- How in the world
would a preacher ever find
00:00:01.10\00:00:02.73
something good to say about
people who publicly desecrated
00:00:02.73\00:00:06.13
a Bible and did it in
a really shameful manner?
00:00:06.13\00:00:10.51
[gentle music]
00:00:10.51\00:00:13.11
The other day I was
perusing a Twitter timeline,
00:00:31.53\00:00:33.76
which isn't
exactly known as a forum
00:00:33.76\00:00:35.70
for intellectual pursuit,
but I did come across a video
00:00:35.70\00:00:39.27
of protestors on the
West Coast snatching a Bible
00:00:39.27\00:00:42.67
away from somebody and
then playing soccer with it
00:00:42.67\00:00:45.07
on the sidewalk.
00:00:45.07\00:00:46.68
By the end of the
video, the mangled Bible
00:00:46.68\00:00:49.21
was tossed into an outhouse,
00:00:49.21\00:00:50.88
much to the
delight of the people
00:00:50.88\00:00:52.48
who seemed to
hate the book so much,
00:00:52.48\00:00:55.82
but you know, as
primitive and ignorant
00:00:55.82\00:00:57.65
as their behavior was, it
was the thread of responses
00:00:57.65\00:01:01.06
that actually got my attention.
00:01:01.06\00:01:03.29
People were posting
that the Bible is a document
00:01:03.29\00:01:06.13
that causes oppression and
denies people personal freedom,
00:01:06.13\00:01:09.90
and it was time
these people said
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to just get rid of the Bible.
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And I guess what I
found ironic about that
00:01:13.94\00:01:17.37
was the fact that the
freedoms Americans enjoy,
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the ones you
find in the amendments
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to the American Constitution.
00:01:21.78\00:01:24.08
Well, they were
largely inspired by the Bible
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in the first place.
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I mean, there
were other influences
00:01:28.58\00:01:30.42
that contributed to the building
of the American republic
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from the philosophy
of the ancient Greeks
00:01:33.32\00:01:35.92
to the works of
agnostics and atheists
00:01:35.92\00:01:38.39
during the enlightenment,
but the connection
00:01:38.39\00:01:41.13
to the Judeo-christian
scriptures is undeniable.
00:01:41.13\00:01:45.47
America really is
a Christian nation.
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Now, that doesn't
mean that the founders
00:01:48.67\00:01:51.54
were trying to
build a theocracy,
00:01:51.54\00:01:53.17
a marriage of church and state
00:01:53.17\00:01:54.71
because, well,
they absolutely weren't.
00:01:54.71\00:01:57.15
In fact, they were
doing precisely the opposite,
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which is why I get so concerned
00:02:01.95\00:02:04.19
when I see revisionist
history being presented
00:02:04.19\00:02:06.76
as actual fact
because it seems to me
00:02:06.76\00:02:09.86
that we're losing
sight of just how valuable
00:02:09.86\00:02:12.49
the American
experiment really is.
00:02:12.49\00:02:15.20
Now, don't get me
wrong, it's also obvious to me
00:02:15.20\00:02:18.27
that we sometimes clean
up the story of this republic
00:02:18.27\00:02:21.40
as if it's utopia.
00:02:21.40\00:02:23.54
But anybody in
possession of sensory organs
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can tell you it's not utopia.
00:02:26.21\00:02:28.41
We have problems and
there's a lot to apologize for,
00:02:28.41\00:02:31.71
and we do ourselves
harm if we fail to do that.
00:02:31.71\00:02:35.52
But at the same time, I
think it's really important
00:02:35.52\00:02:38.02
to recognize just how
unique this experiment is.
00:02:38.02\00:02:42.29
I mean, in the year since 1788
00:02:42.29\00:02:44.73
when the Constitution
was finally ratified
00:02:44.73\00:02:47.66
and the years since 1791 when
we added the Bill of Rights,
00:02:47.66\00:02:51.60
a lot of other
countries have imitated
00:02:51.60\00:02:53.94
what the founders
of this nation created,
00:02:53.94\00:02:55.97
so that now it appears as
if the liberties established
00:02:55.97\00:02:59.51
here in the New World
00:02:59.51\00:03:00.74
have always been a
reality for most people,
00:03:00.74\00:03:03.78
but they haven't.
00:03:03.78\00:03:04.98
And it's easy to
forget how unparalleled
00:03:04.98\00:03:07.12
the birth of this
nation really was.
00:03:07.12\00:03:09.42
In fact, personally, I
believe it was prophetic.
00:03:09.42\00:03:12.99
And before you
change the channel,
00:03:12.99\00:03:14.26
because you
think I'm about to push
00:03:14.26\00:03:15.79
for a marriage of church
and state, don't touch the dial,
00:03:15.79\00:03:18.73
because I'm not gonna do that.
00:03:18.73\00:03:21.13
By no means, am I gonna give
you some kind of hagiography
00:03:21.13\00:03:24.33
and pretend that this
nation is heaven on earth.
00:03:24.33\00:03:27.37
And under no
circumstances do I believe
00:03:27.37\00:03:29.87
that the Christian faith
should ever be legally coerced
00:03:29.87\00:03:32.87
on anybody because
among other things,
00:03:32.87\00:03:36.61
that would be very un-American.
00:03:36.61\00:03:38.98
But I do think it might
be important to remember
00:03:38.98\00:03:41.68
how the Bible
played a formative role
00:03:41.68\00:03:44.45
in making this place a reality.
00:03:44.45\00:03:46.69
And I guess I wanna
underline the irony of people
00:03:46.69\00:03:49.19
who have the freedom to
desecrate a major religious
00:03:49.19\00:03:52.83
document while insisting
at the very same moment
00:03:52.83\00:03:55.26
that they're
being oppressed by it.
00:03:55.26\00:03:57.43
Trust me, if this was
a theocracy like the ones
00:03:57.43\00:04:00.44
you find
elsewhere on this planet,
00:04:00.44\00:04:02.24
you wouldn't
survive publicly desecrating
00:04:02.24\00:04:05.14
a religious document.
