背景介绍
§1
THE BACKGROUND OF VOLUME ONE
§2
九卷《教会证言》，共计4,738页，由怀爱伦所写的文章和书信组成，包含了对基督复临安息日会的指导，涉及教会的的福利。1855年12月发行的一本16页的小册子，标志着该系列勉言的开始，以后不时有编了号的小册子和书籍出版。这些信息自然论及当时的问题，但在大多数情况下，我们今天仍面临早期教会所遇到的同样问题，危险和机会。[1]
§3
The nine volumes of?Testimonies for the Church, aggregating 4,738 pages of text, consist of articles and letters written by Ellen G. White, containing instruction to, and pertaining to the welfare of, the Seventh-day Adventist church. A sixteen-page pamphlet, issued in December of 1855, marked the beginning of the series of such counsels which from time to time appeared in consecutively numbered pamphlets and books. These messages naturally dealt with issues that were current, but in most cases we are today confronted by the same problems, perils, and opportunities which faced the church in earlier years.?{1T 5.1}[1]
§4
值得纪念的1848年“安息日会议”之后仅七年左右，最早编号的证言发表了。那些信奉新发现的安息日与圣所真理的复临信徒，奠定了基督复临安息日会特殊信仰的基础。在这几年时间里，圣工得到了显著的发展。起初只有三四个传道士。他们自称是“使者”，全靠体力劳动和少数信徒的乐意奉献为生。这些信徒在属世的财物上也是贫穷的。而且开始的工作几乎全限于新英格兰各州。[2]
§5
The earliest numbered?Testimonies?were published only about seven years after the memorable “Sabbath Conferences” of 1848, when Adventist believers in the newly revived Sabbath and sanctuary truths laid the foundations of the distinctive doctrines held by the Seventh-day Adventist denomination. During these few years the cause had advanced in a marked manner. At the beginning there were only three or four preachers, or “messengers” As they then styled themselves, all of them dependent upon what they earned by physical labor and the freewill offerings of the few believers, who also were poor in this world’s goods. These beginnings were limited in area almost entirely to the New England States.?{1T 5.2}[2]
§6
到了1855年，也就是发行第一本证言小册子的那一年，约有二十位传道士传讲安息日和基督复临的信息。信徒人数已从不到一百人增加到两千。[3]
§7
By 1855, the year of issuance of the first?Testimony?Pamphlet, there were about a score of preachers of the Sabbath and Advent message. The number of believers had grown from less than one hundred to well into the second thousand.?{1T 5.3}[3]
§8
怀雅各长老于1849年夏天在康涅狄格州的米德尔敦所开创的出版工作，在恶劣的环境下曾迁移过好几个地方；1855年，在密歇根州的巴特尔克里克有了自己的印刷场所。[4]
§9
The publishing work, begun by Elder White in the summer of 1849 at Middletown, Connecticut, had been conducted in various places under adverse circumstances. Now in 1855 it was established in its own building in Battle Creek, Michigan.?{1T 5.4}[4]
§10
《教会证言》卷一所收录的头十四辑证言，时间跨度是十三年。我们注意到1855到1868这段时期中给出的信息所涉及的一些史实和局势。[5]
§11
The time covered by the first fourteen?Testimonies?now found in Volume 1 was thirteen years. We note a few of the experiences and developments covered by the messages given during this period of 1855 to 1868.?{1T 6.1}[5]
§12
第一次背道和反对，出于圣工中一些原先的弟兄，带来了悲伤和困惑。他们被称为“信使会”，因为他们的刊物叫《真理使者》。早期的勉言论述了这场运动，并预言它很快就会在混乱中结束。[6]
§13
The first defection, the apostasy and opposition of some of the former brethren in the ministry, known as the?Messenger?party because of their publication, the?Messenger of Truth, brought sorrow and perplexity. Early counsels speak of this movement and predict its speedy ending in confusion.?{1T 6.2}[6]
§14
在不同的地方出现了狂热运动，以其无根据的“成圣”盼望，吸引了热心的人。特别是在东部的一些州和威斯康星州。有时这些教导还伴随着所谓的“方言”恩赐。但教会得到明确的指示，使圣工摆脱了仇敌的这种欺骗。[7]
§15
Fanatical movements, tending to attract conscientious souls because of unfounded hopes of “sanctification,” appeared in various places, notably in some of the Eastern States and in Wisconsin. In some instances these teachings were accompanied by manifestation of the supposed “gift of tongues.” But clear instruction was given to the church which saved the cause from such deceptions of the enemy.?{1T 6.3}[7]
§16
时光的流逝和基督复临的表面上的耽搁，加之许多未曾经历1844运动，没有那场运动深刻属灵献身经验的人加入教会，导致起初爱心的丧失。那是一个投机地皮和田产的时代，因为西部各州向移民开放，其中有许多来自拥挤的东部各州的信徒。关于效法世俗的流行危险，主赐下了极其恳切的警告和呼吁，号召教会更深刻地献身。[8]
§17
The lapse of time and the apparent delay of the second advent, with the accession to the church of many who had not been in the 1844 movement, with its deep spiritual consecration, had resulted in the loss of that first love. It was a time of speculation in lands and homesteads as the Western States were opening up to settlers, among whom were a number of believers from the crowded Eastern States. Most earnest warnings and appeals were given regarding the prevailing dangers of conformity to the world, calling the church to deeper consecration.?{1T 6.4}[8]
§18
在1856年下半年，主呼召人们注意《启示录》第3章中给老底嘉信息。原先这段勉言被理解为指那些没有随从第三位天使的先进亮光，组建另一个教会，强烈反对安息日真理的复临信徒。如今他们看到自己象“温水”一样，需要听从那真实见证者的忠告。信徒们强烈地受到这道信息的感动，达两年多时间，指望它带领他们直接进入第三位天使的大呼声。这样的背景，有助于更好地理解证言中有关这场运动的重要信息。[9]
§19
