31. 什么是圣约神学？ What is Covenant Theology?
圣约神学是认识圣经最主要故事情节的一个框架，它强调无论是神的救赎计划，或是祂和人类打交道，都是毫无例外地，按照祂以主权所设立的约来进行的。虽然早期教会的教父们，已经认识到神的圣约的重要性，但是圣约神学并没有得到全面的发展，也没有对圣经启示完整的范围进行思考。这种情形，一直到16-17世纪的改教家，例如Johannes Cocceius 和 Herman Witsius，才有了转变。威敏思特信仰告白是17世纪具有里程碑意义的文件，它从头到尾展示了健全的、完全发展的圣约神学。 Covenant Theology is a framework for understanding the overarching storyline of the bible, which emphasizes that God’s redemptive plan and his dealings with mankind are without exception worked out in accordance with the covenants that he has sovereignly established. Although the importance of the divine covenants has been realized since the time of the earliest church fathers, Covenant Theology was not articulated as a thoroughly developed system, taking into account the entire extent of biblical revelation, until the days of the sixteenth and seventeenth century reformers, such as the influential Johannes Cocceius and Herman Witsius. The Westminster Confession of Faith is a landmark seventeenth century document that displays a robust, fully-developed Covenant Theology throughout.
基本上，圣约神学把圣经启示组织成三个统一但不同的圣约：1) 救赎之约（Covenant of Redemption）。这是在永恒的过去里，三一真神的三个位格间，彼此的圣约；在此约中，父神应许要把一群百姓赐给圣子作为产业，而圣子就担起救赎他们的工作；2) 工作之约（Covenant of Works）。神吩咐亚当，庄严地应许他，如果他在伊甸园里通过考验期的测验（probationary test），就会得到永恒的生命。（许多圣约神学家把神在西乃山所赐的圣约，视为在一定意义上，是工作之约的重新发布republication），最后是3) 恩典之约（Covenant of Grace）。在堕落之后，神马上与亚当立了此约，祂应许会差派一位女人的后裔，打败诱惑人的蛇（创3：15）。在恩典之约中，神应许一位凯旋者，要作为祂子民圣约的代表，完成被破坏了的工作之约，因此代表他们赢得圣约的祝福。圣经所有后来的约，例如神对挪亚，亚伯拉罕，大卫所确认的，以及新约（New Covenant）——在耶利米和以西结的先知预言中，应许要应验这些先前的圣约——都是有机地相连的。这些圣约基本上是同一个永恒的恩典之约，不同的安排（administrations，或譯為執行、照管）。這些不同的安排，都是建立在前一个安排的基础上，而且都要在基督以祂的血所立的新约中，得到实现。 Basically, Covenant Theology organizes biblical revelation around three unified but distinct covenants: the Covenant of Redemption, between the persons of the Trinity in eternity past, in which the Father promises to give a people to the Son as his inheritance, and the Son undertakes to redeem them; the Covenant of Works, which God enjoined upon Adam in the Garden, solemnly promising him eternal life if he passed the probationary test in the Garden of Eden (also, many covenant theologians see the covenant given on Mount Sinai as being in some sense a republication of the Covenant of Works); and finally, the Covenant of Grace, which God first entered into with Adam immediately after the Fall, when he promised to send a Seed of the woman, who would defeat the tempting serpent (Gen. 3:15). In the Covenant of Grace, God promises a champion to fulfill the broken Covenant of Works as a federal representative of his people, and so to earn its blessings in their behalf. All the later covenants of the bible, such as those which God confirmed to Noah, Abraham, David, and the New Covenant which promises to fulfill these prior covenants in the prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, are all organically connected, essentially being different administrations of the one eternal Covenant of Grace, which build upon each other and are all brought to completion in the New Covenant which Christ inaugurated with his shed blood.
不同的神学家已经提出对圣经中的圣约不同的定义，不过，最好的一个也许是O. Palmer Robertson的句子：“一个全权施行的血的约定。”（A bond-in-blood sovereignly administered。）（The Christ of the Covenants, P&R Publishing, p. 15）（诚之按：可参考M. Kline 的定义– an oath-bound, divinely sanctioned commitment, 见 http://www.upper-register.com/papers/what_is_covenant.html）。圣约的典型特色，就是有外在可见的记号和印记（a visible sign and seal），目的是要“提醒”神，不要忘记祂对与祂立约的子民所作的应许。举一些圣约记号的例子：赐给挪亚的彩虹，给亚伯拉罕的割礼；以及在基督降生后给信徒的洗礼和圣餐。
32. 圣约神学为什么重要？ Why is Covenant Theology important?