00:04:05.14\00:04:06.91
And I get it.
00:04:06.91\00:04:08.14
There are people who
claim to be Christians
00:04:08.14\00:04:10.11
who seem to
wanna force their ideas
00:04:10.11\00:04:12.15
on everybody else by law.
00:04:12.15\00:04:14.82
I don't deny these people
exist and that some of them
00:04:14.82\00:04:17.55
are actually powerful people.
00:04:17.55\00:04:19.82
But what I wanna talk
about is original intent.
00:04:19.82\00:04:23.66
And I know, I'm not gonna
do this justice in 28 minutes.
00:04:23.66\00:04:26.46
So let me just put
an a shameless plug
00:04:26.46\00:04:28.80
for a little book I
wrote a few years ago
00:04:28.80\00:04:31.00
and released about the time
00:04:31.00\00:04:32.50
when the 2020 presidential
election was warming up,
00:04:32.50\00:04:35.77
because back then,
I strongly suspected
00:04:35.77\00:04:37.87
that the political wheels
00:04:37.87\00:04:39.07
were going to come
off the American bus.
00:04:39.07\00:04:41.64
And I wanted people to at least
understand just a little bit
00:04:41.64\00:04:45.28
why the American Republic
exists and why it's structured
00:04:45.28\00:04:48.42
the way that it is.
00:04:48.42\00:04:50.09
The book is
called "Final Empire",
00:04:50.09\00:04:52.15
and it's a
really short, easy read.
00:04:52.15\00:04:53.99
Trust me, I don't
write complicated books,
00:04:53.99\00:04:56.93
and I think that most
people will find a few surprises
00:04:56.93\00:04:59.79
when they read this thing,
00:04:59.79\00:05:01.10
because a lot of
us have long forgotten
00:05:01.10\00:05:03.47
some key historical realities
that everybody used to know.
00:05:03.47\00:05:07.74
In this little book
- it's not expensive.
00:05:08.90\00:05:10.67
In fact, if I could,
I'd give it to you for free,
00:05:10.67\00:05:13.27
because I'm saddened
by the collective amnesia
00:05:13.27\00:05:15.54
we appear to be experiencing
here in the western world.
00:05:15.54\00:05:18.81
I can't give it to you for free,
00:05:18.81\00:05:20.32
but I think that most of you
would find this book different
00:05:20.32\00:05:23.62
from some of the
others you've read,
00:05:23.62\00:05:25.59
because it explains how
the United States of America
00:05:25.59\00:05:28.46
really is a Christian nation,
but maybe, not like you think.
00:05:28.46\00:05:33.46
It's a Christian nation without
an official state religion.
00:05:34.83\00:05:38.67
And the Constitution
was designed to make sure
00:05:38.67\00:05:41.37
it stayed that way.
00:05:41.37\00:05:42.90
Now this book isn't exactly
gonna win a Pulitzer Prize
00:05:42.90\00:05:45.94
because I wrote it and I'm not
exactly Dillard or Steinbeck,
00:05:45.94\00:05:49.38
but I will say this.
00:05:49.38\00:05:51.18
I spent years
reading primary sources
00:05:51.18\00:05:54.08
to collect the information
you'll find in the book.
00:05:54.08\00:05:56.79
So if you're interested,
just go on over to my website,
00:05:56.79\00:05:59.09
vop.com, click on the store tab
00:05:59.09\00:06:02.62
to find your copy
of "Final Empire".
00:06:02.62\00:06:05.26
Right now, I think I
still have some of these
00:06:05.26\00:06:08.50
in the warehouse, so
you can get this book
00:06:08.50\00:06:10.33
as long as supplies last.
00:06:10.33\00:06:12.87
Alright, I'm done
with the infomercials.
00:06:12.87\00:06:14.80
So let me try to describe
why the rising ignorance
00:06:14.80\00:06:17.71
about the biblical branch
00:06:17.71\00:06:19.37
of the American
family tree worries me.
00:06:19.37\00:06:22.71
And again, just to
be perfectly clear,
00:06:22.71\00:06:25.88
I don't think I
would ever insist
00:06:25.88\00:06:27.48
that we should
make desecrating a Bible
00:06:27.48\00:06:29.35
or anybody else's
religious text a crime.
00:06:29.35\00:06:32.92
I mean, yes, if you're
destroying somebody else's
00:06:32.92\00:06:36.12
property, that is a crime, but
if it's your own personal copy,
00:06:36.12\00:06:39.29
I guess you can have at it.
00:06:39.29\00:06:41.03
You're free to do that here.
00:06:41.03\00:06:42.43
I believe that the
founders of this republic
00:06:43.77\00:06:45.57
were absolutely correct when
they insisted that the church
00:06:45.57\00:06:48.57
should keep its
hands off the state,
00:06:48.57\00:06:50.94
and the state should
keep its hands off the church.
00:06:50.94\00:06:54.08
As most of you know,
Thomas Jefferson described this
00:06:54.08\00:06:57.21
as a wall of separation.
00:06:57.21\00:06:59.71
And it might just be one
of the greatest innovations
00:06:59.71\00:07:02.32
since the dawn of
Western civilization.
00:07:02.32\00:07:05.55
I mean, let's just
back up and talk about
00:07:05.55\00:07:08.09
the religious atmosphere
that existed in the old world,
00:07:08.09\00:07:11.46
and think about why the
pilgrims chose to leave Leiden
00:07:11.46\00:07:15.63
in the Netherlands
to come here in 1620.
00:07:15.63\00:07:19.17
Or maybe we should
look at why they were living
00:07:19.17\00:07:21.20
in the Netherlands
in the first place,
00:07:21.20\00:07:22.67
because well, they
were actually British.
