- People have long dreamed
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of building the
perfect place to live,
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paradise, a Garden of Eden.
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And it's understandable
that we wanna do that
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because real
life is pretty hard.
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But there's a serious
flaw with utopian thinking,
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a flaw that shows up
every single time we try.
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[mellow music]
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[mellow music continues]
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Back in my college days,
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and really back in
my pre-Christian days,
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I was forced to read
this book, Plato's "Republic."
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Now, that's not so unusual
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because this is
fairly standard reading
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for first-year college students,
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and at the age of, oh, 17 or 18,
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this was really
the first complete work
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written by a Greek philosopher
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that I ever read cover to cover.
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I mean, I'd been
dabbling in philosophy
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but nothing quite like this.
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And if I'm honest about
it, I really hated this book.
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The professor who assigned this
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thought it presented
a reasonable template
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for building a
better, more just society,
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and he suggested that
we would all do very well
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to pay attention to
what Plato was proposing.
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So of course I read it,
mostly because I had to,
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and this is
actually the very copy
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I bought from the
bookstore in the fall of 1987.
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Now, personally, I'm not
convinced that Plato meant this
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as a blueprint
for building a utopia,
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and I honestly think it was
more of a thought experiment
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designed to help his
audience explore the meaning
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of one important concept,
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and that concept is justice.
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What does justice look like?
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How can
everybody get a fair shake?
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And Plato makes his case
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by using the metaphor
of a well-ordered city.
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That city, I believe,
stood for the individual,
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kind of the way
John Bunyan used a city
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to represent a single individual
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in his brilliant
book, "The Holy War."
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So this is what I
wrote in my term paper,
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this is a metaphor.
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And the professor, of course,
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was underwhelmed
by my teenaged attempt
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to undermine one
of his favorite books,
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and he remained
absolutely convinced
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that there was
something to Plato's work
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that everybody
should pay attention to.
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He said this is the blueprint
for a better government.
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And of course that
position left me very unhappy
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because if you take this book
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to be some kind
of political manual,
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and honestly, some people do,
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you're gonna run into some
really serious ethical issues.
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For starters, let's
think about the people
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Plato apparently
thinks are inferior to him.
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As far as the ancient
Greeks were concerned,
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the philosopher was the
highest station in life.
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Good philosophers were
enlightened, elite human beings
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who lived well
above the rest of us
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up in the moral stratosphere.
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Plato thought he was the
smartest man in the room,
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the one who was able to tap
into the wisdom of the universe.
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And so of course, when he
was designing his ideal society,
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he put the philosopher king
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at the very top
of the power pyramid
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because he was obviously suited
to rule all the rest of us,
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and the rest of us
should be happy about it.
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Of course, 2,600 years later,
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after some of
these ancient eggheads
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actually applied their
knowledge to running a society,
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we can definitively say
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that they did not
solve our worst problems.
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They proved to be no
better than the warrior kings,
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and sometimes they
were actually worse.
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That's because running
something like a civilization
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has far too many variables
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for anybody to ever make a
perfectly informed decision.
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Of course, that didn't
stop these people from trying,
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and somewhere along
the way, a lot of these
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so-called sophisticated
rulers, intellectuals,
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started to lose their grip
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on the value of
individual people.
00:03:57.07\00:04:00.24
Their intellectual
and ideological goals
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became more important than the
value of a single human life,
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and so eventually
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the people they
governed became expendable,
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and they started
to make decisions
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that completely
ignored individual rights.
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Now, obviously, you
and I prize individualism
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a lot more than some
of our ancestors did,
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and the American
Revolution is really the product
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of hundreds of
years of careful thinking,
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and we sometimes forget
just how difficult it was
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to codify the natural
rights that you and I now enjoy.
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But let's get
back to the ancients
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who probably prized a hierarchy
more than most of us do.
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One of the problems that emerges
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when you have a
handful of power brokers
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sitting at the
top is censorship.
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This one might sound familiar
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given the current political
climate here in the West,
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where some people
really don't think
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that their ideological opponents
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should be
allowed to say anything.
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According to Plato,
only the philosopher kings
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could possibly be smart
enough to know which ideas
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should be allowed
and which ones shouldn't.
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The ruling class
would have to take charge
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of what children
were allowed to learn
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so that nobody would
develop a new philosophy
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that undermined
the rulers' power.
