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What is truth? said jesting
Pilate, and would not stay for an answer. Certainly there be, that
delight in giddiness, and count it a bondage to fix a belief; affecting
free-will in thinking, as well as in acting.And though the sects of
philosophers of that kind be gone, yet there remain certain discoursing
wits, which are of the same veins, though there be not so much blood in
them, as was in those 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 is found, it imposeth upon men's thoughts, that doth bring lies in
favor; but a natural though corrupt love, of the lie itself. One of the
later school of the Grecians, examineth the matter, and is at a stand,
to think what should be in it, that men should love lies; where neither
they make for pleasure, as with poets, nor for advantage, as with the
merchant; but for the lie's sake. But I cannot tell; this same truth, is
a naked, and open day-light, that doth not show the masks, and
mummeries, and triumphs, of the world, half so stately and daintily as
candle-lights. Truth may perhaps come to the price of a pearl, that
showeth best by day; but it will not rise to the price of a diamond, or
carbuncle, that showeth best in varied lights. A mixture of a lie doth
ever add pleasure. Doth any man doubt, that if there were taken out of
men's minds, vain opinions, flattering hopes, false valuations,
imaginations as one would, and the like, but it would leave the minds,
of a number of men, 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 the shadow of a lie. But it is not
the lie that passeth through the mind, but the lie that sinketh in, and
settleth in it, that doth the hurt; such as we spake of before. But,
howsoever these things are 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 the enjoying of it, is the sovereign good of human
nature. The first creature of God, in the works of the days, was the
light of the sense; the last, was the light of reason; and his sabbath
work ever since, is the illumination of his Spirit. First he breathed
light, upon the face of the matter or chaos; then he breathed light,
into the face of man; and still he breatheth and inspireth light, into
the face of his chosen. The poet, that beautified the sect, that was
otherwise inferior to the rest, saith yet excellently well: It is a
pleasure, to stand upon the shore, and to see ships tossed upon the sea;
a pleasure, to stand in the window of a castle, and to see a battle, and
the adventures thereof below: but no pleasure is comparable to the
standing upon the vantage ground of truth (a hill not to be commanded,
and where the air is always clear and serene), and to see the errors,
and wanderings, and mists, and tempests, in the vale below; so always
that this prospect be with pity, and not with swelling, or pride.
