- Today, we're gonna go back to
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one of the four
horsemen of atheism
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to finish something |I
started on a previous show
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because I'm
convinced that at least
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one of these
famous atheists really
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didn't understand
what he was reading,
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and maybe he even lied about it.
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[country blues music]
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welcome to
"Authentic," she show where
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we examine what it means to
live a genuine human existence,
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which means that we
unpack all kinds of topics,
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including things
like ethics and psychology
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and epistemology and faith and,
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well, just about
everything under the sun,
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and what we're gonna do today is
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pick up on a
topic that I just kinda
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left dangling
on another episode,
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and it was, well, frustrating
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because in my
typical blabbermouth fashion,
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I ran outta time before I could
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really finish what
I was trying to say.
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So, if you missed the
first part of this discussion,
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you might want to head on
over to our website, vop.com,
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and look for "Hitchens
Wasn't Great, Part One,"
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and that way, I
won't have to review
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everything from last
episode in this episode,
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which would mean that I
run outta time yet again.
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What I will do is set
the table by saying this,
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what we're talking about is
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Christopher
Hitchens' bestselling book,
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"God is Not Great," a book
that still sells to this day.
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Now unfortunately,
Hitchens died in 2011.
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So, he can't defend himself
against what I'm gonna say.
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I freely admit
that, not that he would
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ever listen to this show,
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but it's not really
Hitchens that really concerns me
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as much as the people who
might actually read his book
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and think he's
giving an accurate picture
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of religion or Christianity
or the Bible because he's not.
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Listen, I can
absolutely respect an atheist
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who is calm and well reasoned
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and is honest about the subject,
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and I have a
number of good friends
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who absolutely
fall into that category,
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but Hitchens appears
to be less than honest,
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or at least if
that's not the case,
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then he's nowhere
near as well informed
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as he thought he was,
and we kinda looked at that
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a little bit on another episode.
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So, you might want to go
back and give that a listen.
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Today, I wanna
pick up with his chapter
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on the reliability
of the Old Testament
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because he seems to be
making a caricature of God,
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and only presenting
snippets of information
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that are
removed from the context
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of the rest of the Bible.
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I believe I gave you
a few examples last time
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and then we
zeroed in on the way that
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he ridicules the
great moral contribution
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that the Hebrew people
made to Western civilization,
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and that's The Ten Commandments,
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and it's here that we
really find some holes
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in the way that Hitchens thinks.
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Some of you will remember
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that he called the
first three commandments
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a prolonged
throat-clearing by God,
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and so we took a little time
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and asked a really
important question.
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If God is real, and I
happen to think he is,
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if God is real, do
these three commandments
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make really good sense?
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And the answer
was, well, yes, they do.
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If there is a
God and only one God,
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and he is loving,
then the prohibition
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against serving something
or someone else makes sense.
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You're actually
jeopardizing your own wellbeing
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if you ignore that fact.
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The Creator God,
according to the Bible,
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is the only source and
only sustainer of life,
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and that makes it very important
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to be clear about the way
you're gong to relate to him.
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Then we saw that a prohibition
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against taking
God's name in vain
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isn't really just
about careless language.
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It's about professing
publicly to be God's child,
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and then making a mockery
of his name or his character
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through the way you behave,
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which was
interestingly a huge part
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of Christopher Hitchens'
complaint against religious
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people. He pointed
out that the religious
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have behaved
abysmally over the centuries,
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and I don't deny that.
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In fact, people who have
listened to me over the years
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know full well
I openly admit it.
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It's true. We have misbehaved.
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And if you take the time
to read the Bible honestly,
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you quickly
discover that the Bible
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never tries to hide the
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embarrassing
behavior of God's people.
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In fact, their bad behavior is
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one of the biggest
themes in the book.
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So, Hitchens is
completely right about this.
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There are a lot of
very toxic religious people,
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and I strongly suspect,
by the tone of his book,
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that Mr.
Hitchens had been exposed
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to more than a few of them,
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but in condemning the
bad behavior of God's people,
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Hitchens is actually
underlining the validity
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of the third
commandment, which tells us that
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taking the Lord's
name in vain is a sin.
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What that
commandment is really driving at
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at a fundamental
level is people who
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pretend to represent
God in front of the world,
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but then go out there
and live like the devil.
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That brings
dishonor to God's name.
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Hitchens'
protest underlines that
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the commandment is valid.
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It serves an important purpose,
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but then he goes on to
the fourth commandment,
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which for some reason,
he didn't lump together
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with the first three,
and this is the commandment
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that deals with the Sabbath.
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Here's what he
says about the Sabbath.
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He says, "The
fourth commandment insists
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on the observance
of a holy Sabbath day,
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and forbids all
believers and their slaves
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and domestic servants to perform
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any work in the course of it.
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It is added that, as was
said in the book of Genesis,
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God made all the
world in six days
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and rested on the seventh,
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leaving room for speculation
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as to what he did
on the eighth day."
