作者Revd Angela Sheard, 聖馬田助理牧師 在西歐歷史上,一些最偉大的科學發現,都是通過質疑已知的理解來實現的。1543年,波蘭天文學家尼古拉斯·哥白尼質疑了地球是否位於宇宙的中心,並在臨終前發表了一個新的理論,即地球和其他太陽系行星實際上是圍繞太陽運行的。1664年,英國數學家和物理學家艾碩·牛頓質疑了一個蘋果為什麼會從樹上掉下來,後來形成了對萬有引力的了解,明白萬有引力不僅使空中物體向地球掉落,也使行星繞太陽運行。1861年,法國化學家路易·巴士德質疑了當時關於疾病由“瘴氣”或“惡臭空氣”引起的假設,發表了他的理論,即疾病實際上是由一種叫做細菌的微小生物引起的,亦是首次在顯微鏡下看到細菌。
這三個發現都是由一個問題開始,並且完全改變了我們對世界的看法。在每一位科學家身上我們看到了一種天然的好奇心,他們願意檢驗先前的假設,而這些假設在當時被大多數人所相信。我認為在今天的福音經課中,多馬表現出了同樣的好奇心。實際上,在這本福音書中,多馬在慶祝過逾越節的晚餐後曾經提出了一個深思熟慮的問題 - 耶穌準備離開上層房間時,西門彼得問他:“主啊,你往哪裡去?”耶穌說:“你們知道我往哪裡去。”然而,多馬對此不滿意,反駁道:“‘主啊,我們不知道你往哪裡去,怎麼會知道去那裡的路呢?’”只有在多馬提出這個深入探究的問題後,耶穌才給了我們他最美麗和令人安慰的教訓之一:“我就是道路、真理、生命。” 在今天的福音經課中,其他的門徒都親眼目睹了一件令人難以置信的事情 - 他們復活的主的臨在。我們首先聽到多馬的回應,似乎是一個有點固執的話:“我非看見他手上的釘痕,用指頭探入釘痕,又用手探入他的肋旁,我總不信。”但實際上這是一個有條件的陳述 - 我們可以將它轉換為類似這樣的說法:“如果我看見他手上的釘痕...那麼我可能會相信。”世界的主流假設是死去的人不會再次復活 - 我們即使在今天也會覺得這是極其合理的!但與其關閉對替代觀點的窗戶,我認為這個陳述實際上是打開了一個問題的門,這個問題將完全改變多馬對世界的看法 - 這個問題迴響千年,也徹底改變了我們對世界的看法。拿撒勒的耶穌會是活著的嗎?這一次,耶穌的回應不是告訴多馬答案,而是通過他真實的臨在向他顯示,用他真實的聲音宣告平安,帶著他被釘死並復活的身體的傷痕,供多馬親眼看見,甚至親手觸摸。 信仰和懷疑常被認為是同一個硬幣的兩面 - 我們說信仰是回答,懷疑是發問。但是,當我們尋求有關世界的真相,尋求有關上帝的真相時,往往是我們的問題驅使我們尋找答案,而我們的答案反過來又引發更多的問題。在我們的福音經課中,耶穌的回應將多馬的質疑轉化為一個新的答案。難以置信的是,耶穌,拿撒勒的耶穌,雖然死了,卻從死裡復活了。在多馬深刻的回應中,我們聽到了耶穌的復活對他和對我們的意義:“我的主啊,我的神!”多馬的朋友、老師和主也是他的神。這種“答案”的信仰實際上是一個深奧的奧秘,而在使徒時代後的幾個世紀裡,人們又將答案變回成為問題:“這怎麼可能?”“這意味著什麼?” 作為今天的教會,我們是使徒的後裔。就像福音經課開始時的多馬一樣,我們是那些沒有見證耶穌復活身體的人。我們也是一個被科學、技術、工程、醫學、數學和許多其他領域永遠改變的世界的繼承人 - 由於人類的好奇心勇於提問,並用我們的感官來探索,知道答案可能會永遠改變我們對世界的看法。我認為這種好奇心不是一種可恥的事情,而是一份來自上帝的禮物,如同耶穌在世時對我們的選擇充滿好奇;祂深切渴望認識我們每個人的神秘內涵。但對於我們中的許多人來說,在我們的好奇心中,信仰總是在與懷疑進行永恆的對話,問題變成答案,然後再變回問題。在這對話中,可能我們很難看到耶穌為我們展示並提供的永生。但我認為有兩種實踐方式可以幫助我們,讓我們成為那些雖然未見,卻相信的人。 首先,我們可以並且必須培養我們的問題,當它們出現時要認真對待,仔細探索其涵義,尋找在我們的聖經和教會的傳統中是否有相同的問題,並與他人分享。同樣地,我們也可以支持和鼓勵他人對信仰提出自己的問題,尤其是那些在我們教會和社區中可能被忽視的聲音。其次,我們可以在我們現在的生活中尋找回答問題的方法,不僅僅是在教會的歷史傳統中,更是在基督已經復活,充滿了主聖靈的世界中。當我們培養並表達我們的問題和懷疑時,我們也可以敞開心胸接受賦予生命的聖靈的力量,並尋找聖靈在我們中間的工作的跡象,促成上帝終極的復活應許:將我們的世界完全轉化為耶穌基督的國度。 Original - Some of the greatest scientific discoveries in the history of Western Europe have come about through the asking of a question that overturned previous understandings of the nature of reality. In 1543 the Polish astronomer Nicholas Copernicus questioned the assumption that the Earth was at the centre of the universe, and on his deathbed published a new theory that in fact the Earth and all other planets in our solar system orbited the Sun. In 1664 the English mathematician and physicist Isaac Newton questioned why an apple had fallen from a tree, and later developed an understanding that a force which he called gravity not only caused objects in the air to fall towards the earth, but also caused those same planets to orbit the sun. In 1861 the French chemist Louis Pasteur, after questioning the assumption at the time that diseases were caused by ‘miasma’ or ‘bad air’, published his theory that disease was in fact caused by tiny organisms called bacteria, which could be seen for the first time under a microscope. All three of these discoveries, which began with a question, have completely changed how we see the world. In each of these scientists we see a natural curiosity that is willing to test previous assumptions, which were believed by the vast majority of people at that time. I think that in our Gospel reading today, Thomas displays that same curiosity. Thomas has in fact asked a searching question earlier in this Gospel – after the celebration of the Passover meal, Jesus makes to leave the upper room and Simon Peter asks him, ‘Lord, where are you going?’