1) Q. The Local Churches were mentioned in an Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions. Why was this harmful?
A. The misstatements of fact and defamatory nature of ECNR caused severe, unmerited harm to the local churches, particularly to members in China denied freedom of religion and other basic human rights, including being imprisoned.
问:《邪教及新兴宗教百科》一书中提到了地方教会。为什么此书是有危害的呢?
答:《邪教及新兴宗教百科》一书的不实陈述和诋毁之辞,对地方教会造成不该有的严重伤害,尤其是其在中国的成员,他们被剥夺了宗教自由和其他基本人权,甚至为此下监。
2) Q. Apologists who opposed the local churches have admitted they were wrong. What about those who haven’t?
A. Those who have admitted that they were wrong, pray that other apologists will rescind their condemnation, if not reengage the issue to the same depth. Those who oppose risk either being guilty of accusing a brother or of falsely embracing a heretic.
问:反对地方教会的护教人士已经承认他们错了。对那些还么没有承认他们错了的护教人士,该怎么办呢?
答:对于那些已经承认他们错了的护教人士,祷告愿其他的护教人士能撤销他们的谴责,即使他们对这个议题不能像他们一样做深入的研究。他们面对的是:可能犯了误责弟兄之罪,也可能错拥异端。
3) Q. Problems were encountered because of the local church teaching, but where did they start?
A. First, when a local church teaching that was problematic was encountered, it was assumed the problem stemmed from heresy or confusion on their part rather than misunderstanding on those investigating them.
问:问题的冲突是因着地方教会的教训,但这是从哪里开始的呢?
答:首先,当他们(护教人士)接触到地方教会让人生疑的教训时,他们相当然耳的认定,问题乃是源自他们的异端,而并非是出于他们的误解和混淆为来源于异端的问题或是地方教会那边的混淆,而非出于他们的误解。
4) Q. Although many others were quick to call the local churches a cult, why did Gretchen Passsatino and Walter Martin never do this?
A. Gretchen Passatino, Walter Martin and others always refrained from calling the local churches a cult. They preferred the term “aberrant,” and affirmed they were brothers and sisters in Christ, although they were convinced some of their teachings on essential doctrines were at best contradictory, at worst heretical.
问:尽管许多其他人急于称呼地方教会为邪教,但为什么巴沙迪诺格雷琴与华特马丁从不这样称呼呢?
答:巴沙迪诺格雷琴,华特马丁总是不愿将地方教会称为邪教。他们宁愿以“偏激”称之,但肯定他们是在基督里的弟兄姊妹。然而,他们那时确认地方教会的一些基要教训自相矛盾,甚至可能流为异端。
5) Q. In addition to misunderstanding some of their teachings, what was another problem that was encountered?
A. Second, the material that was studied in the 1970s was deficient in depth and breadth. A further deficiency was more in the researchers intellectual depth and breadth at an early point in their careers than in the materials themselves.
问:除了误解地方教会的一些教训之外,另一个问题的冲突是什么呢?
答:第二,他们在的研究材料在深度和广度上都有欠缺。而更为欠缺的乃是在于他们,而非在于材料本身;他们当时处于治学生涯的早期,思维上仍缺深度和广度。
6) Q. Nee and Lee’s theological approach seemed to be an issue. How was this the case?
A. Nee and Lee’s theological approach was different from the systematic theology of Western Christianity. Local church theology is more practically oriented; it enables a Christian to follow Christ day by day, especially under persecution or opposition, rather than describing a theoretical and rational paradigm.
问:倪与李氏的神学研究角度似乎是一个问题。这是怎么样的一种情况?
答:倪与李氏的神学研究角度与西方基督教的系统神学迥异。地方教会的神学乃是以实用为导向,旨在使基督徒能逐日跟随基督,尤其是在遭遇逼迫和反对之时,而非为着理论和理性架构的论述。
7) Q. Misunderstanding of teaching was a major issue. In what other way did the researchers make error in this area?
A. They isolated the teachings of the local churches from their historical and cultural roots, mistaking some of their unique experiences as affirmations of heresy.
问:对地方教会教训的误解是一个很大的问题。在这一面研究者如何犯了错?
答:他们没有把地方教会的教训与他们的历史文化根源联系起来,以致误解他们一些独特的经历,据此断定他们为异端。
8) Q. Many years later, what happened when original researchers placed the local church teachings in a proper context?
A. When they properly placed the teachings of the local churches into their historical and cultural contexts, they realized the local churches did not teach the exclusivism of “we are the only true church” but instead the inclusivism of “we are only the true church, just like all true believers.”
问:许多年以后,当原初的研究者们将地方教会的教训放在正确的背景中去研究时,有什么事情发生了呢?
答:当他们根据地方教会的教会历史文化背景,透视他们的教训,他们就能理解,他们并非教导排他性的“只有我们是真正的教会”,而是包容性的“我们只不过是真正的教会,和所有的真信徒一样。”
9) Q. The researchers adjusted their views on the teachings of the local churches. Did their personal preferences also influence their initial conclusions?
A. They misjudged the local churches because they were immature, inexperienced, and sometimes insensitive. If they had engaged in personal interaction without presumed animosity, they would have discovered that the local churches’ behavior was inclusive, not exclusive.
问:研究者调整了他们对地方教会教训的观点。他们个人的倾向也影响他们最初的结论吗?
答:他们对地方教会错误的判断,是由于他们双方当时都不够成熟,缺乏经验,感觉有时也不够敏锐。如果他们能够不抱先入为主的敌意,而与他们进行亲身的沟通,他们就会发现地方教会的行为是包容的,而不是排他的。
10) Q. There were several apologists who made this re-examination. What was their conclusion?
A. Among the three living apologists who were able to make this reexamination, two have done so and come to the conclusion that they were wrong and the local churches’ teachings are not heretical; they are not cultic or a cult.
问:有几位护教论人士重新做了研究调查。他们得出的结论是什么呢?
答: 三位在世还能重新检视当年研究的护教人士中,有两位已经采取了行动,并得出结论:他们错了,地方教会的教训不是异端,他们并非类似邪教,也不是邪教。
Reference: http://www.equip.org/christian-research-journal/we-were-wrong-2/
参考网站:http://www.equip.org/christian-research-journal/we-were-wrong-2/