1. OF TRUTH
What is truth? said jesting Pilate, and would not stay for ananswer. Certainly there be, that delight in giddiness, and count ita bondage to fix a belief; affecting free-will in thinking, as wellas in acting. And though the sects of philosophers of that kind begone, yet there remain certain discoursing wits, which are of thesame veins, though there be not so much blood in them, as was inthose of the ancients. But it is not only the difficulty and labor,which men take in finding out of truth, nor again, that when it isfound, it imposeth upon men’s thoughts, that doth bring lies infavor; but a natural though corrupt love, of the lie itself. One ofthe later school of the Grecians, examineth the matter, and is at astand, to think what should be in it, that men should love lies;where neither they make for pleasure, as with poets, nor foradvantage, as with the merchant; but for the lie’s sake. But Icannot tell; this same truth, is a naked, and open day-light, thatdoth not show the masks, and mummeries, and triumphs, of the world,half so stately and daintily as candle-lights. Truth may perhapscome to the price of a pearl, that showeth best by day; but it willnot rise to the price of a diamond, or carbuncle, that showeth bestin varied lights. A mixture of a lie doth ever add pleasure. Dothany man doubt, that if there were taken out of men’s minds, vainopinions, flattering hopes, false valuations, imaginations as onewould, and the like, but it would leave the minds, of a number ofmen, poor shrunken things, full of melancholy and indisposition,and unpleasing to themselves?
One of the fathers, in great severity, called poesy vinum doemonum,because it filleth the imagination; and yet, it is but with theshadow of a lie. But it is not the lie that passeth through themind, but the lie that sinketh in, and settleth in it, that doththe hurt; such as we spake of before. But, howsoever these thingsare thus in men’s depraved judgments, and affections, yet truth,which only doth judge itself, teacheth that the inquiry of truth,which is the love-making, or wooing of it, the knowledge of truth,which is the presence of it, and the belief of truth, which is theenjoying of it, is the sovereign good of human nature. The firstcreature of God, in the works of the days, was the light of thesense; the last, was the light of reason; and his sabbath work eversince, is the illumination of his Spirit. First he breathed light,upon the face of the matter or chaos; then he breathed light, intothe face of man; and still he breatheth and inspireth light, intothe face of his chosen. The poet, that beautified the sect, thatwas otherwise inferior to the rest, saith yet excellently well: Itis a pleasure, to stand upon the shore, and to see ships tossedupon the sea; a pleasure, to stand in the window of a castle, andto see a battle, and the adventures thereof below: but no pleasureis comparable to the standing upon the vantage ground of truth (ahill not to be commanded, and where the air is always clear andserene), and to see the errors, and wanderings, and mists, andtempests, in the vale below; so always that this prospect be withpity, and not with swelling, or pride. Certainly, it is heaven uponearth, to have a man’s mind move in charity, rest in providence,and turn upon the poles of truth.
To pass from theological, and philosophical truth, to the truth ofcivil business; it will be acknowledged, even by those thatpractise it not, that clear, and round dealing, is the honor ofman’s nature; and that mixture of falsehoods, is like alloy in coinof gold and silver, which may make the metal work the better, butit embaseth it. For these winding, and crooked courses, are thegoings of the serpent; which goeth basely upon the belly, and notupon the feet. There is no vice, that doth so cover a man withshame, as to be found false and perfidious. And therefore Montaignesaith prettily, when he inquired the reason, why the word of thelie should be such a disgrace, and such an odious charge? Saith he,If it be well weighed, to say that a man lieth, is as much to say,as that he is brave towards God, and a coward towards men. For alie faces God, and shrinks from man. Surely the wickedness offalsehood, and breach of faith, cannot possibly be so highlyexpressed, as in that it shall be the last peal, to call thejudgments of God upon the generations of men; it being foretold,that when Christ cometh, he shall not find faith upon theearth.

