《尤兰提亚之书》英文版自 2006 年起在全球范围内属于公共领域.
翻译: © 2015 Urantia Foundation
THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD
神的属性
1955 3:0.1 GOD is everywhere present; the Universal Father rules the circle of eternity. But he rules in the local universes in the persons of his Paradise Creator Sons, even as he bestows life through these Sons. “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Sons.” These Creator Sons of God are the personal expression of himself in the sectors of time and to the children of the whirling planets of the evolving universes of space.
1955 3:0.2 The highly personalized Sons of God are clearly discernible by the lower orders of created intelligences, and so do they compensate for the invisibility of the infinite and therefore less discernible Father. The Paradise Creator Sons of the Universal Father are a revelation of an otherwise invisible being, invisible because of the absoluteness and infinity inherent in the circle of eternity and in the personalities of the Paradise Deities.
2015 3:0.2 这些高度个性化的神之子们,在智能受造物的较低类别们之前是清晰可辨的,他们因此的确弥补了那因无限而难被辨别的上父之不可见性。万有之父的天堂造物之子们,是对一个完全不可见存在的显露,不可见的原因,是由于在永恒之圈中或者天堂神灵之人格本体中所固有的绝对性和无限性。
1955 3:0.3 Creatorship is hardly an attribute of God; it is rather the aggregate of his acting nature. And this universal function of creatorship is eternally manifested as it is conditioned and controlled by all the co-ordinated attributes of the infinite and divine reality of the First Source and Center. We sincerely doubt whether any one characteristic of the divine nature can be regarded as being antecedent to the others, but if such were the case, then the creatorship nature of Deity would take precedence over all other natures, activities, and attributes. And the creatorship of Deity culminates in the universal truth of the Fatherhood of God.
2015 3:0.3 创造者身份很难说是神的一种属性。它不如说是神行动本质的集合。创造者身份的广泛运作以如下方式被永恒的显现着:它是由第一本源与中心其无限与神性实相中所有相互协调的各个属性来调整和控制的。我们实在怀疑,神性本质中的某一个特征能否被看作是领先于所有其它特征的;但是,如果情况真是这样,那么神灵的创造者本质就应当认为是领先于所有其它本质、活动和属性的。神灵的创造者身份在神之父亲身份这个普遍真理中达到顶点。
1. GOD’S EVERYWHERENESS
1. 神的遍在性
1955 3:1.1 The ability of the Universal Father to be everywhere present, and at the same time, constitutes his omnipresence. God alone can be in two places, in numberless places, at the same time. God is simultaneously present “in heaven above and on the earth beneath”; as the Psalmist exclaimed: “Whither shall I go from your spirit? or whither shall I flee from your presence?”
1955 3:1.2 “‘I am a God at hand as well as afar off,’ says the Lord. ‘Do not I fill heaven and earth?’” The Universal Father is all the time present in all parts and in all hearts of his far-flung creation. He is “the fullness of him who fills all and in all,” and “who works all in all,” and further, the concept of his personality is such that “the heaven (universe) and heaven of heavens (universe of universes) cannot contain him.” It is literally true that God is all and in all. But even that is not all of God. The Infinite can be finally revealed only in infinity; the cause can never be fully comprehended by an analysis of effects; the living God is immeasurably greater than the sum total of creation that has come into being as a result of the creative acts of his unfettered free will. God is revealed throughout the cosmos, but the cosmos can never contain or encompass the entirety of the infinity of God.
2015 3:1.2 “‘我是既在近处又在远处之神。’上主说道。‘我岂不充满天地?’”万有之父一直临在于其广袤造物的所有部分,所有心中。他是“充满于万有之中的那位之全部。”也是“运作于万有之中的那位,”并且,由于其人格本体之概念如此,以致“天(宇宙)和天上之天(众宇宙所组成之宇宙)都容他不下。”神就是一切,且在一切之中,这是完全真实的。但即使那也还不是神的全部。无限之神只有在无限之中,才能被彻底揭示;通过对所有后果的分析不能完全理解起因;永活之神远超于其不受拘束之自由意志的创造行为所造出的全部造物的总和。神在整体宇宙中被显露,但整体宇宙永远不可能容纳或包含神之无限性的全部。[4][5][6][7]
1955 3:1.3 The Father’s presence unceasingly patrols the master universe. “His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit to the ends of it; and there is nothing hidden from the light thereof.”
1955 3:1.4 The creature not only exists in God, but God also lives in the creature. “We know we dwell in him because he lives in us; he has given us his spirit. This gift from the Paradise Father is man’s inseparable companion.” “He is the ever-present and all-pervading God.” “The spirit of the everlasting Father is concealed in the mind of every mortal child.” “Man goes forth searching for a friend while that very friend lives within his own heart.” “The true God is not afar off; he is a part of us; his spirit speaks from within us.” “The Father lives in the child. God is always with us. He is the guiding spirit of eternal destiny.”
1955 3:1.5 Truly of the human race has it been said, “You are of God” because “he who dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him.” Even in wrongdoing you torment the indwelling gift of God, for the Thought Adjuster must needs go through the consequences of evil thinking with the human mind of its incarceration.
1955 3:1.6 The omnipresence of God is in reality a part of his infinite nature; space constitutes no barrier to Deity. God is, in perfection and without limitation, discernibly present only on Paradise and in the central universe. He is not thus observably present in the creations encircling Havona, for God has limited his direct and actual presence in recognition of the sovereignty and the divine prerogatives of the co-ordinate creators and rulers of the universes of time and space. Hence must the concept of the divine presence allow for a wide range of both mode and channel of manifestation embracing the presence circuits of the Eternal Son, the Infinite Spirit, and the Isle of Paradise. Nor is it always possible to distinguish between the presence of the Universal Father and the actions of his eternal co-ordinates and agencies, so perfectly do they fulfill all the infinite requirements of his unchanging purpose. But not so with the personality circuit and the Adjusters; here God acts uniquely, directly, and exclusively.