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I realize that I'm probably
straining at gnats here,
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but that last statement
kinds gives you an idea
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of the sarcastic
flavor of the whole book.
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Hitchens is not a
well-reasoned rebuttal of faith
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and definitely has the
feel of a personal attack.
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I mean, there's
absolutely no point in saying,
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we don't know what
happened on the eighth day
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because the pattern
shown in the bible is that
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once the seventh day,
the day of rest was over,
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the weekly cycle
just started over again.
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What Hitchens is trying to do
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is make his readers think
the story is completely silly
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before they ever
have a chance to read it,
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but now that I've lodged
that complaint against Hitchens,
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let me point out
the real problem.
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He simply doesn't understand
the nature of the Sabbath
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because he
doesn't read it in light
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of the rest of the Bible.
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We have hundreds
and hundreds of pages
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of very important
commentary in the bible
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on what those commandments
mean, what they represent.
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But, Hitchens conveniently
ignores all of that,
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even though he
insists quite firmly
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he knows what the Bible says.
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So, let me just put
the question like this.
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What in the world
is wrong with a God
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who wants you to have a day off,
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who wants you to use
a little time each week
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to invest in a close and
personal relationship with him.
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That's the point of the Sabbath.
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For six days, human beings do
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what human beings need to do,
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but on the seventh, God says,
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listen, I want
you to understand that
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at the end of the
day, I've got your back.
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You don't have to earn my
love. You already have it.
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You don't have to
win the kingdom of Heaven
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through your personal efforts
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because I've
already won it for you.
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I made you.
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I gave you life, and I'm
eager to spend time with you.
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The Sabbath is a
day where you can
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quit trying and
just be, and honestly,
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that's the picture you get
when you study this commandment
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throughout the
rest of the Bible.
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I mean, just
consider the way that
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Jesus taught the
fourth commandment.
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When the Pharisees
condemned his disciples
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for picking a few heads of
grain to eat on the Sabbath,
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as if they were
performing some kind of
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strenuous farm labor,
here's what Jesus says.
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"And he said to them,
"The Sabbath was made for man,
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and not man for the Sabbath."
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And then on another
occasion, he told his disciples,
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"He who has seen me
has seen the Father,"
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which completely
shuts down all those people
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who say that the
God of the Old Testament
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was harsh and severe and
completely different from Jesus.
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From the very beginning,
the Sabbath was created
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as a gift for the human race,
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and you really really have to do
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a lot of mental gymnastics
to find something wrong
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with a God who gives
you the gift of rest.
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I mean, just think
about the way the world
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beats you up day in and day out,
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and ask yourself how
many times you've been glad
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that you work around
the clock seven days a week.
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That's not how
you were designed,
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and the God who made
you, the God who loves you
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recognizes this,
and he simply asks you
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to come and rest
with him one day a week.
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It's a mandatory day off.
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How in the
world anybody could be
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angry about that is beyond me,
00:08:51.53\00:08:53.46
and frankly, I think it means
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you might have
the wrong perspective
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about God in the first place,
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but now it's time for a
break, so don't go away.
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I'm gonna take a little rest.
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You take a little rest,
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and then we got a lot
more stuff to talk about.
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[dramatic music]
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- [Narrator] Dragons,
beasts, cryptic statues,
00:09:09.34\00:09:13.28
Bible prophecy can be
incredibly vivid and confusing.
00:09:13.28\00:09:17.89
If you've ever read
Daniel or Revelation
00:09:17.89\00:09:20.06
and come away scratching
your head, you're not alone.
00:09:20.06\00:09:23.09
Our free Focus on
Prophecy guides are designed
00:09:23.09\00:09:26.03
to help you unlock
the mysteries of the Bible
00:09:26.03\00:09:28.23
and deepen your
understanding of God's plan
00:09:28.23\00:09:30.67
for you and our world.
00:09:30.67\00:09:32.33
Study online or
request them by mail
00:09:32.33\00:09:34.77
and start bringing
prophecy into focus today.
00:09:34.77\00:09:37.67
- You know, it occurs to me that
00:09:39.51\00:09:40.78
it might be
really useful to look at
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how The Ten Commandments
are actually structured
00:09:42.48\00:09:44.58
because that might make
all the difference in the world
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when it comes to
understanding them.
00:09:47.12\00:09:49.12
Let me show you
something in a story
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from the New Testament,
where the religious leaders
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of the day were
trying to trip Jesus up
00:09:54.09\00:09:55.82
because they saw him as a
threat to their own authority.
00:09:55.82\00:09:58.89
Here's what the Bible says.
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"Then one of them, a
lawyer, asked him a question,
00:10:00.73\00:10:03.70
testing him, and
saying, "Teacher, which is
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the great
commandment in the law?"
00:10:06.03\00:10:08.27
Now, listen
carefully to what comes next.
00:10:08.27\00:10:10.84
"Jesus said to
him, "You shall love
00:10:10.84\00:10:13.44
the Lord your God
with all your heart,
00:10:13.44\00:10:15.21
with all your soul
and with all your mind."
