Don Colbert, Deadly Emotions: Understand the Mind-Body-Spirit Connection That Can Heal or Destroy You (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003).

這書是舊友介紹我讀的，也許從她的專業角度看，我需要知道一下這方面的知識。

情緒與健康之間的關係並不是新概念，但作者提供了許多案例來說明他的觀點，並給出醫學的解釋，比較有說服力。他還將聖經中關於信仰、愛和寬恕的教導融入到他的分析和解決方案中。

他的核心概念是：心靈和身體是相連的。因此，致命的情緒會導致疾病。要治癒疾病，必須找到根源並消除致命情緒。忽視核心問題，治療將毫無用處，反而會成為壓力的來源。情緒致病，是因為情緒會影響腺體，某些荷爾蒙（如腎上腺素、皮質醇等）因過度供應，導致身體的其他反應，最終傷害身體（感覺、組織和器官）。他認為致命情緒包括，憤怒、不寬恕、抑鬱、怒氣、憂慮、挫折、恐懼、悲傷和內疚，而致命情緒源於我們的態度。

至於解決方案，因為是心病，所以要用心藥去醫，即是說要聆聽心的感受、希望、渴望，借助信仰明白愛、寛恕、感恩等態度，也可以學習鬆弛默想等方法，又或者用大笑療法。(舊友曾開班教授年長的老師大笑，我應該夠資格上課。)

不過，知易行難，在複雜多變的社會，處處有危險，事事要緊急，處變不驚，難矣哉！

Costi W. Hinn, Knowing the Spirit: Who He Is, What He Does, and How He Can Transform Your Christian Life (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2023)

我不認識作者，看名字，馬上想起神醫 Benny Hinn，果然兩人是親戚，但 Costi 已放棄神醫的一套，改到 Master’s Seminary 讀書，即 John MacArthur 的路數，知道背景，大概也知道他的基本取向了。

我覺得，我同意這書的地方比較多。Costi Hinn 的基本立場是神蹟停止論，雖然態度開放，不以這一項為信仰真偽標記，但立場明顯，即是說，跟舊日持論南轅北轍。

個別地方待討論後才寫出來。

但作者提出一個是友是敵判斷圖，Zone 1 是核心概念 “If someone does not believe the same about these things, there can be no unity. When these doctrines are being misrepresented, then the gospel is being undermined and should be defended at all costs.” 我略略一看，大概跟作者並非同道。Original Sin, 我不同意；Second Coming, 我不知作者是否指各種千禧年論, 不敢同意; Creationism, 不知他是 old earth 還是 young earth. 所以，分類貌似可取，但正如先輩所云：in faith, unity; in opinion, liberty; in all things, charity. 立意甚高，態度包容，但問題是, 某教義放在 faith 還是 opinion, 已是一大爭論。

章學誠浙東學術云，學者不可無宗主，而必不可有門戶。我想宗教也是一樣吧，只要經思考後沒有疑問，可以堅持己見，即使與眾不同，也毋須改轅易轍。我自問學有宗主，但不能說沒有門戶。我悲觀，改變立場的，絕無僅有，有的，也可能另有原因。

和而不同，難矣哉；各行其是，可能是最終結局。

Benedicta Ward trans. The Desert Fathers: Sayings of the Early Christian Monks (London: Penguin Books, 2003)

Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline was translated into Chinese in the early 1980s and began a whirlwind. People suddenly became interested in other spiritual traditions. I read the Life of Antony by Athanasius and one or two books of Nouwen at that time. But to be honest, I forgot them all.

Though the stories are grouped under topics, it is difficult to summarize systematic thoughts or practices on a specific topic. It seems to me that monks had their different ways of doing things. So, here are my random thoughts:

1. Their whole life seemed to be fighting against their sin.
2. They were very frank about their sins, from jealousy to fornication. Humility was the highest virtue.
3. They seemed forgiving and understanding. Repentant monks were readily accepted.
4. The cell was their centre of living as a hermit.
5. They lived on the minimum, and some acts seemed to go to extremes (clothing, shelter, food)
6. Flexible towards others but harsh on oneself.
6. Their community life seemed negligent.
7. Mentor-discipleship was the way to teach.

