- The Book of Genesis.
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Far from being an
ancient fairy tale,
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it might just be the
most reliable document
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that you and I have
from the very ancient past.
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[inquisitive music]
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[inquisitive music continues]
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[inquisitive music continues]
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A lot of 21st century people,
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and tragically
even some Christians,
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are likely to describe
the Book of Genesis as a myth.
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Now, that's not
exactly the same thing
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as calling it a
lie or a fairytale,
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because that would imply
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that Genesis is
nothing but fiction.
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A myth is just a
little bit different.
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It conveys some kind of message
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about the
nature of the universe,
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and it doesn't necessarily have
to be historically accurate.
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So, when scholars call
the Book of Genesis a myth,
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they're not
necessarily suggesting
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there's nothing
valuable in there.
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They're saying that somewhere
in the pages of Genesis,
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you can find some kind of truth,
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some kind of higher principle
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that teaches us something useful
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about the nature of reality.
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Now, of course, as a
Christian and a minister,
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I don't think of
Genesis in those terms.
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Personally,
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I believe we have real
history in the Book of Genesis,
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and that would include
those first 11 chapters
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that talk about things
like the creation, or the flood,
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or the Tower of
Babel, and so on.
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Now, in 30 minutes or less,
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I'm not likely
going to convince anybody
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that my position is reasonable,
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that it makes good sense
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to take the Book of
Genesis at face value,
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but for today, I just wanna
underline one important concept
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that might help
you start to take
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what the Book of Genesis says
just a little more seriously,
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and to help me make that point,
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I'm gonna borrow a little bit
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from the work of
Francis Schaeffer,
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the famous 20th
century evangelical philosopher
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who helped a lot of college
kids in the '60s and '70s
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find their way to a
reasonable belief in God,
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a logical one.
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Now, honestly, I'm not positive
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that Schaeffer would've
taken the first 11 chapters
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of Genesis's actual history.
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I think he might maybe
have leaned a little bit
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in the direction
of theistic evolution,
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which teaches that
God created this world
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through the
evolutionary process,
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so if that's true, we wouldn't
be in harmony on that front.
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But when it comes to
the practice of epistemology
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or the study of how we
know that we know things,
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I think Dr.
Schaeffer was onto something.
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He wrote a number of books
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dealing with the
existential angst
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we find in our postmodern world,
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including "Escape from Reason,"
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and "He Is There
and He Is Not Silent,"
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and I guess I'm
really fond of those books
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because they were
part of what helped me
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on my path to becoming a
Christian a long time ago.
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Some of what he says
makes a whole lot of sense,
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and I'll get to
that in just a minute,
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but before we do that,
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let's actually go
to the Genesis account
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and look at
something really important.
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In Genesis chapter
1, as most people know,
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we have God speaking
the universe into existence,
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and we often use a Latin term
to describe how God did that.
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He created the
universe ex nihilo,
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which means he
made it out of nothing,
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and I mean absolutely nothing.
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That stands in stark contrast
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to some of the
ancient pagan creation myths,
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which have the various gods
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giving birth to this
world and the human race
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from pre-existent materials.
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In fact, the pagan
myths usually try to tell us
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where the gods came from,
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because to the pagan
mind, it seems unthinkable
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that the gods didn't
have some kind of a beginning.
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So, for example, we
have the Enuma Elish,
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the ancient
Babylonian creation story,
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which says that the
creation of the world happened
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because some prisoner gods
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were complaining
that they had to work.
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They were out digging irrigation
canals under the hot sun.
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They eventually got sick
of that and mounted a protest,
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so a great conflict broke out,
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and before the war was finished,
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you had Marduk, the
chief Babylonian god,
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making this planet from the
dead body of a primal goddess
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by the name of Tiamat,
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and the human race
they said came into being
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after he mixed the
blood of another god
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with clay from the Earth.
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But then you get
the Genesis account,
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which describes a completely
different kind of god.
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It never explains
where he came from.
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He's just there, like
you'd expect from a real god,
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and he didn't require
pre-existent materials
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in order to create this world.
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The psalmist actually summarizes
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the opening of
Genesis like this:
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"Let all the
earth fear the Lord;
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let all the inhabitants of
the world stand in awe of him,
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for he spoke and it came to be.
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He commanded,
and it stood firm."
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The pagan gods by contrast
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were really just kind
of supersized human beings.
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They had personality quirks,
they fought with each other,
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they toyed with the human race,
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and they were ultimately mortal.
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You could kill them.
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I think there's a
really good reason
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that movies made
by Marvel or DC Comics
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employ so many
pagan religious overtones,
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including, well,
Germanic gods like Thor.
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The gods of the pagans
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were an awful lot
like our superheroes.
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They were outsized
humans who had special powers.
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Bigger than us,
stronger than us,
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presumably smarter than us,
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but not all that different.
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The ancient
pagan gods, it seems,
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were made in the image of man,
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but the God of the
Bible is strikingly different,
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right from the
opening words of Genesis.
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The author, Moses,
doesn't waste any time
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trying to explain
where God comes from,
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and when the Bible says,
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"In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth,"
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it's not just a declaration
that the world had a beginning.
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It's also an indirect
declaration that God did not.
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It says in the beginning,
God, he was just there.
