- Today we're gonna explore
one of the most influential
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and easily one of the
most controversial thinkers
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in modern American history.
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This is a huge
influence in the West
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and I'm
guessing that most of you
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have probably heard of her.
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[bright music]
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When I was about 18 years old,
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somebody invited me to a
meeting of the Objectivist Club
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on the campus of the
university I was attending,
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and for the most part the
meeting was pretty interesting.
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Ayn Rand, after all,
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regardless of how you
might personally feel about her,
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was a pretty bright individual.
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And like countless
young adults before me
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I had already read two
of her best-selling novels,
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"The Fountainhead"
and "Atlas Shrugged,"
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and I think at that
point I might have also read
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her other short little
dystopian novel "Anthem."
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So I got into the meeting
and it was mostly featuring
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an old black and white video
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where Ayn Rand was chain smoking
and expounding on her ideas
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in front of a very
affirming audience.
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I mean the people that
were in that audience loved her.
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And when the video was
over, the lights came back on,
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there was this short discussion
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and then they
served some refreshments.
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And that was also the
last Objectivist meeting
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I ever went to.
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Not because I didn't
find Ayn Rand appealing,
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I kind of did,
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or at least I found some
of her core ideas appealing.
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I mean, she had
escaped a brutal past in Russia
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where the
communists seized their house
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and her father's business,
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and she had firsthand knowledge
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of what it's like to live
under a totalitarian regime.
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My own family had been
through something similar
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in the not-too-distant past.
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My father was born
under Nazi occupation
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which devastated his country,
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and years later when he was 18
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he emigrated to Canada
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where he made a very
nice life for himself.
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So in some ways I kinda
felt some empathy for Ayn Rand
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because, well, our
families in the past
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both knew what it
was like to experience
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the rule of a
collectivist dictatorship
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and both of us understood
the life of an immigrant.
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But you know she
still lost me that night
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because of her rabid atheism.
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She didn't just state
that she didn't believe in God,
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she virtually spit
God's name in disgust,
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and for some reason I found
that to be a huge turn off.
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Now to be clear back then I
was not a practicing Christian
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even though I was
raised in a church-going home.
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I was going through what
you might call my heathen phase,
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or maybe more
accurately my hedonist phase,
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so you could hardly describe
me as a religious person.
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But still, the way she
hated God was a turn off
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and somehow the
way she was speaking
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also gave me the impression
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that her ego
might be out of control.
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Now, to be fair, lots of
people have inflated egos
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and that doesn't mean
their ideas are wrong.
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And because she
insisted that she dealt in ideas
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rather than emotions,
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we should probably judge her
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by the content of her philosophy
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maybe instead of the
content of her character,
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although I'm not convinced
the two things aren't related.
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But for now let's
just stick to her ideas.
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And in the appendix you find
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in some editions
of "Atlas Shrugged"
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there's a simple
definition of Objectivism,
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that's the name
for her philosophy,
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and this definition
comes from Ayn Rand herself.
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She says, "My
philosophy, in essence,
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"is the concept of
man as a heroic being,
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"with his own happiness as
the moral purpose of his life,
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"with productive achievement
as his noblest activity,
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"and reason as
his only absolute."
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It's a system of
thinking not entirely unlike
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some of the 19th and
20th century philosophers
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we've discussed on other shows,
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and honestly the influence
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of Friedrich
Nietzsche in particular
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really does seem to
show up in Ayn Rand's work.
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Now what's interesting
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is that you won't
find Ayn Rand's name
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in the table of contents
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of most of the
philosophy textbooks at colleges
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even though her influence on
Western culture is undeniable
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and there's little question
that she should be considered
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a bona fide philosopher.
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After all, she spent
most of her life pontificating
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on the various disciplines
of philosophical pursuit,
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ranging from
metaphysics and epistemology
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to ethics and aesthetics.
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And her following is big enough
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that even if you
don't happen to like her,
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you'd still have to conceive
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that she's definitely
earned the title of philosopher.
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Personally, I
believe part of the reason
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she's usually excluded
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is because of her politics.
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She leaned very
heavily to the right
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and most liberal arts colleges,
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well, they tend to
lean the other way.
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Now let's get to Objectivism.
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Ayn Rand believed,
like most people do,
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that your life belongs to you.
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Nobody has the
right to appropriate it
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or to force you into servitude.
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You get to live your life.
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And what Ayn Rand really admired
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was a person who
used their lifetime
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to achieve great things.
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We all benefit, she argued,
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when people are allowed to
pursue their personal ambition
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and engage in
mutually beneficial exchange.
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So, when somebody has a
vision to build something grand
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or to start a large company,
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everybody, she said, benefits.
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Take, for example,
a company like Amazon.
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Even though Jeff
Bezos made his mark
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well after Ayn Rand was dead,
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I'm guessing she
would have loved this guy
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because his vision for a
huge online distribution company
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has created
hundreds of thousands of jobs
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and made everybody's life,
well, a lot more convenient.
