《美食祈禱和戀愛》Chapter 3 (6):我的信仰大綱

Culturally, though not theologically, I'm a Christian. I was born a Protestant of the white Anglo-Saxon persuasion. And while I do love that great teacher of peace who was called Je-sus, and while I do reserve the right to ask myself in certain trying situations what indeed He would do, I can't swallow that one fixed rule of Christianity insisting that Christ is the only path to God. Strictly speaking, then, I cannot call myself a Christian. Most of the Christians I know accept my feelings on this with grace and open-mindedness. Then again, most of the Christi-ans I know don't speak very strictly. To those who do speak (and think) strictly, all I can do here is offer my regrets for any hurt feelings and now excuse myself from their business.

就文化上而言，雖然並非從神學上來說，我是基督徒。我生爲盎格魯撒克遜白人的新教教徒。我雖愛名叫耶穌的和平良師，我雖也保留權利，在身處困境之時自問他能做什麼，但我卻無法忍受基督教的既定規則，堅稱基督是通往神的“唯一”途徑。因此嚴格說來，我不能自稱基督徒。我認識的大部分基督徒都大方豁達地接受我這種感受。不過我認識的這些大部分基督徒，其關於神的說法也並不嚴格。對於那些說法（和想法）嚴格的人，我只能對造成任何情感方面的傷害表示遺憾，並請求他們的原諒。

Traditionally, I have responded to the transcendent mystics of all religions. I have always responded with breathless excitement to anyone who has ever said that God does not live in a dogmatic scripture or in a distant throne in the sky, but instead abides very close to us indeed—much closer than we can imagine, breathing right through our own hearts. I respond with gratitude to anyone who has ever voyaged to the center of that heart, and who has then returned to the world with a report for the rest of us that God is an experience of supreme love. In every religious tradition on earth, there have always been mystical saints and transcendents who report exactly this experience. Unfortunately many of them have ended up arrested and killed. Still, I think very highly of them.

通常 ，我響應每一種宗教的超然神祕儀式。只要哪個人說神不住在教條的經文中或遙遠的天邊寶座上，而是與我們比鄰而居，比我們想象中更接近，在我們的心中生息，向來都令我屏息熱切響應。我深深感激那些曾經停靠在那顆心，而後返回世界，向我們報告神是 “至愛體驗”的所有人士。在世界上的一切宗教傳統中，向來有抱持神祕主義的聖徒與仙人，他們所報道的正是這種體驗。不幸的是，他們許多人的下場是被捕、喪命 ，然而我仍認爲他們很了不起。

In the end, what I have come to believe about God is simple. It's like this—I used to have this really great dog. She came from the pound. She was a mixture of about ten different breeds, but seemed to have inherited the finest features of them all. She was brown. When people asked me, "What kind of dog is that?" I would always give the same answer: "She's a brown dog." Similarly, when the question is raised, "What kind of God do you believe in?" my answer is easy: "I believe in a magnificent God."

Eat, Pray, Love

最終，我對神的信念很簡單。類似這樣——我養過一條大狗 ，它來自動物收容所，它是十個品種的混種，但似乎遺傳到每個品種的最佳特點。它是棕狗。每逢有人問我“它是哪種狗”的時候，我總是給一樣的回答：“它是隻棕狗。”同樣地，當有人提問“你信哪種神”時，我的回答很簡單：“我信仰至高無上的神。”