卫理公会之宗教信仰条款
- 三一信仰
宇宙只有一位永生的真神上帝,无始无终,无形无像,他的权能,智慧,及良善,皆无穷尽。世上有形 无形之万物,都是他创造的,保养的。这位独一的真神上帝,是三位一体的;即圣父,圣子,圣灵。也 是同体,同权,同永生的。
- 道成肉身
圣子乃是圣父之道,也就是永生的上帝,是和圣父同体的,他受圣灵感孕,由童贞女所生,得有人性。 是以他拥有两种纯全的性格,即是神性与人性,这两种性格合为一体,是永不分离的。独一的基督,实 在是一位真神,也是一位救主,他确实以肉体背负世人一切的罪孽 ,被钉在十字架上,受死,埋葬, 又复活,这样的献身为祭,不但可担当世人的原罪,也赎清世人一切的本罪,因而使世人得与上帝和 好。
- 基督复活
基督确曾由死里复活,显现他原有的圣体,后来具备完全的人性升天坐在天堂,待至末日将再降临,以 审判世人。
- 圣灵
圣灵系由圣父,圣子而出者,与圣父,圣子同体,同享尊贵与荣耀,也即是永生的上帝。
- 圣经中得救之要道
得救之要道,均载于圣经中。凡未记载在圣经上者;或未经圣经所辨明之道,既不可信或视之为得救之 要道。圣经系吾会所尊奉的新旧约诸书,其权威在教会重视不可存有任何疑惑的。 兹将旧约诸书名录胪列于下: 创世記 出埃及记 利未记 民数記 申命记 约书亚记 士师记 路得记 撒母耳记上 撒母耳记下 列王记上 列王记下 历代志上 历代志下 以斯拉记 尼希米记 以斯帖记 约伯记 诗篇 箴言 传道书 雅歌 以赛亚书 耶利米书 耶利米哀歌 以西结书 但以理书 何西阿书 约珥书 阿摩司书 俄巴底亚书 约拿书 弥迦书 那鸿书 哈巴谷书 西番雅书 哈该书 撒迦利亚书 玛拉基书 至于新约诸书,既是普遍被接受,吾会亦接受之並且奉之经典。
- 旧约
旧约与新约并不相违背,因两约都系详论兼有神性与人性,在神与人之间作为中保的基督耶稣,他确实 已把永生贡献给人类。旧约时代之信徒,只寻求暂时性的应许,此项言论是不可听信的。上帝借摩西所 晓谕之律法,其有关乎礼仪者,基督徒虽无遵守之义务,而其中之教训亦不须为任何国家所接受。不 过,其有关道德之戒条,则无论在各地之基督徒,都当遵守。
- 原罪
原罪不是由于跟随亚当而来的,乃是因为各人的天性腐败而产生的,这当然也是由亚当的后嗣所产生 的;所以人类远离原有之正义,性倾罪恶,而且继续无已。
- 自由意志
亚当堕落以后,人类之处境,势已不能借自己的努力与行为以自救,因此必须倾向信仰,呼求上帝。若 非上帝借着基督赐下之恩典,使我们有一向善之念,我们即无能力做上帝所喜悦之善功。
- 人之称义
我们在上帝之前得称为义,乃因信赖救主耶稣基督之功,并非凭着我们自己的行为或积善。因此;因信 称义之道,最可信服,也最足慰。
- 善功
我们称义之后,则因信仰而表现出一切善功,这善功即不能除去我们的罪恶,也不堪经受上帝严格的考 验;但是因为耶稣基督的缘故,得蒙上帝悦纳。信徒之善功,系由至诚活泼之信德而产生的,我们看到 这些善功,就可知道信德的活力,正如看到佳果,而知其必是佳树。
第十一条 馀功
人们受上帝所命之外而做的义务工作,成为馀功,若以此而自己矜夸者,即有狂妄不敬之嫌;因为人们 常以此馀功而夸耀,谓对于所作者,不但以尽本份,而且因为上帝的缘故,而超越本份甚多,仗以邀 功。耶稣基督曾经训导我们说:你们若完成一切所命的工作时,尚须谦卑地说,我们乃是无用的仆人。
第十二条 称义之后所犯之罪
信徒称义之后,无意中再行犯罪,此罪除非是故意违背圣灵才不可被赦免的。因为称义以后所误犯之 罪,上帝仍可接受至诚的悔改;只是因为我们接受圣灵之后又会再犯罪,实在太辜负上帝救赎的大恩, 重陷于罪,殊不应该。上帝有宽宏的恩慈,我们仍可改过迁善,重获赦之恩的。如果有人这样说:称义 以后,即于一生不可再犯罪;或谓犯罪之后,即使诚心悔改,亦将不能蒙赦免者。此论应该受谴责,因 这样的见解是不可听信的。
第十三条 教会
虔诚之信徒聚集而成 ,会中讲论上帝纯洁的真道,遵从基督命令,施行圣礼,即是基督有形的教 会。
第十四条 炼狱
罗马教关于炼狱,解罪,跪拜遗像,崇敬遗物,祈求已故之圣徒等事之道理,均属虚构,不但在圣经无 此教训之根据,而且是与圣道相悖的。
第十五条 集会语言必须为常人所通达者
集会中率众祈祷,或施行圣礼时,使用人所不能通达之语言,乃是违反圣道及初期教会之习俗。
第十六条 圣礼
