- A lot of people
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understandably have a
bad taste in their mouths
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when it comes to the
world of organized religion.
00:00:03.63\00:00:05.63
And I get it.
00:00:05.63\00:00:07.10
Religion has done some
really, really bad things.
00:00:07.10\00:00:10.17
So how do we explain
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the incredibly bad
behavior of Christians?
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[bouncy theme music]
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One of the more
embarrassing episodes
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in the history of
Western Christianity
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is the St.
Bartholomew Day Massacre, 1572.
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It happened when Charles
IX and Catherine de Medici
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authorized the
widespread slaughter of Huguenot
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Protestants, many of
whom were in the city of Paris
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to celebrate a royal wedding,
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a wedding between the
royal family's daughter Margaret
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and the Protestant
nobleman, Henry of Navarre.
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In the days leading
up to this massacre,
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there had been a failed attempt
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on a notable
Protestant influencer,
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someone who Catherine
feared had too much sway
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with the public.
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Apparently, some people believed
that the wars being waged
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between
Catholics and Protestants
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could be sharply curtailed
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if certain
people just disappeared.
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But assassins failed
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in their attempt to
eliminate a key target,
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Admiral Gaspard de Coligny,
a leader of the Huguenots
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and ironically, a
personal advisor to the king.
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The failed assassination
devolved into a much broader
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order to just go out and
slaughter all the Huguenots en
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masse. Just get
rid of them for good.
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That resulted in what appears
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to be tens of
thousands of deaths.
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And I say it appears
to be tens of thousands
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because I've seen
estimates ranging anywhere
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from 5,000 to 70,000.
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And of course, the
number dramatically changes
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depending on whether the
historian reporting on the event
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is Catholic or Protestant.
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One side naturally wants
to highlight the barbarity
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and the other side naturally
would like to play that down.
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But we do know this for sure.
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However big the massacre
was, it was absolutely brutal.
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Sometime between midnight and
sunrise on August 24th, 1572,
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church bells
rung, as they often did.
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But this time the
ringing of the bells
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meant it was open
season on Huguenots,
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and Swiss mercenaries had
a list of prominent leaders
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they were
supposed to get rid of.
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And this time, they did
succeed in killing the Admiral.
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But the same time,
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they also killed an
awful lot of civilians.
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Now, one of the most
important lessons we can draw
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from this horrible massacre
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is the fact that
Christians in the West
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were behaving very badly.
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A movement launched
by the Prince of Peace
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had been transformed
into a political machine
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that was being used to
seize and/or maintain power.
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What happened was that
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the Church essentially
stepped into the power vacuum
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left behind when the
Western Roman Empire imploded
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toward the end
of the 5th century.
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We just naturally assumed
the reigns of government.
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And what we created at that time
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was an absolute monstrosity,
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a tragic perversion of
the teachings of Jesus.
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And there's no point trying
to deny that this happened.
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You can find this in just
about any old history book.
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You'd have to be
willfully ignorant
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to say this event didn't happen.
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And the obvious lesson we
need to learn as Christians
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is that it's
absolutely essential for us
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to cling to our
founding document, the Bible,
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and let the teachings
of Christ set the standard
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for how the church
is going to behave.
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Any other approach
only serves to highlight
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the worst things
about our human nature.
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Today though, I want
to go a little bit further
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and explore another aspect
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of the St.
Bartholomew Day Massacre
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that doesn't usually
get mentioned very often.
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And that's the influence
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that a now
infamous Italian philosopher
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might have had, unwittingly,
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when it came to setting
the slaughter in motion.
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His name was
Niccolo Machiavelli,
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and the chances
are you were required
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to read some of his stuff
back in college, like I was,
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or at least you
probably heard about it.
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His most influential
work is called The Prince.
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And it's a rather
bleak view of human nature.
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What Machiavelli believed
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is that most of life is
completely out of our control.
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It just carries you along
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and things just happen to you.
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That part of life, he
called fortuna, or fortune,
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but the other part of life
he said gives you free will.
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You can actually use your
intellect and your freedom
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to prepare for the unexpected,
to prepare for the worst.
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So let's say you live
in Southern California,
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which of course, is
very prone to earthquakes.
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And every so often,
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one of those earthquakes
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is really big and
completely devastating,
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like the
Northridge quake back in 1994.
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According to Machiavelli,
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the earthquake was brought
to you courtesy of fortuna.
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It's an event that just happens
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and it's out of your control.
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But because you live
in an active seismic zone,
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you can actually use your
free will and your intellect
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to prepare for the big one.
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You can have an
emergency escape plan.
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You can have emergency supplies.
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You can retrofit your house
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to make it much more
resistant to seismic activity.
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What Machiavelli was doing
was teaching the Medici family
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how to be more
successful rulers,
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or at the very least,
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he was explaining why
success happens for some people
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and disaster happens to others.
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He argued that if
your basic human nature
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happens to be in
harmony with the random events
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that fortune brings to you,
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then you'll be successful.
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But if your essential nature
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is at odds with the things
that happen in this world,
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well, then you're going to fail.
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Your job, Machiavelli taught,
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is to meet
unforeseen circumstances head-on
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and conquer them.
