THE GNOSTIC GOSPELS
"The Apocalypse of Peter" describes how Peter, deep in trance, experiences the presence of Christ, who opens his eyes to spiritual insight:
The Savior said to me .... , " ... put your hands upon your eyes... and say what you see!" But when I had done it, I did not see anything. I said, "No one sees this way." Again he told me, "Do it again." And there came into me fear with joy, for I saw a new light, greater than the light of day. Then it came down upon the Savior. And I told him about the things which I saw." 72.10-28 in NHL 340-341
On what grounds? Clement argues that God, the God of Israel, alone rules all things: he is the lord and master whom all must obey; he is the judge who lays down the law, punishing rebels and rewarding the obedient. But how is God's rule actually adminstered? Here Clement's theology becomes practical: God, he says, delegates his "authority of reign" to "rulers and leaders on earth." Who are these designated rulers? Clement answers that they are bishops, priests and deacons. Whoever refuses to "bow the neck" and obey the church leaders is guilty of insubordination against the divine master himself. Carried away with his argument, Clement warns that whoever disobeys the divinely ordained authorities "receives the death penalty!." pg34
I am the first and the last. I am the honered one and the scorned one. I am the whore and the holy one. I am the wife and the virgin. I am the mother and the daughter. I am she whose wedding is great, and I have not taken a husband. I am knowledge and ignorance, I am shameless; I am ashamed. I am strength, and I am fear, I am foolish and I am wise, I am godless and I am one whose God is great. (Source: Thunder, Perfect Mind 13.16 - 16.25 in NHL 271 - 274
Tertullian expresses similar outrage at such acts of gnostic Christians:
"These heretical women - how audacious they are! They have no modesty, they are bold enough to teach, to engage in argument, to enact exorcisms, to undertake cures, and it may be, even to baptize!"
pg 60
"It is not permitted for a woman to speak in the church, nor is it permitted for her to teach, nor to baptize, nor to offer the eucharist, nort to claim for herself a share in any masculine function - not to mention any priestly office." pg 60
Yet Paul also expresses ambivalence concerning the practical implications of human equality. Discussing the public activity of women in churches, he argues from his own - traditionally Jewish - conception of a monistic, masculine God for a divinely ordained hierarchy of social subordination: as God has authority over Christ, he declares, citing Genesis 2-3, so man has authority over woman:
"A man ... is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. (For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man." I Cor 11: 7-9
"... the woman should keep silence in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but they should be subordinate ... it is shameful for a woman to speak in church." 1 Cor 14:34
"Let woman learn in silence with all submissiveness. I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over men; she is to keep silent." I Tim 2:11 - 12
"To the Universe belongs the dancer. Amen
He who does not dance does not know what happens. Amen
Now if you follow my dance, see yourself in Me who am speaking...
You who dance, consider what I do, for yours is
This passion of Man which I am to suffer. For you could by no means have understood what you suffer
unless to you as Logos I had been sent by the Father
Learn how to suffer and you shall be able not to suffer"
pg 74 Apochrypha II Ibid 95.16-96.42
Justin, whom tradition calls "the martyr", declares that before his own conversion, when he was still a Platonist philosopher, he personally witnessed Christians enduring public torture and execution. Their courage, he says, convinced him of their divine insipiration. Protesting the world-wide persecution of Christians, he mentions those persecuted in Palestine (135):
It is clear that no one can terrify or subdue us who believe in Jesus Christ, throughout the whole world. FOr it is clear that though beheaded, and crucified, and thrown to the wild beasts, in chains, in fire, and all other kinds of torture, we do not give up our confession; but the more such things happen, the more do others, in larger numbers, become believers. pg 83
The story of one of the confessors in Lyons, the slave woman Blandina, illustrates what happened:
All of us were in terror; and Blandina's earthly mistress, who was herself among the martyrs in the conflict, was in agony lest because of her bodily weakness she would not be able to make a bold confessor of her faith. Yet Blandina was filled with such power that even those who were taking turns to torture her in every way from dawn to dusk were weary and exhausted. THey themselves admitted that they were beaten, that there was nothing further they could do to her, and they were surprised that she was still breathing, for her entire body was broken and torn.
On the day set for gladitorial games, Blandina, along with 3 of her companions, Matururs, Sactus and Attalus were led to the amphitheater:
Blandina was hung on a post and exposed as bait for the wild animals that were let loose on her. She seemed to hang there in the form of a cross and by her fervent prayer she aroused intense enthusiasm in those who were undergoing their ordeal... But none of the animals had touched her, and so she was taken down from the post and brought back to the jail to be preserved for another ordeal... tiny, weak, and insignificant as she was, she would give inspiration to her brothers.... Finally, on the last day of the gladitorial games, they brought back Blandina again, this time with a boy of 15 named Ponticus. Every day they had been brought in to watch the torture of the others, while attempts were made to force them to swear to pagan idols. And because they persevered and condemned their persecutors, the crowd grew angry with them, so that.... they subjected them to every atrocity and led them through every torture in turn.
After having run through the gauntlet of whips, having been mauled by animals, and forced into an iron seat placed over a fire to scorch his flesh, Ponticus died. Blandina, having survied the same torutures, was at last tossed into a net and exposed to a bull. After bing tossed a good deal by the animal, she no longer perceived what was happening ... THus she too was offered in sacrifice, while the pagans themselves admitted that no woman had ever suffered so much in their experience. pg 85
As Justin remarked: "The more such things happen, the more do others, in larger numbers, become believers." Tertullian writes in defiance to Scapula, the pronconsul of Carthage:
"Your cruelty is our glory. All who witness the noble patience of the martyrs, are struck with misgivings are inflamed with desire to examine the situation .. and as soon as they come to know the truth, they immediately enroll themselves as its disciples."
He boasts to the Roman prosecutor that "the oftener we are mown down by you, the more we grow in numbers: the blood of the Christians is seed!" Those who followed the orthodox consensus in doctrine and church politics also belonged to the church that - confessing the crucified Christ - became conspicuous for its martyrs. Groups of gnostic Christians, on the other hand, were scattered and lost - those who resisted doctrinal conformity, questioned the value of the "blood witness", and often opposed submission to episcopal authority.
Gnostic Christians, on the contrary, assert that what distinguishes the false from the true church is not its relationship to the clergy, but the level of understanding of its members, and the quality of their relationship with one another. The Apocalypse of Peter declares that "those who are from the life... having been enlightened," discriminate for themselves between what is true and false. Belongings to "the remnant ... summoned to knowledge (gnosis)," they neither attempt to dominate others nor do they subject themselves to the bishops, deacnons, those "waterless canals". Instead they participate in the "wisdom of the brotherhood that really exists .. the spiritual fellowship with those united in communion."
The Second Treatise of the Great Seth similarly declares that what characterizes the true church is the union its members enjoy with God and with one another, "united in the friendship of friends forever, who neither know any hostility, nor evil, but who are united by my gnosis ... (in) friendship with one another." Theirs is the intimacy of marriage, a "spiritual wedding," since they live "in fatherhood and motherhood and rational brotherhood and wisdom" as those who love each other as "fellow spirits". pg 106
LOOK UP CARL ANDERSEN - he has a massive study of the early church.
He (Tertullian) complains that heretics welcome anyone to join with them, "for they do not care how differently they treat topics", so long as they meet together to approach "the city of the one sole truth". Yet their metapohr indicates that the gnostics were the neither relativists nor skeptics. Like the orthodox, they sought the "one sole truth". But gnostics tended to regard all doctrines, speculations and myths - their own as well as others - only as approaches to truth. The orthodox, by contrast, were coming to identify their own doctrine as itself the truth - the sole legitimate form of Christian faith. Tertullian admits that the heretics claimed to follow Jesus' counsel ("Seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you".) But this means the says, that Christ taught "one definite thing" - what the rule of faith contains. Once having found and believed this the Christian has nothing further to seek:
Away with the person who is seeking where he never finds; for he seeks where nothing can be found. Away with him who is always knocking; because it will never be opened to him, for he knocks where there is no one to open. Away with the one who is always asking, because he will never be heard, for he asks of one who does not hear. pg114
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"There is light within a man of light, and it lights up the whole world. If he does not shine, he is darkness." - Gospel of Thomas pg 120
"If one does not understand how the fire came to be, he will burn in it, because he does not know his root. If one does not first understand the water, he does not know anything.... If one does not understant how the wind that blows came to be, he will run with it. If one does not understand how the body that he wears came to be, he will perish with it.... Whoever does not understand how he came will not understand how he will go." - Dialogue of the Savior
"If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth with is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you." - Gospel of Thomas
"I found them all drunk; I found none of them thirsty. And my soul became afflicted for the sons of men, because they are blind in their hearts and do not have sight; for empty they came into this world, and empty they seek to leave this world. But for the moment they are drunk." Gospel of Thomas 38.23-29 pg 126
"His disciples said to him, "WHen will .. the new world come?" He said to them, "what you look forward to has already come, but you do not recognize it." His disciples said to him, "When will the kingdom come?" (Jesus said), "It will not come by waiting for it. It will not be a matter of saying 'Here it is' or 'There it is'. Rather the Kingdom of the Father is spread out upon the earth, and men do not see it." pg 29 Gospel of Thomas
THey said to him, "Tell us who you are so that we may believe in you." He said to them, "You read the face of the sky and of the earth, but you have not recognized the one who is before you, and you do not know how to read this moment". Gospel of Thomas 48.20-25 pg 131
Obviously such a program of discipline, like the higher levels of Buddhist teaching, would appeal only to a few. Although major themes of gnostic teaching, such as the discovery of the divine within, appealed to so many that they constituted a majory threat to catholic doctrine, the religious perspectives and methods of gnosticism did not lend themselves to mass religion. In this respect, it was not match for the highly effective system of organization of the catholic church, which expressed a unified religious perspective based on the New Testament canon, offered a creed requiring the initiate to confess only the simplest essentials of faith, and celebrated rituals as simple and profound as baptism and the eucharist. The same basic framework of doctrine, ritual, and organization sustains nearly all Christian churches today, whether Roman Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant. Without these elements, one can scarcely imagine how the Christian faith could have survived and attracted so many millions of adherents all over the world, throughout twenty centuries. For ideas alone do not make a religion powerful, although it cannot succeed without them; equally important are social and political strcutures that identify and unite people into a common afflilation. pg 141
Gnostics came to the conviction that the only way out of suffereing was to realize the truth about humanity's place and destiny in the universe. Convinced that the only answers were to be found within, the gnostic engaged on an intensely private interior journey.
Whoever comes to experience his own nature - human nature - as itself the "source of all things," the primary reality, will receive enlightenment. Realizing the essential Self, the divine within, the gnostic laughed in joy at being released from the external constraints to celebrate his idenfication with the divine being:
"The gospel of truth is a joy for those who have received from the Father of truth the grace of knowing him .... For he discovered them in himself, and they discovered him in themselves, the incomprehensible, inconceivable one, the Father, the perfect one, the one who made all things. Gospel of Truth 16.1-18.34 pg 144
If we go back to the earliest known source of Christian tradition - the sayings of Jesus (although scholars disagree on the question of which sayings are genuinely authentic), we can see how both gnostic and orthodox forms of Christianity could emerge as variant interpretations of the teaching and significance of Christ. Those attracted to solitude would note that even the New Testament gospel of Luke includes Jesus' saying that whoever 'does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple." He dmenanded that those who followed him must give up everything - family, home, children, ordinary work, wealth - to join him. And he himself, as prototype, was a homeless man who rejected his own family, avoiding marriage and family life, a mysterious wanderer who insisted on truth at all costs, even the cost of his own life. Mark relates that Jesus concealed his teaching from the masses, and entrusted it only to the few he considered worth to receive it. pg 148
Now that the Nag Hammadi discoveries give us a new perspective on this process, we can understand why certain creative persons throughout the ages, from Valentinus and Harcleon to Blake, Rembrandt, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Nietzche, found themselves at the edges of orthodoxy. All were fascinated by the figure of Christ - his birth, life, teachings, death and resurrection: all returned constantly to Christian symbols to express their own experience. And yet they found themselves in revolt against orthodox institutions. An increasing number of people today share their experience. They cannot rest solely on the authority of the Scriptures, the apostles, the church - at least not without inquiring how that authority constituted itself, and what, if anything, gives it legitimacy. All the old questions - the original questions, sharply debated at the beginning of Christianity - are being reopened: How is one to understand the resurrection? What about women's participation in priestly and episcopal office? Who was Christ, and how does he relate to the believer? What are the similarities between Christianity and other world religions?
That I have devoted so much time of this discussion to gnosticism does not mean as the casual reader might assume, that I advocate going back to gnosticism - much less that I "side with it" against orthodox Christianity. As a historian, of course, I find the discoveries at Nag Hammadi enormously exciting, since the evidence they offer opens a new perspective for understanding what fascinates me most - the history of Christianity. But the task of the historian, as I understand it, is not to advocate any side, but to explore the evidence - in this instance, to attempt to discover how Christianity originated. Furthermore, as a person concerned with religious questions, I find that rediscovering the controversies that occupied early Christianity sharpens our awareness of the major issue in the whole debate, then and now: What is the source of religious authority? For the Christian, the question takes more specific form: What is the relation between the authority of one's own experience and that claimed for the Scriptures, the ritual, and the clergy?
When Mohammed Ali smashed that jar filled with papyrus on the cliff near Nag Hammadi and was disappointed not to find gold, he could not have imagined the implications of his accidental find. Had they been discovered 1000 years earlier, the gnostic texts almost certainly would have been burned for their heresy. But they remained hidden until the 20th century, when our own cultural experience has given us a new perspective on the issues they raise. Today we read them with different eyes, not merely as "madness and blasphemy" but as Christians in the first centuries experienced them - a powerful alternative to what we know as orthodox Christian tradition. Only now are we beginning to consider the questions with which they confront us. pg 151
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
For Whom the Bell Tolls
"What are you going to do with us?" one asked him.
"Shoot thee," Pablo said
"When?" the man asked in the same gray voice.
"Now" said Pablo.
"Where?" asked the man.
"Here," said Pablo. "Here. Now. Here and now. Have you anything to say?"
"Nada," said the civil. "Nothing. But it is an ugly thing."
"And you are an ugly thing," Pablo said. "You murderer of peasants. You who would shoot your own mother."
"I have never killed anyone," the civil said. "And do not speak of my mother."
"Show us how to die. You, who have always done the killing."
"There is no necessity to insult us," another civil said. "And we know how to die."
"Kneel down against the wall with your heads against the wall," Pablo told them. The civiles looked at one another.
"Kneel, I say," Pablo said. "Get down and kneel."
"How does it seem to you, Paco?" one civil said to the tallest , who had spoken with Pablo about the pistol. He wore a corporal's striped on his sleeves and was sweating very much although the early morning was still cool.
"It is as well to kneel," he answered. "It is of no importance."
"It is closer to the earth," the first one who had spoken said, trying to make a joke, but they were all too grave for a joke and no one smiled.
"Then let us kneel", the first civil said, and the four knelt, looking very awkward with their heads against the wall and their hands by their sides, and Pablo passed behind them and shot each in turn in the back of the head with the pistol, going from one to another and putting the barrel of the pistol against the back of thier heads, each man slipping down as he fired. I can hear the pistol still, sharp and yet muffled, and see the barrel jerk and the head of the man drop forward. One held his head still when the pistol touched it. One pushed his head forward and pressed his forehead against the stone. One shivered in his whole body and his head was shaking. Only one put his hands in front of his eyes, and he was the last one, and the four bodies were slumped against the wall when Pablo turned away from them and came toward us with the pistol still in his hand.