2015 3:1.6 神之遍在性,实际上是其无限本质的一部分。空间不会对神灵构成任何阻碍。神处于完美之中,毫无局限,可以看出他只临在于天堂之上和中央宇宙之中。他因此并不明显地临在于环绕哈沃纳(Havona)的世界中,因为神承认众时空宇宙中协同造物者和支配者们的主权和众神圣特权,而限定了其直接而实际的临在。因此,有关神之临在的观念,必须在其显现的模式上和渠道上考虑到一个宽广的范围,即要包括永恒之子、无限之灵和天堂岛的各个临在回路。同时,也不是总能区分开万有之父之临在和其永恒协作者及代理者的活动,后者总是如此完美地满足神之不变意图的所有无限性要求。但人格本体回路和(思想)调整者们则不在此例;在这种情况下,神在独特地、直接地和独自地行动着。
1955 3:1.7 The Universal Controller is potentially present in the gravity circuits of the Isle of Paradise in all parts of the universe at all times and in the same degree, in accordance with the mass, in response to the physical demands for this presence, and because of the inherent nature of all creation which causes all things to adhere and consist in him. Likewise is the First Source and Center potentially present in the Unqualified Absolute, the repository of the uncreated universes of the eternal future. God thus potentially pervades the physical universes of the past, present, and future. He is the primordial foundation of the coherence of the so-called material creation. This nonspiritual Deity potential becomes actual here and there throughout the level of physical existences by the inexplicable intrusion of some one of his exclusive agencies upon the stage of universe action.
1955 3:1.8 The mind presence of God is correlated with the absolute mind of the Conjoint Actor, the Infinite Spirit, but in the finite creations it is better discerned in the everywhere functioning of the cosmic mind of the Paradise Master Spirits. Just as the First Source and Center is potentially present in the mind circuits of the Conjoint Actor, so is he potentially present in the tensions of the Universal Absolute. But mind of the human order is a bestowal of the Daughters of the Conjoint Actor, the Divine Ministers of the evolving universes.
2015 3:1.8 神之心智临在涉及到共同行动者亦即无限之灵的绝对心智,但在有限世界中,最好是把它理解为天堂各主位之灵的宇宙心智在各处的运作。正像第一本源与中心潜在地临在于共同行动者的心智回路之中,他也潜在性地临在于万有性绝对的张力之中。但是人类的心智,是共同行动者众女儿,也就是众进化宇宙的神性照料者的赐与。
1955 3:1.9 The everywhere-present spirit of the Universal Father is co-ordinated with the function of the universal spirit presence of the Eternal Son and the everlasting divine potential of the Deity Absolute. But neither the spiritual activity of the Eternal Son and his Paradise Sons nor the mind bestowals of the Infinite Spirit seem to exclude the direct action of the Thought Adjusters, the indwelling fragments of God, in the hearts of his creature children.
2015 3:1.9 万有之父的到处临在之灵,与永恒之子普遍灵性临在的运作,及神灵绝对的永恒神性潜势,是相互协调的。但是,无论是永恒之子和其天堂众子的灵性活动,还是无限之灵的众心智赠与,都不排斥思想调整者的直接作用,后者是神在其受造物子民心中的内驻片段。
1955 3:1.10 Concerning God’s presence in a planet, system, constellation, or a universe, the degree of such presence in any creational unit is a measure of the degree of the evolving presence of the Supreme Being: It is determined by the en masse recognition of God and loyalty to him on the part of the vast universe organization, running down to the systems and planets themselves. Therefore it is sometimes with the hope of conserving and safeguarding these phases of God’s precious presence that, when some planets (or even systems) have plunged far into spiritual darkness, they are in a certain sense quarantined, or partially isolated from intercourse with the larger units of creation. And all this, as it operates on Urantia, is a spiritually defensive reaction of the majority of the worlds to save themselves, as far as possible, from suffering the isolating consequences of the alienating acts of a headstrong, wicked, and rebellious minority.
2015 3:1.10 提到神在一个行星,一个系统,一个星座或者一个宇宙中的临在,这种在任一造物单位中临在的程度,是对至高存在者其进化性临在程度之量度:这种临在程度取决于该部分庞大宇宙组织中,往下到各个系统和各个行星本身对神的总体认识程度,和对他的忠诚程度。因此,常常是出于保证和维护神这些珍贵临在状态的愿望,当某些行星(甚至某些系统)深深陷入灵性黑暗状态时,它们便会从某种意义上被隔离,或者局部地被隔离于与更大的造物单位的交流。所有这类事情,正如它在玉苒厦(Urantia)上所运作的那样,是大多数世界做出的一种灵性上的防御反应,尽可能地,使他们自己免于遭受那些任性的、邪恶的、反叛的少数受造单位异化行为所产生的隔离性后果。
1955 3:1.11 While the Father parentally encircuits all his sons—all personalities—his influence in them is limited by the remoteness of their origin from the Second and the Third Persons of Deity and augmented as their destiny attainment nears such levels. The fact of God’s presence in creature minds is determined by whether or not they are indwelt by Father fragments, such as the Mystery Monitors, but his effective presence is determined by the degree of co-operation accorded these indwelling Adjusters by the minds of their sojourn.
2015 3:1.11 尽管上父以父亲身份环顾着所有孩子们——所有的人格体们。他在他们之中的影响力,因他们源自于神灵之第二和第三位格的出身所产生的疏远感而受到限制,而当他们的天命成就接近这些层次时,这种疏远感便会被扩大。神在受造物心智中临在的事实取决于他们是否被上父的片段(例如神秘告诫者们)所内驻,而他有效的临在取决于所驻居的心智给予这些内驻调整者们的合作程度。
1955 3:1.12 The fluctuations of the Father’s presence are not due to the changeableness of God. The Father does not retire in seclusion because he has been slighted; his affections are not alienated because of the creature’s wrongdoing. Rather, having been endowed with the power of choice (concerning Himself), his children, in the exercise of that choice, directly determine the degree and limitations of the Father’s divine influence in their own hearts and souls. The Father has freely bestowed himself upon us without limit and without favor. He is no respecter of persons, planets, systems, or universes. In the sectors of time he confers differential honor only on the Paradise personalities of God the Sevenfold, the co-ordinate creators of the finite universes.
