- The Black Death was easily
one of the worst tragedies
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to ever hit our planet
killing tens of millions,
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and frankly also in many
ways bringing out the worst
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that human nature has to offer.
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Today, we're gonna compare
that to the COVID-19 pandemic,
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not because of the death toll,
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which is nothing like the
devastation of the 14th century,
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instead we're gonna look
at some disturbing parallels
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that might have a lot to say
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about the way that you and
I are wired as human beings.
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[uplifting music]
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They called it
the bubonic plague
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because of one of the first
symptoms that would show up,
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swollen lymph glands
or buboes they called them
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which would erupt at the
spot where a flee bit you
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and managed to
transmit the deadly bacteria
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through your skin.
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About seven days
after that initial bite,
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you would get symptoms like
fever, headache, and vomiting,
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the same kinds of things
you might get from the flu.
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But then three days after that,
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an alarming number
of victims were dead.
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In the south of Europe,
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say in countries
like Spain or Italy,
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as much as 80% of
the population died,
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while Northern Europe
lost something like 20%,
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which only seems like a
good number next to 80%.
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And of course, if we were
to lose 20% of the population
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in a pandemic, we
would be devastated.
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I mean, here in my
home state of Colorado,
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we lost something like
1/10 of 1% to COVID-19.
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At least that's what
the number was this morning
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when I came into the studio.
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And of course we
found that incredibly tragic
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because it means that just
about everybody knows somebody
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who died from COVID.
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So imagine a disease
that suddenly takes out
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one in five people,
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and you get a sense of the
magnitude of the bubonic plague
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even in the less affected areas.
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The cities of Paris and London,
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each lost about
half of their population.
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And that's because
densely populated urban centers
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usually fare more
poorly than the countryside
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when exposed to
highly contagious diseases.
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You see the same
effect in New York city,
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where an incredibly
dense population meant
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that COVID hit
them particularly hard.
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Of course, there
really is no comparison
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between the
Black Death and COVID
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at least in terms of death toll,
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but there is a lot of similarity
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when it comes to the
way that people responded.
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And I guess I wanna look
at that for a little bit today
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because I think it offers
us a glimpse into human nature
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that might prove very
useful in figuring out
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how you and I might
like to conduct ourselves.
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And fortunately, because
the 14th century was a time
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when literature and art
were starting to flourish,
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we have some vivid accounts
of what the world was like
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in the face of the plague.
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In particular, we
have books like this one,
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"The Decameron" by
Giovanni Boccaccio,
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which was first
published in 1352.
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And it's a book I
wouldn't recommend leaving
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around the house for your
kids to find because it's,
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well, rather blunt when it
comes to describing the morals
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or the lack of morals in
Western Europe at the time.
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It delivers a
particularly rough assessment
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of medieval clergy,
many of whom as you know
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were living very
decadently back then,
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the fact that
eventually helped spark
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the Protestant reformation.
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And it really
demonstrates that the problems
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that led to the
rise of Martin Luther
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were a very long
time in the making.
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In fact, there's
one section in this book
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where a wealthy Christian
merchant is trying to convince
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a Jewish friend
named Abraham to convert.
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And after quite a
bit of discussion,
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Abraham is
tempted to make the leap,
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but he decides that before
he converts to Christianity,
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he should visit the city
of Rome to have a look around
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so he can see for himself
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what the Bishop of
Rome was really like.
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Would the Bishop of Rome
prove to be a model human being?
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If the fruit of
the Christian religion
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was better than his
own faith, Abraham said,
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he would consider
becoming a Christian,
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but if it wasn't, he
would rather remain a Jew.
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And it's at this point
that his Christian friend
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suddenly
becomes very discouraged
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because he knows full well what
Abraham is going to discover
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when he gets to the eternal
city of the 14th century.
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He's going to find an
alarming amount of corruption
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and immorality.
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Here's how
Boccaccio puts it in his book.
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He writes,
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"When Giannotto,"
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That's the wealthy merchant.
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"When Giannotto heard this,
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"he was stricken
with a deep sadness.
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"'I've lost all the pains
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"'that I thought
were so well-taken,'
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"he said to himself.
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"'I think I've converted him,
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"'and yet, if he
goes to the court of Rome
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"'and sees the wicked and
filthy lives of the clergy,
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"'not only won't he change
from a Jew into a Christian,
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"'but if he had
already become a Christian,
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"'he would without fail, go
back to being a Jew again.'"
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I don't know if you've
ever felt embarrassment
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over some of the public
behavior of notable Christians,
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but I actually felt something
when I read that account.
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And it's hardly a
ringing endorsement
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of the medieval church,
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and it's exactly what
Luther would still find
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about 170 years later on
his infamous visit to Rome,
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an incredibly corrupt church.
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I mean, we may as well admit it,
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Western Christians
had a serious problem
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in the medieval period.
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And what this tells us
is that the story condition
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of the Western church was
a long time in the making,
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and even worse,
it was widely known,
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which we can see from the
writings of a few brave people
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who were actually willing to put
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their objections in writing.
