的确，吴明山不仅仅代表他自己——他体现了中国基督教内部一场精神与神学觉醒的运动。他的著作不仅是学术上的贡献，更是见证了一种鲜活、挣扎、富有想象力的信仰，这种信仰认真对待《圣经》，并努力在其中的宇宙真理之下生活。

《以马内利》序言

这本书是一部杰出的作品，从独特的视角精心构思并创作而成。试图全面理解整部《圣经》已属不易，而在这里，我们却能从一个与西方基督教世界所熟知的截然不同的背景中获得一种理解。吴明山凭借其中国血统和文化背景，以及过去二十年在中国作为基督徒的经历，提供了一种非凡且独特的解读方式，旨在对贯穿《圣经》的伟大主题达成统一的理解。在他的解读方法中，强大的意象不断回响：象征邪恶的巨蛇所具有的宇宙力量，最终将被基督在十字架上那无所不能、效力无穷的牺牲所击败。

中国基督教的近现代史并非是宗派主义分歧影响深远的历史，尽管早期西方新教传教士的影响显然仍存有持久效应。了解并学习当下中国基督教信仰的活力是很有益处的，吴明山向我们展示了这种信仰在与浩瀚的圣经教义相融合时所展现出的勃勃生机。

——伊恩·詹姆斯·布莱克利主教 

布莱克利《以马内利序言》评注

1. 一部视角独特、详尽且出色的著作
开篇起，布莱克利主教就对吴的学术和精神努力表示钦佩。他称这部作品既“非凡”又“构思详尽”，不仅强调了其学术深度，还突出了其中蕴含的热爱与关怀。这为一本书定下了基调，它不仅在神学范畴内，而且在语气上也颇具个人色彩——吴的神学源自虔诚，而非冷冰冰的理论。

吴的作品之所以特别重要，在于其“独特的视角”。他来自东方，具体来说是来自中国文化背景，通过西方主流神学中罕见的视角来解读《圣经》。这种东西方的融合让读者在面对诸如十字架、救赎、罪恶和救赎等熟悉主题时，能产生新的共鸣和更具想象力的深度理解。

2. 圣经综合论：超越西方分歧的统一愿景
吴所承担的任务——“对整部《圣经》有一个全面的理解”——被公认为是一项艰巨的任务。但吴并非仅仅从西方神学框架内着手。相反，他提供了一种对贯穿《圣经》的伟大主题的统一理解，这在宗派或纯粹学术性的解读中往往是支离破碎的。

在这样做的过程中，吴的神学反映出许多人认为是来自东方的系统神学，其根基在于《圣经》，但又因他在华的基督教体验而充满活力。这是一种富有远见的神学，它将《圣经》视为一部以羔羊、宝血、蛇、新妇和新创造为中心的宇宙剧，而非孤立的教义或零散的故事。

3. 核心象征：蛇与十字架
布莱克利主教特别指出吴的深刻见解在于其强烈的象征性解读：“象征邪恶的巨蛇所蕴含的宇宙力量，最终将被基督在十字架上那无所不能的有效牺牲所镇压。”

在这里，我们看到吴的神学具有强烈的末世论和救赎论色彩。邪恶并非微不足道——其范围是宇宙性的——但基督的血，他的“有效牺牲”，则更具普遍性。蛇不仅成为撒旦的神学隐喻，也象征着堕落现实的形而上学结构，而十字架则成为整个救赎体系围绕其运转的宇宙轴心。

这种观点与古代教父和东方基督教的思想相呼应，但通过吴的独具中国特色的想象进行了重新诠释，这种想象融合了《圣经》和形而上学的洞见（正如在其《血之神学》中所见）。

4. 中国基督教：超越宗派主义
前言中另一个有力的观点是，中国基督教有着独特的历史和教会背景。布莱克利主教指出，在西方，“宗派的划分有着诸多意义”，但在华，这些西方的分类则显得不那么重要。

