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Jelly-fish Christianity
水母基督教
(J.C. Ryle)
(莱尔)
The consequences of this widespread dislike to distinct biblical doctrine are very serious.
这种对明确圣经教义的普遍厌恶所带来的后果非常严重。
Whether we like it or not, it is an epidemic which is doing great harm, and especially among young people.
不管我们喜欢与否，这是一种正在造成巨大危害的流行病，尤其是在年轻人中间。
It creates, fosters, and keeps up an immense amount of instability in religion.
它在宗教中制造、培养并维持着大量的不稳定性。
It produces what I must venture to call, if I may coin the phrase, a ‘jelly-fish’ Christianity in the land — that is, a Christianity without bone, or muscle, or power.
它产生了我必须冒险称之为的，如果允许我创造这个词的话，一种”水母”基督教 — 就是一种没有骨头、肌肉或力量的基督教。
A jelly-fish, as everyone who has been much by the seaside knows, is a pretty and graceful object when it floats in the sea, contracting and expanding like a little delicate transparent umbrella.
正如每个经常在海边的人都知道的那样，水母在海中漂浮时是一个美丽优雅的生物，像一把精致透明的小伞一样收缩和扩张。
Yet the same jelly-fish, when cast on the shore, is a mere helpless lump, without capacity for movement, self-defense, or self-preservation.
然而，同样的水母一旦被冲到岸上，就成了一团无助的软物，失去了移动、自卫或自保的能力。
Alas! it is a vivid type of much of the religion of this day, of which the leading principle is, ‘No dogma, no distinct beliefs, no doctrine.’
唉！这正是当今许多宗教的生动写照，其主导原则是”无教条、无明确信仰、无教义。”
We have hundreds of ministers who seem not to have a single bone in their body of divinity!
我们有数百名牧师，他们的神学体系似乎连一根骨头都没有！
They have no definite opinions; they are so afraid of ‘extreme views,’ that they have no views at all.
他们没有明确的观点；他们如此害怕”极端观点”，以至于根本没有任何观点。
We have thousands of sermons preached every year, which are without an edge or a point or a corner — they are as smooth as marble balls, awakening no sinner, and edifying no saint!
我们每年都有数千篇讲道，它们没有棱角、没有重点、没有边际 — 它们像大理石球一样光滑，既不能唤醒罪人，也不能造就圣徒！
We have legions of young men annually turned out from our universities, armed with a few scraps of second-hand philosophy, who think it a mark of cleverness and intellect to have no decided opinions about anything in religion — and to be utterly unable to make up their minds as to what is Christian truth.
我们每年都有成群的年轻人从大学毕业，带着一些二手哲学的碎片，他们认为对宗教的任何事情都没有明确观点是聪明和智慧的表现 — 而且完全无法确定什么是基督教真理。
Their only creed, is a kind of ‘nothingism.’
他们唯一的信条就是一种”虚无主义”。
They are sure and positive about nothing!
他们对任何事都不确定也不肯定！
And last, and worst of all, we have myriads of respectable church-going people, who have no distinct and definite views about any point in theology.
最后，也是最糟糕的是，我们有无数体面的教会信徒，他们对神学的任何观点都没有明确和确定的见解。
They cannot discern things that differ, any more than color-blind people can distinguish colors.
他们无法分辨不同事物之间的差异，就像色盲者无法分辨颜色一样。
They think . . .
他们认为……
everybody is right — and nobody is wrong,
人人都是对的——没有人是错的，
everything is true — and nothing is false,
一切都是真实的——没有什么是虚假的，
all sermons are good — and none are bad,
所有讲道都是好的——没有不好的，
every clergyman is sound — and no clergyman unsound.
每个牧师都是正统的——没有不正统的牧师。
They are ‘tossed to and fro, like children, by every wind of doctrine;’ often carried away by some new excitement and sensational movement; ever ready for new things, because they have no firm grasp on the old; and utterly unable to ‘render a reason of the hope that is in them.’
他们”像孩子一样被各样的教义之风摇来摇去”；经常被一些新的刺激和轰动性的运动所吸引；总是准备接受新事物，因为他们对旧有的没有牢固的把握；完全无法”为他们心中的盼望作出解释”。
All this, and much more, is the result of that effeminate dread of distinct doctrine which has been so strongly developed, and has laid such hold on many pastors in these days.
这一切，以及更多的问题，都是对明确教义的怯懦恐惧的结果，这种恐惧已经强烈发展，并在这些日子里牢牢抓住了许多牧师。
I turn from the picture I have exhibited with a sorrowful heart.
我怀着悲伤的心情从我所展示的画面转开。
I grant it is a gloomy one; but I am afraid it is only too accurate and true.
我承认这是一幅阴郁的画面；但我恐怕这太过准确和真实了。
Let us not deceive ourselves.
让我们不要自欺。
Distinct and definitive doctrine is at a premium just now.
明确和确定的教义现在正处于溢价状态。
Instability and unsettled notions are the natural result, and meet us in every direction.
不稳定和不确定的观念是自然的结果，在各个方向上都与我们相遇。
Cleverness and earnestness are the favorite idols of the age!
机智和热忱是这个时代最受欢迎的偶像！
What a man says matters nothing — however strange and heterogeneous are the opinions he expresses!
一个人说什么都无关紧要——无论他表达的观点多么奇怪和异质！
If he is only brilliant and ‘earnest’ — he cannot be wrong!
只要他足够出色和”热忱”——他就不可能错！
Never was it so important for believers to hold sound systematic views of truth, and for ministers to ‘enunciate doctrine’ very clearly and distinctly in their teaching.
信徒持守真理的系统观点，以及牧师在教导中”清晰明确地阐明教义”，从未如此重要过。