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Now, personally,
I have to wonder,
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if the printing
press had been invented
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before Boccaccio wrote this,
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maybe the reformation
might've gotten off the ground
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just a little bit sooner,
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but of course, I'm
getting a little bit off topic
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because we started out by
discussing the Black Death.
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So maybe I need to put the
reformation aside for a moment
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and come back to
it some other day,
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so we can take a look at some
of the early forerunners here
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who paved the way for Luther.
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What's important
for today is the fact
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that Boccaccio wrote this
book during a global pandemic.
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And it's a series of
stories being told by 10 people
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who have fled to the countryside
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to escape the
ravages of disease.
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It gives us some
firsthand insight
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into what the
plague must have been like.
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And I guess the
reason I want you to see this
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is because it
demonstrates that human nature
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really hasn't changed
much over the last 700 years.
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For the most part,
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human beings are always
going to be human beings.
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And the way we deal
with things like anxiety
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and fear says a lot
about who and what we are.
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So let's take a look at
how some people responded
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to the horrible
horror of a disease
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that only gave you
three days to live.
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Boccaccio writes,
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"Almost all of whom took
one utterly cruel precaution,
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"namely, to avoid the
sick and their belongings,
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"fleeing far away
from them, for in doing so
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"they all thought they could
preserve their own health."
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Now don't forget, this is a
long time before germ theory.
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So people don't
really understand
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exactly how diseases spread,
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but they're
smart enough to realize
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that being in the vicinity
of sick people is a bad idea.
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And their basic survival
instinct suddenly kicks in,
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and now it's
every man for himself.
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It continues, and here's where
it starts to get interesting.
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He writes,
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"Some people were of the
opinion that living moderately
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"and being abstemious
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"would really help
them resist the disease.
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"They, therefore, formed
themselves into companies
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"and lived in
isolation from everyone else.
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"Having come together, they
shut themselves up inside houses
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"where no one was sick
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"and they had
ample means to live well,
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"so that, while
avoiding overindulgence,
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"they still enjoyed
the most delicate foods
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"and the best
wines in moderation.
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"They would not speak
with anyone from outside,
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"nor did they
want to hear any news
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"about the dead and the dying,
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"and instead they
passed their time playing music
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"and enjoying whatever other
amusements they could devise."
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So what they essentially did
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in addition to just ignoring
the pandemic was self isolate
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and keep their
lifestyles simple,
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making sure they
didn't punish their bodies
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with licentiousness.
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They practiced moderation.
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And I guess that's
interesting because
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here in the 21st century,
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we did find that
people whose health
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was already compromised
with lifestyle diseases
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were the ones who seem most
likely to succumb to COVID-19.
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I mean, not
exclusively so by any means,
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but there was a trend.
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And so it appears there
might be something to be said
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for a temperate lifestyle
that chooses to forego excess.
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Things like simple
diet, simple habits,
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something you do find
in the pages of the Bible,
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well, it turns out
it's a pretty good approach
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for bettering your
odds in the face of disease.
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Is it guaranteed?
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No, absolutely not because
everybody eventually dies,
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but it does seem
to better your odds.
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Now, I've got to
take a really quick break,
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so I'm gonna self
isolate right here in the studio
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for just a few seconds,
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and then I'll come back to
show you what else we can learn
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from the Bible and
the bubonic plague.
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[light music]
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- [Announcer] Here at
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00:09:17.25\00:09:18.72
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"Discovery Mountain"
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There's always a new
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- One of the interesting
things about these people
00:09:46.78\00:09:48.58
who chose to isolate themselves
during the Black Death
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is the way they kind of
instinctively understood
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the principle of quarantine.
00:09:54.26\00:09:56.52
If you isolate infected
people from non-infected people,
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it effectively slows
the spread of the disease.
00:10:00.53\00:10:03.00
And it turns out the word
quarantine actually comes to us
00:10:03.00\00:10:06.23
courtesy of the bubonic plague.
00:10:06.23\00:10:08.57
At the height of the pandemic,
sailors arriving in Venice
00:10:08.57\00:10:11.67
were required to drop
anchor and stay on their ships
00:10:11.67\00:10:14.18
for 40 days to be
sure they weren't infected.
00:10:14.18\00:10:16.98
And in Italian 40 days
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is quite on the journey
or quarantine [mumbles].
00:10:18.88\00:10:21.65
So here we are 700
years after the fact
00:10:21.65\00:10:24.99
still applying the
lessons of the plague
00:10:24.99\00:10:26.89
to our own
experience with a pandemic.
00:10:26.89\00:10:29.49
But what's really interesting
00:10:29.49\00:10:31.16
is how the concept of quarantine
00:10:31.16\00:10:33.50
actually dates back
thousands of years before that,
00:10:33.50\00:10:36.60
and we find it in
the pages of the Bible
00:10:36.60\00:10:39.43
where the children
of Israel practiced
00:10:39.43\00:10:40.80
some rather
stringent health principles,
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I'll show you what I mean.
00:10:43.41\00:10:44.71
This is dealing with
the disease of leprosy,
00:10:44.71\00:10:47.34
which fortunately is
not as much of a problem now
00:10:47.34\00:10:50.85
as it was back then.
