第33章 最初的大欺骗
§1
第33章 最初的大欺骗
§2
Chap. 33 - The First Great Deception
§3
在世界历史发端的时候，撒但就已开始欺骗人类了。这个曾在天庭发动叛变的撒但切望地上的居民与他联合，共同敌对上帝的政权。亚当和夏娃曾因顺从上帝的律法而度全然幸福的生活，这个事实乃是一个恒久的凭据，反证了撒但在天上所力陈的主张，就是他所说，上帝的律法是压迫人的，是与被造之物的利益相冲突的。此外，当撒但看到上帝为这一对无罪的夫妇所预备的美丽家乡时，他便妒火中烧，定意要使他们堕落，及至他们与上帝隔绝，而落到他的权势之下，他便可以承受全地为业，并在其上建立自己的国度，与至高者抗衡。[1]{GC 531.1}
§4
With the earliest history of man, Satan began his efforts to deceive our race. He who had incited rebellion in heaven desired to bring the inhabitants of the earth to unite with him in his warfare against the government of God. Adam and Eve had been perfectly happy in obedience to the law of God, and this fact was a constant testimony against the claim which Satan had urged in heaven, that Gods law was oppressive and opposed to the good of His creatures. And furthermore, Satans envy was excited as he looked upon the beautiful home prepared for the sinless pair. He determined to cause their fall, that, having separated them from God and brought them under his own power, he might gain possession of the earth and here establish his kingdom in opposition to the Most High. {GC 531.1}[1]
§5
如果撒但在伊甸园显露了自己的真面目，势必立时被斥退，因为亚当和夏娃早已受了警告，要提防这个危险的仇敌。所以他在暗中进行工作，掩饰了自己的毒计，以便更有效地达到目的。他所利用为媒介的，乃是当时极为美丽的蛇。他对夏娃说：“上帝岂是真说，不许你们吃园中所有树上的果子吗？”（创3:1）如果夏娃当时没有和这试探者交谈，她就不至于有什么危险，但她竟冒险与他周旋，结果便陷入他的圈套，成了他的掠物。今日有许多人也是这样被魔鬼所胜。他们对于上帝的律法进行怀疑和辩论，不但不顺从他的命令，反倒接受人的理论，而这些理论不过是撒但诡计的伪装。[2]{GC 531.2}
§6
Had Satan revealed himself in his real character, he would have been repulsed at once, for Adam and Eve had been warned against this dangerous foe; but he worked in the dark, concealing his purpose, that he might more effectually accomplish his object. Employing as his medium the serpent, then a creature of fascinating appearance, he addressed himself to Eve: Hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? Genesis 3:1. Had Eve refrained from entering into argument with the tempter, she would have been safe; but she ventured to parley with him and fell a victim to his wiles. It is thus that many are still overcome. They doubt and argue concerning the requirements of God; and instead of obeying the divine commands, they accept human theories, which but disguise the devices of Satan. {GC 531.2}[2]
§7
“女人对蛇说：园中树上的果子我们可以吃，唯有园当中那棵树上的果子，上帝曾说，你们不可吃，也不可摸，免得你们死。蛇对女人说，你们不一定死，因为上帝知道，你们吃的日子眼睛就明亮了，你们便如上帝能知道善恶。”（创3:2-5）他说他们会像上帝一样，比先前更有智慧，并且可以度更高尚的生活。夏娃在试探之下屈服了，并且由于她的影响，亚当也跟着犯罪了。他们相信了蛇的话，说上帝所讲的话不是出于诚心的，他们不信任自己的创造主，以为他是束缚他们的自由，并以为自己可以干犯他的律法，借以得到大智慧并且得以高升。[3]{GC 532.1}
§8
The woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. Verses 2-5. He declared that they would become like God, possessing greater wisdom than before and being capable of a higher state of existence. Eve yielded to temptation; and through her influence, Adam was led into sin. They accepted the words of the serpent, that God did not mean what He said; they distrusted their Creator and imagined that He was restricting their liberty and that they might obtain great wisdom and exaltation by transgressing His law. {GC 532.1}[3]
§9
但亚当在犯罪之后，对于“你吃的日子必定死”这句话，发现什么意思呢？是否信如撒但所言，使他达到更高的生活境地呢？如果真是这样，那么，犯罪就可大得利益，而撒但也必证明为人类的福星了。然而亚当对于上帝那一句话的体验却不是这样的。上帝宣布说，人类犯罪所必须受的刑罚乃是归回他所从之而出的尘土，“你本是尘土，仍要归于尘土。”（创3:19）撒但所说“你们吃的日子眼睛就明亮了”这句话只有在这一方面是对的，在亚当和夏娃违背上帝之后，他们的眼睛果然开了，但所看到的乃是自己的愚蠢，他们果然知道了恶事，并尝到了犯罪的苦果。[4]{GC 532.2}
§10
But what did Adam, after his sin, find to be the meaning of the words, In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die? Did he find them to mean, as Satan had led him to believe, that he was to be ushered into a more exalted state of existence? Then indeed there was great good to be gained by transgression, and Satan was proved to be a benefactor of the race. But Adam did not find this to be the meaning of the divine sentence. God declared that as a penalty for his sin, man should return to the ground whence he was taken: Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. Verse 19. The words of Satan, Your eyes shall be opened, proved to be true in this sense only: After Adam and Eve had disobeyed God, their eyes were opened to discern their folly; they did know evil, and they tasted the bitter fruit of transgression. {GC 532.2}[4]
§11
在伊甸园当中长着生命树，它的果子有使人长生不老之功。亚当若顺从上帝，便可一直自由享用这棵树的果子，并可生存到永远。但在他犯罪之后，他便与这棵生命树隔绝，而成为必死的人了。那神圣的判语，“你本是尘土，仍要归于尘土，”说明了生命的全然灭绝。[5]{GC 532.3}
§12
In the midst of Eden grew the tree of life, whose fruit had the power of perpetuating life. Had Adam remained obedient to God, he would have continued to enjoy free access to this tree and would have lived forever. But when he sinned he was cut off from partaking of the tree of life, and he became subject to death. The divine sentence, Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return, points to the utter extinction of life. {GC 532.3}[5]
§13
上帝曾应许人在顺从的条件之下，可以长生不老，但人类因犯罪而丧失了这个权利。亚当不能把自己所没有的传给子孙，所以上帝若没有牺牲自己的儿子，使人可以恢复永生，堕落犯罪的人类就毫无指望了。在“死就临到众人，因为众人都犯了罪”的时候，基督“借着福音，将不能坏的生命彰显出来。”（罗5:12；提后1:10）唯有借着基督，我们才能得永生。耶稣说：“信子的人有永生，不信子的人得不着永生。”（约3:36）只要人肯顺从这个条件，他们都可以得到这个无上的幸福。“凡恒心行善，寻求荣耀尊贵，和不能朽坏之福的，”都可以得到永生。（罗2:7）[6]{GC 533.1}
§14
Immortality, promised to man on condition of obedience, had been forfeited by transgression. Adam could not transmit to his posterity that which he did not possess; and there could have been no hope for the fallen race had not God, by the sacrifice of His Son, brought immortality within their reach. While death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned, Christ hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Romans 5:12; 2 Timothy 1:10. And only through Christ can immortality be obtained. Said Jesus: He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life. John 3:36. Every man may come into possession of this priceless blessing if he will comply with the conditions. All who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, will receive eternal life. Romans 2:7. {GC 533.1}[6]
§15
只有那大骗子撒但曾应许亚当可以在悖逆之中接受永生。蛇在伊甸园中对夏娃说：“你们不一定死，”这一句话乃是第一个主张灵魂不死的讲章。这种说法虽是完全以撒但的权威为根据，但各基督教会的讲台上都随声附和，并且大多数人也像我们的始祖一样，立即加以接受。上帝的判决乃是，“犯罪的，他必死亡。”（结18:20）但人却把它改成犯罪的必不死亡，反要永远存活。这不可思议的迷惑竟使人那么轻易相信撒但的话，而不相信上帝的话，真足令人惊异万分。[7]{GC 533.2}
§16
