Thursday, August 2, 2018

ROH_Chapter 6_Transforming The Mind; 1 Spiritual Formation and the Thought Life


Interlude 插话 

1. 虽然我们以个个向度来探讨人性和属灵重塑,但是我们必须知道基督徒实践属灵生命的塑造,是”简单“的,而不复杂。  灵命塑造的简单性是赖于我们的意向(我们的愿意和专注)。  
it is very important that we not lose sight of the simplicity of spiritual formation in Christ.  (121页,1段)

Now, the simplicity of spiritual formation lies in its intention. Its aim is to bring every element in our being, working from inside out, into harmony with the will of God and the kingdom of God. This is the simple focus. We must keep it constantly before us and not be distracted by other things, no matter how good they may appear.  (121页,4段) 

2.   我们要使用更多的“恩典” - 让我们从这个角度的来看神的“恩典”。 
To “grow in grace” means to utilise more and more grace to live by, until everything we do is assisted by grace. (122页, 2段) 

3.   接下来的单元,我们会详细探讨每个向度,必须要意识到这些向度是一个整体,相互影响着我们的真实生活。  
while I shall treat each dimension separately for sake of clarity, we must all along keep a sharp awareness that they are not separate in reality and are always profoundly influencing one another in the flow of real life. (122页,3段)


第六单元 : 心思的转化(一):灵命塑造与思想生活

1. 思想是什么 

a. 心思(Mind)的向度里,分成两个,一是思想,二是感觉 (在下单元讨论)。灵命若要有进步,思想是必须首先被改变 

b. 我们仍要负上责任 :虽然人死在过犯罪恶中,但还是有自由、有能力和责任努力保留对神的认识(虽然这认识是有瑕疵的)。  
The ultimate freedom we have as human beings is the power to select what we will allow or require our minds to dwell upon.  (126页,2段) 

c.  思想,指的是”我们意识事务的所有方式”
“thoughts” we mean all of the ways in which we are conscious of things. That includes our memories, perceptions, and beliefs (126页,3段) 

d. 思想和意志的互动关系 - 它界定了我们意志和选择的范围 (界定了我们创造力的范围) 
what we think, imagine, believe, or guess sets boundaries to what we can will or choose, and therefore to what we can create. (127页,2段)

e. 思想和感觉的互动关系 - 意志不能选择要什么感觉,只有透过思想。  (We cannot just choose our feelings)
They determine the orientation of everything we do and evoke the feelings that frame our world and motivate our actions. Interestingly, you can’t evoke thoughts by feeling a certain way, but you can evoke and to some degree control feelings by directing your thoughts. (126页,4段) 


2. 思想包含四大元素 : 观念、形象、信息和思想能力 

2.1  观念 (Ideas) 

a. 观念,是我们给予事务的诠释、叙述和假设。它不是固定和一致的。 
IDEAS ARE VERY GENERAL models of or assumptions about reality. They are patterns of interpretation, historically developed and socially shared. (127页, 5段)

Our idea system is shareable by many— perhaps by entire social systems, such as nations or families— and it develops and changes through time and historical process, often without it being noticed that it has in fact changed.  (128页,1段) 

b. 属灵操练是要转化我们的思想观念,用基督教导神国度的观念来代替旧有的观念系统
The needed transformation is very largely a matter of replacing in ourselves those idea systems of evil (and their corresponding cultures) with the idea system that Jesus Christ embodied and taught and with a culture of the kingdom of God. This is truly a passage from darkness to light. (129页,3段)

c.  耶稣基督带来的革命,也是一种观念的革命。 我们有没有在观念上经历了这场的革命?
He proved himself greater than any idea system or culture, however, and lives on. He is continuing the process of a worldwide idea shift that is crucial to his perpetual revolution, in which we each are assigned a part. (131页,1段)

2.2  形象/图像 (Image)

a. 有别于观念,形象是具体的、看得到的。 
Images are always concrete or specific, as opposed to the abstractness of ideas (131页,2段) 

b. 形象能帮助我们有效和具体的认识背后的观念系统。 
They mediate the power of those idea systems into the real situations of ordinary life. Every idea system is present among us as a life force through a small number of powerful images. (131页,2段)

c. 形象有好的,也有坏的。 耶稣基督选了“十字架”来作为最有效的形象。  
 Jesus of course understood the great significance of images and has, indeed, become one himself. Intentionally. He also carefully selected an image that brilliantly conveys himself and his message: the cross. (132页,2段) 

d. 观念和形象的影响力非常的大,我们最大的挑战就是“如何对神拥有正确的观念和形象”。  
i。IDEAS AND IMAGES are also a primary stronghold of evil in the human self and in society. They determine how we “take” the things and events of ordinary life. (132页,3段)

ii。神的观念和对他的形象认识,对于我们是最重要的事 The single most important thing in our mind is our idea of God and the associated images. (133页,2段) 

e. 属灵操练就是要我们把任何对信仰有危害的观念和形象,用基督耶稣拥有的观念和形象来取代它们。  
The process of spiritual formation in Christ is one of progressively replacing those destructive images and ideas with the images and ideas that filled the mind of Jesus himself.   (135页,3段)
2.3  信息 (Information)

a. 明显的,没有信息(对的资讯),我们就不能好好的思想。 
Without correct information, our ability to think has nothing to work on. Indeed, without the requisite information, we may be afraid of thinking at all, or simply be incapable of thinking straight. (137页,3段)

b. 我们今天的观景,拥有太多不重要的信息(从Google,FB每天的供应),但却对于神的信息掉以轻心。
Failure to know what God is really like and what his law requires destroys the soul, ruins society, and leaves people to eternal ruin:  (138页,3段) 

