Thomas Jefferson

on
Religious Freedom

Jefferson's Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom in the State of Virginia

杰斐森的关于在维吉尼亚州建立宗教自由的法案

The Act for Establishing Religious Freedom is perhaps the most interesting
feature in the revised code of Virginia. With the exception of the Declaration of
Independence, it is the most celebrated of Jefferson's productions, and the one
to which he recurred with the highest pride and satisfaction. The preamble
which introduces the act defines with peculiar emphasis the premises upon
which religious freedom is founded. The following is the bill with the preamble
as originally proposed by Jefferson:
建立宗教自由的法案可能是维吉尼亚的修订法典最有趣的历史。除了独立宣言，
这是杰斐森最值得称赞的作品，也是他自己回顾一生最自豪和满意的东西。这个
介绍法案的前言用特殊的强调语气详细说明了宗教信仰自由奠基于其上的基础。
下面就是杰斐森最初提议的带有前言的法案。

A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom

建立宗教自由的法案

"SECTION I. Well aware that the opinions and belief of men depend not on their
own will, but follow involuntarily the evidence proposed to their minds; that
Almighty God hath created the mind free, and manifested his supreme will that
free it shall remain by making it altogether insusceptible of restraint; that all
attempts to influence it by temporal punishments, or burthens, or by civil
incapacitations, tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and are a
departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, who being lord both of
body and mind, yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either, as was in
his Almighty power to do, but to exalt it by its influence on reason alone;

I.我们知道：人们的意见和信念并不是由他们的意志来决定，而是不由自主的跟
随外界呈现在他们眼前的证据；全能的上帝将人的思想创造成自由的，并且祂至
高无上的意志告诉我们这种自由全然不受强制的影响；所有欲影响这种自由的企
图，无论通过世俗的刑罚，或重担压迫，或者人为立法取消，只会趋向于养成卑
鄙和伪善的习性，而偏离我们信仰的掌管我们身体和思想的神圣造物主的旨意。
依祂全能的权杖，不是选择强迫来传播祂的旨意，而仅仅通过祂理性的影响；

that the impious presumption of legislators and rulers, civil as well as

ecclesiastical, who, being themselves but fallible and uninspired men, have
assumed dominion over the faith of others, setting up their own opinions and
modes of thinking as the only true and infallible, and as such endeavoring to
impose them on others, hath established and maintained false religions over the
greatest part of the world and through all time: That to compel a man to furnish
contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and
abhors, is sinful and tyrannical; that even the forcing him to support this or that
teacher of his own religious persuasion, is depriving him of the comfortable
liberty of giving his contributions to the particular pastor whose morals he would
make his pattern, and whose powers he feels most persuasive to
righteousness; and is withdrawing from the ministry those temporal rewards,
which proceeding from an approbation of their personal conduct, are an
additional incitement to earnest and unremitting labours for the instruction of
mankind;

那些世俗和教会无信仰的自以为是的立法者和统治者，他们本身不过是常犯错误
和缺乏圣灵之人，却自以为可掌管他人的信仰，将他们自己的意见和思维模式作
为唯一正确无误的东西而强加于他人，自古以来在世界绝大部分地方建立和维持
的只是虚假的宗教而已：强迫一个人捐钱用以广传他不相信甚至憎恶的观点，是
有罪和专横的；还在他自己所属的宗教中强迫他支持这个或那个牧师，而剥夺他
将自己的捐助心情舒畅的捐给那个特定的牧师的自由，这个牧师的道德他欲引以
为学习的楷模，这个牧师道德的力量他感觉最具正直的说服力；同时夺走了这位
牧师应得的世俗报酬，而牧师们正是通过这些人们赞许的表示而继续从事他们身
体力行的牧养，这些报酬可以鼓励更多的为人类教育而热忱并不懈的工作；

that our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions, any more
than our opinions in physics or geometry; that therefore the proscribing any
citizen as unworthy the public confidence by laying upon him an incapacity of
being called to offices of trust and emolument, unless he profess or renounce
this or that religious opinion, is depriving him injuriously of those privileges and
advantages to which, in common with his fellow citizens, he has a natural right;
that it tends also to corrupt the principles of that very religion it is meant to
encourage, by bribing, with a monopoly of worldly honours and emoluments,
those who will externally profess and conform to it; that though indeed these are
criminals who do not withstand such temptation, yet neither are those innocent
who lay the bait in their way;