2. GOD’S INFINITE POWER
2. 神的无限能力
1955 3:2.2 Within the bounds of that which is consistent with the divine nature, it is literally true that “with God all things are possible.” The long-drawn-out evolutionary processes of peoples, planets, and universes are under the perfect control of the universe creators and administrators and unfold in accordance with the eternal purpose of the Universal Father, proceeding in harmony and order and in keeping with the all-wise plan of God. There is only one lawgiver. He upholds the worlds in space and swings the universes around the endless circle of the eternal circuit.
1955 3:2.3 Of all the divine attributes, his omnipotence, especially as it prevails in the material universe, is the best understood. Viewed as an unspiritual phenomenon, God is energy. This declaration of physical fact is predicated on the incomprehensible truth that the First Source and Center is the primal cause of the universal physical phenomena of all space. From this divine activity all physical energy and other material manifestations are derived. Light, that is, light without heat, is another of the nonspiritual manifestations of the Deities. And there is still another form of nonspiritual energy which is virtually unknown on Urantia; it is as yet unrecognized.
2015 3:2.3 在所有神的属性当中,他的全能性被最好的理解了,尤其是因为它在物质宇宙中普遍存在着。如果作为一个非灵性的现象来看,神便是能量。这一物理事实的断言,是基于这样一个深奥的真理:第一本源与中心是所有空间中普遍物理现象的第一起因。由这一神性活动出发,衍生出所有物理能量和其它众多物质显现。光,即不带热效应的光,是众神灵非灵性显现的另一实例。还有另外一种非灵性能量形式,它在玉苒厦(Urantia)上几乎不为所知,它还未被认出。
1955 3:2.4 God controls all power; he has made “a way for the lightning”; he has ordained the circuits of all energy. He has decreed the time and manner of the manifestation of all forms of energy-matter. And all these things are held forever in his everlasting grasp—in the gravitational control centering on nether Paradise. The light and energy of the eternal God thus swing on forever around his majestic circuit, the endless but orderly procession of the starry hosts composing the universe of universes. All creation circles eternally around the Paradise-Personality center of all things and beings.
1955 3:2.5 The omnipotence of the Father pertains to the everywhere dominance of the absolute level, whereon the three energies, material, mindal, and spiritual, are indistinguishable in close proximity to him—the Source of all things. Creature mind, being neither Paradise monota nor Paradise spirit, is not directly responsive to the Universal Father. God adjusts with the mind of imperfection—with Urantia mortals through the Thought Adjusters.
1955 3:2.6 The Universal Father is not a transient force, a shifting power, or a fluctuating energy. The power and wisdom of the Father are wholly adequate to cope with any and all universe exigencies. As the emergencies of human experience arise, he has foreseen them all, and therefore he does not react to the affairs of the universe in a detached way but rather in accordance with the dictates of eternal wisdom and in consonance with the mandates of infinite judgment. Regardless of appearances, the power of God is not functioning in the universe as a blind force.
2015 3:2.6 万有之父不是一种转瞬即逝的力,一种不断变化的力量,或是一种波动起伏的能量。上父的能力与智慧,完全足以应付任意一切宇宙紧急情况。当人类经历中的各种紧急情况发生时,他已经预见到一切,因而不会以一种超然态度对待这些宇宙事件,而是根据其永恒智慧的指导,依据无限判断的授权,来对它们做出处理。撇去表面现象,神之力量在宇宙中决不是以一种盲目之力来在运作着。
1955 3:2.7 Situations do arise in which it appears that emergency rulings have been made, that natural laws have been suspended, that misadaptations have been recognized, and that an effort is being made to rectify the situation; but such is not the case. Such concepts of God have their origin in the limited range of your viewpoint, in the finiteness of your comprehension, and in the circumscribed scope of your survey; such misunderstanding of God is due to the profound ignorance you enjoy regarding the existence of the higher laws of the realm, the magnitude of the Father’s character, the infinity of his attributes, and the fact of his free-willness.
2015 3:2.7 确实会出现一些这样的情况,看起来紧急裁决已被做出,自然法则已被暂停,各种不适性已被认出,某种努力已被做出以矫正该局面;但这并非实情。关于神的这些概念,是源自于你们观点的有限范围,源自于你们理解能力的有限性,和你们受限的调查范围;对神的这种误解,是由于你们在有关神之王国更高律法之存在、父之品格的伟大、其属性之无限性和其自由意志的事实享有的深刻无知。
1955 3:2.8 The planetary creatures of God’s spirit indwelling, scattered hither and yon throughout the universes of space, are so nearly infinite in number and order, their intellects are so diverse, their minds are so limited and sometimes so gross, their vision is so curtailed and localized, that it is almost impossible to formulate generalizations of law adequately expressive of the Father’s infinite attributes and at the same time to any degree comprehensible to these created intelligences. Therefore, to you the creature, many of the acts of the all-powerful Creator seem to be arbitrary, detached, and not infrequently heartless and cruel. But again I assure you that this is not true. God’s doings are all purposeful, intelligent, wise, kind, and eternally considerate of the best good, not always of an individual being, an individual race, an individual planet, or even an individual universe; but they are for the welfare and best good of all concerned, from the lowest to the highest. In the epochs of time the welfare of the part may sometimes appear to differ from the welfare of the whole; in the circle of eternity such apparent differences are nonexistent.