00:10:15.21\00:10:17.65
This is the first
and great commandment.
00:10:17.65\00:10:20.45
And the second is like it:
00:10:20.45\00:10:21.68
"You shall love your
neighbor as yourself."
00:10:21.68\00:10:24.39
On these two commandments hang
00:10:24.39\00:10:26.39
all the Law and the Prophets."
00:10:26.39\00:10:29.69
Now, I've heard
some people say that
00:10:29.69\00:10:31.26
Jesus was replacing the Old
Testament with that statement,
00:10:31.26\00:10:34.50
as if the Old Testament
had nothing to do with love,
00:10:34.50\00:10:38.23
but look at this
carefully and you find
00:10:38.23\00:10:40.20
the two tables of
The Ten Commandments
00:10:40.20\00:10:42.40
being explained
in a world that had
00:10:42.40\00:10:44.27
long forgotten
why those commandments
00:10:44.27\00:10:46.54
were given in the first place.
00:10:46.54\00:10:48.64
The moral principles
found in the decalogue
00:10:48.64\00:10:51.45
were simple and
easy to understand,
00:10:51.45\00:10:54.32
but the Pharisees had made them
00:10:54.32\00:10:55.85
unbearably
complicated and severe.
00:10:55.85\00:10:59.19
They were so paranoid
about breaking the law,
00:10:59.19\00:11:02.26
which is what led to
the Babylonian captivity
00:11:02.26\00:11:05.49
that they added 600 extra rules
00:11:05.49\00:11:07.96
so that you
couldn't even get close
00:11:07.96\00:11:09.46
to breaking the commandments.
00:11:09.46\00:11:11.57
What they did was to
create a legalistic atmosphere
00:11:11.57\00:11:14.94
that was really
really hard to live in.
00:11:14.94\00:11:17.74
So, when somebody asked Jesus
00:11:18.67\00:11:20.24
what the greatest of
the commandments was,
00:11:20.24\00:11:22.18
he gave a remarkable answer.
00:11:22.18\00:11:24.38
There are two.
00:11:24.38\00:11:26.01
One of them is to love God
00:11:26.01\00:11:28.22
and the other is to love
your neighbor as yourself.
00:11:28.22\00:11:31.39
What Jesus gave us was a recipe
00:11:31.39\00:11:33.92
for an
authentic human existence,
00:11:33.92\00:11:35.66
an easy way to live in harmony
00:11:35.66\00:11:37.69
with God and your
fellow human beings,
00:11:37.69\00:11:40.33
and that's exactly what you
find in The Ten Commandments.
00:11:40.33\00:11:43.87
The first four deal with
your relationship with God.
00:11:43.87\00:11:47.10
Do not have other gods.
00:11:47.10\00:11:48.80
Do not worship idols.
00:11:48.80\00:11:50.31
Do not take God's name in vain,
00:11:50.31\00:11:52.41
and spend the
sabbath day resting with God.
00:11:52.41\00:11:55.78
That's how you
show your love for God.
00:11:55.78\00:11:58.11
Then the next six
commandments outline
00:11:58.11\00:12:00.25
a peaceful
coexistence with your neighbors.
00:12:00.25\00:12:02.68
Honor your parents.
00:12:02.68\00:12:03.99
Do not murder.
00:12:03.99\00:12:05.25
Do not commit adultery.
00:12:05.25\00:12:06.82
Do not steal.
00:12:06.82\00:12:08.22
Do not bear false
witness and do not covet.
00:12:08.22\00:12:10.99
That's how you
love your neighbor.
00:12:10.99\00:12:13.43
What Jesus is telling us
is how to live with love.
00:12:13.43\00:12:17.40
You know, I've heard
a lot of people grumble
00:12:17.40\00:12:19.13
that God is just
trying to ruin our fun
00:12:19.13\00:12:21.30
with these 10 rules,
but try to imagine a world
00:12:21.30\00:12:24.47
where everybody
just did those things.
00:12:24.47\00:12:26.78
Nobody steals. Nobody kills.
00:12:26.78\00:12:28.88
Nobody takes what
doesn't belong to them.
00:12:28.88\00:12:30.91
Nobody cheats on a
spouse and nobody lies.
00:12:30.91\00:12:34.42
I mean, imagine a world that
isn't driven by greed and envy,
00:12:34.42\00:12:37.99
where people
actually respect each other.
00:12:37.99\00:12:40.92
What in the world
would be wrong with that?
00:12:40.92\00:12:44.06
Absolutely nothing.
00:12:44.06\00:12:45.53
What we get in
the moral law of God
00:12:46.70\00:12:48.40
is actually a picture of
what God himself is like.
00:12:48.40\00:12:51.20
God says, I want
you to respect life
00:12:51.20\00:12:53.70
because I respect life.
00:12:53.70\00:12:56.00
I want you to be
honest because I'm honest.
00:12:56.00\00:12:58.74
I want you to respect
covenant relationships
00:12:58.74\00:13:01.04
like marriage because I
respect covenant relationships.