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Here's how he describes it
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in what is probably
the most famous chapter
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of his book, Chapter 25.
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He writes,
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"I compare fortune to one
of those dangerous rivers that,
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when they become
enraged, flood the plains,
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destroy trees and buildings,
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move earth from one place
and deposit it in another.
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Everyone flees before it,
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everyone gives
way to its thrust,
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without being able
to halt it in any way.
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But this does not mean that,
when a river is not in flood,
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men are unable
to take precautions,
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by means of dykes and dams,
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so that when it rises next time,
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it will not overflow
its banks or, if it does,
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its force will not be so
uncontrolled or damaging."
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Now, the need to prepare
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for the
unexpected seems obvious.
00:07:03.35\00:07:06.52
But when you notice that
the same kinds of disasters
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are going to hit the same
location over and over and over,
00:07:10.53\00:07:14.56
and yet it seems like
people are caught by surprise
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when a hurricane
rips down their house
00:07:17.20\00:07:19.07
for the second or third time,
00:07:19.07\00:07:21.54
well, maybe we should use
our reason to figure this out.
00:07:21.54\00:07:24.51
You don't have to fall
victim to circumstances
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when they have a reasonable
degree of predictability.
00:07:27.24\00:07:32.01
What Machiavelli was doing
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was emphasizing
the role of free will
00:07:33.75\00:07:36.42
in a world where most things
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are completely
out of our control.
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Fortune might deal
you a very bad hand,
00:07:40.46\00:07:43.22
but free will is
what a ruler can use
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to counter bad fortune.
00:07:45.99\00:07:47.60
But he also argued
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that a ruler cannot change
his or her essential character,
00:07:50.03\00:07:53.37
which means that, yet again,
00:07:53.37\00:07:55.64
you don't have that much
control over success or failure.
00:07:55.64\00:08:00.11
Here's a little more
from his book, The Prince,
00:08:00.11\00:08:02.44
because I should probably
let him speak for himself.
00:08:02.44\00:08:04.78
He says,
00:08:04.78\00:08:06.25
"I would observe that one
sees a ruler flourishing today
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and ruined tomorrow,
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without his having changed at
all in character or qualities.
00:08:11.12\00:08:15.19
I believe this is attributable,
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first, to the cause
previously discussed at length,
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namely, that a ruler
who trusts entirely to luck
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comes to grief
when his luck runs out.
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Moreover,
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I believe that we are successful
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when our ways are suited to
the times and circumstances,
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and unsuccessful
when they are not."
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So of course,
00:08:36.31\00:08:37.78
you're probably
wondering what that has to do
00:08:37.78\00:08:39.78
with one of the
worst religious massacres
00:08:39.78\00:08:42.18
in the history of
the Christian Church.
00:08:42.18\00:08:44.42
I'll be right back so
I can try to explain it.
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- [Narrator] Life
can throw a lot at us.
00:08:50.89\00:08:53.29
Sometimes we don't
have all the answers.
00:08:53.29\00:08:56.67
But that's where
the Bible comes in.
00:08:56.67\00:08:59.07
It's our guide to a
more fulfilling life.
00:08:59.07\00:09:02.14
Here at the Voice of Prophecy,
00:09:02.14\00:09:03.71
we've created the
Discover Bible guides
00:09:03.71\00:09:05.87
to be your guide to the Bible.
00:09:05.87\00:09:07.48
They're designed to
be simple, easy to use
00:09:07.48\00:09:09.98
and provide answers to many
of life's toughest questions,
00:09:09.98\00:09:12.98
and they're absolutely free.
00:09:12.98\00:09:14.98
So jump online now,
00:09:14.98\00:09:16.48
or give us a call and
start your journey of discovery.
00:09:16.48\00:09:20.09
- Back in the 16th century,
00:09:20.09\00:09:21.39
Machiavelli was
trying to explain
00:09:21.39\00:09:23.02
why some rulers are successful
and other rulers are not.
00:09:23.02\00:09:26.06
He placed a great deal of
emphasis on the role of fortune
00:09:26.06\00:09:29.33
or fortuna as he called it.
00:09:29.33\00:09:31.53
What he noticed
00:09:32.47\00:09:33.94
is that different rulers
have different temperaments.
00:09:33.94\00:09:35.84
And if their temperament
00:09:35.84\00:09:37.01
happens to
compliment the unexpected,
00:09:37.01\00:09:39.91
those rulers
tended to be successful.
00:09:39.91\00:09:42.81
But if their temperament
00:09:42.81\00:09:43.91
proved to be a
detriment at that time,
00:09:43.91\00:09:45.98
well, then
obviously it led to disaster.
00:09:45.98\00:09:48.92
Everybody, of course,
00:09:48.92\00:09:50.02
was trying to
accomplish more or less
00:09:50.02\00:09:52.32
the same kinds of things.
00:09:52.32\00:09:53.79
They were going after
peace or prosperity or power.
00:09:53.79\00:09:57.83
Some monarchs might
be reckless and impetuous
00:09:57.83\00:10:00.40
in their pursuit of those things
00:10:00.40\00:10:01.80
and others might
be far more patient.
00:10:01.80\00:10:04.30
Some might be forceful and
others might be diplomatic.