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The successful entrepreneur
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is the hero of
Ayn Rand's philosophy.
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So on the surface
Objectivism looks pretty good
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and it seems to align with
the so-called American dream.
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It's rugged
individualism driven by ambition
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and it's a model that fits
the way Western civilization
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has managed to secure a
level of widespread prosperity
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that has never before happened
in the history of the world.
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And to a large degree
Ayn Rand's vision harmonizes
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with the Protestant work ethic,
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even though her reason for
valuing hard work and ambition
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is quite different
from that of the Reformers.
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To the Protestants of yesterday,
work was an act of worship.
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They believed
that we are condemned
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to live in a fallen world
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and we have to earn our
living by the sweat of our brow,
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but we will do it
to the best our ability
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as a tribute to the Creator.
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Working in a fallen
world to the Reformers
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was something to be thankful for
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and you could use your labor
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to further the
cause of God's kingdom.
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Your personal morality,
your attention to detail,
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your willingness
to invest yourself,
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your charity
toward those in need,
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well, it all helps the
world see the character of God.
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But for Ayn Rand
there was no God.
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The point of working and
excelling at something is you,
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which is what she
meant when she talked about
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the virtue of selfishness.
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Being true to
yourself, she taught,
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produces an ethical lifestyle,
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and the requirement,
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now that's an important word,
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the requirement to spend
yourself for the sake of others,
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well, Ayn Rand
said that was unethical.
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Altruism as a
public value, she said,
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is completely unethical
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and it creates a
collectivist mentality
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where the mob believes
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it has a right to
the product of your labor
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and so the mob
appropriates your life by force.
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The Soviet Union, obviously,
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was a really good example
of what she was driving at.
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It was the logical
conclusion of state collectivism
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where the state became more
important than the individual.
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So, as far as I'm concerned,
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there's a lot in Ayn Rand's
philosophy that I can admire
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because, well, she's not wrong
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about the dangers of
statism and collectivism.
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I mean, just think about this.
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Christians have
never ever fared well
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under collectivist experiments
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because in order for
collectivism to function at all
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you really can't have
freedom of conscience.
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Under collectivist experiments,
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people who think differently
are considered dangerous.
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Christians, after all,
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were originally considered
a threat to the Roman Empire.
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A Christian's first
allegiance is to Christ,
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not to some deified emperor,
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and so the disciples of Christ
were considered by the Romans
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to be a destabilizing force
and a danger to the common good.
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And the same thing happened
under the former Soviet Union,
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and those of you who
happen to be of my age
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will remember the
horrific stories of Christians
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and how they had
to go underground
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in order to keep the faith.
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They were sent to
labor camps in Siberia.
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They were
generally disenfranchised,
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they were treated brutally
and even killed for their faith.
00:09:01.80\00:09:05.71
In the city of Budapest,
00:09:05.71\00:09:06.98
you can still visit
the House of Terror,
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a building were
countless Christians
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were taken in the
middle of the night
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and most of them
never seen again,
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and I've actually
talked to some of the people
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who lost family
members in that place.
00:09:16.28\00:09:19.15
We have even
more recent examples
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coming from the
largest Communist experiment
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on the planet today,
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and that's China.
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Home churches established
by Christians are bulldozed,
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preachers are not
free to say what they want,
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and tens of millions of
Christians have to live in fear
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of what the
state might do to them.
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And it's not just Christians
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by any stretch
of the imagination.
00:09:38.21\00:09:39.97
Members of Falun Gong and
the largely Muslim Uyghurs
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give us even more
proof that religious liberty
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never seems to go hand
in hand with collectivism.
00:09:46.35\00:09:49.78
In fact, over the
course of the 20th century,
00:09:49.78\00:09:52.79
collectivist ideology
effectively turned half the
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world into a prison camp.
00:09:56.62\00:09:58.46
Now, it looks like I've
gotta take a quick break,
00:09:58.46\00:10:00.46
but don't you go away
because when we come back
00:10:00.46\00:10:02.96
we're gonna take a look
00:10:02.96\00:10:04.17
at how Ayn Rand's
Objectivist philosophy
00:10:04.17\00:10:05.97
doesn't do any favors
for Christianity either.
00:10:05.97\00:10:08.44
- [Announcer] Life
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- Ayn Rand was
certainly quotable
00:10:40.30\00:10:42.07
and I don't know if it's
her Russian heritage or not
00:10:42.07\00:10:44.44
but you can tell a lot of
her novels were really thick
00:10:44.44\00:10:47.51
like other Russian authors.
00:10:47.51\00:10:50.35
But even though they're long,
00:10:50.35\00:10:51.85
they're pregnant
with quotable moments
00:10:51.85\00:10:53.72
like this one
from "Atlas Shrugged."
00:10:53.72\00:10:56.05
This is an
inscription on a building
00:10:56.05\00:10:57.59
owned by the
free-thinker John Galt.
