would we feel happier, or safer, or more confident in God?"  难道我们会感到更幸福、更安全或对上帝更有信心吗？”

If the man in the photograph that appeared in the newspapers,  如果报纸上刊登的照片里面的人，

holding the hand of his dead child was standing in front of us now,  握着他死去孩子的手，现在站在我们面前的话，

there are no words that we could say to him.  我们将无言以对，

A verbal response would not be appropriate.  说任何话都不恰当。

The only appropriate response would be a compassionate silence and some kind of practical help. 唯一恰当的是满怀同情地沉默和实际的援助。

It isn't a time for explanation, or preaching, or theology;  这种时候不是解释、布道或讲神学的时候，

it's a time for tears.  这种时候是流泪的时候。

This is true. And yet here we are, my church in Oxford,  的确是的。正因如此，我们今天来到这里，这个在牛津的教会，

semi-detached from events that happened a long way away,  虽然离海啸发生地有万里之遥，

but with our faith bruised.  但是我们对上帝的信心受到打击。

And we want an explanation from God.  我们希望上帝给一个解释，

We demand an explanation from God.  我们强烈要求上帝给一个解释。

Some have concluded that we can only believe in a God who shares our pain.  有人认为，我们只能相信上帝是能分担我们痛苦的。

In some way, God must feel the anguish, and grief,and physical pain that we feel.  通过某种方式，上帝一定感受到了我们所感受的痛苦、悲伤和肉体的痛楚。

In some way the eternal God must be able to enter into the souls of human beings and experience the torment within.  通过某种方式，永恒的上帝一定能够进入人的灵魂，体验人内心深处所经受的折磨。

And if this is true, it must also be that God knows the joy and exaltation of the human spirit, as well.  如果这是真的，那么上帝也必定知道人类精神上的喜悦和兴奋。

We want a God who can weep with those who weep,  我们需要上帝可以与哭泣的人一同哭泣，

and rejoice with those who rejoice.  与高兴的人一同高兴。

This seems to me both a deeply moving and a convincing re-statement of Christian belief about God. 我觉得这篇文章是一个既感人至深又有说服力的基督徒对上帝信仰的与过去有点不同的声明。

For hundreds of years, the prevailing orthodoxy, the accepted truth,  数百年来，盛行的正统和公认的真理是：

was that God the Father, the Creator, is unchanging and therefore by definition cannot feel pain or sadness.  作为天父和造物主，上帝是永恒不变的，因此根据定义，上帝是感觉不到痛苦或悲伤的。

Now the unchanging God feels a bit cold and indifferent to me.  现在，我感到这个永恒不变的上帝有点冷漠无情。

And the devastating events of the 20th century have forced people to question the cold, unfeeling God.  20世纪所发生的一系列毁灭性事件迫使人们对这个冷酷无情的上帝产生怀疑。

The slaughter of millions in the trenches and in the death camps have caused people to ask, "Where is God in all this? 在战壕和死亡集中营里数以百万计的屠杀，促使人们追问，那个时候上帝到哪里去了？

Who is God in all this?"  那些时候谁是上帝？

And the answer was, "God is in this with us,  回答是：“要不上帝与我们同在，

or God doesn't deserve our allegiance anymore."  要不上帝已不值得我们信仰了。”

If God is a bystander, observing but not involved,  如果上帝是一个旁观者，观察但不参与，

then God may well exist, but we don't want to know about Him.  那么上帝可能仍然存在，但我们不想了解他。

Many Jews and Christians now feel like this, I know.  我知道许多犹太人和基督徒现在就是这样认为的，

And I am among them.  我是其中一员。

So we have a suffering God-a God who is intimately connected with this world and with every living soul. 因此，我们有一个受苦受难的上帝，一个与这个世界，与每一个活生生的灵魂紧密相连的上帝。

I very much relate to this idea of God.  我很赞同这个关于上帝的看法。

But it isn't enough. I need to ask some more questions,  但这还不够。我需要再问一些问题，

and I hope they are questions that you will want to ask, as well,  希望这也是你们

some of you.  想问的问题。

Over the last few weeks I have been struck by the number of times that words in our worship have felt a bit inappropriate, a bit dodgy. 最近几个星期以来，我很多次被我们做礼拜所用的不恰当的和有点虚假的话所困扰。

We have a pram service on Tuesday mornings for mums and their pre-school children.  我们在星期二上午有一个对妈妈和学龄前儿童的托儿服务。