Song of a Wanderer.doc

song of a wanderer: beckoned by eternitythis is a book of christian apologetics. the author, li cheng, is from beijing. he became a christian after coming to the united states. he understands deeply how most mainland chinese scholars think and wrote this book to help answer the questions of those scholars who are searching for the truth. he uses in- depth discussion and comparison, providing a wealth of evidence. his writing is fluent, presenting very sound thinking with a balanced approach. each chapter in this book is a unique message which he delivered with excellent response all over america. it has been very helpful in breaking the bondage of unbelief for those with atheistic backgrounds.0-1 foreword to the english edition of song of a wanderer“a sensation!” is not an exaggeration in describing the book, song of a wanderer, originally published in chinese as youzi yin. since it first became available in simplified script through our mainland chinese literature ministry at ambassadors for christ, it has widely captured the attention of the chinese intellectual community. in the forty months since its first appearance, over 100,000 copies have been distributed and eagerly received by educated chinese around the world. although to date it has not been possible to obtain permission to publish it in china, we are aware that many copies have found their way to the homeland where it has become well known among a large number of educated chinese who have read it. it has been exciting to observe the overwhelming influence that the chinese edition of song of a wanderer has had on a great number of chinese intellectuals as it gives answers to their haunting questions. since a few years before the publication of this work, it has been my privilege to know the author, li cheng, and to regard him as a treasured friend. he has applied the same integrity and care to the writing of this book that he used in his painstaking medical research learned through his training in prominent academic centers both in china and in the united states. but there is an added dimension. he communicates with a fervent heart and great enthusiasm for sharing truths that have captured and transformed his own life. he is unquestionably genuine in his convictions. he has addressed thousands of his fellow academic compatriots studying in the united states. hundreds have responded to his message in these lectures. their minds were convinced by his evidence and logic; their hearts were stirred by his passion. like li cheng himself, they have become followers of the one who alone can satisfy the most essential longings of chinese and indeed of all humanity. this book containing his message in written form has had a similar impact, undoubtedly for a much larger number of chinas elite. it is a great honor to be invited by li cheng to share these observations. having been very involved as a non-chinese with the events surrounding the chinese edition, i now have great joy in recommending song of a wanderer to a readership that has not been able to enjoy the excitement of chinese readers. i believe many from diverse philosophical and cultural backgrounds will be keenly interested in exploring li chengs mind and heart as he recounts his spiritual journey. applying his keen intellect to the task of evaluating christianity, li cheng turned from atheism to become an ardent follower of jesus christ, and many of his fellow citizens were likewise convinced by the words that you now have before you in this english edition. you have the privilege of entering the world of exploration reserved until now for readers of chinese. may you be among those who not only understand what li cheng discovered, but also allow it to transform your life as it did his. it is the most important endeavor you can undertake.we cannot adequately thank those many who have given a labor of love in making this translation possible, especially pak shem who did the basic translation, as well as janet kurtz and brian fisher, who gave countless hours to editing and polishing the english text. we are grateful as well for the many others who assisted in this english version. our special thanks go also to li cheng for writing it in chinese and for reviewing the translation and sharing his insights with a wider audience. finally, we are most of all filled with thanks to our precious lord whose love, grace, and power is the ultimate explanation for it all. jim brubaker,afc mainland chinese literature ministrymarch 20021 the truth of the existence of godscholars and intellectuals who have been raised under an atheistic worldview share similar beliefs about the development of mans understanding of the universe and its origin. they believe that because our primitive ancestors feared thunder, lightning, floods, earthquakes, and other natural phenomena, they began to worship the gods they believed embodied and controlled these various forces of nature. subsequently, religions were born. as the understanding of their world continued to grow, however, men realized that these phenomena were caused naturally, not by some supernatural spiritual force, thus giving credence to atheism. therefore, theism is viewed as the product of prehistoric mans ignorance while atheism is considered the result of modern mans enlightenment. between these two options, many intellectuals think it only logical to espouse atheism.in the wake of chinas open-door policy to the west, more and more mainland chinese students and scholars have been working and studying abroad. when they come to a nation like the united states, chinese intellectuals are greatly perplexed that america can boast of first-rate scientific advancements while at the same time remaining a theistic-oriented nation. for chinese to make a 180-degree turn to accept the theism that they have rejected all along is extremely difficult, both emotionally and intellectually. i strongly resisted theism for the first