00:10:57.59\00:11:00.16
It says, "I swear by
my life and my love of it
00:11:00.16\00:11:03.66
"that I will never live
for the sake of another man
00:11:03.66\00:11:06.26
"nor ask another
man to live for mine."
00:11:06.26\00:11:09.30
Now that right there
is a pretty good summary
00:11:09.30\00:11:11.43
of her Objectivist philosophy.
00:11:11.43\00:11:13.74
Now it doesn't rule out things
00:11:13.74\00:11:15.04
like voluntary free
exchange or generosity,
00:11:15.04\00:11:17.77
but it does rule out things
like coercion or groupthink.
00:11:17.77\00:11:21.94
In this novel,
00:11:21.94\00:11:23.21
this is an oath
that people have to take,
00:11:23.21\00:11:25.28
voluntarily, of course,
00:11:25.28\00:11:26.68
if they want to
live in a free world
00:11:26.68\00:11:28.42
created by this
character, John Galt,
00:11:28.42\00:11:30.92
the man who ditched the
oppression of the collectivists
00:11:30.92\00:11:33.39
to go out there
and go at it alone.
00:11:33.39\00:11:35.92
Here's another quotable moment
00:11:35.92\00:11:37.39
from her book
"Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal."
00:11:37.39\00:11:40.60
She says, "The smallest minority
on Earth is the individual.
00:11:40.60\00:11:44.33
"Those who deny
individual rights
00:11:44.33\00:11:46.03
"cannot claim to be
defenders of minorities."
00:11:46.03\00:11:49.37
Now, to some extent,
00:11:49.37\00:11:50.81
that does kind of
match the ethics of the Bible
00:11:50.81\00:11:53.68
where people are
treated as individuals
00:11:53.68\00:11:56.08
instead of just groups.
00:11:56.08\00:11:58.01
Of course, the Bible also
has clear group identities
00:11:58.01\00:12:00.85
like the children of Israel.
00:12:00.85\00:12:02.88
But within the group,
individuals are valued highly
00:12:02.88\00:12:06.49
and find themselves
accountable directly to God.
00:12:06.49\00:12:10.16
The Bible really does
value the worth of the person,
00:12:10.16\00:12:13.66
and the influence of
the Protestant Reformers
00:12:13.66\00:12:15.86
and the English Dissenters
00:12:15.86\00:12:17.13
can still be felt in
the American Bill of Rights.
00:12:17.13\00:12:20.87
So on some levels there
is a little bit of harmony
00:12:20.87\00:12:23.54
between the ethics of the Bible
and the ethics of Ayn Rand,
00:12:23.54\00:12:26.57
and maybe that's the reason
00:12:26.57\00:12:28.21
Ayn Rand seems to have
a following among American
00:12:28.21\00:12:31.48
Christians even though
she was clearly an atheist.
00:12:31.48\00:12:34.48
But then if you keep
reading Ayn Rand and the Bible
00:12:34.48\00:12:37.52
you discover
she clearly diverges
00:12:37.52\00:12:39.69
from the actual ethics of Jesus.
00:12:39.69\00:12:42.02
Now in the time
that we have today
00:12:42.02\00:12:43.29
there's no way I can
do justice to this topic,
00:12:43.29\00:12:45.69
and I know the
disciples of Ayn Rand
00:12:45.69\00:12:48.10
are gonna be upset by what I say
00:12:48.10\00:12:49.70
because if Ayn Rand
insisted on one thing
00:12:49.70\00:12:52.17
it was linguistic precision.
00:12:52.17\00:12:55.14
Whether or not she actually
achieved that for herself
00:12:55.14\00:12:57.74
is another story
00:12:57.74\00:12:59.04
because her epistemology
kind of fails the test,
00:12:59.04\00:13:01.54
specially when
you try to pin down
00:13:01.54\00:13:03.11
her definition
of the word reason.
00:13:03.11\00:13:06.08
But maybe we'll come
back to that some other day.
00:13:06.08\00:13:08.68
Ayn Rand was so
particular about her philosophy
00:13:08.68\00:13:11.15
that she didn't even
allow most of her students
00:13:11.15\00:13:13.25
to call themselves Objectivists
00:13:13.25\00:13:14.96
because that would imply
00:13:14.96\00:13:16.79
they had
something intelligent to say
00:13:16.79\00:13:18.53
and she didn't think they did.
00:13:18.53\00:13:20.46
So she called them
students of Objectivism
00:13:20.46\00:13:23.16
because only she got to
speak for the philosophy.
00:13:23.16\00:13:26.37
Now there were a few exceptions
like Nathaniel Branden
00:13:26.37\00:13:29.34
who was allowed to speak
for this system of thought,
00:13:29.34\00:13:31.57
but those people
were exceptionally rare.