基督所设立之圣礼,不仅为基督徒崇拜基督之信念,亦是上帝对于我们仁慈及恩惠之明证。上帝以此圣 礼,潜移默化,不仅激动我们信赖基督之心,並且使之加强与坚定。 主耶稣基督在福音书中所设立之圣礼有二:即是圣洗和圣餐。 至于通常所谓坚信,忏悔,圣职,婚配,抹油等五种礼仪,并非为福音书上所载之圣礼,其中一半系误 解使徒之意而产生,一半是世人常行之习惯,这些礼仪,虽非圣经所明禁者,但却无圣礼及圣餐同等之 性质,因这五项礼仪,均无由上帝所设之明显表记或礼节。 基督设立圣礼,原意不是供人观赏,亦不是使信徒在众人之前有所炫耀,乃须实际而施行之。希望我们 在举行圣礼之前,应将此项目的明白宣告:用得适当者,圣礼对于领受者自能发生健全之影响,用得不 适当,则是领受者自取其咎,有如保罗所言者。(哥林多前书 11:29)
第十七条 圣洗
圣洗不但是承认圣道之表记及基督徒借此与未受洗者有所区别之标志,亦即是重生或新生之印证。幼童 领洗,在教会中诚应持续之。
第十八条 圣餐
领受圣餐不但是基督徒彼此相爱之表现,亦即是纪念基督受死赎罪之圣礼。凡领受者应按合宜之方式, 存着信心领受。圣礼中掰开之饼和祝谢之杯,乃是表示参与基督之圣礼与宝血。 虚妄的说法:当在圣餐时所领受的饼和酒,将会变成基督的圣体和宝血,此论不但不能取证于圣经,实 乃违反圣经之明训,亦即推翻圣体之本旨,因而产生许多迷信之误导。凡领受基督圣体者,只能以属天 的,属灵性的方式施为之,是以领受圣餐的宗旨,诚应存着信心而行。主所设之圣餐,並未命人将饼和 酒存留,携来带去,或高举之,或崇拜之。
第十九条 酒饼应当分给信徒
圣杯不可禁止或拒绝信徒领饮,因为按着基督之安排与命令,圣餐之饼和酒,都应均等的分给众信徒领 受。
第二十条 基督於十字架完全献身为祭之功
基督一次献身为祭,使世人所有这原罪,本罪,均得完全救赎;此外,别无赎罪良方。因此,通常所谓 行弥撒礼时,神甫将基督献祭,替已死和未死的人救 赎痛苦和罪愆,这是亵渎的言论和危险的欺诈行为。
第二十一条 牧师婚配
上帝律法,並未命令牧师宣誓独身,或禁嫁娶。如果牧师认为结婚对于圣洁上较为有益,即可各听其 便,一如其他基督徒之结婚同样视为合法。
第二十二条 教會礼仪
各地之仪式礼节,不必尽同,或十分相似。因所有仪式礼节,从古以来,即非一致,可按国家,时势, 民俗而改换,惟不可与圣道相违背,凡因私见,故意公然破坏其所属之教会一切仪式礼节,而这些礼仪 並无违反圣道而又经过共同权威所制定之推准者;此等人士,当受公开之谴责(以警戒他人),斥其违 犯教会公共秩序及损伤软弱信徒之信心。各教会也可制订,改换或废除仪式与礼节,但凡所作,必须使 教会有益,才可施行。
第二十三条 信徒对於國家之責任
遵守其国家或居留地最高当局所施行之法律与命令,乃所有基督徒,尤其是牧师和传道之责任,且应以 身作则,鼓励及教导信徒遵守。
第二十四条 信徒赀财
基督徒之赀财,虽可拥有其主权及权利,但非普遍者,唯不可如他人对于财务上作虚伪之夸言,各人可 将其所拥有之赀财,尽其所能,慷慨施助贫寒。
第二十五条 信徒誓言
我们既承认主耶稣基督与使徒雅各宣示禁诫信徒不可轻易发誓之事,即可推定基督教并不完全禁止发 誓,但信徒在官庭之前,为诚实及公益起见,不能不发誓时,得照先知之教训,为着正义、裁判、及真 理而行之。
第二十六条 成圣
成圣乃是因为在耶稣基督里面的信仰而接受圣灵的感动,使堕落的本性得以更新;又因信赖耶稣基督赎 罪的宝血洗清众罪。非仅脱离罪恶,且已蒙完全洁净罪污,靠主能力,借主鸿恩,尽意爱慕上帝,毫无 瑕疵的遵行神圣的诫命。
THE ARTICLES OF RELIGION OF THE METHODIST CHURCH
Article I. – Of Faith in the Holy Trinity
There is but one living and true God, everlasting without body or parts, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; the maker and preserver of all things, visible and invisible. And in unity of this Godhead are three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity – the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
Article II. – Of the Word, or Son of God, who was made very Man