00:10:50.85\00:10:53.11
Anybody suspected of
having this horrible disease
00:10:53.11\00:10:55.65
was immediately isolated.
00:10:55.65\00:10:57.89
And in Leviticus 13,
00:10:57.89\00:10:59.85
we find a
description of what they did.
00:10:59.85\00:11:02.46
If somebody was
obviously infected,
00:11:02.46\00:11:04.83
they had to leave right away,
00:11:04.83\00:11:06.80
but if somebody
might have the disease,
00:11:06.80\00:11:09.63
then the priest
would inspect them.
00:11:09.63\00:11:11.23
And here's how
that went, Leviticus 13.
00:11:11.23\00:11:14.07
"But if the bright spot is
white on the skin of his body,
00:11:14.07\00:11:17.34
"and does not appear to
be deeper than the skin,
00:11:17.34\00:11:19.34
"and its hair
has not turned white,
00:11:19.34\00:11:21.38
"then the priest shall isolate
00:11:21.38\00:11:22.64
"the one who has
the soar seven days.
00:11:22.64\00:11:25.21
"And the priest shall
examine him on the seventh day,
00:11:25.21\00:11:27.55
"and indeed if the soar
appears to be as it was,
00:11:27.55\00:11:30.35
"and the soar is
not spread on the skin,
00:11:30.35\00:11:32.35
"then the priest shall
isolate him another seven days."
00:11:32.35\00:11:36.36
So what they were doing was
using an abundance of caution.
00:11:36.36\00:11:39.16
If someone was suspected
of carrying this disease,
00:11:39.16\00:11:42.33
they were isolated
for a week at a time
00:11:42.33\00:11:44.50
until everybody
could be certain.
00:11:44.50\00:11:46.40
And if the poor victim
did prove to be infected,
00:11:46.40\00:11:49.44
then they were
permanently exiled
00:11:49.44\00:11:51.44
because there was
no cure for leprosy,
00:11:51.44\00:11:53.51
it was a death sentence.
00:11:53.51\00:11:55.38
This was an early
version of quarantine
00:11:55.38\00:11:57.75
and it's still the way we deal
00:11:57.75\00:11:59.21
with infectious diseases today.
00:11:59.21\00:12:01.18
For example, when someone
gets exposed to COVID-19,
00:12:01.18\00:12:04.05
we make them go home
00:12:04.05\00:12:05.59
and keep away from everybody
else until we know for sure.
00:12:05.59\00:12:08.92
Now, the other
thing I want you to notice
00:12:10.13\00:12:11.79
is how the same people
who were self isolating
00:12:11.79\00:12:14.63
back in the 14th century decided
00:12:14.63\00:12:16.97
that they should keep
their diets and lifestyle simple
00:12:16.97\00:12:19.37
so that they didn't
tax their immune systems.
00:12:19.37\00:12:22.20
Of course, they
didn't really know
00:12:22.20\00:12:23.44
about immune
systems per se back then,
00:12:23.44\00:12:25.74
but that's how we would
describe what they were doing.
00:12:25.74\00:12:28.78
And I guess what I
find really interesting
00:12:28.78\00:12:30.75
is the way that in recent years,
00:12:30.75\00:12:32.35
something known
as the Daniel diet
00:12:32.35\00:12:34.98
has become really popular,
at least it was for while.
00:12:34.98\00:12:38.75
It's a fad that God
started in a big way
00:12:38.75\00:12:41.22
when a well-known
American pastor noticed
00:12:41.22\00:12:43.46
how many of the people he
was baptizing were overweight.
00:12:43.46\00:12:47.20
And of course,
globally Americans unfortunately
00:12:47.20\00:12:49.86
do have the reputation of
being, well, a little corpulent.
00:12:49.86\00:12:53.47
So you might remember
how popular news outlets
00:12:53.47\00:12:56.37
were running
stories on the benefits
00:12:56.37\00:12:58.01
of this biblical diet
designed to help you lose weight
00:12:58.01\00:13:01.64
and achieve a
better degree of health.
00:13:01.64\00:13:04.25
And this diet is based
on a passage in Daniel 1,
00:13:04.25\00:13:08.25
where a group of Hebrew captives
suddenly found themselves
00:13:08.25\00:13:10.89
living in the court of
Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian
00:13:10.89\00:13:14.69
king, which
means they were exposed
00:13:14.69\00:13:16.12
to the decadent
lifestyles of the Babylonians,
00:13:16.12\00:13:18.76
which included food
that was offered to idols,
00:13:18.76\00:13:21.30
a big no-no for Jews,
00:13:21.30\00:13:23.73
and an overly indulgent
variety of very rich food.
00:13:23.73\00:13:27.44
So Daniel and his
friends asked to be put
00:13:27.44\00:13:29.70
on a very simple diet.
00:13:29.70\00:13:31.61
This comes from
Daniel 1:5, it says,
00:13:31.61\00:13:34.84
"And the king appointed
for them a daily provision
00:13:34.84\00:13:37.35
"of the Kings delicacies
and of the wine which he drank,
00:13:37.35\00:13:40.75
"and three years
of training for them,
00:13:40.75\00:13:42.32
"so that at the end of that time
00:13:42.32\00:13:43.99
"they might
serve before the king."
