- It's the Easter season,
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which means that
all over the world
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Christians are celebrating
the Resurrection of Christ.
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Of course, a lot of people think
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that rising from the dead
is a logical impossibility.
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So today on Authentic,
we're going to explore
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why that might
not be as farfetched
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as a lot of people think.
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[upbeat music]
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Back in 1882,
Frederic Myers founded
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the Society for
Psychical Research
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as a reaction to this explosion
of interest in spiritualism
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that was sweeping the
world in the 19th century,
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especially in Great Britain
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and right here in
the United States.
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Spiritualism
was popular because,
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well that was a
reaction to the cold materialism
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that was coming out
of the Enlightenment.
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You see, the Enlightenment
had established human reason
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as the
foundation of all knowledge,
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and it kind of
reduced the whole universe
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to this math-based machine.
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Everything we said
could be solved with logic.
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And we told ourselves
that given enough time,
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our minds were
capable of solving
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just about all of
humanity's very worst problems.
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But what the Enlightenment
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and Industrial
Revolutions ignored
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was the fact that human beings
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are a deeply spiritual species.
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And people weren't happy
with this mechanistic universe
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where you and I are just
animals or biological machines
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who live for a few short years,
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and then [expelling air]
we disappear for all eternity
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never to be heard from again.
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Death with this
new understanding
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suddenly became
a hard finish line
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and people
weren't happy with that.
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So, when the Fox
Sisters in America
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reported that they
were talking to the dead,
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and other spiritualists
on both sides of the Atlantic
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started giving the
same kinds of reports,
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well, people suddenly gravitated
to these seances in droves
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hoping these
spiritualists were right,
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that maybe death isn't the end.
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Maybe, they hoped, somehow
you and I continue to exist
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minutes after we close our
eyes for the very last time.
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Now, all of this presented
something of a challenge
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to people like Charles Darwin
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who was obviously a
dedicated materialist
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who was trying to explain
life here on Planet Earth
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in purely naturalistic terms.
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His theory of evolution
didn't require a Creator.
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And it certainly didn't
provide for an afterlife.
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So, what happened is that
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some of the materialists
of the day tried to use
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the scientific method to
explain what was happening
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in all those
spiritualistic seances.
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And that would actually
include Mr. Darwin himself
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who attended at least
one seance that we know of.
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Now, back to Frederic Myers,
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who kind of had
one foot in both camps.
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On the one hand,
he was a materialist
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who wanted to explain
spiritualistic phenomena
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in scientific terms.
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But on the other hand,
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he also found
himself irresistibly drawn
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to the shadowy world of spirits
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who appeared to
be sending messages
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from the other
side of the grave.
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It was a time when we
had a lot of pseudo-science.
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It's not unlike these
paranormal reality TV shows
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that we have
today, where people try
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to use scientific instruments
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to prove the
existence of ghosts.
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The Society for
Psychical Research
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had a lot of big
names associated with it.
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At one point, William James,
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the brother of the
novelist, Henry James,
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he was the president.
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Charles Richet, the physiologist
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who got a Nobel prize in 1913,
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he was a member of the Society.
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And he was the guy who actually
invented the word ectoplasm.
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Alfred Lord Tennyson,
the poet, he was a member.
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So were British prime ministers
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like Arthur
Balfour and W.E. Gladstone.
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And what these
people tried to do
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was bring a level of
respectability to paranormal
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events by trying to mix
them with some kind of rational
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science. Not that any
of what they were doing
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would actually
pass for science today.
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So here's what happened to
the founder, Frederic Myers.
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He got Bright's disease, a
rather nasty kidney affliction
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that can lead to renal failure.
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He traveled to
Rome to see a doctor
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who promised to
treat his condition.
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And unfortunately
he didn't make it.
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He died in Rome in 1901.
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And that provided an
opportunity for his good friend,
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William James, to
test whether or not
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it was actually
possible to speak to the dead.
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You see, Frederic and William
apparently had an agreement
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that whoever died first
was going to try to communicate
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from the great beyond.
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Now they both
believed it was possible.
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Now they were going to prove it.
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So William James
waited, his notebook in hand,
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to write down
anything that Frederic
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might say from the grave.
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And the results,
well it was disappointing.
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According to someone
who was there, quote,
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"He sank down on a
chair by the open door,
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"his notebook on
his knees, pen in hand,
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"ready to take down the message
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"with his usual
methodical exactitude.
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"When I went away,
William James was still sitting
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"leaning back in his chair,
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"his hands over his face,
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"his open notebook on his knees.
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"The page was blank."