00:07:22.67\00:07:25.54
Historians refer to
these people as dissenters,
00:07:25.54\00:07:28.51
because they were refugees
00:07:28.51\00:07:30.31
from an oppressive
church state alliance
00:07:30.31\00:07:32.38
that had been
created in England.
00:07:32.38\00:07:34.68
And all hopes for
freedom of conscience
00:07:34.68\00:07:37.49
had been scuttled by a
number of legal developments
00:07:37.49\00:07:40.62
that meant you had to be a
member of the Church of England,
00:07:40.62\00:07:43.99
or actually to be more accurate,
00:07:43.99\00:07:46.43
if you weren't a member
of the Church of England,
00:07:46.43\00:07:48.03
you had to worship as
if you were in their style.
00:07:48.03\00:07:52.00
The government was
prescribing forms of worship.
00:07:52.00\00:07:56.44
I mean, technically
on paper, back then,
00:07:56.44\00:07:58.71
you could believe
whatever you wanted.
00:07:58.71\00:08:00.38
And lots of people
living in England at that time
00:08:00.38\00:08:03.14
had widely divergent
views about what it meant
00:08:03.14\00:08:05.98
to be a faithful
biblical Christian.
00:08:05.98\00:08:08.68
All across Europe in the wake
of the Protestant Reformation,
00:08:08.68\00:08:11.75
there were hundreds
of brand new variations
00:08:11.75\00:08:14.39
on the Christian theme.
00:08:14.39\00:08:15.89
And as you know, it created
all kinds of political tension
00:08:15.89\00:08:19.06
in a world where the church
essentially governed the state.
00:08:19.06\00:08:23.37
And in England there was
a great deal of insistence
00:08:23.37\00:08:26.40
that everybody had to
tow the official line,
00:08:26.40\00:08:29.77
practice their faith in harmony
with the Church of England.
00:08:29.77\00:08:33.44
Now, you'd think that
Protestants would be more
00:08:33.44\00:08:36.58
tolerant of
diversity after shaking off
00:08:36.58\00:08:38.81
the intellectual
shackles placed on them
00:08:38.81\00:08:41.52
by the established
church in previous centuries.
00:08:41.52\00:08:44.69
But sadly, we've got lots of
stories that prove otherwise -
00:08:44.69\00:08:48.06
from John Calvin burning
Michael Servetus at the stake,
00:08:48.06\00:08:51.76
because he was an
anti-Trinitarian heretic
00:08:51.76\00:08:55.43
to the
imprisonment of John Bunyan
00:08:55.43\00:08:57.43
who wrote his "Pilgrim's
Progress" while sitting in
00:08:57.43\00:09:00.90
prison for his religious crimes.
00:09:00.90\00:09:03.47
So what happened is
that some of the people
00:09:03.47\00:09:06.71
who longed for
religious liberty closed shop
00:09:06.71\00:09:09.71
and moved to the Dutch Republic,
00:09:09.71\00:09:11.58
which I'm proud to
say as a Dutch kid,
00:09:11.58\00:09:14.38
was the freest nation at
that time in Western Europe.
00:09:14.38\00:09:17.49
Somehow in the Netherlands,
00:09:17.49\00:09:18.99
broadly divergent
religious groups were living
00:09:18.99\00:09:21.19
in relative peace and harmony.
00:09:21.19\00:09:23.22
And so the people who
would become the pilgrims
00:09:23.22\00:09:26.46
found themselves living
in the Dutch City of Leiden.
00:09:26.46\00:09:29.46
To this day, you can
still see their fingerprints
00:09:29.46\00:09:31.90
all over that city.
00:09:31.90\00:09:33.74
Now in the Netherlands, some
of these religious dissidents
00:09:33.74\00:09:37.17
discovered another group that
was fleeing from persecution,
00:09:37.17\00:09:41.04
and that was the
Jews who were running away
00:09:41.04\00:09:43.04
from the inquisition down south.
00:09:43.04\00:09:45.68
When these two
groups got together,
00:09:45.68\00:09:47.38
they discovered
something that set the table
00:09:47.38\00:09:49.68
for the birth of America, and
I'll be right back after this
00:09:49.68\00:09:53.66
to tell you what that was.
00:09:53.66\00:09:55.16
- [Narrator 1] Life
can throw a lot at us.
00:09:58.59\00:10:00.96
Sometimes, we don't
have all the answers,
00:10:00.96\00:10:04.33
but that's where
the Bible comes in.
00:10:04.33\00:10:06.80
It's our guide to a
more fulfilling life.
00:10:06.80\00:10:09.00
Here at The Voice of Prophecy,
00:10:09.87\00:10:11.41
we've created the
Discover Bible guides
00:10:11.41\00:10:13.58
to be your guide to the Bible.
00:10:13.58\00:10:15.18
They're designed to
be simple, easy to use,
00:10:15.18\00:10:17.68
and provide answers to many
of life's toughest questions,
00:10:17.68\00:10:20.68
and they're absolutely free.
00:10:20.68\00:10:22.72
So jump online
now or give us a call,
00:10:22.72\00:10:25.02
and start your
journey of discovery.
00:10:25.02\00:10:28.02
- Most of the
educated dissenters
00:10:28.02\00:10:29.99
could actually read Latin
- the language of learning
00:10:29.99\00:10:32.56
back in that day, but very
few of them could read the Bible
00:10:32.56\00:10:36.30
in the original languages,
00:10:36.30\00:10:37.83
which are Greek,
Aramaic, and Hebrew.
00:10:37.83\00:10:40.97
In the Netherlands when
these people came in contact
00:10:40.97\00:10:43.37
with the Jewish community,
they began to rediscover
00:10:43.37\00:10:46.44
the Hebrew scriptures
and had a chance to read
00:10:46.44\00:10:49.64
some ancient
Hebrew commentaries.
00:10:49.64\00:10:52.35
These were documents
they hadn't seen before,
00:10:52.35\00:10:55.38
and that's when
the Old Testament story
00:10:55.38\00:10:57.55
of Israel's request for a
king, suddenly came to light.