In the latter part of 1856 attention was called to the “Laodicean” message of?Revelation 3. Formerly this counsel was understood to apply to the Advent believers who had not followed in the advancing light of the third angel and who had organized themselves into another church, bitterly opposing the Sabbath truth. Now they saw themselves as “lukewarm” and in need of heeding the counsel of the true witness. For two years or more the believers were mightily?stirred by this message, expecting that it would lead them directly into the loud cry of the third angel. The earnest messages in the?Testimonies?relating to this movement can better be understood with a knowledge of this background.?{1T 6.5}[9]
§20
那是一个探讨和辩论的时代。我们的许多传道人都受到挑战，论述安息日及其它真理，有些人甚至在这种辩论中采取攻势。这就要求有来自天上的忠告。我们的一位卓越的传道人摩西·赫尔，参加了与招魂术者的辩论，起先是应他们的挑战参加的，后来是他主动发起的。采取这一大胆行动的结果，是他被卷入了招魂术的迷宫。因而怀夫人发表了她“给赫尔长老的信函，”公开了在过去几年中写给他的信。若是他听从了，这些信原会救他脱离信仰的失败。[10]
§21
It was an age of discussion and debates. Many of our ministers were challenged to discuss the Sabbath and other truths, and some were even taking the aggressive in such debates. This called for counsel from heaven. One of our prominent ministers, Moses Hull, engaged in debates with spiritualists, at first at their challenge, later at his. As a result of this daring move he was swept into the mazes of spiritualism. Then it was that Mrs. White published her “Communications to Elder Hull,” making public letters that had been written to him during past years that if heeded would have saved him from making shipwreck of his faith.?{1T 7.1}[10]
§22
那些年也采取了建立组织的步骤。一些经历过第二位天使信息的人反对这种做法，担心教会组织会成为“巴比伦”的一个印记。在怀爱伦给教会的许多书信中，反映了弟兄们面对并讨论了组织问题。在1860年，组建了出版工作。经过多方讨论和研究，采取了基督复临安息日会的名称。这个举措和名称本身，表明符合上帝的旨意。[11]
§23
Those were the years when steps were being taken in organization. Against this move were the fears of some who had passed through the experiences of the second angel’s message, that church organization was a mark of “Babylon.” The issues of organization as they were met and discussed among the brethren are manifest in many of the communications given to the church through Mrs. White. And when in 1860 the publishing work was organized, and when, after much discussion and some questionings, the name Seventh-day Adventist was adopted, the move and the name itself were shown to be in harmony with the divine will.?{1T 7.2}[11]
§24
1863年5月的总会的召集，标志着教会组建的最后步骤。紧接着就是那年6月份值得记忆的奥齐戈异象，怀爱伦得到了有关“健康改良”原则的异象，连同一个启示，说明顺从自然律与达到所需的品格使信徒们配变化升天之间的关系。与此密切相关的是服装的改革。两年后，有勉言赐下说，“我们应该有自己的健康之家，”导致了健康改良机构的建立。关于这个机构，赐下了许多勉言。既遵循了所赐的亮光，这个机构就发展为世上同类机构中最好的一个。在本卷证言所跨越的年代中，清楚地制定了导致其成功的指导原则。在这期间，还遇到了内战问题，因为安息日复临信徒需要确定自己在战时与当局的关系。[12]
§25
Immediately following the final steps in church order marked by the organization of the General Conference in May, 1863, came the memorable vision in Otsego in June, when Mrs. White was given a view of the principles of what was termed “health reform,” with a revelation of the relation between obedience to the laws of health and the attainment of character necessary to fit the members of the church for translation. Closely associated with this was a reform in dress.?Two years later, counsel was given that “we should have a health home of our own,” which led to the establishment of the Health Reform Institute, to which and regarding which much counsel was given. As the light was followed, this institution grew until it was one of the best of its kind in the world. During the period covered in this volume, the governing principles which led to its success were clearly laid down. The problems of the civil war were also met in this period as Seventh-day Adventists faced the necessity of defining their relationship to civil government in time of war.?{1T 7.3}[12]
§26
在本卷证言中，还强调了家庭在基督化品格中的重要性，父母的责任，及许多严肃的信息，特别是给青少年的。[13]
§27
The importance of the home in the building of Christian character, and the responsibility of parents, were stressed, and many solemn messages, imparted especially for the youth, were also given emphasis in these pages.?{1T 8.1}[13]
§28
除了与当时的运动密切相关的特殊问题之外，还有大量关于教会纪律和预备变化升天的一般性劝勉和告诫。这是余民教会发展的一个重要时期，证言的劝勉发挥了巨大的塑造性影响。[14]
§29
Besides the specific issues that were closely tied into the movements of the time, there was much counsel and admonition of a general nature on church discipline and preparation for translation. This was an important period in the development of the remnant church, and the?Testimony?counsels exerted a large molding influence.?{1T 8.2}[14]
§30
【怀爱伦著作托管委员会】[15]
§31
The Trustees of the Ellen G. White Publications.[15]