00:13:01.04\00:13:05.81
What God does in
The Ten Commandments
00:13:05.81\00:13:07.75
is reveal
himself, his own character,
00:13:07.75\00:13:10.19
and he invites us to
be remade in his image.
00:13:10.19\00:13:14.82
So, honestly, once
you start to see that,
00:13:14.82\00:13:17.46
it's hard to
understand how anybody
00:13:17.46\00:13:19.33
could hate the
commandments unless they had
00:13:19.33\00:13:21.50
no interest in being moral.
00:13:21.50\00:13:23.90
Now, I completely understand.
00:13:23.90\00:13:25.93
Lots of atheists are
really good moral people.
00:13:25.93\00:13:28.87
They really are, and
Hitchens mentions that,
00:13:28.87\00:13:31.87
but it's kind
of beside the point
00:13:31.87\00:13:33.21
because what
Hitchens is doing is
00:13:33.21\00:13:35.14
lambasting these
10 moral principles
00:13:35.14\00:13:37.48
as if there's something
inherently wrong with them,
00:13:37.48\00:13:40.28
and it's hard to see how
that could possibly be true.
00:13:40.28\00:13:44.12
I mean, here's
the way that Hitchens
00:13:44.12\00:13:47.19
characterizes
The Ten Commandments.
00:13:47.19\00:13:49.66
He says, "It would be
harder to find an easier proof
00:13:49.66\00:13:52.96
that religion is man-made.
00:13:52.96\00:13:54.76
There is first, the
monarchical growling
00:13:54.76\00:13:57.23
about respect and
fear, accompanied by a
00:13:57.23\00:13:59.70
stern reminder of omnipotence
and limitless revenge,
00:13:59.70\00:14:03.77
of the sort with which a
Babylonian or Assyrian emperor
00:14:03.77\00:14:07.44
might have ordered the scribes
to begin a proclamation."
00:14:07.44\00:14:11.08
Honestly, this is
the part of Hitchens
00:14:12.25\00:14:14.95
that's kinda mind-boggling.
00:14:14.95\00:14:16.69
He's reading the
same ten commandments that
00:14:16.69\00:14:19.12
I've been reading to
you, and he sees them
00:14:19.12\00:14:21.46
as the unreasonable
demand of a vengeful God,
00:14:21.46\00:14:25.09
which tells me
that either Hitchens
00:14:25.09\00:14:27.13
never read the whole
Bible or he was so blinded
00:14:27.13\00:14:30.17
by his own
anger over some issue,
00:14:30.17\00:14:32.20
something that
happened that it made him
00:14:32.20\00:14:34.47
conveniently ignore
the rest of the story
00:14:34.47\00:14:36.81
or another possibility, he's
just being downright dishonest,
00:14:36.81\00:14:41.81
and because he's dead, I
guess we can't ask him about it,
00:14:43.21\00:14:45.48
but I guess what I want for you
00:14:45.48\00:14:46.75
is an honest understanding of
00:14:46.75\00:14:48.48
what the Bible actually teaches,
00:14:48.48\00:14:49.92
and Christopher Hitchens is not
00:14:49.92\00:14:52.09
an honest
introduction to the subject.
00:14:52.09\00:14:55.06
Okay, let's keep
forging ahead now
00:14:55.06\00:14:56.99
because we have
a little more time
00:14:56.99\00:14:58.93
and Hitchens does
make a few other assertions
00:14:58.93\00:15:01.50
that really make no sense.
00:15:01.50\00:15:03.67
After listing
The Ten Commandments
00:15:03.67\00:15:05.63
in a rather disdainful
tone, here's what he says.
00:15:05.63\00:15:08.44
Let me just read the
whole quote to you first
00:15:08.44\00:15:10.61
and then we'll
circle back and just
00:15:10.61\00:15:12.44
bring up a couple of points.
00:15:12.44\00:15:13.68
He writes, "But
however little one thinks
00:15:13.68\00:15:16.98
of the Jewish tradition,
it is surely insulting
00:15:16.98\00:15:19.48
to the people
of Moses to imagine
00:15:19.48\00:15:21.58
that they had come this
far under the impression
00:15:21.58\00:15:23.82
that murder, adultery, theft
and perjury were permissible.
00:15:23.82\00:15:27.79
The same
unanswerable point could be made
00:15:27.79\00:15:30.03
in a different
way about the alleged
00:15:30.03\00:15:31.73
later preachings of
Jesus: when he tells
00:15:31.73\00:15:34.20
the story of the Good
Samaritan on that Jericho road
00:15:34.20\00:15:37.33
he is speaking
of a man who acted
00:15:37.33\00:15:39.13
in a humane and generous
manner without, obviously,
00:15:39.13\00:15:41.87
ever having
heard of Christianity,
00:15:41.87\00:15:44.24
let alone having
followed the pitiless teachings
00:15:44.24\00:15:46.68
of the god of
Moses, who never mentions
00:15:46.68\00:15:49.44
human solidarity
and compassion at all."