这使得神学的发展更加自由，或许更具融合性。吴（Wu）不受新教与天主教或加尔文主义与阿米尼乌主义之间僵化教义界限的束缚。相反，他展现出对基督和教会更广泛、或许更具神秘色彩的理解——这种理解是有机的，源自苦难、虔诚和启示，而非制度架构。

这有助于解释为何吴（Wu）能够如此轻松地将圣经阐释、形而上学思辨、神秘体验和宇宙视野融合为一个天衣无缝的体系。他的神学在最好的意义上是超越教派的：扎根于圣经，但又具有包容性和统一性。

5. 中国信仰的活力与吴的见证
布莱克利主教在序言的结尾处以一种见证式的思考总结了中国基督教信仰的活力。他写道：“了解并学习当下中国信仰的活力是件好事”，并把吴的作品视为这样的一个渠道。

的确，吴明山不仅仅代表他自己——他体现了中国基督教内部一场精神与神学觉醒的运动。他的著作不仅是学术上的贡献，更是见证了一种鲜活、挣扎、富有想象力的信仰，这种信仰认真对待《圣经》，并努力在其中的宇宙真理之下生活。

摘要
前言将吴的《以马内利》定位为不仅是一部神学论著，更是献给全球教会的一份精神礼物。它强调了以下几点：
• 吴独特的文化和神学视角。
• 他将浩瀚的圣经主题统一为一个连贯愿景的努力。
• 他将基督的宝血和战胜宇宙邪恶作为核心关注点。
• 中国基督教在西方教派界限之外所展现出的新颖与自由。
• 吴的神学作为来自全球南方和东方的声音在 21 世纪神学讨论中的相关性。

原文：

Foreword of Wu’s book of Immanuel by the Right Reverend Ian James Brackley, Former Anglican Bishop of England     

This book is a remarkable piece of work lovingly and exhaustively conceived and produced from a unique perspective. To attempt an overall understanding of the whole of the Bible is daunting enough, but here we are offered one from a quite different background than we in the western Christian world have come to understand. With his Chinese heritage and cultural background and from his experience as a Christian there for the last twenty years Mingshan Wu offers an extraordinary and distinctive approach that seeks a unifying understanding of the great themes that run through Scripture. Powerful images resonate in his method of interpretation: the cosmic power of evil symbolised by the serpent is ultimately to be quashed by the all prevailing effective sacrifice of Christ on the cross.

The recent history of Christianity in China has not been one where the divisions of denominationalism have had much meaning, although the influence of earlier Western Protestant missionaries clearly still has some lasting effect. It is good to know and learn something of the vibrancy of the faith in China now and Mingshan Wu shows us how lively that faith can be as it grapples with the vast compass of the Scriptures.

Commentary on the Foreword of Wu’s book “Immanuel” written by The Right Reverend Ian James Brackley, former Anglican Bishop :

1. A “Remarkable” and “Exhaustive” Work from a Unique Cultural Perspective

From the very opening, Bishop Brackley expresses admiration for Wu’s intellectual and spiritual effort. He describes the work as both “remarkable” and “exhaustively conceived”, emphasizing not only the depth of scholarship but also the love and care infused in its construction. This sets the tone for a book that is not just theological in scope but personal in tone—Wu’s theology emerges from devotion, not detached theory.

What makes Wu’s work especially significant is its “unique perspective”. Coming from the East—specifically, from a Chinese cultural context—Wu approaches the Bible through lenses rarely seen in mainstream Western theology. This East–West synthesis allows readers to encounter familiar themes (like the cross, atonement, evil, and redemption) with new resonance and imaginative depth.

2. Biblical Synthesis: A Unified Vision Beyond Western Divides

The task Wu undertakes—“an overall understanding of the whole of the Bible”—is recognized as monumental. But Wu doesn’t approach this just from within a Western theological frame. Instead, he offers “a unifying understanding of the great themes” that run across Scripture, something often fragmented in denominational or purely academic readings.

