卷一 信仰的宣認 - 第二部分 - 第三章 - 第十一條 我信肉身的復活/I BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY

 

第十一條 「我信肉身的復活」

988. 基督徒的信經──藉此,我們宣信父、子及聖神,相信其創世、救援和聖化的工程──漸漸邁向一個高峰,就是宣告在末日死者肉身的復活和永生。

989. 我們堅決地相信,也堅決地希望,就如基督確實從死者中復活和永遠地活著,同樣義人在死後,將永遠與復活的基督一起生活,同時在末日基督會使他們復活。我們的復活就如祂的一樣,將會是至聖三位一體的工程:

如果那位使耶穌從死者中復活的聖神住在你們內,那麼,那使基督從死者復活的,也必要藉那住在你們內的聖神,使你們有死的身體復活(羅 8:11)。

990. 「肉身」一詞是指人的軟弱和可朽性 。「肉身的復活」意指人過世後,那不滅的靈魂不但將活下去,而且我們「可朽的肉身」 (羅 8:11) 也將重獲生命。

991. 從開始,肉身復活的信仰一直是基督徒信仰主要的因素。基督徒深信 「死者復活,信者靠山,相信復活,我們存活」:

我們既然傳報了基督已由死者中復活了,怎麼你們中還有人說: 死人復活是沒有的事呢?假如死人復活是沒有的事,基督也就沒有復活;假如基督沒有復活,那麼,我們的宣講便是空的,你們的信仰也是空的。 ……但是,基督從死者中實在復活了,做了死者的初果(格前 15:12-14,20)。

Article 11

"I BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY"

988 The Christian Creed - the profession of our faith in God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and in God's creative, saving, and sanctifying action - culminates in the proclamation of the resurrection of the dead on the last day and in life everlasting.

989 We firmly believe, and hence we hope that, just as Christ is truly risen from the dead and lives for ever, so after death the righteous will live for ever with the risen Christ and he will raise them up on the last day.532 Our resurrection, like his own, will be the work of the Most Holy Trinity:

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit who dwells in you.533

990 The term "flesh" refers to man in his state of weakness and mortality.534 The "resurrection of the flesh" (the literal formulation of the Apostles' Creed) means not only that the immortal soul will live on after death, but that even our "mortal body" will come to life again.535

991 Belief in the resurrection of the dead has been an essential element of the Christian faith from its beginnings. "The confidence of Christians is the resurrection of the dead; believing this we live."536 
How can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.... But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.537

 

一、基督的復活與我們的復活

復活的逐步啟示

992. 死者的復活是天主向祂的子民逐步揭示的。對亡者肉身復活的希望,本身是信仰的必然後果,即相信天主創造了整個的人,包括靈魂和肉身。天地的創造者也是那信守盟約者,即祂與亞巴郎及其子孫所訂的盟約。就是在這雙重的透視下,復活的信仰開始呈現出來。瑪加伯殉道者在就義時宣認:

宇宙的君王,必要使我們這些為他的法律而殉難的人復活,獲得永生(加下 7:9)。天主會使人復活,為懷著這種希望的人,死在人手中,是求之不得的(加下 7:14)。

993. 法利塞人和不少與主同時代的人已期待復活。耶穌堅定地教導復活的道理。對那些否認復活的撒杜塞人,祂這樣回答:「你們因為沒有明瞭經書,也沒有明瞭天主的能力而錯誤了」(谷 12:24)。復活的信仰奠基於對天主的信心上,因為「祂不是一個死人的天主,而是活人的天主」(谷 12:27)。

994. 然而,更重要的是耶穌將復活的信仰繫於祂個人身上:「我就是復活和生命」(若 11:25)。在最後一天,耶穌自己將使那些曾經信從祂、吃過祂的肉、喝過祂的血的人復活。祂在世時已給了復活一個標記和保証,就是使一些去世的人活過來, 並以此宣告祂自己的復活,不過祂的復活屬於另一層面。祂以「約納的標記」(瑪 12:39),聖殿的標記來論述這件絕無僅有的事:祂宣告在死後第三日必會復活。

995. 基督的見証人,就是「祂復活的見証人」(宗 1:22), 曾經「在祂從死者中復活後與祂一起飲食」(宗 10:41)。與復活基督的相遇突顯了基督徒對復活的希望。我們將像祂一般,和祂一起,並透過祂,復活起來。

996. 基督徒對復活的信仰一開始便遭到誤解和反對。 「沒有其他的教義像肉身復活的教義一樣遭到那麼多反對」。 一般都相當容易接受人死後,他的位格繼續以精神主體的方式存在,可是怎能相信這明顯可朽的身體,竟然復活起來承受永生呢?

