Genesis 15

标题：Genesis 15
年份：2020
尺寸：47.28 x 70.85 cm

Title: Genesis 15
Year: 2020
Dimension: 47.28 x 70.85 cm

「Genesis」系列作品，一共五十幅，对应《圣经》创世纪的五十章。

The "Genesis" series consists of 50 works, corresponding to the 50 chapters of the Bible's Genesis.

15 / 50.

15:1 这些事以后，耶和华的话在异象中临到亚伯兰说：“亚伯兰，你不要惧怕，我是你的盾牌；你的赏赐是很大的。”15:2 亚伯兰说：“主耶和华啊，我一向都没有孩子，你还能赐给我甚么呢？这样，承受我家业的，就是大马士革人以利以谢了。”15:3 亚伯兰又说：“你既然没有给我后裔，那生在我家中的人，就是我的继承人了。”15:4 耶和华的话又临到亚伯兰说：“这人必不会作你的继承人；你亲生的才会是你的继承人。”15:5 于是领他到外面去，说：“你向天观看，数点众星，看你能不能把它们数得清楚。”又对他说：“你的后裔将要这样众多。”15:6 亚伯兰信耶和华，耶和华就以此算为他的义了。15:7 耶和华又对亚伯兰说：“我是耶和华，曾经把你从迦勒底的吾珥领出来，为要把这地赐给你作产业。”15:8 亚伯兰说：“主耶和华啊，我凭甚么能知道我必得这地为业呢？”15:9 耶和华对他说：“你给我拿一头三岁的母牛犊，一只三岁的母山羊，一只三岁的公绵羊，一只斑鸠和一只雏鸽。”15:10 亚伯兰就把这一切拿了来，每样都从当中劈开，一半一半相对摆列；只是鸟却没有劈开。15:11 有鸷鸟下来，落在这些尸骸上，亚伯兰就把牠们吓走了。15:12 日落的时候，亚伯兰沉沉地睡着了，忽然有可怕的大黑暗落在他身上。15:13 耶和华对亚伯兰说：“你要确实地知道，你的后裔必在外地寄居，也必服事那地的人，那地的人苦待他们四百年。15:14 他们所要服事的那国，我要亲自惩罚。后来他们必带着很多财物，从那里出来。15:15 你必得享长寿，被人埋葬，平平安安地回到你列祖那里。15:16 到了第四代，他们必回到这里，因为亚摩利人的罪孽还没有满盈。”15:17 日落天黑的时候，忽然有冒烟的炉和烧着的火把，从那些肉块中经过。15:18 就在那时候，耶和华与亚伯兰立约说：“我已经把这地赐给你的后裔了，就是从埃及河直到幼发拉底河之地；15:19 就是基尼人、基尼洗人、甲摩尼人、15:20 赫人、比利洗人、利乏音人、15:21 亚摩利人、迦南人、革迦撒人、耶布斯人之地。”

创世记 15

15:1 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield,(Or sovereign) your very great reward.(Or shield; / your reward will be very great) ”15:2 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit(The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.) my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?”15:3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”15:4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.”15:5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring(Or seed) be.”15:6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.15:7 He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.”15:8 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”15:9 So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”15:10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half.15:11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.15:12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.15:13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there.15:14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.15:15 You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age.15:16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”15:17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.15:18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi(Or river) of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates—15:19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,15:20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,15:21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”

Genesis 15

在科学可以近乎解释一切的这个时代，我们已经倾向于习惯这个世界发生的一切和周围的一切，无论它有多不可思议，甚至习以为常到不再思考它的不可思议性。

宇宙为何以及如何诞生？为何宇宙大爆炸有一个从无到有的“开始”？为何生命会从“无”诞生到“有”？为何会有复杂、精密的生命的存在？为什么人体内的 DNA 和细胞像微观世界一样复杂而精确，却以高度有序的方式完成其工作，就像被设计和编程的另一个宇宙一样？

无论是哈雷彗星的椭圆运行轨道，笛卡尔浪漫的心形函数，人体曼妙的黄金分割，天空飘零的六边雪花，甚至一片落叶飘落，都是一段美妙的函数方程。大如宇宙，小如雪花，都能在这些公式之中看到神性的秩序。

