标题：Genesis 18
年份：2020
尺寸：47.28 x 70.85 cm
Title: Genesis 18
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.
18 / 50.
18:1 耶和华在幔利橡树那里，向亚伯拉罕显现。那时，是一天中最热的时候，亚伯拉罕正坐在帐棚门口；18:2 他举目观看，忽然看见三个人在他对面站着；亚伯拉罕看见了，就从帐棚门口跑去迎接他们，俯伏在地，18:3 说：“我主啊，我若在你眼前蒙恩，求你不要离开你的仆人。18:4 让我叫人拿点水来，你们可以洗洗脚，然后在树下歇一歇。18:5 让我拿点饼来给你们吃，使你们可以恢复精力，然后再走，因为你们既然到了仆人这里来，就应该这样。”他们说：“就照着你所说的去作。”18:6 亚伯拉罕赶快进帐棚，到撒拉那里，说：“你快拿三斗细面调和，作些饼。”18:7 亚伯拉罕又跑到牛群里，牵了一头又嫩又好的牛犊，交给仆人；仆人就赶快去预备。18:8 亚伯拉罕又拿了乳酪、奶和预备好的牛犊肉来，摆在他们面前。他们吃的时候，亚伯拉罕在树下侍候他们。18:9 他们问亚伯拉罕：“你的妻子撒拉在哪里？”他回答：“在帐棚里。”18:10 其中一位说：“到明年这个时候，我必回到你这里来。那时，你的妻子撒拉必生一个儿子。”撒拉在那人后面的帐棚门口，也听见了这话。18:11 当时，亚伯拉罕和撒拉都老了，上了年纪，撒拉的月经也停止了。18:12 撒拉心里暗笑，说：“现在我已经衰老了，我的丈夫也老了，我还有房事的乐趣吗？”18:13 耶和华对亚伯拉罕说：“撒拉为甚么暗笑说：‘我已经老了，真的还能生育吗？’18:14 耶和华岂有难成的事吗？到明年这个时候，我要回到你这里来，那时，撒拉必生一个儿子。”18:15 撒拉害怕起来，就否认，说：“我没有笑。”但那位说：“不，你实在笑了。”18:16 三人就从那里起身，向着所多玛观望。亚伯拉罕与他们同行，要送他们一程。18:17 耶和华说：“我要作的事，岂可瞒着亚伯拉罕呢？18:18 亚伯拉罕必要成为强大兴盛的国，地上的万国，都必因他得福。18:19 我拣选了他（“拣选”直译是“认识”），是要他吩咐子孙，和他的家属，遵守我耶和华的道，秉公行义，好叫我耶和华应许亚伯拉罕的话都可实现。”18:20 耶和华说：“控告所多玛和蛾摩拉的声音甚大，他们的罪恶极重。18:21 我现在要下去，看看他们所行的，是不是全像那声闻于我的控告；如果不是，我也会知道的。”18:22 其中二人从那里动身，向所多玛走去，亚伯拉罕却仍然站在耶和华面前。18:23 亚伯拉罕上前说：“你真的要把义人和恶人一同除灭吗？18:24 假如城中有五十个义人，你还真的要除灭那地方，不为城里的五十个义人而赦免那地方吗？18:25 你绝不会作这样的事：把义人与恶人一同杀死，把义人和恶人一样看待，你绝不会这样！审判全地的主，岂可不行公义吗？”18:26 耶和华说：“我若在所多玛城中找到五十个义人，我就因他们的缘故，赦免那地方所有的人。”18:27 亚伯拉罕回答，说：“我虽然是灰尘，还大胆地对我主说话。18:28 假如这五十个义人中缺少了五个，你会因为缺少了五个就毁灭全城吗？”他说：“我若在那里找到四十五个，我也不会毁灭那城。”18:29 亚伯拉罕再问他说：“假如在那里找到四十个呢？”他回答：“我因这四十个的缘故，也不这样作。”18:30 亚伯拉罕说：“请我主不要动怒，容我再问：‘假如在那里找到三十个呢？’”他回答：“我若在那里找到三十个，也不这样作。”18:31 亚伯拉罕说：“我再大胆地对我主说，假如在那里找到二十个呢？”他回答：“我因这二十个的缘故，也不毁灭那城。”18:32 亚伯拉罕说：“请我主不要动怒，容我问这最后的一次，假如在那里找到十个呢？”他回答：“我因这十个的缘故，也不毁灭那城。”18:33 耶和华与亚伯拉罕说完了话，就走了；亚伯拉罕也回到自己的地方去了。
创世记 18
18:1 The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.18:2 Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.18:3 He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord,(Or eyes, Lord) do not pass your servant by.18:4 Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree.18:5 Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant.” “Very well,” they answered, “do as you say.”18:6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs(That is, probably about 36 pounds or about 16 kilograms) of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.”18:7 Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it.18:8 He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.18:9 “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him. “There, in the tent,” he said.18:10 Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him.18:11 Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing.18:12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”18:13 Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’18:14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”18:15 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.” But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”18:16 When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way.18:17 Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?18:18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.(Or will use his name in blessings (see 48:20))18:19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”18:20 Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous18:21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”18:22 The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord.(Masoretic Text; an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition but the Lord remained standing before Abraham)18:23 Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?18:24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare(Or forgive; also in verse 26) the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?18:25 Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”18:26 The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”18:27 Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes,18:28 what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?” “If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.”18:29 Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?” He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.”18:30 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?” He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”18:31 Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?” He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.”18:32 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?” He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”18:33 When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.
Genesis 18
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
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©️ Boshan Zhou.
