读THE STORY OF BIBLE(by Hendrik Willem Van Loon)
1. 【THE STORY OF BIBLE by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, Foreword】For many centuries, it was almost the only book your ancestors possessed or cared to read. They knew it by heart. They made the Law of Moses the highest law of the land.
【陈嘉珉读感】世纪之交各自通读过一遍基督教圣经、牧灵圣经和一本英文圣经，应该说是把圣经读了三遍。最后一遍读出一个字——“约”，如今在Van Loon的THE STORY OF BIBLE这里得到印证。圣经讲了一个“约”字，故名“旧约”、“新约”。圣经认为人一出生就和上帝有个“约”，若不守“约”，就会受到惩罚；圣经认为人一出生就和他人、社会有个“约”，若不守“约”，就会受到惩罚。西方法治源于圣经，源于“Law of Moses”，如Van Loon所说，在很多个世纪里西方人只有圣经一本书，他们把圣经中的摩西律法视为人类土地上最高的法律。西方公民的法制观念基于对基督的宗教信仰，难怪西方人把法庭建得和教堂一样神圣，人们相信法律就像相信圣经，相信法官就像相信上帝、神父一样。世界上什么事情最最需要守“约”呢？那就是金融，因此圣经的民族必然会发明和垄断金融工具。
2. 【THE STORY OF BIBLE by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, Foreword】The New Testament centers around one single figure. It tells the story of a simple carpenter of the village of Nazareth, who asked nothing of life and gave all.
【陈嘉珉读感】圣经成功塑造了一个只知奉献不问索取并且具有天赐良法来解救人类的圣人——耶稣。圣经的思想精髓是为“约”献身，因此我以为了解西方科技创新和经济发展的软实力需要阅读三本书：一是《圣经》，二是马克思·韦伯的《新教伦理与资本主义精神》，三是犹太作家安·兰德的代表作《源泉》。
3. 【THE STORY OF BIBLE by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, Chapter 4】It is not good for boys to know that their father likes them better than their brothers. It is apt to spoil them.
【陈嘉珉读感】圣经教导人奉行公平行为，首先要落实在社会的最小单元——家庭之中。
4. 【THE STORY OF BIBLE by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, Chapter 7】And these are the commandments which Jehovah had given Moses for the conduct of the Jews: They must recognize no gods except Jehovah. They must not make themselves graven images, such as had been used in the land of Egypt. They must not take the name of Jehovah in vein. They must work six days but rest on the seventh day, and use it to worship their God. They must always honor their fathers and their mothers. They must not murder. They must not take another man’s wife, and women must not take another women’s husband. They must not steal. They must never give false testimony against their neighbors. They must not be greedy and wish for their neighbor’s house, nor his servants, nor his cattle, nor anything that belonged to their neighbor. The Jews now had their laws. But they needed a place where they could come together to worship Jehovah. Moses therefore ordered a temple to be built. It was really a church, made out of wooden walls, which were covered with an awning.
【陈嘉珉读感】上帝给摩西降下的十条律法，使犹太人有了自己的法律，也使西方有了资本主义法治。圣经十戒的部分内容已成为现今民商刑法的基本原则。星期计日已成为全球全民惯例。律法和教堂是圣经最重要的两个关键词。教堂是法治、法庭的渊源和缩影。
5. 【THE STORY OF BIBLE by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, Chapter 9】Whenever the Philistines burned down one Hebrew village, the Jews retaliated by destroying two Philistines villages. Then the Philistine thought it their duty to plunder three Jewish villages and the Jews, on their side, went further and pillaged four Philistine villages. It was an endless chain of mutual murder, during which very little of importance was accomplished.
