  4. The creed professes living facts and saving truths.

    信经声明了鲜活的事实和救恩的真理。

  5. The creed employs simple, clear, scriptural language. “Christian truth could not possibly be put into a shorter and clearer statement (than in the Apostle’s Creed).” – Martin Luther

    该信经采用简明、清晰、合乎圣经的语言。 “基督教的真理不可能（比使徒信经）有更简短和更清晰的陈述了”- 马丁-路德

  6. The Apostles’ Creed is regarded as the “Creed of Baptism and of the Catechumen”

    使徒信经被视为 “预备洗礼和慕道者的信经”

  7. The creed was developed gradually over a period of hundreds of years.

    该信经是在数百年的时间里逐渐完善起来的。

C. The Development Of The Apostles’ Creed《使徒信经》的发展

  1. For many years, the creed was incorrectly thought to be written by the Twelve Apostles. The myth declared that the Holy Spirit prompted the Apostles to write the creed at the time of Pentecost. Saint Peter is said to have written the first phrase and then each apostle wrote another phrase until the last apostle, Matthias, wrote the final phrase.

    许多年来，人们错误地认为信条是由十二个使徒写的。 人们传说，圣灵在五旬节时促使使徒们写下了该信经。 据说圣彼得写了第一句话，然后每个使徒写了另一句话，直到最后一个使徒马提亚写了最后一句话。

  2. Although Jesus’ Twelve Apostles did not write the creed, the contents of the creed are based on the teachings that the divinely inspired Apostles recorded in the New Testament. “If the Apostles’ Creed was never actually compiled by the Apostles, it was faithfully put together out of their writings.” – John Calvin.

    虽然耶稣的十二个使徒没有写该信经，但信经的内容是基于使徒们在神所启示的新约中记录的教义。 “即便使徒们实际上从未亲自编撰《使徒信经》，然而它仍是从他们的著作中忠实地摘选出来的”- 约翰-加尔文。

  3. The creed is a product of the Western Church (the part of the Church that developed in the western part of the Roman Empire, primarily in western Europe and northern Africa).

    信经是西方教会（在罗马帝国西部，主要在西欧和北非发展的那部分教会）的产物。

  4. In the early centuries after Christ, local Christian churches developed oral baptismal creeds which were used as confessions by those being instructed for Baptism and church membership. These creeds were interrogative in nature, employing a question-and-answer format. The three primary baptismal questions were:

    在基督之后的几个世纪里，各个地方的基督教会制定了口头的洗礼信条，这些信条用来给那些预备接受洗礼和加入教会的人作为认信的内容。 这些信条具有询问性质，采用了问答的形式。 三个主要的洗礼问题是。

    a. Do you believe in God the Father?

    你相信父神吗？

    b. Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was incarnate and died and rose again?

    你是否相信上帝的儿子耶稣基督，祂曾道成肉身，死而复活？

    c. Do you believe in the Holy Spirit of God?

    你相信圣灵吗？

  5. Written creeds started to appear at the beginning of the 2nd Century. Ignatius was one of the first to record a creed.

    第二世纪初，书面信经文本开始出现。 伊格那丢（Ignatius）是最早记录信经的人之一。

  6. Ireneaus (Asia Minor and France) and Tertullian (Carthage) continued the development of written creeds at the end of the 2nd Century.

    爱任纽（Ireneaus）（小亚细亚和法国）和特图良（迦太基）在2世纪末继续发展书面的信经。

  7. The churches in Rome, Aquileia, Milan, Ravenna, Carthage and Hippo provided the most popular forms of a baptismal creed.

    罗马、阿奎利亚、米兰、拉文纳、迦太基和希波的教会提供了最流行的洗礼信经的形式。

    The Early Roman Baptismal Creed

    I believe in God, the Father Almighty,

    And in Christ Jesus, His only Son, our Lord,

    And in the Holy Spirit, the holy Church, the resurrection of the body.

    早期罗马洗礼信经

    我信上帝，全能的父。

    我信基督耶稣，祂的独生子，我们的主。

    我信圣灵、圣洁的教会、身体的复活。

  8. Marcellus of Ancyra (340 A.D.) gave the Greek form and Rufinus of Aquileia gave the Latin form of the Roman Creed by the end of the 4th Century. This Roman Creed would serve as the basic model for the Apostles’ Creed.

    安吉拉的马塞勒斯（Marcellus of Ancyra）（公元340年）供献了希腊语版本。阿奎利亚的鲁菲努斯在4世纪末给出了拉丁语形式的罗马信经。 这个罗马信经将作为《使徒信经》的基本模板。

    The Old Roman Creed旧罗马信经

    I believe in God the Father Almighty.

    And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, who under Pontius Pilate was crucified and buried. The third day He rose from the dead, He ascended into heaven and sits on the right hand of the Father. From there He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

    And in the Holy Spirit, the holy Church, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body.