死者如何復活?

997. 「復活」究竟有甚麼意義?死亡,即靈魂和肉身的分離,使人的肉身墮入腐化的過程,而他的靈魂卻與天主相遇,雖然靈魂仍在期待與他受光榮的肉身結合。天主以其全能決定性地再賜我們的肉身不可腐朽的生命,使肉身因耶穌的復活而再度與我們的靈魂結合。

998. 誰會復活?所有死去的人:「行過善的,復活進入生命;行過惡的,復活而受審判」(若 5:29)。

999. 如何復活?基督是連同祂的身體一起復活:「請你們看我的手和腳,確是我!」(路 24:39) 但祂並不因此而返回塵世的生命。同樣,在祂內,「那些現今具有身體的人都要連同身體一起復活」,不過這個身體將會轉化為榮耀的身體, 成為「屬神的身體」(格前 15:44):

可是有人要說:死人將怎樣復活?他們將帶著甚麼樣的身體回來呢? 糊塗人哪!你所播的種子若不先死了,決不得生出來;並且你所播種的,並不是那將要生出的形體,而是一顆赤裸的籽粒……。播種的是可朽壞的,復活起來的是不可朽壞的;……的確,這可朽壞的,必須穿上不可朽壞的;這可死的,必須穿上不可死的(格前 15:35-37,42,52-53)。

1000. 這個「如何」超出我們的想像和推理,只有通過信仰才可了解。但參與感恩祭已使我們預嘗基督給我們身體帶來的轉化:

聖依勒內•里昂,《駁斥異端》:正如麥麪餅是大地的產物,在人呼求天主予以祝福後,不再是普通的餅,而是聖體,由兩件事實合成,即地上的和天上的;同樣我們的身體領受了聖體就不再是可腐朽的,因為它們有復活的希望。

1001. 何時復活?最圓滿的復活是「在最後的一天」(若 6:39-40,44,54;11:24),「在世界窮盡時」。事實上,死者的復活和基督再度來臨密切相關:

因為在發命時,在總領天使吶喊和天主的號聲響起時,主要親自由天降來,那些死於基督內的人先要復活(得前 4:16)。

與基督一起復活

1002. 基督固然在「最後一天」使我們復活,但是我們在某種程度上確實已與基督一起復活了。其實,靠聖神,基督徒現世的生命,已分享了基督的死亡和復活:

你們既因聖洗與祂一同埋葬了,也就因聖洗,藉著信德,即信使祂由死者中復活的天主的能力,與祂一同復活了。……你們既然與基督一同復活了,就該追求天上的事,在那裡有基督坐在天主的右邊(哥 2:12; 3:1)。

1003. 基督徒通過聖洗與基督結合,已真正地分享復活基督在天上的生命,不過這生命仍「與基督一同藏在天主內」(哥 3:3)。「祂使我們同祂一起復活,在基督耶穌內使我們和祂一同坐在天上」(弗 2:6)。我們既在感恩祭中領受基督身體,得到滋養,也就屬於基督的身體。當我們在最後一天復活時,我們也將「與祂一同出現在光榮之中」(哥 3:4)。

1004. 在等待這一天時,信徒的肉身和靈魂早已分享了「在基督內」的尊嚴。因此須尊重自己的身體和他人的身體,尤其在身體受苦時:

人的身體是為主,主也是為人的身體。天主既使主復活了,祂也要以自己的能力使我們復活。你們不知道你們的身體是基督的肢體嗎?……你們已不是屬於自己的了……。所以務要用你們的身體光榮天主 (格前 6:13-15,19-20) 。


  
 I. Christ's Resurrection and Ours

The progressive revelation of the Resurrection

992 God revealed the resurrection of the dead to his people progressively. Hope in the bodily resurrection of the dead established itself as a consequence intrinsic to faith in God as creator of the whole man, soul and body. the creator of heaven and earth is also the one who faithfully maintains his covenant with Abraham and his posterity. It was in this double perspective that faith in the resurrection came to be expressed. In their trials, the Maccabean martyrs confessed:

The King of the universe will raise us up to an everlasting renewal of life, because we have died for his laws.538 One cannot but choose to die at the hands of men and to cherish the hope that God gives of being raised again by him.539

993 The Pharisees and many of the Lord's contemporaries hoped for the resurrection. Jesus teaches it firmly. To the Sadducees who deny it he answers, "Is not this why you are wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God?"540 Faith in the resurrection rests on faith in God who "is not God of the dead, but of the living."541

994 But there is more. Jesus links faith in the resurrection to his own person: "I am the Resurrection and the life."542 It is Jesus himself who on the last day will raise up those who have believed in him, who have eaten his body and drunk his blood.543 Already now in this present life he gives a sign and pledge of this by restoring some of the dead to life,544 announcing thereby his own Resurrection, though it was to be of another order. He speaks of this unique event as the "sign of Jonah,"545 The sign of the temple: he announces that he will be put to death but rise thereafter on the third day.546

995 To be a witness to Christ is to be a "witness to his Resurrection," to "[have eaten and drunk] with him after he rose from the dead."547 Encounters with the risen Christ characterize the Christian hope of resurrection. We shall rise like Christ, with him, and through him.