"Hold this for me Pilar" he said. "I do not know how to put down the hammer" and he handed me the pistol and stood there looking at the 4 guards as they lay against the wall of the barracks. All those who were with us stood there too, looking at them, and no one said anything.
pg 115
Pablo, when we ate, spoke little.
"Did you like it Pilar?" he asked finally with his mouth full of roast young goat. We were eating at the inn from where the buses leave and the room was crowded and people were singing and there was difficulty serving.
"No", I said. "Except for Don Faustino, I did not like it."
"I liked it," he said.
"All of it?" I asked him.
"All of it," he said and cut himself a big piece of bread with his knife and commenced to mop up gravy with it. "All of it, except the priest."
"You didn't like it about the priest?" because I knew he hated priests even worse than he hated fascists.
"He was a disillusionment to me," Pablo said sadly.
So many people were singing that we had to almost shout to hear one another.
"Why?"
"He died very badly," Pablo said. "He had very little dignity."
"How did you want him to have dignity when he was being chased by the mob?" I said. "I though he had much dignity all the time before. All the dignity that one could have."
"Yes," Pablo said. "But in the last minute he was frightened."
"Who wouldn't be?" I said. "Did you see what they were chasing him with?"
"Why would i not see?" Pablo said. "But I find he died badly."
"In such circumstances anyone dies badly," I told him. "What do you want for your money? Everything that happenend in the Ayuntaminento was scabrous."
"Yes," said Pablo. "There was little organization. But a priest. He has an example to set."
"I thought you hated priests."
"Yes," said Pablo and cut some more bread. "But a Spanish priest. A Spanish priest should die very well."
"I think he died well enough." I said. "Being deprived of all formality."
"No," Pablo said. "To me he was a great disillusionment. All day I had waited for the death of the priest. I had thought he would be the last to enter the lines. I awaited it with great anticipation. I expected something of a culmination. I had never seen a priest die."
pg 141
So if your life trades its 70 years for 70 hours I have that value now and I am lucky enough to know it. And if there is not any such thing as a long time, nor the rest of your lives, nor from now on, but there is only now, why then now is the thing to praise and I am very happy with it. pg 182
You ask the impossible. You ask for the ruddy impossible. So if you love this girl as much as you say you do, you had better love her very hard and make up in intensity what the relation will lack in duration and in continuity..... pg 184
Probably Golz knew all about this too and wanted to make the point that you must make your whole life in the 2 nights that are given to you; that living as we do now you must concentrate all of that which you should always have into the short time that you can have it. pg 184
"Then," Maria said. "If you will teach me to shoot it either one of us could shoot the other and himself or herself, if one were wounded and it were necessary to avoid capture."
"Very interesting," Robert Jordan said. "Do you have many ideas like that?"
"Not many," Maria said. "But it is a good one. Pilar gave me this and showed me how to use it," she opened the breast pocket of her shirt and took out a cut down leather holder such as pocket combs are carried in and removing a wide rubber band that closed both ends, took out a Gem type, single-edged razor blade. "I keep this always," she explained. "Pilar says you must make the cut here just below the ear and draw it toward here." She showed him with her finger. "She says there is a big artery there and that drawing the blade from there you cannot miss it. Also, she says there is no pain and you must simply press firmly below the ear and draw it downward. She says it is nothing and that they cannot stop it if it is done."
"Thats right," said Robert Jordan. "That's the carotid artery."
So she goes around with that all the time, he thought, as a definitely accepted and properly organized possibility.
"But I would rather have thee shoot me," Maria said. "Promise if there is ever any need that thou wilt shoot me."
"Sure," Robert Jordan said. "I promise."
"Thank thee very much," Maria told him. "I know it is not easy to do."
pg 186
And another thing. Don't ever kid yourself about loving some one. It is just that most people are not lucky enough ever to have it. You never had it before and now you have it. WHat you have with Maria, whether it lasts just through today and a part of tomorrow, or whether it lasts for a long life is the most impartant thing that can happen to a human being. There will always be people who say it does not exist because they cannot have it. But I tell you it is true and that you have it and that you are lucky even if you die tomorrow. pg 322
You could take the pistol out of the drawer and hold it. "Handle it freely," was Grandfather's expression. But you could not play with it was "a serious weapon."
You asked Grandfather once if he had ever killed any one with it and he said, "Yes."
Then you said, "When, Grandfather?" and he said, "In the War of the Rebellion and afterwards."
You said, "Will you tell me about it, Grandfather?"
And he said, "I do not care to speak about it Robert."
Then after your father had shot himself with this pistol, and you had come home from school and they'd had the funeral, the coroner had returned it after the inquest saying, "Bob, I guess you might want to keep the gun. I'm supposed to hold it, but I know your dad set a lot of store by it because his dad packed it all through the War, besides out here when he first came out with the Cavalry, and its still a hell of a good gun. I had her out trying her this afternoon. She don't throw much of a slug but you can hit things with her."
How little we know of what there is to know. I wish that I were going to live a long time instead of going to die today because I have learned much about life in these four days; more, I think, than in all the other time. I'd like to be an old man and to really know, I wonder if you keep on learning or if there is only a certain amount each man can understand. I thought I knew about so many things that I know nothing of. I wish there was more time. pg 402
I have fought for what I believed in for a year now. If we win here we will win everywhere. The world is a fine place and worth the fighting for and I hate very much to leave it. And you had a lot of luck, he told himself, to have had such a good life. YOu've had just as good a life as grandfather's though not as long. You've had as good a life as any one because of these last days. You do not want to complain when you have been so lucky. I wish there was some way to pass on what I've learned, though. Christ, I was learning fast there at the end. I'd like to talk to Karkov. That is in Madrid. Just over the hills there, and down across the plain. DOwn out of the gray rocks and the pines, the heather and the gorse, across the yellow high plateau you see it rising white and beautiful. THat part is just as true as Pilar's old women drinking blood down at the slaughterhouse. There's no one thing that's true. IT's all true. pg 490
"Shoot thee," Pablo said
"When?" the man asked in the same gray voice.
"Now" said Pablo.
"Where?" asked the man.
"Here," said Pablo. "Here. Now. Here and now. Have you anything to say?"
"Nada," said the civil. "Nothing. But it is an ugly thing."
"And you are an ugly thing," Pablo said. "You murderer of peasants. You who would shoot your own mother."
"I have never killed anyone," the civil said. "And do not speak of my mother."
"Show us how to die. You, who have always done the killing."
"There is no necessity to insult us," another civil said. "And we know how to die."
"Kneel down against the wall with your heads against the wall," Pablo told them. The civiles looked at one another.
"Kneel, I say," Pablo said. "Get down and kneel."
"How does it seem to you, Paco?" one civil said to the tallest , who had spoken with Pablo about the pistol. He wore a corporal's striped on his sleeves and was sweating very much although the early morning was still cool.
"It is as well to kneel," he answered. "It is of no importance."
"It is closer to the earth," the first one who had spoken said, trying to make a joke, but they were all too grave for a joke and no one smiled.
"Then let us kneel", the first civil said, and the four knelt, looking very awkward with their heads against the wall and their hands by their sides, and Pablo passed behind them and shot each in turn in the back of the head with the pistol, going from one to another and putting the barrel of the pistol against the back of thier heads, each man slipping down as he fired. I can hear the pistol still, sharp and yet muffled, and see the barrel jerk and the head of the man drop forward. One held his head still when the pistol touched it. One pushed his head forward and pressed his forehead against the stone. One shivered in his whole body and his head was shaking. Only one put his hands in front of his eyes, and he was the last one, and the four bodies were slumped against the wall when Pablo turned away from them and came toward us with the pistol still in his hand.
"Hold this for me Pilar" he said. "I do not know how to put down the hammer" and he handed me the pistol and stood there looking at the 4 guards as they lay against the wall of the barracks. All those who were with us stood there too, looking at them, and no one said anything.
pg 115
Pablo, when we ate, spoke little.
"Did you like it Pilar?" he asked finally with his mouth full of roast young goat. We were eating at the inn from where the buses leave and the room was crowded and people were singing and there was difficulty serving.
"No", I said. "Except for Don Faustino, I did not like it."
"I liked it," he said.
"All of it?" I asked him.
"All of it," he said and cut himself a big piece of bread with his knife and commenced to mop up gravy with it. "All of it, except the priest."
"You didn't like it about the priest?" because I knew he hated priests even worse than he hated fascists.
"He was a disillusionment to me," Pablo said sadly.
So many people were singing that we had to almost shout to hear one another.
"Why?"
"He died very badly," Pablo said. "He had very little dignity."
"How did you want him to have dignity when he was being chased by the mob?" I said. "I though he had much dignity all the time before. All the dignity that one could have."
"Yes," Pablo said. "But in the last minute he was frightened."
"Who wouldn't be?" I said. "Did you see what they were chasing him with?"
"Why would i not see?" Pablo said. "But I find he died badly."
"In such circumstances anyone dies badly," I told him. "What do you want for your money? Everything that happenend in the Ayuntaminento was scabrous."
"Yes," said Pablo. "There was little organization. But a priest. He has an example to set."
"I thought you hated priests."
"Yes," said Pablo and cut some more bread. "But a Spanish priest. A Spanish priest should die very well."
"I think he died well enough." I said. "Being deprived of all formality."
"No," Pablo said. "To me he was a great disillusionment. All day I had waited for the death of the priest. I had thought he would be the last to enter the lines. I awaited it with great anticipation. I expected something of a culmination. I had never seen a priest die."
pg 141
So if your life trades its 70 years for 70 hours I have that value now and I am lucky enough to know it. And if there is not any such thing as a long time, nor the rest of your lives, nor from now on, but there is only now, why then now is the thing to praise and I am very happy with it. pg 182
You ask the impossible. You ask for the ruddy impossible. So if you love this girl as much as you say you do, you had better love her very hard and make up in intensity what the relation will lack in duration and in continuity..... pg 184
Probably Golz knew all about this too and wanted to make the point that you must make your whole life in the 2 nights that are given to you; that living as we do now you must concentrate all of that which you should always have into the short time that you can have it. pg 184
"Then," Maria said. "If you will teach me to shoot it either one of us could shoot the other and himself or herself, if one were wounded and it were necessary to avoid capture."
"Very interesting," Robert Jordan said. "Do you have many ideas like that?"
"Not many," Maria said. "But it is a good one. Pilar gave me this and showed me how to use it," she opened the breast pocket of her shirt and took out a cut down leather holder such as pocket combs are carried in and removing a wide rubber band that closed both ends, took out a Gem type, single-edged razor blade. "I keep this always," she explained. "Pilar says you must make the cut here just below the ear and draw it toward here." She showed him with her finger. "She says there is a big artery there and that drawing the blade from there you cannot miss it. Also, she says there is no pain and you must simply press firmly below the ear and draw it downward. She says it is nothing and that they cannot stop it if it is done."
"Thats right," said Robert Jordan. "That's the carotid artery."
So she goes around with that all the time, he thought, as a definitely accepted and properly organized possibility.
"But I would rather have thee shoot me," Maria said. "Promise if there is ever any need that thou wilt shoot me."
"Sure," Robert Jordan said. "I promise."
"Thank thee very much," Maria told him. "I know it is not easy to do."
pg 186
And another thing. Don't ever kid yourself about loving some one. It is just that most people are not lucky enough ever to have it. You never had it before and now you have it. WHat you have with Maria, whether it lasts just through today and a part of tomorrow, or whether it lasts for a long life is the most impartant thing that can happen to a human being. There will always be people who say it does not exist because they cannot have it. But I tell you it is true and that you have it and that you are lucky even if you die tomorrow. pg 322
You could take the pistol out of the drawer and hold it. "Handle it freely," was Grandfather's expression. But you could not play with it was "a serious weapon."
You asked Grandfather once if he had ever killed any one with it and he said, "Yes."
Then you said, "When, Grandfather?" and he said, "In the War of the Rebellion and afterwards."
You said, "Will you tell me about it, Grandfather?"
And he said, "I do not care to speak about it Robert."
Then after your father had shot himself with this pistol, and you had come home from school and they'd had the funeral, the coroner had returned it after the inquest saying, "Bob, I guess you might want to keep the gun. I'm supposed to hold it, but I know your dad set a lot of store by it because his dad packed it all through the War, besides out here when he first came out with the Cavalry, and its still a hell of a good gun. I had her out trying her this afternoon. She don't throw much of a slug but you can hit things with her."
How little we know of what there is to know. I wish that I were going to live a long time instead of going to die today because I have learned much about life in these four days; more, I think, than in all the other time. I'd like to be an old man and to really know, I wonder if you keep on learning or if there is only a certain amount each man can understand. I thought I knew about so many things that I know nothing of. I wish there was more time. pg 402
I have fought for what I believed in for a year now. If we win here we will win everywhere. The world is a fine place and worth the fighting for and I hate very much to leave it. And you had a lot of luck, he told himself, to have had such a good life. YOu've had just as good a life as grandfather's though not as long. You've had as good a life as any one because of these last days. You do not want to complain when you have been so lucky. I wish there was some way to pass on what I've learned, though. Christ, I was learning fast there at the end. I'd like to talk to Karkov. That is in Madrid. Just over the hills there, and down across the plain. DOwn out of the gray rocks and the pines, the heather and the gorse, across the yellow high plateau you see it rising white and beautiful. THat part is just as true as Pilar's old women drinking blood down at the slaughterhouse. There's no one thing that's true. IT's all true. pg 490
Aquariams of Pyongyang
AQUARIUMS OF PYONGYANG
His story - which is equally the story of my family and of all those who leapt so confidently into the maw of misfortune - mostly demonstrates the force of human illusion and its awesome power to render us utterly blind. I have since learned that at other latitudes and at other times, the same Communist powers created similar traps for making people believe and hope in illusions. This led to the misery of countless peoples: in France, in America, in Egypt, and perhaps most notably, in Armenia. Tens of thousands died there in 1947 under the spell of Stalin's propaganda, which had painted the Soviet Socialist Republic of Armenia as the land of milk and honey. The Soviets allowed that much remained to be done and that everyone would have to roll up their sleeves, but it also promised that the ancestral culture and religion would be respected and that the newcomers would shortly see a new generation rise and flourish in social justice. pg 24
One of them came up to my uncle. "What happened?" he asked. "We sent our friends and family letters warning people not to come! Why didn't your family listen?" My uncle turned suddenly pale. My father stepped forward and answered in his place, asking the young man how long he'd been in the North. "A few months," he answered, "but that's long enough to understand." My father insisted that the Chosen Soren had hidden nothing of the difficulties and challenges involved in building the country. "But its just propaganda," responded his interlocutor. "You're not going to build a new life here; your parents will be stripped of all their belongings, then left to die. You'll soon find out what these North Korean Communists are all about." pg 25
Newly arrived and still unfamiliar with what passed for good behavior, I was overanxious to win the teacher's good graces and demonstrate my superiority over the rest of the class. Perhaps the other kids in the room really were bad eggs, but I certainly wasn't. My grandmother had been a member of the National Assembly, and my grandfather had given his entire fortune to the Party. To show I was one of Kim Il-Sung's good soldiers, I kept asking questions and putting in my 2 cents whenever possible.