The Son, who is the Word of the Father, the very and eternal God, of one substance with the Father, took man’s nature in the word of the blessed Virgin, so that two whole and perfect natures, that is to say, the Godhead and Manhood, were joined together in one person, never to be divided; whereof is one Christ, very God and very Man, who truly suffered, was crucified, dead and buried, to reconcile his Father to us, and to be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for the actual sins of man.
Article III. – Of the Resurrection of Christ
Christ did truly rise again from the dead, and took again his body, with all things appertaining to the perfection of man’s nature, wherewith he ascended into heaven, and there sitteth until he return to judge all men at the last day.
Article IV. – Of the Holy Ghost
The Holy Ghost, proceeding from the Father and the Son, is of one substance, majesty, and glory with the Father and the Son, very and eternal God.
Article V. – Of the Sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures for Salvation
The Holy Scripture contain all things necessary to salvation; so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man that it should be believed as an article of faith, or to be thought requisite necessary to salvation. In the name of the Holy Scriptures we do understand those canonical books of the Old and New Testaments of whose authority was never any doubt in the Church. The names of the canonical books are:
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, The First Book of Samuel, The Second Book of Samuel, The First Book of Kings, The Second Book of Kings, The First Book of Chronicles, The Second Book of Chronicles, The Book of Ezra, The Book of Nehemiah, The Book of Esther, The Book of Job, The Psalms, The Proverbs, Ecclesiastes or the Preacher, Cantica or Song of Solomon, Four Prophets the Greater, Twelve Prophets the Less.
