覆

也可 舟

郵寄地址 Postal Address: P.O.Box 1340, Burwood NSW 1805 1 電郵 Email: ctca@ctca.edu.au 網址 Website: www.ctca.edu.au

水可載 舟

台灣中華福音神學院院長 蔡麗貞博士

重新翻案 — 林後三章六節的第

二種解法

八年之後，政治局勢風向轉變，另一

批政治家也找神學家來支持他們，為

當年的凶殺事件翻案。這次的主審官

走馬換將，重新審理八年前的政治謀

殺事件，他指責八年前那位主審官對

哥林多後書三章六節的解釋是錯誤

的。他認為字面解經永遠是最正確的

解釋，且是聖靈的原意。這一場的政

治事件，終於在 1415 年康司坦斯會議

（Council of Constance）翻案成功，宣

告當年的判決錯誤，終於將兇手繩之

以法，並且斥責當年的解經。

這是同一節經文卻採用兩種截然不同

的解釋之案例。一方主張字面解經是

扼殺人的靈魂；另一陣營卻堅持字面

解經永遠是最正確可靠的。

此事件反映兩個現象：

一、歷世歷代對於哥林多後書三章六

節有兩極的解釋。

有人認為字面解經是膚淺的，有人則

認為字面解經是正確的。歷世歷代的

神學家、解經家不斷爭論「字句叫人

死」、「精意叫人活」的正確意思。

過去很多人將「字句」解釋為字面解

經，而「精意」解釋為靈意解經，這

當然也與保羅在此處使用的字彙有關

係，容易產生誤導作用 。

二、中世紀末期，靈意解經似乎已開

始走下坡。

在康司坦斯會議之前一千多年的教會

歷史，多半認為靈意解經是最好的解

經，多半的解經家也都偏好靈意解

澳洲華人教牧神學院 院訊 第四十七期

二零一九年六月

可載舟，也可覆舟。聖經是我

們信仰的根基，但是錯用聖經

也會給信仰帶來極大的危險。如果將

聖經斷章取義，以偏概全，任何錯誤

的解經都可以在聖經裡找到支持的論

據。不要忘記，異端與我們讀的是同

一本聖經，但異端卻能讀出截然不同

的結論。正統教會的真理根基是歸

納、整合自全本聖經，而不會只依賴

單一經節來支持某個重要的教義。

然則，有趣的現象就在於，正統教會

與異端團體居然可以採用同一節經文

來支持各自不同的立場；此意味著同

一節經文，可以有正、反兩種解釋。

以下的故事就是一個很好的例證。

釋經介入政治事件 — 林後三章

六節的第一種解法

中世紀末期，法國神學界發生一件關

於解經的爭論，是關於哥林多後書三

章六節的詮釋：「衪叫我們能承擔這新約的執事，不是憑著字句，乃是憑著精意。因為那字句是叫人死，精意是叫人活。」，關鍵是在最後這兩

句：「字句是叫人死，精意是叫人活。」

故事起源於一樁政治的謀殺事件，可

是最後爭論的中心卻是解經的問題。

第一次的主審官引用哥林多後書三章

六節作為結論：「一成不變地主張聖經字面的意義，等於謀殺一個人的靈魂 ， 這 就 是 『 字 句 叫 人 死 』 的 意思。」也就是說「字句叫人死」是指

解釋聖經時不應拘泥死板，不能完全

按照字面來解釋。

水

經。但在這次的事件中，似乎暗示靈

意解經已日漸式微。有人開始站出來

挑戰與質疑靈意解經，認為字面解經

才是聖靈的原意，是永遠正確可靠的

解經。彷彿字面解經正在抬頭，局勢

逐漸在改變中。而其中扭轉局面的關

鍵人物是馬丁路德。從路德以後，基

督教開始採用字面解經，公認字面解

經是最可靠、最安全的解經 。

然而不要過早額手稱慶，這仍只是學

術界的趨勢，實際上靈意解經仍然深

深的影響著當代教會的講台。直至今

日，華人教會中許多牧者依舊習慣使

用靈意解經。筆者不全然反對靈意解

經，然而我們必須反省、評估，什麼

樣的解經才是最好、最合宜的解經。

蔡麗貞博士 台灣中華福音神學院第七任

院長，亦是首任女院長，畢業於台灣政治大

學文學士、中華福音神學院道學碩士、亞洲

浸信會神學院神學碩士、英國亞伯丁大學哲

學博士，主修教會歷史。2011 年曾擔任香

港「港九培靈研經大會」研經會講員。其著

作有《主流與非主流》、《十字架討厭的地

方－世紀末教會爭論議題》、《基督徒的搬

家哲學》、《我信聖而公之教會—教會歷史

專題》、《你在何處牧羊》、《誰說字句叫

人死》等。

發行者： 澳洲華人教牧神學院 2

2019 國語神學講座

按正意分解真道

26/7 週五 晚上 7:30-9:00 智慧詩與成功神學

詩篇一三三篇 團契生活

27/7 週六 下午 2:00-3:30 經文意思的固定性與多元性

學生不能大過老師

下午 4:00-5:30 字面解經與靈意解經（一）

詩篇四十二、四十三篇

晚上 7:00-8:30 字面解經與靈意解經（二）

好撒瑪利亞人的比喻

28/7 主日 晚上 7:30-9:00 釋經學與福音信息