What a mistake! As the teacher was lecturing about the Nambodu conference and Kim Il-Sung's brilliant speech of April 27th, 1936, I became aware that he was confusing the circumstances surrounding this address with the intrigues of the Dahongdan conference. I raised my hand and asked him about the possible confusion. The man with the revolver walked over with a heavy step and slapped me hard across the face. There was a burst of laughter in the room. The new guy had just got his first lesson. I was terror stricken - though more outraged than sad, more hate-filled than despairing. I decided that I would do everything in my power to undermine that vile brute who was passing himself off as a teacher. I would do like the others and sit there without saying a word. Yet my silent compact would prove a weak palliative against the lasting pain of that episode. In receiving that slap I grasped that my life had fallen in a "nasty place" to recall the phrase of my former Pyongyang comrade. pg 66
The Wild Boar treated us more like animals than children - which, he never failed to remind us, was already a considerable indulgence on his part: "Since your parents are counterrevolutionaries, they deserve to die, and you, their children, along with them. Fortunately for you, the Party is kind and its Great Leader magnanimous. He has granted you a reprieve and the chance to redeem yourselves. You should be grateful, but instead you commit further offenses! Commit too many and you wil not be forgiven!" WE would all lower our eyes, wishing for our torturer's death. Boys and girls were equal beneficiaries of his undiscriminating brutality and his favorite punishment, which consisted of ordering a student down on all fours and making him or her crawl in front of the class saying, "I'm a dog... I'm a dog..." pg 69
My father, uncle and sister seemed as exhausted as I. When we returned to our hut at night and sat around the little low table eating our corn, hardly anyone said a word. As soon as we were done eating, we hurried off to bed, knowing instinctively that to survive here, we'd need to recuperate all the strength we could.
Still, before getting into bed, I would spend a few minutes hunched over my aquarium. It seemed too large now for the 3 or 4 fish that still clung to life. It mattered little that I changed their water and that I provided them food by catching insects during my work. They were having as hard a time at Yodok as I was. Eventually there was only one survivor: a black fish who had succeeded in adjusting to his catch-as-catch-can diet. As temperatures dropped throughout November, he continued to hold strong; then he held out through December too. To keep the aquarium from freezing over, I wrapped it in rags and asked Grandmother to move it near the stove whenever she did any cooking. Yet winter deepened, my efforts seemed everyday more hopeless. The temperature soon fell below freezing in our hut, and we spent our nights shivering in our blankets.
Despite all my cares, the black champion died. Over the last weeks of summer I had gathered roaches, dragonflies, silkworms, and any other bugs that might pass for fish food. I had dried these in the sun and ground them into a powder. My fish accepted the food, but the cold got the better of him. Seeing his lifeless body floating on the surface of the water filled me with great sadness. Yet distraught I wasn't. By this time I was struggling with the problem of my own survival and had little energy left for grieving. What I was staring at was the final dissolution of my former life: a door that was closing. That fish had known our life in Pyongyang and, from time to time, he reminded me of the pebbles, sand and diptychs I had bought at the store around the corner from our house. With his death, my former world had taken another step. pg 75
During this dark period, my uncle first confessed to having attempted suicide. It happened during his first week in the camp, before the rest of the family's arrival. I remember my grandmother listening to his story in complete silience and then just sitting there for the longest time, looking stunned and broken. When she snapped out of it, she stared straight into my uncle's eyes and pronounced the following with a depth and solemnity that admitted no contradiction: "If anyone should die first here, it's me, not you, but me. Don't ever start up with that again." Unsure whether she had succeeded in convincing him, she followed with another argument - or a cry , rather - asking, "How could I live if you died?".
My uncle tried to end it all again the following year. THis time along with my father. When I got home from work my grandmother told me the two of them had gone up to the mountains with the intention of hanging themselves from a tree. I started to shake uncontrollably, then threw myself on my mat and thought about them as hard as I could, muttering, "Come back, come back." I don't know how long I had been this way when I heard the shack door creak open. It was them! I cried from happiness. They had thought themselves ready to depart the camp at any cost, to leave the hunger, the humiliation, the filth, the thrashings. In the end, the only thing that had stopped them was knowing their suicide would bring trouble upon the family. pg 99
THe work did one benefit, though it usually came too late to help the weakest among us. In the fields, it was sometimes possible for us to catch frogs, which were plentiful in this season. The amphibians could be skinned and cooked fresh or set out to dry in the sun and used later. Their eggs were also very much in demand. Besides the frogs, we also ate salamanders that we caught near a sweet-water spring. I never much liked the way they tasted, but they were said to be very nutritious. Eating three a day was supposed to keep you in great shape, like vitamin concentrates, though I have no idea whteher this was science or faith. The way to eat a salamander is to grab it by the tail and swallow it in one quick gulp - before it can discharge a foul-tasting liquid. I often brought my grandmother salamanders so that she would stay healthy, but she never got the knack of swallowing them whole. We kids were the only ones who could do it easily. We ate anything that moved, making even the undiscriminating adults look picky by comparison. By the time a group of prisoners finished working a field, no animal was left alive. Even earthworms were fair game. When we were done with her, nature always needed a couple of seasons to recuperate before she could provide a fresh bounty of food. And yet our hunger remained, piercing, draining. pg 104
Finally the head of the camp stood up to read the condemned man's resume. "The party was willing to forgive this criminal. It gave him the chance here at Yodok to right himself. He chose to betray the Party's trust, and for that he merits execution." During the silence that followed, we could hear the condemned man scream his final imprecations in the truck. "You bastards! I'm innocent!" Then suddenly his cries stopped. We saw 2 agents pull him down from the truck, each holding an arm. It must have been ages since he had last eaten. All skin and bones, it looked as if he were being floated along by the guards. As he passed in front of the prisoners, some shut their eyes. Others lowered their heads out of respect. A few of the prisoners, especially the younger ones, stared widely at the barely human figure, hardly able to believe their eyes. THe unhappy being who walked to his death seemed no longer a member of the family of man. It would have been easy to mistake him for an animal, with his wild hair, his bruises, his crusts of dried blood, his bulging eyes. THen I suddenly noticed his mouth. So that's how they shut him up. They had stuffed it full of rocks. The guards were now tying him to a post with 3 pieces of rope: at eye leve, around the chest and at the waist. As they withdrew, the commanding officer took his place beside the firing squad. "Aim at the traitor of the Fatherland.... fire!" The custom was to shoot three salvos from a distance of five yards. THe first salvo cut the topmost cords, killing the condemned man and causing his head to fall forward. The second salvo cut the chords around his chest and bent him forward further. The third salvo released his last tether, allowing the man's body to drop into the pit in front of him, his tomb. This simplified the burial.
That unfortunately wasn't the worst spectacle that I beheld at Yodok. In the fall of 1986, a condemned prisoner who didn't have enough pebbles stuffed into his mouth, or had somehow managed to spit them out, began proclaiming his innocence and screaming that Kim Il-Sung was a "little dog" - one of the worst things you can call someone in Korean. To shut him up, one of the guards grabbed a big rock and shoved it into the man's mouth, breaking his teeth and turning his face into a bloody mess.
In October of 1985, two prisoners were executed by hanging. The victims members of an elite military unit that had succeeded in fleeing the country. THey were well trained and very familiar with the terrain. One of them got as far as Dandong, China, at the mouth of the Yalu River, before he was stopped by CHinese security forces and sent back to North Korea. The Korean authorities had searched for them everywhere, even in the camp. For 2 weeks, Yodok's prisoners were mobilized in the effort and forced to scour the camp grounds every afternoon. ..... It wasn't until we were called to Ipsok one morning that we learned they had been caught. Adding to our surprise were the gallows that had been erected in place of the usual execution posts. Our two heroes were brought forward with their heads sheathed in white hoods. The guards led them up to the scaffold and slipped nooses around their necks. The first fugitive was nothing short of skeletal, but the second one, the one who had gotten as far as Dandong, looked like he still had some reserves of energy. Yet he was quicker to die. The other one clung to life, wriggling at the end of his rope like some crazed animal. IT was a horrible sight. Urine started trickling down both their pants. I had the strange feeling of being swallowed up in a world where the earth and sky had changed places. 138 to 140
Once both men were finally dead, the 2 or 3 thousand prisoners in attendance were instructed to each pick up a stone and hurl it at the corpses while yelling, "Down with the traitors of the people!" We did as we were told, but our disgust was written all over our faces. Most of us closed our eyes, or lowered our heads, to avoid seeing the mutilated bodies oozing with black-red blood. Some of the newer prisoners - most of them recently arrived from Japan - were so disgusted they couldn't cast their stones. Other inmates, seeing an opportunity to rise in the estimation of camp officials, chose especially large rocks, which they hurled hard at the corpses' heads. The skin on the victims' faces eventually came undone and nothing remained of their clothing but a few bloody shreds. By the time my turn came, stones were heaped at the foot of the gallows. The corpses were kept dangling on the ropes all through the night, guarded by security agents, who made sure no one would try to bury them. To keep warm, the sentinals built a fire, which still smoked in the morning as the crows began circling above the lifeless bodies. It was a ghastly scene. Awful. pg 141
I attended some fifteen executions during my time in Yodok. With the exception of the man who was caught stealing 650 pounds of corn, they were all for attempted escape. No matter how many executions I saw, I was never able to get used to them, was never calm enough to gather herbs while waiting for the show to begin. I don't blame the prisoners who unaffectedly went about their business. People who are hungry don't have the heart to think about others. Sometimes they can't even care for their own family. Hunger quashes man's will to help his fellow man. I've seen fathers steal food from their own children's lunchboxes. As they scarf down the corn, they have only one overpowering desire: to placate, if even for just one moment, that feeling of insufferable need.
Ceding to hunger, acting like an animal: these are the things anyone is capable of, professor, worker, and peasant alike. I saw for myself how little these distinctions mattered, how thoroughly hunger alters one's reason. A person dying of hunger will grab a rat and eat it without hesitation. Yet as soon as he begins to regain his strength, his dignity returns, and he thinks to himself, I'm a human being. How could I have descended so low? This high-mindedness never lasts long. THe hunger inevitably comes back to gnaw at him again, and he's off to set another trap. Even when my grandmother was suffering from pellagra, the thought of bringing her soup only crossed my mind after I devoured a few rabbit heads. What leftovers I did bring her, she pounced on with avidity, searching furiously for any remaining shreds of meat. Only after she had eaten her fill did she stop to ask whether I had eaten. Once she was cured of the disease, she became her old self again, stoically mastering her hunger while preparing the family meals. pg 142
Where does reality start? Where does the dream end? Was it I who dreamed of being a butterfly, or the butterfly who dreamed of being me? My obsession with death was not confined to nightmares, but sometimes appeared in daytime, disturbing my fanatical desire to survive. Death often seemed preferable to the hell all around me; but the thought of the cold wet earth that would swallow me was enough to turn me back toward life.
As the years passed, another feeling began to disturb my daily existence: the feeling of injustice, which grew sharper when i considered the discrepancy between everything I had been taught and all that I was living. My opinions evolved much as had my grandmother's - surprise gave way to a sense of injustice, which in turn transformed into indignation and silent denunciation. We had always been taught to think and speak in accordance with our Great Leader's irrecusable axioms, but the guards' actions continually contradicted them. I had memorized almost the entirely A Letter to New Korea's Much Beloved Children, which Kim Il-Sung wrote for the occasion of the Day of Children, "who are the treasure of our country and its future.... " And yet I was being made to pay for my grandfather's crimes. I was no longer the jewel in Kim Il-Sung's eye. I was a prisoner: filthy, tattered, hungry, spent. All those beautiful words had been flouted with perfect impunity. pg 153
I once believed that man was different from other animals, but Yodok showed me that reality doesn't support this opinion. In the camp, there was no difference between man and beast, except maybe that a very hungry human was capable of stealing food from its little ones while an animal, perhaps, was not. I also saw many people die in the camp, and their deaths looked like that of other animals. pg 160
His illness worsened at the end of November 1987. THe pain was not as acute as it had been on several earlier occasions, but he was now bedridden. I remember his last day. He was lying calmly in bed with his eyes closed, when his whole body suddenly went slack. He made a little gesture with his hand, smiling slightly - what I later realized was his final farewell. That's how he died, without our even realizing it. That scene changed my perception of death. Previously, it always wore a mask of terror; I never imagined it could be so peaceful. Since then, death no longer scares me. My father showed me it could be a moment for smiling. pg 166
THe other challenge was avoiding static. THe signal was always clearest between 11 pm and 5 am. We liked listening to the CHristian programs on KBS. The message of love and respect for one's fellow man was sweet as honey to us. It was so different from what were used to hearing. IN North Korea, the state-run radio and television, newspapers, teachers and even comic strips only tried to fill us with hate - for the imperialists, the class enemies, traitors, and who knows what else! pg 185
I told my family i would be going away for a few days and, on the eve of my departure, informed my girlfriend that I wouldn't see her for a while because of work. I got into a car. The window was slightly open and I stretched out my hand to take hers. I nearly burst into tears. I had lied to her, I was leaving and she thought I was coming back. It was unbearable. I'm sure she hated me for leaving the way I did, but there was no other way. pg 193
From a human rights perspective, my case was shocking. Yet how many people really care about the fate of a refugee lost in China? Like every government in the world, the South Korean government acts on the basis of national interests. The way it handles refugee matters in no exception. Yet to consider the plight of refugees exclusively as a matter of national interest amounts to neglecting the rights of individuals. In Seoul, many years later, I ran into the same diplomat who had received me so coldly. "You must realize," he began by way of apology, "that establishing our burgeoning diplomatic relations with China had taken us a very long time and required enormous efforts. We simply could not allow ourselves to act in a manner that would place China in an embarrassing situation vis-a-vis its ally in the North. pg 206
Madame Yi's offer was tempting, but I felt I hadn't yet come to the end of my journey. South Korea attracted me more than ever. During my time in Dalian, I learned more about the country. I had heard it was richer than China and incomparably more democratic. My curiosity was piqued. After 10 years in Yodok, I also felt an obligation to the people I'd left behind. I had to expose the existence of these camps, to denounce the way North Korea's population was being walled in, surveyed, and punished under the slightest pretext. I had to tell my grandfather's story. In South Korea this would be most possible. pg 214
Our initial anxieties - after 25 years in NOrth Korea, its no small matter to be moved into a South Korean security office - lessened. The even-tempered agents never ceased to astonish me. They were made of different stuff than the ones I had encountered in the North. ONe of my 2 interrogators in particular seemed to develop a strong liking for me. He often brought me a book, some money, or a little something special to eat. Even if it was part of his job, a true bond developed, a bond of man to man. We've remained friends to this day. In time, I was granted authorization to leave the interrogation center - with a companion of course. He showed me the famous sites of Seoul: City Hall, Namdaemun, the banks of the Han River, the parks, Itaewaon. One evening, we went up to the Namsam Television and saw all of Seoul lit up below us. The view filled me with wonder. pg 222
THe citizens of South Korea should realize they have an important role to play in welcoming refugees. They aren't just people who have fled something; they are people who have a hard time adapting and a hard time forgetting what they have endured. I continue to have dreams in which I am running across the Yalu or in the mountains, North Korean security agents hot on my trail. It is not enough for people to say they are for reunification. Their actions need to prove it. The rhetoric of reunification is one thing, people's attitudes toward North Korean renegades quite another. I don't question the South Korean population's desire for reunification, even though a large segment couldn't care less one way or another. What I do wish to denounce - based on my experience - are the countless prejudices that are held against people from the North. Their poverty and economic inferiority are too often taken as a reflection of some natural inferiority. I myself have been the target of such misperceptions: whenever I dress elegantly, people look at me with suspicion. I'm not acting the way I'm expected to. The same goes for work. Money is so important in South Korea, I always felt I would never be seen as equal unless I earned lots of money. pg 231
.... much remains to be done. Over the last 10 years, the situation in North Korea has continued to deteriorate. Refugees now crossing into China over the Yalu, or farther east over the Tumen River, tell us terrible things about the conditions in North Korea. Eyewitness accounts gathered by Good Friends - a Buddhist inspired association - are crushing. People have been reduced to eating grass and the bark of young pines and sycamores. Haggard children wander about with their skin often black and rotting from infection. As soon as the first cold spells hit, they die of typhoid fever of cholera. Families are being torn apart. Parents frequently abandon their youngest children in the hope that someone better off might find them and give them a home. People try to cross the border without means or protection. pg 231
We are told that the answer to these little problems - the respect for human rights, the concentration camps, the kidnaping of South Korean and Japanese citizens - currently is not of primary concern. We are told that this debate would be better left for another day, that the North Koreans' lot should improve before we undertake reunification; but by then they'll all be dead!