Certainly, it is heaven upon earth, 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 of civil business; it will be
acknowledged, even by those that practise it not, that clear, and round
dealing, is the honor of man's nature; and that mixture of falsehoods,
is like alloy in coin of gold and silver, which may make the metal work
the better, but it embaseth it. For these winding, and crooked courses,
are the goings of the serpent; which goeth basely upon the belly, and
not upon the feet. There is no vice, that doth so cover a man with
shame, as to be found false and perfidious. And therefore Montaigne
saith prettily, when he inquired the reason, why the word of the lie
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 a lie faces God, and
shrinks from man. Surely the wickedness of falsehood, and breach of
faith, cannot possibly be so highly expressed, as in that it shall be
the last peal, to call the judgments of God upon the generations of men;
it being foretold, that when Christ cometh, he shall not find faith upon
the earth. |
“真理是什么东西？”①彼拉多当年玩世不恭地取笑说，他提这个问题是不指望得到答案的。世人多数心随境变②，他们认为坚持一种信念就等于自戴一种枷锁，会使思想和行为无法自行其事。虽然作为一种学派的怀疑论早已消逝，但持这种观点者却仍大有人在——尽管他们的观念未必像古人那样清晰而透彻。
使人们宁愿追随诡言，而不去追求真理的原因，不仅由于探索真理艰苦的，也不仅由于真理会约束人的幻想，而且是由于诡言更能迎合人性中的那些恶习。后期希腊有一位哲学家③曾探讨过这个问题，因为他不能理解，为什么一些欺世诡言竟能如此迷人，尽管它们即非像诗歌那样优美，又不像经商那样能使人致富。我也不懂这究竟是为什么——难道人们仅仅是为了爱好虚假而追求虚伪吗？也许因为真理好像阳光，在它照耀下人世间所上演的那种种假面舞会，远不如在半明半暗的烛光下会幻而华丽。
对世人来说，真理犹如珍珠，它要在阳光的照耀下才变得明亮。真理不是那种红玉或钻石，需要借助摇曳不定的烛光而幻化出五色缤纷的浮光。
真真假假的诡言会给人带来愉快。假如一旦把人们内心中那种种虚荣心、虚妄的自我估计、各种异想天开的揣想都清除掉，许多人的内心将会显露出原来是多么的渺小、空虚、丑陋；以至连自己都要感到厌恶。对这一点，难道有谁会怀疑吗？
曾有先哲责备“诗”，诬之为“魔鬼迷幻药酒”④，因为诗不仅出自幻想，而且其中总有虚幻的成分。但其实诗又怎能比谬误更为诱惑人呢？真正可怕的，还不是那种人人难免的一念之差，而是那种深入习俗盘踞于人心深处的谬误与偏见。
尽管人世腐败，但只要人接触到真理，还是不能不被真理所征服。因为真理既是衡量谬误的尺度，又是衡量自身的迟度。神圣的教义是——追求真理而与之同在，认识真理要敢于面对，更要信赖真理而对之皈依，这才是人性的崇高境界。
在上帝创世的最初日子里，他首先创造了光——第一是知觉，其次是理智，最后赐给人类以良知的心智之光⑤。上帝把光明赐予浑沌的物质世界，又在安息日以光明照亮了人类的心灵，并且至今他还把神圣的光辉赐予他所恩宠的那些选民。
有一派感性主义哲学在许多方面是肤浅的，但其中一位诗人⑥却由于向往真理而流芳于世。他曾说过：“居高临下遥看颠簸于大海中的航船是愉快的，站在堡垒中遥看激战中的战场也是愉快的，但是没有能比攀登于真理的高峰之上，而俯视尘世中的种种谬误与迷障、烟雾和曲折更愉快了！”——只要作这种俯看者不自傲自满，那么这些话的确说得好极了！是啊，一个人如能在心中充满对人类的博爱，行为遵循崇高的道德律，永远只围绕真理的枢轴而转动，那么他虽在人间也就等于步入天堂了。
以上谈了神学和哲学方面的真理，还要再谈谈实践的真理。甚至那些根本不相信真理存在的人，也不能不承认光明正大是一种崇高的德性。伪善正如假币，也许可以骗取到货物，但它毕竟不能体现真正的价值。欺诈的行为像蛇，它无法用足站立，而只能靠肚皮爬行⑦。
没有任何罪恶比虚伪和背叛更可耻了！所以蒙田⑧在研究“骗子”这个词为何如此可憎时说得好：“深思一下吧！说谎者是这样的一类人，他敢于狂妄地面对上帝，却不敢勇敢地面对世人！”
正是如此！曾经有一个预言，说基督返回人间时那刻，就是在大地上找不到诚实者的时刻——而谎言就是请求上帝来执行末日审判的丧钟之声。对于虚伪和欺诈者们，这乃是一个严肃的警告啊！
①、见《圣经·新约·约翰音》第18章。彼拉多（Pontius
Pilate)是罗马委任的犹太国总督。他审讯耶稣，当耶稣说，我来到世间是为了传播真理时，他嘲笑地说了这样一句话。
②、指古希腊的智者派，古罗马的怀疑派哲学。
③、指古希腊哲学家卢西恩（Lucian,125—180)。晚期希腊哲学中怀疑主义的批判者。
④、此语源于柏拉图（St
Jerome,347—420）、圣奥古斯丁（354—430）亦责备诗歌是“魔鬼之诱饵”、“药酒”等。
⑤、见《圣经·旧约·创世纪》第1章。
⑥、指伊璧鸠鲁派哲学家克莱修（Lucretius，罗马人，约前99—约前55）。名著有《特质论》。认为感觉是一切的尺度。
⑦、《圣经》中的故事，说蛇引诱亚当、夏娃犯罪，于是神诅咒蛇：“你必用肚子行走，终生吃土”。
⑧、蒙田（Michelde
Montaigue1533—1592）,法国名作家，著有《散文集》，引文见该书卷二《论荒言》。 |