. As part of his response, Jesus says: “you know the way to the place where I am going”. Not satisfied with this, Thomas retorts, “‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’” It is only with the asking of this probing question from Thomas that Jesus gives us one of the most beautiful and comforting of all his teachings: “I am the way, the truth and the life”. In our Gospel reading today, the other disciples have all witnessed the unbelievable with their own eyes – the presence of their risen Lord. I think that we first hear Thomas’s words in response as a somewhat defiant full-stop: ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’ But this statement is actually a conditional – we could flip it to say something like, ‘if I see the marks of the nails in his hands… then I could believe’. The prevailing assumption about our world – that dead people don’t rise again – is one which even today we would find eminently sensible! But rather than barring the windows against an alternative perspective, I think that this statement is actually opening a door to a question that will completely change Thomas’s view of the world – a question that resonates down the millennia to completely change our view of the world as well. Could Jesus of Nazareth be alive? This time, Jesus will respond not by telling Thomas his answer but by showing him through his real presence, proclaiming peace with his real voice, bearing the wounds of his crucified and risen body for Thomas to not only see, but to touch. It is often said that faith and doubt are two sides of the same coin – to the extent that faith comes in the form of answers, doubt comes in the form of questions. As we search for the truth about our world, as we search for the truth about God, it is often our questions that drive our search for answers, and our answers which in turn drive more questions. In our Gospel reading, Jesus’s response turns Thomas’s questioning into a new answer. Incredibly, Jesus of Nazareth, though he died, has risen from the dead. In Thomas’s profound response we hear what this means for him and for us: “My Lord and my God!” The man who was Thomas’s friend, teacher and master is also his God. This ‘answer’ of faith is in fact a profound mystery, and in later centuries those who come after the apostles will turn it back into questions again: ‘How can this be?’ ‘What does this mean?’ As the church today, we are the descendants of the apostles. Like Thomas at the beginning of our Gospel reading, we are those who have not seen the resurrection body of Jesus. We are also the inheritors of a world that has been changed forever by science, technology, engineering, medicine, mathematics and so many other fields – by human curiosity that is unafraid to ask questions and investigate them with our senses, knowing that the answers could change how we see the world forever. I think that this curiosity is not at all something to be ashamed of, but rather is a gift from the God who is always curious about us, always wanting to know more deeply the mysterious matter that makes up each one of us. But for so many of us, in our curiosity faith is in a perpetual dialogue with doubt, the questions turning into answers and back again. In the midst of this dialogue, it can be difficult to see the eternal life that Jesus shows us and offer us. But I think there are two practices which can help us as we seek to be people who have not seen, and yet believe. Firstly, we can and must nurture our questions by taking them seriously when they arise, by carefully exploring their implications, by looking for the same questions in the scripture and tradition of our church and by sharing them with others. In the same way we can also support and empower others to ask their own questions about faith, especially those whose voices can go unheard in our church and our communities. Secondly, we can search for answers to our questions not only in the historical legacy of our church but in our lives now, in our world imbued with the presence of the risen Christ at the heart of all creation, and soaked through with his Spirit. As we nurture and speak our questions and our doubts, we can also open our hearts to the life-giving power of the Spirit, and look for signs of her working in our midst, bringing about that ultimate resurrection promise: the total transformation of our world into the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
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