Reunification is inevitable, but it can only take place once Pyongyang has stopped crucifying the population under its control. How can we stand by while troops of orphans cross the Yalu and Tumen rivers seeking refuge in China? How can we stand by while parents sell their daughters for something to eat? I don't want to see any more skeletal children with wide, frightened eyes. I don't want any more children sent to the camps and their mothers forced to divorce their fathers. pg 238
His story - which is equally the story of my family and of all those who leapt so confidently into the maw of misfortune - mostly demonstrates the force of human illusion and its awesome power to render us utterly blind. I have since learned that at other latitudes and at other times, the same Communist powers created similar traps for making people believe and hope in illusions. This led to the misery of countless peoples: in France, in America, in Egypt, and perhaps most notably, in Armenia. Tens of thousands died there in 1947 under the spell of Stalin's propaganda, which had painted the Soviet Socialist Republic of Armenia as the land of milk and honey. The Soviets allowed that much remained to be done and that everyone would have to roll up their sleeves, but it also promised that the ancestral culture and religion would be respected and that the newcomers would shortly see a new generation rise and flourish in social justice. pg 24
One of them came up to my uncle. "What happened?" he asked. "We sent our friends and family letters warning people not to come! Why didn't your family listen?" My uncle turned suddenly pale. My father stepped forward and answered in his place, asking the young man how long he'd been in the North. "A few months," he answered, "but that's long enough to understand." My father insisted that the Chosen Soren had hidden nothing of the difficulties and challenges involved in building the country. "But its just propaganda," responded his interlocutor. "You're not going to build a new life here; your parents will be stripped of all their belongings, then left to die. You'll soon find out what these North Korean Communists are all about." pg 25
Newly arrived and still unfamiliar with what passed for good behavior, I was overanxious to win the teacher's good graces and demonstrate my superiority over the rest of the class. Perhaps the other kids in the room really were bad eggs, but I certainly wasn't. My grandmother had been a member of the National Assembly, and my grandfather had given his entire fortune to the Party. To show I was one of Kim Il-Sung's good soldiers, I kept asking questions and putting in my 2 cents whenever possible.
What a mistake! As the teacher was lecturing about the Nambodu conference and Kim Il-Sung's brilliant speech of April 27th, 1936, I became aware that he was confusing the circumstances surrounding this address with the intrigues of the Dahongdan conference. I raised my hand and asked him about the possible confusion. The man with the revolver walked over with a heavy step and slapped me hard across the face. There was a burst of laughter in the room. The new guy had just got his first lesson. I was terror stricken - though more outraged than sad, more hate-filled than despairing. I decided that I would do everything in my power to undermine that vile brute who was passing himself off as a teacher. I would do like the others and sit there without saying a word. Yet my silent compact would prove a weak palliative against the lasting pain of that episode. In receiving that slap I grasped that my life had fallen in a "nasty place" to recall the phrase of my former Pyongyang comrade. pg 66
The Wild Boar treated us more like animals than children - which, he never failed to remind us, was already a considerable indulgence on his part: "Since your parents are counterrevolutionaries, they deserve to die, and you, their children, along with them. Fortunately for you, the Party is kind and its Great Leader magnanimous. He has granted you a reprieve and the chance to redeem yourselves. You should be grateful, but instead you commit further offenses! Commit too many and you wil not be forgiven!" WE would all lower our eyes, wishing for our torturer's death. Boys and girls were equal beneficiaries of his undiscriminating brutality and his favorite punishment, which consisted of ordering a student down on all fours and making him or her crawl in front of the class saying, "I'm a dog... I'm a dog..." pg 69
My father, uncle and sister seemed as exhausted as I. When we returned to our hut at night and sat around the little low table eating our corn, hardly anyone said a word. As soon as we were done eating, we hurried off to bed, knowing instinctively that to survive here, we'd need to recuperate all the strength we could.
Still, before getting into bed, I would spend a few minutes hunched over my aquarium. It seemed too large now for the 3 or 4 fish that still clung to life. It mattered little that I changed their water and that I provided them food by catching insects during my work. They were having as hard a time at Yodok as I was. Eventually there was only one survivor: a black fish who had succeeded in adjusting to his catch-as-catch-can diet. As temperatures dropped throughout November, he continued to hold strong; then he held out through December too. To keep the aquarium from freezing over, I wrapped it in rags and asked Grandmother to move it near the stove whenever she did any cooking. Yet winter deepened, my efforts seemed everyday more hopeless. The temperature soon fell below freezing in our hut, and we spent our nights shivering in our blankets.
Despite all my cares, the black champion died. Over the last weeks of summer I had gathered roaches, dragonflies, silkworms, and any other bugs that might pass for fish food. I had dried these in the sun and ground them into a powder. My fish accepted the food, but the cold got the better of him. Seeing his lifeless body floating on the surface of the water filled me with great sadness. Yet distraught I wasn't. By this time I was struggling with the problem of my own survival and had little energy left for grieving. What I was staring at was the final dissolution of my former life: a door that was closing. That fish had known our life in Pyongyang and, from time to time, he reminded me of the pebbles, sand and diptychs I had bought at the store around the corner from our house. With his death, my former world had taken another step. pg 75
During this dark period, my uncle first confessed to having attempted suicide. It happened during his first week in the camp, before the rest of the family's arrival. I remember my grandmother listening to his story in complete silience and then just sitting there for the longest time, looking stunned and broken. When she snapped out of it, she stared straight into my uncle's eyes and pronounced the following with a depth and solemnity that admitted no contradiction: "If anyone should die first here, it's me, not you, but me. Don't ever start up with that again." Unsure whether she had succeeded in convincing him, she followed with another argument - or a cry , rather - asking, "How could I live if you died?".
My uncle tried to end it all again the following year. THis time along with my father. When I got home from work my grandmother told me the two of them had gone up to the mountains with the intention of hanging themselves from a tree. I started to shake uncontrollably, then threw myself on my mat and thought about them as hard as I could, muttering, "Come back, come back." I don't know how long I had been this way when I heard the shack door creak open. It was them! I cried from happiness. They had thought themselves ready to depart the camp at any cost, to leave the hunger, the humiliation, the filth, the thrashings. In the end, the only thing that had stopped them was knowing their suicide would bring trouble upon the family. pg 99
THe work did one benefit, though it usually came too late to help the weakest among us. In the fields, it was sometimes possible for us to catch frogs, which were plentiful in this season. The amphibians could be skinned and cooked fresh or set out to dry in the sun and used later. Their eggs were also very much in demand. Besides the frogs, we also ate salamanders that we caught near a sweet-water spring. I never much liked the way they tasted, but they were said to be very nutritious. Eating three a day was supposed to keep you in great shape, like vitamin concentrates, though I have no idea whteher this was science or faith. The way to eat a salamander is to grab it by the tail and swallow it in one quick gulp - before it can discharge a foul-tasting liquid. I often brought my grandmother salamanders so that she would stay healthy, but she never got the knack of swallowing them whole. We kids were the only ones who could do it easily. We ate anything that moved, making even the undiscriminating adults look picky by comparison. By the time a group of prisoners finished working a field, no animal was left alive. Even earthworms were fair game. When we were done with her, nature always needed a couple of seasons to recuperate before she could provide a fresh bounty of food. And yet our hunger remained, piercing, draining. pg 104
Finally the head of the camp stood up to read the condemned man's resume. "The party was willing to forgive this criminal. It gave him the chance here at Yodok to right himself. He chose to betray the Party's trust, and for that he merits execution." During the silence that followed, we could hear the condemned man scream his final imprecations in the truck. "You bastards! I'm innocent!" Then suddenly his cries stopped. We saw 2 agents pull him down from the truck, each holding an arm. It must have been ages since he had last eaten. All skin and bones, it looked as if he were being floated along by the guards. As he passed in front of the prisoners, some shut their eyes. Others lowered their heads out of respect. A few of the prisoners, especially the younger ones, stared widely at the barely human figure, hardly able to believe their eyes. THe unhappy being who walked to his death seemed no longer a member of the family of man. It would have been easy to mistake him for an animal, with his wild hair, his bruises, his crusts of dried blood, his bulging eyes. THen I suddenly noticed his mouth. So that's how they shut him up. They had stuffed it full of rocks. The guards were now tying him to a post with 3 pieces of rope: at eye leve, around the chest and at the waist. As they withdrew, the commanding officer took his place beside the firing squad. "Aim at the traitor of the Fatherland.... fire!" The custom was to shoot three salvos from a distance of five yards. THe first salvo cut the topmost cords, killing the condemned man and causing his head to fall forward. The second salvo cut the chords around his chest and bent him forward further. The third salvo released his last tether, allowing the man's body to drop into the pit in front of him, his tomb. This simplified the burial.
That unfortunately wasn't the worst spectacle that I beheld at Yodok. In the fall of 1986, a condemned prisoner who didn't have enough pebbles stuffed into his mouth, or had somehow managed to spit them out, began proclaiming his innocence and screaming that Kim Il-Sung was a "little dog" - one of the worst things you can call someone in Korean. To shut him up, one of the guards grabbed a big rock and shoved it into the man's mouth, breaking his teeth and turning his face into a bloody mess.
In October of 1985, two prisoners were executed by hanging. The victims members of an elite military unit that had succeeded in fleeing the country. THey were well trained and very familiar with the terrain. One of them got as far as Dandong, China, at the mouth of the Yalu River, before he was stopped by CHinese security forces and sent back to North Korea. The Korean authorities had searched for them everywhere, even in the camp. For 2 weeks, Yodok's prisoners were mobilized in the effort and forced to scour the camp grounds every afternoon. ..... It wasn't until we were called to Ipsok one morning that we learned they had been caught. Adding to our surprise were the gallows that had been erected in place of the usual execution posts. Our two heroes were brought forward with their heads sheathed in white hoods. The guards led them up to the scaffold and slipped nooses around their necks. The first fugitive was nothing short of skeletal, but the second one, the one who had gotten as far as Dandong, looked like he still had some reserves of energy. Yet he was quicker to die. The other one clung to life, wriggling at the end of his rope like some crazed animal. IT was a horrible sight. Urine started trickling down both their pants. I had the strange feeling of being swallowed up in a world where the earth and sky had changed places. 138 to 140
Once both men were finally dead, the 2 or 3 thousand prisoners in attendance were instructed to each pick up a stone and hurl it at the corpses while yelling, "Down with the traitors of the people!" We did as we were told, but our disgust was written all over our faces. Most of us closed our eyes, or lowered our heads, to avoid seeing the mutilated bodies oozing with black-red blood. Some of the newer prisoners - most of them recently arrived from Japan - were so disgusted they couldn't cast their stones. Other inmates, seeing an opportunity to rise in the estimation of camp officials, chose especially large rocks, which they hurled hard at the corpses' heads. The skin on the victims' faces eventually came undone and nothing remained of their clothing but a few bloody shreds. By the time my turn came, stones were heaped at the foot of the gallows. The corpses were kept dangling on the ropes all through the night, guarded by security agents, who made sure no one would try to bury them. To keep warm, the sentinals built a fire, which still smoked in the morning as the crows began circling above the lifeless bodies. It was a ghastly scene. Awful. pg 141
I attended some fifteen executions during my time in Yodok. With the exception of the man who was caught stealing 650 pounds of corn, they were all for attempted escape. No matter how many executions I saw, I was never able to get used to them, was never calm enough to gather herbs while waiting for the show to begin. I don't blame the prisoners who unaffectedly went about their business. People who are hungry don't have the heart to think about others. Sometimes they can't even care for their own family. Hunger quashes man's will to help his fellow man. I've seen fathers steal food from their own children's lunchboxes. As they scarf down the corn, they have only one overpowering desire: to placate, if even for just one moment, that feeling of insufferable need.
Ceding to hunger, acting like an animal: these are the things anyone is capable of, professor, worker, and peasant alike. I saw for myself how little these distinctions mattered, how thoroughly hunger alters one's reason. A person dying of hunger will grab a rat and eat it without hesitation. Yet as soon as he begins to regain his strength, his dignity returns, and he thinks to himself, I'm a human being. How could I have descended so low? This high-mindedness never lasts long. THe hunger inevitably comes back to gnaw at him again, and he's off to set another trap. Even when my grandmother was suffering from pellagra, the thought of bringing her soup only crossed my mind after I devoured a few rabbit heads. What leftovers I did bring her, she pounced on with avidity, searching furiously for any remaining shreds of meat. Only after she had eaten her fill did she stop to ask whether I had eaten. Once she was cured of the disease, she became her old self again, stoically mastering her hunger while preparing the family meals. pg 142
Where does reality start? Where does the dream end? Was it I who dreamed of being a butterfly, or the butterfly who dreamed of being me? My obsession with death was not confined to nightmares, but sometimes appeared in daytime, disturbing my fanatical desire to survive. Death often seemed preferable to the hell all around me; but the thought of the cold wet earth that would swallow me was enough to turn me back toward life.