00:15:49.44\00:15:52.91
well, here's what I need to ask.
00:15:53.88\00:15:55.92
How in the world does
Hitchens come to the conclusion
00:15:55.92\00:15:58.62
that the moral law
of God was suddenly
00:15:58.62\00:16:00.42
sprung on the Jews
as a huge surprise?
00:16:00.42\00:16:03.19
You'd have to be willfully
ignorant of the context
00:16:03.19\00:16:05.89
leading up to Exodus 20
to come to that conclusion
00:16:05.89\00:16:09.46
because violations of
those same moral principles
00:16:09.46\00:16:12.20
are roundly condemned in
the previous book, Genesis.
00:16:12.20\00:16:16.67
Cain was condemned for murder.
00:16:16.67\00:16:19.04
Jacob was disciplined
for deceiving his family.
00:16:19.04\00:16:21.81
Sexual immorality was
considered a sin and so on
00:16:21.81\00:16:25.48
for hundreds of
years leading up to
00:16:25.48\00:16:27.92
the presentation of the
tables of stone at Mount Sinai.
00:16:27.92\00:16:31.39
These things have
always been wrong,
00:16:31.39\00:16:33.86
and they've always been wrong
00:16:33.86\00:16:35.49
because God has
always been there,
00:16:35.49\00:16:37.79
and the moral
guidelines in the law
00:16:37.79\00:16:39.86
are a picture of what
God is like, and honestly,
00:16:39.86\00:16:43.77
it takes quite a
bit of imagination
00:16:43.77\00:16:45.53
to pretend that the Hebrews had
00:16:45.53\00:16:47.17
no concept of sin before they
received the tables of stone.
00:16:47.17\00:16:51.67
I mean, if you want
a really good summary
00:16:52.84\00:16:54.61
of what sin is,
you'll find it in I John 3:4,
00:16:54.61\00:16:57.51
where it says,
"Whoever commits sin
00:16:57.51\00:16:59.65
also commits lawlessness,
and sin is lawlessness."
00:16:59.65\00:17:03.49
The old King James says,
00:17:03.49\00:17:04.95
"Sin is the
transgression of the law."
00:17:04.95\00:17:08.66
And if there's one
thing that's abundantly clear
00:17:08.66\00:17:10.89
in the Bible, it's the fact that
00:17:10.89\00:17:12.39
sin existed well before Moses
and well before Mount Sinai.
00:17:12.39\00:17:16.87
So, if sin existed, there
must have been a moral law
00:17:16.87\00:17:21.60
that people were breaking,
00:17:21.60\00:17:23.04
but you know what Hitchens says
00:17:24.14\00:17:25.37
actually goes deeper than that,
00:17:25.37\00:17:26.84
and I do have to take
another quick break, so hang on.
00:17:26.84\00:17:29.68
I'll be right back after this.
00:17:29.68\00:17:31.88
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00:17:33.28\00:17:34.55
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- Just before the
break, I was looking at
00:18:04.08\00:18:05.75
this unfortunate
statement in Hitchens' book
00:18:05.75\00:18:07.92
regarding The Ten Commandments,
where he wrote this.
00:18:07.92\00:18:11.22
"But however little one
thinks of the Jewish tradition,
00:18:11.22\00:18:15.22
it is surely
insulting to the people of Moses
00:18:15.22\00:18:17.53
to imagine that they had come
this far under the impression
00:18:17.53\00:18:20.56
that murder, adultery, theft
and perjury were permissible."
00:18:20.56\00:18:25.23
The answer to that silly
objection is pretty simple.
00:18:25.23\00:18:29.24
It's not true.
00:18:29.24\00:18:30.77
It's impossible to
read the whole Bible
00:18:30.77\00:18:32.91
and come to the conclusion
that murder, adultery,
00:18:32.91\00:18:35.04
theft and perjury
were ever permissible.
00:18:35.04\00:18:37.71
So what he's doing is creating
another strawman argument.
00:18:37.71\00:18:41.48
He's stating
something that was never true,
00:18:41.48\00:18:43.75
never taught in
the Bible, and then
00:18:43.75\00:18:45.59
he's triumphantly
knocking that argument over
00:18:45.59\00:18:47.92
like a pigeon
strutting around on a chessboard
00:18:47.92\00:18:50.49
kicking over the pieces.
00:18:50.49\00:18:52.23
He might be
causing a lotta damage,
00:18:52.23\00:18:53.80
but he's certainly
not winning the game
00:18:53.80\00:18:55.70
and he's not even playing chess,
00:18:55.70\00:18:59.00
and I guess what
really bothers me about this
00:18:59.00\00:19:01.74
is the way that Mr.
Hitchens will not give God
00:19:01.74\00:19:04.37
the same benefit
of the doubt that he
00:19:04.37\00:19:06.57
undoubtedly would give
to a secular government.
