Models-for-Understand-history.doc

unit4
Models for Understanding History
理解历史的模式
Underlying every textbook and every historical work are a set of often un-acknowledged assumptions about how history works. Everyone who writes, reads, or thinks about history has a “model” in their mind which helps them to interpret and assemble the facts of history. These “models” can be sorted into three broad categories.(基本上所有的课本和历史相关的作品都是一系列常常不被承认的关于历史怎样发展的假设。每个写历史、读历史或是思考历史的人在脑海中都有一个模型,用以帮助他们说明和收集历史的真相。这些模型可以被分为三大类。)

Model A is the dominant model for historians in the 20th century. There is a widespread and almost unshakable belief that the history of mankind is a record of progress and that future prospects are bright. There are a number of comforting implications that come with adopting this view. It’s very flattering to oneself and one’s contemporaries, since by implication everyone currently alive has made progress over all those folks who are dead. It also allows one to face the future with optimism, since as more time passes, more progress will be made. One can see this model clearly in the 19th century German historians such as Hegel, who saw all of history leading up to its fulfillment in the unified German state of Bismarck with Kaiser (Emperor) Wilhelm. 模型A对于20世纪历史学家是最重要的。有一个广泛而基本固定的看法,人类的历史是一个进步的记录,而且未来的前景是光明的。很多令人欣慰的结果伴随着这种看法产生。由于当前活着的人已经使进步超过了那些死去的人,这使人及其同辈感到荣幸。它让人们乐观地面对将来,当更多的时间过去,会有更多的进步产生。人们可以通过19世纪海格尔等德国历史学家同当时的德国皇帝一起见证了历史导致德国在俾斯麦岛实现统一的历史,清楚地看到这个模型。

Marxist historians use this model as well, seeing the past as the unfolding struggle between the classes In which first the bourgeoisie and then the proletariat triumph over the nobility. But of course, there is a great deal of American history written to fit this mold, too. Those who believe in an “evolving” Constitution see all change as positive and therefore, the more time, the more changes, the better our Constitution will be.(马克思主义历史学家也采用了这种模式，他们把过去看作是阶级之间正在展开的斗争，首先是资产阶级，然后是无产阶级战胜了贵族阶级。当然，也有很多美国历史按照这个模型被书写。那些相信“逐步发展”的宪法的人,乐观地看待所有的变化,因而,时间越多,改变越多,我们的宪法会更完善。)

But there are other models. And the question is not which model is most comforting and reassuring, but which best fits the facts.(然而也有其他的模型。并且问题不在于哪个模型是最令人安慰放心的,而是哪个最符合事实。)

Many of the Greek and Roman historians subscribed to Model B. Tey looked back in the past and saw a “golden age” with fewer problems than their own. It seemed to them that things were getting worse over time and that the prospects for the future were grim. There is a certain sense in which this model fits the outl ines of Scripture. We certainly haven’t risen above the level of our first parents, Adam and Eve, so the broad line from Paradise can only trend downward. On the other hand, one can definitely trace progress and improvement through God’s covenants with Noah, Abraham, Moses, and their fulfillment in Jesus. But against this, one must weigh the prophecies of Revelation which predict widespread war and tribulation prior to Jesus’ return.(很多希腊和罗马的历史学家赞同模型B。他们回望过去,看到了一个比自己这个时代问题更少的“黄金时期”。似乎在他们看来,随着时间的推移事物会变得更糟,未来的前景令人沮丧。有一点可以确定,这个模型符合圣经的概述。我们当然不可能超过我们的第一代父母亚当和夏娃的水平,所以来自天堂的宽广接线只能下降。另一方面,我们可以通过上帝与Noah, Abraham, Moses的约定以及他们对耶稣的影响清楚地记述进程和进步。但是相反,人们必须衡量被披露的预言所预示的广泛的战争和苦难的时期,直到耶稣的回归。)

In truth, history is complicated. It is more complicated than the simple lines in Model A and Model B. It more closely resembles Model C. Periods of accomplishment are followed by periods of decay. In fact, “progress” is mostly a myth. There is nothing inevitable about it. The idea that the simple passage of time will allow things to improve flies in the face of experience. If you let time pass, will the dishes get washed, will rooms get cleaned, or will your car run better? The truth is that things deteriorate and decay with age.(事实上,历史是复杂的。它比模型A和模型B的简单描述更为复杂。它更接近于模型C。紧接着辉煌时期的是衰落时期。实际上,“进步”基本上是个神话。这是不可避免的。实践的简单推移会使事物改进的想法与经验不符。如果你让时间流逝,餐盘会被清洗吗,房间会被打扫吗,你的汽车会形式的更好吗?真相是事物会随着时间的推移恶化、衰退。)

The periods of progress and achievement are the exceptions and not the rule. There are remarkable periods scattered through history in which a group of men or a generation seem (perhaps supernaturally?) empowered to reverse the trends and to make remarkable achievements. Sometimes it is in literature sometimes it is in science, sometimes it is in politics, sometimes it is in art or music. But inevitably, after a period of achievement, a long, slow period of decay sets in.(进步和成就的时期是例外,而非规则。非凡的时期分布在历史的进程中,在那些时期一组人或者一代人似乎【也许是超自然】被赋予扭转趋势并取得非凡成就的力量。它有时在文学中,有时在科学中,有时在政治中,有时在艺术或音乐中。但无法避免的是,一个辉煌的时期之后,一个漫长的衰退的时期就会开始。)