eight or nine years of my stay in the united states, avoiding exposure to christianity and other religions.however, gods existence is an objective truth that cannot be changed or determined by subjective reasoning. at the same time, because he is so intimately related to our lives, we cannot ignore or avoid him. truth-seekers who are courageous enough to challenge their existing beliefs when confronted with the truth will sooner or later come to the knowledge of gods truth. english philosopher francis bacon pointed out, “a little philosophy inclineth mans mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth mens minds about to religion.”1 great scientists like newton and einstein believed in god (although einstein conceptualized god as a spirit of force rather than a being), and even the pioneer of evolution, thomas henry huxley, admitted that from the viewpoint of pure philosophy, atheism cannot stand firm.in recent years, after much exploration, thought, and struggle, i renounced atheism. willingly and earnestly i embraced theism, accepting jesus christ as my personal savior and lord of my life. at this point, i wish to explore the truth of gods existence from several angles and to share it with you.the first sentence of the bible says, “in the beginning, god created the heavens and the earth” (gen. 1:1). this is a great declaration because it indicates that gods existence does not need to be proven. with the limited intelligence of human beings, people could not then and cannot now prove gods existence. but god so loves the world that he revealed himself so that people can know him. these revelations can be divided into two types: general and special.1-1 the general revelation of godthe general revelation of godthe general revelation of god, also called natural revelation, is gods revelation of himself to people through his created order, including the creation of human beings. this revelation can be received by anyone at any time and in any place.the orderly universethe vastness of the universe is a constant wonder. our solar system is comprised of a stationary star, nine planets, tens of thousands of small moving stars, and countless comets. the earth and its satellite, the moon, revolve around the sun at a speed of thirty kilometers per second. the sun, its nine planets, and their satellites revolve around their closest star at a speed of 46.88 billion miles per year. every revolution takes several thousand years. the star cloud of the milky way, where the solar system belongs, has a mass of about 200 billion times that of the solar system. the diameter of the milky way is about one hundred thousand light-years, but the milky way is only a small universe. about 100 billion small universes become a medium universe, and the diameter of a medium universe is about fifteen billion light-years. then how big is a large universe, or the entire universe? what is beyond the universe? at this time, we are unable even to comprehend it.the universe is so big and perfect that it defies belief that it could have created itself. the more that amateur and professional astronomers understand about the universe, the more they praise the omnipotence of its creator. therefore, like newton, many astronomers both past and present have been devoted christians. there is a story that newton had a good friend, an atheist, who stayed as a guest at newtons home and was intrigued by a model of the solar system. when he turned the handle connected to the solar system, the planets revolved around the sun. he was so fascinated by it that he couldnt stop playing with it.“who is the creative designer of this model?” he asked newton out of curiosity.“nobody,” was newtons surprising answer. his friend was baffled. “how can that be? nobody made it?”“if a model must be designed and created, then how can the actual solar system come into being by the random striking of atoms without a designer and creator?” newton asked. his friend was speechless. immediately, he understood and became a theist.the earth is proof of creative designall of the earths ecosystems are perfectly arranged. the sun is the major source of the earths light, heat, and energy. the distance between the earth and the sun, the rotation speed of the earth, the size of the earth, and the elements of the earths atmosphere are so intricately designed that the earth is the only one of the nine planets in the solar system capable of sustaining life. if the earth were any nearer to the sun, it would be too hot, and if it were any farther away, it would be too cold. the axis of the earths rotation intersects with the plane of its orbit around the sun at the tilted angle of 66 degrees and 33 seconds. this angle never changes in the earths rotation. therefore, in a year, the suns rays shine directly between the tropic of cancer and the tropic of capricorn, creating the difference between the length of day and night and the change of the four seasons.3 if the earth had no such tilted angle, then the warmer regions would constantly be hot and the colder regions would always be cold. for most of the planets in the solar system, the angle between the axis of rotation and the plane of revolution is close to ninety degrees; in fact, the angle between the axis of rotation and the plane of revolution for uranus is 98 degrees. it is as if uranus were lying on a track when it revolves around the sun. during uranus eighty-four-year revolution, the suns rays shine directly on its north pole, equator, and south pole. its day and night change only once every forty-two years.the moon significantly influences the earths mountain formations and ocean tides as well as the rhythms of its living organisms. more amazingly, the time of the moons rotation and revolution coincide so that only one side of the moon ever faces the earth.5 nobody knows how the moon was formed, but according to one hypothesis, parts of the earth broke away due to the earths spinning, and then