00:19:06.57\00:19:10.18
Just because everybody
knows something is wrong
00:19:10.18\00:19:13.62
doesn't mean that that wrong
never needs to be codified,
00:19:13.62\00:19:16.72
that it never needs to be stated
00:19:16.72\00:19:18.99
because human
beings are terribly flawed
00:19:18.99\00:19:21.59
and we are forever
making huge messes.
00:19:21.59\00:19:24.46
We all know murder is wrong,
00:19:24.46\00:19:26.29
but some people
still go and do it anyway.
00:19:26.29\00:19:28.56
We know stealing is
wrong, but some people
00:19:28.56\00:19:30.63
still go out there and do it.
00:19:30.63\00:19:32.63
Yet, nobody's
suggesting that we don't need
00:19:32.63\00:19:35.10
a criminal code or law books
00:19:35.10\00:19:37.31
because it's really
really obvious that we do.
00:19:37.31\00:19:41.08
Look, when God delivered
the Israelites from Egypt,
00:19:41.08\00:19:44.05
they had just come out
of long years of slavery
00:19:44.05\00:19:47.15
while being
immersed in a foreign culture
00:19:47.15\00:19:49.35
with different gods.
00:19:49.35\00:19:51.29
As he led the
Israelites out of bondage,
00:19:51.29\00:19:53.32
he established a covenant
with them, basically saying,
00:19:53.32\00:19:56.69
I will be your God
and you will be my people,
00:19:56.69\00:20:00.23
and the moral law of God
was the basis of that covenant.
00:20:00.23\00:20:03.57
It describes what it
means to be the people of God.
00:20:03.57\00:20:08.07
God expected them to reflect
00:20:08.07\00:20:10.04
his character and his values.
00:20:10.04\00:20:12.44
It was only appropriate
at that point in history
00:20:12.44\00:20:15.51
to restate those principles
and encode them in stone,
00:20:15.51\00:20:19.05
the same way you spell things
out when you sign a contract.
00:20:19.05\00:20:23.62
Everybody knows
that you should be honest
00:20:23.62\00:20:25.85
when you sell a
house, but you still
00:20:25.85\00:20:28.06
pull out a
document that spells out
00:20:28.06\00:20:30.16
exactly what
your agreement means.
00:20:30.16\00:20:33.43
Even a neophyte in history knows
00:20:33.43\00:20:35.33
that you have to
review and restate
00:20:35.33\00:20:37.00
the law of the
land more than once
00:20:37.00\00:20:38.63
because those
laws are the guidelines
00:20:38.63\00:20:40.77
that hold civilization together,
00:20:40.77\00:20:42.90
and The Ten
Commandments were the laws
00:20:42.90\00:20:44.74
that held the
nation of Israel together.
00:20:44.74\00:20:47.38
None of those
moral principles came
00:20:47.38\00:20:49.01
as a surprise to anybody,
00:20:49.01\00:20:50.68
and so Hitchens is frankly
arguing against something
00:20:50.68\00:20:53.45
that was never ever true,
00:20:53.45\00:20:56.42
and when it comes to the
story of the Good Samaritan,
00:20:56.42\00:20:59.15
wow, did Hitchens
ever miss the boat.
00:20:59.15\00:21:01.66
When Jesus told that
story, he was pointing out
00:21:01.66\00:21:04.59
that the people who
live next door to Judea,
00:21:04.59\00:21:07.03
the Samaritans, the
people who didn't have
00:21:07.03\00:21:09.93
the same
privileges as Jerusalem,
00:21:09.93\00:21:12.20
the people that
were despised by those
00:21:12.20\00:21:14.60
who profess to teach
the true religion of God,
00:21:14.60\00:21:18.11
well Jesus was pointing out that
00:21:18.11\00:21:19.57
the Samaritans understood
God's moral principles
00:21:19.57\00:21:22.48
better than they did.
00:21:22.48\00:21:24.18
The Hebrews, the
Jews in Jerusalem
00:21:24.18\00:21:27.55
had made a perversion of the law
00:21:27.55\00:21:29.18
because they made it loveless,
00:21:29.18\00:21:30.79
but the Samaritans they
despised as unclean garbage
00:21:30.79\00:21:34.79
were actually closer
to God than they were
00:21:34.79\00:21:36.42
because they knew how to love.
00:21:36.42\00:21:38.39
They were keeping the law
while the Jews were breaking it.
00:21:38.39\00:21:42.60
Remember, Jesus said that
the easiest summary of the law
00:21:42.60\00:21:46.47
is to love the Lord your God
00:21:46.47\00:21:48.14
with all your heart and to
love your neighbor as yourself.
00:21:48.14\00:21:52.47
If anything, the
Samaritan in the parable
00:21:52.47\00:21:55.34
is naturally
keeping the moral law
00:21:55.34\00:21:58.51
while the
professed children of God
00:21:58.51\00:22:00.32
are defiantly breaking it,
00:22:00.32\00:22:02.02
and that's the
point of the story.
00:22:02.02\00:22:04.72
And do you know, I guess
it all boils down to this.