00:10:04.30\00:10:08.37
And as far as
Machiavelli could tell,
00:10:08.37\00:10:10.01
your approach to life
didn't really seem to matter
00:10:10.01\00:10:13.58
as long as your
temperament happened to line up
00:10:13.58\00:10:15.84
with the current of fortune.
00:10:15.84\00:10:18.11
Now, among all the political
philosophers of his day,
00:10:18.11\00:10:21.68
Machiavelli has easily
become the most despised.
00:10:21.68\00:10:25.49
What you and I remember him for
00:10:25.49\00:10:27.06
is teaching rulers
to do whatever it takes
00:10:27.06\00:10:29.89
to make sure they
stay on the throne.
00:10:29.89\00:10:32.56
If you had to do
something completely immoral
00:10:32.56\00:10:35.10
to achieve your
goals, well, so be it.
00:10:35.10\00:10:37.60
Machiavelli said
that's what you have to do.
00:10:37.60\00:10:40.17
And to this day,
00:10:40.17\00:10:41.44
we still use the
word Machiavellian
00:10:41.44\00:10:43.67
to describe people
who are self-serving,
00:10:43.67\00:10:46.21
manipulative,
unscrupulous and dishonest.
00:10:46.21\00:10:50.28
So because of this,
00:10:50.28\00:10:51.51
in 1559 the Catholic
Church added The Prince
00:10:51.51\00:10:55.48
to its list of banned books.
00:10:55.48\00:10:57.29
And after the
brutal massacre of 1572,
00:10:57.29\00:11:00.72
the Protestants grew
to hate Machiavelli too.
00:11:00.72\00:11:03.36
Why?
00:11:03.36\00:11:04.83
Because they suspected
that Catherine de Medici
00:11:04.83\00:11:08.00
had been reading this,
00:11:08.00\00:11:09.70
I mean, it was
addressed to her family,
00:11:09.70\00:11:12.00
and she was trying to use
00:11:12.00\00:11:13.54
the wholesale
slaughter of Huguenots
00:11:13.54\00:11:15.60
to bend fortune
in her own direction.
00:11:15.60\00:11:19.27
What Machiavelli taught
00:11:19.27\00:11:20.74
was almost like an early
version of situation ethics,
00:11:20.74\00:11:23.95
the system that
Joseph Fletcher taught,
00:11:23.95\00:11:26.35
where anything can
be deemed appropriate
00:11:26.35\00:11:29.08
as long as you think you
have a good reason for doing it.
00:11:29.08\00:11:31.89
In other words, the
end justifies the means.
00:11:31.89\00:11:34.69
If you have to be
brutal to maintain power,
00:11:34.69\00:11:36.73
well, so be it.
00:11:36.73\00:11:38.23
If you have to lie in order
to get what you want, so be it.
00:11:38.23\00:11:42.00
That would be okay as
long as the object you want
00:11:42.00\00:11:44.67
is something you think is good.
00:11:44.67\00:11:46.87
And of course,
00:11:46.87\00:11:48.17
that kind of thinking
is completely contrary
00:11:48.17\00:11:51.21
to any sense of
Christian ethics.
00:11:51.21\00:11:53.68
For years after the massacre,
00:11:53.68\00:11:55.51
a lot of people continued
to pin the blame on Machiavelli
00:11:55.51\00:11:58.25
because it seemed to them
00:11:58.25\00:12:00.28
that this was his
philosophy put into practice.
00:12:00.28\00:12:03.89
And it wasn't just
Christian thought leaders
00:12:03.89\00:12:05.92
who hated Machiavelli's book.
00:12:05.92\00:12:07.96
Members of the
royal family hated it too
00:12:07.96\00:12:10.19
because it implied
that anybody strong enough
00:12:10.19\00:12:13.50
to seize power by
force was entitled to do it.
00:12:13.50\00:12:17.60
And that meant that
if you had the means
00:12:17.60\00:12:19.37
to assassinate a monarch,
00:12:19.37\00:12:21.27
you also had a right
to occupy their throne.
00:12:21.27\00:12:24.87
It was a recipe for chaos,
00:12:24.87\00:12:26.68
and the massacre that transpired
00:12:26.68\00:12:28.44
in the city of Paris
in 1572 was Exhibit A
00:12:28.44\00:12:32.08
for where this kind of thinking
could actually take you.
00:12:32.08\00:12:35.45
Now, this is precisely
where the record of history
00:12:36.82\00:12:39.29
meets up with the
perspective of the Bible,
00:12:39.29\00:12:42.09
which was
ironically the sacred textbook
00:12:42.09\00:12:45.29
for everybody at
that massacre that day.
00:12:45.29\00:12:48.76
What you find in the Bible
is the story of a supreme God
00:12:48.76\00:12:52.37
who allows the human
race to go its own way,
00:12:52.37\00:12:54.90
to determine its own destiny.
00:12:54.90\00:12:57.84
After rebelling
against the Creator
00:12:57.84\00:12:59.67
and rejecting God's government,
00:12:59.67\00:13:01.71
we were thrown out of paradise
00:13:01.71\00:13:03.48
and we started
constructing our own substitute
00:13:03.48\00:13:06.38
for what God had
originally provided.
