胡適留學日記卷七三〇、讀《十字架之真諦》後寄著者書

卷七三〇、讀《十字架之真諦》後寄著者書

　　（十一月七日）

　　吾在安謀司赴東美學生會時遇美國人節克生君（Henry E. Jackson），與談甚相得。其人著書甚多，頃承以所著《十字架之真諦》見寄，囑餘讀後告以所見，因作此書寄之。余向不留函稿，此書以可以見餘宗教思想之一斑，故節錄之：

　　… You have more than once referred to the death of Socrates in contrast to the death of Jesus. Frankly speaking, the death of Socrates as described by Plato often appeals to me more strongly than the death of Jesus which I find in the four Gospels. It seems to me that one must first have theChristian point of viewin mind in order to be able to say that what Jesus did during the crucifixion was greater and nobler than what Socrates did at his death… Shall I say that you have unjustly though unconsciously belittled the death of Socrates?

　　Again, you say: "The way Jesus acted showed Him to be the Son of God, and because He was the Son of God, He acted as He did." It seems to me that here you are unconsciously reasoning in a circle．You assume the Christian assumption that Jesus was the Son of God's. For to me who have no such presupposition in mind, the behavior of Jesus during his crucifixion doesnotprove that He was God's Son, any more than the death of Socrates or the death of Stephen (Acts 6.) proves Socrates or Stephen to be the Son of God．

　　In a sense I am a Unitarian, although I have never labeled my religion．I have greater admiration and love for Jesus if he were a man, than if he were the son of God. It would not be remarkable at all for the Son of God to act as Jesus did act．But it was and will always be remarkable thata manshould have acted as Jesus did.

　　In short, you have "succeeded in freeing the truth in Jesusdeath from provincial, theological theories" (to quote your own words) allexcept one, namely, the theory that Jesus was the Son of God．And that theory needs proof too.

　　〔中譯〕

　　……您曾多次提到蘇格拉底之死，以與耶穌之死相比較。坦率地說，柏拉圖曾經談到蘇格拉底之死，他的死比起吾在四福音書中看到的耶穌之死更能打動吾之心。以餘觀之，一個人心中先得有了耶穌的觀點，才能認為耶穌在十字架上的犧牲比起蘇格拉底之死更偉大更高尚。……您無意中貶低了蘇格拉底之死，這不是顯見得您的不公正嗎？

　　您又說：「耶穌的行為顯示了他是上帝之子，因為他是上帝之子，所以他做了上帝之子應該做的事。」以餘觀之，您在這裡的推理無意中兜了一個圈子。您先作了一個假定，說耶穌是上帝之子，吾以為設若心中沒有這個預先的假定，就不會從耶穌死於十字架上推出他是上帝之子。設若蘇格拉底或是斯蒂芬也是死於十字架上，則也可推出他們是上帝之子。

　　吾或許可算是一個一尊教的信徒，雖然吾從未表明過吾之宗教。耶穌如果不是作為上帝之子，而是作為一個人，那麼吾將更愛他，更敬佩他。作為上帝之子，耶穌的行為就沒有什麼卓越之處了。設若一個人像耶穌那樣作為，那麼從過去以及從將來來看，他都是卓絕超群的。

　　簡而言之，正如您自己所說，您「已經成功地將耶穌之死的真理從褊狹的神學的理論中解放了出來」。只除了一點，即耶穌是上帝之子的理論，這一理論還有待證明。

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