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There was no communication,
absolutely no confirmation
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that human consciousness
survives the moment of death.
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And that was kind of devastating
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because as
Darwin's Theory of Evolution
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became more and more
accepted in the general public,
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a lot of people started to feel,
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well let's say,
a little hopeless
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because Darwinian evolution said
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that when we die, we just die.
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And even worse, Darwin
said the whole human race
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was eventually going to go
extinct like the dinosaurs.
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And even worse than that,
he said the whole solar system
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is doomed because eventually
the star at the center,
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well it's going to burn out
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and that will be the
end of all forms of life.
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So while Darwin was
skeptical about spiritualism,
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he did completely understand
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why people wanted
spiritualism to be true.
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He understood how
stark his message is.
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Here's what he wrote
in his autobiography.
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"With respect to immortality,
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"nothing shows me
so clearly how strong
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"and almost
instinctive a belief is
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"as the
consideration of the view
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"now held by most physicists,
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"namely, that the
sun with all the planets
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"will in time
grow too cold for life,
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"unless indeed some new
great body dashes into the sun
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"and thus gives it fresh life.
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"Believing is I do that
man in the distant future
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"will be a far more
perfect creature than he now is,
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"it is an
intolerable thought that he
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"and all other
sentient beings are doomed
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"to complete annihilation
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"after such long
continued slow progress.
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"To those who fully admit
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"the immortality
of the human soul,
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"the destruction of our world
will not appear so dreadful."
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So, this is what was
going on in the Western world.
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People were looking
for some kind of evidence
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that we did not
live in this hopeless
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materialistic universe.
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But a little later in
the 20th century in Russia,
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according to this
book by John Gray,
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people were taking a
slightly different approach
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to the subject of the afterlife.
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And I'll be right
back after this break
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to tell you what they were doing
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Here at the Voice of Prophecy,
00:08:44.82\00:08:46.29
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"Discovery Mountain."
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Discovery Mountain
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Your family will enjoy
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With 24 seasonal
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and fresh content every week,
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there's always a new
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- Beyond trying to communicate
with disembodied spirits,
00:09:14.88\00:09:19.19
the Russians were also
hoping that maybe science
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and technological
know-how could help them
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defeat death altogether.
00:09:24.29\00:09:26.33
As much as the
communists despised
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the materialistic
capitalists of the West,
00:09:29.76\00:09:33.17
they themselves
were very materialistic,
00:09:33.17\00:09:35.97
although in a different sense.
00:09:35.97\00:09:38.77
In a way, Communism was a
logical outgrowth of Darwinism
00:09:38.77\00:09:42.81
because it assumed an
upward path for the human race.
00:09:42.81\00:09:46.55
Just like Darwin
suggested, they believed
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we were gonna
get better with time.
00:09:49.28\00:09:52.19
But from the
communist perspective,
00:09:52.19\00:09:54.19
there was no
reason we couldn't give
00:09:54.19\00:09:55.89
the process of evolution a
little push and help it along.
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If people took control
of the means of production,
00:09:59.69\00:10:02.33
and we centralized everything
under the power of the state,
00:10:02.33\00:10:05.57
we could make human
progress go, well, faster.
00:10:05.57\00:10:10.51
Of course, the
price of that progress
00:10:10.51\00:10:13.34
was tens of millions
of people who had to die
00:10:13.34\00:10:15.91
because they were
considered expendable.
00:10:15.91\00:10:18.68
They were standing in the
way of that so-called progress,
00:10:18.68\00:10:22.42
but that would be a
story for another day.
00:10:22.42\00:10:25.59
You see it only made
sense that the communists
00:10:25.59\00:10:28.76
who denied the
existence of a Creator
00:10:28.76\00:10:31.73
would turn to
rationalism and science
00:10:31.73\00:10:34.73
to tackle the question of death.
00:10:34.73\00:10:37.93
If we could push
human society upward
00:10:37.93\00:10:40.47
through radical,
rational, social engineering,
00:10:40.47\00:10:44.51
then maybe the
bright minds of science
00:10:44.51\00:10:47.18
could also extend a
human lifespan, and maybe
00:10:47.18\00:10:52.15
indefinitely. Now to be sure,
the Russians also entertained
00:10:54.12\00:10:56.85
a lot of very occult
ideas in the 20th Century,
00:10:56.85\00:11:00.26
which weren't
all that far removed
00:11:00.26\00:11:01.99
from the spiritualism
going on here in the West.
00:11:01.99\00:11:05.29
But maybe even
more than the West,
00:11:05.29\00:11:08.33
the Soviets dressed
their spiritualistic ideas
00:11:08.33\00:11:11.77
in the language of science.