1.論真理

“真理是什么？”善戲謔的彼拉多①曾開玩笑的問道，并不期盼得到答案。的確，世人熱衷于游移不定、變化無常，認(rèn)為對一種信仰的堅(jiān)守是加在自己身上的束縛。無論是思想上還是行動上，他們一樣鐘情于自由的意志。雖然這種宗派的哲學(xué)家如今已無跡可尋，但還是有一些名言警句流傳至今，它們與這些智者一脈相承，盡管比起先輩們稍顯遜色。
世人之所以偏愛謊言，并不只是因?yàn)閷で笳胬碇�路艱難辛苦，也不是怕被真理制約了思想，而是出于一種天生的，雖然是惡劣的，對于謊言本身的喜好。一位希臘晚期的哲學(xué)家②在研究這個問題的時候陷入了困惑，他不明白謊言中究竟隱藏了什么，使得人們僅僅因?yàn)閻酆弥e言本身而撒謊，因?yàn)檎f謊既不能像詩人作詩那樣收獲愉悅感，也不能像商人經(jīng)商那樣獲得利益。
我也不知道是何緣故。也許真理就像毫無遮掩的白晝之光，在它的照耀下，人世間上演的種種虛情假意的假面舞會都將無處遁形，而不像在朦朧燭光的映襯下，一切都展現(xiàn)的如此華美而夢幻。
真理在世人眼中的價值可以等同于珍珠，在日光的照耀下最能顯其本色，然而卻比不上鉆石或紅寶石，它們只有在各種不同光線的照射下才顯得熠熠奪目。摻雜著謊言的事實(shí)，亦幻亦真，虛虛實(shí)實(shí)，確實(shí)能給人增添樂趣。有人懷疑過嗎：如果將虛榮的觀點(diǎn)、諂媚的愿望、錯誤的評價以及虛無的想像等諸如此類的東西都從人們的思想中抽離，那么，很多人將淪為乏味的可憐蟲，內(nèi)心除了郁郁寡歡和無所知從之外空洞無物，甚至自我厭倦，自我嫌棄。
曾有一位先哲將詩歌嚴(yán)厲地批判為“魔鬼的酒”③，因?yàn)樗�能占�?jù)人的想像，卻不過是謊言的影子。然而，真正可怕的，并不是人們腦海中一閃而過的謊言，而是盤踞于人心深處，揮之不去的謬誤與偏見，正如前面所說的一樣。
然而，盡管世風(fēng)日下、人心腐敗，人類的情感和判斷力日益墮落，但是一旦人們接觸到真理，還是不得不被其征服。作為評判謬誤與自身的尺度，真理教會了我們--探求真理，就是向它求愛；認(rèn)識真理，就是與之同處；而相信真理，就是對之皈依，這才是人性中至高無上的美德。
上帝在創(chuàng)世的那幾日，首先創(chuàng)造的是感官的光明，最后創(chuàng)造的是理智的光明。從那以后直到現(xiàn)在，他在安息日都以自己的圣靈昭示世人。起初，他將光明施澤于混沌的世界萬物，而后又以神圣的光輝照亮了人類的臉龐。直到如今，他仍將光芒遍撒于他所恩寵的選民，使他們面目生輝。
有一位詩人④曾發(fā)表過一番絕妙的評論，為他那派處處低人一等的哲學(xué)增色不少。他說：“站在岸上遙看顛簸于海上的船只是一件樂事；站在城堡的窗口觀看腳下激烈的戰(zhàn)爭也是一件樂事，因?yàn)樽约嚎梢赃h(yuǎn)離險境；但是沒有任何樂事能與攀登上真理的制高點(diǎn)，在空氣清新寧靜、無人能及的高峰上俯視谷底世人們的種種錯誤、流離、迷亂和疾風(fēng)勁雨相媲美的了�！�
只要這位俯看者是懷揣著幾分惻隱之心，而非懷有驕傲自滿的情緒，那么這些話可謂再好不過了。無疑，如果一個人能始終以慈悲之心作為出發(fā)點(diǎn)，遵照上帝的旨意而為，并且以真理為中心，那么他可以說是身處人間天國了。
探討完神學(xué)和哲學(xué)上的真理，我們再來談?wù)勅粘Ｊ聞?wù)中的真理。甚至那些行為夠不上正直坦蕩的人也不得不承認(rèn)，光明磊落是人性中一種崇高的美德。摻了假的真理，猶如金銀幣中混入了合金，雖然更為好用，卻降低了它的品質(zhì)。因?yàn)檫@種蜿蜒扭曲的欺詐行為好像是蛇的前行方式，蛇是用肚子，而非用腳，卑賤地貼地爬行⑤。
再沒有一種惡行能夠比被人揭穿虛情假意、背信棄義的行徑那樣，更加令人蒙羞的了。所以，蒙田⑥在探究為什么“謊言”這個詞如此為人不齒，面目可憎的時候，有一句話說的很好：“深思熟慮一下，說一個人撒謊，就等于說他敢于狂妄地面對上帝，卻羞于勇敢地面對世人。因?yàn)橹e言能夠躲的開世人，卻躲不開上帝�！�
曾有預(yù)言說，當(dāng)人世間的忠誠與信任不復(fù)存在之時，就是基督將重降人間之時。所以，撒謊這一惡行無異于敲響請求上帝前來審判全體人類的末世警鐘。因此，對于道德敗壞、背信棄義的惡劣行為，再沒有什么能比這種說法揭露地更為徹底的了。


① 見《新約?約翰福音》第18章。彼拉多（PontiusPilate）是羅馬委任的猶太國總督。在他審判耶穌時，因耶穌說，我來到世間是為了傳播真理的，于是他嘲笑地說出了那句對真理質(zhì)疑的問話。
② 指古希臘哲學(xué)家盧西安（Lucian，125—180）。晚期希臘哲學(xué)中懷疑主義的批判者。
③ 此語源于圣杰羅姆（StJerome，347—420）。圣奧古斯丁（354—430）亦責(zé)備詩歌是“魔鬼之誘餌”、“藥酒”等。
④指伊壁鳩魯派哲學(xué)家盧克萊修（Lucretius，羅馬詩人，約公元前99—約前55）。名著有《特質(zhì)論》。認(rèn)為感覺是一切的尺度。
⑤ 《圣經(jīng)》中的故事，說蛇引誘亞當(dāng)、夏娃犯罪，于是神詛咒蛇：“你必用肚子行走，終生吃土�！�
⑥ 蒙田（Michel deMontaigne，1533—1592），法國著名作家，著有《隨筆集》，此處引自該書卷二《論謊言》。