2015 3:2.8 被散播到众空间宇宙中各处的、有神之灵所内驻的行星际受造物们,在数量和类别上而言是如此近于无限,他们的智力是如此地多样,他们的心智是如此的有限而有时是如此的鲁钝,他们的视野是如此地片面和局限,以至于几乎不可能明确地阐述律法的各种普遍原则,来充分地表达上父的无限属性,与此同时又可以让这些智能受造物达到某种程度的理解。因此,对你们这些受造物而言,全能造物主的许多行为似乎是专断的、超然的,不少时候甚至是残酷无情的。但是我要再一次向你保证,这种看法是不对的。神之所有作为,都是目的明确的,明智、审慎、仁慈的,永远是着眼于最大利益的,而不只是考虑一个单个存有,单个种族,单个行星,甚或是单个宇宙;这些作为是为了相关一切的福祉和最大利益,从最低等的直至最高等的。在时间世界的各个时代,局部的福祉可能有时看起来与整体福祉有所不同,而在永恒之圈中,这种明显的不同则不复存在。
1955 3:2.9 We are all a part of the family of God, and we must therefore sometimes share in the family discipline. Many of the acts of God which so disturb and confuse us are the result of the decisions and final rulings of all-wisdom, empowering the Conjoint Actor to execute the choosing of the infallible will of the infinite mind, to enforce the decisions of the personality of perfection, whose survey, vision, and solicitude embrace the highest and eternal welfare of all his vast and far-flung creation.
1955 3:2.10 Thus it is that your detached, sectional, finite, gross, and highly materialistic viewpoint and the limitations inherent in the nature of your being constitute such a handicap that you are unable to see, comprehend, or know the wisdom and kindness of many of the divine acts which to you seem fraught with such crushing cruelty, and which seem to be characterized by such utter indifference to the comfort and welfare, to the planetary happiness and personal prosperity, of your fellow creatures. It is because of the limits of human vision, it is because of your circumscribed understanding and finite comprehension, that you misunderstand the motives, and pervert the purposes, of God. But many things occur on the evolutionary worlds which are not the personal doings of the Universal Father.
2015 3:2.10 因此正是你们孤立的、局部的、有限的、迟钝的和高度唯物主义的观点,以及你们存在本性中固有的局限性,构成了这样一种障碍,使得你们无法看到、理解或知晓许多神之行为所包含的智慧与仁慈,在你们看来它们是充满了如此令人无法承受的残忍,它们看来是以如此不顾及你们同胞的利益和福祉,不顾及世界的幸福和个人的富足。正是因为人类视野的局限,因为你们的受限的理解力和有限的领悟力,使得你们误解了神的各种动机,曲解了他的各种目的。但是,也确有很多发生在进化世界中的事情,并不是万有之父的亲身所为。
1955 3:2.11 The divine omnipotence is perfectly co-ordinated with the other attributes of the personality of God. The power of God is, ordinarily, only limited in its universe spiritual manifestation by three conditions or situations:
2015 3:2.11 神的全能性,与神之人格本体的其它众属性是完全协调的。神之能力在其宇宙灵性显现中,通常只受以下三类条件或情形的限制:
1955 3:2.12 1. By the nature of God, especially by his infinite love, by truth, beauty, and goodness.
2015 3:2.12 1. 受神之本质的限制,特别是受其无限之爱,以及真、美、善的限制。
1955 3:2.13 2. By the will of God, by his mercy ministry and fatherly relationship with the personalities of the universe.
2015 3:2.13 2. 受神之意志的限制,受他对宇宙人格体们的仁慈照料和慈父般关爱之限制。
1955 3:2.14 3. By the law of God, by the righteousness and justice of the eternal Paradise Trinity.
2015 3:2.14 3. 受神之律法的限制,受永恒天堂三位一体的正义与公平的限制。
1955 3:2.15 God is unlimited in power, divine in nature, final in will, infinite in attributes, eternal in wisdom, and absolute in reality. But all these characteristics of the Universal Father are unified in Deity and universally expressed in the Paradise Trinity and in the divine Sons of the Trinity. Otherwise, outside of Paradise and the central universe of Havona, everything pertaining to God is limited by the evolutionary presence of the Supreme, conditioned by the eventuating presence of the Ultimate, and co-ordinated by the three existential Absolutes—Deity, Universal, and Unqualified. And God’s presence is thus limited because such is the will of God.
2015 3:2.15 神在能力上是无限制的,在本质上是神圣的,在意志上是最终的,在属性上是无限的,在智慧上是永恒的,在实相上是绝对的。但是所有这些万有之父的特性在神灵之中得以统一,在天堂三位一体和三位一体的神性众子之中被普遍呈现。除此之外,在天堂和哈沃纳(Havona)中央宇宙之外,涉及神的一切,都受限于神之至高者的进化性临在,受制于神之终极者的终归性临在,受调于三个永存性绝对(神灵绝对、万有性绝对和无条件绝对)。因此,神的临在是有限的,因为神的意志就是这样。
3. GOD’S UNIVERSAL KNOWLEDGE
3. 神的普遍知识
1955 3:3.1 “God knows all things.” The divine mind is conscious of, and conversant with, the thought of all creation. His knowledge of events is universal and perfect. The divine entities going out from him are a part of him; he who “balances the clouds” is also “perfect in knowledge.” “The eyes of the Lord are in every place.” Said your great teacher of the insignificant sparrow, “One of them shall not fall to the ground without my Father’s knowledge,” and also, “The very hairs of your head are numbered.” “He tells the number of the stars; he calls them all by their names.”
1955 3:3.2 The Universal Father is the only personality in all the universe who does actually know the number of the stars and planets of space. All the worlds of every universe are constantly within the consciousness of God. He also says: “I have surely seen the affliction of my people, I have heard their cry, and I know their sorrows.” For “the Lord looks from heaven; he beholds all the sons of men; from the place of his habitation he looks upon all the inhabitants of the earth.” Every creature child may truly say: “He knows the way I take, and when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” “God knows our downsittings and our uprisings; he understands our thoughts afar off and is acquainted with all our ways.” “All things are naked and open to the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” And it should be a real comfort to every human being to understand that “he knows your frame; he remembers that you are dust.” Jesus, speaking of the living God, said, “Your Father knows what you have need of even before you ask him.”