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Now, the lead
character in Plato's "Republic"
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is Socrates, the
great philosopher
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who didn't apparently
write a book of his own.
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The primary way we know
about what Socrates believed
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is through the
writings of Plato,
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who uses his character to
guide philosophical discussions.
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And here's what Plato had
Socrates say about censorship,
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and I quote,
"First, as it seems,
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we must supervise
the makers of tales;
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and if they make a fine
tale, it must be approved,
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but if it's not,
it must be rejected.
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We'll persuade
nurses and mothers
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to tell the approved
tales to their children
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and to shape
their souls with tales
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more than their
bodies with hands.
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Many of those they now
tell must be thrown out."
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So let's think
about what this is saying.
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He's saying
mothers aren't smart enough
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to know what's
good for their children,
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so the state should regulate
what they're allowed to say.
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Every child must
only learn the stories
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that help them appreciate
the state and nothing else.
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So in other words, the
state owns your children,
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and if that concept
actually appeals to you,
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you might wanna
spend a little more time
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thinking it through.
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I mean, when in
the history of humanity
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has the state ever proven
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to have your very
best interests at heart?
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When, ever?
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This idea that
the state owns you
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is a key feature of just
about any totalitarian regime.
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The state, they
say, is not your servant,
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and it's not there
to serve your needs
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or protect your ability to live.
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Instead, it's
the other way around.
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The state
considers you to be an asset,
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a tool for
maintaining its own well-being.
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I mean, you'll
notice a guy like Hitler
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immediately went after
the kids because he believed
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that if he could change
the way the children think
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he'd have their
loyalty for life.
00:07:09.42\00:07:11.66
And the same thing happened
in the former Soviet Union.
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They went after the kids
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as a way to eliminate
resistance in the future.
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And now, tragically,
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we're starting to hear
this same kind of thinking
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right here in the West,
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this idea that the
state has primary ownership,
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primary responsibility
for your children,
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and because of that,
they're going to determine
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what you're
allowed to read or say
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and what you're not
allowed to read or say.
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Now, here in the United States,
00:07:37.99\00:07:39.65
and for that matter,
most of the Western nations,
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the idea of a book ban
probably isn't gonna fly,
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at least not yet.
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But when it comes
to online content,
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pay attention
to what's going on.
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We now have no
shortage of people
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suggesting that what
we see on social media
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should be heavily
regulated by government.
00:07:56.47\00:07:59.34
And they're not
talking about things
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like graphic
violence or pornography
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where you could make a case
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that maybe these kinds of things
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shouldn't be out in the open
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in an environment that
clearly involves young people.
00:08:08.32\00:08:11.55
I'm really talking about having
the wrong political opinion.
00:08:11.55\00:08:15.22
And right now, it
doesn't seem to matter
00:08:15.22\00:08:16.99
which side of the
ideological fence you sit on.
00:08:16.99\00:08:20.03
You will find plenty of
people who would be very happy
00:08:20.03\00:08:23.00
to legally shut down your
ability to express yourself.
00:08:23.00\00:08:28.07
And of course,
in recent history,
00:08:29.04\00:08:30.17
we've seen lots of opposition
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to the social
media platform TikTok
00:08:31.81\00:08:34.14
because people now fear
that the Chinese government
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is using it to harvest data.
00:08:37.21\00:08:39.31
Now, for that reason,
00:08:39.31\00:08:40.62
personally, I wouldn't
put TikTok on my phone.
00:08:40.62\00:08:44.05
But now we have
governments proposing
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that we simply ban the whole
platform altogether nationwide.
00:08:45.75\00:08:50.16
And honestly, I understand
why they're thinking that.
00:08:50.16\00:08:52.69
I understand why the government
00:08:52.69\00:08:54.23
doesn't want its
employees to use this platform.
00:08:54.23\00:08:57.77
But are you really sure
you want to give a government
00:08:57.77\00:09:00.34
even greater ability to control
the information you consume?
00:09:00.34\00:09:04.54
Now, censorship was
just the tip of the iceberg
00:09:04.54\00:09:07.94
when it comes to
objectionable ideas
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in the writings of Plato.
00:09:10.11\00:09:11.68
But right now, the clock on
the wall wishes to censor me,
00:09:11.68\00:09:14.68
so I have to take a break.