00:13:43.99\00:13:46.76
So what many people
have noticed is that
00:13:46.76\00:13:49.16
this is a little like
our typical Western diet,
00:13:49.16\00:13:51.46
which is full of things that
used to be the occasional treat
00:13:51.46\00:13:54.23
and not the main course.
00:13:54.23\00:13:56.13
So Daniel and his
friends make this request
00:13:56.13\00:13:58.30
which you find in verse 12.
00:13:58.30\00:13:59.87
"Please,"
00:13:59.87\00:14:00.70
He says,
00:14:00.70\00:14:01.90
"test your servants for 10 days,
00:14:01.90\00:14:03.34
"and let them give us vegetables
to eat and water to drink.
00:14:03.34\00:14:06.11
"Then let our appearance
be examined before you,
00:14:06.11\00:14:08.48
"and the
appearance of the young men
00:14:08.48\00:14:09.91
"who eat the portion
of the king's delicacies;
00:14:09.91\00:14:12.38
"and as you see fit, so
deal with your servants."
00:14:12.38\00:14:15.98
And of course, by
the end of the story
00:14:15.98\00:14:17.82
these young Hebrew
captives proved to be healthier
00:14:17.82\00:14:20.66
and smarter than everyone
else who worked for the king.
00:14:20.66\00:14:23.89
And what many people discovered
when they started mimicking
00:14:23.89\00:14:26.70
this diet in recent years is
that they started losing weight
00:14:26.70\00:14:30.50
and their health improved.
00:14:30.50\00:14:32.03
Now, I don't know how
much thought these people
00:14:33.44\00:14:35.04
back in the 14th
century put into this,
00:14:35.04\00:14:37.61
but at the height
of the bubonic plague,
00:14:37.61\00:14:39.64
there was a group of people
who practiced self isolation
00:14:39.64\00:14:43.18
and adopted a
temperate lifestyle.
00:14:43.18\00:14:45.75
Now, unfortunately
Boccaccio doesn't tell us
00:14:45.75\00:14:48.78
whether or not they fared
better than everybody else,
00:14:48.78\00:14:51.45
but common sense
and medical research
00:14:51.45\00:14:53.49
kinda suggests
they probably did.
00:14:53.49\00:14:56.79
And then Boccaccio mentions a
second response to the plague,
00:14:56.79\00:15:01.76
which we also
saw over the course
00:15:02.93\00:15:04.17
of our own somewhat
less severe pandemic.
00:15:04.17\00:15:07.24
He writes this,
00:15:07.24\00:15:09.20
"Others holding
the contrary opinion,
00:15:09.20\00:15:11.74
"maintained that
the surest medicine
00:15:11.74\00:15:13.34
"for such an evil
disease was to drink heavily,
00:15:13.34\00:15:15.81
"enjoy life's pleasures,
00:15:15.81\00:15:17.08
"and go about
singing and having fun,
00:15:17.08\00:15:19.35
"satisfying their appetites
by any means available,
00:15:19.35\00:15:22.68
"while laughing at everything
00:15:22.68\00:15:24.09
"and turning
whatever happened into a joke.
00:15:24.09\00:15:27.06
"Moreover, they
practiced what they preached
00:15:27.06\00:15:29.32
"to the best of their ability,
00:15:29.32\00:15:30.79
"for they went from
one tavern to another,
00:15:30.79\00:15:33.16
"drinking to
access both day and night.
00:15:33.16\00:15:36.13
"They did their drinking
more freely in private homes."
00:15:36.13\00:15:40.74
So in other words,
00:15:40.74\00:15:42.20
these people were pretending
that nothing was wrong,
00:15:42.20\00:15:44.41
and they went out
partying in the abandoned homes
00:15:44.41\00:15:47.11
they found all over the place,
00:15:47.11\00:15:48.91
and these were
probably homes vacated by death.
00:15:48.91\00:15:53.15
These people
chose to live it up.
00:15:53.15\00:15:54.98
And again Boccaccio doesn't
provide us with an outcome,
00:15:54.98\00:15:57.49
but giving the
severity of the plague,
00:15:57.49\00:16:00.19
this probably wasn't
the smartest approach.
00:16:00.19\00:16:02.56
Now lemme push the pause
button here for a minute,
00:16:03.99\00:16:05.63
so I can give you just a
little bit of a disclaimer,
00:16:05.63\00:16:07.60
because unfortunately today
with the COVID-19 pandemic,
00:16:07.60\00:16:11.30
the whole thing has
become very politicized.
00:16:11.30\00:16:13.37
And no matter what I say next,
00:16:13.37\00:16:15.90
somebody's gonna get
their nose out of joint
00:16:15.90\00:16:17.61
and think that I'm
taking a political position.
00:16:17.61\00:16:19.87
So lemme state for the record,
that is not what I'm doing.