    我信全能的父神。

    我信耶稣基督，祂的独生子，我们的主，祂藉圣灵从童贞女玛利亚所生，在本丢彼拉多手下被钉死并埋葬。第三天，祂从死里复活，升天，坐在父的右边。祂将来必从那里降临，审判活人，死人。

    我信圣灵、我信圣洁的教会、我信罪得赦免、我信身体的复活。

  9. The Roman Creed was expanded gradually by borrowing good phrases from other creeds over the years.

    罗马信经是通过多年来借用其他信经中的好词好句逐步扩展的。

  10. The expanded Roman Creed gained wide acceptance throughout the Western Church because of its excellence and because of the commanding position of the Church of Rome. It achieved special prominence in the 8th Century when the bishop of Rome and the Emperor pushed for liturgical uniformity in the Western Churches by adopting the Roman order.

    扩展后的《罗马信经》在整个西方教会中获得了广泛的接受，因为它很出色的，也因为罗马教会的指导地位。 该信经在8世纪取得了特别突出的地位，当时罗马主教和皇帝通过采用罗马教规来推动西方教会的仪文统一。

  11. Pirminius, a Benedictine monk and founder of the Abbey of Reichenau in southern Germany, is the first to record the final version of the Apostles Creed. He wrote it in his treatise, Scarapsus in 730 A.D.

    皮尔米尼乌斯（Pirminius），本笃会修士，德国南部莱切诺修道院的创始人，是第一个记录《使徒信经》最终版本的人。 公元730年，他在他的论文《Scarapsus（皮尔米尼乌斯修道院院长的讲话，单行本的摘录）》中记载了该信经。

D. A Challenging Interpretation一个解读的难题

  1. The most controversial and difficult phrase to understand in the Apostles’ Creed is the term translated “the communion of saints.”

    《使徒信经》中最有争议和最难理解的是翻译成 “圣徒相通"的那一句话。

  2. The original Latin has the words “sanctorum communion” and the Greek form uses the words “koinonia ton hagion”.

    拉丁文原文是 “sanctorum communion”，希腊文则是 “koinonia ton hagion”。

  3. These words have traditionally been translated “the fellowship of the holy.” This translation would refer to “the fellowship of holy people “, that is, the believers who are holy in Christ Jesus, both those who live on earth and those who have died and now live in heaven.

    这些词传统上被翻译为 “神圣的团契（the fellowship of the holy ）"。 这种译法应该意指的是 “圣徒的团契（the fellowship of holy people ）"，即在基督耶稣里被分别为圣的信徒，包括那些生活在地上的人和那些已经死亡而在天堂的人。

  4. These words could also be translated “the participation in the holy” This translation would refer to “the participation in the holy things”, that is, the elements of Holy Communion. People who favor this view question why the creed would include two phrases (“the Holy Christian Church, the communion of saints”) that say essentially the same thing.

    这些词也可以翻译为 “在圣洁中有份的（the participation in the holy ）"，这种译法意指"在神圣的事物中有份的（the participation in the holy things ）"，即圣餐中所包含的事物。 赞成这种观点的人质疑为什么信经会用两个短语（“圣而公之教会，圣徒相同”）来认信从本质上来说的同一件事。

  5. The vast majority of scholars have favored the traditional translation and interpretation “communion of saints” or “the fellowship of the holy.”

    绝大多数学者都赞成传统的翻译和解释 “圣徒相通"或 “圣徒的团契”。

E. The Value And Use Of The Apostles’ Creed 《使徒信经》的价值和使用

  1. The creed offers basic instruction in the Gospel

    该信经提供了关于福音的基本教导

  2. The creed is a helpful aid for public confession of faith in worship

    该信经为在崇拜中公开表明信仰提供了有用的帮助

  3. The creed identifies the basis principles of Christian belief

    该信经确定了基督教信仰的基本准则

  4. The creed aids in personal examination and spiritual renewal

    该信经有助于个人省察和灵里的更新

  5. The creed fosters unity and harmony in faith among Christians

    该信条促进了基督徒在信仰上的团结与和睦

Part V Review Questions 复习题

  1. What is one of the outstanding features of the Apostles’ Creed?

    《使徒信经》的一个突出特点是什么？

  2. Why is the name “Apostles’ Creed” a good name for the creed, even though it was not written by the Apostles of Christ?

    为什么《使徒信经》这个名字对该信经来说是个好名字，尽管它并不是由基督的使徒们写的？

  3. For what important purpose were simple, oral Trinity-confessing creeds developed in the early centuries after Christ?

    在基督之后的几个世纪里，简洁、用以口头承认三位一体的信经是为了什么重要目的而制定的？

  4. What is the name of the creed that served as the model for the Apostles’ Creed?

    《使徒信经》是以那个信经为底版写成的？

  5. What is “the communion of saints” that we confess in the Apostles’ Creed?

    我们在《使徒信经》中所认信的 “圣徒相通"是什么意思？

提交文档问题 提交项目问题