In the Christian understanding of covenant theology, God offers humanity a new contract — the New Testament6— as revealed in the person and teaching of Jesus. Unlike previous covenants, the new covenant refers to the eternal fate of individuals rather than to the worldly fate of the nation of Israel. Also, rather than being offered only to Jews, the new contract is offered to humanity as a whole . Individual salvation7 and the question of how that salvation can be achieved is a dominant theme of traditional Christianity.

　　Salvation, according to this tradition, is necessary because otherwise the individual is condemned to spend eternity in hell8 , a place of eternal punishment. Born into sin, the sentence of eternal damnation is the fate of every person unless she or he is saved from this fate by being“ born again ”through faith in Jesus Christ. All other doctrines are built around a warning of condemnation and a redeeming message of redemption. As the core doctrine, it would be natural that arguments over soteriology ( one’s theory of redemption) would lead to religions schisms. Disagreement over competing notions of salvation led to the split between Catholicism and Protestantism.

　　Given the stark contrast between heaven and hell as eternal abodes of the soul, serious thinkers have had to grapple with the question —What happens to people who, while not saints, nevertheless are generally good people who have never committed any major sins in their lives? Reflection on this problem led to the development of purgatory9, an intermediate realm between heaven and hell. In purgatory, souls are tortured for their sins, but are eventually released and allowed to enter heaven.

　　Tra nslate Chinese in to English, to lea rn more a bout th e or igina l sin: God created the heavens, earth and all kinds of animals, including two men —Adam and Eve. They could eat from any tree, except one, in the Garden of Eden. _____________( 在上帝創(chuàng)造的所有動(dòng)物之中, 毒蛇是最狡詐的。)“Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?”The serpent asked Eve .“We may eat the fruit of any tree _____________( 除伊甸園中間那棵樹(shù)上的果實(shí)之外) . God had even said,‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, otherwise you die. ’”But the serpent told Eve ,“Of course you will not die! God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and _____________( 你們就會(huì)像上帝一樣區(qū)分出善惡) . ”Eve saw the tree was good for good, pleasing to the eyes and desirable for gaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it. Then she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it, too. Then, the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked._____________( 于是他們就把樹(shù)葉縫在一起, 制成衣服。) When God came, they hid themselves among the trees of the garden.“Where are you?”the God asked.“ I heard you in the garden; but I am afraid. _____________( 因?yàn)槲覜](méi)有穿衣 服, 所以我躲了起來(lái)。) ”answered Adam. It was just then God learnt that they had eaten the fruit of the tree in the middle . God was very angry and banished them from the Garden of Eden.

　　參考答案

　　Of all the animals that God had made, the serpent was the most cunning. except the fruit of the tree in the middle of the Garden of Eden you will be like Gods who know what is good and what is bad So they sewed leaves together and made clothes for themselves. Because I was naked, I hid myself.

　　參考譯文

　　基 督教開(kāi)始的時(shí)候只是猶太教的一個(gè)分支。最早的__徒根本沒(méi)想過(guò)創(chuàng)辦新的宗 教, 他們自視為追隨猶太教彌賽亞的教義的猶太人。只是后來(lái)在許多非猶太人改變信仰之 后, __才脫離猶太教, 自成一體。

　　盡管__與猶太教具有很多共同點(diǎn), 但這兩個(gè)宗教在像上帝與人的關(guān)系等基本問(wèn)題 上差別明顯。在基督__太教這兩種傳統(tǒng)中, 理解上帝與人的關(guān)系需要依賴圣約, 或“ 約 書(shū)”中的主旨。在希伯來(lái)人的經(jīng)典著作《舊約全書(shū)》里, 上帝與他的選民——— 猶太人之間通 過(guò)約書(shū)保持著特殊的關(guān)系, 這本約書(shū)詳細(xì)說(shuō)明了這種關(guān)系的條件。這一安排的具體內(nèi)容在 一系列與諾亞、亞伯拉罕和摩西達(dá)成的圣約里不時(shí)地被更改和擴(kuò)充。這些約書(shū)中最出名的 是上帝與摩西在西奈山上達(dá)成的協(xié)議———《十誡》。

　　__徒對(duì)圣約神學(xué)的理解是, 上帝賜給人類(lèi)一份新約書(shū)———《新約全書(shū)》, 該約書(shū)通 過(guò)基督本人以及他的教誨得以昭示。不像從前的圣約那樣,《新約》講述的是個(gè)人永恒的 命運(yùn), 而不是以色列國(guó)世俗的命運(yùn)。同樣, 新約的接受對(duì)象不再只是猶太人, 而是全人類(lèi)。 個(gè)人的救贖以及靈魂如何能被拯救是傳統(tǒng)基督__題。

　　按照這一傳統(tǒng), 救贖對(duì)__教徒非常必要, 因?yàn)槿绻粚?duì)靈魂進(jìn)行拯救, 人就會(huì)被打 進(jìn)地獄, 永世不得超生, 在地獄永遠(yuǎn)都要受到懲罰。人生下來(lái)就有罪過(guò), 每個(gè)人都注定要永 遠(yuǎn)受到懲罰, 除非我們信仰基督耶穌, 才能獲得“ 重生”, 擺脫這種命運(yùn)。所有其他教旨都 是圍繞懲罰的警告和救贖的啟示展開(kāi)的。“ 耶穌救世學(xué)”被作為核心教旨, 對(duì)耶穌救世學(xué) 的爭(zhēng)論必然導(dǎo)致教會(huì)的分裂。對(duì)不同救贖主張的爭(zhēng)執(zhí)導(dǎo)致了天主教和新教之間的決裂。

　　考慮到作為靈魂永久居所的天堂和地獄之間鮮明的對(duì)比, 一些嚴(yán)肅的思想家只得努 力解決以下問(wèn)題: 對(duì)于那些既非圣人、一生中又沒(méi)犯過(guò)什么大的過(guò)失、本性善良的人來(lái) 說(shuō), 他們?cè)趺崔k? 對(duì)該問(wèn)題的反思導(dǎo)致了煉獄理論的產(chǎn)生, 煉獄是介于天堂和地獄之間 的中間地帶。在煉獄里, 靈魂因人的罪惡受到折磨, 但人最終還是得以赦免, 從而進(jìn)入 天堂。