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Now, it's important to remember
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that the Book of
Genesis was not written
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as an answer to Charles Darwin,
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even though a lot
of modern Christians
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try to use it like that.
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When Moses first
penned those words,
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Darwin was thousands
of years into the future.
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What Moses is really
addressing is pagan cosmology,
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the pantheon of gods
that the pagans worshiped,
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who were a lot like us,
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and morally speaking,
sometimes worse than us.
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They were petty and capricious,
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unpredictable and
incredibly self-centered.
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That's the universe that
Moses is trying to disprove,
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dispel.
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But there's another concept
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that the book of
Genesis is refuting,
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and it's a
concept that underlies
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an awful lot of
Eastern religion.
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Now, I've pointed
this out on other shows,
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but many ancient
cultures believed
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that the
physical world we live in
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is some kind of
a colossal mistake.
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The reason we
suffer, these people said,
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was because, "Well, we weren't
supposed to live like this,
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with a real physical existence."
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The pagans believed
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that a non-physical
existence was preferable.
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They insisted that we
should embrace the Grim Reaper
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when he comes,
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because, well, it's better
to live as a disembodied ghost.
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Shortly after the
birth of Christianity,
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we actually had a problem
with some Christian sects
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who imported those
ideas into the Church.
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They borrowed
from pagan cosmology
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to suggest that
maybe the supreme god
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did not actually make
the physical universe,
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because they said the world
we live in is so imperfect.
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They insisted that the
creation must have been the work
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of a lesser deity:
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a being they
called the demiurge.
00:08:00.58\00:08:03.21
It was a decidedly
pagan way of thinking,
00:08:03.21\00:08:06.31
and tragically,
some of their ideas
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did manage to get a foothold
in Orthodox Christianity,
00:08:08.38\00:08:11.49
to the point
where we can still see
00:08:11.49\00:08:13.42
the remnants of that
kind of thinking to this day.
00:08:13.42\00:08:16.42
According to
ancient pagan cosmology,
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and I use that word pagan
as a bit of a catch-all term,
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because it was
actually a Latin term
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used by ancient Christians
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to make fun of their
polytheistic neighbors.
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It was a way of
calling them bumpkins or rubes.
00:08:29.84\00:08:32.94
But I still use it
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because we don't really
have a better catch-all word
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for those belief systems.
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I guess we could
call them all idolaters,
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which would be accurate,
00:08:41.35\00:08:43.42
but somehow that
seems worse than pagan,
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so pagan it is.
00:08:45.72\00:08:47.12
And according
to pagan cosmology,
00:08:47.12\00:08:49.72
the universe began
as a non-material mind.
00:08:49.72\00:08:53.33
The physical
world was a downgrade
00:08:53.33\00:08:55.36
from an ethereal existence,
00:08:55.36\00:08:57.07
and so in a way,
00:08:57.07\00:08:58.33
the best thing that
can happen to you is death,
00:08:58.33\00:09:00.27
because it releases you
00:09:00.27\00:09:02.00
from the prison of
physical existence,
00:09:02.00\00:09:04.04
so you can return to the great
cosmic mind of the universe.
00:09:04.04\00:09:08.61
But the God of Genesis
is not just a cosmic mind,
00:09:08.61\00:09:12.71
and the physical
creation was not a mistake,
00:09:12.71\00:09:16.05
and I'll be right back
after this to tell you why.
00:09:16.05\00:09:19.49
[air whooshes]
00:09:19.49\00:09:22.79
- [Narrator] Life
can throw a lot at us.
00:09:22.79\00:09:25.23
Sometimes we don't
have all the answers,
00:09:25.23\00:09:28.56
but that's where
the Bible comes in.
00:09:28.56\00:09:31.00
It's our guide to a
more fulfilling life.
00:09:31.00\00:09:34.10
Here at The Voice of Prophecy,
00:09:34.10\00:09:35.64
we've created the
Discover Bible guides
00:09:35.64\00:09:37.81
to be your guide to the Bible.
00:09:37.81\00:09:39.41
They're designed to
be simple, easy to use,
00:09:39.41\00:09:41.91
and provide answers to many
of life's toughest questions,
00:09:41.91\00:09:44.91
and they're absolutely free,
00:09:44.91\00:09:46.95
so jump online
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00:09:46.95\00:09:49.28
and start your
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00:09:49.28\00:09:51.59
- There is a solidity, a
reality to the Book of Genesis
00:09:52.89\00:09:55.92
that you don't really find
00:09:55.92\00:09:57.03
in other ancient
creation stories.
00:09:57.03\00:09:59.29
It presents a very real God
00:09:59.29\00:10:01.06
and a personal God who
creates a very real world,
00:10:01.06\00:10:04.87
and there is no hint anywhere
00:10:04.87\00:10:07.07
that humanity was ever supposed
to be authentically at home
00:10:07.07\00:10:10.81
in any place but planet Earth.
00:10:10.81\00:10:13.71
In fact, at the end
of the creative process,
00:10:13.71\00:10:16.08
right after the
creation of people,
00:10:16.08\00:10:18.41
God reviews the
project and says, "Behold.
00:10:18.41\00:10:21.18
It was very good."