collided to form the moon. based on this hypothesis, moon rocks would have originated from the earth, but the analysis of rock samples astronauts brought back from the moon showed a marked contrast between the rocks on earth and the rocks of the moon proving that they have different origins. this finding triggered enormous debate among the members of the astronomy community, leading many to conclude that it amounted to a death sentence to this hypothesis as well as to many other theories about the origin of the moon.the size of the earth is perfectly suited for the habitation of living things. if its diameter were any smaller, its gravitational force would be weaker and therefore unable to attract hydrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere. if its diameter were larger, then the gravitational force would be stronger, and people would be unable to bear the gravitational force.likewise, the elements of the earths atmosphere are very important. in venus, more than 97 percent of the atmosphere is carbon dioxide, and 20 to 30 kilometers of flowing clouds of sulfuric acid cover venus surface. these clouds allow sunlight to pass through and enter the surface of the planet, but they prevent heat from escaping into the universe. therefore, the suns radiation forces venus surface heat and atmospheric pressure to be extremely high. the atmospheric pressure of venus is about ninety times that of the earth, which would be similar to the pressure at nine hundred meters under the ocean. no matter how strong we might be, life on venus would be impossible .an important characteristic of water is anti-expansion. materials on the earth normally expand when heated and contract when cooled, but the density of water reaches its maximum at 4 degrees centigrade. when water falls below this temperature, it expands instead of contracting. therefore, ice always floats on water. if water would contract as the temperature falls below 4 degrees centigrade, then ice would fall to the bottom of any body of water causing it to freeze entirely, and all aquatic life would die. however, water has an anti-expansion characteristic: when ice is formed, it floats on top of water. the sheet of ice on top undergoes heat conservation, which prevents heat from escaping from the water below the ice. thus, all life below the sheet of ice is protected from the icy winter. this is a wonderful provision. chemists are able to explain how it works, but they cannot explain why water has anti-expansion characteristics. this is the unique creation of the omnipotent creator of the universe. the wonderful biological worldalthough all living things have distinct and unique characteristics, colors, motions, and behaviors, they maintain a symbiotic relationship in their environments. green plants use photosynthesis to convert solar energy into chemical energy, thus directly or indirectly providing food for all animals. animal excretions and carcasses are sources of growth for green plants. during the 1960s and 1970s in mainland china, counties were encouraged to build small fertilizer factories where water, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen were used to synthesize ammonium carbonate. this simple synthesis requires high heat and pressure. however, under the effects of enzymes, plants synthesize many complicated organic chemicals in normal temperatures and pressure. in describing his concept of a fairy tale future, my high school science teacher once told his students, “one day in the future, we will be able to reproduce chlorophyll and enzymes outside living bodies. on one side of a greenhouse, we will be able to supply sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water while on the other side, we will be able to produce and deliver endless quantities of milk, bread, meat, and fruit.” even though several decades have passed and this goal has not yet been reached, it is still an ideal situation for science students to dream about and work hard to accomplish.besides the food chain, the circulation of gases is also symbiotic. when all living things breathe, they inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. in the photosynthesis process, green plants use the carbon dioxide to simultaneously synthesize different kinds of organic chemicals and to exhale oxygen. only the omnipotent creator of the universe could produce these wonderful arrangements.in the 1940s, significant breakthroughs were brewing in biology that would later unlock the secrets of genetics. at that time, prominent biologists and chemists focused their research on proteins. the general consensus was that, because life was so complex, only large molecules like proteins could be the carriers of genetic materials. james watson and francis crick surprised everyone in 1953 with their discovery that the double helix structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (dna) was the carrier of genetic codes. researchers could never have imagined that only four nucleotides linked together could form dna, which in turn controls the genetic codes of the ever-changing activities of living organisms. (for more detailed descriptions, read the eighth day of creation by h. f. judson, new york: simon & schuster, 1979). when we think of this discovery after the fact, it is easy to explain. every amino acid is determined by the three linked nucleotides in the long dna chain. a medium-sized protein that has three hundred amino acids needs to be controlled by dna that has about a thousand nucleotides. since dna only consists of four nucleotides, these one thousand nucleotides have about 41000 (or 100600) different permutations. to conceptualize this number, it is estimated that there are about 10105 electrons in the entire universe. after this comparison, we know how big the number 100600 is. we can also understand why dna can be the carrier of genetic codes: “for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the lord. for as th