00:13:31.57\00:13:34.71
Ayn Rand explained this
way back in 1968 when she said,
00:13:34.71\00:13:38.68
"Since Objectivism is
not a loose body of ideas
00:13:38.68\00:13:42.08
"but a philosophical
system originated by me
00:13:42.08\00:13:45.15
"and publicly
associated with my name,
00:13:45.15\00:13:47.96
"it is my right
and my responsibility
00:13:47.96\00:13:50.66
"to protect its
intellectual integrity."
00:13:50.66\00:13:53.80
And I guess that's probably
one of the first red flags
00:13:53.80\00:13:56.23
you find in the
writings of Ayn Rand.
00:13:56.23\00:13:58.30
I mean, it was
certainly her right
00:13:58.30\00:13:59.90
to make sure that
people didn't misrepresent her,
00:13:59.90\00:14:02.97
but at the same time
she spoke about Objectivism
00:14:02.97\00:14:06.14
like it was a hard science.
00:14:06.14\00:14:08.08
She wasn't
inventing truth, she insisted,
00:14:08.08\00:14:10.38
but discovering it,
like a scientist would,
00:14:10.38\00:14:12.91
because as far
as she was concerned
00:14:12.91\00:14:14.68
that's what philosophy is,
00:14:14.68\00:14:16.12
a hard science that uses
nothing but impartial reason.
00:14:16.12\00:14:19.82
Now here's the
big problem with this.
00:14:21.02\00:14:22.92
Nobody owns a
scientific discovery.
00:14:22.92\00:14:25.79
The law of gravity,
for example, just exists.
00:14:25.79\00:14:28.23
Even though Isaac Newton
defined it, he doesn't own it.
00:14:28.23\00:14:32.53
And if Objectivism
is really a hard science
00:14:32.53\00:14:35.14
the way Ayn Rand said,
00:14:35.14\00:14:36.71
then it should be
open to peer review
00:14:36.71\00:14:38.74
and there's no
way she could own it.
00:14:38.74\00:14:41.18
Author Ronald Merrill
makes this point quite nicely
00:14:41.18\00:14:43.68
when he says, "She,"
speaking of Ayn Rand,
00:14:43.68\00:14:46.11
"seems to have forgotten
00:14:46.11\00:14:47.38
"that no one can
own a scientific theory
00:14:47.38\00:14:49.25
"since it is not a
creation but a discovery,
00:14:49.25\00:14:52.25
"an identification of reality."
00:14:52.25\00:14:55.59
So, if her philosophy is
really objective science,
00:14:55.59\00:14:58.09
if this is really just
the product of pure reason,
00:14:58.09\00:15:00.76
then she should
have been open to debate.
00:15:00.76\00:15:02.83
And she wasn't.
00:15:02.83\00:15:04.27
In fact, she refused to
answer most people's questions
00:15:04.27\00:15:06.90
and she refused to debate
00:15:06.90\00:15:08.40
because she
always believed herself
00:15:08.40\00:15:10.17
the smartest person in the room.
00:15:10.17\00:15:13.14
If you saw holes in
the ways she thought
00:15:13.14\00:15:15.31
that's only because you're too
dumb to understand her system
00:15:15.31\00:15:18.01
the way that she did.
00:15:18.01\00:15:19.58
Ayn Rand delivered monologues
00:15:19.58\00:15:22.08
where students sat at her feet
00:15:22.08\00:15:23.92
and dared not ask questions.
00:15:23.92\00:15:26.39
And this was specially
true in her later years
00:15:26.39\00:15:28.79
when she became
visibly impatient with people
00:15:28.79\00:15:31.83
and often appeared angry
when someone asked a question.
00:15:31.83\00:15:35.60
Of course, the
fact that she had an ego
00:15:36.80\00:15:38.30
doesn't by itself make her
thinking necessarily untrue,
00:15:38.30\00:15:41.70
but the closure of debate
00:15:41.70\00:15:43.17
and the insistence that there's
only one expert in the room
00:15:43.17\00:15:45.54
is often a red flag
00:15:45.54\00:15:46.78
that you're dealing
with a cult-like mentality
00:15:46.78\00:15:49.14
instead of
legitimate philosophy.
00:15:49.14\00:15:51.81
And honestly, cult-like
is a pretty good description
00:15:51.81\00:15:54.78
of the Objectivists I've
interacted with over the years,
00:15:54.78\00:15:57.49
even though a lot of them
are obviously smart people.
00:15:57.49\00:16:00.56
I just find it hard
to escape this feeling
00:16:00.56\00:16:02.72
that Ayn Rand is
taking the place of God
00:16:02.72\00:16:04.79
or revealed scripture
00:16:04.79\00:16:06.03
in some people's lives.
00:16:06.03\00:16:07.83
I mean, she sits at the top
of this philosophical system
00:16:07.83\00:16:10.53
not so much like a teacher
00:16:10.53\00:16:12.13
but more like an omniscient
leader who cannot be questioned.
