Pursued by Heaven

By Simon Yuan

        

On March 6, 1927, the famous British philosopher Bertrand Russell gave a famous speech in South London entitled "Why I am not a Christian?" . Thirty years later, this speech was included in a book by Russell. Although "Why Am I Not a Christian?" is only a chapter, it was given the title of the book, which shows the importance of the content of "Why Am I Not a Christian?" For more than half a century, Russell's book has become one of the masterpieces of atheism, affecting many people and becoming a reason to reject God and Christianity.

Among Russell's many reasons for trying to deny the existence of God, denying the "First Cause" seems to be one of the most powerful arguments. "First cause" has always been one of the main arguments for God's existence. The great Greek philosopher Aristotle and the Catholic theologian Aquinas used the "first cause" in their argument "unmoved mover" or "uncaused causer" (a cause without a cause) should be a more vivid term. Russell does not agree that there is a "cause without a cause", he asks "who created God"? Because Russell believes that everything has a cause, including God, of course, that is to say, God should also have a cause.

On the surface, "who created God" seems to be a powerful question to deny the existence of God, according to Russell's reasoning. But the premises of Russell's argument are false, leading to false conclusions. Russell wrote: "If everything must have a cause, then God must have a cause." (If everything must have a cause, then God must have a cause.) However, Russell's premise is wrong. Yes, the "first cause" argument does not mean "everything must have a cause", but "everything that comes into being must have a cause".

To be fair, on the side of God, Aristotle's "first cause" argument is a bit awkward, because Aristotle believed that the universe is eternal, that is, the universe is "first cause", so Aristotle God is in the universe, so he cannot be the only "prime cause", at most he is the same "prime cause" as the universe, so he cannot be the creator of everything in the universe. In fact, the most powerful refutation of Russell's argument was made by the ancestors of the Jewish people 3,400 years ago, in the first sentence of the first book of the Torah, where Moses wrote: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." In other words, the universe has a beginning, the universe is not eternal, the universe has a cause, and this cause is God, but God is the "first cause". In the past few thousand years, Moses' "the universe has a cause" is an isolated claim, especially in the past few hundred years when modern science has developed, modern science based on Newton's theoretical laws of physics has also shown that the universe is unchanging, the universe is eternal, and scientifically seems to deny Moses' claim that the universe has a cause.

Due to the eternity of the universe advocated by classical philosophy and modern science, some great modern scientists have preconceived the eternity of the universe. For example, Einstein, known as the greatest scientist of the twentieth century, is one of them. After Einstein discovered and deduced the formula of the theory of relativity, he found that his own formula revealed that the universe is not constant, but an expanding universe, and the universe has a starting point. Because Einstein held the eternal view of the universe, he added an artificial constant in his formula, forcing the formula to give an eternal universe. In the late 1920s, the American astronomer Hubble discovered through his own special astronomical telescope that the universe is expanding. In 1931, Einstein was invited to the United States to see the expansion of the universe through Hubble's astronomical telescope. Therefore, Einstein took the added constant from the formula, and he declared that adding a constant to the formula was the biggest mistake in his scientific career. Amazingly, the Jewish scientist Einstein unknowingly confirmed the claim of the Jewish patriarch Moses that the universe is not eternal, but has a beginning. Today, the universe has a beginning, which has been continuously confirmed by science.

In the past few decades, many Christians have written a large number of articles and monographs to argue with Russell, proving the existence of God and the reality of Christianity from the perspectives of science, philosophy, and history. John Stott was an alumnus of Russell at Cambridge. Stott was a famous Christian theologian. Stott died in 2011 at the age of 90. During his lifetime, Stott wrote many books, including a book titled "Why I Am a Christian?" Obviously, Stott's book is also aimed at Russell's famous book "Why I am not a Christian". Stott also mentioned Russell's book in the preface, but Stott emphasized that he did not intend to argue with Russell, to refute Russell's arguments and arguments for denying God and Christ. That is to say, Stott could use the above arguments to argue with Russell to prove the existence of God and the truth of Christianity. On the contrary, Stott said very modestly that he respects Russell's academic achievements very much. Russell is a famous mathematician and philosopher, and has won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Stott pointed out that there is an entry point for witnessing the Christian faith that Russell hadn't thought of at all, and that is Stott in his Why Am I a Christian? "The book begins with a confirmation.

Stott's Why Am I a Christian? The first chapter is titled "The Hound of Heaven".

In the book, Stott asks, "Why am I a Christian?" Stott says that some readers will think he's telling why he became a Christian this way: "I'm a Christian because I was born into a world where the majority is Christ." Christian country; because my parents are Christians; because I was educated as a Christian." Actually, Stott tells his story of becoming a Christian in his book, not because of the reasons mentioned above. On February 13, 1938, 17-year-old Stott was listening to a pastor's sermon. The pastor mentioned a passage from the Bible "Revelation": "Behold, I stand at the door and knock, if Whoever hears my voice opens the door, and I will come in to him, and I will sit with him and he with me." That night, Stott opened the door of his heart and accepted Jesus as his Savior and Lord. Stott emphasized that the reason why he became a Christian was not his personal decision, let alone the influence of his family and teachers, but because of "Hound of heaven", that is to say, Stott has been " Run away", Jesus is constantly "hunting" Stott, if not for Jesus' gracious "hunt from heaven", Stott said, he would not have become a Christian. Simply put, why Stott is a Christian is because of Jesus' Pursue of Heaven.