00:11:11.77\00:11:13.97
Human beings might be
nothing but biological machines
00:11:13.97\00:11:16.94
they believe, but
they were machines
00:11:16.94\00:11:19.11
that could be well, deified,
00:11:19.11\00:11:21.94
through the process of
rational experimentation.
00:11:21.94\00:11:25.21
Man could
potentially become immortal.
00:11:25.21\00:11:29.55
Now of course
that science would take
00:11:30.75\00:11:32.79
a lot of experimentation.
00:11:32.79\00:11:35.72
And if you're going to
have a lot of experiments,
00:11:35.72\00:11:37.96
you're going to
need a lot of subjects,
00:11:37.96\00:11:40.90
human subjects on which
to run those experiments.
00:11:40.90\00:11:45.03
And history has taught us,
00:11:45.03\00:11:46.37
this was something the Soviets
00:11:46.37\00:11:47.67
were more than willing to do.
00:11:47.67\00:11:50.34
After Joseph Stalin established
00:11:50.34\00:11:52.54
an Institute of
Experimental Medicine
00:11:52.54\00:11:54.91
in the middle of
the 20th century,
00:11:54.91\00:11:57.25
the famous Soviet
writer, Maxim Gorky,
00:11:57.25\00:12:00.22
showed his excitement over
the potential of such things,
00:12:00.22\00:12:03.55
by writing this.
00:12:03.55\00:12:05.19
He said, "We need to
experiment on humans themselves.
00:12:05.19\00:12:09.36
"We need to study
the human organism,
00:12:09.36\00:12:11.99
"the processes of
intracellular feeding,
00:12:11.99\00:12:15.03
"blood circulation, the
chemistry of the nervous system
00:12:15.03\00:12:18.90
"and in general, all
processes of the human organism.
00:12:18.90\00:12:23.24
"Hundreds of human
units will be required."
00:12:23.24\00:12:27.54
Of course, a lot of
those human subjects
00:12:27.54\00:12:30.38
were pulled out of the Gulags,
00:12:30.38\00:12:31.98
and a lot of the
experiments had more to do
00:12:31.98\00:12:34.52
with chemical weapons than
finding the key to immortality,
00:12:34.52\00:12:38.62
but you kind of get the point.
00:12:38.62\00:12:41.69
Somehow we have this
idea that we can push
00:12:41.69\00:12:45.09
the human race
forward, whatever forward means.
00:12:45.09\00:12:49.53
And we even hold out hope
00:12:49.53\00:12:51.13
that one day we might
be able to conquer death.
00:12:51.13\00:12:54.97
Now, here in the West, we
point to growing life expectancy
00:12:54.97\00:12:59.54
as proof that science
can at least extend a life,
00:12:59.54\00:13:03.85
if not yet preserve it forever.
00:13:03.85\00:13:06.95
But there are those who
believe that given enough time
00:13:06.95\00:13:09.98
we will finally unlock the
secrets of aging and death,
00:13:09.98\00:13:13.89
and you and I
will become immortal.
00:13:13.89\00:13:16.46
I'm not sure what
happens with the problem
00:13:17.56\00:13:19.89
of overcrowding in that case,
00:13:19.89\00:13:21.53
unless we all stop reproducing,
00:13:21.53\00:13:23.13
but some people really believe
00:13:23.13\00:13:25.27
the potential for
everlasting life is there.
00:13:25.27\00:13:29.54
It's a thought that
drives a very unique
00:13:29.54\00:13:32.24
and well, hotly debated
industry here in the West.
00:13:32.24\00:13:35.78
It's an industry
known as cryonics,
00:13:35.78\00:13:38.28
not to be
confused with cryogenics
00:13:38.28\00:13:40.82
which is just the
study of how things behave
00:13:40.82\00:13:43.25
at very low temperatures.
00:13:43.25\00:13:46.22
Cryonics is the
disputed practice
00:13:46.22\00:13:49.12
of freezing your
body when you die,
00:13:49.12\00:13:51.33
so that one day in the future,
00:13:51.33\00:13:54.93
you could be
thawed out and resurrected
00:13:54.93\00:13:58.00
after scientists
have finally figured out
00:13:58.00\00:14:00.27
how to cure whatever
it is that killed you.
00:14:00.27\00:14:03.91
Or if you wanna
save a little money
00:14:03.91\00:14:05.51
and not freeze your entire body,
00:14:05.51\00:14:08.28
I've been given to understand
00:14:08.28\00:14:09.81
they can just cut off
your head and freeze just that,
00:14:09.81\00:14:12.85
which would mean
they would have to somehow
00:14:12.85\00:14:15.35
clone you a new body when
they bring you back to life,
00:14:15.35\00:14:17.95
or maybe you just
exist as a head on a tray
00:14:17.95\00:14:21.09
like some kind of
bad 1950s drive-in movie.
