The Gospel in Brief / Prologue

The Gospel in Brief 福音簡介

by Leo Tolstoy

(translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude)

(from Wikisource http://en.wikisource.org)

Prologue

序幕

    耶穌基督的宣告以對生命的理解取代了對外在神的信仰。

    

    耶穌基督，神的兒子，所宣告的福祉。

    福祉的宣告在於：凡相信自己是上帝兒子的人，都能獲得真正的生命。對生命的理解是萬物的基礎和開端。對生命的理解就是上帝。而藉著耶穌的宣告，這理解已成為萬物的基礎和開端。

    萬物因理解而生，無理解則無生命。理解賦予真正的生命。理解是真理之光，它照亮黑暗，黑暗也無法將其熄滅。

    真理之光一直存在於世間，照亮世間每一個人。它存在於世間，世間也因擁有這理解之光而存在。

    但世人並未留住他。他回到自己的地方，自己的人卻沒有留住他。

    只有那些領悟了覺悟的人才能像他一樣，因為他們相信他的真實存在。那些相信生命在於理解的人，不再是肉體之子，而是理解之子。

    而對生命的理解，在耶穌基督身上，以肉身顯現出來，我們明白他的意思就是，理解之子，肉身之人，與生命之源父同性，如同生命之源父一般。

    耶穌的教導才是完全而真實的信仰，因為藉著遵行耶穌的教導，我們便領受了一種新的信仰，而非以往的信仰。摩西賜給我們律法，但我們卻藉著耶穌基督領受了真正的信仰。

    沒有人見過上帝，將來也不會見到上帝，只有祂的兒子，也就是在父裡面的那位，向我們展示了生命的道路。

Jesus Christ's announcement replaced the belief in an external God by an understanding of life.

THE announcement of welfare by Jesus Christ, the son of God.

The announcement of welfare consists in this, that all men who believe that they are the sons of God obtain true life. The understanding of life is at the basis and the beginning of all. The understanding of life is God. And by the announcement of Jesus it has become the basis and beginning of all things.

All things have come to life by understanding, and without it nothing can live. Understanding gives true life. Understanding is the light of truth, and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot extinguish it.

The true light has always existed in the world and enlightens every man who is born in the world. It was in the world, and the world only lived because it had that light of understanding.

But the world did not retain it. He came unto his own, and his own retained him not.

Only those who understood the enlightenment were able to become like him because they believed in his reality. Those who believed that life lies in the understanding became no longer sons of the flesh, but sons of understanding.

And the understanding of life, in the person of Jesus Christ, manifested itself in the flesh, and we understood his meaning to be that the son of understanding, man in the flesh, of one nature with the Father the source of life, is such as the Father, the source of life.

The teaching of Jesus is the full and true faith, for by fulfilling the teaching of Jesus we understand a new faith instead of the former. Moses gave us a law, but we received the true faith through Jesus Christ.

      No one has seen God or will ever see God, only his son, who is in the Father, has shown us the path of life.