00:10:21.18\00:10:23.32
The later gnostics would suggest
00:10:23.32\00:10:24.92
that somehow the
creator botched it,
00:10:24.92\00:10:26.62
and that one of the
reasons Christ had to come
00:10:26.62\00:10:28.89
was to correct the
mistake of creation.
00:10:28.89\00:10:32.13
By following the teachings
of Christ, the gnostics said,
00:10:32.13\00:10:35.26
you could escape the
prison of physical existence.
00:10:35.26\00:10:39.33
Scholars believe
this is one of the reasons
00:10:39.33\00:10:41.40
the Gospel of John
spends so much time
00:10:41.40\00:10:44.11
on the creation story.
00:10:44.11\00:10:45.74
"In the beginning was
the Word," John tells us,
00:10:45.74\00:10:48.31
"and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God.
00:10:48.31\00:10:51.91
He was in the
beginning with God.
00:10:51.91\00:10:54.22
All things were
made through him,
00:10:54.22\00:10:55.75
and without him was not
anything made that was made.
00:10:55.75\00:10:58.99
In him was life
00:10:58.99\00:11:00.46
and the life was
the light of men."
00:11:00.46\00:11:02.62
Of the four Gospels,
00:11:03.49\00:11:04.76
John easily has the
most impressive opening.
00:11:04.76\00:11:08.26
It's using the
language of Genesis
00:11:08.26\00:11:09.90
and it's making
a really big point.
00:11:09.90\00:11:12.60
Jesus is the one who created
this world in the first place,
00:11:12.60\00:11:16.34
and it was not a mistake.
00:11:16.34\00:11:18.44
The gnostics were wrong.
00:11:18.44\00:11:20.31
They were
teaching pagan cosmology
00:11:20.31\00:11:23.11
and not the story of Genesis.
00:11:23.11\00:11:25.11
The biggest difference
between the God of Genesis
00:11:26.38\00:11:27.88
and the great
cosmic mind of the pagans?
00:11:27.88\00:11:30.42
The cosmic mind
was rather impersonal.
00:11:30.42\00:11:33.05
It wasn't a who
so much as a what.
00:11:33.05\00:11:35.79
And they taught that everything
that exists in this world
00:11:35.79\00:11:38.59
is just an
illusion, including you.
00:11:38.59\00:11:41.80
Eventually, they
said, we all realize
00:11:41.80\00:11:43.53
that nothing really
exists, including us,
00:11:43.53\00:11:46.37
and then we are just reabsorbed
00:11:46.37\00:11:48.00
into the great
mind of the universe.
00:11:48.00\00:11:50.47
But the God of the
Bible is very personal.
00:11:50.47\00:11:52.87
He's self-aware,
self-determining.
00:11:52.87\00:11:55.34
A sentient being
00:11:55.34\00:11:56.78
who can actually
communicate with his creatures.
00:11:56.78\00:11:59.31
He is not
synonymous with the universe,
00:11:59.31\00:12:01.82
and the universe is
not synonymous with him.
00:12:01.82\00:12:04.42
God is above it
and distinct from it.
00:12:04.42\00:12:07.72
You and I are
also distinct from God,
00:12:07.72\00:12:10.26
we are made in his image,
00:12:10.26\00:12:12.29
and our personal
identity is real.
00:12:12.29\00:12:15.06
It is not an illusion.
00:12:15.06\00:12:16.43
We are not just
part of God's mind.
00:12:16.43\00:12:18.80
We have a real existence
quite distinct from him.
00:12:18.80\00:12:21.84
Of course, the
Bible also teaches
00:12:22.84\00:12:24.57
that we could not
possibly exist without God,
00:12:24.57\00:12:27.11
because he is the only
source of life in this universe.
00:12:27.11\00:12:30.35
"In him was life," John writes,
00:12:30.35\00:12:32.81
"and the life was
the light of men."
00:12:32.81\00:12:35.68
In his letter to the Colossians,
00:12:35.68\00:12:37.92
Paul spells it out like this.
00:12:37.92\00:12:39.22
He writes, "For by
him," that's Jesus,
00:12:39.22\00:12:42.62
"all things were
created, in heaven and on Earth,
00:12:42.62\00:12:45.29
visible and invisible,
00:12:45.29\00:12:46.96
whether thrones, or dominions,
or rulers, or authorities.
00:12:46.96\00:12:50.57
All things were created
through him and for him,
00:12:50.57\00:12:53.70
and he is before all things,
00:12:53.70\00:12:55.14
and in him, all
things hold together."
00:12:55.14\00:12:58.87
So, without God,
you couldn't exist.
00:12:58.87\00:13:01.98
It wouldn't be possible.
00:13:01.98\00:13:04.05
That's why sin
00:13:04.05\00:13:05.41
is said to have such
devastating consequences.
00:13:05.41\00:13:08.75
You have
compromised your connection
00:13:08.75\00:13:10.79
to the only source
of life in the universe
00:13:10.79\00:13:13.32
and the wages of
sin then is death.
00:13:13.32\00:13:16.62
But while we depend on the
existence of God for our being,
00:13:16.62\00:13:20.36
we're not the same thing as God.
00:13:20.36\00:13:22.40
We are distinct with
our own personalities.