00:14:21.09\00:14:24.43
The idea behind
it is the same thing
00:14:25.63\00:14:27.60
that motivated 20th
century Russian thinkers,
00:14:27.60\00:14:30.90
the belief that the
human race can use logic
00:14:30.90\00:14:34.64
to conquer death.
00:14:34.64\00:14:36.71
There's actually an old rumor.
00:14:36.71\00:14:38.21
Maybe you've heard this
one, Walt Disney did this
00:14:38.21\00:14:40.84
when he died back in 1966.
00:14:40.84\00:14:42.98
They froze his body,
and now it's stashed away
00:14:42.98\00:14:46.08
in some secret cryonic chamber
00:14:46.08\00:14:48.42
under that ride
"Pirates of the Caribbean."
00:14:48.42\00:14:51.19
Of course, it's not true.
00:14:51.19\00:14:52.79
It's just a spooky urban legend
00:14:52.79\00:14:54.76
and the truth is that
Walt Disney was cremated,
00:14:54.76\00:14:58.49
and his ashes are still in
Forest Lawn Cemetery to this
00:14:58.49\00:15:02.80
day. But there are
people who have done this.
00:15:04.00\00:15:08.10
In 1967, the year after Walt
Disney died, Dr. James Bedford,
00:15:08.10\00:15:12.97
a professor of psychology at
the University of California,
00:15:12.97\00:15:16.38
became the first
person we put on ice
00:15:16.38\00:15:19.81
in the hopes of a
future resurrection.
00:15:19.81\00:15:22.62
And since that time,
something like 250 more people
00:15:22.62\00:15:26.15
have done this, and
another 1,500 I understand,
00:15:26.15\00:15:30.33
are standing in line to
have this done when they die.
00:15:30.33\00:15:34.20
Now, unfortunately
for the early adopters,
00:15:34.20\00:15:37.87
cryonics companies
found it too expensive
00:15:37.87\00:15:40.80
to preserve the bodies.
00:15:40.80\00:15:42.60
And in the 1970s, a bunch of
these companies went belly up,
00:15:42.60\00:15:45.74
which means, well,
they thawed out the bodies
00:15:45.74\00:15:49.78
and got rid of them.
00:15:49.78\00:15:51.05
I guess the point
that I'm making is this.
00:15:52.28\00:15:55.22
A lot of human beings have
placed an awful lot of faith
00:15:55.22\00:15:59.05
in the ability of
science to keep them alive.
00:15:59.05\00:16:02.29
And to some extent
we have been successful.
00:16:02.29\00:16:04.99
Things that used to
kill us 100 years ago
00:16:04.99\00:16:07.66
can now be treated,
00:16:07.66\00:16:09.40
and lifespans have
definitely gotten longer
00:16:09.40\00:16:13.00
on this side of
the 20th century.
00:16:13.00\00:16:15.37
So naturally
people hold out hope
00:16:15.37\00:16:17.77
that the sky might be the limit,
00:16:17.77\00:16:19.64
that maybe one day we
won't have to die anymore.
00:16:19.64\00:16:23.81
Yet for some reason, when
it comes to the central story
00:16:25.25\00:16:29.22
of this book, the
Resurrection of Christ,
00:16:29.22\00:16:32.55
a lot of people make fun of
it and say, "That's impossible."
00:16:32.55\00:16:36.89
They say that people simply
do not come back from the dead.
00:16:36.89\00:16:40.63
But let's suppose for a moment
that God is absolutely real.
00:16:42.03\00:16:45.53
I happen to believe that he is.
00:16:45.53\00:16:47.64
And let's suppose
there really is a Creator
00:16:47.64\00:16:50.44
who made the human
race in the first place.
00:16:50.44\00:16:54.28
Are we really willing to say
00:16:54.28\00:16:56.85
that human science might
be able to conquer death,
00:16:56.85\00:17:01.02
but the God who gave us life
in the first place can't do it?
00:17:01.02\00:17:06.02
A little while ago, I was
watching this online debate
00:17:07.46\00:17:09.86
between the
professed atheist, Sam Harris,
00:17:09.86\00:17:12.36
and Jordan Peterson,
the best-selling Toronto
00:17:12.36\00:17:15.76
psychologist who has
become something of a YouTube
00:17:15.76\00:17:19.67
sensation. Obviously
neither one of these men
00:17:19.67\00:17:22.34
is a professing Christian,
00:17:22.34\00:17:23.71
at least not in the traditional
Bible-believing sense.