2.4  思考能力 (Inference /Ability to think) 

a. 思考就是寻找、重复、连接、比较和分辨真假对错的活动。 
What is thinking? It is the activity of searching out what must be true, or cannot be true, in the light of given facts or assumptions. It extends the information we have and enables us to see the “larger picture”— to see it clearly and to see it wholly. And it undermines false or misleading ideas and images as well. It reveals their falseness to those who wish to know. It is a powerful gift of God to be used in the service of truth. (139页, 3段) 

b. 我们必须思考神的话;用思考能力来认识神的话语,和探索神的话对于我们生活的具体关系。  
And so we must apply our thinking to and with the Word of God. We must thoughtfully take that Word in, dwell upon it, ponder its meaning, explore its implications— especially as it relates to our own lives. (140页,3段)

c. 可悲的是今天仍然有基督徒认为,信心和思考是彼此不相容的。  
Today we are apt to downplay or disregard the importance of good thinking to strong faith;
(141页,2段) 

d. 切记,耶稣基督是这个世界上最顶尖的思想家。  而我们却忽略和逃避这个事实。  
At the head of the list is Jesus Christ himself, who was and is the most powerful thinker the world has ever known. (141页,4段)

3.  思想带我们进入“能爱神和住在神的爱中”的状况,而这种爱神的状况更提升我们到“敬拜神”的境界。  这种就是一个最美的状况,每个基督徒都要拥有的神圣关系。  

a.  每时每刻都思考神,住在神的爱中 - 我们要思念天上的事,而不是地上的事。 
TO BRING THE MIND to dwell intelligently upon God as he is presented in his Word will have the effect of causing us to love God passionately, and this love will in turn bring us to think of God steadily. Thus he will always be before our minds. (143页,2段) 

b.  住在愛中,把我們帶入敬畏的人生。  
worship is the single most powerful force in completing and sustaining restoration in the whole person. It puts into abeyance every evil tendency in every dimension of the self. It naturally arises from thinking rightly of God on the basis of revealed truth confirmed in experience. We say flatly, Worship is at once the overall character of the renovated thought life and the only safe place for a human being to stand.  (144页,2段) 

4. 思想的一些特殊危险  SPECIAL DANGERS IN OUR THOUGHT LIFE WITH GOD

4.1   第一,对自己的观念和资讯有过度的自信
The first is pride and overconfidence in ideas, images, or bits of “information” simply because they are “ours” or “mine” and I am (we are) in the habit of relying on them. (149页,1段) 

4.2   第二,忽视了证据和事实
A second danger, associated with the first, is that of simple ignorance of fact. (149页,3段) 

4.3   第三,用自己的欲求来引导自己的思想
A third great danger in the thought life of the disciple is allowing our desires to guide our thinking: especially the desire to prove we are right. (150页,2段) 

4.4   第四,没有谨慎选择进入我们思想里的形象(图像)
The fourth and final great danger has to do with the images that we admit into our minds. (150页,5段) 
5.  思想方面,属灵操练的一些提议

 Memorise 背诵一大段的经节
we can do is to draw certain key portions of Scripture into our minds and make them a part of the permanent fixtures of our thought. This is the primary discipline for the thought life. We need to know them like the back of our hand, and a good way to do that is to memorize them and then constantly turn them over in our minds as we go through the events and circumstances of our life (153页,3段) 

b.   Visual and Audio 好好的善用听觉和视觉的果效
We need to be in the presences of images, both visual and auditory (good sayings, poetry, and songs). These can constantly direct and redirect our minds toward God, Jesus Christ, the Spirit, and the church  (154页,2段) 

c.  Learn from one another and from the saints 彼此学习,也向过去的属灵伟人学习。   
Spiritual formation cannot, in the nature of the case, be a “private” thing, because it is a matter of whole-life transformation. You need to seek out others in your community who are pursuing the renovation of the heart.  (155页,2段) 


6.  基督徒应该要有开明和独立的思想,以信心继续探索真理 

a.  不要先拒绝,要思考、探索和分辨
Those who would understand and practice spiritual formation in the way of Jesus Christ should not deny the power of thought just because some people make a religion of it and would use it as a basis for helping and healing with no reference to Christ. Breakfast is a good idea, and I do not plan to give it up because Hindus practice it. (157页, 3段) 

b.  不怕比较,要好好的思考,那我们就更能珍惜和肯定属灵塑造的必要性。 
we should thoughtfully and prayerfully look into whether such practices actually are sufficient to meet the human need for spiritual formation. Especially, are they really equivalent to or better than spiritual formation in the way of Christ, when it is correctly and fully practiced?  (158页,1段) 

c.  最终,我们必能拥有像基督的心思,经历从黑暗进入光明的改变
The transformation of our thought life by taking on the mind of Christ— his ideas, images, information, and patterns of thinking— opens the way to deliverance of every dimension of the human self from the oppressive powers of darkness. (158页,2段) 

问问自己这个问题, 也是本单元的中心: 你有没有每时每刻让神充满你的心思意念呢? 
Have you decided to have God a constant presence in your mind or not?  (153页,1段)


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