Chapter 1: How to Hold Right Faith in God and Resolve Doubts

Throughout all times and places, men and women, old and young, all hold reverential titles and worship for "God," "the Heavenly Father," "my Lord," "Old Heaven," and others like them. But what, after all, is the meaning behind these titles and this worship?

Granted, a title is merely a label. Yet upon examination, what it points to is truly formless and imageless, supremely honored and precious, supremely pure and empty, supremely centered and upright — a single point of ultimate truth. It is just that this truth is without sound and without scent, empty and yet not empty.

The Classic of Odes says: "When the divine spirit descends, it cannot be fathomed — how much less can it be dismissed!" From this we can know that God's subtlety is unfathomable, beyond thought and beyond words.

And yet, God gave birth to heaven and earth, nurtured every living thing in meticulous detail, governs the universe, and encompasses all phenomena. This reveals all the more that the ultimate Nothing can give rise to the ultimate Something, the ultimate Emptiness can give rise to the ultimate Substance — non-action producing action, wondrous existence within true emptiness.

Explaining it this way seems very abstract. Let us investigate further.

Scientists hold that the evolution of humanity and the formation of the world are the product of natural law. But who governs this law? Human beings certainly cannot. And since humans cannot do it, then it must be a supremely high and supremely luminous divine being.

Look at the sky: the sun, moon, and stars rotating in turn, proceeding in timely sequence — spring, summer, autumn, winter, cold arriving and heat departing. Then look at the earth's mountains and rivers, its lakes, seas, and springs — all interconnected through a shared lineage. Creatures that fly, creatures that swim, creatures that walk, plants that grow — the power to give life and take it, to grant and to seize. If not for a divine being supremely high, supremely great, supremely firm, and supremely gentle, who else could bear this charge?

Consider further the origin of human beings. We were born from our parents, our parents from our grandparents. Extend this line back through great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents, all the way to the very first ancestor of our lineage — who gave them birth? The theory of evolution says humans evolved from great apes in ancient times. But if ancient apes could transform into humans, why can the apes of today not do the same? And if it were truly so that ancient apes became humans, then after evolving thousands of years more, who knows what humans might become next?

Every person's inherited nature carries its own Heaven-endowed quality. The common saying goes: when a person reaches a moment of danger, fear, or desperation, they cry out "Heaven!" or "Mother!" From this we can see that human beings are born from Heaven. The claims of science are groundless talk.

Although modern science appears all-powerful, it merely borrows metallic materials and chemical elements, combining them into various machines. But with any material whatsoever, if one wished to create a human being endowed with spirit — such a thing is absolutely impossible.

We are born from Heaven. God is our first ancestor. Therefore the common saying goes: "We are all children of God."

The Bible says: "A person is not born of blood and flesh, not born of desire, not born of human will — but born of God."

The Patriarch of Dao said: "The Boundless gives rise to the Supreme Ultimate, the Supreme Ultimate gives rise to the Two Forces, the Two Forces give rise to the Four Emblems, the Four Emblems give rise to the Eight Trigrams."

And again: "One gives rise to two, two gives rise to three, three gives rise to all things."

The Confucian tradition says: "The workings of High Heaven are without sound and without scent." And also: "Humanity can participate in and assist the transformative nurturing of Heaven and Earth."

Jesus said: "God is our Heavenly Father."

All of the above proves that the origin of our physical body and spirit-nature, and the creation of all things, were brought forth by God — without the slightest doubt.

Now that we know God has shown us such boundless grace, we must bring forth our genuine hearts, hold fast to unwavering resolve, silence heterodox teachings, and reject deviant conduct. We must cleanse our body and mind and purify our thoughts. To appreciate Heaven's compassion with tender understanding and to repay Heaven's grace — this is what it truly means to hold right faith in God and to have all doubts resolved.