996 From the beginning, Christian faith in the resurrection has met with incomprehension and opposition.548 "On no point does the Christian faith encounter more opposition than on the resurrection of the body."549 It is very commonly accepted that the life of the human person continues in a spiritual fashion after death. But how can we believe that this body, so clearly mortal, could rise to everlasting life?

How do the dead rise?

997 What is "rising"? In death, the separation of the soul from the body, the human body decays and the soul goes to meet God, while awaiting its reunion with its glorified body. God, in his almighty power, will definitively grant incorruptible life to our bodies by reuniting them with our souls, through the power of Jesus' Resurrection.

998 Who will rise? All the dead will rise, "those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment."550

999 How? Christ is raised with his own body: "See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself";551 but he did not return to an earthly life. So, in him, "all of them will rise again with their own bodies which they now bear," but Christ "will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body," into a "spiritual body":552

But someone will ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?" You foolish man! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. and what you sow is not the body which is to be, but a bare kernel ....What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable.... the dead will be raised imperishable.... For this perishable nature must put on the imperishable, and this mortal nature must put on immortality.553

1000 This "how" exceeds our imagination and understanding; it is accessible only to faith. Yet our participation in the Eucharist already gives us a foretaste of Christ's transfiguration of our bodies:

Just as bread that comes from the earth, after God's blessing has been invoked upon it, is no longer ordinary bread, but Eucharist, formed of two things, the one earthly and the other heavenly: so too our bodies, which partake of the Eucharist, are no longer corruptible, but possess the hope of resurrection.554

1001 When? Definitively "at the last day," "at the end of the world."555 Indeed, the resurrection of the dead is closely associated with Christ's Parousia:

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. and the dead in Christ will rise first.556

Risen with Christ

1002 Christ will raise us up "on the last day"; but it is also true that, in a certain way, we have already risen with Christ. For, by virtue of the Holy Spirit, Christian life is already now on earth a participation in the death and Resurrection of Christ:

And you were buried with him in Baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead .... If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.557

1003 United with Christ by Baptism, believers already truly participate in the heavenly life of the risen Christ, but this life remains "hidden with Christ in God."558 The Father has already "raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus."559 Nourished with his body in the Eucharist, we already belong to the Body of Christ. When we rise on the last day we "also will appear with him in glory."560

1004 In expectation of that day, the believer's body and soul already participate in the dignity of belonging to Christ. This dignity entails the demand that he should treat with respect his own body, but also the body of every other person, especially the suffering:

The body [is meant] for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. and God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? .... You are not your own; .... So glorify God in your body.561

二、死在基督耶穌內

1005. 為跟基督一同復活,必須跟基督一同死亡,必須「出離肉身與主同住」(格後 5:8)。在這「出離」(斐 1:23),即死亡中,靈魂與肉身分開。靈魂將會在死者復活之日再與身體結合。

死亡

1006. 「面對死亡,人在世之謎變得極為深奧」。在某種意義下,肉身的死亡是自然的事,但就信仰而言,死亡事實上是「罪過的代價」(羅6:23)。為那些在基督恩寵內死去的人,死是參與主的死亡,為能參與祂的復活。

1007. 死亡是在世生命的終結。我們的生命是由時間計算的,在時間的進程中我們會成長、老化。就如所有在世的生命一般,死亡是生命自然終結的表現。從這觀點看死亡意味著在我們生命中有一分迫切感:事實上,記起自己的必死性,提醒我們,生命有限,時日無多。

在你年輕的時日,你應紀念你的造物主,……灰塵將歸於原來的土中,生氣將歸於天主, 因為原是天主之所賜 (訓 12:1,7)。

1008. 死亡是罪過的後果。作為對聖經和聖傳的正確解釋者,教會的訓導當局認為死亡是因人的罪過而進入世界。 雖然人具有一個可死的本性,但天主曾預定人不死。因此死亡曾經與造物主的計劃背道而馳,死亡作為罪惡的後果進入了世界。「倘若人沒有犯罪,本來可免除肉身的死亡」, 現在肉身的死亡成了人的「最後大敵」,務必將之克服。

