智慧人生篇章 第15期:教会对时代变化的制肘

 　　As things are, I see two dangers and they are linked. The first is that if the Church is quick to assert and slow to listen, it can give the impression to its own members that moral insight is never to be had outside Christianity and that can be heard by others as strident and bigoted¹. It may also leave churches with inadequate² means of helping³ people faced with new moral challenges, especially where tradition and scripture⁴ are silent.The second danger is that because so many of our values originated with Christianity, those who walk away from religion may think they have walked away from morality as well. If religion is optional why not morality? And religious stridency may well be what drives some to that kind of amorality or moral relativism. Morality arises in a social context, but a social context that changes all the time. If we are to respond to those changes in ways that help us all to live our individual and collective lives better, we'll need all the wisdom we can find from wherever we can find it.

　　事已至此，我看到两个相关联的危险信号。第一，如果教会总是枉下论断，又充耳不闻其他声音，那它的成员就会觉得基督教以外的世界不接受基督教的道德意识，觉得它尖锐刺耳，冥顽不灵。这可能让教会在帮助人们解决新涌现的道德问题的方法上捉襟见肘，尤其在无传统和典籍可以参考的时候。第二，我们很多的道德观都源于基督教，那些慢慢脱离宗教的人会觉得自己也正在远离道德。如果宗教可有可无，凭什么道德就不是？宗教的刺耳也会驱使部分人转变为超道德论者（与道德无关）或者道德相对论者。道德源于社会环境，而环境总在改变。如果我们要呼应那些能让我们个人和全体生活更美好的改变，我们就必须采用一切能采用的明智之举。

1 bigoted   

adj.固执己见的，心胸狭窄的

参考例句：

• He is so bigoted that it is impossible to argue with him.他固执得不可理喻。
• I'll concede you are not as bigoted as some.我承认你不象有些人那么顽固。

2 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 scripture   

n.经文，圣书，手稿；Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》，《圣经》中的一段

参考例句：

• The scripture states that God did not want us to be alone.圣经指出上帝并不是想让我们独身一人生活。
• They invoked Hindu scripture to justify their position.他们援引印度教的经文为他们的立场辩护。