---
title: "太虛大師全書．第二編　五乘共學 · 四　宗教說生命起源"
description: "太虚大师著《太虛大師全書·第二編 五乘共學》成书于民国时期，是近代佛教革新运动的重要文献。作者太虚为民国高僧，倡导人间佛教。本编以五乘（人、天、声闻、缘觉、菩萨）佛法为框架，系统阐述佛教基本教义，强调人乘正法为出世之基，融通世间与出世间法。该书为现代佛教教育及人间佛教实践提供核心理论依据，在近代佛教复兴中具有承前启后的重要地位，是研究中国佛教现代化转型的必读经典。"
url: "https://rushiwowen.co/en/r/cmpjj90nw00e2t1th8irdz5ab"
---

### 四　宗教說生命起源

> Four: Religious Views on the Origin of Life

有許多宗教，不能說出生命的起源，尤其是多神教。能夠講出幾分道理的，只有一神教——印度梵天教、和基督教等。他們認為宇宙萬物的根本都是起源於神，一切的起源完全以神為根本。總之，宇宙間只有一個無始無終大無不包的神，能夠創造一切生命。說得比較明顯的，要算基督教的舊約，說神造世界萬物，第一天造日月星辰，至第六天最後造成人，第七天他便休息了。如此生物之有生命，乃起源於神。尤其是人類，他們說生物唯有生，沒有靈，人之有靈更是起源於神。這種說法，若反問一句：宇宙一切都起源於神，神的本身又起源於誰？還是不能解答。

> Many religions cannot explain the origin of life, especially polytheistic ones. Among those that offer some reasoning, only monotheistic religions—such as India's Brahmanism, Christianity, and others—claim that the very root of all things in the universe comes from a divine being. They hold that all origins are entirely based on God. In short, they believe there is only one God in the universe, without beginning or end, encompassing all, who can create all life. Among these, the Old Testament of Christianity provides the clearest account: God created the world and everything in it—on the first day, the sun, moon, and stars; on the sixth day, finally, humans; and on the seventh day, He rested. Thus, the life of all beings originates from God. As for humans in particular, they say that while other living things have only physical life without spirit, humans possess a spirit that also comes from God. However, if we ask this question in return: if everything in the universe originates from God, then from whom does God himself originate? This too remains unanswered.

這樣看來，生命的起源，科學的說明既多困難，哲學所說若是根據科學，科學的問題未得解決，哲學也是不能解決。宇宙生命流，隱德來希，其本身也還與「神」一樣，不能給予澈底的說明。

> Judging by this, not only does science face great difficulties in explaining the origin of life, but if philosophy bases itself on science, it too will be unable to solve the problem as long as scientific questions remain unsettled. Concepts like the universal life force or entelechy, in themselves, are no different from "God"—they still cannot provide a complete explanation.