00:16:12.13\00:16:16.30
You know, a cult leader.
00:16:16.30\00:16:18.21
And no, I don't really believe
00:16:18.21\00:16:19.84
that Objectivism
is a bona fide cult
00:16:19.84\00:16:21.84
and I know her followers
would hate that description
00:16:21.84\00:16:24.55
because they
prize free thinking,
00:16:24.55\00:16:26.75
but they also know
I'm not the only one
00:16:26.75\00:16:28.45
who's walked away
with that impression
00:16:28.45\00:16:30.59
because a lot of time
and effort has been devoted
00:16:30.59\00:16:32.75
to the question
of whether or not
00:16:32.75\00:16:34.32
Objectivism is
actually a religious cult,
00:16:34.32\00:16:37.09
because in a lot of
ways it behaves like one.
00:16:37.09\00:16:40.30
Ayn Rand was known to
scream at people who disagreed,
00:16:40.30\00:16:42.73
and to be
considered an Objectivist
00:16:42.73\00:16:44.73
meant passing an
ideological purity test,
00:16:44.73\00:16:47.27
and she was the only one
who could decide who was worthy.
00:16:47.27\00:16:52.21
But maybe with
the time we have left
00:16:52.21\00:16:53.91
we should explore one
or two of the many ways
00:16:53.91\00:16:56.28
her system of thinking diverges
from biblical Christianity.
00:16:56.28\00:16:59.58
Now there's a lot of
things we could cover,
00:16:59.58\00:17:01.62
like the fact that she
insisted, like John Locke,
00:17:01.62\00:17:04.52
that human beings are born
with nothing in their brains
00:17:04.52\00:17:07.26
and they build their
identities and knowledge
00:17:07.26\00:17:09.46
using nothing but pure reason.
00:17:09.46\00:17:12.29
But for today
what I think I wanna do
00:17:12.29\00:17:14.76
is explore maybe
just one important way
00:17:14.76\00:17:17.60
that her perception of
the value of the individual
00:17:17.60\00:17:20.64
actually differs from the way
00:17:20.64\00:17:22.64
the Bible
presents the same subject.
00:17:22.64\00:17:25.04
But before we do that I do
have to take another break,
00:17:25.04\00:17:28.18
so you sit tight
and I'll be right back.
00:17:28.18\00:17:30.98
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- If there's one thing
Ayn Rand made perfectly clear
00:18:02.78\00:18:05.08
it's that she had no
patience for Christians.
00:18:05.08\00:18:08.45
Altruism, the act of living
for others, was anathema to her,
00:18:08.45\00:18:11.69
so she absolutely
deplored the idea that somebody
00:18:11.69\00:18:14.66
would ever sacrifice
himself for others, like Christ.
00:18:14.66\00:18:18.39
Of course, from her perspective,
00:18:18.39\00:18:19.63
she was talking about coercion
00:18:19.63\00:18:21.23
where somebody
is compelled to live
00:18:21.23\00:18:23.57
for the sake of other people,
00:18:23.57\00:18:25.03
and I have to admit I probably
have some sympathy there.
00:18:25.03\00:18:27.94
I mean, if you're pressured
into sacrificing yourself
00:18:27.94\00:18:30.44
or you're
compelled to do it by law,
00:18:30.44\00:18:32.54
I'm not convinced
there's actually any moral value
00:18:32.54\00:18:35.38
to what you're doing.
00:18:35.38\00:18:36.95
But what the Bible
discusses is voluntary altruism,
00:18:36.95\00:18:40.98
a voluntary willingness to
put others ahead of yourself.
00:18:40.98\00:18:44.29
For example, take that really
famous admonition from Paul
00:18:44.29\00:18:47.76
that I bring up just
about every other week.
00:18:47.76\00:18:49.76
It's from the Book of
Philippians and it says,
00:18:49.76\00:18:51.99
"Let this mind be in you
which was also in Christ Jesus,
00:18:51.99\00:18:55.96
"who, being in the form of God,
00:18:55.96\00:18:57.40
"did not consider it
robbery to be equal with God,
00:18:57.40\00:19:00.40
"but made
himself of no reputation,
00:19:00.40\00:19:02.40
"taking the
form of a bondservant
00:19:02.40\00:19:04.04
"and coming in
the likeness of men.
00:19:04.04\00:19:05.91
"And being found in
appearance as a man,
00:19:05.91\00:19:07.84
"he humbled himself
00:19:07.84\00:19:09.08
"and became obedient
to the point of death,
00:19:09.08\00:19:11.41
"even the death of the cross."
00:19:11.41\00:19:14.62
Now you notice this
is completely voluntary.
00:19:14.62\00:19:17.22
Nobody made Christ
leave the glory of heaven
00:19:17.22\00:19:19.82
to come and save us,
00:19:19.82\00:19:20.69
it was his idea,
00:19:20.69\00:19:21.96
and that's what makes
it so incredibly touching.
