理性从来都不是真空的

英国神学家兼宣教士 Lesslie Newbigin 在其所著 The Gospel in a Pluralist Society 这本论述信仰与多元文化之间关系的著作中提到，现代文化往往把“事实“（facts）和“信仰”（beliefs）塑造成两股对立的力量，认为前者来源于人类的理性（reason），后者则是一种想象（imagination）。但理性的运作（exercise of reason）从来都不是在真空中发生，它会受到社会、语言等传统因素的影响，即对理性的定义随着历史的前进本身一直在不断发展（比如启蒙运动前许多人认为信仰上帝是再自然不过的事，但是对现代人来说这只是一种私人的价值取取向）。相比之下，信仰同样产生于特定的历史传统或事件中，以基督教为例，如果把福音看成一种“推论”（reasoning），和亚里士多德哲学源于希腊城邦一样，它也产生于特定时间下特定（与耶稣有关的）的历史事件，福音塑造的想要寻求真理的特定群体和其他群体一样都共享着理性每种形态（every form of rationality），他们的信仰是在实践理性而非推翻了理性。

The Gospel in a Pluralist Society by Lesslie Newbigin, Eerdmans, 1989

把理性视作比信仰更合理或有力的观点其实来源于现代文化自身这种“合理性结构”（plausibility structure）。“合理性结构”这个概念是由美国社会学家 Peter Berger 所提出，指一些被广泛认可、欣然接受、看似合理的思考范式，比如人们常说的美国梦就是一个典型的例子——只要你够努力够勇敢，终有一天可以成为高富帅迎娶白富美。其实美国梦已经是一个比较过时的概念了，现今更多的新思潮正在成为新的标准，这并不意味着它们就能审判一切，只不过现代化（modernization）这种合理性结构造成了这种错觉。正是因为理性的定义与传统或当代文化中那些想当然的观念如此密不可分，Newbigin 才认为理性从来都不是在真空中运作的：

There is no disembodied reason which can act as impartial umpire between the rival claims... Reason does not operate except within a continuing social tradition which cannot be understood as a purely cerebral operation unrelated to the ongoing experiences of the community which carries this tradition forward... There is no form of rationality which is independent of all socially embodied traditions of rationality and which can therefore judge them all

Newbigin 还提到不管是人类通过科学研究主动去发现世界的规律，还是基督教中上帝主动呼唤人类（比如上帝呼召摩西），这两种过程都需要一个人用理性分析眼前的“数据”，只不过前者更多发挥了自己的主观能动性，后者则是在一中“我与你”（I and Thou）的关系中接收“启示”（revelation）。一个人在关系中真正认识另一个人，并不发生在仅通过理性、利用各种科学知识去剖析那个人的身体成分或大脑构造的时候（如果你说认识一个人指的仅仅是生理层面就会显得很荒谬），而是当你放弃主权开始聆听或者被对方提问的时候，这种时刻往往会激发理解、关心、爱心。这种方式的理性会带来彼此之间更深刻的连结。而上帝正是一位自我启示（self-revealing）的神，透过自然和圣经，祂向人们启示祂的本性。从这个角度来看，理性和启示并不冲突，关键在人以哪种态度使用理性 ： 

The true opposition is Not between reason and revelation as sources of and criteria for truth. It is between two uses to which reason is put. It may be put to the service of an autonomy which refuses to recognize any other personal reality except its own; which treats all reality as open to the kind of masterful exploration that Is appropriate to the world of things, where the appropriate phrase is: “I Discovered.” But it may equally be put to the service of an openness which is ready to listen to, be challenged and questioned by another personal reality. In neither kind of activity can we engage except as rational beings.

在第五章结尾，Newbigin 提醒现代基督徒所面临的危机和身负的责任。虽然是三十多年前的提醒，但今天读来仍然振聋发聩：

In contrast to the long period in which the plausibility structure of European society was shaped by the biblical tradition, and in which one could be a Christian without conscious decision because the existence of God was among the self-evident truths, we are now in a situation where we have to take personal responsibility for our beliefs...In a consumer society where the freedom of every citizen to express his or her personal preference is taken as fundamental to human happiness — whether this personal preference is in respect of washing powder or sexual behavior — it will be natural to conclude that adherence to the Christian tradition is also simply an expression of personal preference...The only firmly established truth is the truth of the reigning plausibility structure, which is bound to deny the Christian’s claim that God has acted in historic events to reveal and effect his purpose for all humankind.