爆炸带来的皆是毁灭。最初，什么都没有，“大爆炸”却产生了时间、物质和空间，没有逐步的生成，没有过渡的形态，只是一种二元翻转，从“不存在”到“存在”。宇宙复杂且广阔，却能用高度有序的数学公式来描述，诞生了秩序甚至生命。仅凭这一点就令人难以置信，足以使人们终生寻求真理。

“存在可以从不存在而来”的这种“自然发生论”观念的证据何在？怎么从非生命体获得生命？为何我们还是不知道如何切实地从死物质创造出生命，却坦然地默认生命可以从非生命诞生？

宇宙背后的真理如此令人惊叹又神秘，生命是如此不可思议，我们却如此地习以为常，甚至不再感叹这一切的神奇。

「自从造天地以来，神的永能和神性是明明可知的，虽是眼不能见，但藉着所造之物就可以晓得，叫人无可推诿。」罗马书 1:20

“科学的尽头是神学。” 我认为，尽管科学有其局限性，而神学提供了答案，但神学并不是要解释科学的不足，仅靠科学也无法触及神学的核心。然而，科学和神学并非对立面，也并不妨碍我们在探索求知的路上保留着一颗敬畏之心。

「诸天述说神的荣耀，穹苍传扬祂的手段。」诗篇 19:1

大自然的壮丽景色，很容易让人心生敬畏，但是我发现即便日常最被人忽视的细微之景，也是“穹苍”的一部分。从“大”可以很自然地想到“大”，但如果从“小”也能看到“大”，“大”则更显荣耀。

在这个系列，我不是在试图回答上述问题或者阐述我对上述问题的世界观和立场，我只是在一些我们习以为常甚至忽略的细微场景中看到了“创造者”留下的“痕迹”和“威严”。

因此，我制定了一条规则：试图通过被忽视的日常细微之景，从敬畏和好奇中看到“大”与“小”之间的关系，以小尺度为窗口，探索和思考宇宙，生命，永恒与创造之间的关系。

In an era where science can nearly explain everything, we have become accustomed to everything that happens in this world and everything around us, no matter how incredible it is, or even accustomed to stop thinking about its incredibility.

Why and how did the universe come from? Why does the universe's big bang have a "start" from nothing? Why is life born from "nothing" to "life"? Why is there complex, sophisticated creatures? Why is the DNA and cells in our body as complex and precise as a microcosm, but complete its work in a highly orderly manner, just like another universe designed and programmed?

Whether it is the elliptical orbit of Comet Halley, the romantic heart-shaped function of Descartes, the graceful golden section of the human body, the Six-sided snowflake falling from the sky, or even a leaf falling, all are wonderful function equations. As big as the universe and as small as snowflakes, divine order can be seen in these formulas.

The explosion brought about destruction. Originally, there was nothing, but the "Big Bang" produced time, matter, and space. There was no gradual development, no transitional forms, but a binary flip, from "non-existence" to "existence." The universe is complex and vast, but it can be described by highly ordered mathematical formulas, gave birth to order and even life. This alone is unbelievable enough to let people explore the truth throughout their lives.

What is the evidence for the "abiogenesis", which is "something can come from nothing"? How to get life from non-life? Why do we still not know how to actually create life from dead stuff, but frankly assume that life can be born from non-life?

The truth behind the universe is so incredible and mysterious, life is so incredible, we are so accustomed to it, we are no longer lamenting the incredibility of all this.

"For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse." Romans 1:20

"The end of science is theology." I believe that although science has its limitations and theology provides the answer, theology is not to explain the deficiency of science, and science alone cannot reach the core of theology. However, science and theology are not opposites, and they do not prevent us from remaining awed on the road to exploring knowledge.

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." Psalm 19:1

The magnificent scenery of nature can easily make people awe-inspiring, but I find that even the most slight sceneries that are most overlooked in daily life are also part of the "skies". You can think of "big" naturally from "big", but if you can also see "big" from "small", "big" is even more glorious.

In this series, I am not trying to answer the above questions or to express my views and positions on the above questions. I just saw the "traces" and "majesty" left by the "creator" in some slight scenes that we are accustomed to and even ignore.

Therefore, I created a rule: trying to see "big" from "small" - with awe and curiosity, through daily neglected slight scenes, with “small scale” as the window, to explore and think about the relationship between the universe, life, eternity and creation.

- Boshan Zhou