Greetings to you , my dear friend, Tien Dao!

A Chinese saying said it well: "Once bitten by a snake, the sight of a straw rope will scare you."

Here we are, the educated among our generation, brought up by the "glorious, perfect Party" and nourished by its "universal applicable truth". Having barely succeeded in leaving our old country, it is be hard for us to believe in anything claiming to be the absolute truth.

I totally agree with you that all the truth in this world is relative. As for our generation, we have endured many storms and been baptized by blood and fire. We have paid the price with our youthful lives to learn this cruel fact -- that everything is relative. Today, with the twenty-first century fast approaching, who will be able to stir up our blood once again to be used to paint over their terrible lies?

Let me share with you my experience in searching for truth.

I remember my first conversation with a pastor. He quoted scripture to prove to me that the Bible is the absolute truth. I was full of contempt for his ignorance. I could not believe a servant of God could be so lacking in common sense and logic. Didn't he know that the thing to be proven cannot be used as evidence, let alone to prove itself? Later, I observed Christians gathering together, offering praise and prayers to God and doing their "Cultural Revolution style" Bible studies and sharing. It all reminded me of a remark made by Einstein concerning the German soldiers marching like puppets: "Oh my God, are these men still able to think?"

Nevertheless, I was ultimately attracted by the Christians - by their "devotion, benevolence, honesty and kindness" just as you have mentioned. In contrast to this sinful world overflowing with human lust and my own self-righteous yet muddled life, Christians presented a sparkling and refreshing picture that touched the depths of my heart. It was like a stream in the desert and a living spring in the desolate plain of civilization. It was quite different from the absurdity of their beliefs and practices. It brought warmth and hope for life. How could a person stuffed ad nauseum with rational reasoning, and a soul dying of thirst help but be drawn to the stream to drink?

However I was in a dilemma. On the one hand, my reasoning kept me from Christianity. On the other hand, my heart was drawn to its warmth. Instinctively, I chose the latter because it is life's reality. I decided not to be confounded by the myth of reasoning and lose my way in life.

Two questions surfaced as I pondered this dilemma : (1) Can something truly good be unreal? (2) Can something that has thrived for two thousand years be based on absurd presumptions ?

I am glad those two questions did not bother me for long. Soon afterwards, I started to study Jesus. My dear friend, it is vitally important for you to study Jesus. The first four books of the New Testament, the Gospels, are the core of Christianity. Unless one understands the gospel presented in these four books, he cannot understand other parts of the Bible nor comprehend the uniqueness of Christianity.

If you study Jesus' words carefully, it is not hard to see that Jesus' wisdom transcends all wisdom, that His morality is higher than all other morality, and that His truth surpasses all truth. Try to apply His words to your daily life, such as love your enemies and pray for them right away, or forgive other's transgressions and ask God to forgive your transgressions toward others. If you make up your mind to obey His teachings and become a man poor in spirit, gentle, kind, pure in heart and a peacemaker, you will experience an influx of joy, peace, and grace from God. It is the consummation of truth, goodness, and life. When you allow Jesus to touch your soul, you will discover that Jesus is truly the Word. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, the only way to heaven. His Word is spirit and life. He is the Wisdom that transcends human reasoning, the Life that conquers death, the Absolute that surpasses the relative.

At times your rational self will doubt and question the soul's conviction. But with a daily refreshing of grace your soul, touched by God, will gradually bring your arrogant reasoning into total submission to God. Then your life will be filled with peace and beauty.

Yes, there are stages in our search for truth. I do not know at which stage you are. As a veteran, I sincerely suggest you not be turned off by the absurd phenomenon or stopped by the bewilderment of reasoning, but that you begin to embrace the irresistible attraction for the warmth and beauty of daily life as what really counts. Use your spirit, not your reasoning, to study Jesus. As your rational faculty is guided by your spirit, it will transcend its confusion and be gloriously transformed.

In the Chinese Psalms, God told King Wen, "Do not look around, but take a direct path to my land." My dear friend Tien Dao, I do not belittle the importance of reasoning in any sense. Following are some points to clarify our concepts concerning reasoning.

1. The statement " There is no absolute in this world" does not preclude the existence of the Absolute.

When you make the declaration, "There is no absolute", unconsciously you are appealing to the authority of something absolute. Our denial of the absolute is not much more than the confirmation of our inability to take hold of the absolute.

2. The Infinite (Absolute) must contains the finites ( relatives)

Human beings are finite. We are not able to comprehend the universe or even our own lives. We are dependent on the Infinite. Therefore, it is quite logical that the Infinite, if He chooses, is able to reveal Himself to us, but not vise versa.

3. Revelation is the act of the Infinite reaching out to the finite. Knowledge is the result of the finite seeking after the Infinite.

We study because we are lacking in knowledge. God reveals knowledge to us because he has all the knowledge and chooses to show us, the ignorant.

4. Jesus is the Infinite who visited the finites; the Absolute Truth revealed to human beings who live in the realm of relative.

Since His nature is absolute, it is not easy for Him to be accepted by the relative, for limited wisdom is not capable of recognizing the infinite truth.

5. From the perspective of human reasoning, the Bible is seemingly full of contradictions and absurdities. Yet from the spiritual perspective, it is a coherent whole and irrefutable.

The proof of the Bible's genuineness is not in itself. Rather it is shown by the Spirit of truth (John 14:17). The Spirit unites the Bible, Jesus, God and the believer in one. Jesus said, "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth." (John 16:13 ). This unique work of the Holy Spirit has enabled millions upon millions of Christians in the last two thousand years to believe that Jesus is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life".

Please do not be confused and turned off by human failures, whether they be our own or others'. Granted we are Christians, but we are still not perfect. We believe in God, not in man. Human failure merely reflects our need for God and we should therefore be encouraged to walk even closer with God. The central theme of the Reformation was that man can have a direct personal communication with God, not through a second party. Once again we are reminded the importance of reading Jesus' word and praying to Him directly.

7. The Bible is not an encyclopedia. It is the recording of God's revelation and His salvation for the world.

Although the Bible does touch on many other subjects, it is not God's desire to exhaust these topics with us. What He wants us to do is to revere him, walk with him, and be more like him. If we obey His commands, we will experience His manifold blessings, both in this world and in life eternal.

"Do not look around, but take the direct path to my land." When you are basking in the true light, you will echo what Mr. Yu-Tong Lin once said, "The sun is rising; let's blow out all the candles!"

*****

Mr. Yuan, Zhiming came from Beijing. He is the co-author of "River Elegy" and is now an editor and research staff member of Overseas Campus Magazine.