在16、17世纪的英国,神学家和教士们鼓吹在个人救赎方面寻求"救赎确据",认为虔诚的基督徒如果不能确认已经被上帝选中而将进入天国,就会陷入绝望,而这种确据将能使他们免于绝望。莎士比亚戏剧《第十二夜》中,马伏里奥、西巴斯辛就是极力追求"救赎确据"的人物。但是,跟同时代的非清教徒一样,莎士比亚似乎感到追求这种确据,更不用说相信得到这种确据,是愚人之行,而非智者所为。
In late 16th-century and early 17th-century England, the theologians and preachers promoted the quest of“assurance”in personal salvation, insisting that it is capable of removing the sense of despair that dedicated Christians would feel if they were not confident God had chosen them for eternal life in heaven. There are several characters in Shakespeare’s plays who pursue such“assurance”with ferocity. Yet, like many of his non-Puritan con-temporaries, Shakespeare seems to have felt that to seek assurance, much less to be convinced one had attained it, was the mark of a fool rather than a wise man.
