Genesis 20

标题：Genesis 20
年份：2020
尺寸：47.28 x 70.85 cm

Title: Genesis 20
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.

20 / 50.

20:1 亚伯拉罕从那里迁到南地，就住在加低斯和书珥中间。亚伯拉罕寄居在基拉耳的时候，20:2 曾经提到他的妻子撒拉说：“她是我的妹妹。”于是基拉耳王亚比米勒派人来把撒拉取了去。20:3 当夜，　神在梦中来到亚比米勒那里，对他说：“你该死，因为你接来的那女人，是个有夫之妇。”20:4 亚比米勒还没有亲近撒拉，所以他说：“我主啊，连正义的人你也要杀害吗？20:5 那人岂不是自己对我说：‘她是我的妹妹’吗？就是那女人自己也说：‘他是我的哥哥’。我作这事，是手洁心清的。”20:6 神在梦中对他说：“我也知道你作这事，是问心无愧的，所以我也阻止你，免得你得罪我。因此我不容许你接触她。20:7 现在你要把那人的妻子还给他，因为他是先知，他要为你祷告，你才可以存活。你若不还给他，你当知道，你和所有属你的，都死定了。”20:8 亚比米勒清早起来，召了他的众臣仆来，把这一切都说给他们听，以致他们都很惧怕。20:9 亚比米勒把亚伯拉罕召了来，对他说：“你为甚么向我们这样行呢？我在甚么事上得罪了你，以致你给我和我的国带来这个大罪呢？你对我作了不应该作的事。”20:10 亚比米勒又对亚伯拉罕说：“你为了甚么缘故要这样作呢？”20:11 亚伯拉罕回答：“因为我以为这地方必定没有敬畏　神的人，他们会因我妻子的缘故杀我。20:12 何况她也实在是我的妹妹；她原是我同父异母的妹妹，后来作了我的妻子。20:13 神叫我离开我父家，在外飘流的时候，我对她说：‘我们无论到甚么地方去，你都要对人说：“他是我的哥哥。”这就是你待我的恩情了。’”20:14 亚比米勒取了些牛羊、仆婢，送给亚伯拉罕，又把亚伯拉罕的妻子撒拉还给他。20:15 亚比米勒说：“看哪，我的国土都在你面前，你喜欢哪里，就住在哪里吧。”20:16 他又对撒拉说：“看哪，我给了你哥哥一千银子，作你在全家人面前的遮羞钱（“遮羞钱”直译是“眼睛的遮盖”；原文意思不确定；或译：“清白的证明”）。这样，你在众人面前就算清白了。”20:17 亚伯拉罕祷告　神，　神就医好了亚比米勒和他的妻子，以及他的众婢女，使她们能生育。20:18 因为耶和华为了亚伯拉罕妻子撒拉的缘故，曾经使亚比米勒家中所有的妇女，都不能生育。

创世记 20

20:1 Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar,20:2 and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.20:3 But God came to Abimelek in a dream one night and said to him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.”20:4 Now Abimelek had not gone near her, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation?20:5 Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister,’ and didn’t she also say, ‘He is my brother’? I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands.”20:6 Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her.20:7 Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all who belong to you will die.”20:8 Early the next morning Abimelek summoned all his officials, and when he told them all that had happened, they were very much afraid.20:9 Then Abimelek called Abraham in and said, “What have you done to us? How have I wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should never be done.”20:10 And Abimelek asked Abraham, “What was your reason for doing this?”20:11 Abraham replied, “I said to myself, ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’20:12 Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife.20:13 And when God had me wander from my father’s household, I said to her, ‘This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ ”20:14 Then Abimelek brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him.20:15 And Abimelek said, “My land is before you; live wherever you like.”20:16 To Sarah he said, “I am giving your brother a thousand shekels(That is, about 25 pounds or about 12 kilograms) of silver. This is to cover the offense against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated.”20:17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelek, his wife and his female slaves so they could have children again,20:18 for the Lord had kept all the women in Abimelek’s household from conceiving because of Abraham’s wife Sarah.

Genesis 20

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