00:17:23.71\00:17:27.88
But if you read what
Jordan Peterson writes,
00:17:27.88\00:17:30.68
you discover that he does
have respect for scripture
00:17:30.68\00:17:34.82
even though he kind of
used the book of Genesis
00:17:34.82\00:17:37.69
as a collection of
very useful ancient myths
00:17:37.69\00:17:40.99
that spell out important
psychological principles.
00:17:40.99\00:17:45.39
Now, at one point
in this online debate,
00:17:45.39\00:17:48.96
Sam Harris suddenly
challenged Jordan Peterson
00:17:48.96\00:17:51.90
to confirm or deny the
Resurrection of Christ.
00:17:51.90\00:17:56.20
"Do you think it's
possible" he asked,
00:17:56.20\00:17:58.77
"that Jesus was literally
resurrected from the dead?"
00:17:58.77\00:18:02.78
And that's the moment
when Dr. Peterson hesitated,
00:18:04.21\00:18:08.88
and his answer was to say that
it wasn't a simple question.
00:18:10.32\00:18:12.15
It would take him something
like 40 hours to answer that.
00:18:12.15\00:18:16.09
Now I know that this is not
00:18:17.26\00:18:19.23
what Dr. Peterson was
driving at, not even close.
00:18:19.23\00:18:22.73
But I'd have to
agree with his hesitation.
00:18:22.73\00:18:26.63
The question of whether or
not resurrection is possible
00:18:26.63\00:18:29.70
is not as simple as it sounds.
00:18:29.70\00:18:32.97
The skeptic wants to
say, "Almost certainly not."
00:18:32.97\00:18:36.54
And that's what Sam
Harris said in that debate.
00:18:36.54\00:18:39.48
And we wanna say that
because in our experience
00:18:39.48\00:18:41.82
people do not come
back from the dead.
00:18:41.82\00:18:45.09
But at the same time,
we somehow seem to think
00:18:46.25\00:18:48.99
that the secret of
immortality might lie
00:18:48.99\00:18:51.43
within our scientific reach,
00:18:51.43\00:18:53.96
that eventually science
might be able to put an end
00:18:53.96\00:18:56.63
to things like aging and death.
00:18:56.63\00:18:59.63
So now I've got
to ask the question,
00:18:59.63\00:19:03.20
"Why would that be possible,
00:19:03.20\00:19:05.17
"but it's not possible that
Jesus could rise from the dead.
00:19:05.17\00:19:09.14
"How would we be more
intelligent than God?"
00:19:09.14\00:19:13.95
Now before you
say there is no God,
00:19:13.95\00:19:15.92
for some reason the
vast majority of us worldwide
00:19:15.92\00:19:18.32
continue for some reason
to believe that there is.
00:19:18.32\00:19:22.49
Even after almost two centuries
of Darwin's skepticism,
00:19:22.49\00:19:25.89
we still can't
seem to shake the idea
00:19:25.89\00:19:27.96
that somebody
must have put us here.
00:19:27.96\00:19:31.03
So why couldn't that Creator
raise a man from the dead?
00:19:31.03\00:19:35.27
Are you and I really
smarter than the divine mind
00:19:35.27\00:19:38.84
who invented life
in the first place?
00:19:38.84\00:19:42.18
Look, I've gotta take a break,
but I'm coming right back.
00:19:42.18\00:19:46.05
- [Female Announcer]
Life can throw a lot at us.
00:19:47.82\00:19:50.12
Sometimes we don't
have all the answers
00:19:50.12\00:19:52.59
but that's where
the Bible comes in.
00:19:53.72\00:19:55.92
It's our guide to a
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00:19:55.92\00:19:59.03
Here at the Voice of Prophecy,
00:19:59.03\00:20:00.60
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00:20:00.60\00:20:02.70
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00:20:02.70\00:20:04.30
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00:20:04.30\00:20:06.80
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00:20:11.84\00:20:14.18
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00:20:14.18\00:20:16.41
- A lot of people hear the story
00:20:17.51\00:20:18.98
of the Resurrection of
Christ or the resurrection
00:20:18.98\00:20:21.38
of a handful of other
people mentioned in this book
00:20:21.38\00:20:23.72
and they just write it off
as some kind of fairy tale.
00:20:23.72\00:20:27.26
But if it never happened, if
Jesus never rose from the dead,
00:20:28.66\00:20:31.33
then the entire
Christian faith falls apart.