00:10:57.55\00:11:01.56
And the dissenters began
to consider the possibility
00:11:01.56\00:11:04.19
that human
monarchy was not God's plan.
00:11:04.19\00:11:07.66
"Was it possible," they asked,
that a lot of their problems
00:11:07.66\00:11:11.07
were happening because
monarchy was a departure
00:11:11.07\00:11:14.04
from the system of
government originally prescribed
00:11:14.04\00:11:16.60
in the pages of the Bible.
00:11:16.60\00:11:18.67
And if it was, would it
be helpful to just get rid
00:11:18.67\00:11:21.81
of the monarchy altogether?
00:11:21.81\00:11:24.05
Of course, back then
that was a dangerous idea.
00:11:24.05\00:11:26.15
It was considered sedition,
but it was an idea that led
00:11:26.15\00:11:29.95
to a lot of heated debate
00:11:29.95\00:11:31.59
and it became one of the
biggest intellectual discussions
00:11:31.59\00:11:34.19
of the 17th century.
00:11:34.19\00:11:36.09
Was it possible,
permissible even,
00:11:36.09\00:11:38.93
to have a nation without a king?
00:11:38.93\00:11:40.96
I mean, it was clear
to them that God was angry
00:11:40.96\00:11:43.67
with Israel's
request for a king.
00:11:43.67\00:11:45.57
And even a cursory
reading of the Old Testament
00:11:45.57\00:11:48.17
underlines how problematic
00:11:48.17\00:11:49.84
those monarchies
for Israel became.
00:11:49.84\00:11:52.44
They proved to to
be a really bad idea.
00:11:52.44\00:11:55.18
So what if the dissenters
00:11:55.18\00:11:56.54
could return to
a social structure,
00:11:56.54\00:11:58.45
where individuals
answered directly to God
00:11:58.45\00:12:01.42
instead of going through a
king or even a state church.
00:12:01.42\00:12:05.55
Back in the 16 and 1700s,
00:12:06.55\00:12:08.32
the idea of birthing a republic
was somewhat revolutionary,
00:12:08.32\00:12:11.83
and I mean that
literally revolutionary,
00:12:11.83\00:12:14.96
but it was also irresistible.
00:12:14.96\00:12:17.10
The ancient
Israelites before the anointing
00:12:17.10\00:12:19.23
of their first king's soul
00:12:19.23\00:12:20.67
had lived in what was
essentially a republic,
00:12:20.67\00:12:24.57
a government founded on
the rule of law with the Torah
00:12:24.57\00:12:28.14
as the supreme
written constitution -
00:12:28.14\00:12:30.25
the first five
books of the Bible.
00:12:30.25\00:12:32.55
In fact, if you
go back to that time
00:12:32.55\00:12:33.98
and read what the
dissenters were writing,
00:12:33.98\00:12:35.88
you'll find a number of them
describing Old Testament Israel
00:12:35.88\00:12:39.12
as, quote, "The
Hebrew Republic".
00:12:39.12\00:12:42.36
So as these English
protestants began to explore
00:12:42.36\00:12:45.83
the intriguing idea
of a world without kings,
00:12:45.83\00:12:48.90
they also began
to study passages
00:12:48.90\00:12:50.80
like Deuteronomy Chapter 17,
where God predicted that Israel
00:12:50.80\00:12:55.57
would one day ask for a king.
00:12:55.57\00:12:57.21
So he gave them careful
guidelines to mitigate the
00:12:57.21\00:13:00.98
damage that a human
monarch was going to cause.
00:13:00.98\00:13:03.91
These political
guardrails mandated
00:13:03.91\00:13:06.15
in Deuteronomy Chapter
17 became really big ideas
00:13:06.15\00:13:10.49
that found their
way into the thinking
00:13:10.49\00:13:11.89
of the founders of this country.
00:13:11.89\00:13:14.02
I mean, just listen to
this., here's what it says.
00:13:14.02\00:13:16.42
"When you come to
the land which the Lord
00:13:16.42\00:13:18.59
your God is giving you,
and possess it and dwell in it,
00:13:18.59\00:13:21.00
and say, 'I will set a king
over me like all the nations
00:13:21.00\00:13:23.97
that are around me,' you
shall surely set a king over you
00:13:23.97\00:13:27.20
whom the Lord your God chooses;
00:13:27.20\00:13:29.20
one from among your
brethren, you shall set
00:13:29.20\00:13:31.27
as king over you; you may
not set a foreigner over you
00:13:31.27\00:13:34.31
who is not your brother.
00:13:34.31\00:13:36.11
But he shall not
multiply horses for himself,
00:13:36.11\00:13:38.28
nor cause the people to return
to Egypt to multiply horses,
00:13:38.28\00:13:41.72
for the Lord has said to you,
00:13:41.72\00:13:42.88
'You shall not
return that way again.'
00:13:42.88\00:13:45.82
Neither shall he
multiply wives for himself,
00:13:45.82\00:13:48.16
lest his heart turn away;
nor shall he greatly multiply
00:13:48.16\00:13:51.16
silver and gold for himself.
00:13:51.16\00:13:53.33
Also, it shall be when he sits
on the throne of his kingdom
00:13:53.33\00:13:55.73
that he shall write for himself
00:13:55.73\00:13:57.90
a copy of this law in a book,
00:13:57.90\00:14:00.34
from the one before the
priests, and the Levites.
00:14:00.34\00:14:03.54
It shall be with
him and he shall read it
00:14:03.54\00:14:05.27
all the days of his
life, that he may learn
00:14:05.27\00:14:07.64
to fear the Lord his God
and be careful to observe
00:14:07.64\00:14:10.58
all the words of this
law and these statutes,
00:14:10.58\00:14:13.58
that his heart may not be
lifted above his brethren,
00:14:13.58\00:14:16.18
that he may not turn
aside from the commandment
00:14:16.18\00:14:18.12
to the right
hand or to the left,
00:14:18.12\00:14:19.79
and that he may prolong
his days in his kingdom,
00:14:19.79\00:14:22.59
he and his children
in the midst of Israel."