2015 3:3.2 万有之父是所有宇宙中确实真正知晓空间中星辰和行星数目的唯一人格本体。每一个宇宙的所有世界,都永远地在神的意识之中。他也这样说道:“我已确实地看到我子民的苦恼,我已听到了他们的呼号,我知道他们的痛苦。”因为“上主是从天上在观看的;他能看见所有世人;从他的居所,他察看着地上的所有居民。”每一个受造物子民可以真诚地说:“他知道我所走的路。当他试炼我完毕,我将如真金而出。”“神知道我们的一起一坐;他遥知我们的想法,熟识我们所有的方式。”“我们与他必有交往,所有事情都赤裸敞开在他的眼前。”当每个人了解到“他知道你们的构成,他记得你们是来自尘土”,都应当感到真正的欣慰。在耶稣提到永活之神时说,“你们的父甚至在你们求他之前,就知道了你们需要什么。”[33][34][35][36][37][38][39]
[5][6][7]
1955 3:3.3 God is possessed of unlimited power to know all things; his consciousness is universal. His personal circuit encompasses all personalities, and his knowledge of even the lowly creatures is supplemented indirectly through the descending series of divine Sons and directly through the indwelling Thought Adjusters. And furthermore, the Infinite Spirit is all the time everywhere present.
2015 3:3.3 神具有知悉一切事物的无限能力,他的意识是遍在的。他的人格回路包容一切人格体,而他对哪怕是低级受造物的知识,是间接通过神之沉降众子系列,以及直接通过思想调整者们而补足的。此外,无限之灵也始终是处处临在。
1955 3:3.4 We are not wholly certain as to whether or not God chooses to foreknow events of sin. But even if God should foreknow the freewill acts of his children, such foreknowledge does not in the least abrogate their freedom. One thing is certain: God is never subjected to surprise.
2015 3:3.4 我们不能完全确知,神是否曾决意预知罪恶事件。但是,即使神要预知其子民们的自由意志行为,这种预知,丝毫不会取消他们的自由意志。有一件事是肯定的:神决不会感受到意外。
1955 3:3.5 Omnipotence does not imply the power to do the nondoable, the ungodlike act. Neither does omniscience imply the knowing of the unknowable. But such statements can hardly be made comprehensible to the finite mind. The creature can hardly understand the range and limitations of the will of the Creator.
2015 3:3.5 全能性并不意味着去做不可为的、违背神性的行为。全知性也不意味着知道那些不可知的事情。但是,这些陈述,是很难被有限心智所理解的。受造物很难弄清造物主意志的范围与限度。
4. GOD’S LIMITLESSNESS
4. 神的无限性
1955 3:4.1 The successive bestowal of himself upon the universes as they are brought into being in no wise lessens the potential of power or the store of wisdom as they continue to reside and repose in the central personality of Deity. In potential of force, wisdom, and love, the Father has never lessened aught of his possession nor become divested of any attribute of his glorious personality as the result of the unstinted bestowal of himself upon the Paradise Sons, upon his subordinate creations, and upon the manifold creatures thereof.
2015 3:4.1 当众多宇宙被创生之时,神自身对它们的相继赠与,决不会使自身力量的蕴藏和智慧的储存有所减少,因为它们会继续驻留和憩息于神之中央人格本体之中。在力量、智慧和爱的蕴藏上,上父永不会由于他自身对天堂众子、其从属造物、以及造物中多样受造物的赠与,而使他自身的拥有物受到任何程度的减少,也不会使其辉煌人格本体的任一属性受到任何的剥夺。
1955 3:4.2 The creation of every new universe calls for a new adjustment of gravity; but even if creation should continue indefinitely, eternally, even to infinity, so that eventually the material creation would exist without limitations, still the power of control and co-ordination reposing in the Isle of Paradise would be found equal to, and adequate for, the mastery, control, and co-ordination of such an infinite universe. And subsequent to this bestowal of limitless force and power upon a boundless universe, the Infinite would still be surcharged with the same degree of force and energy; the Unqualified Absolute would still be undiminished; God would still possess the same infinite potential, just as if force, energy, and power had never been poured forth for the endowment of universe upon universe.
2015 3:4.2 每一个新宇宙的创造,都要求万有引力的一次新的调整;但是,即使创造活动将要无止境地、永恒地进行下去,直至无限,使得最终物质性造物将无限度地存在下去,但憩息于天堂岛中的控制与协调力量,将仍能胜任和足以应对这样一种无限宇宙的掌握控制和协调。而随着这种对无疆宇宙的无限之力与力量的赠与,无限之神将仍然被满载着同样程度的力与能量。无条件绝对仍未缩减;神将仍然拥有同样的无限潜力,就好像力、能量与力量从来不曾被倾注而出,用于对一个接一个宇宙的馈赠一样。
1955 3:4.3 And so with wisdom: The fact that mind is so freely distributed to the thinking of the realms in no wise impoverishes the central source of divine wisdom. As the universes multiply, and beings of the realms increase in number to the limits of comprehension, if mind continues without end to be bestowed upon these beings of high and low estate, still will God’s central personality continue to embrace the same eternal, infinite, and all-wise mind.
1955 3:4.4 The fact that he sends forth spirit messengers from himself to indwell the men and women of your world and other worlds in no wise lessens his ability to function as a divine and all-powerful spirit personality; and there is absolutely no limit to the extent or number of such spirit Monitors which he can and may send out. This giving of himself to his creatures creates a boundless, almost inconceivable future possibility of progressive and successive existences for these divinely endowed mortals. And this prodigal distribution of himself as these ministering spirit entities in no manner diminishes the wisdom and perfection of truth and knowledge which repose in the person of the all-wise, all-knowing, and all-powerful Father.
2015 3:4.4 他从自身派出了众灵性使者,去内驻于你们世界和其它世界的男男女女之中,这一事实也决不会使其作为一个神性全能灵格本体运作的能力有所减少;而且,他能够和可以派遣出的这种灵性告诫者的范围和数量,也是绝对无限制的。他自身对其受造物的这种馈赠,为这些受到这种神性馈赠的暂存生命们的渐进性、连续性存在,创造出了一个无穷尽的、几乎难以想象的未来可能性。这种将他自身以照料性灵性实体方式慷慨之分配,决不会使憩息在全智、全知和全能之父本身之内的真理与知识的智慧和完美有所减少。
1955 3:4.5 To the mortals of time there is a future, but God inhabits eternity. Even though I hail from near the very abiding place of Deity, I cannot presume to speak with perfection of understanding concerning the infinity of many of the divine attributes. Infinity of mind alone can fully comprehend infinity of existence and eternity of action.