00:16:19.87\00:16:23.48
Please don't waste your
energy writing me letters,
00:16:23.48\00:16:26.55
I think there's
enough of that going on
00:16:26.55\00:16:28.08
during this pandemic already.
00:16:28.08\00:16:30.09
Personally, I think we've
come to a rather sad state
00:16:30.09\00:16:33.19
of affairs here in the West,
00:16:33.19\00:16:34.59
where nobody can say
anything or take an objective,
00:16:34.59\00:16:37.16
look at any subject without
somebody losing their cool
00:16:37.16\00:16:39.89
and making the
whole thing political.
00:16:39.89\00:16:41.76
So here it is, for the
record I am not a Democrat,
00:16:41.76\00:16:44.93
I am not a Republican,
00:16:44.93\00:16:46.23
and all I'm trying
to do is examine the way
00:16:46.23\00:16:48.50
that human beings tend
to respond to a crisis.
00:16:48.50\00:16:51.17
Now, I've got to
take another short break,
00:16:51.17\00:16:53.21
but when I come
back, I'm gonna show you
00:16:53.21\00:16:54.88
how the very act of
politicizing a health crisis
00:16:54.88\00:16:57.35
is also part of how
this almost always plays out.
00:16:57.35\00:17:01.58
I'll be right back.
00:17:01.58\00:17:02.62
[light music]
00:17:03.85\00:17:05.05
- [Announcer] Life
can throw a lot at us.
00:17:05.05\00:17:07.29
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00:17:07.29\00:17:09.86
but that's where
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00:17:10.99\00:17:13.09
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00:17:13.09\00:17:16.16
Here at the Voice of
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- Well, look at that,
we are back from the break.
00:17:34.95\00:17:37.19
And we've been looking at
the writings of a 14th century
00:17:37.19\00:17:39.42
Italian author,
Giovanni Boccaccio
00:17:39.42\00:17:41.72
who was on the
ground during the plague
00:17:41.72\00:17:43.29
and gives us a sense of how
people dealt with that crisis.
00:17:43.29\00:17:48.26
And one the more unfortunate
observations he makes
00:17:49.63\00:17:51.17
is the way that people just
stopped caring about each other.
00:17:51.17\00:17:53.97
Here's what he writes,
00:17:53.97\00:17:55.20
"And leaving aside the fact
00:17:55.20\00:17:57.14
"that the citizens
avoided one another,
00:17:57.14\00:17:59.14
"that almost no one
took care of his neighbors,
00:17:59.14\00:18:01.11
"and that relatives visited
one another infrequently,
00:18:01.11\00:18:04.01
"if ever, and
always kept their distance,
00:18:04.01\00:18:07.05
"the tribulation of the plague
00:18:07.05\00:18:08.58
had puts such fear into
the hearts of men and women
00:18:08.58\00:18:10.89
"that brothers
abandoned their brothers,
00:18:10.89\00:18:12.92
"uncles their nephews,
sisters their brothers,
00:18:12.92\00:18:15.09
"and very often
wives their husbands.
00:18:15.09\00:18:17.06
"In fact, what is even worse,
00:18:17.06\00:18:19.16
"and almost unbelievable
is that fathers and mothers
00:18:19.16\00:18:21.76
"refused to attend to their
children and take care of them,
00:18:21.76\00:18:23.97
"treating them as if they
belonged to someone else."
00:18:23.97\00:18:27.94
Now of course, on the one hand,
00:18:27.94\00:18:29.40
you can kinda understand
this, people were contagious
00:18:29.40\00:18:31.11
and they didn't wanna get too
close, not even to relatives,
00:18:31.11\00:18:33.98
and on top of that,
our natural fallen instinct
00:18:33.98\00:18:37.05
is to think
about ourselves first.
00:18:37.05\00:18:39.51
But then on the other hand,
00:18:39.51\00:18:40.82
we've all been
witnessing how little
00:18:40.82\00:18:42.65
it really takes to
erode our sense of civility.
00:18:42.65\00:18:45.59
Here in the 21st century,
I've been a little alarmed
00:18:45.59\00:18:48.06
at the way basic decency
seems to be falling apart,
00:18:48.06\00:18:51.19
regardless of the pandemic.
00:18:51.19\00:18:53.46
In many ways it feels like
Jesus got it absolutely right
00:18:53.46\00:18:56.40
when He looked into
the future and said,
00:18:56.40\00:18:58.13
"Many will be offended
and betray one another,
00:18:58.13\00:19:00.40
"and will hate one another.
00:19:00.40\00:19:02.24
"Because of lawlessness, the
love of many will grow cold."
00:19:02.24\00:19:06.27
Now, peaking of lawlessness,
00:19:07.44\00:19:08.94
Boccaccio also tells us
00:19:08.94\00:19:10.75
that as the plague
got worse and worse,
00:19:10.75\00:19:12.31
people began to
abandon any sense of the law.
00:19:12.31\00:19:14.82
And by that he meant both
secular and religious laws.