00:13:22.40\00:13:25.40
The God of the
Bible is absolutely unique
00:13:26.53\00:13:28.27
on the landscape
of world religions.
00:13:28.27\00:13:30.61
He's infinite, which is
really, really important,
00:13:30.61\00:13:33.48
because that's how we can see
00:13:33.48\00:13:35.48
that you and I are
finite by comparison.
00:13:35.48\00:13:38.55
I mean, in order to understand
what it means to be finite,
00:13:38.55\00:13:41.55
you have to have something
to compare yourself to,
00:13:41.55\00:13:44.22
something infinite.
00:13:44.22\00:13:45.75
You have to have an
external reference point.
00:13:45.75\00:13:48.92
That makes our understanding
of the God of the Bible
00:13:48.92\00:13:52.26
the opposite from the
way the pagans considered it.
00:13:52.26\00:13:55.96
They had very human-like gods
they made in their own image,
00:13:55.96\00:13:59.57
but the Bible has the
human race made in God's image.
00:13:59.57\00:14:02.24
We are not identical with God,
00:14:02.24\00:14:03.64
but there is
something of God in all of us
00:14:03.64\00:14:06.88
that makes the
human race special,
00:14:06.88\00:14:08.71
even noble.
00:14:09.51\00:14:11.01
So, in other words,
00:14:11.01\00:14:12.45
the pagans determined
what the gods were like
00:14:12.45\00:14:14.55
by comparing them to us,
00:14:14.55\00:14:16.72
and by contrast,
00:14:16.72\00:14:18.39
you and I can
determine what we are like
00:14:18.39\00:14:20.89
by comparing and
contrasting ourselves
00:14:20.89\00:14:23.59
with the infinite God.
00:14:23.59\00:14:25.36
It's an exercise that generates
a lot of humility and awe,
00:14:25.36\00:14:29.30
and you'll see that
in some of the Psalms,
00:14:29.30\00:14:31.27
because they were
written as the psalmist was awed
00:14:31.27\00:14:34.44
as he contemplated
the majesty of God.
00:14:34.44\00:14:37.41
About 500 years before Christ,
00:14:38.37\00:14:40.51
there was a Greek philosopher
by the name of Xenophanes
00:14:40.51\00:14:43.48
who started to get uncomfortable
00:14:43.48\00:14:45.21
with just how awful his
pagan Greek gods really were.
00:14:45.21\00:14:49.18
I mean, they were
petty, they slept around,
00:14:49.18\00:14:51.82
they squabbled,
they lied, they murdered,
00:14:51.82\00:14:54.12
and they used the
human race like a plaything.
00:14:54.12\00:14:57.09
He finally came
to the realization
00:14:57.09\00:14:58.73
that these
couldn't be gods at all,
00:14:58.73\00:15:00.60
and because they
weren't big enough
00:15:00.60\00:15:02.13
to explain the
existence of the whole universe,
00:15:02.13\00:15:04.67
he suggested
there must be one god
00:15:04.67\00:15:07.77
who created everything.
00:15:07.77\00:15:09.60
Now, unfortunately,
00:15:09.60\00:15:10.87
we don't have much
left over from his writings,
00:15:10.87\00:15:13.54
but the fragments
we do have demonstrate
00:15:13.54\00:15:16.14
that Xenophanes was getting
embarrassed by his paganism.
00:15:16.14\00:15:19.68
He realized that
his gods were made
00:15:19.68\00:15:21.72
in the image of humanity.
00:15:21.72\00:15:23.52
If animals could be
religious, he taught,
00:15:23.52\00:15:26.09
their God would
look like an animal,
00:15:26.09\00:15:27.66
because they were making
gods to resemble themselves.
00:15:27.66\00:15:30.99
That's what we've been
doing, Xenophanes said.
00:15:30.99\00:15:33.53
But God, if you think about it,
00:15:33.53\00:15:34.83
couldn't possibly be like us.
00:15:34.83\00:15:37.97
One of the key
differences he said
00:15:37.97\00:15:39.63
is that the creator must
be eternal by his very nature,
00:15:39.63\00:15:43.07
and we're not.
00:15:43.07\00:15:44.37
"Everything which
comes into being," he said,
00:15:44.37\00:15:46.04
"is doomed to perish,"
00:15:46.04\00:15:47.74
and he insisted
that the human soul
00:15:47.74\00:15:49.48
might actually
just be our breath.
00:15:49.48\00:15:52.31
He was moving away
from pagan cosmology
00:15:52.31\00:15:54.45
towards something a lot closer
00:15:54.45\00:15:56.15
to what you find in
the Book of Genesis,
00:15:56.15\00:15:58.29
and he got there by
using logic and reason.
00:15:58.29\00:16:02.39
So now, let's go back
to the Book of Genesis.
00:16:02.39\00:16:04.59
The God it
describes is big enough
00:16:04.59\00:16:06.66
to account for what
we see in this world,
00:16:06.66\00:16:08.93
but at the same time,
he is deeply personal,
00:16:08.93\00:16:11.37
which explains the
noble nature of human beings.