The term "The Hound of Heaven" was coined by the English poet Francis Thompson. Thompson lived a life of loneliness and roughness, during which he subconsciously felt that he was longing for and being sought after by God, and he wrote the poem "The Hound of Heaven" which best expresses that feelings. In the opening line of his poem "The Hound of Heaven," Thompson writes: "Day and night I ran from him, . . . ", while "the hounds of heaven" pursued him. Initially, some people objected to the term "hound of heaven", how can God be connected with the hound? In fact, many people later accepted this metaphor, because the Scottish hound is used to protect the flock, that is, the same as the shepherd. In the Bible "Psalm" 23:6: "Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Among them, the word "following" has a The meaning of "chasing", so "the hunting of heaven" is not inappropriate, and it is very appropriate to express Jesus' "hunting" of his lost sheep as a shepherd. In the Bible "Luke Gospel" Chapter 15, He also compared himself to a shepherd looking for lost sheep.

From the perspective of "The Hound of Heaven", becoming a Christian is not on the side of man, but on the side of God, that is, Christians cannot escape the God’s pursuit. This is not just Stott's story, it is true for all Christians, if Christians love Jesus, because Jesus' love comes first, it is not man's pursuit of God that makes people find salvation and go to heaven, but God’s pursuit. Stott also mentioned such a few great Christians and introduced how they all became Christians under the pursue of heaven.

Paul's conversion to Christ and becoming the greatest preacher should be the testimony of the greatest conversion in the history of the Christian church.

Paul's original name was Saul, and he was born in the Roman Empire at that time. Saul grew up in a family of devout Jewish believers. When he was young, Saul went to Jerusalem to study literature, philosophy, and Jewish theology. After the rise of Christianity, it was regarded as heresy by Judaism. Saul led a group of fanatical Jews to persecute Christians, trying to destroy Christianity through violence. They put a large number of Christians in prison and executed some Christians. According to records, Saul participated in a vicious stoning of a Christian named Stephen. Saul continued to expand the scope of his persecution of Christians. He was going to Damascus to arrest more Christians. On the way Saul went to Damascus, the resurrected Christ appeared to Saul. Saul prostrated himself on the ground and heard a voice asking him "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" Saul replied, "Lord, who are you?" Jesus said to Saul, "I am the Jesus you are persecuting." was led into Damascus, and Saul was blinded for three days. In Damascus, there was a Christian named Ananias. He heard the call of the Lord in a vision. The Lord told Ananias that Saul was praying to the Lord. Go and lay your hands on him to restore his sight. . Ananias went to find Saul. The book of Acts in Bible records:

So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; and taking food, he was strengthened. For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”

In Stott’s understanding, Saul’s conversion was not entirely a sudden incident on the Damascus road. Jesus’ call to Saul was long before the road leading to Damascus. When Saul was completely unaware, Jesus had already called for Saul. The sudden change on the road to Damascus paved the way for Saul to go to Jerusalem to study literature, philosophy, and theology. The Book of Romans, etc. After converting to Christ, Saul changed his name to Paul and became one of the apostles. He not only spread the gospel of Christ with words, but also used his life to bear a beautiful testimony for Christ. In the end, Paul was martyred for the Lord and died in Rome hands of the ruler.

Augustine was another great Christian who was pursued by heaven. Augustine was born in the third century AD in what is today North Africa. In his youth, Augustine lived a dissolute life. His mother was a devout Christian, and his mother always prayed for Augustine. Although Augustine lived a dissolute life, he also had no peace in his heart and had great struggles in his heart. In fact, at that time, Jesus was already hunting him down. One day Augustine went to a friend's garden, and he fell under a tree and let himself cry out, and he cried out to God, "How long, Lord?" He heard a voice: " Pick up a book." Augustine ran into the house, understanding that it was God's command to open a book and read the chapter he had turned to. Augustine opened the Bible "Book of Romans" and read the thirteenth chapter. Such a passage made his eyes light up.

"Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy."

Augustine said that he didn't need to read any further. This passage shone like a light in his heart, and all the shadows of doubt were dispelled. Augustine attributed his conversion to Christ to God's grace, and he believed that God's salvation of his soul manifested in the five senses. Hunted by God, Augustine converted to Christ and became a great theologian of Christianity.

Lewis, a great British writer in the twentieth century, is another excellent example of being hunted by God and converting from an atheist to Christ. Lewis said that one would think of Christianity as a man's quest for God, which, in his view, is like a mouse's quest for a cat. Louis made an analogy, God is like a cat, and man is like a mouse, that is, the cat is chasing the mouse, and it is also the hound chasing the fox, which is actually the hunting of heaven.

Stott tells us not to think that the pursue of Heaven  happens only to the great, but also to many ordinary people. Stott called himself an ordinary person, that is his humility, he is a great theologian and evangelist who is used by God. As a truly ordinary person, I can witness myself being hunted by heaven and becoming a disciple of Jesus from my journey of faith.

Stott said that this passage from the Book of Revelation opened the door of his heart: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock, and if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and I will Feast with him with me." The hunt in heaven led him to accept Jesus as his Savior and Lord of his life..

I didn't read these passages of the scripture when I became Christian, but in my experience in those years, Jesus has been knocking on the door of my heart, and the heaven has been chasing me from The potentially depraved officialdom called out and rescued me from the liquor store, let my wife bring the message of Christianity to our home, and asked many Christian friends to pray for my salvation, through many Christians Friends, including non-Christian friends, created the environment for me to know Christ. The car accident that almost took the lives of me and my daughter, which seemed to be a tragic encounter, became the last hurdle for me to surrender to the hunting of heaven. Three months after the car accident, I was baptized in a church in Dallas. It was the grace of God. It was not my pursuit of Christianity, but pursued by Heaven.