00:22:06.15\00:22:07.66
If you wanna read an atheist,
at least read an honest one.
00:22:07.66\00:22:11.83
Hitchens' book, to be honest,
is more than disappointing,
00:22:11.83\00:22:15.96
and Mr. Hitchens
obviously had an ax to grind.
00:22:15.96\00:22:19.07
He plays loose with the facts.
00:22:19.07\00:22:20.87
He makes unfair caricatures
out of the biblical teachings.
00:22:20.87\00:22:24.14
He rips things out of context.
00:22:24.14\00:22:26.01
He ignores parts of the Bible
00:22:26.01\00:22:27.44
that completely contradict him,
00:22:27.44\00:22:29.24
and he indulges in
ridicule, sarcasm and insults.
00:22:29.24\00:22:32.81
This is a really sloppy book,
00:22:32.81\00:22:36.92
and the fact that
Mr. Hitchens calls
00:22:36.92\00:22:38.72
the God of Moses pitiless
and devoid of compassion
00:22:38.72\00:22:42.59
is probably the biggest
misrepresentation of them all.
00:22:42.59\00:22:46.16
I mean, let's
just consider the most
00:22:46.16\00:22:48.13
famous verse in the
whole Bible, which says,
00:22:48.13\00:22:50.30
"For God so loved
the world that he gave
00:22:50.30\00:22:53.17
his only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in him
00:22:53.17\00:22:56.14
should not perish,
but have everlasting life.
00:22:56.14\00:22:59.11
For God did not send
his Son into the world
00:22:59.11\00:23:01.41
to condemn the
world, but that the world
00:23:01.41\00:23:03.85
through him might be saved."
00:23:03.85\00:23:06.68
Now, tell me again about this
00:23:06.68\00:23:08.32
so-called
pitiless God, Mr. Hitchens.
00:23:08.32\00:23:11.05
The fact is, you
completely ignored
00:23:11.05\00:23:12.85
the biggest theme in the Bible,
00:23:12.85\00:23:14.29
and I think that
for just a few moments,
00:23:14.29\00:23:16.73
I'm gonna let God himself refute
00:23:16.73\00:23:18.69
what you tried to
make people believe.
00:23:18.69\00:23:20.40
I John Chapter 4 says this,
00:23:20.40\00:23:23.00
"Beloved, let us love one
another, for love is of God;
00:23:23.00\00:23:26.10
and everyone who loves is
born of God and knows God.
00:23:26.10\00:23:29.87
He who does not love does
not know God, for God is love.
00:23:29.87\00:23:33.51
In this the love of God
was manifested toward us,
00:23:33.51\00:23:36.28
that God has sent his only
begotten Son into the world,
00:23:36.28\00:23:38.95
that we might live through him."
00:23:38.95\00:23:41.98
And then you have this statement
from the Old Testament,
00:23:41.98\00:23:44.52
the book of Isaiah.
00:23:44.52\00:23:46.22
"For the mountains shall
depart and the hills be removed,
00:23:46.22\00:23:49.22
but my kindness
shall not depart from you,
00:23:49.22\00:23:51.66
nor shall my covenant of peace
be removed." Says the Lord,
00:23:51.66\00:23:54.96
who has mercy on you."
00:23:54.96\00:23:57.50
Then you got this one from
the book of Romans, which says,
00:23:57.50\00:24:00.30
"For when we were
still without strength,
00:24:00.30\00:24:02.20
in due time Christ
died for the ungodly.
00:24:02.20\00:24:04.91
For scarcely for a
righteous man will one die;
00:24:04.91\00:24:07.51
yet perhaps for a good man
someone would even dare to die.
00:24:07.51\00:24:10.68
But God demonstrates
his own love toward us,
00:24:10.68\00:24:13.78
in that while we were still
sinners, Christ died for us."
00:24:13.78\00:24:18.22
So no, Mr. Hitchens,
you've been less than honest
00:24:19.59\00:24:21.52
about the tone and
tenor of the Bible,
00:24:21.52\00:24:23.73
and I'll be
right back after this.
00:24:23.73\00:24:25.83
[soft music]
00:24:28.63\00:24:29.96
- [Announcer] Are
you searching for answers
00:24:29.96\00:24:31.20
to life's
toughest questions, like,
00:24:31.20\00:24:33.27
where is God when we suffer?
00:24:33.27\00:24:35.10
Can I find real happiness or
00:24:35.10\00:24:37.34
is there any hope
for our chaotic world?
00:24:37.34\00:24:40.08
The Discover Bible
Guides will help you
00:24:40.08\00:24:41.68
find the answers
you're looking for.
00:24:41.68\00:24:43.88
Visit us at BibleStudies.com or
00:24:43.88\00:24:46.68
give us a call at 888-456-7933
00:24:46.68\00:24:50.65
for your free
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00:24:51.85\00:24:54.29
Study online on
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00:24:54.29\00:24:57.39
or have the free guides
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00:24:57.39\00:24:59.93
There is never a
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00:24:59.93\00:25:02.53
The Discover Bible
Guides are our free gift to you.