In doing so, Wu’s theology reflects what many would consider a systematic theology from the East, grounded in the Bible but animated by his experience of Christianity in China. It’s a visionary theology that sees Scripture not as isolated doctrines or scattered stories but as a cosmic drama centered on the Lamb, the Blood, the Serpent, the Bride, and the New Creation.

3. Central Symbolism: The Serpent and the Cross

A key insight that Bishop Brackley draws attention to is Wu’s strong symbolic interpretation: “the cosmic power of evil symbolised by the serpent is ultimately to be quashed by the all-prevailing effective sacrifice of Christ on the cross.”

Here, we see Wu’s theology as deeply apocalyptic and redemptive. Evil is not trivialized—it is cosmic in scope—but Christ’s blood, his “effective sacrifice”, is even more universal. The serpent becomes a theological cipher not only for Satan but for the metaphysical structure of fallen reality, while the cross becomes the cosmic axis around which the whole of salvation revolves.

This approach echoes ancient patristic and Eastern Christian thought but recontextualized through Wu’s distinctly Chinese imagination, which integrates both biblical and metaphysical insights (as seen throughout his Blood Theology).

4. Chinese Christianity: Beyond Denominationalism

Another powerful observation made in the foreword is the unique historical and ecclesial setting of Chinese Christianity. Bishop Brackley notes that “divisions of denominationalism have had much meaning” in the West, but in China, these Western categories have less relevance.

This has allowed for a freer, perhaps more integrative, theological development. Wu is not constrained by rigid Protestant vs. Catholic or Calvinist vs. Arminian dogmatic lines. Instead, he reflects a broader and perhaps more mystical understanding of Christ and the church—something organic, arising from suffering, devotion, and revelation rather than institutional structure.

This helps explain why Wu can so easily integrate biblical exegesis, metaphysical speculation, mystical experience, and cosmic vision into a seamless system. His theology is post-denominational in the best sense: rooted in Scripture, but expansive and unifying.

5. The Vibrancy of Chinese Faith and Wu’s Witness

Bishop Brackley concludes the foreword with a kind of testimonial reflection on the vitality of Christian faith in China. He writes, “It is good to know and learn something of the vibrancy of the faith in China now,” and presents Wu’s work as one such channel.

Indeed, Mingshan Wu doesn’t just represent himself—he embodies a movement of spiritual and theological awakening within Chinese Christianity. His book is not only a scholarly contribution but a witness to a living, wrestling, imaginative faith that takes Scripture seriously and seeks to live under its cosmic truth.

Summary

The foreword positions Wu’s Immanuel not merely as a theological treatise, but as a spiritual gift to the global Church. It highlights:

• Wu’s unique cultural and theological perspective.

• His effort to unify the vast biblical themes into a coherent vision.

• His central focus on Christ’s blood and the defeat of cosmic evil.

• The freshness and freedom of Chinese Christianity outside Western denominational boundaries.

• The relevance of Wu’s theology as a voice from the global South and East in the 21st-century theological discourse.

译者简介：

吴明山先生，神学研究硕士，基督教角声布道团英国号角专题作家，发表学术论文三十余篇，出版书籍《以马内利，耶稣之血的系统神学》1-7卷英文版、《以马内利》中英文版1-14卷、《作为本体论的辩证法》、《丁尼生悼念集英汉参考版》、《朗费罗经典诗选英汉文版》、《蓝梦诗篇与评论》中英文版，《纯粹生命形而上学》中英文版，《海灵》中英文版。《耶稣圣体和他的教会》英文版。另发表诗歌《雪》、《梦》、《自由神之吻》 《夜》等，荣获第四届中国诗歌展银奖。《以马内利》一书逾100万英文，获英国圣公会大主教伊恩·詹姆斯·布莱克利的高度赞扬，并为该书撰写序言。

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