00:19:21.96\00:19:25.09
And Paul's advice
to live like Christ
00:19:25.09\00:19:27.20
starts with the word let.
00:19:27.20\00:19:29.16
In other words,
00:19:29.16\00:19:30.70
it implies self-motivation
and the freedom to choose.
00:19:30.70\00:19:34.07
What Ayn Rand
really railed against,
00:19:34.07\00:19:36.07
and I can understand why,
00:19:36.07\00:19:37.77
is the way that
worldly governments
00:19:37.77\00:19:39.47
will force you to
sacrifice for something
00:19:39.47\00:19:41.44
they call the common good,
00:19:41.44\00:19:42.88
which of course is
really hard to define.
00:19:42.88\00:19:45.28
I mean, who gets to decide
what you sacrifice if not you
00:19:45.28\00:19:49.08
and who gets to decide
what the common good is
00:19:49.08\00:19:51.29
if it's not a bunch of
powerful people who have, well,
00:19:51.29\00:19:54.02
the same weakness for serving
self that you and I have.
00:19:54.02\00:19:57.49
Letting powerful people
tell the rest of us how to live
00:19:57.49\00:20:00.03
almost always, always
has unintended consequences
00:20:00.03\00:20:03.83
because mere human beings
00:20:03.83\00:20:05.53
cannot make
perfectly informed decisions
00:20:05.53\00:20:08.20
and their decisions
result in more misery
00:20:08.20\00:20:10.71
usually for somebody.
00:20:10.71\00:20:13.07
So I understand
Ayn Rand's distaste
00:20:13.07\00:20:15.18
for compulsory sacrifice.
00:20:15.18\00:20:17.28
But the self-sacrifice described
in the Bible is different.
00:20:18.65\00:20:21.22
Ayn Rand may still
detested it, but it's different.
00:20:21.22\00:20:25.22
The Bible grants
freedom of conscience.
00:20:25.22\00:20:27.86
You are allowed to
live any way you want,
00:20:27.86\00:20:29.79
even if you're
going to reject God.
00:20:29.79\00:20:32.23
I know some people
will insist that's not true
00:20:32.23\00:20:34.30
because the nation of Israel
had legally enforced morality
00:20:34.30\00:20:37.60
with penalties attached to it.
00:20:37.60\00:20:39.23
I mean, there was a
penalty for adultery
00:20:39.23\00:20:41.50
and a penalty for blasphemy
00:20:41.50\00:20:43.61
and a penalty for
all kinds of things
00:20:43.61\00:20:45.21
that our modern world
would never want to penalize.
00:20:45.21\00:20:48.71
But again there's a difference.
00:20:48.71\00:20:50.31
The nation of Israel was
founded on a voluntary contract
00:20:50.31\00:20:53.42
with the Creator.
00:20:53.42\00:20:55.18
They didn't have to be the
chosen people but they wanted
00:20:55.18\00:20:57.29
to, and so they
signed a covenant,
00:20:57.29\00:20:58.85
and a covenant always
has terms and conditions.
00:20:58.85\00:21:02.42
What's hard to escape, however,
00:21:03.39\00:21:05.29
is the notion of freedom
00:21:05.29\00:21:06.66
that you find in
the pages of the Bible.
00:21:06.66\00:21:08.86
Back in the Book of Genesis,
00:21:08.86\00:21:10.17
God allowed our first parents
00:21:10.17\00:21:12.20
the freedom to choose
for him or against him.
00:21:12.20\00:21:15.47
They were placed in the garden
00:21:15.47\00:21:16.81
where they were
perfectly free to eat
00:21:16.81\00:21:18.31
from all the trees but one.
00:21:18.31\00:21:20.34
"If you eat from
that tree," God said,
00:21:20.34\00:21:22.41
"that will lead to death."
00:21:22.41\00:21:24.65
Now there wasn't anything
magical or toxic about that
00:21:24.65\00:21:28.35
tree. It appears to have
existed for just one reason.
00:21:28.35\00:21:31.09
To provide freedom of choice.
00:21:31.09\00:21:33.09
The Bible defines God as a
God of relationships and love,
00:21:33.09\00:21:37.36
and in order to be
able to love freely
00:21:37.36\00:21:39.39
there has to be the
possibility of choice.
00:21:39.39\00:21:43.26
For example, the
reason I really value
00:21:43.26\00:21:45.90
my relationship with my wife
00:21:45.90\00:21:47.37
is because it's voluntary.
00:21:47.37\00:21:48.97
When I get home from a long trip
00:21:48.97\00:21:50.34
and she's still
there at my house,
00:21:50.34\00:21:51.97
I know it's
because she wants to be
00:21:51.97\00:21:53.88
and that means something to me.
00:21:53.88\00:21:55.84
But if I get home and she's
chained to the coffee table
00:21:55.84\00:21:58.48
and I say, "Hey, look at
that, you're still here,"
00:21:58.48\00:22:01.05
well, that doesn't make sense.