1009. 耶穌基督轉化死亡。即使耶穌身為天主子亦經歷過死亡,因為這是屬於人的處境。儘管祂面臨死亡曾感到恐懼, 祂仍然完全而自由地順從父旨,踏上了死亡之路。耶穌的服從把死亡的詛咒變為祝福。

基督徒死亡的意義

1010. 因著基督,基督徒的死亡就有了積極的意義。「為我,生活原是基督,死亡乃是利益」(斐 1:21)。「這話是確實的:如果我們與基督同死,亦必與祂同生」(弟後 2:11)。這裡正道出基督徒死亡的基本新穎處:通過聖洗,基督徒已在聖事的方式下「與基督同死」,為活出新生命;同時,如果我們在基督的恩寵內死亡,這肉身的死亡完成「與基督同死」,如此也使我們在基督救贖行動中完全與祂合為一體。

聖依納爵• 安提約基,《致羅馬人書》 :
死於基督,是我所冀,勝過為王,統治大地。
祂為我死,我要追尋,祂已復活,吸引我心。
我將出生,領受光明,到達彼岸,才是真人。

1011. 死亡是天主召喚人到祂那裡的時候。為此,基督徒可感受到聖保祿對死亡的那分渴望:「我渴望求解脫而與基督同在一起」(斐 1:23);他同時能將自己的死亡,按基督的榜樣轉化為服從和愛慕天父的行動:

聖依納爵• 安提約基,《致羅馬人書》:我在世的渴望已被釘在十字架上……在我內湧出活水,潺潺地對我說:「來罷!到父那裡去! 」 。

聖女大德蘭,《生命之書》:我切願見到天主,為見到祂,必須先死。

聖女小德蘭,《遺言》:我不死,我進入生命。

1012. 基督徒對死亡的看法在教會的禮儀中以卓越的方式表達出來:

《羅馬彌撒經書》,「追思亡者頌謝詞一」:主,為信仰祢的人,生命只是改變,並非毀滅;我們結束了塵世的旅程,便獲登永遠的天鄉。

1013. 死亡是人在世旅途的終結,也是恩寵和慈愛的在世期限屆滿,這恩寵和慈愛是天主施予人,為使人能按照天主的計劃去實現他現世的生命和決定他的終局。當「我們人生唯一的在世旅程」結束後,我們不再返回任何其他的塵世生活。「人只死一次」(希 9:27),故此,沒有死後「再投胎」的事。

1014. 教會鼓勵我們準備迎接死亡的一刻(她在古老的諸聖禱文中為我們祈求:「上主,免我們於猝死」),並(在聖母經中)祈求天主聖母,「在我們死的時候」為我們轉禱,又將我們交託給聖若瑟、善終的主保:

《師主篇》:在每個行動,每個思想中,你應該表現得一如即將在今日去世一般。如果你有正直的良心,你就不怕死亡。若你要逃避死亡,倒不如遠離罪惡。如果今天你不準備死亡,明天你將變成甚麼?

聖方濟• 亞西西,《太陽歌》:願我主受讚美,因為沒有一個生存的人可逃脫肉身死亡姊姊。 禍哉!那些在死罪中過世的人! 相反的, 那些尋求祢至聖旨意的人是有福的, 因為第二次的死亡不再使他們受害。

 II. Dying in Christ Jesus

1005 To rise with Christ, we must die with Christ: we must "be away from the body and at home with the Lord."562 In that "departure" which is death the soul is separated from the body.563 It will be reunited with the body on the day of resurrection of the dead.564

Death

1006 "It is in regard to death that man's condition is most shrouded in doubt."565 In a sense bodily death is natural, but for faith it is in fact "the wages of sin."566 For those who die in Christ's grace it is a participation in the death of the Lord, so that they can also share his Resurrection.567

1007 Death is the end of earthly life. Our lives are measured by time, in the course of which we change, grow old and, as with all living beings on earth, death seems like the normal end of life. That aspect of death lends urgency to our lives: remembering our mortality helps us realize that we have only a limited time in which to bring our lives to fulfillment:

Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, . . . before the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.568

1008 Death is a consequence of sin. the Church's Magisterium, as authentic interpreter of the affirmations of Scripture and Tradition, teaches that death entered the world on account of man's sin.569 Even though man's nature is mortal God had destined him not to die. Death was therefore contrary to the plans of God the Creator and entered the world as a consequence of sin.570 "Bodily death, from which man would have been immune had he not sinned" is thus "the last enemy" of man left to be conquered.571