The only one who promised Adam life in disobedience was the great deceiver. And the declaration of the serpent to Eve in Eden--Ye shall not surely die--was the first sermon ever preached upon the immortality of the soul. Yet this declaration, resting solely upon the authority of Satan, is echoed from the pulpits of Christendom and is received by the majority of mankind as readily as it was received by our first parents. The divine sentence, The soul that sinneth, it shall die (Ezekiel 18:20), is made to mean: The soul that sinneth, it shall not die, but live eternally. We cannot but wonder at the strange infatuation which renders men so credulous concerning the words of Satan and so unbelieving in regard to the words of God. {GC 533.2}[7]
§17
如果人在犯罪堕落之后仍得自由享用生命树的果子，他就可以永远生存，而罪恶也就永远存在了。但有基路伯和发火焰的剑“把守生命树的道路，”（创3:24）亚当家庭中的人就没有一个可以越过这道关口，去摘取生命树的果子了。因此，世上就没有一个永远不死的罪人。[8]{GC 533.3}
§18
Had man after his fall been allowed free access to the tree of life, he would have lived forever, and thus sin would have been immortalized. But cherubim and a flaming sword kept the way of the tree of life (Genesis 3:24), and not one of the family of Adam has been permitted to pass that barrier and partake of the life-giving fruit. Therefore there is not an immortal sinner. {GC 533.3}[8]
§19
但在人类犯罪堕落之后，撒但吩咐他的使者特别努力以灵魂不死的道理教训人，及至他引诱人类相信这个异端之后，他便要进一步使他们相信罪人必永远活在痛苦之中。这样，黑暗之君利用他的爪牙工具诬蔑上帝为一个性好报复的暴君，说他要把一切他所不喜悦的人投入地狱，使他们永远受他的忿怒；并说当他们在永远的火焰中因极度的痛苦而挣扎哀哭时，创造主便要隔岸观火得意扬扬了。[9]{GC 534.1}
§20
But after the Fall, Satan bade his angels make a special effort to inculcate the belief in mans natural immortality; and having induced the people to receive this error, they were to lead them on to conclude that the sinner would live in eternal misery. Now the prince of darkness, working through his agents, represents God as a revengeful tyrant, declaring that He plunges into hell all those who do not please Him, and causes them ever to feel His wrath; and that while they suffer unutterable anguish and writhe in the eternal flames, their Creator looks down upon them with satisfaction. {GC 534.1}[9]
§21
借着这种方法，这位大魔王就把自己的特性加在那创造并赐福与人类的主身上。撒但的特性就是残忍暴虐，但上帝却是爱，凡他所创造的，尽是纯全、圣洁、可爱的，及至那第一个大叛徒把罪恶带进来之后，情形就不是这样了。撒但自己才是人类的仇敌，他先引诱人犯罪，随后又尽他所能的去毁灭那人，及至他确知那人已在掌握之中，他便要因自己所行的毁灭而欢欣鼓舞。如果许可的话，他恨不得把全人类一网打尽。若不是上帝的权能阻挡他，亚当的子孙便没有一个能逃出他的魔掌。[10]{GC 534.2}
§22
Thus the archfiend clothes with his own attributes the Creator and Benefactor of mankind. Cruelty is satanic. God is love; and all that He created was pure, holy, and lovely, until sin was brought in by the first great rebel. Satan himself is the enemy who tempts man to sin, and then destroys him if he can; and when he has made sure of his victim, then he exults in the ruin he has wrought. If permitted, he would sweep the entire race into his net. Were it not for the interposition of divine power, not one son or daughter of Adam would escape. {GC 534.2}[10]
§23
今日的撒但正在设法要胜过人类，正如他胜过我们的始祖一样。他所用的手段就是摇动世人对于创造主的信任，并引诱他们怀疑上帝政权的智慧和他律法的公正。撒但和他的使者把上帝形容得比他们更坏，借以掩护他们自己的恶毒和叛逆。那大骗子尽力把自己极度残忍的性格加在我们天父的身上，借以显明他自己是因为不顺服这极不公正的统治者而被逐出天庭的，如此，他表明自己是大受冤屈的。他向世人说明他们服在他的宽大政策之下所必能享受的自由，并以此与耶和华严酷之命令所加在他们身上的束缚作个对照，这样他便很成功地引诱许多人不效忠上帝。[11]{GC 534.3}
§24
Satan is seeking to overcome men today, as he overcame our first parents, by shaking their confidence in their Creator and leading them to doubt the wisdom of His government and the justice of His laws. Satan and his emissaries represent God as even worse than themselves, in order to justify their own malignity and rebellion. The great deceiver endeavors to shift his own horrible cruelty of character upon our heavenly Father, that he may cause himself to appear as one greatly wronged by his expulsion from heaven because he would not submit to so unjust a governor. He presents before the world the liberty which they may enjoy under his mild sway, in contrast with the bondage imposed by the stern decrees of Jehovah. Thus he succeeds in luring souls away from their allegiance to God. {GC 534.3}[11]
§25
有人说，恶人死后要在地狱里受永远不灭的硫磺火苦刑；他们犯罪的时间虽然短暂——顶多不过是今世的一生——但将来竟要永永远远受苦，像上帝的生命一样长久；这样的道理是多么不符合上帝的爱心与怜悯啊！就是我们的正义感也不能容忍这事吧？然而这种道理现今还是到处流行，并且还列在许多教会的信条之中。有一个著名的神学博士说：“恶人在地狱中受刑的情形，将来要永远增进圣徒的幸福。当他们看到一些与自己性质相同，并生在同一环境之下的人，被投在那么悲惨的苦境中，而自己却受到特别的优待，这就必使他们感觉自己是多么幸福了。”还有一位却说过这样的话：“当那责罚的命令永远执行在上帝忿怒的对象身上时，他们痛苦的烟要在蒙恩子民面前永远上腾，这些子民不但与受刑之人无分，反而要说，阿们，哈利路亚！主啊，我们赞美你！”[12]{GC 535.1}
§26
How repugnant to every emotion of love and mercy, and even to our sense of justice, is the doctrine that the wicked dead are tormented with fire and brimstone in an eternally burning hell; that for the sins of a brief earthly life they are to suffer torture as long as God shall live. Yet this doctrine has been widely taught and is still embodied in many of the creeds of Christendom. Said a learned doctor of divinity: The sight of hell torments will exalt the happiness of the saints forever. When they see others who are of the same nature and born under the same circumstances, plunged in such misery, and they so distinguished, it will make them sensible of how happy they are. Another used these words: While the decree of reprobation is eternally executing on the vessels of wrath, the smoke of their torment will be eternally ascending in view of the vessels of mercy, who, instead of taking the part of these miserable objects, will say, Amen, Alleluia! praise ye the Lord! {GC 535.1}[12]
§27
在《圣经》中哪里能找出这样的教训呢？天上蒙救赎的人难道都要失去恻隐之心，甚至于连普通的人情都没有了吗？难道他们要把自己的天良换成斯多亚派的不动情哲学，或野蛮人的残忍性情吗？断乎不是；这绝不是《圣经》的教训。凡怀有以上见解的人纵然学问渊博，心地诚实，但他们还是被撒但的诡辩所欺骗了。他引他们去误解《圣经》中一些厉害的措辞，并加以苛刻和恶毒的色彩。其实这全是他自己的特性，绝不能加在我们创造主的身上。“主耶和华说，我指着我的永生起誓，我断不喜悦恶人死亡，唯喜悦恶人转离所行的道而活。……你们转回，转回吧，离开恶道，何必死亡呢？”（结33:11）[13]{GC 535.2}
§28
Where, in the pages of Gods word, is such teaching to be found? Will the redeemed in heaven be lost to all emotions of pity and compassion, and even to feelings of common humanity? Are these to be exchanged for the indifference of the stoic or the cruelty of the savage? No, no; such is not the teaching of the Book of God. Those who present the views expressed in the quotations given above may be learned and even honest men, but they are deluded by the sophistry of Satan. He leads them to misconstrue strong expressions of Scripture, giving to the language the coloring of bitterness and malignity which pertains to himself, but not to our Creator. As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die? Ezekiel 33:11. {GC 535.2}[13]
§29
即或我们承认上帝喜欢看到永不止息的苦刑，而以他所投入地狱火中受苦之人所发的呻吟，哀号和咒诅为乐，这对于上帝能有什么益处呢？难道这些令人毛骨悚然的声音在无穷慈爱之主能成为悦耳的音乐吗？有人主张，罪人永远受苦刑的道理，是要显明上帝如何憎恨罪恶，如何视罪恶为破坏宇宙安宁与秩序的大患。唉，这又是多么可憎的亵渎啊！这好像是说上帝恨恶罪，所以才让它永远存在！因为根据这些神学家的教训，这毫无怜悯的恒久的刑罚，要使那些可怜的受苦者越发疯狂，以至大肆咒骂而亵渎上帝，如此，使自己的罪情越为严重。其实如果真是这样，要在无穷的岁月中使罪恶增加无已，又焉能增进上帝的荣耀呢？[14]{GC 536.1}
§30