With this in mind, an analysis of the history of political institutions can be a little unsettling. The Greek city-states, in a burst of creativity around eight or nine hundred years before Christ, created a variety of city constitutions that served them admirably for generations But over time, the cities seemed to become more and more unworkable and their leaders became corrupt. Eventually, most of the Greek cities were ruled by tyrants. They ended by being conquered first by the Macedonian armies of Alexander, and then by the Romans. The Romans likewise created an admirable republic about 500 B.C. But over time it developed more and more problems, and eventually succumbed to the military dictators who called themselves Emperors and gods.(抱着这种想法,一个对于政治机构历史的分析会有些不稳定。希腊城邦在公元前8或9世纪突然产生,创造了各种城市结构,很好地提供给后代人。但随着时间的推移,城邦似乎变得越来越行不通,而且它们的首领变得腐败。最后,多数希腊城邦被暴君统治。它们以先后被亚历山大的马其顿军队和罗马人占领而终结。罗马人在公元前500年同样建造了一个值得称赞的共和国。但随着时间的流逝,它发展出越来越多的问题,最终屈服于自称是皇帝和神的军事独裁者。)

The really interesting question, by the way, is not, “Why did the Roman Empire fall?” It is, “Why did the Roman Republic fall?” (顺便说一下,真正有趣的问题不是“罗马帝国为什么会衰落?”而是“罗马政体为什么会衰落?”)The fall from Republic through Empire to Dark Ages is sharply downward and continued for centuries.(从政体通过帝国到黑暗时期的衰落,急速下滑并持续了几个世纪。)The Renaissance was a conscious rejection of the myth of progress. (文艺复兴是进步的神话有意识的反驳。)The writers, painters, and leaders of the Renaissance looked backward in time to men who were more accomplished than themselves. (文艺复兴的作家,画家和领导者及时回顾过去那些比他们自己更有成就的人。)They wanted to reverse the trends of history and return to a better age. (他们想要扭转历史的趋势,回到一个更好的时代。)They strove to revive the Roman republic, Roman and Greek art,(他们努力恢复罗马政体以及罗马和希腊的艺术,)and in a surprisingly parallel movement(在一个极为相似的运动中), the Reformers wanted to revive and return to the New Testament church(革新者想要恢复并重建新约教会). The revival of the ancient world in the Renaissance continued for quite some time, and there is some truth in the assertion that the political thinkers of the 17th and 18th century (including the American founding fathers) were continuing the Renaissance and consciously trying to recreate the Roman republic. (文艺复兴中的对古代世界的恢复持续了相当一段时间,17、18世纪的政治思想家【包括美国的发现之父】维持着文艺复兴并且有意识地尝试重现罗马政体,在这个主张中也存在着一些真理。)The famous statue of George Washington in the US Capitol garbed in the toga of a Roman senator is no accident. (在美国国会里的著名的华盛顿雕像,身着罗马参议员的外袍,也并不意外。)The artist is making a deep and refl ective comment on Washington’s goals, aims, and understanding of history.(艺术家们正对华盛顿的目标、目的和他对历史的理解做出一个深刻成熟的评论。)

One of the questions worth pondering in our own day is,has there been progress or decay in our own civilization since the founders? (在我们现今的时代,值得思考的问题之一是,在我们自己的文明创建以来是否出现过进步或是衰退。)Have we improved the republic or has it deteriorated and decayed?(我们是否使共和国进步,或者说它有没有衰退?)The answer to this question has far-reaching implications. (这个问题的答案涉及广泛。)If it has deteriorated, then we need to reverse directions and try to return to ideals of the founders, shedding the mistakes of later, lesser men. (如果它衰退了,那么我们需要扭转方向,设法回到创建者的理想上去,消除后来的人们所犯的错误。)If we have progressed, why then, of course we need to continue correcting and eliminating the mistakes and omissions of the founders. (如果我们进步了,那么,我们当然需要继续改正消除创建者的错误和疏忽。)Is our generation really more noble, admirable, and politically sophisticated than Washington, Madison, and Jefferson?(我们这一代真的比华盛顿、麦迪逊和杰弗逊更崇高,更值得称道,在政治上更高度发展吗?)That is a question we should reflect on and answer.(这是一个我们需要反思和回答的问题。)

The trick is to move beyond the simple models and to think critically about whatever time period they are studying.(关键是跳出简单的模型去发展,并且批判地思考所研究的时代。)Was this a period of achievement or decay?(这是一个成就时期还是衰退时期?)If we learn to step back and ask this question about the facts (and also about the views of the historians who are supplying the facts), we will have achieved a much more sophisticated understanding of our age. (如果我们学会退一步去问这个关于真相的问题【也是关于那些提供事实的历史学家的观点】,我们就会对我们的时代得出一个更为完善的理解。)We will also have the ability to begin discerning what God may be doing in our day and how we should be praying, preparing, and participating in the great debates and movements of our time.(我们也将有能力开始领悟上帝可能在我们这个时代做什么以及我们应该怎样祈祷、准备和参与到我们这个时代的大讨论以及运动中去。)