【陈嘉珉读感】这段描述是人类历史恶性循环的生动缩影，推动历史恶性循环的是超人力量赋予的报复人性，圣经并不忌讳犹太人的这类“恶行”、“丑为”。我个人体现知识恶性折腾的例子——二十年前我和爱人吵架，她说我一句，我就说她两句；我说她两句，她又说我四句。为什么会产生这种矛盾折腾的倍增效应？就是因为我们各自所说气话的数量和刺激程度在对方的知识中增加了。由于在我们的知识中，对方所说的气话数量及其刺激程度的不断增加，最后就形成了恶性知识折腾。当我们吵架产生的知识恶性暴涨，即折腾到了发疯之时，我就砸手表、炊具等。那时我爱人说：“你砸东西，比砸我还伤心，与其砸那些不会讲话的东西，不如砸死我算了！”当她这句话成为我的知识的时候，我就更加猛力地砸，恨不得让她多死几次。俗话说“人怕伤心、树怕剥皮”，但俗人在折腾到发疯之时，便会产生知识爆炸，知识刺激力猛胀，就会愈怕伤心愈伤心，愈怕剥皮愈剥皮，哪句话不狠不说哪句。最后让人对爆增的知识接受和应付不过来，大脑、心胸填满暴涨的知识，也要爆炸了。理智已经控制不了雷霆震动、暴雨倾盆、山洪巨涨的情绪局面，自然就让丑恶的本性自动发挥作用，于是你来我往，恨中添恨，狠上加狠，冤冤相报、没完没了，所有新仇旧恨都激发出来，拼命往死里折腾，结果就四分五裂，就要自杀或杀人！后来读佛经、圣经——我终于看透人生与历史的这个规律。
6. 【THE STORY OF BIBLE by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, Chapter 9】Almost every country, during the early period of settlement, passes through such an agony of bloodshed.
【陈嘉珉读感】流血的政权争夺，流血的政治冲突，都会让恶的人性集中猛烈地爆发。
7. 【THE STORY OF BIBLE by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, Chapter 9】Jephthah kept his word. He took his daughter and he sacrificed her on Jehovah''s altar and burned her body and peace reigned once more in the land of Israel.
【陈嘉珉读感】守“约”的代价，很沉重啊！和平最重要的前提是什么？就是愿不愿意付出守“约”的代价。
8. 【THE STORY OF BIBLE by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, Chapter 9】It was the habit of the Jews, whenever they went forth to battle, to carry the Ark with them……The Ark, without the presence of the spirit of Jehovah, was just a plain wooden box.
【陈嘉珉读感】约柜伴随着犹太人前进。约柜里装着刻有摩西十戒的两块石板——在古代犹太人那里，守“约”与守约柜同行。法律的精神很重要啊，如果约柜没有盛装和体现上帝的精神，不过是一个木盒子而已。
9. 【THE STORY OF BIBLE by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, Chapter 11】All of this did not come without warning. In history, as in nature, nothing ever happens suddenly. It often looks that way. But the underlying secret causes of an abrupt change have been at work for hundreds of years. The final collapse of a mountain or the downfall of an old institution may take a few minutes or seconds. The work of preparation, however, and of slow demolition has been the labour of many generations. And the Jewish nation just then was passing through such a period of transition, although not one citizen in a hundred thousand seemed to understand what was actually happening. Perhaps this is a slight exaggeration. Not all the people were entirely blind to the dangers which threatened the national soul. A few men who could see things more sharply than their neighbors uttered ominous words of warning. They were called Prophets.
【陈嘉珉读感】尽管能够预见未来的人不到十万分之一，但事物依然会遵循它的宿命而变化。世界上没有任何事情是突然发生的。世俗知识折腾需要两种智慧：一种是预知酝酿事物突变过程的智慧，一种是知晓事物萌芽之后做出决策的智慧。前一种智慧主要集中在先知那里。任何民族都有先知，先知是通晓宿命和一叶知秋的人。
10. 【THE STORY OF BIBLE by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, Chapter 11】What was a Prophet? It is hard to define the word. Perhaps we shall do best by calling the Prophets the spiritual leaders of the Jewish people. Many of them were great poets. But they were more than that. Several of them had the gift of speech. But they were something beyond mere orators. One thing they all had in common. They dared to stand up for the truth as they saw it. A good many of them were very narrow-minded and utterly intolerant of any opinion which differed from their own view. But they had the courage of their convictions and sacrificed everything (including their own lives) when it came to a question of principles. Whenever a King of Israel or a King of Judah committed a wrong there was a Prophet to tell them so. Whenever the people left the narrow path of divine righteousness, a Prophet stepped forward to remind them of the error of their ways. Whenever the nation was guilty of a crime, a Prophet foretold the coming wrath of almighty Jehovah. Until the voice of the Prophets became the concrete expression of the national conscience.