What would be gained to God should we admit that He delights in witnessing unceasing tortures; that He is regaled with the groans and shrieks and imprecations of the suffering creatures whom He holds in the flames of hell? Can these horrid sounds be music in the ear of Infinite Love? It is urged that the infliction of endless misery upon the wicked would show Gods hatred of sin as an evil which is ruinous to the peace and order of the universe. Oh, dreadful blasphemy! As if Gods hatred of sin is the reason why it is perpetuated. For, according to the teachings of these theologians, continued torture without hope of mercy maddens its wretched victims, and as they pour out their rage in curses and blasphemy, they are forever augmenting their load of guilt. Gods glory is not enhanced by thus perpetuating continually increasing sin through ceaseless ages. {GC 536.1}[14]
§31
恶人要受永远的痛苦，这种异端邪说所酿成的恶果，诚非人的智力所能估计得到的。《圣经》的宗教信仰原是充满着仁爱，良善，而富有怜悯的，但现在却被迷信所笼罩，为恐怖所朦蔽了。我们既认识到撒但所加在上帝品德上的虚伪色彩，就不难看出为什么有许多人以我们慈悲的创造主为可畏、可怖、甚至于可憎的了。现今在各教会的讲台上所宣传的教训，造成了许多对于上帝极不合理的看法，这些看法已经传遍全世界，使成千成万的人变成怀疑派和无神论者。[15]{GC 536.2}
§32
It is beyond the power of the human mind to estimate the evil which has been wrought by the heresy of eternal torment. The religion of the Bible, full of love and goodness, and abounding in compassion, is darkened by superstition and clothed with terror. When we consider in what false colors Satan has painted the character of God, can we wonder that our merciful Creator is feared, dreaded, and even hated? The appalling views of God which have spread over the world from the teachings of the pulpit have made thousands, yes, millions, of skeptics and infidels. {GC 536.2}[15]
§33
这永刑的假道理乃是组成巴比伦叫万民所喝她邪淫大怒之酒的邪道之一。（启14:8；17:2）基督的传道人竟接受这种异端，并在讲台上宣讲出来，真是令人难解。其实，这都是他们从罗马教会承受下来的，正如他们承受了假的安息日一样。固然，过去有一些伟大而善良的人也曾传讲这种邪道，但这乃是因为他们在那时对于这个题目还没有清楚的认识，像我们现今所认识的一样。他们的责任只是要对得起他们当时代所有的真光，而我们则必须为本时代的亮光负责。如果我们转离《圣经》的见证，并因一些老前辈的教训而接受谬论，我们就必落在上帝向巴比伦所宣布的刑罚之下，我们就是喝了她那邪淫大怒的酒。[16]{GC 536.3}
§34
The theory of eternal torment is one of the false doctrines that constitute the wine of the abomination of Babylon, of which she makes all nations drink. Revelation 14:8; 17:2. That ministers of Christ should have accepted this heresy and proclaimed it from the sacred desk is indeed a mystery. They received it from Rome, as they received the false sabbath. True, it has been taught by great and good men; but the light on this subject had not come to them as it has come to us. They were responsible only for the light which shone in their time; we are accountable for that which shines in our day. If we turn from the testimony of Gods word, and accept false doctrines because our fathers taught them, we fall under the condemnation pronounced upon Babylon; we are drinking of the wine of her abomination. {GC 536.3}[16]
§35
有许多人对于永久病苦的道理起了反感，但他们却矫枉过正地犯了反面的错误。他们看出《圣经》所表明的上帝是一位仁爱怜悯的神，所以他们不相信他会把他所造的人投在永久的地狱中焚烧。同时他们既相信人的灵魂是永远不死的，所以他们便不得不作出结论说，到了最后，全体人类都必得救。许多人以为《圣经》上所有的严厉的话，其目的无非是要恫吓人去顺从而已，而实际上是不会实现的。这样，罪人就能在自私的宴乐中生活，不顾上帝的要求，而还能希望最后蒙他悦纳。这种道理妄测上帝的慈悲，忽视他的公正，徒快私欲之心，使恶人在罪孽中胆大妄为。[17]{GC 537.1}
§36
A large class to whom the doctrine of eternal torment is revolting are driven to the opposite error. They see that the Scriptures represent God as a being of love and compassion, and they cannot believe that He will consign His creatures to the fires of an eternally burning hell. But holding that the soul is naturally immortal, they see no alternative but to conclude that all mankind will finally be saved. Many regard the threatenings of the Bible as designed merely to frighten men into obedience, and not to be literally fulfilled. Thus the sinner can live in selfish pleasure, disregarding the requirements of God, and yet expect to be finally received into His favor. Such a doctrine, presuming upon Gods mercy, but ignoring His justice, pleases the carnal heart and emboldens the wicked in their iniquity. {GC 537.1}[17]
§37
为要明白那些相信人人都必得救的人是怎样曲解《圣经》来支持他们那足以害人的教义，我们只需引录他们自己的言论。有一次一个没有信仰的青年遭遇了不幸的意外而死，在举行丧礼时，有一个相信人人都必得救的牧师选了一节有关大卫的记载：“暗嫩死了以后，大卫王得了安慰。”（撒下13:39）[18]{GC 537.2}
§38
To show how believers in universal salvation wrest the Scriptures to sustain their soul-destroying dogmas, it is needful only to cite their own utterances. At the funeral of an irreligious young man, who had been killed instantly by an accident, a Universalist minister selected as his text the Scripture statement concerning David: He was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead. 2 Samuel 13:39. {GC 537.2}[18]
§39
牧师便演讲说：“常有人问我，许多人在罪恶之中离世，或是在酩酊状态中死了，或是犯法处刑血溅衣衫而死，或是像这一位青年，从未信仰宗教或得过宗教信仰而死，他们的结果到底怎样呢？我们现在从《圣经》中可以得到圆满的回答，把这个大难题解决了。暗嫩是一个罪大恶极的人，他没有悔改，他被人灌醉之后就此被杀。大卫是一个上帝的先知,他必定知道暗嫩的来世究竟是吉是凶。他怎样发表他的心意呢？‘暗嫩死了以后，大卫王得了安慰，心里切切想念押沙龙。’[19]{GC 537.3}
§40
I am frequently asked, said the speaker, what will be the fate of those who leave the world in sin, die, perhaps, in a state of inebriation, die with the scarlet stains of crime unwashed from their robes, or die as this young man died, having never made a profession or enjoyed an experience of religion. We are content with the Scriptures; their answer shall solve the awful problem. Amnon was exceedingly sinful; he was unrepentant, he was made drunk, and while drunk was killed. David was a prophet of God; he must have known whether it would be ill or well for Amnon in the world to come. What were the expressions of his heart? `The soul of King David longed to go forth unto Absalom: for he was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead. Verse 39. {GC 537.3}[19]
§41
“我们从这句话中，可以得到什么结论呢？这里岂不是说明，在大卫的宗教信仰中并没有永远痛苦的道理吗？这就是我们所想到的；同时我们也可从此发现一个绝对的论据，证实那更愉快、更开明、更慈善的理论，就是说：全宇宙终必变成纯洁而和平的。大卫王见到自己的儿子既已死了，心里就得了安慰。为什么呢？原来先知的慧眼能展望到光辉的来生，他见到自己的儿子摆脱了一切的试探，从罪的捆绑中得到释放，从罪的腐败中化为纯洁，而且经过一番洁净而成为圣洁开明之后，得以参加那些死后升天的快乐灵魂的团体。他唯一的安慰就是，自己的爱子既离开这个罪恶痛苦的现实世界，就到了那有圣灵伟大的感化力光照他黑暗心灵的地方，在那里他的思想要吸取上天的智慧，并得永远之爱的甜蜜喜乐，经过了这种预备，使他品性圣化之后，他便能在天上的基业中享受安息与交通了。[20]{GC 538.1}
§42