場上競賽的運動員

講員：蔡麗貞博士

地點：基督學院 Christ College, 1 Clarence Street, Burwood NSW 2134

查詢：(02) 9715 2992 / ctca@ctca.edu.au

詳情及報名請參閱本院網站 www.ctca.edu.au

公開聚會，免費憑票入場

感恩及代禱事項 感謝主，本院講師李君晳牧師的博士論文順利通過考核，並

獲評卷者讚揚，求主大大使用李牧師未來在教學上的事奉。

學院申請成為澳洲神學協會的會員學院一事，仍在等待審

批，請繼續代禱。

本院將於下學期推出網上教學學位課程的第一科「基督教歷

史 (1550 年至現代) 」，求主使用。

本院將於 7 月 26-28 日舉行國語神學講座，主題為「按正意

分解真道」，探討釋經的課題，請為講員台灣中華福音神學院院長蔡麗貞博士，以及所有籌備工作代禱。

因應申請獨立的需要，學院的經濟力量仍有待加強，求主按

時供應。

2019 第二學期延伸神學課程

基督教信仰要義

田宏恩牧師 (國語)

16/9, 23/9, 30/9, 14/10, 21/10, 28/10 (晚上 6-9) 及 11/11 (晚上 6-8) [共 7 堂]

以下科目與學位課程同學同班，只供旁聽，報讀者必須懂得操作電腦，能上網下載講義。

＊ 耶穌與福音書

梁明生牧師 (國語)

＊ 舊約基礎

李君晳牧師 (分國粵語兩班)

＊ 教會歷史 (1550 年至現代) 余大峰博士 (國語)

〔以上 3 科於 22/7 至 30/10 期間 上課，每科 12 堂。〕

教會歷史 (1550 年至現代) 余大峰博士 (國粵語網上教學)

除網上教學課程外，所有科目之

上課地點均為基督學院 Christ College (1 Clarence Street, Burwood)。

詳情請瀏覽本院網站

2019 第二學期澳洲神學協會學位課程

本院現正招收本年第二學期澳洲神學協會學位課程學生，課程包

括 :

文學碩士(神學/聖工) (AQF LEVEL 9) ● 神學學士 (AQF LEVEL 7)

道學碩士 (AQF LEVEL 9) ● 聖工學士 (AQF LEVEL 7)

聖工碩士 (AQF LEVEL 9) ● 神學文憑 (AQF LEVEL 5)

道學研究文憑 (AQF LEVEL 8) ● 聖工文憑 (AQF LEVEL 5)

道學研究證書 (AQF LEVEL 8)

入學資格、申請手續及章程請參閱本院網站

澳洲公民可向政府申請 FEE-HELP 貸款助學

澳神為基督學院的代理學院， 而基督學院為澳洲神學協會（CRICOS: 02650E）附屬學院之一。

capsize

Water can keep a boat afloat

郵寄地址 Postal Address: P.O.Box 1340, Burwood NSW 1805 E-1 電郵 Email: ctca@ctca.edu.au 網址Website: www.ctca.edu.au

Reversal of the Verdict – an alter-native to the exegesis of 2 Cor 3:6

Eight years later, the political tide began to turn. Another group of politicians also gathered some theologians to support them to appeal the murder that took place. A different judge was in sitting, and he began to review the case from 8 years ago. He believed that a literal ap-proach was always the correct interpre-tation, and would have been the original intention of the Holy Spirit. The political episode ended in 1415 during the Coun-cil of Constance when the appeal was successful. The original verdict was de-clared to be erroneous, the murderer was captured and the approach applied in interpreting the Bible in the original verdict was reprimanded.

