Genesis 17

标题：Genesis 17
年份：2020
尺寸：47.28 x 70.85 cm

Title: Genesis 17
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.

17 / 50.

17:1 亚伯兰九十九岁的时候，耶和华向他显现，对他说：“我是全能的　神，你要在我面前行事为人；你要作完全人。17:2 我要与你立约，要使你的后裔人丁兴旺。”17:3 于是亚伯兰俯伏在地，　神又告诉他，说：17:4 “看哪，这就是我和你所立的约：你要作多国的父。17:5 你的名不要再叫亚伯兰，要叫亚伯拉罕，因为我已经立了你作万国的父。17:6 我要使你极其昌盛，国度因你而立，君王必从你而出。17:7 我要与你，和你世世代代的后裔，坚立我的约，成为永远的约，使我作你和你的后裔的　神。17:8 我要把你现在寄居的地，就是迦南全地，赐给你和你的后裔，作永远的产业，我也要作他们的　神。”17:9 神又对亚伯拉罕说：“你和你世世代代的后裔都要谨守我的约。17:10 我与你和你的后裔所立的这约，是你们应当谨守的，就是你们所有的男子，都要受割礼。17:11 你们都要割去身上的包皮，这就是我与你们立约的记号了。17:12 你们中间世世代代所有的男子，无论是在家里生的，或是用银子从不是属你后裔的外族人买来的，生下来第八日都要受割礼。17:13 在你家里生的，和你用银子买来的，都一定要受割礼。这样，我的约就刻在你们身上，作永远的约。17:14 但不受割礼的男子，就是没有割去身上的包皮的，那人必从民中剪除，因为他违背了我的约。”17:15 神又对亚伯拉罕说：“至于你的妻子撒莱，不要再叫她的名撒莱，要叫撒拉。17:16 我必赐福给她，也必使她为你生一个儿子；我要赐福给她，她也要作多国的母，万族的君王必从她而出。”17:17 亚伯拉罕就俯伏在地，笑了起来，心里说：“一百岁的人，还能生孩子吗？撒拉已经九十岁了，还能生育吗？”17:18 亚伯拉罕对　神说：“愿以实玛利能在你面前活着！”17:19 神说：“你的妻子撒拉，真的要为你生一个儿子，你要给他起名叫以撒，我要与他坚立我的约，作他后裔的永约。17:20 至于以实玛利，我也应允你。看哪，我已经赐福给他；我必使他昌盛，子孙极其众多；他必生十二个族长；我也必使他成为大国。17:21 但我的约是要和以撒坚立的。这以撒，就是明年这时候，撒拉要为你生的。”17:22 神和亚伯拉罕说完了话，就离开他上升去了。17:23 就在那一天，亚伯拉罕照着　神吩咐他的，给他儿子以实玛利，和他家里所有的男子，无论是在家里生的，或是用银子买来的，都割去了他们身上的包皮。17:24 亚伯拉罕九十九岁的时候，割去了他身上的包皮。17:25 他的儿子以实玛利十三岁的时候，割去了他身上的包皮。17:26 就在那一天，亚伯拉罕和他的儿子以实玛利，都受了割礼。17:27 亚伯拉罕家里所有的男人，无论是在家里生的，或是用银子从外族人买来的，都与他一同受了割礼。

创世记 17

17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty(Hebrew El-Shaddai); walk before me faithfully and be blameless.17:2 Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”17:3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him,17:4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.17:5 No longer will you be called Abram(Abram means exalted father.); your name will be Abraham,(Abraham probably means father of many.) for I have made you a father of many nations.17:6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.17:7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.17:8 The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”17:9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come.17:10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised.17:11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you.17:12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring.17:13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant.17:14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”17:15 God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah.17:16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”17:17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?”17:18 And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”17:19 Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac.(Isaac means he laughs.) I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.17:20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.17:21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.”17:22 When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.17:23 On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him.17:24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised,17:25 and his son Ishmael was thirteen;17:26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that very day.17:27 And every male in Abraham’s household, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.

Genesis 17

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