And what is the inference to be deduced from this language? Is it not that endless suffering formed no part of his religious belief? So we conceive; and here we discover a triumphant argument in support of the more pleasing, more enlightened, more benevolent hypothesis of ultimate universal purity and peace. He was comforted, seeing his son was dead. And why so? Because by the eye of prophecy he could look forward into the glorious future and see that son far removed from all temptations, released from the bondage and purified from the corruptions of sin, and after being made sufficiently holy and enlightened, admitted to the assembly of ascended and rejoicing spirits. His only comfort was that, in being removed from the present state of sin and suffering, his beloved son had gone where the loftiest breathings of the Holy Spirit would be shed upon his darkened soul, where his mind would be unfolded to the wisdom of heaven and the sweet raptures of immortal love, and thus prepared with a sanctified nature to enjoy the rest and society of the heavenly inheritance. {GC 538.1}[20]
§43
“以上的思想足以表明我们的信念,天庭的救恩是不在乎我们今生能作什么，现今的心地改变与否，现今的信仰如何，或现今是否相信宗教，那都是没有关系的。”[21]{GC 538.2}
§44
In these thoughts we would be understood to believe that the salvation of heaven depends upon nothing which we can do in this life; neither upon a present change of heart, nor upon present belief, or a present profession of religion. {GC 538.2}[21]
§45
这个人自称是基督的传道者，竟作这样的宣讲，就是把蛇在伊甸园中所说的谎言又重述了一遍，“你们不一定死。”“你们吃的日子眼睛就明亮了，你们便如上帝”一样。他说，最卑贱的罪人，杀人犯、盗贼、奸夫、淫妇，在死后仍可预备进入那永远的幸福。[22]{GC 538.3}
§46
Thus does the professed minister of Christ reiterate the falsehood uttered by the serpent in Eden: Ye shall not surely die. In the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods. He declares that the vilest of sinners--the murderer, the thief, and the adulterer--will after death be prepared to enter into immortal bliss. {GC 538.3}[22]
§47
这个曲解《圣经》的人从哪里得出这种结论呢？原来他是从大卫表示顺服天意的话中，截出一句来。从这节《圣经》，“暗嫩死了以后，大卫王得了安慰，心里切切想念押沙龙”上，我们可以看出，他的忧苦伤痛随着时间而逐渐消逝了，他的思想也从死者身上转移到那因自己的罪而恐慌逃命的押沙龙身上了。现在有人竟以这一节《圣经》为凭据，证明乱伦醉酒的暗嫩在死时便能立即转入极乐世界，在那里变成圣洁，预备作无罪天使的友伴！这真是何等悦耳的谰言谎语，徒快私欲之心！这是撒但自己的道理，正好达到他的目的。现今世上既有这种教训流行，则犯罪作恶的事充满各地，又何足怪？[23]{GC 538.4}
§48
And from what does this perverter of the Scriptures draw his conclusions? From a single sentence expressing Davids submission to the dispensation of Providence. His soul longed to go forth unto Absalom; for he was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead. The poignancy of his grief having been softened by time, his thoughts turned from the dead to the living son, self-banished through fear of the just punishment of his crime. And this is the evidence that the incestuous, drunken Amnon was at death immediately transported to the abodes of bliss, there to be purified and prepared for the companionship of sinless angels! A pleasing fable indeed, well suited to gratify the carnal heart! This is Satans own doctrine, and it does his work effectually. Should we be surprised that, with such instruction, wickedness abounds? {GC 538.4}[23]
§49
以上所引假师傅的教训，不过是许多谬论中的一个例子而已。他们从《圣经》中断章取义，歪曲强解，有许多地方只要略读其上下文，便能看出本意是正和他们所解释的意思相反。他们曲解几段互不相干的经文，用来证明那没有《圣经》为凭据的道理。他们引用上面的一节《圣经》作为凭据，证明醉酒的暗嫩是上了天堂，那不过是一种推想而已，与《圣经》明白的，正面的意义，是直接相反的。因为《圣经》明说，醉酒的不能承受上帝的国（见林前6:10）。现今许多的疑惑者，不信的人，和怀疑派，用这种方法把真理变成谎言，并有许多人受了他的诡辩的欺骗，醉生梦死，得过且过。[24]{GC 539.1}
§50
The course pursued by this one false teacher illustrates that of many others. A few words of Scripture are separated from the context, which would in many cases show their meaning to be exactly opposite to the interpretation put upon them; and such disjointed passages are perverted and used in proof of doctrines that have no foundation in the word of God. The testimony cited as evidence that the drunken Amnon is in heaven is a mere inference directly contradicted by the plain and positive statement of the Scriptures that no drunkard shall inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Corinthians 6:10. It is thus that doubters, unbelievers, and skeptics turn the truth into a lie. And multitudes have been deceived by their sophistry and rocked to sleep in the cradle of carnal security. {GC 539.1}[24]
§51
如果一个人在断气之时真能直接升天，我们现在尽可以贪爱死亡过于生存了。真有不少人被这种信仰所迷惑，结束了自己的性命。每遇困难、烦恼、失望的打击时，人若要割断自己的命脉，而翱翔于永生的极乐世界，这似乎不是一种难事。[25]{GC 539.2}
§52
If it were true that the souls of all men passed directly to heaven at the hour of dissolution, then we might well covet death rather than life. Many have been led by this belief to put an end to their existence. When overwhelmed with trouble, perplexity, and disappointment, it seems an easy thing to break the brittle thread of life and soar away into the bliss of the eternal world. {GC 539.2}[25]
§53
上帝在他的《圣经》中已经给人明确的凭据，说明他必刑罚一切干犯他律法的人。但有一些人以虚言自欺自慰，以为上帝是太慈悲，不会向罪人执行报应的，他们只要一看髑髅地的十字架，便可明白真相了。上帝无瑕无疵的圣子的死证明“罪的工价乃是死，”每一个干犯上帝律法的人必然受到公正的报应。无罪的基督为人类成了罪，担当了干犯律法的罪债，被上帝掩面不看，直到他的心碎肠断，生命断绝，这一切的牺牲原是要使罪人能以得救。除此之外，别无方法使世人脱离罪的刑罚。凡拒绝这附有重大代价的赎罪救恩的人，就必须自己担当罪的刑罚。[26]{GC 539.3}
§54
God has given in His word decisive evidence that He will punish the transgressors of His law. Those who flatter themselves that He is too merciful to execute justice upon the sinner, have only to look to the cross of Calvary. The death of the spotless Son of God testifies that the wages of sin is death, that every violation of Gods law must receive its just retribution. Christ the sinless became sin for man. He bore the guilt of transgression, and the hiding of His Fathers face, until His heart was broken and His life crushed out. All this sacrifice was made that sinners might be redeemed. In no other way could man be freed from the penalty of sin. And every soul that refuses to become a partaker of the atonement provided at such a cost must bear in his own person the guilt and punishment of transgression. {GC 539.3}[26]
§55
据那相信人人得救论的人说来，不敬虔与不悔改的人死后要升天，像圣洁快乐的天使一样。我们且看《圣经》有什么教训。[27]{GC 540.1}
§56
Let us consider what the Bible teaches further concerning the ungodly and unrepentant, whom the Universalist places in heaven as holy, happy angels. {GC 540.1}[27]
§57
“我要将生命泉的水白白赐给那口渴的人喝。”（启21:6）这个应许只是向那些口渴的人发的。唯有那些觉得自己需要生命之水并愿牺牲一切去寻求的人，才可以得到这种供给。“得胜的，必承受这些为业，我要作他们的上帝，他们要作我的儿子，”（启21:7）在这里也是附有特别条件的。要承受这些为业，我们必须抵抗并得胜罪恶。[28]{GC 540.2}
§58
I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. Revelation 21:6. This promise is only to those that thirst. None but those who feel their need of the water of life, and seek it at the loss of all things else, will be supplied. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son. Verse 7. Here, also, conditions are specified. In order to inherit all things, we must resist and overcome sin. {GC 540.2}[28]
§59
主耶和华借着先知以赛亚说：“你们要论义人说，他必享福乐。”“恶人有祸了！他必遭灾难，因为要照自己手所行的受报应。”（赛3:10-11）智慧的人说：“罪人虽然作恶百次，倒享长久的年日；然而我准知道，敬畏上帝的，就是在他面前敬畏的人，终久必得福乐；恶人却不得福乐。”（传8:12-13）使徒保罗也证明了罪人是“为自己积蓄忿怒，以致上帝震怒，显他公义审判的日子来到。他必照各人所行的报应各人；”“将患难，困苦，加给一切作恶的人。”（罗2:5-6,9）[29]{GC 540.3}