我们世俗的（或译为公民的）权利并不依赖于我们的宗教见解，正如不依赖于我
们在物理学或几何学上的见解一样；所以，如果一个人不声明支持或放弃这个或
那个宗教观念，就以不值得公众信任为由将其置于不适合被选举为信任和有薪的
职位而排斥他，这有害的剥夺了他的基本人权和利益，而对于这些人权和利益，
和他同胞一样，他也拥有自然的权利；同时也趋向于败坏真正的宗教原则，这意
味着贿以世间荣誉和报酬的独占权来鼓励那些表面上支持和遵守它的人；这些经
不住诱惑的人固然是罪人，然而在他们路上安置诱饵的人也不能说是无罪；

that the opinions of men are not the object of civil government, nor under its
jurisdiction; that to suffer the civil magistrate to intrude his powers into the field
of opinion and to restrain the profession or propagation of principles on
supposition of their ill tendency is a dangerous fallacy, which at once destroys
all religious liberty, because he being of course judge of that tendency will make
his opinions the rule of judgment, and approve or condemn the sentiments of
others only as they shall square with or differ from his own; that it is time
enough for the rightful purposes of civil government for its officers to interfere
when principles break out into overt acts against peace and good order;

人们的观点不是世俗政府管理的目标，也不在其审判之下；如果我们遭受世俗的
法官将他的审判权力侵入观点的领域，依他们病态的推演而管制信条的声明和传
播，是一种危险的谬论，这种论调将立即摧毁所有的宗教信仰自由，因为在审判
这种宗教趋势时，他当然的会以他自己的观点作为审判规则，依他人的观点与它
相同和相异而赞同或处罚之；为着世俗政府的正当目的，当宗教信条明显的变为
破坏和平和良好的秩序的行动的时候，它的官员总是有足够的时间来干预的；

and finally, that truth is great and will prevail if left to herself; that she is the
proper and sufficient antagonist to error, and has nothing to fear from the
conflict unless by human interposition disarmed of her natural weapons, free
argument and debate; errors ceasing to be dangerous when it is permitted
freely to contradict them.

最后，真理是强大的，只要听其自然，它就一定会获胜；它是谬误恰当和强有力
的对手，在冲突中无所畏惧，除非人类加以干涉，解除其自然的武器——自由辩
论；一切谬误，当可以自由反驳的时候，就不危险了。

"SECTION II. We the General Assembly of Virginia do enact that no man shall
be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry
whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his
body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or
belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain,
their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish,
enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.

II.我们维吉尼亚普通议会制定法案：任何人不得被强迫参加或支持任何宗教礼拜，
场所或牧师，也不得由于他的宗教观点或信念而在身体或财产上受到强制，限制，
干扰，负担，或者其它方式的痛苦；所有人应当可以自由的声明，并通过辩论来
维护他们在宗教信仰上的观点，同样不得用任何方式缩小，扩大或影响他们的世
俗（或公民）权利。

"SECTION III. And though we well know that this Assembly, elected by the
people for the ordinary purposes of legislation only, have no power to restrain
the acts of succeeding Assemblies, constituted with powers equal to our own,
and that therefore to declare this act irrevocable would be of no effect in law; yet
we are free to declare, and do declare, that the rights hereby asserted are of the
natural rights of mankind, and that if any act shall be hereafter passed to repeal
the present or to narrow its operation, such act will be an infringement of natural
right."

III.我们非常清楚，这个议会，仅仅是人们为着普通立法目的而选举的，没有权力
限制以后与我们同等的议会所立的法案，因而宣称这个法案的不可变更在法律上
是无效的；然而我们还是自由的宣布，并且必须宣布：我们在这里主张的权利是
人类自然的权利，如果以后通过的任何法案欲否定或者限制这些权利，这样的法
案将是对人类自然权利的侵犯。

几点说明：

1， 英文来源：http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7842/rfindex.htm
2， 并参照维基：
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Statute_for_Religious_Freedom
3， Thomas Jefferson（1743－1826），此法案写于 1779 年，1786 年被维吉尼
亚议会通过。
4， 中文翻译参照：http://www.zftrans.com/bbs/simple/index.php?t13366.html
5， 章节 I 按逻辑意义分为若干段。
6， 以前一直没有明白天赋权利的意思，原来是：natural right，为什么要翻译成
天赋的呢？我一直对中国人的“天啊”莫名其妙。