00:20:31.33\00:20:34.63
I know there
are people out there
00:20:34.63\00:20:36.10
who profess to be Christians
00:20:36.10\00:20:37.63
and they treat the Resurrection
story as an allegory.
00:20:37.63\00:20:41.14
But according to the
first century Christians
00:20:41.14\00:20:43.47
who gave us this book,
00:20:43.47\00:20:44.97
if the Resurrection
didn't actually happen,
00:20:44.97\00:20:47.91
there is no Christian faith.
00:20:47.91\00:20:50.61
Let me show you what I mean
00:20:50.61\00:20:51.88
from the writings
of Paul, the Apostle.
00:20:51.88\00:20:53.85
He was of course the great
missionary of the first century,
00:20:53.85\00:20:56.85
the man who took the Christian
faith to the Gentile world,
00:20:56.85\00:20:59.92
helping to establish
it as a global religion.
00:20:59.92\00:21:03.86
What we have in
the New Testament
00:21:03.86\00:21:05.66
is this collection of
letters that Paul wrote
00:21:05.66\00:21:08.10
to some of the
churches he started.
00:21:08.10\00:21:10.33
And we have two of his letters
00:21:10.33\00:21:11.80
to the church in
Corinth, in modern day Greece.
00:21:11.80\00:21:15.34
And at one point,
this is what he writes.
00:21:15.34\00:21:19.77
"For I delivered
to you, first of all
00:21:19.77\00:21:21.74
"that which I also received,
00:21:21.74\00:21:24.05
"that Christ died for our sins
00:21:24.05\00:21:25.58
"according to the scriptures
and that he was buried,
00:21:25.58\00:21:28.32
"and that he rose
again the third day
00:21:28.32\00:21:30.62
"according to the scriptures,
00:21:30.62\00:21:32.25
"and that he was seen by Cephas,
00:21:32.25\00:21:34.02
"then by the 12.
00:21:34.02\00:21:35.52
"After that, he was seen
by over 500 brethren at once,
00:21:35.52\00:21:38.39
"of whom the greater
part remain to the present,
00:21:38.39\00:21:40.56
"but some have fallen asleep.
00:21:40.56\00:21:42.86
"After that he was seen by
James, then by all the apostles.
00:21:42.86\00:21:45.83
"Then last of all
he was seen by me also,
00:21:45.83\00:21:48.94
"as by one born
out of due time."
00:21:48.94\00:21:52.27
So you can see that
from Paul's perspective,
00:21:52.27\00:21:54.41
the story of the Resurrection
was not an allegory.
00:21:54.41\00:21:57.51
It wasn't a story
the church made up
00:21:57.51\00:21:59.51
in order to
illustrate spiritual awakening
00:21:59.51\00:22:01.95
or some other esoteric concept.
00:22:01.95\00:22:05.05
As far as Paul was concerned,
the Resurrection was real
00:22:05.05\00:22:08.59
if for no other
reason than the fact
00:22:08.59\00:22:10.39
that he had seen
the risen Christ.
00:22:10.39\00:22:13.96
And you'll notice
he was not the only one
00:22:13.96\00:22:16.40
who claimed to see him.
00:22:16.40\00:22:17.63
More than 500
made the same claim.
00:22:17.63\00:22:20.97
So as far as first century
Christians were concerned,
00:22:20.97\00:22:23.44
the Resurrection was real.
00:22:23.44\00:22:25.77
But then notice what
Paul says to his skeptics
00:22:25.77\00:22:28.18
down in verse 12.
00:22:28.18\00:22:29.98
"Now if Christ is preached
00:22:29.98\00:22:32.01
"that he has been
raised from the dead,
00:22:32.01\00:22:33.62
"how do some among you say
00:22:33.62\00:22:34.95
"there is no
resurrection of the dead?"
00:22:34.95\00:22:38.55
Here's what was happening.
00:22:39.72\00:22:41.32
Apparently some
of the church members
00:22:41.32\00:22:43.32
in the city of Corinth were
arguing about the afterlife,
00:22:43.32\00:22:46.59
whether or not you
and I have any hope
00:22:46.59\00:22:48.90
of an existence after we die.
00:22:48.90\00:22:51.40
And what Paul does is point out
00:22:51.40\00:22:54.44
that their entire
religion is built on this idea.
00:22:54.44\00:22:58.47
He argues, "How can you preach
00:22:58.47\00:23:01.54
"that Jesus rose from the dead
00:23:01.54\00:23:04.01
"and then deny that
such things are possible?"