Highlighted sentences
“Keep your tongue and your belly under control.” (1.2)

“If anyone speaks to you on a controversial matter, do not argue with him. If he speaks well, say, “Yes.” If he speaks ill, say, “I don’t know anything about that.” Don’t argue with what he has said, and then your mind will be at peace.” (1.23)

“If a man sits in silence and hears the voice of a bird, he does not have quiet in his heart.” (2.5)

“Go and sit in your cell, and your cell will teach you everything.” (2.9)

“(Do not live in a crowd) because of the turbulence, he does not see his sins: but when he has been quiet, above all in solitude, then he recognizes his own faults.”(2.16)

“A brother asked Sisois, ‘What am I to do ? When I go to church, love for the brothers often makes me stay to the meal afterwards.’ Sisois said to him, ‘That is burdensome.'” (3.37)

“We ate their meal out of love for them, but when we are on our own let us keep our fast.” (3.40)

“The monk who cannot control his tongue when he is angry, will not control his passions at other times.”(3.49)

“I’ve been a monk for seventy years, and I’ve not been able to get a single day’s peace.” (7.5)

“…’I find that I am at peace, with no war between flesh and spirit.’ The hermit said to him, ‘Go and ask the Lord to stir up a new war in you. Fighting is good for the soul.'”(7.8)

“The character of the genuine monk only appears when he is tempted.” (7.13)

“An open treasury is quickly spent; any virtue will be lost if it is published abroad and is known about everywhere.” (8.19)

“If we always go to excess, the brothers quickly become exhausted. It is sometimes best not to be rigid.” (10.2)

“If the body is prosperous, the soul grows lean; if the body is lean, the soul grows prosperous.” (10.17)

” Evagrius said, ‘A wandering mind is strengthened by reading, and prayer. Passion is dampened down by hunger and work and solitude. Anger is repressed by psalmody and long-suffering and mercy. But all these should be at the proper times and in due measure. If they are used at the wrong times and to excess, they are useful for a short time. But what is only useful for a short time, is harmful in the long run.'” (10.20)

“But the great hermits have tested all these things, and they found that it is good to eat something every day, but on some days a little less. They have shown us that this is the king’s highway, for it is easy and light.” (10.44)

“‘Just as you can’t stop air coming into your lungs, so you can’t stop thoughts coming into your mind. Your part is to resist them.”(10.54)

A brother questioned Poemen and said, ‘How should a monk live in his cell?’ He said, ‘To stay in the cell is this: externally, to work with the hands, eat once a day, keep silence and meditate and, internally, to make progress by remembering your sins wherever you may be, and keeping the hours of prayer, and keeping a watch on the secret thoughts of the heart. If it is time to stop working with the hands, begin to pray and finish your work later in tranquillity. The aim of all this is to be with those who are good and to avoid the company of the wicked.'(10.64)

“Our body is the armour, our soul is the warrior. Take care of both, and you will be ready for whatever comes.”(10.75)

“If ever you oversleep in the morning, get up when you wake, shut the door and the windows, and say your psalms. For it is written, “The day is thine and the night is thine” (Ps. 74:16). God is glorified whatever time it is.”(10.101)

“One hermit visited another hermit and said during their conversation, ‘I’m dead to the world.’ The other said, ‘Don’t be so confident until you have actually died. You may say about yourself that you are dead, but Satan is not dead.'”(11.38)

“Some brothers asked Macarius, ‘How should we pray?’ He said, ‘There is no need to talk much in prayer. Reach out your hands often, and say, “Lord have mercy on me, as you will and as you know.” But if conflict troubles you, say, “Lord, help me.” He knows what is best for us, and has mercy.”(12.10).

“Antony was confused as he meditated upon the depths of God’s judgements, and he asked God, ‘Lord, how is it that some die young and others grow old and sick? Why are there some poor and some rich? Why are there those who are bad and rich and oppress the good poor?’ He heard a voice saying to him, ‘Antony, worry about yourself; these other matters are up to God, and it will not do you any good to know them.'”(15.1)

“Mathois said, ‘The nearer a man comes to God, the more he sees himself to be a sinner. Isaiah the prophet saw the Lord and knew himself to be wretched and unclean (Is. 6:5).'”(15.28)

“A hermit said, ‘I would learn rather than teach.’ He also said, ‘Do not teach too early, or you will have less understanding during the rest of your life.'”(15.81)

“A hermit was asked how it was that some people said they had seen angels. He answered, ‘Blessed is he who always sees his own sins.'”(15.87)

Liel Leibovitz, How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book (W. W. Norton, 2023)

I am a bit confused while reading this book. On the one hand, it’s because I am unfamiliar with the Rabbinic literature; on the other hand, the method the author uses to present his ideas involves a contemporary story, followed by stories from the Talmud of a similar nature, and then interweaving them into a cohesive narrative. This makes the idea quite difficult to grasp. However, I know that’s how the Talmud functions: legal and non-legal material are interwoven, and concrete precepts and illustrative stories are intertwined.