1955 3:4.6 Mortal man cannot possibly know the infinitude of the heavenly Father. Finite mind cannot think through such an absolute truth or fact. But this same finite human being can actually feel—literally experience—the full and undiminished impact of such an infinite Father’s LOVE. Such a love can be truly experienced, albeit while quality of experience is unlimited, quantity of such an experience is strictly limited by the human capacity for spiritual receptivity and by the associated capacity to love the Father in return.
2015 3:4.6 暂存人类不可能理解天父的无限。有限心智无法想通这样一种绝对性的真理或事实。但这同样有限的人类,却能确实感受到——严格说是体验到——这样一位无限之父的爱之全面而无衰减性的影响。这样一种爱,能够被真实地体验到,尽管这种体验的质量是无限制的,但这种体验的数量则是严格有限的,它受到人的灵性感受能力和人对上父回报以爱的相应能力的限制。
1955 3:4.7 Finite appreciation of infinite qualities far transcends the logically limited capacities of the creature because of the fact that mortal man is made in the image of God—there lives within him a fragment of infinity. Therefore man’s nearest and dearest approach to God is by and through love, for God is love. And all of such a unique relationship is an actual experience in cosmic sociology, the Creator-creature relationship—the Father-child affection.
5. THE FATHER’S SUPREME RULE
5. 上父的至高统治
1955 3:5.1 In his contact with the post-Havona creations, the Universal Father does not exercise his infinite power and final authority by direct transmittal but rather through his Sons and their subordinate personalities. And God does all this of his own free will. Any and all powers delegated, if occasion should arise, if it should become the choice of the divine mind, could be exercised direct; but, as a rule, such action only takes place as a result of the failure of the delegated personality to fulfill the divine trust. At such times and in the face of such default and within the limits of the reservation of divine power and potential, the Father does act independently and in accordance with the mandates of his own choice; and that choice is always one of unfailing perfection and infinite wisdom.
2015 3:5.1 在万有之父与后哈沃纳(Havona)世界的接触中,他并不通过直接传达来施行其无限的力量和最终的权威,而是通过他的众子和他们的从属人格体们。神依照他自身的自由意志做了所有这一切。如果时机出现,如果神之心智觉得有此必要,任意一切被委派的力量,都可以由上父来直接行使;但是,一般说来,这种行动仅当被委派的人格体未能满足神之委托时,才会发生。在这些时候,面对这样的失职,在保持神性力量和潜力的限度之内,上父确会依据他自己决定的指令而独立行动;那个决定将永远是一个无尽完美和无限明智的决定。
1955 3:5.2 The Father rules through his Sons; on down through the universe organization there is an unbroken chain of rulers ending with the Planetary Princes, who direct the destinies of the evolutionary spheres of the Father’s vast domains. It is no mere poetic expression that exclaims: “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.” “He removes kings and sets up kings.” “The Most Highs rule in the kingdoms of men.”
1955 3:5.3 In the affairs of men’s hearts the Universal Father may not always have his way; but in the conduct and destiny of a planet the divine plan prevails; the eternal purpose of wisdom and love triumphs.
2015 3:5.3 在人们内心的事务当中,万有之父或许不会一直按他的方式行事;但在一个行星的运作和天命当中,神性计划必会获胜;智慧与慈爱的永恒意图必会获胜。
1955 3:5.4 Said Jesus: “My Father, who gave them to me, is greater than all; and no one is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” As you glimpse the manifold workings and view the staggering immensity of God’s well-nigh limitless creation, you may falter in your concept of his primacy, but you should not fail to accept him as securely and everlastingly enthroned at the Paradise center of all things and as the beneficent Father of all intelligent beings. There is but “one God and Father of all, who is above all and in all,” “and he is before all things, and in him all things consist.”
1955 3:5.5 The uncertainties of life and the vicissitudes of existence do not in any manner contradict the concept of the universal sovereignty of God. All evolutionary creature life is beset by certain inevitabilities. Consider the following:
2015 3:5.5 生活的变化无常和存在的枯荣沉浮,决不会与神之遍在影响的概念相抵触。所有进化中的受造物生活,都被某些不可逃避的事情所困扰。考虑以下这些情形:
1955 3:5.6 1. Is courage—strength of character—desirable? Then must man be reared in an environment which necessitates grappling with hardships and reacting to disappointments.
2015 3:5.6 1. 勇气——品格的力量——值得拥有吗?那么,人就必须要在一个需要与苦难搏斗、与沮丧对抗的环境中被培养。
1955 3:5.7 2. Is altruism—service of one’s fellows—desirable? Then must life experience provide for encountering situations of social inequality.
2015 3:5.7 2. 利他——对其同伴的服务——值得拥有吗?那么,人生经历必须要遭遇社会不公的境遇做好准备。
1955 3:5.8 3. Is hope—the grandeur of trust—desirable? Then human existence must constantly be confronted with insecurities and recurrent uncertainties.
2015 3:5.8 3. 希望——对辉煌前景的信心——值得拥有吗?那么,人类的生存必须要不断地面对不安全感和经常发生的变化无常。
1955 3:5.9 4. Is faith—the supreme assertion of human thought—desirable? Then must the mind of man find itself in that troublesome predicament where it ever knows less than it can believe.
2015 3:5.9 4. 信仰——人类思想之至高主张——值得拥有吗?那么,人类的心智必须要在那种令人烦恼的困境中发现它自己,在那里心智知晓的总比它所相信的少。
1955 3:5.10 5. Is the love of truth and the willingness to go wherever it leads, desirable? Then must man grow up in a world where error is present and falsehood always possible.
