一本有趣的书
平生 Posted on 28 四月 2011
“自然科学在希腊人那里消融在形而上学里，在罗马的斯多噶派那里，变成支持人类意志的道德所必需的条件。同样在早期基督教的气氛里，自然知识也只有在它是一种启发的工具，可以证明教会的教义与圣经的章节的时候，才被重视。批判的能力不复存在，凡是与神父们所解释的圣经不违背的，人们都相信。当代的自然历史知识可以拿公元二世纪编纂的《生理论》（Physiologus）或《动物论》
（Bestiary）作为代表。这些书的题目与内容公开宣布是根据教义上的考虑决定的，最初都是借用动物世界的形象虚构的基督教寓言。例如，书中庄重地说，小狮出生时是死的，到第三天它们用眼呼吸，因而苏醒过来，这样来象征我们的救主，即犹大（Judah）之狮的复活。”——丹皮尔《科学史》
这里面提到的physiologus和bestiary（动物寓言集）我无意中在搜名词时，发现一本在线的书（已经翻译为英文），关于基督教用动物寓言诠释教义的，Saint Epiphanius on the Physiologus 发表于1588年。里面的contents部分的animal chapters非常好玩，后来又查了点资料，发现西方自然科学史与基督教的关系非常紧密，上面引用的丹皮尔的《科学史》里面这段话大致是这个思路。
回头把这本《科学史》找来读读，应该是非常有趣的见识。现在回想起来，以前大学读尼采，完全当文学警句来读的，完全没有背景知识和脉络化的东西，所以很难进入对象。确实可以感慨一下了：知识的海洋。不过这些知识只有被那些具备原创力的眼睛发现后才能创造出新意义。我估计小孩子肯定比大人更喜欢这些图画。看来所谓意识形态的输入的确是可以从娃娃抓起的。不知道国内有没有这样的图文书出版，想必把这些东西收集整理下会有不错的销路，bully！
上面丹皮尔提到的狮子的例子，就可以在此书中得到生动解释，不过内容有些出入，看来寓言的解释本身就是有发展和变化的。
The second chapter of the lion combines two properties. When the lion sleeps, it keeps its eyes open and watches. The lion sleeping with its eyes open represents Christ on the cross; his body sleeps in death, but his divinity keeps watch at the right hand of God. The second property is that the lion cub is born dead, but is brought to life after three days when the father breathes on its face (some accounts say the father roars over the cub). This represents Christ’s three days in the grave, after which God his father revived him.
The male and female lions in the van der Borcht copperplate engraving below both have somewhat human heads; this is not uncommon in lion images. The lion cub is dead, as indicated by the way it is lying on its back, but is reviving as both its father and mother breathe on it. The attribute of sleeping with eyes open has not been illustrated.
The woodcut below (from the Rome, 1577 edition) is quite different. The mother lion passively watches while the father looms over the more obviously dead cub; it is not clear if the father is breathing on it or roaring over it. The lion’s heads are much less human in appearance.
此外，下面这个关于凤凰（phoenix）的解说也很有意思，凤凰的老家在印度，但被基督教用来证明基督复活的证据之一，即一只鸟都可以死而复生，何况Christ.——“if a bird can do this, surely Christ could too. ” 这或许也是文化移植的一例吧，我猜。之所以被移植，在于原地就有被移植的契机。
插一句，尼采说的永恒复归，蛇的蜕皮与基督复活，与东方式的凤凰涅磐恐怕是不一样的吧。最近在读的洛维特的《世界历史与救赎历史》对基督教文化的末世论对世俗历史观念的深刻影响做了精辟的论述，与我之前读德国“历史主义”的文献可以互通，从这个特殊的角度可以透视西方文明的基本脉络，反观之，我们自身传统却是另外一种——就是没有那种对象化的独立和分离出主体的倾向，也就很难建立类似上帝之国与世俗王国的分立，以致最后基本崩塌。“西方的没落”其实是我们今天的语境下很难理解的，一定会被笑成痴人。因为在the west的整个系统里对此的反思是很难内嵌入我们自身的生存境况中的，但这又是那些追求和思索人类根本问题的人们必须要做的事之一——很多困惑来自于我们对西方似乎很熟悉，但实际对自己反而了解不多不深，这其实比晚清时期对西方的粗枝大叶式的了解更为令人不堪——那一代人身上的思想资源比我们多了太多。但那一代读书人的问题与我们今天的时代很不一样了，盲目地崇拜民国大师与盲目地抵触同时代人的思考在精神上其实一脉相承。我们今天的处境太像日本的思想家竹内好当年指责日本时所痛切的一句话“不东不西，什么也不是！”
The phoenix is a bird that is found in India. After it has lived for 500 years, it goes to the cedar forests of Lebanon and bathes in the fragrance from the trees, then signals the priest in the city of Heliopolis (the city of the sun), who prepares an alter. The phoenix flies to the city, alights on the alter, and ignites a fire that completely consumes it, leaving only ash. The next day the preist finds a worm in the ashes, on the second day a small bird, and on the third day the full-grown phoenix, completely renewed. The phoenix greets the priest and returns to its home in India.
The Epiphanius version follows the same basic story line, but adds a few details. The phoenix is the most beautiful bird, more beautiful even than the peacock. It is colored like precious stones, and has a crested head and feet like fire. It lives among the cedars of Lebanon for 500 years, neither eating or drinking, being fed only by the wind. After this time it goes to the priest at Heliopolis and burns itself up. The next day there is a small bird in the ashes; on the third day the phoenix is fully restored and returns home. The standard version of the Physiologus does not always describe the bird, but the description could be taken from Pliny the Elder, who in his Natural Histories says the phoenix is the size of an eagle, has gold around the neck, a purple body, a blue tail with some rose-colored feathers, and a feathered crest on its head.
The interpretation uses the deliberate death and rebirth of the phoenix to refute those who say Christ could not have risen from the dead Tthe Physiologus text argues that if a bird can do this, surely Christ could too. A quote from the Bible is usually given: "I have the power to lay down my life, and I have the power to take it again" (John 10:18).
The phoenix in the van der Borcht copperplate engraving below is not exhibiting the life-renewing behavior ascribed to it in the text, but it is a most elegant crested bird. The usual illustration of the phoenix shows it either burning or rising from the ashes.
The woodcut below (from the Rome, 1577 edition) also shows the phoenix merely posing; it does have the crest mentioned by the Epiphanius version and by Pliny.
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