00:22:01.05\00:22:02.22
There's nothing
meaningful about that.
00:22:02.22\00:22:04.69
So in order to live freely,
00:22:04.69\00:22:06.45
to be able to freely enter
into a relationship with God,
00:22:06.45\00:22:09.36
the freedom to choose
against God has to be there.
00:22:09.36\00:22:12.46
And that's what
you have in Eden,
00:22:12.46\00:22:14.03
the ability to
choose against God.
00:22:14.03\00:22:16.06
That way nobody can
point to the relationship
00:22:16.06\00:22:18.50
and suggest that it's coercive,
00:22:18.50\00:22:21.04
because it's not.
00:22:21.04\00:22:22.00
Now that doesn't mean that
God didn't warn our parents
00:22:23.44\00:22:25.64
about the
consequences of walking away.
00:22:25.64\00:22:28.21
He is after all the only
source of life in the universe
00:22:28.21\00:22:30.81
and to sever
your connection to God
00:22:30.81\00:22:32.58
will always have
tragic consequences,
00:22:32.58\00:22:34.72
so he told them
what would happen
00:22:34.72\00:22:36.79
if they chose to go at it alone.
00:22:36.79\00:22:39.22
But he didn't make
it impossible to leave.
00:22:39.22\00:22:42.49
There's another good
example in the Old Testament
00:22:42.49\00:22:44.49
where Joshua
encourages the Israelites
00:22:44.49\00:22:47.23
to remain faithful to God
after they had been unfaithful
00:22:47.23\00:22:50.97
in a number of different ways.
00:22:50.97\00:22:53.30
Notice what
Joshua actually says.
00:22:53.30\00:22:56.10
"And if it seems evil
to you to serve the Lord,
00:22:56.10\00:22:58.67
"choose for yourselves
this day whom you will serve,
00:22:58.67\00:23:01.94
"whether the gods
which your fathers served
00:23:01.94\00:23:04.01
"that were on the
other side of the river,
00:23:04.01\00:23:06.18
"or the gods of the Amorites
in whose land you dwell.
00:23:06.18\00:23:09.42
"But as for me and my
house, we will serve the Lord."
00:23:09.42\00:23:14.09
Again, it's the
freedom to choose,
00:23:14.09\00:23:15.79
and that's a really important
concept in Christianity.
00:23:15.79\00:23:19.16
I know the Church
behaved rather badly
00:23:19.16\00:23:21.16
during the Middle Ages
00:23:21.16\00:23:22.66
and we compelled people
to worship a certain way.
00:23:22.66\00:23:25.47
But that was an aberration,
00:23:25.47\00:23:26.87
it was a departure
from the principles
00:23:26.87\00:23:29.04
of our founding document.
00:23:29.04\00:23:31.11
God does not force,
00:23:31.11\00:23:32.94
and that means that
Christians have an obligation
00:23:32.94\00:23:35.28
to respect the rights of others.
00:23:35.28\00:23:37.61
Forcing people to
accept Christianity
00:23:37.61\00:23:40.78
is plainly out of bounds.
00:23:40.78\00:23:42.98
Of course, that doesn't
mean that we can't support
00:23:44.42\00:23:46.02
good moral civic laws,
00:23:46.02\00:23:48.19
particularly
those that are related
00:23:48.19\00:23:50.13
to the second
table of commandments.
00:23:50.13\00:23:52.23
Moral principles
like you shall not kill
00:23:52.23\00:23:54.56
or you shall not steal
00:23:54.56\00:23:56.23
respect the
rights of the individual
00:23:56.23\00:23:58.30
and they place a
distinct value on other people.
00:23:58.30\00:24:01.30
Those are good laws.
00:24:01.30\00:24:02.80
Common sense moral
values that benefit everybody.
00:24:02.80\00:24:06.54
Where Christians run
into trouble, though,
00:24:06.54\00:24:08.71
is when they try to enforce
the first table of commandments
00:24:08.71\00:24:11.61
through civil laws,
00:24:11.61\00:24:13.08
the commandments that describe
our personal duty to God.
00:24:13.08\00:24:17.19
You cannot force other people
00:24:17.19\00:24:18.99
not to take the
Lord's name in vain
00:24:18.99\00:24:20.56
or to observe the
Sabbath and so on.
00:24:20.56\00:24:23.36
Now I've got to
take one last quick break
00:24:23.36\00:24:26.49
and then we'll
come back to summarize
00:24:26.49\00:24:28.43
what it is that
I'm really driving at.
00:24:28.43\00:24:30.53
- [Announcer] Are
you searching for answers
00:24:34.24\00:24:35.47
to life's
toughest questions like,
00:24:35.47\00:24:37.57
where is God when we suffer?
00:24:37.57\00:24:39.37
Can I find real happiness?