Another reason I am confused is how the stories end. I am not naïve and straightforward to believe in “and they happily lived there after.” But some stories are just weird. For example, the Bruriah Episode in which the Rabbi told his student to seduce his wife to prove his point. I know the very act itself has something to tell. Well, just my confusion. And Hillel told his disciples that he was going to perform a righteous deed, which turned out to be going to the restroom to defecate. I can’t stop thinking of a parallel in 莊子 道在屎溺. Though some stories are amusing, many stories in the book do not have happy endings.

There are aspects of this book that are well conveyed, for example, a community that not only helps people survive but also learn. Given that the bulk of the Talmud was written after the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in AD70, one can only imagine where the strength of survival came from.

The chapter on friendship is excellent. It recounts the marathon conversation of CS Lewis and Tolkien. However, it revealed how this encouraging, soul-mate type of friendship turned cold, to the point where they no longer spoke to one another. Friendship fatigue? Jealousy? Deep-rooted religious differences? (Catholic vs Anglican).

This book turns out quite different from what I had expected. I’m not saying it’s not a good book, but I initially thought it would be a systematic introduction to the Rabbinic literature. While reading, I occasionally check on some of the terms and people this book mentions. The book could benefit readers if it had a glossary of the Rabbinic terms and people.

Quotable quotes:

“That transformational person, almost by definition, would have to be someone who was strong yet flexible, smart yet humble, determined yet sensitive, common yet exalted.”

“Self-doubt and humility are not only normal but desirable; without them, we run the risk of being devoured by vanity and pride. But self-doubt and humility are only useful if applied conservatively, so that they don’t overpower our innate potential and hamper us from becoming what we were meant to be.”

“A friend, … needed to do three things: help you study Torah, make sure you keep the commandments, and give good advice when needed.”

“The Talmudic model of friendship is an exercise in keeping disagreements simmering and then using the heat they generate to power larger cultural, political, spiritual, and social enterprises, to build rather than consume.”

“. . . havruta, a pairing of two people of equal intellectual capabilities yet very different sensibilities.”

“Rav and Shmuel grew closer the farther apart they were [physically]. . . . free to teach in his own chosen way. . . . Was there real warmth between Rav and Shmuel? Doubtful. Did Tolkien truly care for Lewis, not only as a brilliant reader and promoter but as an intimate? Maybe, and maybe not.”

“But they were also human, which meant that they ran the risk of eventually baser instincts, letting jealousy and acrimony seep in and take the place of camaraderie and shared purposes.”

“to asking questions because asking questions brings clarity, to resisting absolutes because only young children and zealots and machines think in binaries, to connecting to the basic and elemental empathy that reminds us that we’re all in this together, just walking each other home–the answer, too, is you.”

Perry Stone, The Meal that Heals

舊友傳來 Stone 神預言一則，該先知先引述特朗普針對中國的新政(佔大半篇幅)，然後謂中國將有大地震，但不知何時，並視之為上主的懲罰云云。我不是先知，但說「中國將有大地震，但不知何時」百分百會中吧。至於是否上主的懲罰，則不是預言，只是他的解釋，我是不懂的，只能佩服「高見」。

忽然想起路13:1「正當那時，有人將彼拉多使加利利人的血攙雜在他們祭物中的事告訴耶穌。2耶穌說；你們以為這些加利利人比眾加利利人更有罪，所以受這害麼？3我告訴你們，不是的！你們若不悔改，都要如此滅亡！4從前西羅亞樓倒塌了，壓死十八個人；你們以為那些人比一切住在耶路撒冷的人更有罪麼？5我告訴你們，不是的！你們若不悔改，都要如此滅亡！」(Emphasis mine)

只是想討論這本奇書 The Meal that Heals, 在 Amazon 有高達 4.8/5 評分。這書主要是說天天守聖餐，身心靈平安云云。其文云：
“Perry believes this revelation of daily Communion has been lost in the traditional church, but is being revived In this final hour as the ultimate New Covenant weapon to attack sickness and bring healing in the lives of Christians!”