00:13:06.38\00:13:09.02
At first, we built cities,
00:13:09.02\00:13:10.55
and then we built nations,
00:13:10.55\00:13:12.39
and then we built empires,
00:13:12.39\00:13:14.89
in an attempt to recover
some of the security we lost
00:13:14.89\00:13:18.23
when we turned our backs on God.
00:13:18.23\00:13:20.53
But what we got in our
own version of paradise
00:13:20.53\00:13:23.03
was a continual
struggle for power.
00:13:23.03\00:13:25.93
The world had been
fundamentally altered
00:13:25.93\00:13:28.30
and now we were subject
00:13:28.30\00:13:29.40
to things like
unexpected catastrophes,
00:13:29.40\00:13:32.67
the kinds of things
00:13:32.67\00:13:34.14
that Machiavelli said
were a product of fortune.
00:13:34.14\00:13:37.31
And of course, there
is some truth to the fact
00:13:37.31\00:13:39.78
that people who bond
together in a community
00:13:39.78\00:13:42.38
have a better
chance of surviving
00:13:42.38\00:13:44.02
because they have more resources
00:13:44.02\00:13:46.32
and a broader
assortment of talent
00:13:46.32\00:13:48.29
and the natural
protection you get
00:13:48.29\00:13:49.92
from living in
larger populations
00:13:49.92\00:13:52.16
when it comes to things
like military invasions.
00:13:52.16\00:13:55.70
We've been
watching that play out
00:13:55.70\00:13:57.27
in the city of Kiev recently.
00:13:57.27\00:13:58.87
But of course,
00:14:00.37\00:14:01.57
there's always
going to be a serpent
00:14:01.57\00:14:03.20
in these man-made paradises
00:14:03.20\00:14:04.87
because in the brutal
reality of a post-Edenic world,
00:14:04.87\00:14:08.88
self always
comes before community.
00:14:08.88\00:14:12.51
If you create a situation
00:14:12.51\00:14:14.05
where people can
achieve a modicum of power,
00:14:14.05\00:14:16.58
most of them are gonna
seize that opportunity.
00:14:16.58\00:14:19.35
Not because it's
good for all of us,
00:14:19.35\00:14:20.99
but because it's good for them.
00:14:20.99\00:14:23.89
The common good is almost
always gonna take a backseat
00:14:23.89\00:14:27.00
to personal ambition,
00:14:27.00\00:14:28.73
and that's just the way it is.
00:14:28.73\00:14:31.50
I mean, you don't
have to go through
00:14:31.50\00:14:32.90
too many election
cycles to see this in action.
00:14:32.90\00:14:36.07
A lot of politicians start
out with really noble ideas.
00:14:36.07\00:14:39.67
They do.
00:14:39.67\00:14:40.51
I've met some of them.
00:14:40.51\00:14:42.04
They start with a sincere
desire to help everybody.
00:14:42.04\00:14:45.41
But once they're
presented with the opportunity
00:14:46.78\00:14:48.65
to accumulate
some money or power,
00:14:48.65\00:14:51.85
well, let's just say we
don't find a whole lot of people
00:14:51.85\00:14:54.29
who seem to be able to
resist that temptation.
00:14:54.29\00:14:57.16
What we have in the
Bible is a very long story.
00:14:58.56\00:15:01.86
It covers thousands of years.
00:15:01.86\00:15:03.87
And it constantly
contrasts something it calls
00:15:03.87\00:15:06.60
the kingdoms of this world
00:15:06.60\00:15:08.77
with the original
government of God.
00:15:08.77\00:15:11.11
When you're
reading the scriptures
00:15:12.21\00:15:13.54
and you come across
the concept of The Nations,
00:15:13.54\00:15:17.38
what it's talking about
00:15:17.38\00:15:18.75
is our lengthy
experiment with self-rule.
00:15:18.75\00:15:21.35
In the Old Testament,
00:15:21.35\00:15:22.75
the Hebrew word usually
translated as nations is goyim,
00:15:22.75\00:15:26.69
a reference to the Gentiles
00:15:26.69\00:15:28.29
that surrounded
the land of Israel.
00:15:28.29\00:15:30.99
In the New Testament,
it's the Greek word ethnos,
00:15:30.99\00:15:33.83
which is where we get
words like ethnicity or ethnic.
00:15:33.83\00:15:38.33
And what you have
outside the gates of Eden
00:15:38.33\00:15:41.67
is two distinct strains
of political organization.
00:15:41.67\00:15:45.44
Among the
descendants of Abraham,
00:15:45.44\00:15:47.01
you have the Hebrew Republic,
00:15:47.01\00:15:49.61
a nation that didn't have a
human monarch in the beginning
00:15:49.61\00:15:53.05
because the real
king was the Creator.
00:15:53.05\00:15:55.95
With everybody else,
00:15:55.95\00:15:57.42
you had human government
along with all the problems
00:15:57.42\00:15:59.92
that come with
self-serving potentates
00:15:59.92\00:16:02.12
who live like Machiavelli,
00:16:02.12\00:16:04.13
trying to bend
fortune to their own benefit
00:16:04.13\00:16:06.86
and willing to do
whatever it takes.