As the years passed, another feeling began to disturb my daily existence: the feeling of injustice, which grew sharper when i considered the discrepancy between everything I had been taught and all that I was living. My opinions evolved much as had my grandmother's - surprise gave way to a sense of injustice, which in turn transformed into indignation and silent denunciation. We had always been taught to think and speak in accordance with our Great Leader's irrecusable axioms, but the guards' actions continually contradicted them. I had memorized almost the entirely A Letter to New Korea's Much Beloved Children, which Kim Il-Sung wrote for the occasion of the Day of Children, "who are the treasure of our country and its future.... " And yet I was being made to pay for my grandfather's crimes. I was no longer the jewel in Kim Il-Sung's eye. I was a prisoner: filthy, tattered, hungry, spent. All those beautiful words had been flouted with perfect impunity. pg 153
I once believed that man was different from other animals, but Yodok showed me that reality doesn't support this opinion. In the camp, there was no difference between man and beast, except maybe that a very hungry human was capable of stealing food from its little ones while an animal, perhaps, was not. I also saw many people die in the camp, and their deaths looked like that of other animals. pg 160
His illness worsened at the end of November 1987. THe pain was not as acute as it had been on several earlier occasions, but he was now bedridden. I remember his last day. He was lying calmly in bed with his eyes closed, when his whole body suddenly went slack. He made a little gesture with his hand, smiling slightly - what I later realized was his final farewell. That's how he died, without our even realizing it. That scene changed my perception of death. Previously, it always wore a mask of terror; I never imagined it could be so peaceful. Since then, death no longer scares me. My father showed me it could be a moment for smiling. pg 166
THe other challenge was avoiding static. THe signal was always clearest between 11 pm and 5 am. We liked listening to the CHristian programs on KBS. The message of love and respect for one's fellow man was sweet as honey to us. It was so different from what were used to hearing. IN North Korea, the state-run radio and television, newspapers, teachers and even comic strips only tried to fill us with hate - for the imperialists, the class enemies, traitors, and who knows what else! pg 185
I told my family i would be going away for a few days and, on the eve of my departure, informed my girlfriend that I wouldn't see her for a while because of work. I got into a car. The window was slightly open and I stretched out my hand to take hers. I nearly burst into tears. I had lied to her, I was leaving and she thought I was coming back. It was unbearable. I'm sure she hated me for leaving the way I did, but there was no other way. pg 193
From a human rights perspective, my case was shocking. Yet how many people really care about the fate of a refugee lost in China? Like every government in the world, the South Korean government acts on the basis of national interests. The way it handles refugee matters in no exception. Yet to consider the plight of refugees exclusively as a matter of national interest amounts to neglecting the rights of individuals. In Seoul, many years later, I ran into the same diplomat who had received me so coldly. "You must realize," he began by way of apology, "that establishing our burgeoning diplomatic relations with China had taken us a very long time and required enormous efforts. We simply could not allow ourselves to act in a manner that would place China in an embarrassing situation vis-a-vis its ally in the North. pg 206
Madame Yi's offer was tempting, but I felt I hadn't yet come to the end of my journey. South Korea attracted me more than ever. During my time in Dalian, I learned more about the country. I had heard it was richer than China and incomparably more democratic. My curiosity was piqued. After 10 years in Yodok, I also felt an obligation to the people I'd left behind. I had to expose the existence of these camps, to denounce the way North Korea's population was being walled in, surveyed, and punished under the slightest pretext. I had to tell my grandfather's story. In South Korea this would be most possible. pg 214
Our initial anxieties - after 25 years in NOrth Korea, its no small matter to be moved into a South Korean security office - lessened. The even-tempered agents never ceased to astonish me. They were made of different stuff than the ones I had encountered in the North. ONe of my 2 interrogators in particular seemed to develop a strong liking for me. He often brought me a book, some money, or a little something special to eat. Even if it was part of his job, a true bond developed, a bond of man to man. We've remained friends to this day. In time, I was granted authorization to leave the interrogation center - with a companion of course. He showed me the famous sites of Seoul: City Hall, Namdaemun, the banks of the Han River, the parks, Itaewaon. One evening, we went up to the Namsam Television and saw all of Seoul lit up below us. The view filled me with wonder. pg 222
THe citizens of South Korea should realize they have an important role to play in welcoming refugees. They aren't just people who have fled something; they are people who have a hard time adapting and a hard time forgetting what they have endured. I continue to have dreams in which I am running across the Yalu or in the mountains, North Korean security agents hot on my trail. It is not enough for people to say they are for reunification. Their actions need to prove it. The rhetoric of reunification is one thing, people's attitudes toward North Korean renegades quite another. I don't question the South Korean population's desire for reunification, even though a large segment couldn't care less one way or another. What I do wish to denounce - based on my experience - are the countless prejudices that are held against people from the North. Their poverty and economic inferiority are too often taken as a reflection of some natural inferiority. I myself have been the target of such misperceptions: whenever I dress elegantly, people look at me with suspicion. I'm not acting the way I'm expected to. The same goes for work. Money is so important in South Korea, I always felt I would never be seen as equal unless I earned lots of money. pg 231
.... much remains to be done. Over the last 10 years, the situation in North Korea has continued to deteriorate. Refugees now crossing into China over the Yalu, or farther east over the Tumen River, tell us terrible things about the conditions in North Korea. Eyewitness accounts gathered by Good Friends - a Buddhist inspired association - are crushing. People have been reduced to eating grass and the bark of young pines and sycamores. Haggard children wander about with their skin often black and rotting from infection. As soon as the first cold spells hit, they die of typhoid fever of cholera. Families are being torn apart. Parents frequently abandon their youngest children in the hope that someone better off might find them and give them a home. People try to cross the border without means or protection. pg 231
We are told that the answer to these little problems - the respect for human rights, the concentration camps, the kidnaping of South Korean and Japanese citizens - currently is not of primary concern. We are told that this debate would be better left for another day, that the North Koreans' lot should improve before we undertake reunification; but by then they'll all be dead!
Reunification is inevitable, but it can only take place once Pyongyang has stopped crucifying the population under its control. How can we stand by while troops of orphans cross the Yalu and Tumen rivers seeking refuge in China? How can we stand by while parents sell their daughters for something to eat? I don't want to see any more skeletal children with wide, frightened eyes. I don't want any more children sent to the camps and their mothers forced to divorce their fathers. pg 238
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Sing Children Sing Hymns
1 A certain man of whom we read
Who lived in days of old
Though he was rich, he felt his need
Of something more than gold.
Oh yes, my friend there's something more,
Something more than gold;
To know your sins are all forgiven,
Is better far than gold.
It happened on a certain day,
This little man was told,
That Jesus soon would pass that way
With something more than gold,
He climbed a tree above the crowd
So that he might behold
The blessed One with power to give
Something more than gold
The savior came along that way,
And saw him up the tree,
Then calling to him, Jesus said,
"I must abide with thee"
5. A robe of white, a crown of gold
A harp, a home, a mansion fair,
A victor's crown, and joy untold
Are mine when i get there
For Jesus is my Savior
He paid my debt on Calvary's mountain
I'm happy in HIs wondrous love
I'm drinking yes I'm drinking at the fountain.
6. A ruler once came to Jesus by night
To ask him the way of salvation and light;
The Master made answer in words true and plain.
"Ye must be born again"
"Ye must be born again"
"Ye must be born again"
I verify verily say unto you
"Ye must be born again"
Ye children of men, attend to the word
So solemnly uttered by Jesus the Lord
And let not this message to you be in vain;
"Ye must be born again"
O ye who would enter this glorious rest,
And sing with the ransomed the song of the blest
The life everlasting if ye would obtain;
"Ye must be born again"
7. A women went to fill her waterpot
Down at the bottom of the well,
But Jesus gave her water that was not
Down at the bottom of the well,
She went away happy and gay
Back to her home, never more to roam
Because she got water that was not
Down at the bottom of the well
13. Be careful little eyes what you see
Be careful little eyes what you see
There's a Saviour up above
Watching over you in love
So be careful, be careful what you see
Be careful little ears what you hear, etc.
Be careful little hands what you do, etc.
Be careful little feet where you go, etc.
Be careful little tongues what you say, etc.
14. Behold, Behold
I stand at the door and knock, knock, knock
Behold, Behold:
I stand at the door and knock, knock, knock
If any girl hear my voice,
If any boy hear my voice
And will open, open, open the door i will come in
20. Christ, the Savior of sinners came
Into the world to save:
Sing His glory, His worth his fame
Jesus alone can save
No name else is given
Search through earth and heaven
Jesus alone, Jesus alone
Jesus alone can Save
Works of righteousness all in vain
Jesus alone can save
His blood cleanses from every stain
Jesus alone can save
Now his work's completed
Now in glory seated
Jesus alone, Jesus alone,
Jesus alone can save
Suffer children forbid them not
Jesus alone can save
He can cleanse them from every spot
Jesus alone can save
Now his work's completed
Now in Glory seated
Jesus alone Jesus alone
Jesus alone can save
31 Everybody ought to know, Everybody ought to know,
Everybody ought to know, who Jesus is (Repeat)
On the cross he died for sinners
And His blood makes white as snow:
Living, Loving coming Saviour
He's the One you ought to know
Everybody ought to know, Everybody ought to know,
Everybody ought to know, who Jesus is (Repeat)
He's the Author of Salvation
Condemnation He did bear
Jesus died for all the sinners
Everybody, everywhere
Everybody ought to know, Everybody ought to know,
Everybody ought to know, who Jesus is (Repeat)
He's beloved of GOd, the Father
He's the bright and morning Star,
He's the Fairest of ten thousand
Everybody ought to know
32 For God so loved the world
He gave his only Son
To die to Calvary's tree
From sin to set me free
Some day He's coming back
What glory that will be
Wonderful His love to me
37 Give me oil in my lamp keep me burning
Give me oil in my lamp i pray
Give me oil in my lamp keep me burning
Keep me burning til the break of day
Sing Hosannah, sing Hosannah
Sing Hosannah to the King of Kings
Sing Hosannah, sing Hosannah
Sing Hosannah to the King of Kings
43 God's word is like a hammer
It breaketh the rock in twain:
A lamp to guide our footsteps
And a light on the stormy main;
A sword that hath two edges,
A mirror, myself to see
Oh, yes it is the best of books,
The B I B L E
God's word is like a lighthouse
On a wild and stormy sea,
For it points to Christ the Savior,
Bidding us from wrath to flee
He wrote it by His Spirit
It was given for you and me
Oh yes it is the best of books
The B I B L E
53. He's ready he's willing
He's able to save you.
Only believe his word.
He loves you, He wants you,
He died to redeem you,
Only believe His word.
There's nothing to do,
There's nothing to buy
Remember for you
He left his mansions on high
And now he's ready, He's willing,
He's able to save you
Only believe his word
55 I am so glad that our father in heaven
Tells of His love in the Book He has given
Wonderful things in the Bible I see
This is the dearest that Jesus loves me
I am so glad that Jesus loves me
Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me
I am so glad that Jesus loves me
Jesus loves even me
Oh if there's only one song i can sing
When in his beauty i see the great King
This shall my song in eternity be
Oh what a wonder that Jesus loves me.
Jesus loves me and i know i love Him
Love brought Him down my lost soul to redeem
Yes it was love made Him die on the tree
Oh I am certain that Jesus loves me
58 I am the Way the Truth and the Life
That's what Jesus said
I am the Way the Truth and the Life
That's what Jesus said
Without the way there is no going,
Without the truth there is no knowing,
Without the life there is no growing,
I am the Way the Truth and the Life
That's what Jesus said
60 I have a wonderful treasure
The gift of God without measure
We will travel together
My Bible and I
Wicked men won't believe it
We gladly receive it
We will travel together
My Bible and I
I have a wonderful Savior
He will keep me forever
Should govern all my behavior
My Saviour and I
61 I'm so happy and here's the reason why
Jesus took my burden all away
Now I'm singing as the days go by,
Jesus took my burden all away
Once my heart was heavy with a load of sin
Jesus took my load and gave me peace within
Now I'm happy and that's the reason why:
Jesus took my burden all away
64 If your heart is troubled
And you have no peace at all
Won't you come and trust the Saviour
Won't you answer when he calls
He has died to save you
And to cleanse you from all sin
He will make you glad and He
Will give you peace within
So let the Saviour in
He'll banish every sin
Troubles, doubts and fears
That have burdened you for years
Heaven will be yours
Eternity with Him
If you'll open up your heart
And let the Saviour in
Satan tries to hinder you
He makes the world look bright
Then he whispers in your ear
Put it off another night
Oh my friend your soul will live
Throughout eternity
Either up in Heav'n or down in hell,
What will you answer be
So let the saviour in....
69 Jesus bids us shine
With a clear pure light
Like a little candle
Burning in the night
In this world of darkness
So we must shine
You in your small corner
And I in mine
Jesus bids us shine
First of all for Him
Well He sees and knows it
If our light grow dim
He looks down from Heaven
To see us shine
You in your small corner
And I in mine
Jesus bids us shine
Next for all around
Many kinds of darkness
In this world abound
Sin and want and sorrow
So we must shine
You in your small corner
And I in mine
75 Jesus loves me this i know
For the bible tells me so
Little ones to Him belong
They are weak but he is strong
Yes Jesus loves me, Yes Jesus loves me
Yes Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so
Jesus loves me He who died
Heaven's gate to open wide
He will wash away my sin
Let his ransomed one come in
Jesus loves me He will stay
Close beside me all the way
When He comes or when I die
He will take me home on high
Saviour take this heart of mine
Make it pure and wholly thine
Thou hast bled and died for me
May i henceforth live for Thee
84 Matthew Mark Luke and John
The Acts the Epistle to the Romans,
First and Second Corinthians
Galatians and Ephesians
Phillippians and Colossians
First and Second Thessalonians
First and Second Timothy
Titus and Philemon
Hebrews, James, First and Second Peter
First John, Second John, Third John
Jude and Revelation
89 New for little children
Hark! how sweet the sound
Rolling in its fullness
To earth's farthest bound
News of God's salvation,
News with blessings rife
Saving, helping, cheering
Wondrous words of life
Listen to the message
Precious words and true
Joy and peace and pardon
God is offering you
Love for little children
Sent from God's own throne
Love how sweet the tidings
Each can make his own
Love that maketh happy
Love that maketh blest
Love that gives the weary
Full and perfect rest
Peace for little children
Peace from God on high
Brought by Christ the Saviour
When He came to die
Made in Calvarys darkness
Sealed with Jesus' blood
To the world proclaimed
Perfect peace with God
Joy for little children
Oh such perfect joy
Not like earth's enchantments
Full of earth's alloy
But a joy that resteth
On foundation sure
Joy for God hath said it
Which must e'er endure
90
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 God has made a way to heave
7 6 5 4 3 2 1 through the blood of his dear Son
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 I may enter heavens gate
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 By His grace and so may you
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 I may make the Saviour mine
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 Jesus says Come unto Me
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Jesus died for sinful men
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 Tell the story o'er and o'er
93 Oh happy day that fixed my choice
On Thee, my Saviour and my God
Well may this glowing heart rejoice
And tell its rapture all abroad
O happy day, o happy day
When Jesus washed my sins away
He taught me how to watch and pray
And live rejoicing every day
Happy Day, O happy day
When Jesus washed my sins away
Tis done the great transaction's done
I am my Lord's and He is mine
He drew me and I followed on
Charmed to confess the voice Divine
98 Only a lad called David only a little sling
Only a lad called David but he could play and sing
Only a lad called David only a rippling brook
Only a lad called David yet five smooth stones he took
One little stone went in the sling and the sling went round and round
One little stone went in the sling and the sling went round and round
Oh round and round round and round round and round and round
One little stone went through the air and giant fell to the ground
101 Romans ten and nine
Is a favorite verse of mine
Confessing Christ as Lord
I am saved by grace divine
For there the words
114 The bible stands like a rock undaunted
Mid the raging storms of time
Its pages burn with the truth eternal
And they glow with a light sublime
The bible stands
Though the hills may tumble it will firmly stand
Though the earth shall crumble
I will plant my feet on its firm foundation
For the Bible stands
The Bible stands like a mountain, towering
Far above the works of men
Its truth by none ever was refuted
And destroy it none ever can
115 The B I B L E
Yes that's the book for me
I stand alone on the Word of God
The B I B L E
The B L O O D
The blood that cleanseth me
His life He gave
My soul to save
The B L O O D
The B I B L E
I'll take it along with me
I'll read and pray and then obey
The B I B L E
116. The cross, the cross, the wondrous cross,
Twas there the Saviour bled
I gaze upon that thorn-clad brow,
That pierced and bleeding side,
At the cross, at the cross, where i first saw the light
And the burden of my heart it rolled away
It was there by faith I received my sight
And now I am happy all the day
119. The Spirit came in childhood
And pleaded, "Let me in."
But no, the door was bolted
By heedlessness and sin.
"Oh, I'm too young the," the child said,
"My heart is closed today."
Sadly the Spirit listened,
Then turned and went away.
Again He came and pleaded
In youth's bright happy hour.
He called, but found no entrance,
For, fettered by sin's power,
The youth lay idly dreaming;
"Go Spirit, go Thy way,
Wait 'till I've tried life's pleasures."
Again He went away.
Once more He came and pleaded
In manhood's vigrous prime.
He knocked, but found no answer
The merchant had no time.
No time for true repentance:
"Go Spirit, go Thy way,"
And so, repulsed and saddened,
Again He turned away.
Once more He came in mercy,
The man was old and ill:
He hardly heard a whisper,
His heart was sear and chill.
"Go leave me: when I want Thee,
I'll send for Thee", he cried,
Then turning on his pillow,
Without a hope, he died.