【陈嘉珉读感】预知未来的功用在于修正现在。任何一个存活至今的民族，都有先知作为他们的精神领袖，并且后来，“先知”会慢慢成为其本能习惯。如果一个民族、组织、团体或国家有先知文化支撑的制度机制，一定会战无不胜，犹太人就是这样，华尔街就是这样。
11. 【THE STORY OF BIBLE by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, Chapter 11】The men of the army told him that he was both reckless and foolish, but David insisted. When his comrades saw he meant to do what he said they tried to prepare him for the combat. From the King down, they offered him their arms. But David answered “No.” He did not need swords and spears and shields. He needed the moral support of Jehovah. That was all.
【陈嘉珉读感】当一个人敢于对常识说“No”并能获得成功，说明他已沟通了与超人力量的交流。犹太英雄伟大的大卫就是这样，他不需要武器，只需要耶和华的支持，就可以进行战斗并取得胜利。大卫，是超人力量选择的战士。
12. 【THE STORY OF BIBLE by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, Chapter 11】They wanted a king. But just as soon as they had a King they began to resent his power. And even David, with his tremendous prestige, was not strong enough to overcome prejudice and assert himself when he was called upon to punish a popular soldier who had broken the law.
【陈嘉珉读感】人们需要国王，但是又不满国王的权力；有权力，但是又有权力不能触及的人事——这就是易经规定的阴阳平衡和矛盾法则。
13. 【THE STORY OF BIBLE by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, Chapter 11】According to old Jewish law, no layman had the right to touch the Ark. That was the exclusive business of the priests.
【陈嘉珉读感】谕示只有国法赋予职权的人才能执行法律，唯有牧师才能触摸约柜，唯有法官才能判决案子。老子的《道德经》就说：“常有司杀者杀，夫代司杀者杀，是谓代大匠斫；夫代大匠斫者，希有不伤其手矣。”一个治理有序的社会，必须有专管杀人的行刑官，如果普通人代替依法有资格执行杀人任务的行刑官来杀人，那就像一般人像代替高明的木匠来砍削木头，很少有不伤到自己手的。
14. 【THE STORY OF BIBLE by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, Chapter 11】Like Jeseph and several other great Jewish leaders, Solomon was very apt to have visions when he was asleep. Shortly after his accession to the throne, he dreamed that Jehovah asked him what gift he desired above all others. Solomon answered that he chose wisdom. The word “wisdom” in the old Hebrew sense could be translated by either “wisdom” or “shrewdness”. Solomon had his share of both. He was exceedingly clever, but not rash. As king of the Jews he also was the chief justice of the nation. One of the first cases that were brought before him was a quarrel before two women who both claimed a small child as their own. Solomon ordered one of his life-guards to take the baby and hack it in two and give half of it to each of the women. What he had expected actually happened. The real mother begged the soldier to spare the child’s life. “For it is better,” so she argued, “That the wrong mother keep the child than it should suffer death in this terrible way.”
【陈嘉珉读感】Jeseph回答上帝，在天赐的所有礼物中，他只需要智慧。记得有个犹太人的故事说，在逃亡路上，犹太人母亲教育孩子不要带走黄金，而要带走智慧。圣经历史把犹太人造就成世界上最有智慧的民族之一。
15. 【THE STORY OF BIBLE by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, Chapter 11】The heart of the temple, the Holy of Hohes, was a square little room, thirty feet long and wide and thirty feet high. Inside there stood the carved figures of two large angels. Underneath their outspread wings rested the Ark, the plain wooden box which had now followed the Jews on their peregrinations for almost six centuries. It contained the two pieces of stone upon which Jehovah had engraved his Holy Laws, when he appeared to Moses amidst the clouds of Mont Sinai.
【陈嘉珉读感】原来最早的教堂有一个功用，即在最中心的位置存放约柜——上帝的律法永远处在犹太人心灵的深处。佛教寺庙的中心存放什么呢？还有道观、清真寺？
16. 【THE STORY OF BIBLE by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, Chapter 13】And the Chinese, thus far, are the only people who have ever had the patience to build protective walls across a desert.
【陈嘉珉读感】难得Willem Van Loon在书中提到中国人，他认为迄今为止只有中国人，有耐心在沙漠上修筑一道防御性的抵御外敌的墙。可是这道墙——几乎与封闭的帝国一同开始。
17. 【THE STORY OF BIBLE by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, Chapter 16】The next chapter, called Ecclesiastes or “the Preacher”, is a purely religious volume. It is a tired but a very human book. It delves deeply into the problems of life and faith. It reflects the weary and rather personal wisdom of the famous Jewish physician who is said to be its author. What is the use, so he asked, of those seventy years of toil and anxiety, which represent the average human life? The end of all things is grave. The good die. The wicked die. The all die. What does it all mean? The righteous suffer persecution. The ungodly gather riches. Is there no reason in this human misery? “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” And so on for twelve whole chapters.