00:16:06.86\00:16:09.90
And tragically,
00:16:10.93\00:16:12.30
that's what eventually
happened in the land of Canaan,
00:16:12.30\00:16:14.70
the land of promise set aside
00:16:14.70\00:16:16.37
for God's system of government.
00:16:16.37\00:16:19.17
The Covenant
people grew restless
00:16:19.17\00:16:21.28
and they wanted to
be like The Nations.
00:16:21.28\00:16:23.78
They wanted to be
exactly like the Gentiles
00:16:23.78\00:16:26.08
and they wanted a king.
00:16:26.08\00:16:28.02
And from that point forward,
00:16:28.02\00:16:29.32
they suffered
under a long succession
00:16:29.32\00:16:31.19
of wicked,
self-interested monarchs
00:16:31.19\00:16:33.82
who used God's people to
accomplish their own goals.
00:16:33.82\00:16:38.13
And then in time,
00:16:38.13\00:16:39.63
actual Gentile
nations came and conquered
00:16:39.63\00:16:42.46
the people of Abraham.
00:16:42.46\00:16:44.00
They destroyed the temple,
00:16:44.00\00:16:45.57
the symbol of
God's sovereign presence,
00:16:45.57\00:16:48.27
and they took
the people captive.
00:16:48.27\00:16:50.71
First, it was the Babylonians.
00:16:50.71\00:16:53.04
And then the Persians,
00:16:53.04\00:16:54.54
who actually allowed the
rebuilding of the temple.
00:16:54.54\00:16:57.35
Then the Greeks.
00:16:57.35\00:16:58.55
And finally the Romans,
00:16:58.55\00:17:00.05
who destroyed the
temple a second time
00:17:00.05\00:17:02.45
at the end of the first century.
00:17:02.45\00:17:04.25
Which brings us
to the New Testament
00:17:05.45\00:17:07.96
and the birth of
the Christian Church,
00:17:07.96\00:17:10.29
which was supposed to
be something of a return
00:17:10.29\00:17:13.06
to the previous order.
00:17:13.06\00:17:14.56
Let me show you
something really interesting
00:17:14.56\00:17:16.53
that Jesus
explained to his disciples,
00:17:16.53\00:17:19.10
even before the
Church itself was born.
00:17:19.10\00:17:22.07
You find this
in Luke chapter 22,
00:17:22.07\00:17:25.14
where the disciples are arguing
00:17:25.14\00:17:26.64
about which one of
them was the greatest.
00:17:26.64\00:17:29.14
Here's what it says,
00:17:29.14\00:17:30.28
"Now there was also
a dispute among them,
00:17:31.45\00:17:33.92
as to which of them should
be considered the greatest."
00:17:33.92\00:17:37.49
So you see,
00:17:37.49\00:17:38.75
there's just a
whiff of Machiavelli there
00:17:38.75\00:17:39.99
because it's
that kind of thinking
00:17:39.99\00:17:41.99
that makes his
philosophy so appealing.
00:17:41.99\00:17:45.33
"And He," that's Jesus,
00:17:45.33\00:17:46.86
"He said to them,
00:17:46.86\00:17:48.26
'The Kings of the
Gentiles,'" or The Nations,
00:17:48.26\00:17:52.07
"'exercise lordship over them,
00:17:52.07\00:17:54.64
and those who
exercise authority over them
00:17:54.64\00:17:56.94
are called benefactors.
00:17:56.94\00:17:59.14
But not so among you,
00:17:59.14\00:18:00.48
on the contrary,
00:18:00.48\00:18:01.94
he who is greatest among
you, let him be as the younger,
00:18:01.94\00:18:05.61
and he who governs
as he who serves.'"
00:18:05.61\00:18:09.58
We're not supposed
00:18:09.58\00:18:10.82
to have monarchs
running the Christian Church.
00:18:10.82\00:18:12.29
It was never the original plan.
00:18:12.29\00:18:14.66
But what happened is
that we allowed ourselves
00:18:14.66\00:18:17.16
to blend Church and state
00:18:17.16\00:18:18.73
to the point
where human potentates
00:18:18.73\00:18:21.16
were building their own
power Machiavelli style,
00:18:21.16\00:18:24.27
and doing it in
the name of Christ.
00:18:24.27\00:18:27.10
So when Catherine de Medici
sensed that Huguenot influencers
00:18:27.10\00:18:31.01
were a possible
threat to her sovereignty,
00:18:31.01\00:18:33.91
she wanted one of their
key players assassinated.
00:18:33.91\00:18:36.98
And when that failed,
00:18:36.98\00:18:38.45
she and Charles IX
decided to just kill everybody
00:18:38.45\00:18:42.35
and they buried the massacre
under the veneer of religion.
00:18:42.35\00:18:46.59
So what does that mean for you?
00:18:46.59\00:18:49.46
Well, you might
wanna stick around
00:18:49.46\00:18:50.69
because hopefully with
the time I've got left,
00:18:50.69\00:18:53.33
I'll show you
what I'm driving at.
00:18:53.33\00:18:55.00
- [Narrator] Here at
the Voice of Prophecy,
00:18:57.83\00:18:59.30
we're committed to
creating top-quality programming
00:18:59.30\00:19:01.74
for the whole family,
00:19:01.74\00:19:03.20
like our audio adventure
series, Discovery Mountain.