00:16:11.37\00:16:14.60
It explains why
the natural world
00:16:14.60\00:16:16.71
appears to have
order and design,
00:16:16.71\00:16:18.77
and it invites us to use
our gift for rational thought
00:16:18.77\00:16:21.71
to go out and find God,
00:16:21.71\00:16:23.88
and it was this idea
00:16:23.88\00:16:25.41
that gave the Western
world its appetite for science.
00:16:25.41\00:16:29.25
The universe can be
studied, we realized,
00:16:29.25\00:16:31.42
because it makes sense,
00:16:31.42\00:16:33.25
and the universe makes sense
00:16:33.25\00:16:34.82
because it is the
work of a sensible being.
00:16:34.82\00:16:37.66
Go back and read the writings
of the great minds of science,
00:16:37.66\00:16:40.43
people like da Vinci or Newton,
00:16:40.43\00:16:42.53
and you'll discover
that they were positive
00:16:42.53\00:16:44.87
there was
something to learn out there,
00:16:44.87\00:16:46.47
because there is a god who can
be found behind the creation.
00:16:46.47\00:16:50.24
It's a concept that Paul
underlines very carefully
00:16:51.47\00:16:53.88
in his letter to
the Church of Rome.
00:16:53.88\00:16:55.64
I'm pretty sure you've
heard this passage before,
00:16:55.64\00:16:57.51
because it's one of
my all-time favorites.
00:16:57.51\00:17:00.25
It's found in Romans
chapter 1, starting in verse 19,
00:17:00.25\00:17:03.75
and Paul is
talking about skeptics
00:17:03.75\00:17:05.85
who reject the idea of God
00:17:05.85\00:17:07.72
because they think
there's no evidence.
00:17:07.72\00:17:09.62
Here's what he says.
00:17:09.62\00:17:11.23
"For what can be known
about God is plain to them,
00:17:11.23\00:17:14.40
because God has
shown it to them.
00:17:14.40\00:17:16.30
For his invisible attributes,
00:17:16.30\00:17:17.90
namely his eternal
power and divine nature,
00:17:17.90\00:17:20.47
have been clearly perceived
00:17:20.47\00:17:22.00
ever since the
creation of the world
00:17:22.00\00:17:23.97
in the things
that have been made,
00:17:23.97\00:17:26.04
so they are without excuse."
00:17:26.04\00:17:28.61
This is one of the
biggest differences
00:17:29.71\00:17:31.11
between the God of the Bible
00:17:31.11\00:17:32.55
and the deities
of other religions.
00:17:32.55\00:17:34.98
The Greek and Roman gods
eventually started to look silly
00:17:34.98\00:17:37.75
because they were far
too human, morally speaking.
00:17:37.75\00:17:41.49
They were just too much like us.
00:17:41.49\00:17:44.03
And those nebulous
fuzzy deities of the East,
00:17:44.03\00:17:46.73
the ones that
have no personality?
00:17:46.73\00:17:49.03
That's a god who's
completely unknowable.
00:17:49.03\00:17:51.90
In most of the world's
religions, all you've really got
00:17:51.90\00:17:54.40
are some esoteric,
mystical experiences
00:17:54.40\00:17:56.60
that can't even be described
in everyday human language.
00:17:56.60\00:18:00.31
There is no reasonable approach
00:18:00.31\00:18:02.08
to the cosmic mind
behind the universe.
00:18:02.08\00:18:04.05
You just can't get
there by using simple logic.
00:18:04.05\00:18:07.52
It's a little bit
like the psychedelic trips
00:18:07.52\00:18:09.75
that the hippies were
taking back in the '60s.
00:18:09.75\00:18:12.02
They would come back from this
so-called profound experience
00:18:12.02\00:18:14.82
that didn't make any real sense.
00:18:14.82\00:18:17.03
They just assumed
that they had broken free
00:18:17.03\00:18:19.13
from the illusion
of a personal identity
00:18:19.13\00:18:21.86
and ascended to
some higher plane.
00:18:21.86\00:18:23.90
Never mind, of course,
the fact that you needed drugs
00:18:23.90\00:18:26.43
to get there.
00:18:26.43\00:18:27.34
By contrast, the God
of the Bible is knowable.
00:18:28.50\00:18:31.37
In addition to
creating the universe,
00:18:31.37\00:18:33.17
he continued to
interact with us.
00:18:33.17\00:18:34.78
In fact, he
actually speaks to us.
00:18:34.78\00:18:37.71
Let me read you one of
my very favorite passages
00:18:37.71\00:18:39.95
found over in
the Book of Jeremiah,
00:18:39.95\00:18:41.92
because I think it's one of
the most profound in the Bible,
00:18:41.92\00:18:44.52
but I'm right
up against a break,
00:18:44.52\00:18:46.96
so I'll read that to
you as soon as we get back.
00:18:46.96\00:18:50.16
[air whooshes]
00:18:50.16\00:18:53.53
- [Narrator] Dragons,
beasts, cryptic statues.
00:18:53.53\00:18:57.80
Bible prophecy can be
incredibly vivid and confusing.
00:18:57.80\00:19:02.34
If you've ever read
Daniel or Revelation
00:19:02.34\00:19:04.54
and come away
scratching your head,
00:19:04.54\00:19:06.27
you're not alone.