00:14:22.59\00:14:25.23
The safeguards laid out
in this passage seem obvious
00:14:26.70\00:14:29.70
to us living in
the 21st century,
00:14:29.70\00:14:32.27
the 17th century, these
were revolutionary concepts.
00:14:32.27\00:14:36.87
If there was going
to be a king, God said,
00:14:36.87\00:14:38.94
he had to be chosen according
to heaven's guidelines.
00:14:38.94\00:14:42.24
The top executive of
the nation was not supposed
00:14:42.24\00:14:44.98
to become an autocrat,
but he had to answer to God
00:14:44.98\00:14:47.68
just like everybody else.
00:14:47.68\00:14:49.62
On top of that, he
couldn't be a foreigner.
00:14:49.62\00:14:52.02
He had to be
somebody whose identity
00:14:52.02\00:14:53.69
was so completely
wrapped up in the nation
00:14:53.69\00:14:55.89
that he wouldn't compromise
the nation's integrity
00:14:55.89\00:14:59.16
by importing bad ideas.
00:14:59.16\00:15:01.96
The top
executive, in other words,
00:15:01.96\00:15:04.17
had to be one of the people.
00:15:04.17\00:15:06.23
God also prohibited
any kind of a return
00:15:06.23\00:15:08.90
to the culture of Egypt,
even if building ties to Egypt,
00:15:08.90\00:15:11.71
might promise
greater prosperity.
00:15:11.71\00:15:14.64
Because in Egypt,
God's people had been slaves.
00:15:14.64\00:15:17.88
And in this new republic
they were supposed to be free.
00:15:17.88\00:15:21.02
Now obviously,
the American founders
00:15:21.02\00:15:23.35
kind of got that one wrong,
00:15:23.35\00:15:24.79
because they only gave
freedom to certain individuals.
00:15:24.79\00:15:27.46
Slavery continues to
be a massive black eye
00:15:27.46\00:15:30.63
on the birth of this republic.
00:15:30.63\00:15:32.19
And the horrible
consequences for what we did
00:15:32.19\00:15:34.63
are still with us to this day.
00:15:34.63\00:15:36.70
And it's not as if
these people didn't know
00:15:36.70\00:15:38.50
they were doing the wrong thing,
00:15:38.50\00:15:39.93
because there were Quakers
from Pennsylvania who showed up
00:15:39.93\00:15:43.24
at the constitutional hearings
00:15:43.24\00:15:45.11
and they made a
very compelling case
00:15:45.11\00:15:47.24
that if everybody was
going to be consistent,
00:15:47.24\00:15:49.64
slavery had to go.
00:15:49.64\00:15:51.91
But the principle still,
00:15:51.91\00:15:53.68
even though they
didn't practice it, was there.
00:15:53.68\00:15:56.65
They didn't take it to heart
00:15:56.65\00:15:58.05
for an embarrassingly
long period of time,
00:15:58.05\00:16:00.82
but it was there in seed form.
00:16:00.82\00:16:02.92
Let me continue
with the basic principles
00:16:04.13\00:16:06.29
these English
dissenters discovered
00:16:06.29\00:16:07.76
in this passage
in Deuteronomy 17.
00:16:07.76\00:16:10.60
That passage
underlined the idea that a king
00:16:10.60\00:16:13.17
should not grow wealthy
off the proceeds of office,
00:16:13.17\00:16:15.70
or if you will, there
were some checks and balances
00:16:15.70\00:16:19.01
on the king's power.
00:16:19.01\00:16:20.51
And of course, we're still
getting that one wrong too,
00:16:20.51\00:16:22.81
because somehow, a lot of
people seem to get very wealthy
00:16:22.81\00:16:26.08
as a result of
holding public office here,
00:16:26.08\00:16:28.68
but that's probably a
topic for another day.
00:16:28.68\00:16:31.19
Most importantly,
Deuteronomy said that the king
00:16:32.45\00:16:34.46
had to be subject to the rule
of law like any other citizen.
00:16:34.46\00:16:38.39
In reality, a monarch was
said to be more responsible
00:16:38.39\00:16:42.23
to the law, and he was
required to make a personal copy
00:16:42.23\00:16:45.47
and live by that for
the rest of his life.
00:16:45.47\00:16:48.00
So the king or
queen, it turns out,
00:16:48.00\00:16:50.17
was just a human
being like the rest of us,
00:16:50.17\00:16:52.54
with no intrinsic
privilege before God.
00:16:52.54\00:16:55.48
While the monarch
may have been vested
00:16:55.48\00:16:57.51
with a degree of
power and privilege,
00:16:57.51\00:16:59.11
he or she was not above
the people they governed.
00:16:59.11\00:17:02.68
And of course,
this is not the way
00:17:02.68\00:17:04.15
that European
monarchies functioned,
00:17:04.15\00:17:06.49
because of this
misguided notion that emerged
00:17:06.49\00:17:09.29
of the divine right of
kings where theologians said,
00:17:09.29\00:17:12.53
the person on the throne was
God's special son or daughter,
00:17:12.53\00:17:15.96
and they were untouchable.
00:17:15.96\00:17:18.10
The idea of the
divine right of the monarch
00:17:18.10\00:17:20.57
was actually a throwback
00:17:20.57\00:17:21.80
to the pagan
deification of emperors,
00:17:21.80\00:17:24.34
and it was not an idea
that came out of the scriptures.
00:17:24.34\00:17:27.58
Now to be sure,
there were people
00:17:27.58\00:17:29.58
who argued for the
divine right of kings
00:17:29.58\00:17:31.35
by misapplying the scriptures,
00:17:31.35\00:17:33.11
just like there were
people in the 19th century
00:17:33.11\00:17:35.65
who tried to make
a case for slavery
00:17:35.65\00:17:37.99
by appealing to the Bible.
