美国学生人类历史 第118期:教会之兴(5)

 They spoke¹ a language which left no doubt as to the future of unrepentant sinners. 气度沉稳，言之凿凿。讲到拒不悔改的人在地狱的悲惨情形，

The Teutons were deeply impressed. 让条顿人不由自主感到深深的触动。

They still had a deep respect for the wisdom of the ancient city of Rome. 条顿人对古罗马的智慧向来怀有敬意，

Those men were Romans. They probably spoke the truth. 他们想，这些人既然来自罗马，那他们讲的大有可能是事实。

Soon the Christian² missionary³ became a power in the savage⁴ regions of the Teutons and the Franks. 这样，在条顿人和法兰克人聚居的蛮荒之域，基督传教团很快成为一支强大的力量。

Half a dozen missionaries⁵ were as valuable as a whole regiment⁶ of soldiers. 六个传教士抵得上整整一个罗马军团的威力。

The Emperors began to understand that the Christian might be of great use to them. 罗马皇帝开始意识到，基督教对帝国可能会大有益处。

In some of the provinces they were given equal rights with those who remained faithful to the old gods. 于是在某些行省，基督徒获得了与信仰古老宗教的人们同样的权利。

The great change however came during the last half of the fourth century. 不过发生根本性的变化，还要等到公元4世纪下半叶。

Constantine, sometimes (Heaven knows why) called Constantine the Great, was emperor. 当时在位的皇帝是康士坦丁，有时他也被称为康士坦丁大帝（天知道人们为什么这样称呼）。

He was a terrible ruffian, but people of tender qualities could hardly hope to survive in that hard-fighting age. 此人算得上一个可怕的暴君，不过在那个严酷的年代，一个仁慈温 顺的皇帝是很难活下去的。

During a long and checkered⁷ career, Constantine had experienced many ups and downs. 在其漫长坎坷的生涯里，康士坦丁经历了数不清的沉浮变幻。

Once, when almost defeated by his enemies, he thought that he would try the power of this new Asiatic deity⁸ of whom everybody was talking. 有一回，他几乎到了被敌人击败的边缘。他想，也许该试试这个人人都在谈论的亚洲新上帝，看看他到底有多大威力。

He promised that he too would become a Christian if he were successful in the coming battle. 于是他发誓，如果在即将来临的战役中获胜，他就信仰基督。

He won the victory and thereafter he was convinced of the power of the Christian God and allowed himself to be baptised. 结果他大败敌军。从此，康土坦丁信服了基督教上帝的权能，接受洗礼作了基督徒。

From that moment on, the Christian church was officially recognised and this greatly strengthened the position of the new faith. 从那时开始，基督教得到罗马官方的正式承认，这极大地增强了它在罗马的地位。

But the Christians⁹ still formed a very small minority of all the people,(not more than five or six percent,) and in order to win, they were forced to refuse all compromise. 不过基督徒在罗马的全部人口中依然处于少数，大约只占5％-6％。为赢得最终胜利，使所有群众信仰基督，他们拒绝任何妥协。

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

3 missionary   

adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士

参考例句：

• She taught in a missionary school for a couple of years.她在一所教会学校教了两年书。
• I hope every member understands the value of missionary work. 我希望教友都了解传教工作的价值。

4 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

5 missionaries   

n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some missionaries came from England in the Qing Dynasty. 清朝时，从英国来了一些传教士。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The missionaries rebuked the natives for worshipping images. 传教士指责当地人崇拜偶像。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 regiment   

n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制

参考例句：

• As he hated army life,he decide to desert his regiment.因为他嫌恶军队生活，所以他决心背弃自己所在的那个团。
• They reformed a division into a regiment.他们将一个师整编成为一个团。

7 checkered   

adj.有方格图案的

参考例句：

• The ground under the trees was checkered with sunlight and shade.林地光影交错。
• He’d had a checkered past in the government.他过去在政界浮沉。

8 deity   

n.神，神性；被奉若神明的人(或物)

参考例句：

• Many animals were seen as the manifestation of a deity.许多动物被看作神的化身。
• The deity was hidden in the deepest recesses of the temple.神藏在庙宇壁龛的最深处。

9 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。