00:19:06.27\00:19:07.61
Our free Focus
on Prophecy guides
00:19:07.61\00:19:09.98
are designed to help you unlock
the mysteries of the Bible
00:19:09.98\00:19:12.78
and deepen your
understanding of God's plan
00:19:12.78\00:19:15.22
for you and our world.
00:19:15.22\00:19:16.85
Study online or
request them by mail
00:19:16.85\00:19:19.32
and start bringing
prophecy into focus today.
00:19:19.32\00:19:22.26
- All right,
just before the break,
00:19:23.32\00:19:24.63
we were on our way
to the Book of Jeremiah
00:19:24.63\00:19:26.13
to a profound
passage that I love.
00:19:26.13\00:19:28.36
In fact, you've heard me
read it many times in the past.
00:19:28.36\00:19:32.03
It comes from Jeremiah
9, starting in verse 23.
00:19:32.03\00:19:35.57
"Thus says the Lord:
00:19:35.57\00:19:37.07
'Let not the wise
man boast in his wisdom,
00:19:37.07\00:19:39.54
let not the mighty
man boast in his might,
00:19:39.54\00:19:41.71
let not the rich
man boast in his riches,
00:19:41.71\00:19:44.25
but let him who
boasts boast in this,
00:19:44.25\00:19:47.38
that he
understands and knows me,
00:19:47.38\00:19:50.42
that I am the Lord who practices
steadfast love, justice,
00:19:50.42\00:19:53.86
and righteousness in the earth.
00:19:53.86\00:19:55.72
For in these things I
delight,' declares the Lord."
00:19:55.72\00:19:59.63
The God of the Bible is knowable
00:19:59.63\00:20:02.00
and he's knowable
because he communicates,
00:20:02.00\00:20:04.27
and he communicates
in more than one way.
00:20:04.27\00:20:06.94
On the one hand, you have a
collection of inspired writings,
00:20:06.94\00:20:10.01
the words of prophets
00:20:10.01\00:20:11.57
who conveyed the
thoughts of God to us,
00:20:11.57\00:20:14.31
but then you also
have what some people call
00:20:14.31\00:20:16.44
the Book of Nature,
00:20:16.44\00:20:17.85
and as Paul points out,
you can discover the creator
00:20:17.85\00:20:20.42
by looking at
the things he made.
00:20:20.42\00:20:22.15
They're literally
covered with his fingerprints.
00:20:22.15\00:20:25.35
That's the idea that gave birth
00:20:25.35\00:20:26.92
to the scientific revolution,
00:20:26.92\00:20:28.72
the idea that there
was something out there
00:20:28.72\00:20:31.86
to be discovered.
00:20:31.86\00:20:33.50
And that's where
Francis Schaeffer comes into the
00:20:33.50\00:20:37.27
picture. Thomas
Aquinas, he said,
00:20:37.27\00:20:39.30
helped derail our authentic
natural approach to science,
00:20:39.30\00:20:42.94
and he did that by suggesting
00:20:42.94\00:20:44.77
that human reason is autonomous.
00:20:44.77\00:20:46.41
We can just use
it to discover truth
00:20:46.41\00:20:48.14
without including God at all.
00:20:48.14\00:20:50.48
What we did at that point
in history, Schaeffer said,
00:20:50.48\00:20:53.11
was divorce the two great realms
of philosophical discovery.
00:20:53.11\00:20:57.69
On the one hand, he said, we
have the world of particulars.
00:20:57.69\00:21:00.56
That's what he called it.
00:21:00.56\00:21:01.96
The vast diversity of
things we find on this planet,
00:21:01.96\00:21:04.86
particular things.
00:21:04.86\00:21:06.53
But then on the other hand,
00:21:06.53\00:21:08.00
we find ourselves looking
for the universal principles
00:21:08.00\00:21:10.37
that bind all of those
individual particulars together.
00:21:10.37\00:21:14.47
Let's use your
morning commute as an example.
00:21:14.47\00:21:16.44
Let's say you
drive a Toyota Corolla.
00:21:16.44\00:21:19.24
That would be a particular,
a single kind of car,
00:21:19.24\00:21:22.71
but the concept
of cars in general,
00:21:22.71\00:21:25.08
that would be the universal.
00:21:25.08\00:21:27.25
A car might be an SUV,
it might be a pickup truck,
00:21:27.25\00:21:30.02
but there will always
be wheels, and an engine,
00:21:30.02\00:21:32.45
and those kinds of things.
00:21:32.45\00:21:33.76
The things that help
define what a car is.
00:21:33.76\00:21:37.13
Once Aquinas introduced the idea
00:21:37.93\00:21:39.56
that we could use our
unaided reason to discover truth
00:21:39.56\00:21:42.73
without any reference to God,
00:21:42.73\00:21:45.00
well, that's when we
started to run into trouble.
00:21:45.00\00:21:47.40
We could still use our reason
00:21:47.40\00:21:48.84
to identify and
categorize all kinds of things
00:21:48.84\00:21:51.67
out there in the natural world,
00:21:51.67\00:21:53.71
but we no longer had an
overarching universal principle
00:21:53.71\00:21:56.88
that tied it all together.
00:21:56.88\00:21:58.71
We knew these
things were out there,
00:21:58.71\00:22:00.62
but we had no
reason for their existence.
