胡适留学日记卷七三〇、读《十字架之真谛》后寄著者书

卷七三〇、读《十字架之真谛》后寄著者书

　　（十一月七日）

　　吾在安谋司赴东美学生会时遇美国人节克生君（Henry E. Jackson），与谈甚相得。其人著书甚多，顷承以所著《十字架之真谛》见寄，嘱余读后告以所见，因作此书寄之。余向不留函稿，此书以可以见余宗教思想之一斑，故节录之：

　　… 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.

　　〔中译〕

　　……您曾多次提到苏格拉底之死，以与耶稣之死相比较。坦率地说，柏拉图曾经谈到苏格拉底之死，他的死比起吾在四福音书中看到的耶稣之死更能打动吾之心。以余观之，一个人心中先得有了耶稣的观点，才能认为耶稣在十字架上的牺牲比起苏格拉底之死更伟大更高尚。……您无意中贬低了苏格拉底之死，这不是显见得您的不公正吗？

　　您又说：“耶稣的行为显示了他是上帝之子，因为他是上帝之子，所以他做了上帝之子应该做的事。”以余观之，您在这里的推理无意中兜了一个圈子。您先作了一个假定，说耶稣是上帝之子，吾以为设若心中没有这个预先的假定，就不会从耶稣死于十字架上推出他是上帝之子。设若苏格拉底或是斯蒂芬也是死于十字架上，则也可推出他们是上帝之子。

　　吾或许可算是一个一尊教的信徒，虽然吾从未表明过吾之宗教。耶稣如果不是作为上帝之子，而是作为一个人，那么吾将更爱他，更敬佩他。作为上帝之子，耶稣的行为就没有什么卓越之处了。设若一个人像耶稣那样作为，那么从过去以及从将来来看，他都是卓绝超群的。

　　简而言之，正如您自己所说，您“已经成功地将耶稣之死的真理从褊狭的神学的理论中解放了出来”。只除了一点，即耶稣是上帝之子的理论，这一理论还有待证明。

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