§60
The Lord declares by the prophet Isaiah: Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him. Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him. Isaiah 3:10, 11. Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, says the wise man, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before Him: but it shall not be well with the wicked. Ecclesiastes 8:12, 13. And Paul testifies that the sinner is treasuring up unto himself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; who will render to every man according to his deeds; tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil. Romans 2:5, 6,9. {GC 540.3}[29]
§61
“无论是淫乱的、是污秽的、是有贪心的，在基督和上帝的国里，都是无分的。”（弗5:5）“你们要追求与众人和睦，并要追求圣洁，非圣洁没有人能见主。”（来12:14）“那些洗净自己衣服的（英译本为‘遵守诫命的’）有福了，可得权柄能到生命树那里，也能从门进城。城外有那些犬类，行邪术的、淫乱的、杀人的、拜偶像的、并一切喜好说谎言编造虚谎的。”（启22:14-15）[30]{GC 541.1}
§62
No fornicator, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Ephesians 5:5, A.R.V. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. Hebrews 12:14. Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. Revelation 22:14, 15. {GC 541.1}[30]
§63
上帝曾向人宣布他自己的品性，以及他对付罪恶的方法说，“耶和华，耶和华，是有怜悯，有恩典的上帝，不轻易发怒，并有丰盛的慈爱和诚实。为千万人存留慈爱，赦免罪孽、过犯和罪恶，万不以有罪的为无罪，必追讨他的罪。”（出34:6-7）“耶和华……却要灭绝一切的恶人。”“至于犯法的人，必一同灭绝，恶人终必剪除。”（诗145:20；37:38）上帝将要用他神圣政权的能力和权威敉平叛逆，但这一切施行公正报应的作为，仍要完全符合他那怜悯、忍耐、慈爱的品德。[31]{GC 541.2}
§64
God has given to men a declaration of His character and of His method of dealing with sin. The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty. Exodus 34:6, 7. All the wicked will He destroy. The transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off. Psalm 145:20; 37:38. The power and authority of the divine government will be employed to put down rebellion; yet all the manifestations of retributive justice will be perfectly consistent with the character of God as a merciful, long-suffering, benevolent being. {GC 541.2}[31]
§65
上帝不强迫任何人的意旨，或压制任何人的判断力。他不喜欢人奴隶般的顺从。他切望自己手所造的万物因他配得爱戴而爱他。他要人凭着理智感佩他的智慧、公正、与慈爱，而顺从他。所以凡正确认识到上帝这些品德的人，必要爱他，因为他们赞赏他的美德而为他所吸引。[32]{GC 541.3}
§66
God does not force the will or judgment of any. He takes no pleasure in a slavish obedience. He desires that the creatures of His hands shall love Him because He is worthy of love. He would have them obey Him because they have an intelligent appreciation of His wisdom, justice, and benevolence. And all who have a just conception of these qualities will love Him because they are drawn toward Him in admiration of His attributes. {GC 541.3}[32]
§67
我们救主所教导和亲身实践的仁爱慈悲的原则乃是上帝品德和旨意的副本。基督曾说，凡他所教导的，没有不是从父那里领受的。神圣政权的原则是与救主的教训“爱你的仇敌”完全符合的。上帝向恶人执行报应，乃是为了全宇宙的益处，并且对于那些身受刑罚的人也是有益的。在不违背他政权的律法和他那公正品德的原则之下，他是乐意尽量使人得到幸福的。他在他们周围布置许多足以表示他爱的事物，使他们认识他的律法，并向他们提供他的恩典，但他们竟轻视他的爱，废弃他的律法，并拒绝他的恩典。他们一面不住地接受他的恩惠，一面却亵渎这位厚赐百物的主。他们恨恶上帝，因为他们知道他憎厌他们的罪。上帝长久忍耐着他们的顽梗倔强，但最后的关头终必来到，他们的命运届时就要决定了。那时，他是否要把这些叛徒用锁链绑在自己身边呢？他是否要强迫他们实行他的旨意呢？[33]{GC 541.4}
§68
The principles of kindness, mercy, and love, taught and exemplified by our Saviour, are a transcript of the will and character of God. Christ declared that He taught nothing except that which He had received from His Father. The principles of the divine government are in perfect harmony with the Saviours precept, Love your enemies. God executes justice upon the wicked, for the good of the universe, and even for the good of those upon whom His judgments are visited. He would make them happy if He could do so in accordance with the laws of His government and the justice of His character. He surrounds them with the tokens of His love, He grants them a knowledge of His law, and follows them with the offers of His mercy; but they despise His love, make void His law, and reject His mercy. While constantly receiving His gifts, they dishonor the Giver; they hate God because they know that He abhors their sins. The Lord bears long with their perversity; but the decisive hour will come at last, when their destiny is to be decided. Will He then chain these rebels to His side? Will He force them to do His will? {GC 541.4}[33]
§69
凡已选择撒但为领袖，并被他的势力所约束的人，乃是没有预备好到上帝面前来的。骄傲、虚伪、荒淫、残忍等罪，已经是他们根深蒂固的性格了。他们怎能进天国去与那些他们在世上所轻视所憎恶的人永远同居呢？真理决不能得到说谎者的喜悦，温柔必不能满足骄傲自负的心理，纯洁必不为腐败者所接受，无私之爱决不为自私自利者所羡慕。对于一班沉溺世俗，追逐私利的人，天庭能有什么福乐可以供他们享受呢？[34]{GC 542.1}
§70
Those who have chosen Satan as their leader and have been controlled by his power are not prepared to enter the presence of God. Pride, deception, licentiousness, cruelty, have become fixed in their characters. Can they enter heaven to dwell forever with those whom they despised and hated on earth? Truth will never be agreeable to a liar; meekness will not satisfy self-esteem and pride; purity is not acceptable to the corrupt; disinterested love does not appear attractive to the selfish. What source of enjoyment could heaven offer to those who are wholly absorbed in earthly and selfish interests? {GC 542.1}[34]
§71
难道那些一生反抗上帝的人能立即变化升天，眼见那里常存着崇高、圣洁、完美的景象吗？那里人人心中充满着爱，个个脸上焕发着喜乐的光辉，又有美妙的音乐颂赞上帝和羔羊，坐宝座者的圣颜不断放射荣光在得救者的身上，难道那些满心恨恶上帝，恨恶真理和圣洁的人们，能够混杂在天庭群众之中，并同声歌唱赞美吗？他们见到上帝与羔羊的荣耀，能忍受得住吗？断乎不能，许多年的恩典时期已经赐给他们，使他们可以造就合乎天庭的品格，他们却一直没有训练自己去爱慕纯洁，一直没有学习天国的语言，此时是悔之晚矣。他们那种反抗上帝的人生，使他们不配居住天上。那里的纯全，圣洁与和平只能使他们坐立不安，极端苦恼，在他们，上帝的荣耀要成为烧尽的烈火。他们要速速逃离那圣洁的地方。他们要欢迎灭亡，以便逃避那为救赎他们而舍命的主。恶人的命运乃是出于他们自己的选择。他们的远离天庭乃是出于他们的自愿，在上帝一方面，这也是公正而慈悲的。[35]{GC 542.2}
§72
Could those whose lives have been spent in rebellion against God be suddenly transported to heaven and witness the high, the holy state of perfection that ever exists there,-- every soul filled with love, every countenance beaming with joy, enrapturing music in melodious strains rising in honor of God and the Lamb, and ceaseless streams of light flowing upon the redeemed from the face of Him who sitteth upon the throne,--could those whose hearts are filled with hatred of God, of truth and holiness, mingle with the heavenly throng and join their songs of praise? Could they endure the glory of God and the Lamb? No, no; years of probation were granted them, that they might form characters for heaven; but they have never trained the mind to love purity; they have never learned the language of heaven, and now it is too late. A life of rebellion against God has unfitted them for heaven. Its purity, holiness, and peace would be torture to them; the glory of God would be a consuming fire. They would long to flee from that holy place. They would welcome destruction, that they might be hidden from the face of Him who died to redeem them. The destiny of the wicked is fixed by their own choice. Their exclusion from heaven is voluntary with themselves, and just and merciful on the part of God. {GC 542.2}[35]