00:22:00.62\00:22:02.45
We had a what without a why.
00:22:02.45\00:22:04.85
And after adapting
that point of view,
00:22:04.85\00:22:07.46
what we were left with was
a very mechanical universe,
00:22:07.46\00:22:10.09
one that worked very
well and was predictable,
00:22:10.09\00:22:13.33
but now, it seems to have
come into existence by accident
00:22:13.33\00:22:16.06
along with the human race.
00:22:16.06\00:22:17.97
Without God in the picture,
00:22:17.97\00:22:19.33
the cosmic machine still
seems to work beautifully,
00:22:19.33\00:22:22.64
but now for no good reason.
00:22:22.64\00:22:24.71
Dr. Schaeffer
describes it like this.
00:22:24.71\00:22:26.91
He says,
00:22:26.91\00:22:28.38
"If the intrinsically
personal origin of the universe
00:22:28.38\00:22:30.98
is rejected,
00:22:30.98\00:22:32.11
what alternative
outlook can anyone have?
00:22:32.11\00:22:34.42
It must be said emphatically
00:22:34.42\00:22:36.22
that there is no final answer
00:22:36.22\00:22:37.72
except that man is a
product of the impersonal,
00:22:37.72\00:22:40.52
plus time, plus chance."
00:22:40.52\00:22:43.12
We still believed
that the universe had order
00:22:44.33\00:22:46.43
and that you could study
the order to learn things,
00:22:46.43\00:22:49.26
but we moved away
from a limited system
00:22:49.26\00:22:51.47
where God could
be outside of nature
00:22:51.47\00:22:54.04
and intervene in
nature when he wanted to
00:22:54.04\00:22:56.84
to a closed system that
was nothing but a machine
00:22:56.84\00:22:59.24
that just somehow came
into existence all by itself.
00:22:59.24\00:23:02.38
We were studying the
particulars of our existence,
00:23:03.68\00:23:06.31
but suddenly, we didn't
have a universal behind it,
00:23:06.31\00:23:09.22
and without that
universal principle,
00:23:09.22\00:23:10.99
without a personal, infinite
God who ordered the universe,
00:23:10.99\00:23:14.59
humanity became nothing more
than just a cog in the machine.
00:23:14.59\00:23:18.19
We were no longer special.
00:23:18.19\00:23:19.63
We lacked any real
purpose, and because of that,
00:23:19.63\00:23:22.43
our lives no
longer meant something.
00:23:22.43\00:23:25.13
But never mind, we
were still convinced
00:23:25.13\00:23:27.60
of the absolute
power of human reason
00:23:27.60\00:23:30.01
to discover just about anything,
00:23:30.01\00:23:32.17
until we started to understand
the limits of reason itself.
00:23:32.17\00:23:35.88
In the world of
philosophy, we came to the point
00:23:35.88\00:23:38.05
where we couldn't
be certain of anything.
00:23:38.05\00:23:40.32
Epistemology is the
branch of philosophy
00:23:40.32\00:23:42.82
that studies how we know things,
00:23:42.82\00:23:44.59
or to be more accurate,
00:23:44.59\00:23:46.35
how we know that we
know things for sure.
00:23:46.35\00:23:49.72
I mean, here we are,
00:23:49.72\00:23:50.96
gathering up data
left, right, and center.
00:23:50.96\00:23:52.46
We live in a world that is
saturated with information.
00:23:52.46\00:23:55.96
We take
measurements, we do the math,
00:23:55.96\00:23:58.00
and we declare that
there are physical laws
00:23:58.00\00:24:00.04
that govern the universe,
00:24:00.04\00:24:01.94
but how do you
know your data is good?
00:24:01.94\00:24:04.31
How do you know
that your measurements
00:24:04.31\00:24:05.81
actually mean something?
00:24:05.81\00:24:07.28
How do you even know
that your existence is real?
00:24:07.28\00:24:10.38
I know to some people
00:24:10.38\00:24:11.65
these seem like
really stupid questions,
00:24:11.65\00:24:13.48
until you realize
00:24:13.48\00:24:14.85
that the last few
hundred years of philosophy
00:24:14.85\00:24:16.75
have been obsessed with them.
00:24:16.75\00:24:18.29
I mean, right now, I
think I'm on TV or the radio,
00:24:19.52\00:24:22.29
and I think I'm
talking to other self-aware,
00:24:22.29\00:24:24.36
sentient human beings,
00:24:24.36\00:24:25.79
but how do I really know that?
00:24:25.79\00:24:28.30
And when I find
myself listening to you,
00:24:28.30\00:24:30.63
how in the world do I know
00:24:30.63\00:24:31.90
that I really
understand what you're saying?
00:24:31.90\00:24:34.37
Of course, common sense
tells us the world is real.
00:24:34.37\00:24:37.11
Common sense tells
us that when we talk,
00:24:37.11\00:24:39.34
we are actually communicating
with somebody else,
00:24:39.34\00:24:42.44
so our daily experience suggests
00:24:42.44\00:24:44.58
that the
philosophers are probably wrong.
00:24:44.58\00:24:46.82
There is a real universe, and
I'll be right back after this.