120 The wise man built his house upon the rock,
The wise man built his house upon the rock
The wise man built his house upon the rock
And the rain tumbling down.
Oh the rain came down and the floods came up,
The rain came down and the floods came up,
The rain came down and the floods came up,
And the house on the rock stood firm.
The foolish man built his house upon the sand,
The foolish man built his house upon the sand,
The foolish man built his house upon the sand,
And the rain tumbling down.
Oh the rain came down and the floods came up,
The rain came down and the floods came up,
The rain came down and the floods came up,
And the house on the sand fell flat.
So build your life on the Lord Jesus Christ,
So build your life on the Lord Jesus Christ,
So build your life on the Lord Jesus Christ,
And the blessing will come down.
Oh the blessing will come as the prayers go up,
The blessing will come as the prayers go up,
The blessing will come as the prayers go up,
So build your house on the Lord.
121. There comes to my heart one sweet strain,
A glad and a joyous refrain
I'll sing it again and again,
Sweet peace, the gift of God's love.
Peace, Peace, sweet peace,
Wonderful gift from above
Oh, wonderful, wonderful peace
Sweet peace, the gift of God's love
Through Christ on the cross peace was made
My debt by His death was all paid
No other foundation is laid
For peace, the gift of God's love
When Jesus as Lord I had crowned
My heart with His peace did abound;
In Him a rich blessing I found,
Sweet peace, the gift of God's love.
138 What can wash away my stain?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Oh, precious is the flow,
That cleanses white as snow!
No other fount I know -
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
For my cleansing this I see
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
For my pardon this my plea
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
Nothing can for sin atone
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
Naught of good that i have done
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
142. When He cometh, when He cometh,
To make up His jewels,
All His jewels, precious jewels,
His loved and His own
Like the stars of the morning,
His bright crown adorning
They shall shine in their beauty
Bright gems for His crown.
He will gather, He will gather
The gems for His Kingdom
All the saved, all the bright ones,
His loved and His own.
144 When the bridegroom comes from glory bright
To call His own away
Caught away to meet their Saviour in the sky,
WHen arrives the longed-for-moment
Of that bright and blessed day,
And He comes to take His ransomed ones on high.
Can the boys say, "We'll be ready?"
Can the girls say, "We'll be ready?"
Can we all say, "We'll be ready?"
When the saviour comes to call His ransomed home.
Children hasten to be ready for the time is drawing nigh,
"Be ye ready," is the Bridegroom's warning cry,
Now the precious blood will cleanse you.
And will make you title clear
To those bright celestial mansions in the sky.
145 When the Son of God was here
How He loved the children dear
And He sweetly called them closely to His side
And He drove away their fear
And He spoke so kind and clear
As He told them 'twas for such the Saviour died.
Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world
Red and yellow black and white
All are precious in His sight
Jesus loves the little children of the world
Bye and bye when He shall come
To bring all His children home
He'll make up the many jewels for His crown
Boys and girls across the foam
Nevermore again shall roam
Gathered safely, in His presence shall sit down
Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the street.
English Irish Scott and Jew
Polish and Italian too
Jesus loves the little children of the street
171 Safe am I, safe am I
In the hollow of His hand
Sheltered O'er, Sheltered O'er
With HIs love forevermore
No ill can harm me
No foe alarm me
For He keeps both day and night
Safe am I, safe am I
in the hollow of His hand.
179 When Moses and God's people
Out of Egypt's land did flee
The enemy behind them
And in front of them the sea
God clave the waters like a wall
And opened up the way
And the God Who lived in Moses' time
Is just the same today
He is just the same today (repeat)
Seeking those who've gone astray,
Saving souls along the way;
Thank God, He's just the same today.
When David and Goliath met
The wrong against the right
Goliath armed with human strength
And David with God's might
God's power with David's sling and stone
The giant low did lay
And the God Who lived in David's time
Is just the same today
When Daniel, faithful to his God
Would not bow down men
And by his enemies was hurled
Into a lion's den
God shut the lions mouth we read
And robbed them of their prey
And the God who lived in Daniel's time
Is just the same today
When Jonah went to Tarsus
And was swallowed by a whale
The grief and anguish that he bore
No human tongue can tell
God brought him to dry land again
When willing to obey
And the God who lived in Jonah's time
Is just the same today.
182 Deep and wide, deep and wide
There's a Fountain flowing deep and wide (repeat)
For you, for me, Jesus died
There's a Fountain flowing deep and wide
For you, for me, for all mankind
There's a Fountain flowing deep and wide
186. Walking with Jesus
Walking every day, all along the way,
Walking with Jesus, walking with Jesus alone.
Walk....ing with Je.....sus
(Waling in the sunshine, walking in the shadows)
Walking every day all along the way
Walk....ing with Je.....sus
(Waling in the sunshine, walking in the shadows)
Walking every day all along the way
187 When David was a shepherd boy,
He did as He was told
He watched the flocks round Bethlehem
In rain and shine and cold
But Jesus fought a greater fight
Upon Mount Calvary
He conquered sin and death and hell
By dying on the tree
And when the roaring lion came
And then the growling bear
He asked the Lord to strengthen him
To slay them then and there
He also slew Goliath bold
With simple stone and sling
And God chose out this shepherd boy
To be His famous king
Who lived in days of old
Though he was rich, he felt his need
Of something more than gold.
Oh yes, my friend there's something more,
Something more than gold;
To know your sins are all forgiven,
Is better far than gold.
It happened on a certain day,
This little man was told,
That Jesus soon would pass that way
With something more than gold,
He climbed a tree above the crowd
So that he might behold
The blessed One with power to give
Something more than gold
The savior came along that way,
And saw him up the tree,
Then calling to him, Jesus said,
"I must abide with thee"
5. A robe of white, a crown of gold
A harp, a home, a mansion fair,
A victor's crown, and joy untold
Are mine when i get there
For Jesus is my Savior
He paid my debt on Calvary's mountain
I'm happy in HIs wondrous love
I'm drinking yes I'm drinking at the fountain.
6. A ruler once came to Jesus by night
To ask him the way of salvation and light;
The Master made answer in words true and plain.
"Ye must be born again"
"Ye must be born again"
"Ye must be born again"
I verify verily say unto you
"Ye must be born again"
Ye children of men, attend to the word
So solemnly uttered by Jesus the Lord
And let not this message to you be in vain;
"Ye must be born again"
O ye who would enter this glorious rest,
And sing with the ransomed the song of the blest
The life everlasting if ye would obtain;
"Ye must be born again"
7. A women went to fill her waterpot
Down at the bottom of the well,
But Jesus gave her water that was not
Down at the bottom of the well,
She went away happy and gay
Back to her home, never more to roam
Because she got water that was not
Down at the bottom of the well
13. Be careful little eyes what you see
Be careful little eyes what you see
There's a Saviour up above
Watching over you in love
So be careful, be careful what you see
Be careful little ears what you hear, etc.
Be careful little hands what you do, etc.
Be careful little feet where you go, etc.
Be careful little tongues what you say, etc.
14. Behold, Behold
I stand at the door and knock, knock, knock
Behold, Behold:
I stand at the door and knock, knock, knock
If any girl hear my voice,
If any boy hear my voice
And will open, open, open the door i will come in
20. Christ, the Savior of sinners came
Into the world to save:
Sing His glory, His worth his fame
Jesus alone can save
No name else is given
Search through earth and heaven
Jesus alone, Jesus alone
Jesus alone can Save
Works of righteousness all in vain
Jesus alone can save
His blood cleanses from every stain
Jesus alone can save
Now his work's completed
Now in glory seated
Jesus alone, Jesus alone,
Jesus alone can save
Suffer children forbid them not
Jesus alone can save
He can cleanse them from every spot
Jesus alone can save
Now his work's completed
Now in Glory seated
Jesus alone Jesus alone
Jesus alone can save
31 Everybody ought to know, Everybody ought to know,
Everybody ought to know, who Jesus is (Repeat)
On the cross he died for sinners
And His blood makes white as snow:
Living, Loving coming Saviour
He's the One you ought to know
Everybody ought to know, Everybody ought to know,
Everybody ought to know, who Jesus is (Repeat)
He's the Author of Salvation
Condemnation He did bear
Jesus died for all the sinners
Everybody, everywhere
Everybody ought to know, Everybody ought to know,
Everybody ought to know, who Jesus is (Repeat)
He's beloved of GOd, the Father
He's the bright and morning Star,
He's the Fairest of ten thousand
Everybody ought to know
32 For God so loved the world
He gave his only Son
To die to Calvary's tree
From sin to set me free
Some day He's coming back
What glory that will be
Wonderful His love to me
37 Give me oil in my lamp keep me burning
Give me oil in my lamp i pray
Give me oil in my lamp keep me burning
Keep me burning til the break of day
Sing Hosannah, sing Hosannah
Sing Hosannah to the King of Kings
Sing Hosannah, sing Hosannah
Sing Hosannah to the King of Kings
43 God's word is like a hammer
It breaketh the rock in twain:
A lamp to guide our footsteps
And a light on the stormy main;
A sword that hath two edges,
A mirror, myself to see
Oh, yes it is the best of books,
The B I B L E
God's word is like a lighthouse
On a wild and stormy sea,
For it points to Christ the Savior,
Bidding us from wrath to flee
He wrote it by His Spirit
It was given for you and me
Oh yes it is the best of books
The B I B L E
53. He's ready he's willing
He's able to save you.
Only believe his word.
He loves you, He wants you,
He died to redeem you,
Only believe His word.
There's nothing to do,
There's nothing to buy
Remember for you
He left his mansions on high
And now he's ready, He's willing,
He's able to save you
Only believe his word
55 I am so glad that our father in heaven
Tells of His love in the Book He has given
Wonderful things in the Bible I see
This is the dearest that Jesus loves me
I am so glad that Jesus loves me
Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me
I am so glad that Jesus loves me
Jesus loves even me
Oh if there's only one song i can sing
When in his beauty i see the great King
This shall my song in eternity be
Oh what a wonder that Jesus loves me.
Jesus loves me and i know i love Him
Love brought Him down my lost soul to redeem
Yes it was love made Him die on the tree
Oh I am certain that Jesus loves me
58 I am the Way the Truth and the Life
That's what Jesus said
I am the Way the Truth and the Life
That's what Jesus said
Without the way there is no going,
Without the truth there is no knowing,
Without the life there is no growing,
I am the Way the Truth and the Life
That's what Jesus said
60 I have a wonderful treasure
The gift of God without measure
We will travel together
My Bible and I
Wicked men won't believe it
We gladly receive it
We will travel together
My Bible and I
I have a wonderful Savior
He will keep me forever
Should govern all my behavior
My Saviour and I
61 I'm so happy and here's the reason why
Jesus took my burden all away
Now I'm singing as the days go by,
Jesus took my burden all away
Once my heart was heavy with a load of sin
Jesus took my load and gave me peace within
Now I'm happy and that's the reason why:
Jesus took my burden all away
64 If your heart is troubled
And you have no peace at all
Won't you come and trust the Saviour
Won't you answer when he calls
He has died to save you
And to cleanse you from all sin
He will make you glad and He
Will give you peace within
So let the Saviour in
He'll banish every sin
Troubles, doubts and fears
That have burdened you for years
Heaven will be yours
Eternity with Him
If you'll open up your heart
And let the Saviour in
Satan tries to hinder you
He makes the world look bright
Then he whispers in your ear
Put it off another night
Oh my friend your soul will live
Throughout eternity
Either up in Heav'n or down in hell,
What will you answer be
So let the saviour in....
69 Jesus bids us shine
With a clear pure light
Like a little candle
Burning in the night
In this world of darkness
So we must shine
You in your small corner
And I in mine
Jesus bids us shine
First of all for Him
Well He sees and knows it
If our light grow dim
He looks down from Heaven
To see us shine
You in your small corner
And I in mine
Jesus bids us shine
Next for all around
Many kinds of darkness
In this world abound
Sin and want and sorrow
So we must shine
You in your small corner
And I in mine
75 Jesus loves me this i know
For the bible tells me so
Little ones to Him belong
They are weak but he is strong
Yes Jesus loves me, Yes Jesus loves me
Yes Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so
Jesus loves me He who died
Heaven's gate to open wide
He will wash away my sin
Let his ransomed one come in
Jesus loves me He will stay
Close beside me all the way
When He comes or when I die
He will take me home on high
Saviour take this heart of mine
Make it pure and wholly thine
Thou hast bled and died for me
May i henceforth live for Thee
84 Matthew Mark Luke and John
The Acts the Epistle to the Romans,
First and Second Corinthians
Galatians and Ephesians
Phillippians and Colossians
First and Second Thessalonians
First and Second Timothy
Titus and Philemon
Hebrews, James, First and Second Peter
First John, Second John, Third John
Jude and Revelation
89 New for little children
Hark! how sweet the sound
Rolling in its fullness
To earth's farthest bound
News of God's salvation,
News with blessings rife
Saving, helping, cheering
Wondrous words of life
Listen to the message
Precious words and true
Joy and peace and pardon
God is offering you
Love for little children
Sent from God's own throne
Love how sweet the tidings
Each can make his own
Love that maketh happy
Love that maketh blest
Love that gives the weary
Full and perfect rest
Peace for little children
Peace from God on high
Brought by Christ the Saviour
When He came to die
Made in Calvarys darkness
Sealed with Jesus' blood
To the world proclaimed
Perfect peace with God
Joy for little children
Oh such perfect joy
Not like earth's enchantments
Full of earth's alloy
But a joy that resteth
On foundation sure
Joy for God hath said it
Which must e'er endure
90
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 God has made a way to heave
7 6 5 4 3 2 1 through the blood of his dear Son
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 I may enter heavens gate
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 By His grace and so may you
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 I may make the Saviour mine
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 Jesus says Come unto Me
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Jesus died for sinful men
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 Tell the story o'er and o'er
93 Oh happy day that fixed my choice
On Thee, my Saviour and my God
Well may this glowing heart rejoice
And tell its rapture all abroad
O happy day, o happy day
When Jesus washed my sins away
He taught me how to watch and pray
And live rejoicing every day
Happy Day, O happy day
When Jesus washed my sins away
Tis done the great transaction's done
I am my Lord's and He is mine
He drew me and I followed on
Charmed to confess the voice Divine
98 Only a lad called David only a little sling
Only a lad called David but he could play and sing
Only a lad called David only a rippling brook
Only a lad called David yet five smooth stones he took
One little stone went in the sling and the sling went round and round
One little stone went in the sling and the sling went round and round
Oh round and round round and round round and round and round
One little stone went through the air and giant fell to the ground
101 Romans ten and nine
Is a favorite verse of mine
Confessing Christ as Lord
I am saved by grace divine
For there the words
114 The bible stands like a rock undaunted
Mid the raging storms of time
Its pages burn with the truth eternal
And they glow with a light sublime
The bible stands
Though the hills may tumble it will firmly stand
Though the earth shall crumble
I will plant my feet on its firm foundation
For the Bible stands
The Bible stands like a mountain, towering
Far above the works of men
Its truth by none ever was refuted
And destroy it none ever can
115 The B I B L E
Yes that's the book for me
I stand alone on the Word of God
The B I B L E
The B L O O D
The blood that cleanseth me
His life He gave
My soul to save
The B L O O D
The B I B L E
I'll take it along with me
I'll read and pray and then obey
The B I B L E
116. The cross, the cross, the wondrous cross,
Twas there the Saviour bled
I gaze upon that thorn-clad brow,
That pierced and bleeding side,
At the cross, at the cross, where i first saw the light
And the burden of my heart it rolled away
It was there by faith I received my sight
And now I am happy all the day
119. The Spirit came in childhood
And pleaded, "Let me in."