00:19:14.82\00:19:18.25
Here's how he describes it,
00:19:18.25\00:19:19.99
"In the midst of so much
affliction and misery in our
00:19:19.99\00:19:22.49
city, "the respect for the
reverend authority of the laws,
00:19:22.49\00:19:25.16
"both divine and
human had declined
00:19:25.16\00:19:27.86
"just about to
the vanishing point,
00:19:27.86\00:19:29.63
"for, like everyone else,
their officers and executors,
00:19:29.63\00:19:32.73
"who were not dead
or sick themselves,
00:19:32.73\00:19:34.37
"had so few personnel
00:19:34.37\00:19:35.94
"that they could not
fulfill their duties.
00:19:35.94\00:19:37.87
"Thus, people felt free to
behave however they liked."
00:19:37.87\00:19:42.58
Now, here's why I
find this so important.
00:19:42.58\00:19:44.98
There's no question that
COVID-19 took a toll on our
00:19:44.98\00:19:48.08
planet, and as of right
now, as I'm sitting here,
00:19:48.08\00:19:50.39
we're still not out
of the woods quite yet.
00:19:50.39\00:19:53.15
Millions of
people lost their jobs,
00:19:53.15\00:19:55.12
millions
globally lost their lives,
00:19:55.12\00:19:57.59
and here in the West
we saw actual scarcity
00:19:57.59\00:20:00.40
in the supermarket.
00:20:00.40\00:20:01.56
I mean, we were
running out of basic things
00:20:01.56\00:20:03.43
like toilet paper
and cleaning supplies.
00:20:03.43\00:20:06.10
I remember going into
Safeway and finding no produce,
00:20:06.10\00:20:08.80
I mean, absolutely none.
00:20:08.80\00:20:10.91
Now in other parts of the
world, they laughed at that,
00:20:10.91\00:20:13.41
that's just the way things are,
00:20:13.41\00:20:14.64
but here in the
West, we suddenly realized
00:20:14.64\00:20:16.81
just how fragile
civilization can be.
00:20:16.81\00:20:19.58
And what really
brings this all into focus
00:20:19.58\00:20:21.68
is the way the Bible
describes a coming crisis
00:20:21.68\00:20:24.92
coupled with the way
Paul describes the generation
00:20:24.92\00:20:28.29
who will be
here when it happens.
00:20:28.29\00:20:30.43
He writes this,
00:20:30.43\00:20:31.69
"But know this,
that in the last days
00:20:32.83\00:20:34.66
"perilous times will come:
00:20:34.66\00:20:36.53
"For men will be lovers of
themselves, lovers of money,
00:20:36.53\00:20:39.60
"boasters, proud, blasphemers,
disobedient to parents,
00:20:39.60\00:20:43.20
"unthankful, unholy, unloving,
unforgiving, slanderers,
00:20:43.20\00:20:48.04
"without self control,
brutal, despisers of good,
00:20:48.04\00:20:51.58
"traitors, headstrong, haughty,
00:20:51.58\00:20:53.82
"lovers of pleasure
rather than lovers of God,
00:20:53.82\00:20:56.28
"having a form of godliness
but denying its power."
00:20:56.28\00:21:00.69
Now know there
are people who laugh
00:21:01.86\00:21:03.36
at the prophetic
parts of the Bible
00:21:03.36\00:21:04.86
because they can't for
the life of them understand
00:21:04.86\00:21:07.50
how some of the catastrophic
conditions described here
00:21:07.50\00:21:10.57
could possibly happen to us.
00:21:10.57\00:21:13.60
But look at the last couple
of years and ask yourselves,
00:21:13.60\00:21:16.10
is this really
all that impossible?
00:21:16.10\00:21:18.51
What if COVID 19 had been worse?
00:21:18.51\00:21:20.68
What if it had been
as bad as the plague?
00:21:20.68\00:21:23.28
I mean it took so little to
make a stock [mumbles] hoarding,
00:21:23.28\00:21:26.45
and it took so little to
bring out the worst in people.
00:21:26.45\00:21:29.68
So you've got to wonder,
00:21:29.68\00:21:31.12
is Paul's
prediction really impossible?
00:21:31.12\00:21:34.26
I'm gonna argue it's not.
00:21:34.26\00:21:35.79
And now I wanna
return to the fact
00:21:35.79\00:21:37.46
that the COVID pandemic
was so quickly politicized.
00:21:37.46\00:21:41.23
And in some people in
this already polarized society
00:21:41.23\00:21:44.57
use this crisis to try
and divide people further.
00:21:44.57\00:21:47.80
Whenever something
really bad happens,
00:21:47.80\00:21:49.80
one of the first things
00:21:49.80\00:21:51.07
we always seem to
want is a scapegoat.
00:21:51.07\00:21:52.94
We want somebody to blame,
00:21:52.94\00:21:54.78
and that's exactly what
happened in the 14th century
00:21:54.78\00:21:58.11
when people were
struggling to understand
00:21:58.11\00:22:00.32
why this horrible
outbreak was happening.
00:22:00.32\00:22:02.82
In his brilliant
book on the philosophical
00:22:03.99\00:22:06.52
and historical
influences that fueled
00:22:06.52\00:22:08.42
the Renaissance
and the Reformation,
00:22:08.42\00:22:10.59
Thomas Cahill makes
an important observation
00:22:10.59\00:22:13.53
about the way that
people tried to explain it.
