God Arises
The Life We Seek
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THE LIFE WE SEEK
Friedrich Engels (1820-1895), a close associate of
Karl Marx, was known to the world as an atheist
and a socialist. He held that ‘first of all, man needs
clothes to cover his body, food to fill his stomach;
only then can he put his mind to philosophical and
political matters.’ Nowhere in this supposedly all-
embracing dictum is God mentioned. But Engel’s
atheism was a late development in his life, a
reaction to an early, unfavorable environment. As
he grew older and more mature in intellect, he
became more and more sceptical of the traditional
forms of religion he had known in his youth. To a
friend he wrote, “Every day I pray that the truth
should be made plain to me. Ever since doubts have
arisen within me, this prayer is perennially on my
lips. I cannot accept your faith. As I am writing
these lines, my heart is heavy and my eyes laden
with tears; yet I feel that I have not been turned
away from the gate. Hopefully, I will find God.
Heart and soul, I yearn for a vision of Him. And, by
my soul, do you know what this longing—this
intense love—of mine amounts to? It is a
manifestation of the holy spirit. Even if the Bible