All the books of the New Testament, as they are commonly received, we do receive and account canonical.
Article VI. – Of the Old Testament
The Old Testament is not contrary to the New, for both in the Old and New Testament, everlasting life is offered to mankind by Christ, who is the only Mediator between God and man, being both God and Man. Wherefore they are not to be heard who feign that the old fathers did look only for transitory promises. Although the law given by God to Moses as touching ceremonies and rites doth not bind Christians, nor ought the civil precepts thereof of necessity be received in any commonwealth; yet notwithstanding, no Christian whatsoever is free from the obedience of the commandments which are called moral.
Article VII. – Of Original or Birth Sin
Original sin standeth not in the following of Adam (as the Pelagians do vainly talk), but it is the corruption of the nature of every man, that naturally is engendered of the offspring of Adam, whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and of his own nature inclined to evil, and that continually.
Article VIII. – Of Free Will
The condition of man after the fall of Adam is such that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own natural strength and works, to faith, and calling upon God; wherefore we have no power to do good works, pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good will, and working with us, when we have that good will.
Article IX. – Of the Justification of Man
We are accounted righteous before God only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by faith, and not for our own works or deservings. Wherefore, that we are justified by faith only is a most wholesome doctrine and very full of comfort.
Article X. – Of Good Works
Although good works, which are the fruits of faith and follow after justification, cannot put away our sins, and endure the severity of God’s judgment; yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, and spring out of a true and lively faith, insomuch that by them a lively faith may be as evidently known as a tree is discerned by its fruit.
Article XI. – Of Works of Supererogation
Voluntary works – besides, over and above God’s commandments – which are called works of supererogation, cannot be taught without arrogancy and impiety. For by them men do declare that they do not only render unto God as much as they are bound to do, but that they do more for his sake than of bounden duty is required; whereas Christ saith plainly: When ye has done all that is commanded of you, say, “We are unprofitable servants.”
Article XII. – Of Sin after Justification
Not every sin willingly committed after justification is the sin against Holy Spirit, and unpardonable. Wherefore, the grant of repentance in not to be denied to such as fall into sin after justification: after we have received the Holy Spirit, we may depart from grace given, and fall into sin, and, by the grace of God, rise again and amend our lives. And therefore they are to be condemned who say that they can no more sin as long as they live here; or deny the place of forgiveness to such as truly repent.
Article XIII. – Of the Church
The visible Church of Christ is a congregation of faithful men in which the pure Word of God is preached, and the Sacraments duly administered according to Christ’s ordinance, in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same.
Article XIV. – Of Purgatory
The Romish doctrine concerning purgatory, pardon, worshipping, and adoration, as well of images as of relics, and also invocation of saints, is a fond thing, vainly invented and grounded upon no warrant of Scripture, but repugnant to the Word of God.
Article XV. – Of Speaking in the Congregation in such a Tongue as the People Understand
It is a thing plainly repugnant to the Word of God, and the custom of the primitive Church, to have public prayer in the Church, or to administer the Sacraments, in a tongue not understood by people.
Article XVI. – Of the Sacraments
Sacraments ordained of Christ are not only badges or tokens of Christian men’s profession, but rather they are certain signs of grace, and God’s good will toward us, by which he doth work invisibly in us, and doth not only quicken but also strengthen and confirm our faith in him.
There are two Sacraments ordained of Christ our Lord in the Gospel; that is to say, Baptism and the Supper of the Lord. Those five commonly called sacraments, that is to say, confirmation, penance, orders, matrimony, and extreme unction, are not to be counted for Sacraments of the Gospel; being such as having partly grown out of the corrupt following of the apostles and partly are states of life allowed in the Scripture, but yet have not the like nature of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, because they have not any visible sign or ceremony ordained of God.
The sacraments were not ordained of Christ to be gazed upon, or be carried about; but that we should duly use them. And in such only as worthily receive the same they have a wholesome effect or operation; but they that receive them unworthily, purchase to themselves condemnation, as St. Paul saith, I Cor.:9.
