Chapter 29 6. From Humanism to Christianity

Many people have asked me why I, who for many years came from thinking of being irreligious, have now returned to my Christian faith. It is not easy for me to answer, because the nature of religion is very personal.But I believe that many people have had the same difficulty as I have in finding a satisfactory religion.A thinking man is in aimless belief—whether he calls it philosophy or religion—to understand himself, his motives, his actions, and his destiny. For more than thirty years my only religion has been humanism: the belief that it is enough for man to be guided by reason, and that progress in knowledge must improve the world.But observing the material progress of the twentieth century and the behavior of those godless countries, I am now convinced that humanism is not enough.For their own survival, human beings need to connect with an external force greater than human beings themselves.That's why I came back to Christianity.I would like to go back to the love of God and the knowledge of it that Jesus communicated in a simple way.

In order to illustrate my position, I thought I should give a little background about myself.I am a third-generation Christian. My father is a Presbyterian pastor who preaches in a small village in a remote valley about sixty miles from the coast in southern Fujian.There I had a very happy childhood - close to God and His great creation.How beautiful the world I have come into contact with is the brilliant clouds on the intertwined mountain peaks, the light gray grasslands under the setting sun, the gurgling sound of the flowing water in the streams... I mention these because these memories are closely related to my religious beliefs. There are relationships.They make me loathe all fabrications, complexities, and artificial trivialities.

The second thing is my family life in my childhood.Our family has a strong religious atmosphere, filled with the purity and love of Christianity, as well as the enthusiasm for learning.It may be unbelievable to say that in such a remote village, and when the Empress Dowager Cixi was still ruling China, my father told me about Berlin University and Oxford University, and half-jokingly said that he hoped that one day I would Can go to these universities to study.Our family is very good at dreaming! When I first entered university in Shanghai, I voluntarily took a theology course and prepared to participate in church work.But the many flower guns in theology bore me very much.Although I believed in God, I rebelled against dogma, so I left theology and the church.Emerson said a sentence that can describe my situation at that time: "You can't know God by the formula of death, but you can reach it by walking along the garden path." At that time, I left the church and wandered in the garden. , looking for a way to go.

Another force that made me tend to not want religion also came into play at this time.After graduating from university, I went to teach at Tsinghua University in Beijing.Like many students from church schools, I am very unfamiliar with Chinese folklore.I was familiar with the story of Joshua’s trumpet blowing down the walls of Jericho when I was young, but no one ever told me the story of Meng Jiangnu crying and collapsed a section of the Great Wall.When I came to this historic ancient capital and came into contact with the real Chinese society, I felt deeply ashamed of my ignorance, so I immersed myself in the study of Chinese literature and philosophy, and felt disgusted with the education given to me by the church and everything else.

I remember that my decision to break away from religion came after a conversation with a colleague.Based on the Confucian concept of humanism, he said, "Just because we are human beings, we must be good people." Confucius advocated propriety, loyalty, forgiveness, sense of responsibility, and a serious attitude towards life.He believed in the wisdom of man, and also believed that man could achieve perfection through the power of education.This philosophy is quite similar to European humanism, and it is now my own philosophy. For many years I was content with this philosophy, believing that man's reason is sufficient to improve himself and the world.But in my life, from thought and experience, I have grown doubts about this.I see that the increase in a man's self-confidence does not make him a better man. He may be more witty than before, but he is less meek and gentle every day than the man who stands before God.Modern history shows us how great is the danger of man falling into barbarism, notwithstanding the progress of material life and technical knowledge.

My faith in Humanism has gradually declined, and I have often asked myself, Is there a religion that will satisfy those who have a modern education? There are many outstanding moral theories and religions in the East, among which Buddhism and Taoism are important.But neither religion can answer my question.Buddhism is based on compassion, and believes that this sensory world is nothing but an illusion, and everything in life is extremely compassionate.The hope of an afterlife and the escape from this world—which is part of every religion—are almost the most unshakable concepts of Buddhism.

Taoism advocates a reverence for the illusory, nameless, intangible, yet omnipresent "Tao", which is the ruler of heaven and earth, whose laws govern the universe mysteriously and necessarily.The modesty advocated by Taoism is quite similar to the Sermon on the Mount in the New Testament.The Daoist prophet Lao Tzu was indeed a great teacher, but its reverting to nature and refusal to progress would contribute little to solving the problems of modern man. I think by this time I had been inclining unconsciously to the Christianity of my childhood.But the dogmatic preaching made it hard for me to hear the voice of faith, and I believe many modern people feel the same way.My wife always went to church wherever she traveled with me, and I sometimes went with her, but often came back disappointed by the poor sermons, and never wanted to go again.I'm at a crossroads and don't know where to go.One Sunday in New York, my wife persuaded me to go to church with her.This time it's my turn.The content of the sermons I heard that day was rich and exciting. The pastor on the stage did not play theological tricks, but profoundly and instructively expressed a basic point of the Christian faith-eternal life.From then on, I went to that chapel every week, and I felt very happy in my heart. Naturally, without consulting my family, I restored my faith in Christ.

Now I rediscover the simplicity, simplicity, awesomeness, and thought-provoking teachings of Jesus.No one in history has spoken words like Jesus said, nor spoken with such love: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!" And no one in history has said such beautiful words He said: "Since you have done these things to one of the least of my brothers, it is a teaching by analogy!" The Lord of Heaven and Earth said this, how could it not arouse people's awe? God is no longer illusory, it has been embodied in Jesus Christ.This is religion, complete and pure, absolutely not an assumption.No religion can give this kind of intimacy from God.Building a personal relationship with God is the incomparable contribution of Christianity.

Too often men try to impose their own thoughts and forms on simple truth.Those who wish to approach the matchless power of the Gospel of Christ often struggle against dogmas which veil it.I think the accumulated knowledge about religion in modern times can compete with the law and the teachings of the prophets in the time of Jesus.Jesus cleared it all up for us, showed us the core of the simple truth, commanded us to love God and our neighbor, and later added: "In these two commandments are included all the law and the words of the prophets". I no longer inquire now whether there is a religion which can satisfy the modern educated man.My search is over and I am home.