§73
像上古滔滔的洪水一样，那最后大日的烈火要宣布上帝的审判，说明恶人是无可救药的了。他们没有一点意思要顺服上帝的权威。他们的意志已经习惯于叛逆，及至生命结束之后，再想把他们的思想潮流倒转方向，已经是太晚了，他们再不能从犯罪变为顺从，从仇恨变为仁爱了。[36]{GC 543.1}
§74
Like the waters of the Flood the fires of the great day declare Gods verdict that the wicked are incurable. They have no disposition to submit to divine authority. Their will has been exercised in revolt; and when life is ended, it is too late to turn the current of their thoughts in the opposite direction, too late to turn from transgression to obedience, from hatred to love. {GC 543.1}[36]
§75
上帝从前暂时饶了凶手该隐的命，乃是要给世人一个实例，说明容忍罪人生存，任意放肆，将有什么结果。由于该隐的教训和榜样所发出的影响，他的子子孙孙都陷入了罪恶中，直到“人在地上罪恶甚大，终日所思想的尽都是恶。”“世界在上帝面前败坏，地上满了强暴。”（创6:5,11）[37]{GC 543.2}
§76
In sparing the life of Cain the murderer, God gave the world an example of what would be the result of permitting the sinner to live to continue a course of unbridled iniquity. Through the influence of Cains teaching and example, multitudes of his descendants were led into sin, until the wickedness of man was great in the earth and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. Genesis 6:5, 11. {GC 543.2}[37]
§77
上帝本着慈悲怜悯的心把挪亚时代世上的恶人全然除灭了。他又本着慈悲，毁灭了所多玛城中腐败的居民。借着撒但的欺骗之力，犯罪作恶的人时常博得众人的同情与称赞，如此就不断地引诱别人参加叛逆。该隐与挪亚的日子，以及亚伯拉罕与罗得的日子都是如此，我们现今的日子也是如此。上帝最后除灭一切拒绝他恩典的人，也是因为他怜爱这个宇宙。[38]{GC 543.3}
§78
In mercy to the world, God blotted out its wicked inhabitants in Noahs time. In mercy He destroyed the corrupt dwellers in Sodom. Through the deceptive power of Satan the workers of iniquity obtain sympathy and admiration, and are thus constantly leading others to rebellion. It was so in Cains and in Noahs day, and in the time of Abraham and Lot; it is so in our time. It is in mercy to the universe that God will finally destroy the rejecters of His grace. {GC 543.3}[38]
§79
“因为罪的工价乃是死，唯有上帝的恩赐，在我们的主基督耶稣里，乃是永生。”（罗6:13）义人的基业是生命，恶人的命分乃是死亡。摩西向以色列人说：“看哪，我今日将生与福，死与祸，陈明在你面前。”（申30:15）这几节《圣经》中所说的死，并不是指着上帝向亚当所宣布的死，因为那个死乃是亚当犯罪的刑罚，是一切人类所必要经受的。但这里所说的死乃是与永生相对的“第二次的死。”[39]{GC 544.1}
§80
The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23. While life is the inheritance of the righteous, death is the portion of the wicked. Moses declared to Israel: I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil. Deuteronomy 30:15. The death referred to in these scriptures is not that pronounced upon Adam, for all mankind suffer the penalty of his transgression. It is the second death that is placed in contrast with everlasting life. {GC 544.1}[39]
§81
由于亚当犯罪的结果，死亡便临到全人类了。人人都要进入坟墓，但借着救恩计划的安排，人人都要从坟墓中被带出来。“死人无论善恶，都要复活。”（徒24:15）“在亚当里众人都死了，照样，在基督里众人也都要复活。”（林前15:22）但这两等复活的人要有完全不同的区别。“凡在坟墓里的，都要听见他的声音，就出来，行善的复活得生，作恶的复活定罪。”（约5:28-29）凡被“称为配得”复活生命的人，“有福了，圣洁了，第二次的死在他们身上没有权柄。”（启20:6）但那些没有借着悔改与信心去获得赦免的人必要受犯罪的处罚，“罪的工价乃是死。”他们受刑罚时间的长短与痛苦的程度各不相同，“都照各人所行的，”但最后的结局都是第二次的死。上帝的公正与慈悲并济，他既不可能在罪人还保留罪恶的情形之下赐他们永生，他便只好剥夺他们因罪而丧失的生存权利，何况他们已经显明自己不配享有这种权利。有一位受灵感的著者说：“还有片时，恶人要归于无有，你就是细察他的住处，也要归于无有。”（诗37:10）另有一位说，“他们就归于无有。”（俄16）他们秽德昭彰地沉沦于没有希望的永久灭亡之中。[40]{GC 544.2}
§82
In consequence of Adams sin, death passed upon the whole human race. All alike go down into the grave. And through the provisions of the plan of salvation, all are to be brought forth from their graves. There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust; for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. Acts 24:15; 1 Corinthians 15:22. But a distinction is made between the two classes that are brought forth. All that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. John 5:28, 29. They who have been accounted worthy of the resurrection of life are blessed and holy. On such the second death hath no power. Revelation 20:6. But those who have not, through repentance and faith, secured pardon, must receive the penalty of transgression--the wages of sin. They suffer punishment varying in duration and intensity, according to their works, but finally ending in the second death. Since it is impossible for God, consistently with His justice and mercy, to save the sinner in his sins, He deprives him of the existence which his transgressions have forfeited and of which he has proved himself unworthy. Says an inspired writer: Yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. And another declares: They shall be as though they had not been. Psalm 37:10; Obadiah 16. Covered with infamy, they sink into hopeless, eternal oblivion. {GC 544.2}[40]
§83
罪恶及其所结的祸患就此毁灭，永远结束了。作诗的人说：“你曾灭绝恶人，你曾涂抹他们的名，直到永永远远。仇敌到了尽头，他们被毁坏，直到永远。”（诗9:5-6）在启示录中，约翰展望到永远的国度，听见全宇宙发出洪亮的颂赞歌声，其中没有一点不协之音。他听见天上地下每一个被造之物，都将荣耀归给上帝。（见启5:13）在那里并没有什么丧亡的人在无穷尽的痛苦中翻腾辗转，咒诅上帝，也没有什么悲惨的沦亡者在地狱中发出尖锐的叫苦声，杂在得救者的歌声中。[41]{GC 545.1}
§84
Thus will be made an end of sin, with all the woe and ruin which have resulted from it. Says the psalmist: Thou hast destroyed the wicked, Thou hast put out their name forever and ever. O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end. Psalm 9:5, 6. John, in the Revelation, looking forward to the eternal state, hears a universal anthem of praise undisturbed by one note of discord. Every creature in heaven and earth was heard ascribing glory to God. Revelation 5:13. There will then be no lost souls to blaspheme God as they writhe in never-ending torment; no wretched beings in hell will mingle their shrieks with the songs of the saved. {GC 545.1}[41]
§85
灵魂不死这一个根本的错误乃是死人有知觉的谬论的基础——这种道理如同永刑的道理一样，是与《圣经》、理智、及人情相抵触的。按着一般人的说法，得救的人在天上，熟知地上的一切情形，尤其知道自己所离别亲友的生活，可是如果死人真知道自己所亲爱之人的种种困难，并看到他们犯罪，经受忧患、失望、与人生的痛苦，这些死人怎能得到快乐呢？他们既然徘徊于自己地上的亲友之间，他们对于天庭的福乐，究竟能享受几分呢？我们再想一想，不悔改的人在一断气之后，如果立即被投进烈火的地狱中，这种信念又是何等的可厌！相信这种说法的人见到自己的亲友在生前没有预备好，而忽然转入那永远的祸患与罪恶中，你想他们是要陷入何等的悲苦之中啊！有许多人已经被这种可怕的观念逼到疯狂的地步了。[42]{GC 545.2}
§86
Upon the fundamental error of natural immortality rests the doctrine of consciousness in death--a doctrine, like eternal torment, opposed to the teachings of the Scriptures, to the dictates of reason, and to our feelings of humanity. According to the popular belief, the redeemed in heaven are acquainted with all that takes place on the earth and especially with the lives of the friends whom they have left behind. But how could it be a source of happiness to the dead to know the troubles of the living, to witness the sins committed by their own loved ones, and to see them enduring all the sorrows, disappointments, and anguish of life? How much of heavens bliss would be enjoyed by those who were hovering over their friends on earth? And how utterly revolting is the belief that as soon as the breath leaves the body the soul of the impenitent is consigned to the flames of hell! To what depths of anguish must those be plunged who see their friends passing to the grave unprepared, to enter upon an eternity of woe and sin! Many have been driven to insanity by this harrowing thought. {GC 545.2}[42]