00:22:13.53\00:22:16.26
"Wherever the
plague struck, he writes,
00:22:17.43\00:22:19.17
"waves of
accusation and intolerance
00:22:19.17\00:22:21.27
"seem to strike in its wake.
00:22:21.27\00:22:23.14
"Sinners were
responsible, or heretics,
00:22:23.14\00:22:25.44
"or foreigners, or
beggars, or lepers,
00:22:25.44\00:22:27.41
"whoever was other.
00:22:27.41\00:22:29.48
"None suffered
more from these waves
00:22:29.48\00:22:31.68
"than communities of Jews.
00:22:31.68\00:22:33.48
"In early 1349, the Jews of
Strasbourg were slaughtered,
00:22:33.48\00:22:37.39
"later that year all the
Jews of Mainz and Cologne.
00:22:37.39\00:22:40.66
"By 1351 more
than 200 Jewish towns
00:22:40.66\00:22:44.16
"and urban
neighborhoods across Europe
00:22:44.16\00:22:46.16
"had been obliterated."
00:22:46.16\00:22:48.10
Take just a short trip
through the pages of history
00:22:49.50\00:22:52.07
and you'll see this again
and again and again and again,
00:22:52.07\00:22:54.97
when something
really bad happens,
00:22:54.97\00:22:56.54
most of us want
to blame someone,
00:22:56.54\00:22:58.47
and then sometimes
innocent people begin to die.
00:22:58.47\00:23:02.04
Back in the 14th
century, it seems like the Jews
00:23:02.04\00:23:04.55
took the brunt of
Europe's frustration,
00:23:04.55\00:23:06.68
and all of the
pretense of civility
00:23:06.68\00:23:08.82
suddenly evaporated
as they were slaughtered
00:23:08.82\00:23:11.59
for their supposed
role in the pandemic.
00:23:11.59\00:23:15.36
So you've gotta wonder,
00:23:15.36\00:23:17.23
what exactly would
stop our generation
00:23:17.23\00:23:19.16
from doing the same thing?
00:23:19.16\00:23:20.90
In recent memory we've
already seen the holocaust
00:23:20.90\00:23:23.23
where a number of minorities
were made to carry the blame
00:23:23.23\00:23:25.97
for the political and
economic woes of a majority.
00:23:25.97\00:23:28.90
And from what I read
in the pages of history
00:23:28.90\00:23:30.97
and what I read in
the pages of the Bible,
00:23:30.97\00:23:32.81
I have little doubt that
it's going to happen again.
00:23:32.81\00:23:36.64
In fact, lemme show
you just one short passage,
00:23:36.64\00:23:38.88
it should arrest
everybody's attention,
00:23:38.88\00:23:40.32
we've already
kind of peeked at it.
00:23:40.32\00:23:42.22
You should pay attention
if you've been contemplating
00:23:42.22\00:23:44.39
the way that we've handled
ourselves during the pandemic.
00:23:44.39\00:23:47.46
This is over in Matthew
24, starting in verse 10,
00:23:47.46\00:23:51.03
it's the words of Jesus.
00:23:51.03\00:23:53.03
"And then many will be offended,
00:23:53.03\00:23:54.66
"and will betray one another,
and will hate one another.
00:23:54.66\00:23:57.80
"Then many false prophets
will rise up and deceive many.
00:23:57.80\00:24:00.77
"And because
lawlessness will abound,
00:24:00.77\00:24:04.01
"the love of
many will grow cold."
00:24:04.01\00:24:07.54
Now, some people think
that could never happen to us,
00:24:07.54\00:24:10.75
but in the 2,000 years
since that was written down,
00:24:10.75\00:24:13.62
we've already seen it happen
on a tragic scale many times,
00:24:13.62\00:24:17.09
from the scapegoating of
Christians by the Romans,
00:24:17.09\00:24:19.82
to the horrors
of the inquisition,
00:24:19.82\00:24:21.82
to the scapegoating of Jews
00:24:21.82\00:24:23.22
and other people deemed
to be religious heretics
00:24:23.22\00:24:25.69
during the plague.
00:24:25.69\00:24:27.46
You know, interestingly, a
lot of students of prophecy
00:24:27.46\00:24:29.86
are actually convinced
that the bubonic plague
00:24:29.86\00:24:31.77
was also predicted in the Bible,
00:24:31.77\00:24:33.10
but we'll have to look
at that some other day.
00:24:33.10\00:24:35.50
Okay, time for one last break,
and then I'll be right back.
00:24:35.50\00:24:39.27
[light music]
00:24:41.01\00:24:42.38
- [Announcer] Are
you searching for answers
00:24:42.38\00:24:43.61
to life's
toughest questions like,
00:24:43.61\00:24:45.71
where is God when we suffer?
00:24:45.71\00:24:47.55
Can I find real happiness?
00:24:47.55\00:24:49.35
Or is there any hope
for our chaotic world?
00:24:49.35\00:24:52.49
The Discover Bible
Guides will help you
00:24:52.49\00:24:54.09
find the answers
you're looking for.