00:17:37.99\00:17:39.89
But in light of Deuteronomy 17,
00:17:39.89\00:17:42.02
the dissenters discovered
these people were wrong.
00:17:42.02\00:17:45.19
The Bible from their perspective
00:17:45.19\00:17:47.20
was a very egalitarian document.
00:17:47.20\00:17:50.53
So to cut things short,
because we gotta take a break,
00:17:50.53\00:17:53.54
a number of dissenters
came to the conclusion
00:17:53.54\00:17:56.00
that very early on,
God had not intended
00:17:56.00\00:17:59.27
to have a
monarchy for his people.
00:17:59.27\00:18:01.01
Israel was really
designed as a republic
00:18:01.01\00:18:04.18
under the supreme rule of law.
00:18:04.18\00:18:06.21
Now, this was not
an entirely new idea,
00:18:06.21\00:18:08.12
because the English had
already been flirting with that
00:18:08.12\00:18:10.99
for centuries
ever since the signing
00:18:10.99\00:18:12.72
of the Magna Carta in 1215.
00:18:12.72\00:18:16.02
Writing in the year
1260, Henry de Bracton,
00:18:16.02\00:18:19.53
who is often called the
Father of English law said,
00:18:19.53\00:18:22.23
"The king himself not to
be under man but under God,
00:18:22.23\00:18:26.23
and under the Law,
because the Law makes the king.
00:18:26.23\00:18:29.47
Therefore, let the
king render back to the Law
00:18:29.47\00:18:31.81
what the Law gives him,
namely, dominion and power;
00:18:31.81\00:18:35.04
for there is no king
where will, and not Law,
00:18:35.04\00:18:37.98
wields dominion."
00:18:37.98\00:18:39.45
So none of these
ideas were brand new,
00:18:39.45\00:18:42.25
but as is often the case,
it took centuries of debate,
00:18:42.25\00:18:45.29
centuries of trial and error,
00:18:45.29\00:18:47.09
centuries of political struggle
00:18:47.09\00:18:48.59
to make them a
day-to-day reality.
00:18:48.59\00:18:50.93
Human beings as a whole
are really slow learners.
00:18:50.93\00:18:54.13
And finally, with the
birth of the American Republic,
00:18:54.13\00:18:56.50
these ideas were
codified as the supreme law
00:18:56.50\00:18:59.70
of a brand new country.
00:18:59.70\00:19:01.54
Now again, that
doesn't make America utopia,
00:19:01.54\00:19:04.07
because anybody who
lives here knows, firsthand,
00:19:04.07\00:19:06.78
that's just not true.
00:19:06.78\00:19:08.41
We're still a nation
of flawed human beings,
00:19:08.41\00:19:10.68
and our application of
these rather lofty principles
00:19:10.68\00:19:13.58
has been plagued with
all kinds of problems.
00:19:13.58\00:19:16.35
So when people take to
the streets to say there's
00:19:16.35\00:19:19.62
injustice, they
often have a point.
00:19:19.62\00:19:21.36
But when people begin to suggest
00:19:21.36\00:19:23.02
that maybe the founding
principles are the problem
00:19:23.02\00:19:25.69
and we should throw
them in the waste basket,
00:19:25.69\00:19:28.30
well that's when I
start to get worried,
00:19:28.30\00:19:30.30
because what we have
here is exceedingly rare,
00:19:30.30\00:19:32.73
historically speaking.
00:19:32.73\00:19:34.44
And while it's imperfect,
00:19:34.44\00:19:35.77
it still represents
the greatest advancement
00:19:35.77\00:19:38.31
in personal liberty ever
achieved up to this point.
00:19:38.31\00:19:42.38
I'll be right back after this.
00:19:42.38\00:19:44.45
- [Narrator 2] Here
at The Voice of Prophecy,
00:19:47.68\00:19:49.15
we're committed to
creating top quality programming
00:19:49.15\00:19:51.59
for the whole family.
00:19:51.59\00:19:53.02
Like our audio adventure
series, "Discovery Mountain".
00:19:53.02\00:19:56.26
Discovery Mountain
is a bible-based program
00:19:56.26\00:19:58.73
for kids of all
ages and backgrounds.
00:19:58.73\00:20:01.03
Your family will enjoy
the faith building stories
00:20:01.03\00:20:03.80
from this small
mountain summer camp and town.
00:20:03.80\00:20:06.63
With 24 seasonal
episodes every year
00:20:06.63\00:20:09.14
and fresh content every week,
there's always a new adventure
00:20:09.14\00:20:13.01
just on the horizon.
00:20:13.01\00:20:14.48
- John Locke is often considered
00:20:17.68\00:20:19.41
to be one of the greatest minds
00:20:19.41\00:20:20.92
in the history of
political philosophy,
00:20:20.92\00:20:23.15
and almost any course dealing
with Western political thought
00:20:23.15\00:20:25.92
will include a
reference to his works.
00:20:25.92\00:20:28.42
Like the dissenters,
John Locke was forced to hide
00:20:28.42\00:20:31.46
in the Netherlands,
because he was accused
00:20:31.46\00:20:33.90
of hatching a
plot to kill the king.
00:20:33.90\00:20:35.93
And while he was in exile,
00:20:35.93\00:20:37.60
he wrote this, "A
Letter Concerning Toleration",
00:20:37.60\00:20:40.70
which made really
powerful arguments
00:20:40.70\00:20:42.67
that the proper
sphere of government
00:20:42.67\00:20:44.77
should be
restricted to civil matters,
00:20:44.77\00:20:47.18
and that
spiritual considerations
00:20:47.18\00:20:48.91
were the proper
sphere of the church.
00:20:48.91\00:20:51.51
Here's what he said.
00:20:51.51\00:20:52.98
"The only business of the church
is the salvation of souls,
00:20:52.98\00:20:56.42
and it no way
concerns the commonwealth,
00:20:56.42\00:20:58.69
or any member of it, that
this or the other ceremony
00:20:58.69\00:21:01.72
be there made use of.