Article XVII. – Of Baptism
Baptism is not only a sign of profession and mark of difference whereby Christians are distinguished from others that are not baptized; but it is also a sign of regeneration or the new birth. The baptism of young children is to be retained in the church.
Article XVIII. – Of the Lord’s Supper
The Supper of the Lord is not only a sign of the love that Christians ought to have among themselves, one to another, but rather is a sacrament of our redemption by Christ’s death; insomuch that, to such as rightly, worthily, and with faith receive the same, the bread which we break is the partaking of the body of Christ; and likewise the cup of blessing is a partaking of the blood of Christ. Transubstantiation, or the change of the substance of the bread and wine in the Supper of our Lord, cannot be proved by Holy Writ, but is repugnant to the plain words of the Scripture, overthroweth the nature of a sacrament, and hath given occasion to many superstitions.
The body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten in the Supper, only after a heavenly and spiritual manner. And the means whereby the body of Christ is received and eaten in the Supper is faith.
The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was not by Christ’s ordinance reserved, carried about, lifted up, or worshipped.
Article XIX. – Of Both Kinds
The cup of the Lord is not to be denied to the lay people; for both the parts of the Lord’s Supper, by Christ’s ordinance and commandment, ought to be administered to all Christians alike.
Article XX. – Of the One Oblation of Christ, finished upon the Cross
The offering of Christ, once made, is that perfect redemption, propitiation, and satisfaction for all the sins of the whole world, both original and actual; and there is none other satisfaction for sin but that alone. Wherefore the sacrifice of masses, in the which it is commonly said that the priest doth offer Christ for the quick and the dead, to have remission for pain or guilt, is a blasphemous fable and dangerous deceit.
Article XXI. – Of the Marriage of Ministers
The ministers of Christ are not commanded by God’s law either to vow the estate of single life, or to abstain from marriage; therefore it is lawful for them, as for all other Christians, to marry at their own discretion, as they shall judge the same to serve best to godliness.
Article XXII. – Of the Rites and Ceremonies of Churches
It is not necessary that rites and ceremonies should in all places be the same, or exactly alike, for they have been always different, and may be changed according to the diversity of countries, times, and men’s manners, so that nothing be ordained against God’s Word. Whosoever, through his private judgment, willingly and purposefully doth openly break the rites and the ceremonies of the church to which he belongeth, which are not repugnant to the Word of God, and are ordained and approved by common authority, ought to be rebuked openly (that others may fear to do the like) as one that offendeth against the common order of the church and wounded the consciences of weak brethren.
Every particular church may ordain, change, or abolish rites and ceremonies, so that all things may be done to edification.
Article XXIII. – Of the Duty of Christian to the Civil Authority
It is the duty of all Christians, and especially of all Christian ministers, to observe and obey the laws and commands of the governing or supreme authority of the country of which they are citizens or subjects or in which they reside, and to use all laudable means to encourage and enjoin obedience to the powers that be.
Article XXIV. – Of Christian Men’s Goods
The riches and goods of Christians, are not common, as touching the right, title, and possession of the same, as some do falsely boast. Notwithstanding, every man ought, of such things as he possesseth, liberally to give alms to the poor, according to his ability.
Article XXV. – Of a Christian Man’s Oath
As we confess that vain and rash swearing is forbidden Christian men by our Lord Jesus Christ and James, his apostle, so we judge that the Christian religion doth not prohibit, but that a man may swear when the magistrate requireth, in a cause of faith and charity, so it be done according to the prophet’s teaching, in justice, judgment, and truth.
Article XXVI. – Of Sanctification
Sanctification is the renewal of our fallen nature by the Holy Ghost, received in faith through Jesus Christ, whose blood of atonement cleanseth from all sin; whereby we are not only delivered from the guilt of sin, but are washed from its pollution, saved from its powers, and are enabled, through grace, to love God with all our hearts and to walk in his holy commandments blameless.