00:19:03.20\00:19:06.37
Discovery Mountain
is a Bible-based program
00:19:06.37\00:19:08.84
for kids of all
ages and backgrounds.
00:19:08.84\00:19:11.18
Your family will enjoy
the faith-building stories
00:19:11.18\00:19:13.98
from this small
mountain summer camp and town.
00:19:13.98\00:19:16.79
With 24 seasonal
episodes every year
00:19:16.79\00:19:19.29
and fresh content every week,
00:19:19.29\00:19:21.46
there's always a new
adventure just on the horizon.
00:19:21.46\00:19:24.63
- There's a fascinating passage
00:19:27.76\00:19:29.33
found in the book of Revelation
00:19:29.33\00:19:30.87
that really highlights this idea
00:19:30.87\00:19:33.34
that God's system of government
00:19:33.34\00:19:35.84
is meant to be
completely different
00:19:35.84\00:19:37.71
from the way that you
and I like to run things.
00:19:37.71\00:19:40.38
You find it in the section
00:19:40.38\00:19:41.84
that deals with
the seven trumpets.
00:19:41.84\00:19:43.68
And here's what it says,
00:19:43.68\00:19:46.15
"Then the seventh angel sounded
00:19:46.15\00:19:49.18
and there were loud
voices in heaven, saying,"
00:19:49.18\00:19:51.62
now listen to this,
00:19:51.62\00:19:52.59
"'The kingdoms of this world
00:19:52.59\00:19:55.02
have become the kingdoms
of our Lord and of His Christ,
00:19:55.02\00:19:58.19
and He shall reign
forever and ever.'"
00:19:58.19\00:20:01.83
What it's saying
00:20:01.83\00:20:03.26
is that God has been
tolerating human rebellion
00:20:03.26\00:20:06.27
for thousands of years,
00:20:06.27\00:20:08.20
allowing us to experiment with
our own forms of government.
00:20:08.20\00:20:12.17
But at the same time,
00:20:12.17\00:20:13.74
He has not failed to
notice the devastation we caused
00:20:13.74\00:20:17.61
in pursuit of ambition.
00:20:17.61\00:20:19.61
He's allowing us to
have what we asked for,
00:20:19.61\00:20:22.78
but He's not going to allow
00:20:22.78\00:20:24.32
this experiment
to go on indefinitely
00:20:24.32\00:20:26.52
because well, it
causes too much suffering.
00:20:26.52\00:20:30.73
At some point in the
not too distant future,
00:20:30.73\00:20:33.13
He's going to blow the
whistle and tell all the kids,
00:20:33.13\00:20:35.40
"Hey, get out of the pool,"
00:20:35.40\00:20:36.80
because the
planet belongs to Him.
00:20:36.80\00:20:40.57
And at that point,
00:20:40.57\00:20:42.17
the kingdoms of this world
00:20:42.17\00:20:44.31
are going to become
the kingdom of Christ.
00:20:44.31\00:20:47.08
And all those people who
live by Machiavelli's creed
00:20:47.08\00:20:50.18
are going to be
faced with the real Prince,
00:20:50.18\00:20:52.71
the rightful head
of the human race.
00:20:52.71\00:20:55.72
The passage continues like this,
00:20:55.72\00:20:57.99
"And the 24 elders who sat
before God on their thrones,
00:20:57.99\00:21:02.12
fell on their faces
and worshiped God, saying,
00:21:02.12\00:21:04.76
'We give You
thanks, O Lord God Almighty,
00:21:04.76\00:21:07.86
the One who is and who
was and who is to come,
00:21:07.86\00:21:11.63
because You have taken
Your great power and reigned.
00:21:11.63\00:21:15.30
The nations were angry,
and Your wrath has come,
00:21:15.30\00:21:17.87
and the time of the dead,
that they should be judged,
00:21:17.87\00:21:20.28
and that You should
reward Your servants
00:21:20.28\00:21:22.64
the prophets and the saints,
00:21:22.64\00:21:24.58
and those who fear
Your name, small and great,
00:21:24.58\00:21:27.52
and should destroy
those who destroy the earth.'"
00:21:27.52\00:21:32.25
In other words, the untold
misery caused by our ineptitude,
00:21:32.25\00:21:37.13
our way of running things,
00:21:37.13\00:21:39.06
is going to be brought to
a final and judicious end.
00:21:39.06\00:21:42.76
Those who have destroyed
the earth through self-seeking
00:21:42.76\00:21:45.67
and personal ambition are
going to have to give account,
00:21:45.67\00:21:49.50
and the systems that have
been destroying the earth,
00:21:49.50\00:21:51.57
making life miserable
for most of us, all gone.
00:21:51.57\00:21:55.64
It's all going to be destroyed.
00:21:55.64\00:21:58.01
And here's the important thing
we really need to understand.
00:21:59.51\00:22:02.22
In this life,
Machiavelli was somewhat right.
00:22:02.22\00:22:06.12
There is a current of
fortune that carries us along
00:22:06.12\00:22:09.19
and it can cut one of two ways.