【陈嘉珉读感】“虚空的虚空，凡事都是虚空”与佛家观点不约而同。人类经书都有同一个源头？控制人类的超人力量是同一个？地球、宇宙肯定是同一个神灵缔造的。
18. 【THE STORY OF BIBLE by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, Chapter 16】Man changes, but his soul remains the same. If we are wise, we too shall find much consolation in these books of poetry. What we suffer, others have suffered before us and still others will suffer in the years that are to come.
【陈嘉珉读感】人类过去、现在、未来所拥有和经历的都是同样的事物，这就是先知需要掌握的。世俗人生折腾的法则之一是循环，请看中国《古代作家看“循环”》（愚作）。
19. 【THE STORY OF BIBLE by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, Chapter 20】Usually the happiness of a people is in inverse ratio to their riches. When they grow rich and prosperous beyond a certain definite point, they begin to lose interest in those simple pleasures without which life becomes a vast span of boredom which stretches from the cradle to the grave.
【陈嘉珉读感】圣经是最早揭示财富增长与快乐增长不成比例甚而背道而驰的文献之一。愚以为人生经久受用的快乐密码和法则是在《易经》里边，如何在财富增长的同时自主调整阴阳快乐循环，学会在幸福快乐中实现财富增长，又使财富增长自动服务于人生快乐，这是我于2010年8月19日在重庆发表《易经演讲——企业家如何获得快乐》的主题。
20. 【THE STORY OF BIBLE by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, Chapter 22】It was true many of the Greek philosophers had come to an identical conclusion. They too had discovered that true happiness was a matter of the soul and did not depend upon a pocket filled with drachmas or the noisy approval of the crowd in the stadium.
【陈嘉珉读感】古希腊哲学家总结快乐是一个心灵问题，与口袋里钞票的多少无关。但系统揭示快乐的密码和法则是在《易经》里边，请看我的《易经演讲——企业家如何获得快乐》。
21. 【THE STORY OF BIBLE by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, Chapter 23】In the days of Jesus it was comparatively easy for an intelligent man with a new idea to get a hearing. He did not need a lecture-room, and he was not obliged to spend his valuable time waiting until someone had made him a professor or had ordained him as a minister.
【陈嘉珉读感】在耶稣的时代，一个聪明人宣传自己的思想不需要演讲大厅，也不需要浪费时间去求取学位和等待谁来聘他做个教授；但在今天，能如此去做的聪明人已经变成天才和智慧大师了，哈哈。
22. 【THE STORY OF BIBLE by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, Chapter 24】To him, all men and all women, tax-gatherers, politicians, saints and sinners, were alike. He recognized and accepted their common humanity. And that there might be no doubt about his stand upon this matter, he took all his disciples and together with them he went to dine at house of one of the offending officials as if it were an honor to sit at the humble table of a Roman henchman.
【陈嘉珉读感】在孔子、耶稣的圣人时代，人与人之间都是平等关系。世俗知识折腾的结果——一个穷人需要和拥有尊严，我们会气愤。迄今为止人类最系统最完整的知识就是关于等级制度的知识，从奴隶社会、封建社会完美的典章制度到资本主义社会、社会主义社会各种等级森严的体制规范，无不把从娘肚皮里生下的行走动物分为三六九等人，把自由的土地划为三六九等圈，每一等人都有他所不能进去的那一等圈，若进去了就叫“破坏秩序”。我们不都是拥有这般“知识”的“知识分子”吗？
23. 【THE STORY OF BIBLE by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, Chapter 26】He wanted he implored people to love their neighbours and to stop quarrelling among themselves. He was crushed by the cruelty and the unreasoning injustice of everything he saw around him. By nature he was cheerful. Life was a joy to him and not a burden. He loved his mother, his family, his friends. He took part in all the simple pleasures of his village. He was not a hermit and did not encourage those who tried to save their own souls by running away from life. But the world seemed so needlessly full of waste, of pain, of violence and disorder. In the simplicity of his great heart, Jesus offered a cure of his own for these ills. He called it love. And that one word was the sum total of his teaching. He did not greatly interest himself in the existing order of things. He did not argue against the Empire. He never spoke in favor of it. The Pharisees slyly tried to catch him in an expression of sedition when they asked him what he thought of the Empire. But Jesus knew that every form of government is merely a compromise and he refused to commit himself. He advised his hearers to obey the law of the land and to think more of their own faults than of the virtues of the defects of their rulers. He did not tell his pupils to keep away from the service in the Temple, but encouraged them to be faithful in the performance of their religious duties. He had a sincere admiration for the wisdom of the Old Testament, and continually referred to it in his own conversation. In short, he refrained from saying or preaching or advocating anything that could be construed as an open challenge of the established laws. But from the point of view of the Pharisees, he was much more dangerous than the fiercest of all rebels. He made the people think for themselves.