But no, the door was bolted
By heedlessness and sin.
"Oh, I'm too young the," the child said,
"My heart is closed today."
Sadly the Spirit listened,
Then turned and went away.
Again He came and pleaded
In youth's bright happy hour.
He called, but found no entrance,
For, fettered by sin's power,
The youth lay idly dreaming;
"Go Spirit, go Thy way,
Wait 'till I've tried life's pleasures."
Again He went away.
Once more He came and pleaded
In manhood's vigrous prime.
He knocked, but found no answer
The merchant had no time.
No time for true repentance:
"Go Spirit, go Thy way,"
And so, repulsed and saddened,
Again He turned away.
Once more He came in mercy,
The man was old and ill:
He hardly heard a whisper,
His heart was sear and chill.
"Go leave me: when I want Thee,
I'll send for Thee", he cried,
Then turning on his pillow,
Without a hope, he died.
120 The wise man built his house upon the rock,
The wise man built his house upon the rock
The wise man built his house upon the rock
And the rain tumbling down.
Oh the rain came down and the floods came up,
The rain came down and the floods came up,
The rain came down and the floods came up,
And the house on the rock stood firm.
The foolish man built his house upon the sand,
The foolish man built his house upon the sand,
The foolish man built his house upon the sand,
And the rain tumbling down.
Oh the rain came down and the floods came up,
The rain came down and the floods came up,
The rain came down and the floods came up,
And the house on the sand fell flat.
So build your life on the Lord Jesus Christ,
So build your life on the Lord Jesus Christ,
So build your life on the Lord Jesus Christ,
And the blessing will come down.
Oh the blessing will come as the prayers go up,
The blessing will come as the prayers go up,
The blessing will come as the prayers go up,
So build your house on the Lord.
121. There comes to my heart one sweet strain,
A glad and a joyous refrain
I'll sing it again and again,
Sweet peace, the gift of God's love.
Peace, Peace, sweet peace,
Wonderful gift from above
Oh, wonderful, wonderful peace
Sweet peace, the gift of God's love
Through Christ on the cross peace was made
My debt by His death was all paid
No other foundation is laid
For peace, the gift of God's love
When Jesus as Lord I had crowned
My heart with His peace did abound;
In Him a rich blessing I found,
Sweet peace, the gift of God's love.
138 What can wash away my stain?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Oh, precious is the flow,
That cleanses white as snow!
No other fount I know -
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
For my cleansing this I see
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
For my pardon this my plea
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
Nothing can for sin atone
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
Naught of good that i have done
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
142. When He cometh, when He cometh,
To make up His jewels,
All His jewels, precious jewels,
His loved and His own
Like the stars of the morning,
His bright crown adorning
They shall shine in their beauty
Bright gems for His crown.
He will gather, He will gather
The gems for His Kingdom
All the saved, all the bright ones,
His loved and His own.
144 When the bridegroom comes from glory bright
To call His own away
Caught away to meet their Saviour in the sky,
WHen arrives the longed-for-moment
Of that bright and blessed day,
And He comes to take His ransomed ones on high.
Can the boys say, "We'll be ready?"
Can the girls say, "We'll be ready?"
Can we all say, "We'll be ready?"
When the saviour comes to call His ransomed home.
Children hasten to be ready for the time is drawing nigh,
"Be ye ready," is the Bridegroom's warning cry,
Now the precious blood will cleanse you.
And will make you title clear
To those bright celestial mansions in the sky.
145 When the Son of God was here
How He loved the children dear
And He sweetly called them closely to His side
And He drove away their fear
And He spoke so kind and clear
As He told them 'twas for such the Saviour died.
Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world
Red and yellow black and white
All are precious in His sight
Jesus loves the little children of the world
Bye and bye when He shall come
To bring all His children home
He'll make up the many jewels for His crown
Boys and girls across the foam
Nevermore again shall roam
Gathered safely, in His presence shall sit down
Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the street.
English Irish Scott and Jew
Polish and Italian too
Jesus loves the little children of the street
171 Safe am I, safe am I
In the hollow of His hand
Sheltered O'er, Sheltered O'er
With HIs love forevermore
No ill can harm me
No foe alarm me
For He keeps both day and night
Safe am I, safe am I
in the hollow of His hand.
179 When Moses and God's people
Out of Egypt's land did flee
The enemy behind them
And in front of them the sea
God clave the waters like a wall
And opened up the way
And the God Who lived in Moses' time
Is just the same today
He is just the same today (repeat)
Seeking those who've gone astray,
Saving souls along the way;
Thank God, He's just the same today.
When David and Goliath met
The wrong against the right
Goliath armed with human strength
And David with God's might
God's power with David's sling and stone
The giant low did lay
And the God Who lived in David's time
Is just the same today
When Daniel, faithful to his God
Would not bow down men
And by his enemies was hurled
Into a lion's den
God shut the lions mouth we read
And robbed them of their prey
And the God who lived in Daniel's time
Is just the same today
When Jonah went to Tarsus
And was swallowed by a whale
The grief and anguish that he bore
No human tongue can tell
God brought him to dry land again
When willing to obey
And the God who lived in Jonah's time
Is just the same today.
182 Deep and wide, deep and wide
There's a Fountain flowing deep and wide (repeat)
For you, for me, Jesus died
There's a Fountain flowing deep and wide
For you, for me, for all mankind
There's a Fountain flowing deep and wide
186. Walking with Jesus
Walking every day, all along the way,
Walking with Jesus, walking with Jesus alone.
Walk....ing with Je.....sus
(Waling in the sunshine, walking in the shadows)
Walking every day all along the way
Walk....ing with Je.....sus
(Waling in the sunshine, walking in the shadows)
Walking every day all along the way
187 When David was a shepherd boy,
He did as He was told
He watched the flocks round Bethlehem
In rain and shine and cold
But Jesus fought a greater fight
Upon Mount Calvary
He conquered sin and death and hell
By dying on the tree
And when the roaring lion came
And then the growling bear
He asked the Lord to strengthen him
To slay them then and there
He also slew Goliath bold
With simple stone and sling
And God chose out this shepherd boy
To be His famous king
Brief History of Time
A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME
Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems by Galileo published in 1632
Two New Sciences by Galileo that was smuggled to a publisher in Holland. This was the birth of modern physics.
The City of God by St. Augustine (birth of the universe)
- time did not exist before the universe began.
Of the Heavens by Aristotle
Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant (birth of the universe)
H. G. Wells and the Time Machine
Knowing the world was round:
Shadow of the Earth on the moon was circular.
North Star appeared in different latitudes
Bertrand Russell on Astronomy
Galileo saw moons revolving around Jupiter so realized not everything has to revolve around the earth.
Newton concluded that there must be stars infinitely spread across the universe and the universe is infinite otherwise it would collapse on itself from attractive forces.
2 Theories:
1) General Theory of Relativity - shows how large objects a mile away from each other to millions of millions of millions of miles away from each other behave.
2) Quantum mechanics - shows how things at extremely molecular level work.
There is a continual search for a unified theory.
Chapter 2 - Space and Time
Galileo used balls rolling down a plane (slower so it can be observed).
Newton - a mass doubled (2M) in size will have greater attractive forces (double) than that of a normal size, M. But also is more difficult to accelerate because it is so large. These 2 things cancel each other out according to Newton's second law, which is why everything falls at the same rate. Law of attraction decreases exponentially with distance (square). So star double the distance will have 25% of the attractive forces. This predicts the motions of the moon, stars and planets with great accuracy.
Christenson Roemer - measured the speed of light in the late 1600s. He had known that there are times when the Earth and Jupiter are further apart and he noticed that the moons would go behind Jupiter and be eclipsed in uneven patterns. He noticed it took longer for it to be eclipsed the times when the earth was further away. So he assumed that light had a constant speed. And measured it to be 140,000 miles per second. (186,000 miles per second today).
Concept of cones in 4 dimensional space-time (3 dimensions of space and 1 dimension of time.) the cone appears because imagine a stone in a ripple of water and then the area in which that circular ripple spreads over time created a cone. Think of every event as having that same possible source. There is a future cone and a past cone. Example he uses. if the sun goes out now then it will take 8 minutes to reach earth. We are currently outside of that cone until 8 minutes later when the light reaches us then we are inside that cone.
Theory of relativity got rid of the notion of absolute time (which Newton proposed).
The higher the energy of light (frequency or number o light waves) the slower time gets. As you move away from the Earth's surface this frequency goes down, so time becomes faster away from the earth than on the surface. (Does this mean mountain climbers age faster? i did get a grey hair for the first time after Aconcagua; also is this the real reason why your heart rate goes up as u increase in elevation?)
(bottom of pg 33).
People higher up would see things down below as taking longer to happen because there are less light waves coming up. Also because the person up higher is moving faster than people down below. So if there were some twins. One lived on top of a mountain and the other lived at sea level. The twin on top of the mountain would age faster. Similarly if someone traveling at the speed of light came back several earth years later, then he would be much younger. This is called the 'twins paradox'.
Chapter 3: THE UNIVERSE IS EXPANDING
The milky way is a spiral galaxy that rotates every several hundred million years. Hubble predicted in 1924 that there were other galaxies but extremely far distances away from ours. He would use relative luminousness during the orbit of earth and also compare it to other stars that were of similar brightness and check its consistency. Also similarly the way Newton used a prism to refract light into the colors of the spectrum. We can now determine what elements the planets have by checking which wavelengths are sucked in by the elements on that planet and predict with relative accuracy which planets have what elements. Longest wavelengths are red and shortest are blue. A stationary star A, with a fixed wavelength of light being omitted from it and both earth and star A stay constant distances then the true color of the light will stay constant. However, if the star A is moving away from earth the wavelength gets longer so appears red and the star A that is moving closer to earth will have a shorter wavelength so will appear blue. This is the Doppler effect. other examples) the sound of a car having a different pitch when it passes in front of you verses further away (amplitude and note of the noise is different as distance changes); also a radar device that are used to measure speed from police officers.
Many people predicted that there would be as many blue galaxies as red galaxies; but Hubble found in 1929 that most galaxies were red. So that meant that galaxies were shifting away from the earth. He concluded also the farther the galaxy is away from us the faster it is moving away from us. (in other words increasing distance at an increasing rate). He would conclude this by the array of redness of the galaxies. Thus the universe is NOT static as many had thought previously but expanding. Disapproved Newton and Aristotle.
Alexander Friedmann - predicted that the universe was indeed static in that whereever you are in the universe it will look the same wherever you look out into space. There were 3 theories that could explain: (1) the universe started expanding since the big bang then would eventually contract (into the big crunch) the space time graph looked like a semi-circle and space itself would be shaped like a globe). (2) the universe is shaped like a saddle. Is expanding at an increasing rate. (3) that space is flat that it expanded quickly then now is increasing at a steady rate.
In 1965, Penzias and Wilson who were working at Bell Labs in NJ, were working with a sensitive microwave detector. They noticed the sensor was detecting microwaves in every direction on earth. If it was in the atmosphere it should be stronger if you aimed it at the horizon because you would get a larger concentration of waves then say aiming it right above you (lowest concentration). However it was identical across the entire sky. They concluded that it must be coming from something outside our solar system and galaxy (otherwise it would vary). They couldn't figure it out. Then some other scientists (DIck and Peebles from Princeton) theorized that the big bang would have started with extreme white light and since it has continued expanding ever since and expanding at an increasing rate, then that original white light would be viewed today as microwaves because it was so greatly red-shifted. THey won the nobel prize in 1978.
Hawking and Penrose completed a thesis that proved that everything started out in a singularity (ie. the big bang), with the use of general relativity. He had reversed the theory of black holes collapsing on themselves into zero, which was eventually a singularity; so that the reverse could also be true. Unfortunately the general theory of relativity broke down at extremely tiny levels and could not explain things at this level. Quantum Mechanics was needed. And thus a unifying theory is now needed called the Quantum theory of Gravity.
CHAPTER 4: THE UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE
Marquis de Laplace - believed that everything was completely deterministic and that everything could be predicted by scientific laws even human behavior, which was largely rejected for anyone that thought God could intervene in this universe. Planck had suggested that light, X rays and other waves are emitted in in certain packets called quanta. Also each quantum had a certain amount of energy that increased with frequency (or intensity). Werner Heisenberg formulated his 'Uncertainty principle'; that in order to predict the future position and velocity of a particle, one had to measure position and velocity accurately. The obvious way to do this was to shine light on the particle. However, as you shawn light on it, the energy from the quanta disturbed the path of the particle so the path could not be predicted. Also the more accurately the reading you wanted the shorter the wavelength you needed but the energy of the quantum would go up; so it even exacerbated the problem of locating the particle.
The uncertaintly principle then was the uncertainty of the position of the particle x uncertainty of the velocity x the mass of the particle can never be smaller than a certain quantity called Planck's constant.
In the 1920's Heisenberg, Schrodinger, Dirac came up with quantum mechanics, based on the uncertainty principle. Particles no longer had a separate, well defined position and velocity that could not be obvserved. Rather, they had a quantum state, which was a combination of position and velocity. So Leplace's dream of a completely deterministic model broke down (doesn't mean there isn't one though!). Einstein completely was against this model as he did not think that the universe was up to chance; 'God does not play dice'.
However, it was determined that waves and particles behave very similarly; if you pass a light through a two-slitted partition onto a screen behind it you get multiple fringes whether you use particles or waves. Even when you pass them through at the same time. This means that electrons must be passing to points at the same time!! (basically be at 2 places at once).
We learned at the atomic level that electrons of negative energy around a nucleus don't behave the same as planets and stars on the larger scale.
Neils Bohr in 1913 suggested that electrons orbit in only specified distances so the atom wouldn't collapse on itself (which people couldn't explain why it didn't before).
Einstein's theory brakes down during black holes and the big bang theory when there are huge infinite densities and should more closely resemble quantum mechanics.
4 types of force carrying particles:
1) Gravitational force - this force is universal. Every particle experiences it.
2) electromagnetic force - this force between 2 electrons is 1x10^40 stronger than gravity. On a very large scale the positive and negative forces cancel each other out. But at the atomic level they dominate.
3) Weak nuclear force - particles have different energies at different states and force changes depending on the state; think of the ball around a roulette table.
4) Nuclear Force -
DK's note: human emotions are much like various forces of a particle; except that it is explained differently.
CHAPTER 6: BLACK HOLES
- Wave / particle duality of quantum mechanics - meant that gravity might be able to have an effect on light. In late 1700s some one had come up with the idea that a star might be so big and powerful that it pulls the light back into its gravitational field. These are Black Holes.
- Hydrogen atoms keep bouncing into each and form heat; the heat becomes so hot that the atoms stop colliding and eventually stick together to form helium which is like a controlled hydrogen bomb reaction which gives off the light of the stars.
- much like a hot air balloon - these reactions are needed for expansionary forces so the star doesn't collapse on itself. there is an equilibrium until there is no fuel (Hydrogen) left and then the star collapses on itself. The larger the star the faster it eats the fuel because the gravitational force is larger. Our sun has about 5 billion years left before it runs out of fuel; then will likely explode; however much before this the earth will crash into the sun long before this.
- something that enters through the event horizon in a black hole will experience infinite density and the end of time. (Dante: "All hope abandon, ye who enter here.")
CHAPTER 8: THE ORIGIN AND FATE OF THE UNIVERSE
- studying black holes can help give understanding to the beginning of the universe especially if at the big bang and at a big crunch it approaches a singularity (where space-time becomes infinite).