00:22:09.19\00:22:11.66
It either shuttles us up
00:22:11.66\00:22:13.19
to the peak of
human influence and power,
00:22:13.19\00:22:16.46
or it destroys us and makes
our life much, much harder.
00:22:16.46\00:22:20.07
Things like war and
famine and natural disasters.
00:22:20.07\00:22:23.67
Those are the messengers
of Machiavelli's fortuna.
00:22:23.67\00:22:27.11
And Jesus told his disciples
00:22:27.11\00:22:28.91
that before He
replaces our worldly kingdoms
00:22:28.91\00:22:31.35
with His kingdom,
00:22:31.35\00:22:33.05
we're actually
gonna see more and more
00:22:33.05\00:22:34.52
of that kind of thing,
bad fortune taking place.
00:22:34.52\00:22:38.49
Let me show you what I mean
00:22:38.49\00:22:39.69
over in Matthew
chapter 24, it says,
00:22:39.69\00:22:42.72
"And Jesus
answered and said to them,
00:22:42.72\00:22:45.36
'Take heed that
no one deceives you.
00:22:45.36\00:22:47.23
For many will come
in my name, saying,
00:22:47.23\00:22:49.33
'I am the Christ,'
and will deceive many.
00:22:49.33\00:22:52.33
And you will hear of
wars and rumors of wars.
00:22:52.33\00:22:55.00
See that you are not troubled
00:22:55.00\00:22:56.27
for all these
things must come to pass,
00:22:56.27\00:22:58.51
but the end is not yet.
00:22:58.51\00:22:59.91
For nation will
rise against nation,
00:23:01.11\00:23:02.74
and kingdom against kingdom.
00:23:02.74\00:23:04.65
And there will be
famines, pestilences,
00:23:04.65\00:23:06.85
and earthquakes
in various places.
00:23:06.85\00:23:09.28
All these are the
beginning of sorrows.'"
00:23:09.28\00:23:13.66
Now, in the time we have left,
00:23:13.66\00:23:15.06
let me try to bring this home.
00:23:15.06\00:23:17.43
A lot of people will
point to the atrocities
00:23:17.43\00:23:19.83
of organized religion,
00:23:19.83\00:23:21.03
especially back in
the medieval period,
00:23:21.03\00:23:23.30
and they'll say, "This is
what Christianity is all about."
00:23:23.30\00:23:27.74
And I guess on the one
hand, they're kind of right.
00:23:27.74\00:23:29.57
It's not like the St.
Bartholomew Day Massacre
00:23:29.57\00:23:32.27
was committed by
Buddhists or Hindus,
00:23:32.27\00:23:34.74
it was committed by people
who said they were Christian.
00:23:34.74\00:23:38.21
But to say that that is what
Christianity is really about
00:23:38.21\00:23:41.88
is to miss what
actually happened.
00:23:41.88\00:23:44.19
That was not Christianity,
00:23:44.19\00:23:45.99
not according to
the religion's founder,
00:23:45.99\00:23:48.09
who specifically
told His disciples
00:23:48.09\00:23:50.06
to separate the
things that belong to God
00:23:50.06\00:23:52.89
from the things
that belong to Caesar.
00:23:52.89\00:23:54.86
What happened in
the Western Church
00:23:56.06\00:23:57.43
was not a product
of Christian thought,
00:23:57.43\00:24:00.14
at least not Biblical thought.
00:24:00.14\00:24:02.67
I mean, sure, it was the
product of Christian thinkers,
00:24:02.67\00:24:05.51
many of whom
probably meant well,
00:24:05.51\00:24:07.88
but it can't be reconciled
with the pages of the Bible,
00:24:07.88\00:24:10.98
not if we're
really honest about it.
00:24:10.98\00:24:13.15
I mean, I've seen people try
00:24:13.15\00:24:14.38
to defend what
we did in the past,
00:24:14.38\00:24:16.22
but the Bible
says it's indefensible.
00:24:16.22\00:24:18.59
What happened in France in
1572 came from The Nations,
00:24:18.59\00:24:22.42
this man-made system of
government that at its core
00:24:22.42\00:24:26.16
is actually opposed
to the kingdom of God.
00:24:26.16\00:24:29.70
And what has happened
00:24:29.70\00:24:31.20
is that a lot of people have
abandoned the Bible altogether
00:24:31.20\00:24:33.30
because they assume that
somehow what this book says
00:24:33.30\00:24:37.64
led directly to the horrors
we still find to this day
00:24:37.64\00:24:41.18
in the world of religion,
00:24:41.18\00:24:42.28
and it most certainly does not.
00:24:42.28\00:24:44.38
I'll be right back after this.
00:24:44.38\00:24:46.65
- [Presenter] Dragons,
beasts, cryptic statues.
00:24:50.62\00:24:54.89
Bible prophecy can be
incredibly vivid and confusing.
00:24:54.89\00:24:59.46
If you've ever read
Daniel or Revelation
00:24:59.46\00:25:01.63
and come away
scratching your head,
00:25:01.63\00:25:03.37
you are not alone.
00:25:03.37\00:25:04.70
Our free Focus
On Prophecy guides
00:25:04.70\00:25:07.07
are designed to help you unlock
the mysteries of the Bible
00:25:07.07\00:25:09.87
and deepen your understanding
of God's plan for you
00:25:09.87\00:25:12.84
and our world.