00:23:04.01\00:23:07.52
He continues in verse 13,
00:23:07.52\00:23:09.12
and here's the point
I wanna leave you with
00:23:09.12\00:23:11.09
during this Easter season.
00:23:11.09\00:23:13.09
I'll just read
you the whole thing.
00:23:13.09\00:23:15.06
"But if there is no
resurrection of the dead,
00:23:16.42\00:23:18.83
"then Christ is not risen.
00:23:18.83\00:23:20.20
"And if Christ is not risen,
00:23:20.20\00:23:21.66
"then our preaching is empty
and your faith is also empty.
00:23:21.66\00:23:25.13
'Yes, and we are
found false witnesses of God
00:23:25.13\00:23:28.04
"because we
have testified of God
00:23:28.04\00:23:29.60
"that he raised up
Christ, whom he did not raise up
00:23:29.60\00:23:32.74
"if in fact the
dead do not rise.
00:23:32.74\00:23:35.38
"For if the dead do not
rise, then Christ is not risen.
00:23:35.38\00:23:37.88
"And if Christ is not
risen, your faith is futile,
00:23:37.88\00:23:41.38
"you are still in your sins.
00:23:41.38\00:23:43.12
"Then also those who
have fallen asleep in Christ
00:23:43.12\00:23:45.65
"have perished.
00:23:45.65\00:23:46.92
"If in this life only
we have hope in Christ,
00:23:46.92\00:23:49.92
"we are of all men
the most pitiable."
00:23:49.92\00:23:53.76
Now let me ask
you a simple question.
00:23:53.76\00:23:56.26
Does that sound to you
like there was any doubt
00:23:56.26\00:23:59.33
in Paul's mind that the
Resurrection was a literal
00:23:59.33\00:24:02.87
event? No way!
00:24:02.87\00:24:04.41
And if Christ did not
rise from the dead, he argues,
00:24:04.41\00:24:06.51
then there is no point
to the Christian faith.
00:24:06.51\00:24:08.98
You see, this is not just
a book of spiritual proverbs,
00:24:08.98\00:24:11.65
a collection of mythologies.
00:24:11.65\00:24:14.02
This is an
historical record of events
00:24:14.02\00:24:16.82
that actually took place.
00:24:16.82\00:24:18.99
And if the
Resurrection didn't take place,
00:24:18.99\00:24:20.92
then you and I are
just biological machines
00:24:20.92\00:24:23.29
without any hope.
00:24:23.29\00:24:24.79
The very best we can do
is try to extend our lives
00:24:24.79\00:24:27.73
a few years by
studying medical science.
00:24:27.73\00:24:30.70
But even then,
we'll just be living
00:24:30.70\00:24:32.17
in a cold uncaring universe,
00:24:32.17\00:24:35.77
and a longer lifespan
isn't gonna mean a whole lot.
00:24:35.77\00:24:38.51
But if Jesus did
rise from the dead
00:24:39.77\00:24:41.88
and this book
happens to be true,
00:24:41.88\00:24:44.25
that means you have
an awful lot to live for,
00:24:44.25\00:24:46.85
and an awful lot
to look forward to.
00:24:46.85\00:24:49.68
Because what you have
in this ancient record
00:24:49.68\00:24:51.85
is not some misty
pie-in-the-sky future
00:24:51.85\00:24:54.12
in existence in the ether.
00:24:54.12\00:24:56.19
When the Bible says that
Jesus rose from the dead,
00:24:56.19\00:24:58.26
it means he really rose from
the dead with a physical body.
00:24:58.26\00:25:02.63
The eyewitness
testimony you find
00:25:02.63\00:25:04.47
in the first four
books in the New Testament
00:25:04.47\00:25:06.40
doesn't talk about
some ethereal spirit being
00:25:06.40\00:25:09.30
who sort of came
back from the grave.
00:25:09.30\00:25:11.41
It describes a real
flesh and blood man,
00:25:11.41\00:25:14.78
like this passage
says in Luke Chapter 24.
00:25:14.78\00:25:19.11
"Now as they said these things,
00:25:19.11\00:25:20.65
"Jesus himself stood in
the midst of them and said,
00:25:20.65\00:25:23.18
"'Peace be to you.'
00:25:23.18\00:25:24.95
"But they were
terrified and frightened
00:25:24.95\00:25:26.49
"and supposed
they had seen a spirit.
00:25:26.49\00:25:28.32
"And he said to them,
'Why are you troubled?
00:25:28.32\00:25:30.46
"'And why do doubts
arise in your hearts?
00:25:30.46\00:25:32.99
"'Behold my hands and my
feet, that it is I myself.
