the successful paul of tarsus

　　most of the people who lived near jerusalem1 were jewish. the romans were pagans2 , but they allowed the jews to practice their faith and did not force them to worship roman gods. about a. d. 30, a holy man named jesus began to attract a following in the roman province of judea. judea is part of the modern nation of israel. his followers came to believe that jesus was the son of the god of the jews and that he performed miracles3 . the followers of jesus angered roman authorities because they refused to follow either jewish or roman laws. the authorities arrested and crucified4 jesus. three days after his execution, jesus followers said they saw him rise from the dead.

　　the followers of jesus called him christ5. christ is a greek word that means“ chosen one”, because they believed he was chosen by god to be his messenger. in time the followers of jesus became known as christians. the christians taught that people’s sins would be forgiven if they became christian. this message was not successful with many jews, but many pagans responded to the idea of christian salvation.

　　many fervent believers carried the message of jesus throughout the roman empire6 . one of the most successful was a greek-speaking jew named paul of tarsus, known to christians as saint paul. as a young man, he helped to persecute christians, but one day he had a vision in which he believed jesus spoke to him from heaven. paul spent the rest of his life thinking and writing about christianity and winning new converts to the faith. through the persistence of paul and other christian missionaries, small christian communities developed throughout the roman empire.

　　the first christians believed that jesus would quickly return to earth, so there was no need to create any written records of his life . after about thirty years, christians began to see a need to write down an account of the life and wisdom of jesus. about fifty years after jesus died, christians combined the stories of the life and wisdom of jesus into four books known as gospels. gospel means“ good news”. the holy book of christianity is known as the bible and has two parts. the old testament consists of the sacred writings of the jewish people and was written long before the time of jesus. the new testament of the bible includes the gospels, along with letters written by paul and other christian writers. the bible has been translated into more than 1, 000 languages and has been read by more people than any other book.

　　閱讀自測

　　Ⅰ. fill in each blank:

　　1. the romans were pagans, but they allowed the jews to_________ ( 實踐) their faith and did not force them to _________( 信仰) roman gods.

　　2. his followers came to believe that jesus was the son of the god of the jews and that he performed _________( 奇跡) .

　　3. the christians taught that people’s sins would be_________ ( 寬恕) if they became christian.

　　4. about fifty years after jesus died , christians _________( 組成) the stories of the life and wisdom of jesus into four books known as _________( 福音) , which means “good news”.

　　5. the holy book of christianity is known as the _________( 圣經(jīng)) and has two parts: the old testament and the new testament.

　�、�. questions :

　　what is the holy book of christianity and how many parts does it have ? what are they about?

　　參考答案

　�、�. 1. practice / worship 2 . miracles 3. forgiven 4. combined / gospels 5. bible

　　Ⅱ. the holy book of christianity is known as the bible and it has two parts. the old testament consists of the sacred writings of the jewish people and was written long before the time of jesus. the new testament of the bible includes the gospels, along with letters written by paul and other christian writers.

　　參考譯文

　　成功的塔爾蘇斯人保羅

　　居 住在耶路撒冷附近的人大多都是猶太人。羅馬人雖然是異教徒, 但是他們允許猶太 人進(jìn)行自己的宗教活動, 并不強(qiáng)迫猶太人信奉羅馬神。大約公元30 年, 一位名為耶穌的圣 人在羅馬朱迪亞省城附近吸引了一大群信徒。朱迪亞是現(xiàn)代以色列的一部分。信徒們相 信耶穌是猶太人的上帝的兒子, 并且會創(chuàng)造奇跡。他們既不遵奉猶太法也不遵奉羅馬法, 從而激怒了羅馬當(dāng)局。官 方逮捕了耶穌并將他釘死在十字架上。行刑后三天, 耶穌的信徒 說他們看到耶穌死后升天了。

