God Language

Abstract

Words are inadequate to describe God. The words of the recent past have limited the concept of God by using only the masculine images and gender to describe God. Purposefully using feminine images and gender and using non-gendered symbols helps to expand our conception of God. The paper deals almost exclusively with God language in a Christian context. Rationales for describing each member of the Trinity in feminine as well as masculine terms are developed and various resources for using gender-inclusive and gender-neutral terms for God are shared.     

柏拉图的神

对于柏拉图的哲学,国内学界研究颇多,但是其神学思想一直没有得到应有的重视①。实际上,作为西方哲学与宗教神学思想的重要源头,柏拉图的哲学和他的有神论是密不可分的。柏拉图的有神论从哲学和宗教神话两个方面受到前苏格拉底时期希腊思想的影响。几乎此前的所有哲人都以各自不同的方式涉及到了神的概念和问题;宗教方面主要是来自于希腊神话的崇拜奥林匹斯神的流行宗教。以及宣扬灵魂轮回和禁欲主义的俄耳甫斯教及相关的狄奥尼索斯崇拜。由于篇幅所限,柏拉图所受到的影响（以及他对后世的影响）只能另文刊出。本文将直接探讨柏拉图对话中的神学思想、本文的基本观点,是从理念论的角度,按照与理念的内在关系来探讨、理解柏拉图的有神论,即“理念有神论”（Ｉｄｅａｌ Ｔｈｅｉｓｍ）,并视之为柏拉图神学的实质。     

Speaking of God after the Death of God

Abstract :  This article affirms the ability to talk about God in the twenty‐first century 40 years after God died (according to Death‐of‐God theologians) in the 1960s. It does so by an appeal to the proper combination of mystery and revelation ideally expressed in the paradox that God reveals Godself as hidden. The language of God's revealed hiddenness comprises a "middle way" which avoids the extremes of theological hubris on the one hand and atheism or unbelief on the other, making it possible to speak today of God in a faithful yet humble manner.     

既无“天谴”，亦无“天佑”

人们在面对不可抗拒的巨大的自然灾害时,总有一种无奈和无助之感,这时社会上最易出现各种迷信说法。“天谴”说和“天佑”说可以算是很有代表性的言论。到底如何看待自然灾害,它们与“天谴”和“天佑”有何关系？本方将从历史和文化及无神论的角度对上述问题进行分析。     

Picturing God

All perception and judgment are to some extent the reflection of who we are. Our picture of God, too, is a product of the cave into which we were born. Acknowledging this is an antidote to one form of idolatry—the worship of our symbols for God. This confession that our pictures never perfectly reflect God does not mean, however, that we cannot give reasons for thinking that one picture of God is more adequate than another. The paper attempts to demonstrate this by reference to contrasting pictures of God analyzed by the process thinker Charles Hartshorne.