The Virtue of Faith 信仰的美德

信仰的美德        Xìnyǎng dì měidé

“Have we the faith to do what we can for the poor and needy?” “我们有信心为穷人和有需要的人做我们能做的事吗？” “Wǒmen yǒu xìnxīn wèi qióngrén hé yǒu xūyào de rén zuò wǒmen néng zuò de shì ma?”

https://www.stpetersaratoga.com/uploads/2/2/3/5/22350150/nov_2021.pdf

Every religion calls for believers to have faith - faith in that religion’s ability to take them safely across all dangers. In fact, we can say that faith keeps most of us alive.

“什么是信仰，先生？” “信仰是对某人或某事的完全信任或信心。”   “Shénme shì xìnyǎng, xiānshēng?” “Xìnyǎng shì duì mǒu rén huò mǒu shì de wánquán xìnrèn huò xìnxīn.”   
每个宗教都要求信徒有信仰——相信该宗教有能力让他们安全地渡过所有危险。事实上，我们可以说信仰让我们大多数人活着。
Měi gè zōngjiào dōu yāoqiú xìntú yǒu xìnyǎng——xiāngxìn gāi zōngjiào yǒu nénglì ràng tāmen ānquán de dùguò suǒyǒu wéixiǎn. Shìshí shàng, wǒmen kěyǐ shuō xìnyǎng ràng wǒmen dà duōshù rén huózhe.

‘Faith - Belief as a Virtue,” by C. S. Lewis in a BBC talk. Listen and watch on: https://youtu.be/9Nh-_PEH25o

Robert Merrihew Adams, an American philosopher, (born 8 September 1937), has written an impressive article on Faith, religious Faith, entitled “The Virtue of Faith” from which the title of this article comes from. He is of the opinion that even theism (the belief in the existence of a god or gods, specifically of a creator who intervenes in the universe) is to be given philosophical support.

美国哲学家罗伯特·梅里休·亚当斯（Robert Merrihew Adams，1937 年 9 月 8 日出生）撰写了一篇关于信仰、宗教信仰的令人印象深刻的文章，题为“信仰的美德”，这篇文章的标题来自于此。他认为，甚至有神论（相信一个或多个神的存在，特别是干预宇宙的创造者）也应得到哲学支持。
Měiguó zhéxué jiā luōbótè·méilǐ xiū·yàdāngsī (Robert Merrihew Adams,1937 nián 9 yuè 8 rìchūshēng) zhuànxiěle yī piān guānyú xìnyǎng, zōngjiào xìnyǎng de lìng rén yìnxiàng shēnkè de wénzhāng, tí wèi “xìnyǎng dì měidé”, zhè piān wénzhāng de biāotí láizì yú cǐ. Tā rènwéi, shènzhì yǒushénlùn (xiāngxìn yīgè huò duō gè shén de cúnzài, tèbié shì gānyù yǔzhòu de chuàngzào zhě) yě yīng dédào zhéxué zhīchí.

Faith is the human response to god reaching out to us inn love. and so, faith is primarily about relationship and trust. Faith enables us to cry out to God in our trials and to give God thanks for life’s blessings.

Faith is the belief in God knowing that God will listen. God in this context does not necessarily mean the Christian God, Jesus Christ. God can mean Allah of the Islamic religion or even a “State of Emptiness” as believed by Buddhists. God is therefore someone or some being who possesses supernatural powers beyond the understanding of the human race.

信仰是人类对上帝向我们伸出援手的回应。因此，信仰主要是关于关系和信任。信心使我们能够在试炼中向上帝呼求，并感谢上帝赐予我们生命的祝福。
Xìnyǎng shì rénlèi duì shàngdì xiàng wǒmen shēn chū yuánshǒu de huíyīng. Yīncǐ, xìnyǎng zhǔyào shi guānyú guānxì hé xìnrèn. Xìnxīn shǐ wǒmen nénggòu zài shì liàn zhōng xiàng shàngdì hū qiú, bìng gǎnxiè shàngdì cìyǔ wǒmen shēngmìng de zhùfú.   
信心是相信上帝，知道上帝会倾听。在这种情况下，上帝并不一定意味着基督教的上帝，耶稣基督。上帝可以指伊斯兰教的真主，甚至可以指佛教徒所相信的“空虚状态”。因此，上帝是拥有人类无法理解的超自然力量的某人或某物。
Xìnxīn shì xiāngxìn shàngdì, zhīdào shàngdì huì qīngtīng. Zài zhè zhǒng qíngkuàng xià, shàngdì bìng bù yīdìng yìwèizhe jīdūjiào de shàngdì, yēsū jīdū. Shàngdì kěyǐ zhǐ yīsīlán jiào de zhēnzhǔ, shènzhì kěyǐ zhǐ fójiào tú suǒ xiāngxìn de “kōngxū zhuàngtài”. Yīncǐ, shàngdì shì yǒngyǒu rénlèi wúfǎ lǐjiě de chāozìrán lìliàng de mǒu rén huò mǒu wù.

Faith is the belief that God loves us so much that He is willing to sacrifice His only son for our salvation. If we have faith in our God, our attitude to life changes such that we become more loving towards our less fortunate neighbours and friends. It means that others can see that we are no longer selfish and we care for those around us.

信心是相信上帝如此爱我们，以至于他愿意为了我们的救恩牺牲他的独生子。如果我们对上帝有信心，我们对生活的态度就会改变，这样我们就会对不幸的邻居和朋友更有爱心。这意味着别人可以看到我们不再自私，我们关心身边的人。
Xìnxīn shì xiāngxìn shàngdì rúcǐ ài wǒmen, yǐ zhìyú tā yuànyì wèile wǒmen de jiù ēn xīshēng tā de dúshēngzǐ. Rúguǒ wǒmen duì shàngdì yǒu xìnxīn, wǒmen duì shēnghuó de tàidù jiù huì gǎibiàn, zhèyàng wǒmen jiù huì duì bùxìng de línjū hé péngyǒu gèng yǒu àixīn. Zhè yìwèizhe biérén kěyǐ kàn dào wǒmen bù zài zìsī, wǒmen guānxīn shēnbiān de rén.

Faith is knowing that God is always with us, even in our darkest days, and yes, even when we are suffering from the present pandemic COVID-19 Delta virus.

信仰是知道上帝始终与我们同在，即使在我们最黑暗的日子里，是的，即使我们正在遭受当前流行的 COVID-19 Delta 病毒之苦。
Xìnyǎng shì zhīdào shàngdì shǐzhōng yǔ wǒmen tóng zài, jíshǐ zài wǒmen zuì hēi'àn de rìzi lǐ, shì de, jíshǐ wǒmen zhèngzài zāoshòu dāngqián liúxíng de COVID-19 Delta bìngdú zhī kǔ.

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

信心是所望之事的确据，是未见之事的确信。
Xìnxīn shì suǒwàng zhī shì díquè jù, shì wèi jiàn zhī shì dí quèxìn.

Faith is seeing eggs in a nest and trusting that they will hatch.

信心是看到巢中的鸡蛋，并相信它们会变成小鸡。
Xìnxīn shì kàn dào cháo zhōng de jīdàn, bìng xiāngxìn tāmen huì biàn chéng xiǎo jī。

Faith is praying to God and knowing that He will listen to our prayers.

信心就是向上帝祈祷，并且知道他会垂听我们的祈祷。 Xìnxīn jiùshì xiàng shàngdì qídǎo, bìngqiě zhīdào tā huì chuí tīng wǒmen de qídǎo.