00:24:39.37\00:24:41.18
Or is there any hope
for our chaotic world?
00:24:41.18\00:24:44.35
The "Discover"
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00:24:44.35\00:24:45.98
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00:24:45.98\00:24:48.15
Visit us at BibleStudies.com
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or give us a
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00:25:11.34\00:25:13.64
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00:25:15.78\00:25:18.18
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00:25:20.78\00:25:24.92
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00:25:24.92\00:25:28.76
- Ayn Rand appeared to believe,
00:25:33.36\00:25:34.73
like Nietzsche or Schopenhauer,
00:25:34.73\00:25:36.33
that the universe
somehow answers to us.
00:25:36.33\00:25:39.30
Now that's a little simplistic
00:25:39.30\00:25:40.77
because neither of those
philosophers really believed
00:25:40.77\00:25:43.61
the universe had any real
meaning attached to it anyway.
00:25:43.61\00:25:47.14
But they did suggest
that the best path in life
00:25:47.14\00:25:50.08
is to just accumulate
power and use it to carve out
00:25:50.08\00:25:52.85
a better existence for yourself.
00:25:52.85\00:25:54.65
Ayn Rand essentially
taught the same thing,
00:25:55.82\00:25:58.05
and it's no
surprise because she was
00:25:58.05\00:25:59.65
a huge fan of Nietzsche.
00:25:59.65\00:26:01.99
Her highest ideal
was the noble hero,
00:26:01.99\00:26:05.59
the one who beats the odds
00:26:05.59\00:26:06.96
and really makes
something of himself.
00:26:06.96\00:26:09.46
And I say himself on purpose
00:26:09.46\00:26:11.27
because for some strange reason
00:26:11.27\00:26:14.07
Ayn Rand actually put limits
on the ambitions of women,
00:26:14.07\00:26:17.07
even stating publicly
that they should never, ever,
00:26:17.07\00:26:20.61
be president of
the United States.
00:26:20.61\00:26:22.94
The individualism of
Ayn Rand's Objectivism
00:26:22.94\00:26:26.45
was completely self-serving
00:26:26.45\00:26:28.98
and it assumed that the
universe is here to serve us.
00:26:28.98\00:26:32.99
Christianity, on the other hand,
00:26:32.99\00:26:34.42
believes that the
universe answers to a Creator
00:26:34.42\00:26:37.73
and the universe
was made as a reflection
00:26:37.73\00:26:40.13
of who that Creator is.
00:26:40.13\00:26:42.36
We understand that we've
been given free moral agency
00:26:42.36\00:26:45.97
and that God
invites us to answer to him.
00:26:45.97\00:26:49.80
What Christianity
teaches essentially
00:26:49.80\00:26:52.04
is that you really
are your own person
00:26:52.04\00:26:53.71
and that you don't
need some kind of middle man
00:26:53.71\00:26:56.31
that stands between you and God.
00:26:56.31\00:26:58.81
You are free to choose.
00:26:58.81\00:27:00.85
But what happens if you
understand that the universe
00:27:00.85\00:27:03.12
does not exist for you
00:27:03.12\00:27:05.19
and you voluntarily
submit to the God who made it,
00:27:05.19\00:27:08.72
well, in that case you discover
00:27:08.72\00:27:11.19
that the universe absolutely
bends in God's direction,
00:27:11.19\00:27:14.83
and that's a feature
he's willing to share with you
00:27:14.83\00:27:17.93
because it turns out God
also voluntarily lives for you.
00:27:17.93\00:27:22.14
Listen, like Ayn Rand,
00:27:23.44\00:27:25.31
I do not recognize
any right on your part
00:27:25.31\00:27:28.11
to call the shots in my life.
00:27:28.11\00:27:30.58
But quite unlike her,
00:27:30.58\00:27:32.51
I readily
acknowledge God's right
00:27:32.51\00:27:34.82
to call the shots in my life.
00:27:34.82\00:27:36.62
And I'm quite happy to
submit to that arrangement
00:27:36.62\00:27:38.85
because I've come
to realize I can't lose
00:27:38.85\00:27:42.59
when I'm in the hands of
a loving and merciful God.
00:27:42.59\00:27:46.59
Well, that's it for this week,
00:27:46.59\00:27:48.03
I've talked too long and
I've completely run out of time
00:27:48.03\00:27:50.13
and I guess that quick summary
00:27:50.13\00:27:51.87
of one of the most influential
writers in American culture
00:27:51.87\00:27:55.54
is just gonna
have to do for now.
00:27:55.54\00:27:57.01
Maybe we'll come back
to it on another week.
00:27:57.01\00:27:59.77
Thanks for joining
me, until next time.
00:27:59.77\00:28:01.84
I'm Shawn Boonstra
00:28:01.84\00:28:03.35
and this has been
another edition of "Authentic."
00:28:03.35\00:28:07.02
[bright music]
00:28:07.02\00:28:09.62