00:25:32.99\00:25:35.96
"'Handle me and
see, for a spirit
00:25:35.96\00:25:38.00
"'does not have flesh and bones
00:25:38.00\00:25:40.24
"'as you see I have.'"
00:25:40.24\00:25:42.00
Then to prove the
point, he ate something.
00:25:42.00\00:25:44.91
So here's what I'm driving at.
00:25:44.91\00:25:46.44
This book does talk about
something after the grave.
00:25:46.44\00:25:49.01
And it's as real as the
existence that you have right
00:25:49.01\00:25:52.68
now. I guess you
could say the Russians
00:25:52.68\00:25:54.58
were more right
than the spiritualists.
00:25:54.58\00:25:57.19
The future this book describes
00:25:57.19\00:25:59.02
is not a world of
fuzzy disembodied voices
00:25:59.02\00:26:01.69
that come and rap on
a table during a seance.
00:26:01.69\00:26:04.29
It's real flesh
and blood people.
00:26:04.29\00:26:06.93
It talks about an earth made new
00:26:06.93\00:26:08.60
where we actually do things,
00:26:08.60\00:26:10.70
and the problems
that plague us now,
00:26:10.70\00:26:12.17
they're going
to be gone forever.
00:26:12.17\00:26:14.20
So why is it that
the Russians thought
00:26:14.20\00:26:17.34
they might be
able to extend life
00:26:17.34\00:26:18.94
maybe forever by using science?
00:26:18.94\00:26:21.51
And why is it we
think that maybe science
00:26:21.51\00:26:24.15
can slow down aging
or maybe even stop it?
00:26:24.15\00:26:27.68
Why do you think
we can freeze people
00:26:27.68\00:26:30.05
and bring them
back to life one day,
00:26:30.05\00:26:31.62
but then at the same
time when this book says
00:26:31.62\00:26:34.29
that somebody's already done it,
00:26:34.29\00:26:35.82
well then we
say it's impossible?
00:26:35.82\00:26:38.13
We gotta wonder, what
are we trying to avoid
00:26:39.33\00:26:41.50
when we become so insistent
that the stories in this book
00:26:41.50\00:26:44.07
couldn't possibly be true?
00:26:44.07\00:26:46.13
On the one hand, we
dream about conquering
00:26:46.13\00:26:48.84
all of our problems using logic,
00:26:48.84\00:26:51.54
we dream of visiting the stars,
00:26:51.54\00:26:53.88
but then we say the claims
of this book can't be true.
00:26:53.88\00:26:58.58
What are we trying to avoid?
00:26:58.58\00:27:00.65
Don't go away.
00:27:00.65\00:27:02.02
I'll be right back.
00:27:02.02\00:27:03.08
- [Male Announcer] Dragons,
beasts, cryptic statues.
00:27:04.69\00:27:08.92
Bible prophecy can be
incredibly vivid and confusing.
00:27:08.92\00:27:13.53
If you've ever read
"Daniel, a Revelation,"
00:27:13.53\00:27:15.66
and come away
scratching your head,
00:27:15.66\00:27:17.43
you're not alone.
00:27:17.43\00:27:18.73
Our free "Focus
on Prophecy Guides"
00:27:18.73\00:27:21.10
are designed to help you unlock
00:27:21.10\00:27:22.64
the mysteries of the Bible
and deepen your understanding
00:27:22.64\00:27:25.47
of God's plan for
you and our world.
00:27:25.47\00:27:27.98
Study online, or
request them by mail
00:27:27.98\00:27:30.45
and start bringing
prophecy into focus today.
00:27:30.45\00:27:34.08
- You know, you've
got to wonder why it is
00:27:34.08\00:27:36.28
that we want to live longer.
00:27:36.28\00:27:37.89
Why do we pursue immortality?
00:27:37.89\00:27:41.26
Why do we find it
so deeply unsatisfying
00:27:41.26\00:27:44.26
this thought that the
universe is just gonna run down
00:27:44.26\00:27:46.63
and then finish and we're gone.
00:27:46.63\00:27:49.56
I think it has
something to do with something
00:27:49.56\00:27:51.30
this book said a
very long time ago.
00:27:51.30\00:27:54.07
In Ecclesiastes 3:11 it
says that we were created
00:27:54.07\00:27:57.84
with eternity in our hearts.
00:27:57.84\00:28:00.18
Maybe it's time to
explore that again.
00:28:00.18\00:28:02.48
I'm Shawn Boonstra.
00:28:02.48\00:28:03.88
This has been Authentic.
00:28:03.88\00:28:06.51
[upbeat music]
00:28:06.51\00:28:09.08