00:24:46.82\00:24:51.19
[air whooshes]
00:24:51.99\00:24:54.62
- [Narrator] You can
almost hear your imagination.
00:24:55.92\00:24:58.23
[serene music]
00:24:59.33\00:25:01.93
So free
00:25:06.20\00:25:07.54
your spirits can soar.
00:25:09.94\00:25:12.01
So vast
00:25:15.71\00:25:16.95
it needs to be explored.
00:25:19.21\00:25:21.42
[serene music]
00:25:21.42\00:25:24.09
So high
00:25:29.79\00:25:30.99
you can touch the clouds.
00:25:33.06\00:25:35.56
A place
00:25:37.77\00:25:38.67
called Discovery Mountain.
00:25:41.27\00:25:43.17
- It stands to reason
that I can believe you exist,
00:25:46.41\00:25:49.11
because when you talk to
me, you communicate ideas
00:25:49.11\00:25:51.71
that were obviously
not born in my mind.
00:25:51.71\00:25:53.92
They're new.
00:25:53.92\00:25:55.32
Experience teaches me
that you really are there,
00:25:55.32\00:25:57.72
but modern philosophers
have really struggled with that,
00:25:57.72\00:26:00.76
to the point where they say
finally, like Albert Camus did,
00:26:00.76\00:26:04.03
that the universe around
us is really just absurd.
00:26:04.03\00:26:07.46
It's an idea
that has made its way
00:26:07.46\00:26:08.83
into Christian
thinking unfortunately,
00:26:08.83\00:26:10.90
and so now, I'm thinking of
people like Soren Kierkegaard,
00:26:10.90\00:26:13.94
who suggested there is no way
00:26:13.94\00:26:15.24
to rationally study
the existence of God.
00:26:15.24\00:26:18.34
All we really have, he
said, is a leap of faith,
00:26:18.34\00:26:21.21
with no requirement
for logic or reason.
00:26:21.21\00:26:24.55
But as smart as Kierkegaard
was, I would have to say
00:26:24.55\00:26:27.15
that is not the
position of the scriptures.
00:26:27.15\00:26:30.85
The Bible says the
universe is knowable
00:26:30.85\00:26:32.85
because there is an infinite,
personal God who made it,
00:26:32.85\00:26:36.12
and because his work is
knowable, he is knowable,
00:26:36.12\00:26:39.69
and if God is knowable
00:26:39.69\00:26:41.53
and we are made in his image,
00:26:41.53\00:26:42.83
then you and I
can be knowable too.
00:26:42.83\00:26:45.33
We can figure out what it
means to be authentically human.
00:26:45.33\00:26:48.37
We are not just cogs
in some galactic machine,
00:26:48.37\00:26:51.21
meaningless
parts of the universe
00:26:51.21\00:26:52.87
that don't have a
reason for existence.
00:26:52.87\00:26:56.04
Right now, we have come
to a point in human history
00:26:56.04\00:26:59.08
where absurdity is
actually the prevailing theory,
00:26:59.08\00:27:02.32
but think about this.
00:27:02.32\00:27:04.05
Human beings have built
this incredible civilization,
00:27:04.05\00:27:06.76
the most prosperous in
the history of the world,
00:27:06.76\00:27:09.16
squarely on the notion
that the universe is knowable
00:27:09.16\00:27:12.99
because God is knowable,
00:27:12.99\00:27:15.10
but now, we see
our certainty crumbling
00:27:15.10\00:27:16.97
in the face of a generation
00:27:16.97\00:27:18.23
that says you can't
know anything for sure,
00:27:18.23\00:27:20.44
and we no longer
believe in objective truth.
00:27:20.44\00:27:23.44
We struggle to figure
out who or what we are,
00:27:23.44\00:27:25.61
to the point where
we're making ridiculous leaps
00:27:25.61\00:27:28.11
into absurdity,
00:27:28.11\00:27:29.58
and now, we're inventing
identities for ourselves
00:27:29.58\00:27:31.91
that defy all logic.
00:27:31.91\00:27:35.28
What we're doing now is reaping
the long-term consequences
00:27:35.28\00:27:38.35
of rejecting the personal God.
00:27:38.35\00:27:40.62
We prized
personal freedom instead,
00:27:40.62\00:27:43.09
and tried to liberate ourselves
from God-given morality.
00:27:43.09\00:27:46.70
We thought it might make us
happy, but obviously, it didn't.
00:27:46.70\00:27:50.27
You know,
00:27:50.27\00:27:51.80
it might actually be too
late for Western civilization,
00:27:51.80\00:27:52.83
but it's not too late for you.
00:27:52.83\00:27:55.14
Maybe it's time to go back
to the claims of the Bible,
00:27:55.14\00:27:57.41
because maybe,
00:27:57.41\00:27:59.04
it's exactly what your
heart's been looking for.
00:27:59.04\00:28:02.18
Thanks for joining me today.
00:28:02.18\00:28:03.55
I'm Shawn Boonstra,
00:28:03.55\00:28:04.95
and you've been watching
another episode of "Authentic."
00:28:04.95\00:28:08.05
[inquisitive music]
00:28:08.85\00:28:11.92
[inquisitive music continues]
00:28:14.42\00:28:18.33
[inquisitive music continues]
00:28:22.56\00:28:26.47