Ropsy－關於愛，我是個小學生。

The Character of Christ
I now want to say a few words upon a topic which I often think is not quite sufficiently dealt with by Rationalists, and that is the question whether Christ was the best and the wisest of men. It is generally taken for granted that we should all agree that that was so. I do not myself. I think that there are a good many points upon which I agree with Christ a great deal more than the professing Christians do. I do not know that I could go with Him all the way, but I could go with Him much further than most professing Christians can. You will remember that He said, "Resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." That is not a new precept or a new principle. It was used by Lao-tse and Buddha some 500 or 600 years before Christ, but it is not a principle which as a matter of fact Christians accept. I have no doubt that the present prime minister [Stanley Baldwin], for instance, is a most sincere Christian, but I should not advise any of you to go and smite him on one cheek. I think you might find that he thought this text was intended in a figurative sense.

Then there is another point which I consider excellent. You will remember that Christ said, "Judge not lest ye be judged." That principle I do not think you would find was popular in the law courts of Christian countries. I have known in my time quite a number of judges who were very earnest Christians, and none of them felt that they were acting contrary to Christian principles in what they did. Then Christ says, "Give to him that asketh of thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away." That is a very good principle. Your Chairman has reminded you that we are not here to talk politics, but I cannot help observing that the last general election was fought on the question of how desirable it was to turn away from him that would borrow of thee, so that one must assume that the Liberals and Conservatives of this country are composed of people who do not agree with the teaching of Christ, because they certainly did very emphatically turn away on that occasion.

Then there is one other maxim of Christ which I think has a great deal in it, but I do not find that it is very popular among some of our Christian friends. He says, "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that which thou hast, and give to the poor." That is a very excellent maxim, but, as I say, it is not much practised. All these, I think, are good maxims, although they are a little difficult to live up to. I do not profess to live up to them myself; but then, after all, it is not quite the same thing as for a Christian.

耶穌的特質
現在來談談我總覺得理性主義者闡述得很不充分的一個問題：就是耶穌是否在人類中最有道德並最有智慧。一般都是人云亦云地認為就是如此。我卻不以為然，我自信在很多觀點上要比那些自稱為基督教徒的人更同意耶穌的觀點。但我並不認為我能完全實踐他的論調，但我有把握遠遠勝過那些自稱為基督徒的人。你們都記得他曾說過：「不要與惡人作對。有人打你的右臉，連左臉也轉過來由他打。」這並不是什麼新觀念或原則。早在耶穌五、六百年以前，老子和釋加牟尼就用過這樣的訓諭。基督徒卻沒有完全接受這一原則；這樣說好了，我毫不懷疑現任首相非常虔誠，但我並不主張你們去打他耳光。你們會發現他認為這句話只有象徵性的意義。

還有一點也說得好；耶穌說：「你們不要論斷人，免得你們被論斷。」相信你定會發現，在基督教國家的法庭，這原則並不適用。我這半輩子認識過好些是虔誠基督徒的法官，根本就沒有人覺得他們自己的行為是違背基督教的原則的。基督還說：「有求你的，就給他。有向你借貸的，不可推辭。」這也是極其高尚的原則。主席吩咐過我們，在這裏不要談政治。但我還是免不了要提一下，在上次大選中，就是對推辭借貸人是多麼可行的相關話題的激烈爭辯。由此可以肯定，我國自由黨和保守黨的成員都是些不同意基督教導的人，因為他們在上述情況下無疑地相互推辭著。

另外還有一條也很有意義，但我看基督徒朋友們卻不怎麼力行；耶穌說：「你若願意作完全人，可去變賣你所有的，分給窮人。」這是的確很好。但是，正如方才所說，實行的並不多。上述各項訓誨都很不錯，但是有些難以做到。我並不標榜自己要去實踐；不過，基督徒不去實踐，到底有點說不過去了。

【論證與主張】略

【問題與意見】

這段似乎有點文不對題，綜觀全篇，與其說是羅氏欲探討耶穌基督的德行，不如說是指責基督徒的道德無能，所以標題應改為「沒用的基督徒」才是，而羅氏只是用詞比較含蓄而已。就我個人而言，不得不承認他說的全對：我完完全全是個罪人，真的沒出息；上面引述的三個教誨，儘管我很想，可是我一個都做不到，我對主耶穌的信心，遠不如一顆芥菜種子；別人打我，我想還手；別人質疑，我要反駁；專挑別人眼裡的小刺，卻不見自己眼中的樑木；貪戀錢財，愛慕物欲，奉獻自己小部分的所得，便感到萬分的不捨。若羅氏因眼見周遭眾教徒對自身教條執行的無力而不願與之同流，我無話可說，不但如此，並深表慚愧與歉意。實言之，我根本不配成為跟隨基督的人，永遠不配！「就如經上所記：『沒有義人、連一個也沒有』。【羅馬書 3：10】」可是在此有一句話我仍想要明確地說出：「神愛世人，甚至將他的獨生子賜給他們；叫一切信他的，不至滅亡，反得永生。【約翰福音 3：16】」

我是個罪人，我無力拯救自己脫離罪的束縛；我無時無刻不在犯罪，仇恨、不饒恕的苦毒、謊言、驕傲、姦淫、虛榮、固執、自私，心中雖不願，可是身子卻由不得我，的確，這正如使徒保羅所言：「我真是苦啊！誰能救我脫離這取死的身體呢？【羅馬書 7：24】」若是罪能得著寬恕，是件多麼寶貴的事呢！我是個罪人，明知我不配，可是還是想告訴大家，相信耶穌基督是多麼的重要和美好，讓主耶穌帶領我們，可以認清自己、看見生命！

我雖是個罪人，可是我仍有理性，仍有必要把一些看似模糊誤會的論述弄清楚、講明白，對於羅氏關於基督教的某些質疑，我仍有責任釐清。畢竟，這是我的信仰，用客觀理性的態度去檢視我的信仰，相信這是在此生中少數中的少數我比較有把握能做到的事了。