00:09:14.68\00:09:16.55
[mellow music]
00:09:16.55\00:09:19.15
[gentle uplifting music]
00:09:19.15\00:09:20.46
- [Spokesperson] Here
at The Voice of Prophecy,
00:09:20.46\00:09:21.86
we're committed to
creating top-quality programming
00:09:21.86\00:09:23.63
for the whole family,
00:09:23.63\00:09:25.06
like our audio adventure
series, "Discovery Mountain."
00:09:25.06\00:09:28.16
"Discovery Mountain"
is a bible-based program
00:09:28.16\00:09:30.73
for kids of all
ages and backgrounds.
00:09:30.73\00:09:33.07
Your family will enjoy
the faith-building stories
00:09:33.07\00:09:35.84
from this small
mountain summer camp and town.
00:09:35.84\00:09:38.67
With 24 seasonal
episodes every year
00:09:38.67\00:09:41.21
and fresh content every week,
00:09:41.21\00:09:43.35
there's always a new
adventure just on the horizon.
00:09:43.35\00:09:46.51
[gentle
uplifting music continues]
00:09:46.51\00:09:49.62
- The next horrible idea I
found in Plato's "Republic"
00:09:49.62\00:09:52.42
suggests that because people
00:09:52.42\00:09:54.22
are essentially
competitive by nature,
00:09:54.22\00:09:56.73
we should eliminate the
concept of private property.
00:09:56.73\00:10:00.56
Here's what it says.
00:10:00.56\00:10:02.23
"And what about this?
00:10:02.23\00:10:03.87
Won't lawsuits and
complaints against one another,
00:10:03.87\00:10:06.20
in a word,
vanish from among them
00:10:06.20\00:10:08.44
thanks to their possessing
nothing private but the body,
00:10:08.44\00:10:11.51
while the rest is in common?
00:10:11.51\00:10:13.51
On this basis they will
then be free from faction,
00:10:13.51\00:10:16.48
to the extent at any rate
00:10:16.48\00:10:18.21
that human beings
divide into factions
00:10:18.21\00:10:20.02
over the possession of
money, children, and relatives?"
00:10:20.02\00:10:24.22
Now, you tell me,
does that sound familiar?
00:10:24.22\00:10:26.29
You will own nothing,
and you will be happy.
00:10:26.29\00:10:29.19
It's another
concept you'll find emerging
00:10:29.19\00:10:31.33
in almost every
utopian experiment,
00:10:31.33\00:10:34.00
this idea that the
state should own everything
00:10:34.00\00:10:36.90
because, again, obviously
the state knows better than you.
00:10:36.90\00:10:40.47
And so we get despots, people
who are absolutely convinced
00:10:40.47\00:10:44.07
that they are the
smartest people in the room,
00:10:44.07\00:10:46.31
and they can do
whatever they want,
00:10:46.31\00:10:48.24
quote, "for the
good of everybody."
00:10:48.24\00:10:50.21
So they start
to confiscate stuff
00:10:50.21\00:10:52.15
and funnel it all to the top,
00:10:52.15\00:10:54.48
and if you try to protest,
you'll be decried as selfish
00:10:54.48\00:10:57.32
because apparently
you're not interested
00:10:57.32\00:10:59.79
in the welfare of
others, which is just not true.
00:10:59.79\00:11:03.06
And then Plato comes
00:11:04.23\00:11:05.53
to what is probably
his most horrific concept,
00:11:05.53\00:11:08.76
this idea that
a philosopher king
00:11:08.76\00:11:10.93
might be smart enough to
actually sculpt the human race,
00:11:10.93\00:11:14.77
breeding us like farm animals
00:11:14.77\00:11:17.01
to eliminate our
very worst traits.
00:11:17.01\00:11:20.08
And you might think
that could never happen,
00:11:20.08\00:11:22.61
but how do you
explain the race experiments
00:11:22.61\00:11:24.81
of the Third Reich
00:11:24.81\00:11:26.31
or the eugenics craze that
existed right here in the US
00:11:26.31\00:11:29.95
back in the 1920s?
00:11:29.95\00:11:32.49
Why is it that utopians
almost always land on the idea
00:11:32.49\00:11:36.26
that some
people are undesirable,
00:11:36.26\00:11:38.93
they're standing in
the way of progress?