2015 3:5.10 5. 对真理之爱和顺其所引领方向而行的意愿值得拥有吗?那么,人必须要在一个谬误常在、谎言随时可能出现的世界中成长。
1955 3:5.11 6. Is idealism—the approaching concept of the divine—desirable? Then must man struggle in an environment of relative goodness and beauty, surroundings stimulative of the irrepressible reach for better things.
2015 3:5.11 6. 理想主义——趋向神圣的理念——值得拥有吗?那么,人必须要在一个拥有着相对善与美的环境中,在充满难以抑制的、追求更美好事物的激情氛围中奋斗。
1955 3:5.12 7. Is loyalty—devotion to highest duty—desirable? Then must man carry on amid the possibilities of betrayal and desertion. The valor of devotion to duty consists in the implied danger of default.
2015 3:5.12 7. 忠诚——对于最高职责的献身——值得拥有吗?那么,人必然要在被出卖和被遗弃的可能性之中继续。献身于职责的勇气与潜含的失职危险是并存的。
1955 3:5.13 8. Is unselfishness—the spirit of self-forgetfulness—desirable? Then must mortal man live face to face with the incessant clamoring of an inescapable self for recognition and honor. Man could not dynamically choose the divine life if there were no self-life to forsake. Man could never lay saving hold on righteousness if there were no potential evil to exalt and differentiate the good by contrast.
2015 3:5.13 8. 无私——忘我精神——值得拥有吗?那么,凡人在生活中必须要面对一个追求认可与荣誉、无法逃避之自我的不断扰攘。假如没有对自我生活的放弃,人便无法充满活力地去选择神性生活。假如没有潜在的恶,通过对比来强化和突出善,人便永远无法把救赎的支点建立在正义的基础之上。
1955 3:5.14 9. Is pleasure—the satisfaction of happiness—desirable? Then must man live in a world where the alternative of pain and the likelihood of suffering are ever-present experiential possibilities.
2015 3:5.14 9. 快乐——幸福的满足感——值得拥有吗?那么,人必须要生活在这样一个世界中,在这里,痛苦的抉择和苦难的可能始终是体验中可能发生之事。
1955 3:5.15 Throughout the universe, every unit is regarded as a part of the whole. Survival of the part is dependent on co-operation with the plan and purpose of the whole, the wholehearted desire and perfect willingness to do the Father’s divine will. The only evolutionary world without error (the possibility of unwise judgment) would be a world without free intelligence. In the Havona universe there are a billion perfect worlds with their perfect inhabitants, but evolving man must be fallible if he is to be free. Free and inexperienced intelligence cannot possibly at first be uniformly wise. The possibility of mistaken judgment (evil) becomes sin only when the human will consciously endorses and knowingly embraces a deliberate immoral judgment.
1955 3:5.16 The full appreciation of truth, beauty, and goodness is inherent in the perfection of the divine universe. The inhabitants of the Havona worlds do not require the potential of relative value levels as a choice stimulus; such perfect beings are able to identify and choose the good in the absence of all contrastive and thought-compelling moral situations. But all such perfect beings are, in moral nature and spiritual status, what they are by virtue of the fact of existence. They have experientially earned advancement only within their inherent status. Mortal man earns even his status as an ascension candidate by his own faith and hope. Everything divine which the human mind grasps and the human soul acquires is an experiential attainment; it is a reality of personal experience and is therefore a unique possession in contrast to the inherent goodness and righteousness of the inerrant personalities of Havona.
2015 3:5.16 对真、美和善的充分鉴别,是神性宇宙的完美性中所固有的。哈沃纳(Havona)世界的居民,并不需要拥有相对价值层次的潜能,来作为一种选择激励手段;这些完美的存有们,即使在没有任何对比性的和思想强制性道德状况下,也能够识别和选择善。但是,就道德本质和灵性状态而言,所有这些完美的存有凭借其存在的事实而本就如此。他们只是在其固有状态之内经验性的获得进步。而凡人则通过他自己的信仰和希望,取得他作为一个扬升候选者的资格。人类心智所把握的和人类灵魂学到的每样神性事物,都是一个经验性成果。它是一种个人体验的实相,因而是一种独特的拥有,这与哈沃纳(Havona)那些无误的人格体们的固有善性与正直形成对照。
1955 3:5.17 The creatures of Havona are naturally brave, but they are not courageous in the human sense. They are innately kind and considerate, but hardly altruistic in the human way. They are expectant of a pleasant future, but not hopeful in the exquisite manner of the trusting mortal of the uncertain evolutionary spheres. They have faith in the stability of the universe, but they are utter strangers to that saving faith whereby mortal man climbs from the status of an animal up to the portals of Paradise. They love the truth, but they know nothing of its soul-saving qualities. They are idealists, but they were born that way; they are wholly ignorant of the ecstasy of becoming such by exhilarating choice. They are loyal, but they have never experienced the thrill of wholehearted and intelligent devotion to duty in the face of temptation to default. They are unselfish, but they never gained such levels of experience by the magnificent conquest of a belligerent self. They enjoy pleasure, but they do not comprehend the sweetness of the pleasure escape from the pain potential.
2015 3:5.17 哈沃纳(Havona)的受造物们是天性勇敢的,但他们不是人类意义上的那样勇敢。他们是天生仁慈和体贴的,但很难是人类意义上的那种利他主义。他们期待着幸福的未来,但不是像那些无常进化性星球上的信众们以那样炽烈的方式充满希望。他们对宇宙的稳定性充满信仰,但是他们对凡人从动物状态攀升到天堂入口过程中所依靠的那种救赎信仰则是完全的陌生者。他们热爱真理,但他们对真理的灵魂救赎特性则一无所知。他们是理想主义者,但他们生来如此;他们完全不懂由于做了这种令人兴奋的选择而产生的狂喜。他们是忠诚的,但是他们从未体验过在面对违约诱惑时那种真诚而理智的献身所产生的激动。他们是不自私的,但他们从没有获得过对好斗自我的出色征服所产生的那种体验。他们领略快乐,但并不理解愉快地摆脱潜在痛苦时那种快乐的甜蜜。
6. THE FATHER’S PRIMACY
6. 上父的首位性
1955 3:6.1 With divine selflessness, consummate generosity, the Universal Father relinquishes authority and delegates power, but he is still primal; his hand is on the mighty lever of the circumstances of the universal realms; he has reserved all final decisions and unerringly wields the all-powerful veto scepter of his eternal purpose with unchallengeable authority over the welfare and destiny of the outstretched, whirling, and ever-circling creation.