　　耶穌的信徒稱他為基督。christ 是個希臘詞, 意思為“ 被選中的人”, 因為他們相信耶 穌是被上帝選中充當(dāng)信使的人。最終, 耶穌的信徒們也就成了大家所知道的基督徒�；�督 徒教導(dǎo)人們?nèi)绻�他們成為基督�? 他們的罪惡就會得到寬恕。這個說法雖然對很多猶太人 沒什么效果, 卻讓許多異教徒接受了基督救世的思想。

　　許多狂熱的信徒在羅馬帝國到處傳播耶穌神示。最為成功的信徒之一是叫保羅的塔 爾蘇斯人, 他是個說希臘語的猶太人, 也就是基督徒們知道的圣保羅。保羅年輕時, 曾幫助迫 害基督徒。但是有一天, 他看到了一幅幻景: 耶穌自天國對他說話。保羅傾其余生都在 思考和寫基督教方面的東西并最終皈依基督。在保羅和其他基督教傳教士堅持不懈的努 力之下, 許多基督教小團(tuán)體在羅馬帝國發(fā)展起來。

　　早期的基督徒都相信耶穌很快就會重返人間, 所以他們認(rèn)為沒有必要對他的生活經(jīng)歷 作任何書面記載。大約30 年后, 他們開始認(rèn)識到記錄耶穌的生平及其思想的必要性。耶 穌死后大約50 年, 基督徒們將記錄耶穌的生活和思想的內(nèi)容合在一起編成四本書, 這就是 大家熟悉的《福音》�！� 福音”即“ 佳音”�；�督教的圣書是《圣經(jīng)》, 它分《舊約》與《新約》兩 部分�！杜f約》包含記載猶太人祭祀神的文章, 寫成于耶穌之前很久的年代�！缎录s》則包 括了《福音》及保羅和其他基督教作者寫的書信。《圣經(jīng)》已經(jīng)被翻譯成一千多種語言, 比 其他任何書的流傳都要廣。

　　閱讀導(dǎo)釋

　　對于西方國家, 特別是說英語的國家, 基督教占有十分重要的地位, 是其人民的精神支 柱, 是國家文化的組成部分。所以, 要了解西方文明, 就繞不開基督教及其經(jīng)典著作《圣經(jīng)》。

　　閱讀導(dǎo)釋

　　1. 耶路撒冷, 地名, 是西南亞巴勒斯坦地區(qū)古城, 伊斯蘭教、猶太教和基督教的圣地, 因 此, 耶路撒冷被比作“天堂, 福地”。

　　2. 這個詞是“ 異教徒”的意思。它原本指“ 非基督教徒、非猶太教徒或非伊斯蘭教徒”。這 里, 根據(jù)文章的含義, 它指的是不信猶太教的人。

　　3. ( 神創(chuàng)造的) 奇跡, 人間奇跡。它可作“ 驚人的事例, 令人驚嘆的人或事物”解, 如: the bridge was a miracle of engineering. ( 這座橋是工程學(xué)上的一大奇跡。)

　　4. crucify 是個與基督教聯(lián)系很緊密的詞語, 它指“ 把⋯⋯的手腳釘在十字架上處死”。它 所派生出的名詞the crucifixion 特指“耶穌之釘死于十字架”或“ 耶穌被釘死在十字架上 的畫或雕像”。

　　5. 基督, 原是耶穌的頭銜: jesus the christ, 現(xiàn)成為其名字jesus christ 的一部分�，F(xiàn)在世界 通用的公元紀(jì)年即是以耶穌誕生那年定為公元1 年的, 公元紀(jì)年的表示法ad 即拉丁語 anno domini 的縮寫, 意思就是“耶穌紀(jì)元后( since christ was born) ”, 而大家通常所說的 “ 公元前”即bc, 也就是指耶穌誕生前, bc 是before christ 的縮寫。 6. 羅馬帝國。公元前27 年到公元476 年間, 古羅馬占據(jù)了整個地中海地區(qū), 395 年分裂為 東西兩部。西羅馬帝國滅亡于476 年。馬克思主義史學(xué)一般認(rèn)為這是西歐奴隸占有制 社會歷史的終結(jié)。

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