00:11:38.93\00:11:41.56
In Plato's "Republic,"
00:11:41.56\00:11:42.86
Socrates asks a guy
about his farm animals,
00:11:42.86\00:11:45.37
and he asks if a
responsible farmer
00:11:45.37\00:11:47.87
would fail to
breed the animals wisely.
00:11:47.87\00:11:50.94
Here's what he says.
00:11:50.94\00:11:52.61
"'My dear comrade,' I said,
00:11:52.61\00:11:54.44
'how very much we need
eminent rulers after all,
00:11:54.44\00:11:57.61
if it is also the same
with the human species.
00:11:57.61\00:12:00.32
Because it will be
a necessity for them
00:12:00.32\00:12:02.02
to use many drugs,' I said.
00:12:02.02\00:12:03.95
Presumably we believe that
for bodies not needing drugs,
00:12:03.95\00:12:07.96
but willing to respond to
the proscribed course of life,
00:12:07.96\00:12:10.46
even a common doctor will do.
00:12:10.46\00:12:12.69
But, of course, when there
is also a need to use drugs,
00:12:12.69\00:12:15.40
we know there is a need of
the most courageous doctor."
00:12:15.40\00:12:18.73
That's pretty horrible thinking.
00:12:19.57\00:12:21.30
He's suggesting
that ordinary problems
00:12:21.30\00:12:23.74
can be solved
by ordinary people,
00:12:23.74\00:12:25.51
but when it comes to the
big stuff, the big problems,
00:12:25.51\00:12:28.98
you're gonna need the doctors,
00:12:28.98\00:12:30.55
in other words,
the philosopher kings
00:12:30.55\00:12:32.21
to help you solve your problems,
00:12:32.21\00:12:34.08
and they're probably
going to have to administer
00:12:34.08\00:12:36.22
some really bitter medicine
to keep the people in line.
00:12:36.22\00:12:39.79
The drugs are just a metaphor
00:12:39.79\00:12:41.66
for the difficult ideas that
average people are gonna hate
00:12:41.66\00:12:45.46
when the
government implements them.
00:12:45.46\00:12:47.13
It continues,
"'To this,' I said,
00:12:47.13\00:12:50.27
'it's likely that our rulers
00:12:50.27\00:12:51.70
will have to use a
throng of lies and deceptions
00:12:51.70\00:12:53.87
for the benefit of the ruled.
00:12:53.87\00:12:55.64
And, of course, we said
that everything of this sort
00:12:55.64\00:12:58.04
is useful as a form of remedy.'"
00:12:58.04\00:13:00.91
In this way of thinking, the
ends always justify the means.
00:13:00.91\00:13:05.41
If you have to lie to the
people to get what you want,
00:13:05.41\00:13:07.78
so be it.
00:13:07.78\00:13:08.92
After all, it's
for their own good.
00:13:08.92\00:13:10.42
And you are, after
all, the benevolent ruler,
00:13:10.42\00:13:13.52
and you're the one who
knows what's best for all.
00:13:13.52\00:13:16.09
Now, does any of this
sound remotely familiar?
00:13:17.26\00:13:20.03
You know, it
actually gets worse.
00:13:20.03\00:13:21.83
Plato then suggests
that the ruling class
00:13:21.83\00:13:23.93
should be able to
choose who gets to have kids.
00:13:23.93\00:13:27.04
You can't just
allow ordinary people
00:13:27.04\00:13:28.77
to go out and reproduce.
00:13:28.77\00:13:30.47
That privilege
should be reserved
00:13:30.47\00:13:32.11
for the brightest and the best.
00:13:32.11\00:13:35.28
Look, what this
all boils down to
00:13:35.28\00:13:37.18
is a very low view of humanity.
00:13:37.18\00:13:40.48
People are expendable if you
think you are charting a course
00:13:40.48\00:13:43.35
toward a better society.
00:13:43.35\00:13:45.02
Joseph Stalin is
rumored to have said,
00:13:45.02\00:13:46.99
"Look, if you're gonna
have to make an omelet,
00:13:46.99\00:13:48.52
you're gonna have
to break a few eggs."
00:13:48.52\00:13:50.33
And with that, he put millions
of his own people to death.
00:13:50.33\00:13:54.20
He banished their ideas
00:13:54.20\00:13:55.80
and then eventually
banished their persons.