This is an illustration of adopting differ-ent interpretations for the same bible verse. One party asserted that the literal interpretation strangulated or killed a person’s spirit while the other camp maintained that literal interpretation was always correct and reliable.

This incident reflects two phenomena:

1. Historically, there are two polarized interpretations to 2 Cor 3:6.

Some people believed that the literal approach was a superficial one, howev-er, others felt that literal interpretation was the correct approach. Theologians and commentators had been arguing about the correct meaning of the phrases “the letter kills” and “the Spirit gives life”. Many people had in the past interpreted the word “letter” to mean literal interpretation of the Bible, while the word “spirit” was referred to as alle-gorical interpretation. For sure the vo-cabulary used by Paul here could be mis-leading and thus, has a bearing on such explanations.

2. Towards the end of the Middle Ages, allegorical interpretation began to go downhill.

About 1,000 years prior to the Council of Constance, the majority believed that

Chinese Theological College Australia Inc.

NEWSLETTER

“Water can keep a boat afloat but can also capsize it.” (Chinese idiom) The Bible is the foundation of our faith, yet the misuse of the Bible will bring great dan-ger to our faith. A person can use the Bible to support any fallacy or ridiculous argument if the Bible is taken out of con-text. Let’s not forget that heretics read the same Bible as we do, however, the conclusions that they draw up are com-pletely different from ours. The founda-tion upon which the truth of orthodox churches are based comes as a result of integrating and inducting the whole Bible and not merely through reliance on a single verse to support an important doc-trine.

However, it is interesting to note that orthodox churches and heretical groups use the same verse to support their different or opposing standpoint; imply-ing that the same verse may have differ-ent or opposing interpretations or expla-nations.

The story below is a very good illustra-tion.

Intervening in Politics – an explana-tion of 2 Cor 3:6

Towards the end of the Middle Ages, a debate erupted in the French theological arena regarding the interpretation of 2 Cor 3:6 : “He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” The crux is in the last clause - for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

The story began with a political homicide, however the final argument related to the subject of interpretation. The judge quoted 2 Cor 3:6 as his conclusion: to maintain unwaveringly a literal meaning of the Bible is equivalent to “murdering a person’s spirit”, this is the actual mean-ing of the phrase “the letter kills”. In oth-er words, the phrase “the letter kills” means that when interpreting the Bible, one should not apply the meaning literal-ly nor be too rigid and inflexible.

Dr Anne Lee-Chen Tsai The 7th President (also the first female presi-dent) of China Evangelical Seminary in Taiwan, BA (National Chengchi University), MDiv (China Evangelical Seminary), ThM (Asia Baptist Grad-uate Theological Seminary), PhD (University of Aberdeen), majored in church history, speaker of Hong Kong Bible Conference in 2011, author of numerous Chinese publications.

Written by Dr Anne Lee-Chen Tsai, President of China Evangelical Seminary

Translated by Ms Jin Jin Leong

but can also it !

allegorical interpretation was the best way of interpretation. However, since the above incident, allegorical interpre-tation gradually met its demise. Its relia-bility was challenged and questioned while literal interpretation began to be held as the original intention of the Holy Spirit for interpretation and should be the accurate and reliable method to in-terpreting the Bible. Gradually, the literal method began to be more accepted. Martin Luther marked the turning point of the wide acceptance of literal interpre-tation – since Luther, Christian churches began to adopt literal interpretation as the most reliable method of interpreta-tion.