00:24:54.09\00:24:56.29
Visit us at biblestudies.com,
00:24:56.29\00:24:58.86
or give us a
call at 888-456-7933
00:24:58.86\00:25:03.03
for your free
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00:25:04.27\00:25:06.67
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00:25:06.67\00:25:09.77
or have the free guides
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00:25:09.77\00:25:12.34
There is never a
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00:25:12.34\00:25:14.98
The Discover Bible
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00:25:14.98\00:25:18.11
Find answers and guides like,
00:25:18.11\00:25:19.51
"Does My Life
Really Matter to God?"
00:25:19.51\00:25:21.78
and "A Second Chance at Life".
00:25:21.78\00:25:23.92
You'll find answers to the
things that matter most to you
00:25:23.92\00:25:26.29
in each of the 26
Discover Bible Guides.
00:25:26.29\00:25:28.96
Visit biblestudies.com
00:25:28.96\00:25:31.13
and begin your journey
today to discover answers
00:25:31.13\00:25:34.36
to life's deepest questions.
00:25:34.36\00:25:37.03
[light music]
00:25:37.03\00:25:39.63
- Unfortunately
the way human nature
00:25:40.77\00:25:42.24
appears to work is this,
00:25:42.24\00:25:43.71
you and I don't suddenly
build good quality character
00:25:43.71\00:25:47.58
in the face of a major crisis.
00:25:47.58\00:25:50.58
The writer,
James Allen once said,
00:25:50.58\00:25:52.25
"Adversity does not build
character, it reveals it."
00:25:52.25\00:25:55.98
And history suggests
he was absolutely right.
00:25:55.98\00:25:59.32
So the time to figure
out how you're gonna respond,
00:25:59.32\00:26:01.99
who your gonna be
in the next crisis,
00:26:01.99\00:26:04.43
and believe me, there
will be a next crisis,
00:26:04.43\00:26:08.36
the time to determine
how you're gonna respond,
00:26:08.36\00:26:10.60
what kind of human
being you're gonna be,
00:26:10.60\00:26:12.67
that's right now.
00:26:12.67\00:26:14.87
If the Apostle Paul was right
00:26:14.87\00:26:16.57
and I'm
absolutely convinced he was,
00:26:16.57\00:26:18.97
then the world right
now is building exactly
00:26:18.97\00:26:21.41
the wrong character for the
problems that lie just ahead.
00:26:21.41\00:26:26.01
So I guess this is
my challenge for you,
00:26:26.01\00:26:28.72
it seems like human
nature never changes.
00:26:28.72\00:26:32.02
And here in the
Bible we have a book
00:26:32.02\00:26:33.96
that offers profound insight
00:26:33.96\00:26:36.26
into how the human
race is actually wired.
00:26:36.26\00:26:39.46
And it offers us a
stunning alternative,
00:26:39.46\00:26:42.33
a different way to
live, a way to face any crisis
00:26:42.33\00:26:46.30
and still be an authentic human,
00:26:46.30\00:26:47.77
still reflect the
authentic image of God.
00:26:47.77\00:26:51.94
What happened over
the last couple of years
00:26:51.94\00:26:53.78
has absolutely happened before,
00:26:53.78\00:26:55.88
and yes, yes, yes it's
absolutely going to happen
00:26:55.88\00:27:00.65
again. And
eventually the Bible says,
00:27:00.65\00:27:02.92
this is gonna be on a scale
00:27:02.92\00:27:04.22
that few people can
actually comprehend.
00:27:04.22\00:27:07.66
So maybe, just
maybe it's time to gather
00:27:07.66\00:27:10.49
some age old wisdom
from a very old book,
00:27:10.49\00:27:14.30
and we need to do it
now when there's still time
00:27:14.30\00:27:17.17
to make what this book
teaches written by the Creator,
00:27:17.17\00:27:21.14
an authentic
part of who you are.
00:27:21.14\00:27:23.84
This book has wisdom
that has never been wrong
00:27:23.84\00:27:27.11
about life on planet
earth, not even once.
00:27:27.11\00:27:31.55
Not only does it see
what's coming down the pike,
00:27:31.55\00:27:35.18
not only has it been right
00:27:35.18\00:27:36.52
about everything
that it's predicted,
00:27:36.52\00:27:38.65
it's been
essentially correct about
00:27:38.65\00:27:41.32
who you and I are without God.
00:27:41.32\00:27:44.46
We can be different,
00:27:44.46\00:27:45.99
we can set a shining light
in this world that is polarized,
00:27:45.99\00:27:49.96
filled with hate,
people acting irresponsibly,
00:27:49.96\00:27:52.93
we can reflect the image of God
00:27:52.93\00:27:55.50
and live an
authentic human life.
00:27:55.50\00:27:58.31
I'm Shawn Boonstra.
00:27:58.31\00:27:59.24
Thanks for joining me today,
00:27:59.24\00:28:00.88
you've been watching Authentic.
00:28:00.88\00:28:03.68
[uplifting music]
00:28:03.68\00:28:06.58