00:21:01.72\00:21:03.59
Neither the use nor the
omission of any ceremonies
00:21:03.59\00:21:06.09
in those religious assemblies
00:21:06.09\00:21:07.76
does either advantage
or prejudice the life,
00:21:07.76\00:21:10.60
liberty or estate of any man."
00:21:10.60\00:21:13.97
John Milton, the famous poet
who gave us "Paradise Lost",
00:21:13.97\00:21:18.57
wrote these words about
the way the Bible describes
00:21:18.57\00:21:21.34
the proper realm
of human governments.
00:21:21.34\00:21:23.51
He said, "It follows,
lastly, that since the king
00:21:23.51\00:21:26.95
or magistrate holds his
authority of the people,
00:21:26.95\00:21:30.15
both originally and naturally
00:21:30.15\00:21:31.65
for their good in the
first place, and not his own,
00:21:31.65\00:21:34.59
then may the people, as oft
as they judge it for the best,
00:21:34.59\00:21:38.29
either choose him or reject
him, retain him, or depose him,
00:21:38.29\00:21:43.26
though no tyrant,
merely by the liberty
00:21:44.43\00:21:45.97
and right of free-born men
to be governed as seems best."
00:21:45.97\00:21:50.41
I could go on for
hours showing you the works
00:21:50.41\00:21:52.34
of these great
Christian minds who contributed
00:21:52.34\00:21:55.74
to the birth of the
American Constitution.
00:21:55.74\00:21:58.45
But the real point
I wanna make is this.
00:21:58.45\00:22:00.85
There's no question that
the Bible forms a key influence
00:22:00.85\00:22:04.39
in the birth of this republic,
00:22:04.39\00:22:06.22
but not the way that some
modern Christians seem to think.
00:22:06.22\00:22:10.26
To listen to some
of the ideas coming out
00:22:10.26\00:22:11.93
of American
Christianity since the mid '80s,
00:22:11.93\00:22:14.83
you'd think that the
founders of this republic
00:22:14.83\00:22:16.53
intended to build
some kind of theocracy,
00:22:16.53\00:22:19.40
that they intended to
reinstate the atrocities
00:22:19.40\00:22:22.24
committed by the
church state monstrosity
00:22:22.24\00:22:24.91
that came out of the old world
00:22:24.91\00:22:26.44
after the rise of Constantine.
00:22:26.44\00:22:28.91
But the reality is
precisely the opposite.
00:22:28.91\00:22:31.78
And yeah, a lot of
the early colonists
00:22:31.78\00:22:34.45
failed to live by the
principles they professed.
00:22:34.45\00:22:36.69
So we actually had
puritans ironically,
00:22:36.69\00:22:40.06
hanging Quakers and
persecuting other people
00:22:40.06\00:22:42.79
who didn't agree with
their religious convictions.
00:22:42.79\00:22:46.06
It took a while to get to
the point of actual liberty.
00:22:46.06\00:22:49.20
And back in the 17th century,
00:22:49.20\00:22:51.10
we had all these
little theocracies
00:22:51.10\00:22:53.47
up and down the East
Coast of the Americas,
00:22:53.47\00:22:55.70
established by people
who should have known better.
00:22:55.70\00:22:59.61
But as imperfect as it
was and downright embarrassing
00:22:59.61\00:23:03.51
as some of the chapters are,
00:23:03.51\00:23:05.45
we did somehow land on
something very important -
00:23:05.45\00:23:08.85
the notions of
autonomy and self-government.
00:23:08.85\00:23:12.15
In principle, every
individual would decide
00:23:12.15\00:23:14.69
for him or herself
how he or she wanted
00:23:14.69\00:23:17.36
to relate to God or
even the idea of God.
00:23:17.36\00:23:20.56
If you wanted to reject the
notion of a deity altogether,
00:23:20.56\00:23:23.47
which some of the founders did,
00:23:23.47\00:23:25.53
you were free to do that too.
00:23:25.53\00:23:27.50
The government was not supposed
00:23:27.50\00:23:29.00
to become a religious authority.
00:23:29.00\00:23:31.01
Now, in the brief
moment that we've had together,
00:23:32.21\00:23:33.81
I've made a bit of a
caricature out of the story,
00:23:33.81\00:23:35.91
which is why I plugged the
book at the top of the show.
00:23:35.91\00:23:38.98
There are a lot of complexities,
a lot of subtleties
00:23:38.98\00:23:41.62
that emerged as these principles
were put into practice.
00:23:41.62\00:23:44.35
And as you know know, there
is very little in human history
00:23:44.35\00:23:47.42
that is cut and
dried or black and white,
00:23:47.42\00:23:50.09
but the essence of
what I'm driving at is this.
00:23:50.09\00:23:52.93
The idea that
people should be autonomous
00:23:52.93\00:23:55.06
with a religious
thought is an idea
00:23:55.06\00:23:57.73
that was born not
from the Greek classics,
00:23:57.73\00:24:00.60
but from Bible study.
00:24:00.60\00:24:02.37
So when I see people
protesting in the streets,
00:24:02.37\00:24:04.47
kicking a Bible around,
00:24:04.47\00:24:05.71
and then tossing it
into a public toilet,
00:24:05.71\00:24:08.78
I experienced some
deeply conflicting emotions.
00:24:08.78\00:24:11.45
On the one hand, I
find myself happily reminded
00:24:11.45\00:24:14.18
that we have the freedom
to do those kinds of things.
00:24:14.18\00:24:16.82
I mean, consider what might
have happened to those people
00:24:16.82\00:24:18.75
back in 14th century's pain.
00:24:18.75\00:24:20.66
They would've died a slow,
painful death for doing that.