【陈嘉珉读感】耶稣治“病”的妙方是“爱”，同时奉行伟大的中庸之道。耶稣认为任何一种政体都是妥协的结果，不与现行政治对抗，检讨自己的言行以符合现实，同时恰到好处地宣传自己的思想——这是最伟大的人生智慧啊！可对比佛家的中道智慧。
24. 【THE STORY OF BIBLE by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, Chapter 26】It was a warm night. They were all very tired. After a while Jesus walked away from the little group. But three of the disciples who were closest to him, followed at a distance. He turned around and bade them wait and watch while he prayed. The time had come for a final decision. Escape was still possible, but escape would mean a silent confession of guilt and defeat for his ideas. He was alone among the silent trees and fought his last great battle. He was a man in the fullness of his years. Life still held a great promise. Death, once his enemies captured him, would come in a most terrible form. He made his choice. He stayed.
【陈嘉珉读感】耶稣的死告诉我们，一个智者该死的时候还得死，如果逃脱死亡是默认自己有罪并导致自己的思想破产；在这样的情况下，虽死犹生，且远胜于生。
25. 【THE STORY OF BIBLE by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, Chapter 26】Jesus was nailed to the cross. Over his head the Roman soldiers fastened a slip of paper, carrying the words, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” ……On the cross, Jesus was softly murmuring words which few could understand. A kindly of Roman soldier had soaked a sponge in myrrh and thrust it to Jesus on the end of a pike. Such a potion would deaden the pain of his lacerated hands and feet, but Jesus refused it. By a last and supreme effort, he held to his consciousness. And he uttered a prayer. He asked that his enemies be forgiven for what they had done unto him. Then he whispered, “It is finished.” And he died.
【陈嘉珉读感】耶稣被钉在十字架上……圣经中这段对耶稣临死情状的描写令人惊心动魄并掩卷沉思……耶稣咽气之前最后的祈祷，是祈求上帝原谅那些置他于死地的人们！
26. 【THE STORY OF BIBLE by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, Chapter 27】The teaching of Jesus was the noblest expression of a human soul seeking happiness in the exercise of love and justice. And this accounts for the survival and final triumph of an idea which so many people during so many centuries have tried to destroy. The world in which Jesus lived was very badly balanced. Those who sat in the seats of the mighty had too much and those who lived in slavery had too little. But the latter outnumbered the former a thousand to one. It was among the very poor that the words of Jesus were first heard; that his lessons of kindliness, his assurance that the Mighty Spirit which dominates this universe was a spirit of love, were first discussed and accepted. Those simple folk had never been touched by the plausible philosophies of the Sceptics and the Epicureans. They could not read and they did not know how to write. They had ears, however, with which to hear. To their masters they were little better than the cows grazing in the fields. They lived and died and were forgotten and no one mourned their loss. Then suddenly the door of their bondage was opened wide and they were given a glimpse of the truth that all men are children of One Heavenly Father. As was to be expected, the first people to accept the new faith were those Jews who lived in the same neighbourhood and who had been able to hear him and feel the charm of his words and see the fearless light in his eyes.
【陈嘉珉读感】为什么那些身居高位的人腰缠万贯、应有尽有，而做牛做马的人却穷困潦倒、一贫如洗，并且后者的数量是前者的千倍以上？这个人类不解之谜的答案，一定是上天赋予人类的文化和由文化支配的制度。耶稣最重要的启示——爱是统治宇宙人生最强大的力量；所有人都是唯一的没有等级之分的天父的子女；平凡人活着，然后死去，被人遗忘，没有人哀悼，但是最伟大的思想永远扎根在平凡人构成的土壤之中。
（2010年11月1日）