00:25:12.84\00:25:14.01
Study online or
request them by mail,
00:25:14.01\00:25:16.38
and start bringing
prophecy into focus today.
00:25:16.38\00:25:19.28
- Western Christianity
really does have a lot
00:25:20.48\00:25:23.12
to apologize for if
we're honest about it.
00:25:23.12\00:25:25.25
I mean, there is a
lot of blood on our hands.
00:25:25.25\00:25:29.56
What we looked at today,
00:25:29.56\00:25:30.73
the St.
Bartholomew Day Massacre,
00:25:30.73\00:25:32.39
where as many as
50,000 were slaughtered
00:25:32.39\00:25:34.93
for matters of conscience,
00:25:34.93\00:25:37.07
that's just the
tip of the iceberg.
00:25:37.07\00:25:38.47
There's a lot more than that.
00:25:38.47\00:25:40.57
But to suggest that the
teachings of Christ produced
00:25:40.57\00:25:44.24
that, to say
that Jesus of Nazareth
00:25:44.24\00:25:45.91
is responsible for the slaughter
of Albagensies or Waldenses
00:25:45.91\00:25:48.91
or countless
other minority groups
00:25:50.08\00:25:51.68
who disagreed with
the official state Church,
00:25:51.68\00:25:54.45
well, that's not honest
00:25:55.48\00:25:56.85
because Jesus never taught that.
00:25:56.85\00:25:58.85
That was caused by human beings,
00:25:58.85\00:26:00.52
why are just like you and me.
00:26:00.52\00:26:01.89
People who persisted
00:26:01.89\00:26:03.56
in a state of
rebellion against the Creator,
00:26:03.56\00:26:06.06
in spite of calling
themselves Christians.
00:26:06.06\00:26:09.16
They were living by
the kind of principles
00:26:09.16\00:26:11.00
you find in Machiavelli
00:26:11.00\00:26:12.27
instead of the teachings
of the Prince of Peace.
00:26:12.27\00:26:15.67
And when you open the Bible,
00:26:15.67\00:26:17.44
you find that God is perfectly
honest about what happened.
00:26:17.44\00:26:21.38
In the Old Testament,
00:26:21.38\00:26:22.88
He showed us what would happen
when His own people decided
00:26:22.88\00:26:25.41
they wanted the kingdoms
of this world instead of Him.
00:26:25.41\00:26:28.52
And in the New Testament,
00:26:28.52\00:26:29.85
the Bible actually predicts
00:26:29.85\00:26:31.65
that the Christian
Church would do the same thing
00:26:31.65\00:26:33.96
that Israel did.
00:26:33.96\00:26:35.06
So I guess what I
want to do is challenge you
00:26:36.26\00:26:39.06
to actually read
the source material.
00:26:39.06\00:26:42.10
Don't just assume
00:26:42.10\00:26:43.53
that the critics are
giving you a complete picture
00:26:43.53\00:26:44.97
because I can
assure you, they're not.
00:26:44.97\00:26:48.34
What you're going to find
00:26:48.34\00:26:49.74
is that the Bible
doesn't cover anything up.
00:26:49.74\00:26:51.61
It predicts the problems
that emerged in Christianity,
00:26:51.61\00:26:54.98
and it does it in
really striking language.
00:26:54.98\00:26:58.41
And then it reminds us
that until we are finished
00:26:58.41\00:27:00.78
experimenting
with human government,
00:27:00.78\00:27:02.98
until we are
finished with playing around
00:27:02.98\00:27:05.12
with the kinds of ideas
that Machiavelli taught,
00:27:05.12\00:27:07.49
until we are
finished with selfish ambition
00:27:07.49\00:27:09.82
and an utter disregard
for ethics or morality,
00:27:09.82\00:27:12.93
well, life here on
earth is the way it is.
00:27:12.93\00:27:15.86
But it also tells us
it's not gonna last forever.
00:27:15.86\00:27:19.50
It holds out a promise
00:27:19.50\00:27:20.74
that things really
are going to get better.
00:27:20.74\00:27:22.47
God has not failed to notice
the shipwreck we're living in
00:27:22.47\00:27:25.91
and he's going to
set things straight.
00:27:25.91\00:27:28.18
It even says
00:27:28.18\00:27:29.68
that He's personally
going to wipe away your tears
00:27:29.68\00:27:31.18
and put everything back
the way He first designed it.
00:27:31.18\00:27:34.85
I think you owe it to yourself
00:27:34.85\00:27:36.18
to see the source
material firsthand,
00:27:36.18\00:27:38.62
and if you visit
BibleStudies.com,
00:27:38.62\00:27:40.36
you'll see we've
got all kinds of things
00:27:40.36\00:27:41.99
to help you get started.
00:27:41.99\00:27:43.59
I think you're gonna be
blown away by what you find
00:27:43.59\00:27:46.46
because it's not at
all what you were told.
00:27:46.46\00:27:49.76
I'm Shawn Boonstra,
you've been watching Authentic.
00:27:49.76\00:27:54.20
[bouncy theme music]
00:27:54.20\00:27:57.27