先說天天守聖餐這做法。

作者認為聖經沒有說何時吃聖餐，然後根據曠野天天有嗎哪，以及主禱文有 Daily Bread, 引申說天天吃聖餐的可行必要。Well, 嗎哪安息日不派送，Daily Bread 的 Daily 一詞新約只出現一次，其他希臘文文獻也未見，按上文下理，可以是天天，可以是今天，也可以有其他解釋。再說，把聖餐跟食物類比似不恰當。更重要的，是作者反覆強調逾越節羔羊「醫治」以色列民族(加引號，是因為用醫治來形容出埃及比較奇怪)，聖餐也有此奇效云云。可是逾越節羔羊一年吃一次，作者講天天吃聖餐時卻隻字不提這個分別，奇哉。
我查過，C. W. Dugmore, The Influence of the Synagogue upon the Divine Office (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1944), 其文云：
“A daily Eucharist was introduced in the West, possibly in Rome or North Africa at the beginning of the third century, and this usage was followed in certain isolated districts in the East, but never became universal.” (58)
南遊子案：既非自古以來，說 “this revelation of daily Communion has been lost in the traditional church”，我覺得只是後起新說而已。況且，脫離聚會context的個人守餐，愚見以為，亦有未妥。

再說守餐保平安這講法。
作者引用以賽亞53:5 「哪知他為我們的過犯受害，為我們的罪孽壓傷。因他受的刑罰我們得平安，因他受的鞭傷我們得醫治。」作者把這句大加發揮，認為耶穌的救恩包括靈魂情緒身體三方面。不知「醫治」在這裡跟「平安」應該是希伯來詩體的平行表達，相互發明，再看上下文，與身體醫治似無關係。而且彼得前書2:24-25也有引用以賽亞此節，謂「24他被掛在木頭上，親身擔當了我們的罪，使我們既然在罪上死，就得以在義上活。因他受的鞭傷，你們便得了醫治。25你們從前好像迷路的羊，如今卻歸到你們靈魂的牧人監督了。」亦只重赦罪而非身體醫治。
作者用以賽亞「因他受的鞭傷我們得醫治」用「受鞭傷」推論耶穌身體有醫治能力，再推論因為聖餐代表耶穌身體，同樣有奇效云云。但作者又明確反對天主教的聖餐 transubstantiation 說法，認為聖餐只是紀念，既非身體，又如何具身體之效，我摸不著頭腦。作者又引哥林多前書11章，「27所以，無論何人，不按理吃主的餅，喝主的杯，就是干犯主的身、主的血了。28人應當自己省察，然後吃這餅、喝這杯。29因為人吃喝，若不分辨是主的身體，就是吃喝自己的罪了。」謂「分辨是主的身體」指聖餐云云。固然有人持此說，但據上下文，保羅分明是指責哥林多人在聚會時分門別類，「主的身體」應指教會，「省察」是指對聖餐意義的省察而非靜思己過。正如 Richard Oster 謂 “one must be very cautious in turning Paul’s criticism into an attack upon the lack of devotional focus during the Lord’s supper. Lack of devotional focus may or may not be grounds for contemporary concerns, but this hardly seems to me to be the issue that Paul is attacking in the congregation at Corinth.” (The College Press NIV Commentary 1 Corinthians (Joplin: College Press, 1995) 句中 “contemporary concerns” 可圈可點，看來聖經也像歷史，成了任人打扮的小姑娘，成了歷史文件，講者只是借聖經講自己想講的東西，置歷史、上下文的 context 於不顧。

當然，各尊所聞，各行其是本無問題，但 Stone 謂 “this revelation of daily Communion has been lost in the traditional church, but is being revived In this final hour as the ultimate New Covenant weapon to attack sickness and bring healing in the lives of Christians!” 余甚惑之：
1. Stone 天天守餐一說，雖非自古以來，但早在第三世紀也有此說，並非近年 revelation, 緣何 has been lost?
2. 守餐的紀念性質變成 weapon to attack sickness and bring healing，是先入為主，用醫治神學角度解釋賽53:3的「醫治」，再強行把賽53:3的「鞭傷」連繫聖餐餅，是否強解?

太2:17 「耶穌聽見，就對他們說：「康健的人用不著醫生，有病的人才用得著。我來本不是召義人，乃是召罪人。」(Emphasis mine)耶穌大概不會反對有病找醫生吧。

附註：為方便讀者，如果購買聖餐用品，他的專門店有售，包括印有聖經經文的黑色皮革袋、兩個不鏽鋼杯、一個果汁瓶、漏斗和一個不鏽鋼聖餐餅容器，精美實用，每套只售美金30元。