2015 3:6.1 怀着神性的无私和无比的慷慨,万有之父让权授能,但他仍然是首位的;他的手仍在掌控宇宙全域状况的强大杠杆上;他保留着所有最终决定,并且怀着对其向外延伸的、旋转的和永远循环着的造物之福祉和命运不可置疑的权威,无误地行使着源自其永恒意图的全能否决权。
1955 3:6.2 The sovereignty of God is unlimited; it is the fundamental fact of all creation. The universe was not inevitable. The universe is not an accident, neither is it self-existent. The universe is a work of creation and is therefore wholly subject to the will of the Creator. The will of God is divine truth, living love; therefore are the perfecting creations of the evolutionary universes characterized by goodness—nearness to divinity; by potential evil—remoteness from divinity.
2015 3:6.2 神之主权是不受限制的;这是针对一切造物的一个基本事实。宇宙本不是必然产生的。宇宙既不是一个偶发事件,也不是自存之物。宇宙是一个创造的成果,因此它完全是隶属于造物主之意志的。神之意志是神圣之真理,鲜活之慈爱;因此,进化宇宙渐趋完美的世界是以有着接近神性的善和远离神性的潜在邪恶为特征的。
1955 3:6.3 All religious philosophy, sooner or later, arrives at the concept of unified universe rule, of one God. Universe causes cannot be lower than universe effects. The source of the streams of universe life and of the cosmic mind must be above the levels of their manifestation. The human mind cannot be consistently explained in terms of the lower orders of existence. Man’s mind can be truly comprehended only by recognizing the reality of higher orders of thought and purposive will. Man as a moral being is inexplicable unless the reality of the Universal Father is acknowledged.
2015 3:6.3 所有宗教哲学,迟早要达到由一神所拥有的统一宇宙支配的观念。宇宙之因不能低于宇宙之果。宇宙生命和宇宙心智之流的源头,必须高于它们所显现的层次。人的心智不能总依照低级类别的存在来解释。人类的心智只能由承认有更高类别之思维和有意图之意志的实相,才能被真正理解。人类作为道德的存在是无法解释的,除非万有之父的实相被承认。
1955 3:6.4 The mechanistic philosopher professes to reject the idea of a universal and sovereign will, the very sovereign will whose activity in the elaboration of universe laws he so deeply reverences. What unintended homage the mechanist pays the law-Creator when he conceives such laws to be self-acting and self-explanatory!
2015 3:6.4 机械论的哲学家,声称着要去拒绝一种遍在和无上意志的观念,而他所深深敬重的各种宇宙规律,正是由这个无上意志的活动所精心设计出来的。就在机械论者把这些规律设想为自我运作和不言自明的规律时,他是在向规律的创造者表达多么意想不到的敬意啊!
1955 3:6.5 It is a great blunder to humanize God, except in the concept of the indwelling Thought Adjuster, but even that is not so stupid as completely to mechanize the idea of the First Great Source and Center.
2015 3:6.5 除了在内驻的思想调整者概念中以外,将神人性化,是一巨大错误。但即使那也不如将第一伟大本源与中心的概念彻底机械化那样愚蠢。
1955 3:6.6 Does the Paradise Father suffer? I do not know. The Creator Sons most certainly can and sometimes do, even as do mortals. The Eternal Son and the Infinite Spirit suffer in a modified sense. I think the Universal Father does, but I cannot understand how; perhaps through the personality circuit or through the individuality of the Thought Adjusters and other bestowals of his eternal nature. He has said of the mortal races, “In all your afflictions I am afflicted.” He unquestionably experiences a fatherly and sympathetic understanding; he may truly suffer, but I do not comprehend the nature thereof.
1955 3:6.7 The infinite and eternal Ruler of the universe of universes is power, form, energy, process, pattern, principle, presence, and idealized reality. But he is more; he is personal; he exercises a sovereign will, experiences self-consciousness of divinity, executes the mandates of a creative mind, pursues the satisfaction of the realization of an eternal purpose, and manifests a Father’s love and affection for his universe children. And all these more personal traits of the Father can be better understood by observing them as they were revealed in the bestowal life of Michael, your Creator Son, while he was incarnated on Urantia.
2015 3:6.7 由众多宇宙所组成宇宙的无限与永恒的支配者,他是力量,形态,能量,过程,模式,原理,临在和理想化的实相。但他是更多;他是具有人格的;他运用着一个无上的意志,体验着一种神性的自我意识,实施着一种创造心智所产生的指令,追求着对一种永恒意图之实现的满足,显露着对其宇宙子民们的一种父爱和深情。上父所有这些更具人格的品质,可以通过观察它们而得到更好的理解,因为这些品质在你们的造物之子迈克尔的赠与生活中被揭示出来,那时他投生在玉苒厦(Urantia)上。
1955 3:6.8 God the Father loves men; God the Son serves men; God the Spirit inspires the children of the universe to the ever-ascending adventure of finding God the Father by the ways ordained by God the Sons through the ministry of the grace of God the Spirit.
2015 3:6.8 上父爱着人们;上子服务于人们;上灵激发着宇宙子民投入到发现上父的不断扬升探险中,这一历程是在上灵的恩典照料下,按神之众子们制定的方式进行的。
1955 3:6.9 [Being the Divine Counselor assigned to the presentation of the revelation of the Universal Father, I have continued with this statement of the attributes of Deity.]
2015 3:6.9 [作为被指定对万有之父加以启示介绍的神性顾问,我再呈献此篇关于神灵属性的陈述。]