1009 Death is transformed by Christ. Jesus, the Son of God, also himself suffered the death that is part of the human condition. Yet, despite his anguish as he faced death, he accepted it in an act of complete and free submission to his Father's will.572 The obedience of Jesus has transformed the curse of death into a blessing.573

The meaning of Christian death

1010 Because of Christ, Christian death has a positive meaning: "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."574 "The saying is sure: if we have died with him, we will also live with him.575 What is essentially new about Christian death is this: through Baptism, the Christian has already "died with Christ" sacramentally, in order to live a new life; and if we die in Christ's grace, physical death completes this "dying with Christ" and so completes our incorporation into him in his redeeming act:

It is better for me to die in (eis) Christ Jesus than to reign over the ends of the earth. Him it is I seek - who died for us. Him it is I desire - who rose for us. I am on the point of giving birth .... Let me receive pure light; when I shall have arrived there, then shall I be a man.576

1011 In death, God calls man to himself. Therefore the Christian can experience a desire for death like St. Paul's: "My desire is to depart and be with Christ. "577 He can transform his own death into an act of obedience and love towards the Father, after the example of Christ:578

My earthly desire has been crucified; . . . there is living water in me, water that murmurs and says within me: Come to the Father.579 
I want to see God and, in order to see him, I must die.580 
I am not dying; I am entering life.581

1012 The Christian vision of death receives privileged expression in the liturgy of the Church:582

Lord, for your faithful people life is changed, not ended. When the body of our earthly dwelling lies in death we gain an everlasting dwelling place in heaven.583

1013 Death is the end of man's earthly pilgrimage, of the time of grace and mercy which God offers him so as to work out his earthly life in keeping with the divine plan, and to decide his ultimate destiny. When "the single course of our earthly life" is completed,584 we shall not return to other earthly lives: "It is appointed for men to die once."585 There is no "reincarnation" after death.

1014 The Church encourages us to prepare ourselves for the hour of our death. In the litany of the saints, for instance, she has us pray: "From a sudden and unforeseen death, deliver us, O Lord";586 to ask the Mother of God to intercede for us "at the hour of our death" in the Hail Mary; and to entrust ourselves to St. Joseph, the patron of a happy death.

Every action of yours, every thought, should be those of one who expects to die before the day is out. Death would have no great terrors for you if you had a quiet conscience .... Then why not keep clear of sin instead of running away from death? If you aren't fit to face death today, it's very unlikely you will be tomorrow ....587 
Praised are you, my Lord, for our sister bodily Death,

from whom no living man can escape.

Woe on those who will die in mortal sin!

Blessed are they who will be found in your most holy will,

for the second death will not harm them.588

撮要

1015. 「肉身是救援的關鍵」。我們信天主、肉身的創造者,我們信降生成人的聖言,肉身的救贖者。我們信肉身的復活,創造和肉身得救的完成。

1016. 死亡使靈魂與身體分離,但在復活的時候,天主將要賦予我們已轉化的身體不朽的生命,使這身體再度與靈魂結合。正如基督復活了,活到永遠,在最後日子我們都將同樣復活。

1017. 「我們相信現在的這個身體將會真正地復活」。在墳墓中我們播下的種子是一個可朽的身體,可是一個不朽的身體將會復生,它是一個「屬神的身體」(格前 15:44)。

1018. 由於原罪的後果,人該經歷肉身的死亡,「倘若人沒有犯罪,本來可免除肉身的死亡」。

1019. 耶穌、天主子,完全而自由地服從父的旨意,甘心為我們受死。祂以死亡戰勝了死亡,如此祂為眾人打開了救贖之門。

 IN BRIEF

1015 "The flesh is the hinge of salvation" (Tertullian, De res. 8, 2: PL 2, 852). We believe in God who is creator of the flesh; we believe in the Word made flesh in order to redeem the flesh; we believe in the resurrection of the flesh, the fulfillment of both the creation and the redemption of the flesh.

1016 By death the soul is separated from the body, but in the resurrection God will give incorruptible life to our body, transformed by reunion with our soul. Just as Christ is risen and lives for ever, so all of us will rise at the last day.

1017 "We believe in the true resurrection of this flesh that we now possess" (Council of Lyons II: DS 854). We sow a corruptible body in the tomb, but he raises up an incorruptible body, a "spiritual body" (cf  1 Cor 15:42-44).

1018 As a consequence of original sin, man must suffer "bodily death, from which man would have been immune had he not sinned" (GS # 18).

1019 Jesus, the Son of God, freely suffered death for us in complete and free submission to the will of God, his Father. By his death he has conquered death, and so opened the possibility of salvation to all men.

   
   

 

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