00:24:20.66\00:24:23.56
So on the one
hand, it does remind me
00:24:23.56\00:24:25.56
that we have
unprecedented freedom,
00:24:25.56\00:24:28.03
but on the other
hand, it saddens me,
00:24:28.03\00:24:29.60
because the Bible
seems to be getting the blame
00:24:29.60\00:24:32.13
for intolerance
when it's the Bible
00:24:32.13\00:24:34.90
that actually gave
those people the right
00:24:34.90\00:24:36.40
to publicly mistreat it.
00:24:36.40\00:24:38.21
Alright, I gotta
take one more quick break,
00:24:38.21\00:24:40.21
and I'll be
right back after this.
00:24:40.21\00:24:42.21
- [Narrator 3] Dragons,
beasts, cryptic statues.
00:24:46.18\00:24:50.49
Bible prophecy can be
incredibly vivid and confusing.
00:24:50.49\00:24:55.09
If you've ever read
Daniel or Revelation
00:24:55.09\00:24:57.29
and come away scratching
your head, you are not alone.
00:24:57.29\00:25:00.36
Our free "Focus on
Prophecy" guides are designed
00:25:00.36\00:25:03.20
to help you unlock
the mysteries of the Bible
00:25:03.20\00:25:05.43
and deepen your
understanding of God's plan
00:25:05.43\00:25:07.90
for you and our world.
00:25:07.90\00:25:09.54
Study online or
request them by mail,
00:25:09.54\00:25:11.97
and start bringing
prophecy into focus today.
00:25:11.97\00:25:14.88
- There's a statement
near the end of Luke's gospel
00:25:16.31\00:25:17.88
that sheds a lot of
light on what Jesus intended
00:25:17.88\00:25:20.38
when it came to the
way he wanted the church
00:25:20.38\00:25:22.05
to conduct itself.
00:25:22.05\00:25:23.69
The disciples who
were obviously fallible
00:25:23.69\00:25:26.05
were arguing
about which one of them
00:25:26.05\00:25:28.19
was going to be the greatest.
00:25:28.19\00:25:29.36
Here's the story from Luke 22.
00:25:29.36\00:25:31.96
It says, "Now there was
also a dispute among them,
00:25:31.96\00:25:35.23
as to which of them should
be considered the greatest.
00:25:35.23\00:25:38.33
And he said to them,
'The kings of the Gentiles
00:25:38.33\00:25:41.10
exercise lordship over them,
00:25:41.10\00:25:43.14
and those who
exercise authority over them
00:25:43.14\00:25:45.27
are called benefactors.'
00:25:45.27\00:25:47.04
But not so among
you; on the contrary,
00:25:47.04\00:25:49.18
he who is greatest among
you, let him be as the younger,
00:25:49.18\00:25:52.21
and he who
governs as he who serves."
00:25:52.21\00:25:55.48
It turns out
Jesus was egalitarian,
00:25:55.48\00:25:58.29
and he warned us
that the Christian Church
00:25:58.29\00:26:00.06
should never have a king.
00:26:00.06\00:26:02.09
Unfortunately, in
the fourth century,
00:26:02.09\00:26:04.33
we ignored that advice,
00:26:04.33\00:26:05.73
and essentially
invited the Roman emperor
00:26:05.73\00:26:07.96
to take the reins of the church.
00:26:07.96\00:26:09.43
And what followed
was many long centuries
00:26:09.43\00:26:11.90
of brutal religious atrocity.
00:26:11.90\00:26:14.20
It's the same
thing that happened
00:26:14.20\00:26:15.54
when Israel demanded a king.
00:26:15.54\00:26:17.24
It led to more and more
corruption, worse and worse
00:26:17.24\00:26:20.18
kings, to the point
where the Israelites
00:26:20.18\00:26:21.84
committed
unthinkable atrocities.
00:26:21.84\00:26:24.58
So God shut down
the whole operation
00:26:24.58\00:26:26.58
and let the Babylonians
burn down the temple.
00:26:26.58\00:26:29.58
And all of that
happened in spite of the fact
00:26:30.72\00:26:32.49
that God created the human race
00:26:32.49\00:26:34.86
with a huge degree of freedom.
00:26:34.86\00:26:37.36
Adam and Eve were
warned about the consequences
00:26:37.36\00:26:40.13
of disobedience, but they
weren't physically prevented
00:26:40.13\00:26:43.06
from doing wrong.
00:26:43.06\00:26:45.13
That's the nature of this book.
00:26:45.13\00:26:47.14
You are free to
pursue God or reject him,
00:26:47.14\00:26:49.30
and he leaves that up to you.
00:26:49.30\00:26:51.24
Now, he does offer warnings
about what the human race
00:26:51.24\00:26:54.61
would look like when it operates
from a selfish perspective,
00:26:54.61\00:26:58.08
because he's a God of
love and he wants to warn us.
00:26:58.08\00:27:01.08
He warns us that
separating ourselves
00:27:01.08\00:27:03.08
from the only source
of life in the universe
00:27:03.08\00:27:05.22
will have dire results.
00:27:05.22\00:27:07.52
But then he leaves the decision
up to you, not the king,
00:27:07.52\00:27:10.06
not the government,
not your pastor, you.
00:27:10.06\00:27:14.00
And that's one of the
primary reasons I find the Bible
00:27:14.00\00:27:16.53
so compelling
in the first place,
00:27:16.53\00:27:18.27
because it
argues for human dignity
00:27:18.27\00:27:20.94
and preserves the
right to conscience.
00:27:20.94\00:27:23.97
So maybe instead of
kicking the book down the street
00:27:23.97\00:27:27.08
in an angry form of protest,
maybe pick it up and read it,
00:27:27.08\00:27:31.81
and discover why you're
free to desecrate this book
00:27:31.81\00:27:35.15
in the first place.
00:27:35.15\00:27:36.75
I'm Shawn Boonstra,
00:27:36.75\00:27:38.22
and this has been
another episode of Authentic.
00:27:38.22\00:27:41.26
[gentle music]
00:27:41.26\00:27:43.93