§87
《圣经》对于这问题是怎样说的呢？大卫说明人死后是没有知觉的。“他的气一断，就归回尘土，他所打算的，当日就消灭了。”（诗146:4）所罗门也作这同样的见证说，“活着的人，知道必死，死了的人，毫无所知。”“他们的爱，他们的恨，他们的嫉妒，早都消灭了。”“在日光之下所行的一切事上，他们永不再有分了。”“在你所必去的阴间，没有工作，没有谋算，没有知识，也没有智慧。”（传9:5-6,10）[43]{GC 545.3}
§88
What say the Scriptures concerning these things? David declares that man is not conscious in death. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. Psalm 146:4. Solomon bears the same testimony: The living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything. Their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun. There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest. Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6, 10. {GC 545.3}[43]
§89
在上帝应允希西家王的祈祷，增加他十五年的岁数之时，王满心感激，作歌颂赞主的大慈悲。在这篇诗歌中，他说明自己这样欢喜快乐的原因：“原来阴间不能称谢你，死亡不能颂扬你，下坑的人不能盼望你的诚实，只有活人，活人必称谢你，像我今日称谢你一样。”（赛38:18-19）据现在流行的神学说，死了的义人都在天上，已经进入福地，用不朽的舌头颂赞上帝，而希西家却见不到人死后能有这种光荣的景象。他所说的话是与作诗者的见证完全一致的？“因为在死地无人记念你，在阴间有谁称谢你？”“死人不能赞美耶和华，下到寂静中的，也都不能。”（诗6:5；115:17）[44]{GC 546.1}
§90
When, in answer to his prayer, Hezekiahs life was prolonged fifteen years, the grateful king rendered to God a tribute of praise for His great mercy. In this song he tells the reason why he thus rejoices: The grave cannot praise Thee, death cannot celebrate Thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for Thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise Thee, as I do this day. Isaiah 38:18, 19. Popular theology represents the righteous dead as in heaven, entered into bliss and praising God with an immortal tongue; but Hezekiah could see no such glorious prospect in death. With his words agrees the testimony of the psalmist: In death there is no remembrance of Thee: in the grave who shall give Thee thanks? The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence. Psalm 6:5; 115:17. {GC 546.1}[44]
§91
在五旬节的时候彼得提到先祖大卫说：“他死了，也葬埋了，并且他的坟墓，直到今日还在我们这里。”“大卫并没有升到天上。”（徒2:29,34）大卫仍然留在墓中等待复活之日，这一个事实足以证明义人死后并不是立即升天的。唯有借着复活，并靠着基督复活的大能，大卫才能在末日坐在上帝的右边。[45]{GC 546.2}
§92
Peter on the Day of Pentecost declared that the patriarch David is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. For David is not ascended into the heavens. Acts 2:29, 34. The fact that David remains in the grave until the resurrection proves that the righteous do not go to heaven at death. It is only through the resurrection, and by virtue of the fact that Christ has risen, that David can at last sit at the right hand of God. {GC 546.2}[45]
§93
使徒保罗说：“因为死人若不复活，基督也就没有复活了。基督没有复活，你们的信便是徒然，你们仍在罪里。就是在基督里睡了的人也灭亡了。”（林前15:16-18）如果这四千余年来，义人已经在死时立即升天，保罗怎能说，若没有复活，“在基督里睡了的人也灭亡了”呢？因为若是那样，复活已经是不必要的了。[46]{GC 546.3}
§94
And said Paul: If the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. 1 Corinthians 15:16-18. If for four thousand years the righteous had gone directly to heaven at death, how could Paul have said that if there is no resurrection, they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished? No resurrection would be necessary. {GC 546.3}[46]
§95
殉道者廷达尔论到死后的景况说：“我公开承认，我不相信他们（指死人）已经是在基督或上帝的圣天使所处的完全荣耀之中。这也不是我信仰中的一条。如果是这样，那么我只好说肉体复活的道理是虚空的了。”[47]{GC 547.1}
§96
The martyr Tyndale, referring to the state of the dead, declared: I confess openly, that I am not persuaded that they be already in the full glory that Christ is in, or the elect angels of God are in. Neither is it any article of my faith; for if it were so, I see not but then the preaching of the resurrection of the flesh were a thing in vain.--William Tyndale, Preface to New Testament (ed. 1534). Reprinted in British Reformers--Tindal, Frith, Barnes, page 349. {GC 547.1}[47]
§97
人死后立即升天享福的盼望，已经使人大大地忽略了《圣经》中复活的道理，这是一个无可否认的事实。亚当克拉克博士曾提到这种潮流说：“对于复活的道理，现今的基督徒似乎远没有古人那么多加注意！何以这样呢？原来古时的使徒时刻坚持这种道理，并借此激动上帝的信徒，要殷勤、顺从并喜乐。但现今承继他们的人，竟然对这道理少加注意！昔日使徒们怎样传，古时的基督徒便怎样信；照样，我们现今怎样传，我们的听众也就怎样信。在全部福音中，没有什么比这个道理更为重要，而现代人所传的道理系统中，竟没有什么比这个道理更为人所轻忽。”[48]{GC 547.2}
§98
It is an undeniable fact that the hope of immortal blessedness at death has led to a widespread neglect of the Bible doctrine of the resurrection. This tendency was remarked by Dr. Adam Clarke, who said: The doctrine of the resurrection appears to have been thought of much more consequence among the primitive Christians than it is now! How is this? The apostles were continually insisting on it, and exciting the followers of God to diligence, obedience, and cheerfulness through it. And their successors in the present day seldom mention it! So apostles preached, and so primitive Christians believed; so we preach, and so our hearers believe. There is not a doctrine in the gospel on which more stress is laid; and there is not a doctrine in the present system of preaching which is treated with more neglect!--Commentary, remarks on 1 Corinthians 15, paragraph 3. {GC 547.2}[48]
§99
这种情况已经多年存在，以至这复活的光荣真理几乎全部被埋没，并被基督教界所忽视了。有一位著名的宗教作家，曾这样评注保罗在帖前四章十三至十八节的话，说：“为实际上的安慰起见，义人灵魂不死的道理，足能代替那渺茫无凭的基督再来的道理。在我们死的时候，主就来接我们了。这就是我们所应当等待并注意的。死了的人已经进入荣耀之中了。他们并不等待号筒吹响，才受审判而享福。”[49]{GC 547.3}
§100
This has continued until the glorious truth of the resurrection has been almost wholly obscured and lost sight of by the Christian world. Thus a leading religious writer, commenting on the words of Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, says: For all practical purposes of comfort the doctrine of the blessed immortality of the righteous takes the place for us of any doubtful doctrine of the Lords second coming. At our death the Lord comes for us. That is what we are to wait and watch for. The dead are already passed into glory. They do not wait for the trump for their judgment and blessedness. {GC 547.3}[49]
§101
但当耶稣要与门徒离别的时候，他并没有告诉他们说，他们很快就要到他那里去。他乃是说：“我去原是为你们预备地方去。我若去为你们预备了地方，就必再来接你们到我那里去。”（约14:2-3）使徒保罗更进一步告诉我们说：“因为主必亲自从天降临，有呼叫的声音，和天使长的声音，又有上帝的号吹响，那在基督里死了的人必先复活。以后我们这活着还存留的人，必和他们一同被提到云里，在空中与主相遇，这样，我们就要和主永远同在。”接着他又加上一句话，说：“所以你们当用这些话彼此劝慰。”（帖前4:16-18）这些安慰的话与前文所引主张人人得救的那个牧师的话相比，真有天渊之别！这个人安慰受伤的亲友，向他们保证说：死了的人无论是多么罪大恶极，在他断气的时候，却要与天使为伴。但保罗却向他的弟兄指明，在主将来降临的时候，坟墓的枷锁要被打断，“那在基督里死了的人，”要复活而得永生。[50]{GC 548.1}