- there have been different theories as the rate at which the universe may have expanded initially; likely by a concept called 'inflation' increasing at an increasing rate. The theory broke down because it did not support the variation that we see in the microwaves first witnessed at Bell Labs in NJ. So another modified version called chaotic inflation was developed which used quantum mechanics in its assumptions that there are repulsive forces in extremely high densities and the beginning of the universe had initially behaved in this way it seems; this came from Andrei Linde.
- in a concept called imaginary time (much like imaginary numbers, i in math), singularities do not exist because the laws of this universe could still hold. Hawking himself contradicts his old work of singularities by saying that in imaginary time there are no such thing. He gives the example of it looking much like the earth at the north and south poles and expanding and contracting with a maximum radius at the equator but things still work fine at the source where the poles are. The universe would be the biggest at the center (equator portion then contract into a big crunch at the south pole); However if we go back to 'real time' in which we live, then singularities would have to exist. Thus what is time? our current view and understanding of time is just the current system or model we use to explain everyday events. It could still be the incorrect model of the definition of time as it is not an all encompassing model. Imaginary time could really be what reality is.
CHAPTER 9: THE ARROW OF TIME
- The reason why things can't go backwards because of the 2nd law of thermodynamics; that entropy (chaos for lack of a better word) is exacerbated over time.
- There are at least 3 arrows of time:
(1) the thermodynamic arrow - direction of time in which disorder increases
(2) the psychological arrow - the direction of time in which we remember the past and not the future
(3) the cosmological arrow - the direction of time in which the universe expands rather than contracts
(1) and (2) are essection the same and always point int he same direction. Intelligent beings can only exist in the expanding phase of (3) because that is the way entropy works (start from an ordered state and then end in a disordered state; such as food being expelled eventually by heat.
DK: interesting that the universe could have only expanded in order for our knowledge to increase because disorder had to enter the world in order for us to gain knowledge.
CHAPTER 10: WORMHOLES and TIME TRAVEL
*** - Godel's incompleteness theorem is that it is impossible to prove all true statements through math
Limerick
There was a young lady of Wight
WHo travelled much faster than light
She departed one day
In a relative way
And arrived on the previous night
Interesting that there could be an infinite number of space time outcomes for history but we only live in one of those outcomes.
Christ's freedom was taken away from him because he already knew his destiny. He knew what had to be done; moreover he knew what was going to be done no matter what.
Up to now, most scientists have been too occupied with the development of new theories that describe what the universe is to ask the question why. On the other hand, the people whose business it is to ask why, the philosophers, have not been able to keep up with the advenceof scientific theories. In the 18th century, philosophers considered the whole of human knowledge, including science, to be their field and discussed questions such as: did the universe have a beginning? However, in the 19th and 20th centuries, science became too technical and mathematical for the philosophers, or anyone else except a few specialists. Philosophers reduced the scope of their inquires so much that Wittgenstein, the most famous philosopher of this century said, "The sole remaining task of philosophy is the analysis of language." What a comedown from the great tradition of philosophy from Aristotle to Kant!
However, if we do discover a complete theory, it should in time be understandable in broad principle by everyone, not just a few scientists. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists, and just ordinary people, be able to take part in the discussion of the question of why it is that we and the universe exist. If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason - for then we would know the mind of God.
Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems by Galileo published in 1632
Two New Sciences by Galileo that was smuggled to a publisher in Holland. This was the birth of modern physics.
The City of God by St. Augustine (birth of the universe)
- time did not exist before the universe began.
Of the Heavens by Aristotle
Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant (birth of the universe)
H. G. Wells and the Time Machine
Knowing the world was round:
Shadow of the Earth on the moon was circular.
North Star appeared in different latitudes
Bertrand Russell on Astronomy
Galileo saw moons revolving around Jupiter so realized not everything has to revolve around the earth.
Newton concluded that there must be stars infinitely spread across the universe and the universe is infinite otherwise it would collapse on itself from attractive forces.
2 Theories:
1) General Theory of Relativity - shows how large objects a mile away from each other to millions of millions of millions of miles away from each other behave.
2) Quantum mechanics - shows how things at extremely molecular level work.
There is a continual search for a unified theory.
Chapter 2 - Space and Time
Galileo used balls rolling down a plane (slower so it can be observed).
Newton - a mass doubled (2M) in size will have greater attractive forces (double) than that of a normal size, M. But also is more difficult to accelerate because it is so large. These 2 things cancel each other out according to Newton's second law, which is why everything falls at the same rate. Law of attraction decreases exponentially with distance (square). So star double the distance will have 25% of the attractive forces. This predicts the motions of the moon, stars and planets with great accuracy.
Christenson Roemer - measured the speed of light in the late 1600s. He had known that there are times when the Earth and Jupiter are further apart and he noticed that the moons would go behind Jupiter and be eclipsed in uneven patterns. He noticed it took longer for it to be eclipsed the times when the earth was further away. So he assumed that light had a constant speed. And measured it to be 140,000 miles per second. (186,000 miles per second today).
Concept of cones in 4 dimensional space-time (3 dimensions of space and 1 dimension of time.) the cone appears because imagine a stone in a ripple of water and then the area in which that circular ripple spreads over time created a cone. Think of every event as having that same possible source. There is a future cone and a past cone. Example he uses. if the sun goes out now then it will take 8 minutes to reach earth. We are currently outside of that cone until 8 minutes later when the light reaches us then we are inside that cone.
Theory of relativity got rid of the notion of absolute time (which Newton proposed).
The higher the energy of light (frequency or number o light waves) the slower time gets. As you move away from the Earth's surface this frequency goes down, so time becomes faster away from the earth than on the surface. (Does this mean mountain climbers age faster? i did get a grey hair for the first time after Aconcagua; also is this the real reason why your heart rate goes up as u increase in elevation?)
(bottom of pg 33).
People higher up would see things down below as taking longer to happen because there are less light waves coming up. Also because the person up higher is moving faster than people down below. So if there were some twins. One lived on top of a mountain and the other lived at sea level. The twin on top of the mountain would age faster. Similarly if someone traveling at the speed of light came back several earth years later, then he would be much younger. This is called the 'twins paradox'.
Chapter 3: THE UNIVERSE IS EXPANDING
The milky way is a spiral galaxy that rotates every several hundred million years. Hubble predicted in 1924 that there were other galaxies but extremely far distances away from ours. He would use relative luminousness during the orbit of earth and also compare it to other stars that were of similar brightness and check its consistency. Also similarly the way Newton used a prism to refract light into the colors of the spectrum. We can now determine what elements the planets have by checking which wavelengths are sucked in by the elements on that planet and predict with relative accuracy which planets have what elements. Longest wavelengths are red and shortest are blue. A stationary star A, with a fixed wavelength of light being omitted from it and both earth and star A stay constant distances then the true color of the light will stay constant. However, if the star A is moving away from earth the wavelength gets longer so appears red and the star A that is moving closer to earth will have a shorter wavelength so will appear blue. This is the Doppler effect. other examples) the sound of a car having a different pitch when it passes in front of you verses further away (amplitude and note of the noise is different as distance changes); also a radar device that are used to measure speed from police officers.
Many people predicted that there would be as many blue galaxies as red galaxies; but Hubble found in 1929 that most galaxies were red. So that meant that galaxies were shifting away from the earth. He concluded also the farther the galaxy is away from us the faster it is moving away from us. (in other words increasing distance at an increasing rate). He would conclude this by the array of redness of the galaxies. Thus the universe is NOT static as many had thought previously but expanding. Disapproved Newton and Aristotle.
Alexander Friedmann - predicted that the universe was indeed static in that whereever you are in the universe it will look the same wherever you look out into space. There were 3 theories that could explain: (1) the universe started expanding since the big bang then would eventually contract (into the big crunch) the space time graph looked like a semi-circle and space itself would be shaped like a globe). (2) the universe is shaped like a saddle. Is expanding at an increasing rate. (3) that space is flat that it expanded quickly then now is increasing at a steady rate.
In 1965, Penzias and Wilson who were working at Bell Labs in NJ, were working with a sensitive microwave detector. They noticed the sensor was detecting microwaves in every direction on earth. If it was in the atmosphere it should be stronger if you aimed it at the horizon because you would get a larger concentration of waves then say aiming it right above you (lowest concentration). However it was identical across the entire sky. They concluded that it must be coming from something outside our solar system and galaxy (otherwise it would vary). They couldn't figure it out. Then some other scientists (DIck and Peebles from Princeton) theorized that the big bang would have started with extreme white light and since it has continued expanding ever since and expanding at an increasing rate, then that original white light would be viewed today as microwaves because it was so greatly red-shifted. THey won the nobel prize in 1978.
Hawking and Penrose completed a thesis that proved that everything started out in a singularity (ie. the big bang), with the use of general relativity. He had reversed the theory of black holes collapsing on themselves into zero, which was eventually a singularity; so that the reverse could also be true. Unfortunately the general theory of relativity broke down at extremely tiny levels and could not explain things at this level. Quantum Mechanics was needed. And thus a unifying theory is now needed called the Quantum theory of Gravity.
CHAPTER 4: THE UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE
Marquis de Laplace - believed that everything was completely deterministic and that everything could be predicted by scientific laws even human behavior, which was largely rejected for anyone that thought God could intervene in this universe. Planck had suggested that light, X rays and other waves are emitted in in certain packets called quanta. Also each quantum had a certain amount of energy that increased with frequency (or intensity). Werner Heisenberg formulated his 'Uncertainty principle'; that in order to predict the future position and velocity of a particle, one had to measure position and velocity accurately. The obvious way to do this was to shine light on the particle. However, as you shawn light on it, the energy from the quanta disturbed the path of the particle so the path could not be predicted. Also the more accurately the reading you wanted the shorter the wavelength you needed but the energy of the quantum would go up; so it even exacerbated the problem of locating the particle.
The uncertaintly principle then was the uncertainty of the position of the particle x uncertainty of the velocity x the mass of the particle can never be smaller than a certain quantity called Planck's constant.
In the 1920's Heisenberg, Schrodinger, Dirac came up with quantum mechanics, based on the uncertainty principle. Particles no longer had a separate, well defined position and velocity that could not be obvserved. Rather, they had a quantum state, which was a combination of position and velocity. So Leplace's dream of a completely deterministic model broke down (doesn't mean there isn't one though!). Einstein completely was against this model as he did not think that the universe was up to chance; 'God does not play dice'.
However, it was determined that waves and particles behave very similarly; if you pass a light through a two-slitted partition onto a screen behind it you get multiple fringes whether you use particles or waves. Even when you pass them through at the same time. This means that electrons must be passing to points at the same time!! (basically be at 2 places at once).
We learned at the atomic level that electrons of negative energy around a nucleus don't behave the same as planets and stars on the larger scale.
Neils Bohr in 1913 suggested that electrons orbit in only specified distances so the atom wouldn't collapse on itself (which people couldn't explain why it didn't before).
Einstein's theory brakes down during black holes and the big bang theory when there are huge infinite densities and should more closely resemble quantum mechanics.
4 types of force carrying particles:
1) Gravitational force - this force is universal. Every particle experiences it.
2) electromagnetic force - this force between 2 electrons is 1x10^40 stronger than gravity. On a very large scale the positive and negative forces cancel each other out. But at the atomic level they dominate.
3) Weak nuclear force - particles have different energies at different states and force changes depending on the state; think of the ball around a roulette table.
4) Nuclear Force -
DK's note: human emotions are much like various forces of a particle; except that it is explained differently.
CHAPTER 6: BLACK HOLES
- Wave / particle duality of quantum mechanics - meant that gravity might be able to have an effect on light. In late 1700s some one had come up with the idea that a star might be so big and powerful that it pulls the light back into its gravitational field. These are Black Holes.
- Hydrogen atoms keep bouncing into each and form heat; the heat becomes so hot that the atoms stop colliding and eventually stick together to form helium which is like a controlled hydrogen bomb reaction which gives off the light of the stars.
- much like a hot air balloon - these reactions are needed for expansionary forces so the star doesn't collapse on itself. there is an equilibrium until there is no fuel (Hydrogen) left and then the star collapses on itself. The larger the star the faster it eats the fuel because the gravitational force is larger. Our sun has about 5 billion years left before it runs out of fuel; then will likely explode; however much before this the earth will crash into the sun long before this.
- something that enters through the event horizon in a black hole will experience infinite density and the end of time. (Dante: "All hope abandon, ye who enter here.")
CHAPTER 8: THE ORIGIN AND FATE OF THE UNIVERSE
- studying black holes can help give understanding to the beginning of the universe especially if at the big bang and at a big crunch it approaches a singularity (where space-time becomes infinite).
- there have been different theories as the rate at which the universe may have expanded initially; likely by a concept called 'inflation' increasing at an increasing rate. The theory broke down because it did not support the variation that we see in the microwaves first witnessed at Bell Labs in NJ. So another modified version called chaotic inflation was developed which used quantum mechanics in its assumptions that there are repulsive forces in extremely high densities and the beginning of the universe had initially behaved in this way it seems; this came from Andrei Linde.
- in a concept called imaginary time (much like imaginary numbers, i in math), singularities do not exist because the laws of this universe could still hold. Hawking himself contradicts his old work of singularities by saying that in imaginary time there are no such thing. He gives the example of it looking much like the earth at the north and south poles and expanding and contracting with a maximum radius at the equator but things still work fine at the source where the poles are. The universe would be the biggest at the center (equator portion then contract into a big crunch at the south pole); However if we go back to 'real time' in which we live, then singularities would have to exist. Thus what is time? our current view and understanding of time is just the current system or model we use to explain everyday events. It could still be the incorrect model of the definition of time as it is not an all encompassing model. Imaginary time could really be what reality is.
CHAPTER 9: THE ARROW OF TIME
- The reason why things can't go backwards because of the 2nd law of thermodynamics; that entropy (chaos for lack of a better word) is exacerbated over time.
- There are at least 3 arrows of time:
(1) the thermodynamic arrow - direction of time in which disorder increases
(2) the psychological arrow - the direction of time in which we remember the past and not the future
(3) the cosmological arrow - the direction of time in which the universe expands rather than contracts
(1) and (2) are essection the same and always point int he same direction. Intelligent beings can only exist in the expanding phase of (3) because that is the way entropy works (start from an ordered state and then end in a disordered state; such as food being expelled eventually by heat.
DK: interesting that the universe could have only expanded in order for our knowledge to increase because disorder had to enter the world in order for us to gain knowledge.
CHAPTER 10: WORMHOLES and TIME TRAVEL
*** - Godel's incompleteness theorem is that it is impossible to prove all true statements through math
Limerick
There was a young lady of Wight
WHo travelled much faster than light
She departed one day
In a relative way
And arrived on the previous night
Interesting that there could be an infinite number of space time outcomes for history but we only live in one of those outcomes.
Christ's freedom was taken away from him because he already knew his destiny. He knew what had to be done; moreover he knew what was going to be done no matter what.
Up to now, most scientists have been too occupied with the development of new theories that describe what the universe is to ask the question why. On the other hand, the people whose business it is to ask why, the philosophers, have not been able to keep up with the advenceof scientific theories. In the 18th century, philosophers considered the whole of human knowledge, including science, to be their field and discussed questions such as: did the universe have a beginning? However, in the 19th and 20th centuries, science became too technical and mathematical for the philosophers, or anyone else except a few specialists. Philosophers reduced the scope of their inquires so much that Wittgenstein, the most famous philosopher of this century said, "The sole remaining task of philosophy is the analysis of language." What a comedown from the great tradition of philosophy from Aristotle to Kant!
However, if we do discover a complete theory, it should in time be understandable in broad principle by everyone, not just a few scientists. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists, and just ordinary people, be able to take part in the discussion of the question of why it is that we and the universe exist. If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason - for then we would know the mind of God.
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