I received the book you sent me—Glimpses into the Problems of Life—and have read some of it. I think it would be interesting to take a look at its contents and its underlying basis. My intention isn’t to criticize the book as a gift, but as a book that teaches and builds on another foundation than the one which is laid—Christ Jesus.

The author does his utmost to try to bring out the good in man. And then he attempts to use this to fashion and construct a foundation on which a fortress can be built that will withstand and overcome all the evil in man.

God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil.” Knowing the difference between good and evil doesn’t mean that we can be both good and evil at the same time. God knows the difference between good and evil, but, “No one is good but One, that is, God.” So, every human being who has come to know good and evil as a result of the Fall is included in this “no one.”

Rom. 3, from verse 10, states: “There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all gone out of the way; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one. Their throat is an open tomb,” etc.

This tells us that there is nothing at all in man that can be used to lay a good foundation upon which something good can be built.

By nature, man in his entirety is in “death”—far away from the One who is good, namely, God.

Everyone who searches and studies in this human cauldron of death labors in vain. A person could easily dedicate their whole life to this without achieving any results. God has confined all things under sin so that He might have mercy on all. Everything that has been confined under sin has also been created by Him and for Him. What would a man gain from having spent his whole life composing poetry that praises the creation and nature—all that is confined under sin—if he never became acquainted with the source of these things, God? The world and its lust are passing away; what is gained, then, by praising things that will perish? And why must they perish? Because they are confined under sin.

An evil fountain cannot send forth good water. None is good but One—that is, God. He is the fountain from which we must drink, and the water from that fountain will satisfy us so completely that we will never thirst again. This is something quite different from what is written in the book you sent me: “Be content to have a streak of clear sky above you at the moment of death.”

There is nothing good in the natural man; therefore, we must be born again. This new creation which is born in us is nothing less than Jesus Christ Himself. He is good because He is one with the Father, and in Christ Jesus nothing is of any value except a new creation. Why is that? Quite simply because there is nothing good outside of Him.

Man has sinned, and so he must die. If there were anything good in the natural man, that good thing would not have to die. But we see that the entire man does die; no trace of him remains. The same is also true of someone who believes in Jesus Christ, because not even his flesh and blood will inherit the kingdom of God. The difference is that the one who believes has Jesus Christ dwelling within on account of his faith. This new life, which is not visible or tangible, is what remains when our earthly tabernacle is destroyed.

A person must be quite blind and have fallen into the deepest sleep if he can’t understand that neither sky nor sea, neither hill nor dale can make us utterly happy. There is an intense yearning in the very depths and recesses of the heart that longs for fulfillment, but no inferior creation can satisfy it, because we ourselves are the preeminent of all creatures. Only God can breathe balsam into this deep yearning and completely satisfy it. When we are satisfied like this, we don’t seek satisfaction in beautiful flowers—we are already satisfied.

Only those who are dissatisfied devise the most unbelievable ways of satisfying this deep yearning within them. They seek satisfaction in beautiful flowers, in the bright, starry skies, and in the entire natural world, but not in the One who created that world.

If man can figure out on his own that nature is glorious, shouldn’t he much more readily figure out that the One who created nature is infinitely more glorious?

No one honors and admires the works of Ibsen and Bjørnson without admiring the authors themselves even more highly. “Ja, vi elsker dette landet”1 didn’t receive the Nobel prize; its authors did. “Ja, vi elsker dette landet” can never achieve more than its content, while its authors could write more songs.

Let us conclude from this that the Creator is far more valuable and far more glorious than the creation.

If someone were to praise and idolize “Ja, vi elsker dette landet” and yet despise and spit on its author, wouldn’t he be like a man walking around with a blindfold on—which is just what all those are doing who praise the creation without knowing the Creator.

You who are young and interested in truth must go deeper and understand what the truth really is so that you don’t allow yourself to be dazzled by a shiny surface, and thus remain there, on the surface.

If you are seeking wisdom, seek it from the source of wisdom, for the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. All things are created by Jesus Christ and for Jesus Christ; therefore, we can learn everything from Him.

No wisdom can prevail against God’s wisdom. That is why it is the heritage of the servants of the Lord to condemn all their adversaries.

Now is your time of decision. Either you can become so firmly entangled in false theories that it becomes difficult for you to break free, or you can earnestly seek out God’s precious truths, so that you become an irrefutable professor in God’s wisdom. The choice is yours, but my heart’s desire for you is that you would choose the latter. Judge for yourself what is right.

Your brother,