00:25:02.53\00:25:05.67
Find answers in guides like,
00:25:05.67\00:25:07.17
Does My Life
Really Matter to God and
00:25:07.17\00:25:09.77
"A Second Chance at Life."
00:25:09.77\00:25:11.47
You'll find
answers to the things
00:25:11.47\00:25:12.81
that matter most to you in each
00:25:12.81\00:25:14.28
of the 26 Discover Bible Guides.
00:25:14.28\00:25:16.51
Visit BibleStudies.com
and begin your journey today
00:25:16.51\00:25:20.65
to discover answers to
life's deepest questions.
00:25:20.65\00:25:24.49
- You know, it's
really too bad that
00:25:28.56\00:25:29.79
Christopher Hitchens is gone now
00:25:29.79\00:25:31.39
because there was something
about the world of religion
00:25:31.39\00:25:33.46
that made him
really angry about God
00:25:33.46\00:25:35.86
and he spent a lot of his
time sort of fighting God,
00:25:35.86\00:25:39.07
blaming God for
whatever that something was.
00:25:39.07\00:25:42.54
I know that his
religious friends
00:25:42.54\00:25:44.84
tried to reason
with him on occasion
00:25:44.84\00:25:46.74
because he says
as much in his book
00:25:46.74\00:25:48.54
and while he valued
those peoples' friendship,
00:25:48.54\00:25:51.01
he never accepted what
they were trying to tell him,
00:25:51.01\00:25:54.42
and now he's gone, so we leave
Mr. Hitchens in God's hands,
00:25:54.42\00:25:58.49
but maybe you've
been led to believe
00:25:58.49\00:26:00.36
that the God of
the Bible is angry
00:26:00.36\00:26:02.19
and vindictive and unreasonable.
00:26:02.19\00:26:04.33
Maybe the behavior
of a religious person
00:26:04.33\00:26:06.93
has made you more
convinced that that's true.
00:26:06.93\00:26:09.43
Listen, if you
wanna try and figure out
00:26:10.60\00:26:12.10
what God is like
from other people,
00:26:12.10\00:26:13.70
I can guarantee
that the church is gonna
00:26:13.70\00:26:16.27
make a mess of it
over and over and over.
00:26:16.27\00:26:19.21
I mean, the Christian church has
00:26:19.21\00:26:20.94
burned heretics at the stake.
00:26:20.94\00:26:22.68
We have driven so-called
unbelievers out of their homes.
00:26:22.68\00:26:26.05
We have treated other
people as less than human
00:26:26.05\00:26:29.02
and we have been involved
in very serious scandals,
00:26:29.02\00:26:33.02
which is why I
want to encourage you
00:26:34.16\00:26:35.59
to just go to the source.
00:26:35.59\00:26:37.23
Just read the
Bible for yourself,
00:26:37.23\00:26:39.66
not what people say about it,
00:26:39.66\00:26:41.40
but actually pick it up
and read it for yourself.
00:26:41.40\00:26:44.73
If you want a
little help getting
00:26:44.73\00:26:45.97
started with
that, we'll help you.
00:26:45.97\00:26:47.94
Just visit vop.com
and click on the study tab
00:26:47.94\00:26:51.57
near the top of the page.
00:26:51.57\00:26:53.04
I honestly think
you'll be delighted
00:26:53.04\00:26:54.91
with the free resources we have
00:26:54.91\00:26:56.38
to help you read the
Bible for all its worth.
00:26:56.38\00:26:59.38
We've got free
study courses that will
00:26:59.38\00:27:01.52
take you through all the
major themes of the Bible,
00:27:01.52\00:27:04.35
and right now, more
than a million people
00:27:04.35\00:27:06.35
have gone through this,
finding meaningful answers,
00:27:06.35\00:27:09.76
and if you've
got a Bible question,
00:27:09.76\00:27:11.39
consider hopping
onto our other website,
00:27:11.39\00:27:13.40
BibleInfo.com to see if
maybe we've already answered it,
00:27:13.40\00:27:17.67
and if the answer's not there,
00:27:17.67\00:27:19.17
if we haven't tackled it
yet, ask us your question.
00:27:19.17\00:27:22.57
We'll see if we
can deal with it,
00:27:22.57\00:27:24.71
but please, be
honest about your search.
00:27:24.71\00:27:28.08
Be honest with what
the Bible actually says
00:27:28.08\00:27:30.51
and what it doesn't say.
00:27:30.51\00:27:32.05
Pick up a copy of the
book and read it for yourself.
00:27:32.05\00:27:35.08
I think you're gonna be
surprised by what's in there.
00:27:35.08\00:27:38.35
Thanks for joining me again.
00:27:38.35\00:27:39.62
I'm Shawn
Boonstra and this has been
00:27:39.62\00:27:41.49
another edition of "Authentic."
00:27:41.49\00:27:44.46
[country blues music]
00:27:44.46\00:27:47.60