如果圣约神学按照它所说的，是一个理解圣经的框架，把圣经对掌管历史的神如何对待祂的百姓或把自己启示给他们的唯一方式展示出来， 那么，圣经神学的重要性就是很明显的了。如果我们没有与神立约，我们就永远不会认识祂。而如果我们不认识圣约的重要性，我们就无法明白圣经的一大部分。用最简单的表达方式来说，耶稣洒下祂的血所成就的是什么？根据最后晚餐祂所说的话，祂的死的意义，可以用一个词来总结：“新约”（太26：28）。如果我们不明白圣约的用语，这顶多会让我们对基督的死所带来的恩惠有一个非常模糊的认识；而如果我们不敬拜神的圣约之间统一和有机的联系，我们就会错过圣经的融贯性，神救赎计划的统一性，以及基督在圣约中的中心性。耶稣基督是圣经中唯一伟大的英雄。 If Covenant Theology is what it claims to be, that is, if it is the framework laying out the biblical understanding of the only manner in which the God of history has ever dealt with his people or revealed himself to them, then its importance should be obvious. If we are not in covenant with God, we will never know him at all. And if we do not understand the importance of the covenants, we will not be able to make much sense of vast portions of the bible. What was it, in the simplest mode of expression, that Jesus shed his blood to accomplish? According to his own words at the last Supper, the significance of his death was summed up in one term, “New Covenant” (Matthew 26:28). If we do not understand covenant terminology, this will leave us at best with a very fuzzy understanding of the benefits of Christ’s death; and if we do not understand the unity and organic connectedness of the divine covenants, we will miss the coherence of the bible, the unity of God’s redemptive design, and the centrality of the Christ of the covenants, who is the bible’s great hero.
17世纪荷兰神学家Herman Witsius的著作：The Economy of the Covenants between God and Man (reprinted in 1990 by den Dulk Christian Foundation)。巴刻（J. I. Packer）为这本书写了序言（http://gospelpedlar.com/articles/Bible/cov_theo.html），把这本里程碑的著作介绍给当代的读者。这是一篇简单却深刻，而且引入深思的文章。在这篇文章中，巴刻总结了圣经神学的重要性，有三点：首先，“除非用圣约的框架来看神的福音，我们才能正确地理解它”，这是因为福音的应许都是神邀请罪人进入恩典之约，并享受约的好处的邀请。 In a simple yet profound and provocative article introducing to a modern audience the monumental work of Herman Witsius, The Economy of the Covenants between God and Man (reprinted in 1990 by den Dulk Christian Foundation), J. I. Packer sums up the importance of Covenant Theology in three statements: first, “the gospel of God is not properly understood till it is viewed within a covenantal frame,” since the gospel promises are all invitations to sinners to enter into the Covenant of Grace, and enjoy its benefits.
第二，“除非用圣约的框架来看神的话，我们才能正确地理解”，这是因为构成“圣经骨架”的，是一位伟大英雄的故事，祂应许要完成那一件伟大的工作，这件工作和“人与上帝的圣约关系有关，这个关系首先被破坏，然后得到了恢复”；进一步说，把圣经众多书卷结合在一起的几股合一的股绳，首先是圣约的应许：“我要作你们的神，你们要作我的子民”，这是上帝透过祂连续不断的对圣约信心和生活的命令，要对选民应验的。第二股股绳是圣约的信差与中保，神-人耶稣基督，先知与君王，祭司与祭物，旧约所预言、新约所宣讲的弥赛亚。第三股股绳是神唯一的一群百姓，圣约的群体，选民的整体。他们是神使他们归信，也保守他们信心的人，从亚伯，挪亚，亚伯拉罕，到以色列的余民，到普世新约教会中相信的犹太人和外邦人；以及第四股股绳，圣约敬虔唯一的模式，由信心、悔改、爱、喜乐、赞美、盼望、恨恶罪、喜爱圣洁、祷告的灵，以及随时准备好与世界、肉体和撒但争战，以荣耀神……这个模式也许是在路德的“小圣经”，诗篇中，最完整地展示出来的，但在新旧两约中神的仆人的生活中也可以见到，并且在新旧约圣经的每一卷书卷中多多少少反映出来的。 Second, “the Word of God is not properly understood till it is viewed within a covenantal frame,” since the story that forms “the backbone of the bible,” a story with one great Hero and the one great work that he undertakes to perform, “has to do with man’s covenant relationship with God first ruined then restored”; and further, the unifying strands that bind together the books of the Bible are, first , the one covenant promise, sloganized as “I will be your God, and you shall be my people,” which God was fulfilling to his elect all through his successive orderings of covenant faith and life; second , the one messenger and mediator of the covenant, Jesus Christ the God-man, prophet and king, priest and sacrifice, the Messiah of Old Testament prophecy and New Testament proclamation; third , the one people of God, the covenant community, the company of the elect, whom God brings to faith and keeps in faith, from Abel, Noah and Abraham through the remnant of Israel to the worldwide New Testament church of believing Jews and Gentiles; and fourth , the one pattern of covenant piety, consisting of faith, repentance, love, joy, praise, hope, hatred of sin, desire for sanctity, a spirit of prayer, and readiness to battle the world, the flesh, and the devil in order to glorify God . . . a pattern displayed most fully, perhaps, in Luther’s “little Bible,” the Psalter, but seen also in the lives of God’s servants in both Testaments and reflected more or less fully in each single one of the Old and New Testament books.
第三、“除非用圣约的框架来看神的真相，我们才能正确地理解”，这是因为神已经启示祂三一神间最根本的爱与合一，以及祂的位格中其他深不可测的属性，诸如祂绝对的信实、公义和主权的怜悯，只有透过祂在人类历史中所展现出来的圣约，即三一真神间『救赎之约』的表达与反射，才能以一种经济和确凿的方式，展示神基本本质的丰富，以至于人可以认识到祂是谁，并被带进与祂个人的关系中（以上的摘引都出自巴刻的这篇序言）。