§102
But when about to leave His disciples, Jesus did not tell them that they would soon come to Him. I go to prepare a place for you, He said. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself. John 14:2, 3. And Paul tells us, further, that the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. And he adds: Comfort one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18. How wide the contrast between these words of comfort and those of the Universalist minister previously quoted! The latter consoled the bereaved friends with the assurance that, however sinful the dead might have been, when he breathed out his life here he was to be received among the angels. Paul points his brethren to the future coming of the Lord, when the fetters of the tomb shall be broken, and the dead in Christ shall be raised to eternal life. {GC 548.1}[50]
§103
在任何人得以进入那福乐家乡之前，他们的案件必须先经审查，他们的品格与行为也必须先在上帝的台前受检阅。众人都要按案卷上所记的受审判。并照自己所行的受报应。这一场审判并不是在人死的时候举行的。我们且注意保罗的话，他说：“因为他已经定了日子，要借着他所设立的人，按公义审判天下，并且叫他从死里复活，给万人作可信的凭据。”（徒17:31）使徒保罗在这里很清楚的说明了，上帝已经确定了一个日子要审判天下。而且在保罗的时代，这日子还在将来。[51]{GC 548.2}
§104
Before any can enter the mansions of the blessed, their cases must be investigated, and their characters and their deeds must pass in review before God. All are to be judged according to the things written in the books and to be rewarded as their works have been. This judgment does not take place at death. Mark the words of Paul: He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead. Acts 17:31. Here the apostle plainly stated that a specified time, then future, had been fixed upon for the judgment of the world. {GC 548.2}[51]
§105
犹大提到这样一个时期说：“又有不守本位，离开自己住处的天使，主用锁链把他们永远拘留在黑暗里，等候大日的审判。”他又引用以诺的话说：“看哪，主带着他的千万圣者降临，要在众人身上行审判。”（犹6,14-15）约翰也宣布说，他“看见死了的人，无论大小，都站在宝座前，案卷展开了；”“死了的人都凭着这些案卷所记载的，照他们所行的受审判。”（启20:12）[52]{GC 548.3}
§106
Jude refers to the same period: The angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. And, again, he quotes the words of Enoch: Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment upon all. Jude 6, 14, 15. John declares that he saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: . . . and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books. Revelation 20:12. {GC 548.3}[52]
§107
但是如果死了的人已经升天享福，或已入地狱被火焚烧，那么又何必要一个将来的审判呢？《圣经》的教训对于这些重要的问题并不是蒙昧不明或互相矛盾的，而且是一般人可以明白的。但请问，是哪一个思想开通的人能在这流行的神学理论中看出一点智慧和公理呢？义人如果已经长久住在主的面前，怎么还要在末日审判查明案件之后才蒙他的嘉奖说，“好，你这又良善又忠心的仆人，……可以进来享受你主人的快乐”呢？（太25:21）至于那些恶人，难道还要把他们从地狱的苦刑中召出来，以便接受审判全地之主的判决说：“你们这被咒诅的人，离开我，进入……永火里去”吗？（太25:41）唉，这是何等的挖苦！对于上帝的智慧与公义又是何等的诬蔑！[53]{GC 549.1}
§108
But if the dead are already enjoying the bliss of heaven or writhing in the flames of hell, what need of a future judgment? The teachings of Gods word on these important points are neither obscure nor contradictory; they may be understood by common minds. But what candid mind can see either wisdom or justice in the current theory? Will the righteous, after the investigation of their cases at the judgment, receive the commendation, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: . . . enter thou into the joy of thy Lord, when they have been dwelling in His presence, perhaps for long ages? Are the wicked summoned from the place of torment to receive sentence from the Judge of all the earth: Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire? Matthew 25:21, 41. Oh, solemn mockery! shameful impeachment of the wisdom and justice of God! {GC 549.1}[53]
§109
灵魂不死的神学理论乃是罗马教从异教迷信中拿来混合在基督信仰里的谬论之一。路德·马丁把它列在“那组成罗马教皇谕旨的粪堆的许多荒唐虚谈”之中。论到所罗门在传道书中所说死人毫无知觉的话，这位宗教改革家评注说：“这又是一个凭据，证明死人是毫无知觉的。他说那里没有知识，没有智慧。所罗门认定死人都是在睡觉，是没有知觉的。他们躺下，不知时日岁月，及至醒了，只觉得是假寐片时而已。”[54]{GC 549.2}
§110
The theory of the immortality of the soul was one of those false doctrines that Rome, borrowing from paganism, incorporated into the religion of Christendom. Martin Luther classed it with the monstrous fables that form part of the Roman dunghill of decretals.--E. Petavel, The Problem of Immortality, page 255. Commenting on the words of Solomon in Ecclesiastes, that the dead know not anything, the Reformer says: Another place proving that the dead have no . . . feeling. There is, saith he, no duty, no science, no knowledge, no wisdom there. Solomon judgeth that the dead are asleep, and feel nothing at all. For the dead lie there, accounting neither days nor years, but when they are awaked, they shall seem to have slept scarce one minute.-- Martin Luther, Exposition of Solomons Booke Called Ecclesiastes, page 152. {GC 549.2}[54]
§111
《圣经》中无论何处，都找不出话来说在人死时，义者得报赏，恶者受刑罚。先祖与先知都没有留下这一类的保证。基督与使徒们也没有这样的提出。《圣经》很清楚地教训人说，死人并非立刻升天，他们乃是像睡觉一样，一直睡到复活（帖前4:14；伯14:10-12）。在“银链折断，金罐破裂”之日（传12:6），人的思想就消灭了。凡下到坟墓的，乃是在寂静之中。日光之下的一切事物，他是毫无所知（伯14:21），对于疲劳的义人，这是可幸的安睡，时日或久或暂，在他们只觉得是瞬息之间，他们睡着了，并要被上帝的号筒所唤醒，以便承受光荣的永生。“因号筒要响，死人要复活成为不朽坏的，……这必朽坏的，既变成不朽坏的，这必死的，既变成不死的，那时经上所记，死被得胜吞灭的话就应验了。”（林前15:52-54）当他们从深沉的睡眠中被唤醒时，他们的思想也必恢复先前断气时所停止的地方。他们最后的感觉是临死的痛苦，最后的思想是自己正落到坟墓的权势之下。及至他们从坟墓中出来，他们第一个快乐的思想，将要流露于那胜利的喊声：“死啊，你得胜的权势在哪里？死啊，你的毒钩在哪里？”（林前15:55）[55]{GC 549.3}
§112
Nowhere in the Sacred Scriptures is found the statement that the righteous go to their reward or the wicked to their punishment at death. The patriarchs and prophets have left no such assurance. Christ and His apostles have given no hint of it. The Bible clearly teaches that the dead do not go immediately to heaven. They are represented as sleeping until the resurrection. 1 Thessalonians 4:14; Job 14:10-12. In the very day when the silver cord is loosed and the golden bowl broken (Ecclesiastes 12:6), mans thoughts perish. They that go down to the grave are in silence. They know no more of anything that is done under the sun. Job 14:21. Blessed rest for the weary righteous! Time, be it long or short, is but a moment to them. They sleep; they are awakened by the trump of God to a glorious immortality. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible. . . . So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 1 Corinthians 15:52-54. As they are called forth from their deep slumber they begin to think just where they ceased. The last sensation was the pang of death; the last thought, that they were falling beneath the power of the grave. When they arise from the tomb, their first glad thought will be echoed in the triumphal shout: O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Verse 55. {GC 549.3}[55]