However, it is still premature for us to be overjoyed for this is just the trend in aca-demia. Allegorical interpretation is still deeply rooted and influencing the pulpits of contemporary churches. To this day, most pastors of Chinese churches habitu-ally apply allegorical interpretation to Bible verses. I do not completely oppose allegorical interpretation, rather, we must continue to reflect and evaluate what interpretation approach is the best and most appropriate.

2019 Mandarin Theological Lecture

Rightly Explaining the Word of Truth

26/7 FRI 7:30-9:00pm Poetic Books & Prosperity Theology — Psalm 133 The Life of Fellowship

27/7 SAT 2:00-3:30pm The Constancy & Diversity of the Meanings in Scripture — Students can’t be Superior to Teachers

4:00-5:30pm Literal Interpretation & Allegorical Interpretation (I) — Psalms 42 & 43

7:00-8:30pm Literal Interpretation & Allegorical Interpretation (II) — The Parable of the

Good Samaritan

28/7 SUN 7:30-9:00pm Exegesis & the Gospel — The Athletes Competing on the Field

Speaker: Dr Anne Lee-Chen Tsai

Venue: Christ College, 1 Clarence Street, Burwood NSW 2134

Enq: (02) 9715 2992 / ctca@ctca.edu.au

Please visit www.ctca.edu.au for details.

Free admission by tickets.

Thanksgiving & Prayer Points Thank God that the doctorate thesis of our Lecturer Rev Grace

Tsoi has been passed and praised by her supervisor. Pray that God will use her greatly in her future teaching ministry.

Please continue to pray for our affiliation application which is still being assessed by the ACT.

We are presently promoting the offer of online learning with the first degree course subject “Church from 1550 to Modern Times)” commencing in the next semester. Pray that God will make use of it.

Our 2019 Mandarin Theological Lecture “Rightly Explaining the Word of Truth” will be held on July 26-28. Please pray for the speaker, Dr Anne Lee-Chen Tsai, the President of China Evangeli-cal Seminary in Taiwan, and all the preparation work.

We need to strengthen our financial position in support of our affiliation application. Pray for God’s timely provision.

2019 2nd Semester TEE Program

Essential Christianity Rev Tallis Tien (Mandarin)

16/9, 23/9, 30/9, 14/10, 21/10, 28/10 (6-9pm) & 11/11 (6-8pm) [7 lessons]

Students of the subjects below (open for audit only) sit in the same class as degree students. Applicants need to be computer literate and are able to download notes online.

＊ Jesus and the Gospels Rev Ming Leung (Mandarin)

＊ Old Testament Foundations Rev Grace Tsoi (separate Mandarin/ Cantonese class)

＊ Church from 1550 to Modern Times Dr Devin Yu (Mandarin)

[Each of the 3 subjects above consists of 12 lessons during 22/7 to 30/10.]

Church from 1550 to Modern Times Dr Devin Yu (Mandarin/Cantonese online learning)

All classes, except for online learning, are held at Christ College,

1 Clarence Street, Burwood.

For details please visit our website.

2019 2nd Semester ACT Degree Courses

Applications for the Australian College of Theology (ACT) undergrad-uate and graduate courses now open. Courses are:

● MASTER OF ARTS (Theology/Ministry) ● BACHELOR OF THEOLOGY ● MASTER OF DIVINITY ● BACHELOR OF MINISTRY ● MASTER OF MINISTRY ● DIPLOMA OF THEOLOGY ● GRADUATE DIPLOMA OF DIVINITY ● DIPLOMA OF MINISTRY ● GRADUATE CERTIFICATE OF DIVINITY

Please visit our website www.ctca.edu.au for details.

FEE-HELP available to Australian citizens

CTCA has partnered with Christ College, an affiliated college of the Australian College of Theology (CRICOS: 02650E).

Publisher: Chinese Theological College Australia (CTCA) E-2

CTCA has been granted approval from the Australian College of Theology for online delivery. We now offer the Graduate Diploma of Divinity and Diploma of Theology in online mode. The first subject will start in July 2019.

Features of study online : 1. teach in Mandarin (some subjects in Cantonese) 2. lecture notes in Chinese 3. audio & video recording 4. scanned materials for pre-reading 5. online discussion forum 6. virtual classroom 7. study skills seminars 8. chaplain support 9. postal service for the loan of library books 10. student support team