00:13:55.80\00:13:58.47
He starved millions in Ukraine
00:13:58.47\00:14:00.40
and sent millions
more to die in the gulags
00:14:00.40\00:14:03.14
because, well, in his
empire, life was cheap,
00:14:03.14\00:14:06.51
and you can't let people
00:14:06.51\00:14:07.74
stand in the way
of building paradise.
00:14:07.74\00:14:10.71
And that's where building Utopia
00:14:10.71\00:14:13.28
faces its very
biggest challenge.
00:14:13.28\00:14:16.12
It comes from this idea
00:14:16.12\00:14:17.69
that you and I are capable
of actually restoring paradise.
00:14:17.69\00:14:21.96
We all seem to have
this collective memory
00:14:21.96\00:14:24.16
that somehow, some way,
00:14:24.16\00:14:26.26
this world used to
be a much better place.
00:14:26.26\00:14:28.86
We understand that the world
00:14:28.86\00:14:30.20
hasn't always
been bad like this,
00:14:30.20\00:14:32.90
that somehow suffering isn't
supposed to be the way life is.
00:14:32.90\00:14:37.51
What I find absolutely
fascinating is the account you
00:14:37.51\00:14:40.88
find over in the
opening chapters of Genesis.
00:14:40.88\00:14:44.05
In just a few short pages,
00:14:44.05\00:14:45.71
you find the seed
of almost every idea,
00:14:45.71\00:14:48.02
every single issue that has
ever plagued us as a human race.
00:14:48.02\00:14:53.09
So, for example, in
the book of Genesis,
00:14:54.22\00:14:55.99
we find the birth
of urban development,
00:14:55.99\00:14:57.96
which proved to be a
bit of a mixed blessing.
00:14:57.96\00:15:01.00
On the one hand,
00:15:01.00\00:15:02.43
when you get a lot of
people gathered in one place,
00:15:02.43\00:15:04.47
you suddenly have
access to a lot more resources.
00:15:04.47\00:15:07.27
You get better
hospitals, better doctors,
00:15:07.27\00:15:09.60
better orchestras,
better libraries, and so on.
00:15:09.60\00:15:13.11
But then you've got to ask,
00:15:13.11\00:15:14.81
why do so many people
want to leave the city
00:15:14.81\00:15:17.51
and move out to the country?
00:15:17.51\00:15:19.31
It's because a lot of people
squeezed into one small place
00:15:19.31\00:15:22.42
comes with some
pretty notable problems.
00:15:22.42\00:15:24.82
You get more crime, more
pollution, higher cost of
00:15:24.82\00:15:28.46
living, and far more poverty.
00:15:28.46\00:15:30.46
People in large urban centers
00:15:30.46\00:15:32.09
have to steel themselves
against pain and suffering
00:15:32.09\00:15:34.56
because there's
just so much of it.
00:15:34.56\00:15:37.13
And what's curious
00:15:37.13\00:15:38.50
is the way the
opening chapters of Genesis
00:15:38.50\00:15:40.90
presents the birth of cities
in a rather negative light.
00:15:40.90\00:15:44.64
I mean, who's the first guy
to build a city in the Bible?
00:15:44.64\00:15:47.34
It's Cain, the guy
who murdered his brother.
00:15:47.34\00:15:50.38
Just ask yourself,
00:15:50.38\00:15:51.81
why is Abel still a
relatively popular baby name,
00:15:51.81\00:15:54.55
but nobody calls
their child Cain?
00:15:54.55\00:15:57.09
It'd be like naming
your kid Judas or Lucifer.
00:15:57.09\00:16:00.69
Now let's take a look
at what it actually says
00:16:01.86\00:16:03.29
in Genesis Chapter 4,
00:16:03.29\00:16:05.36
immediately
after Cain is punished
00:16:05.36\00:16:07.60
and required to leave the
area near the gates of Eden.
00:16:07.60\00:16:10.90
This proves to be leaving
the very presence of God.
00:16:10.90\00:16:15.10
Here's what it says.
00:16:15.10\00:16:16.77
"Then Cain went away
from the presence of the Lord
00:16:16.77\00:16:19.41
and settled in the
land of Nod, east of Eden.
00:16:19.41\00:16:22.48
Cain knew his wife, and
she conceived and bore Enoch.
00:16:22.48\00:16:25.61
When he built a city, he
called the name of the city
00:16:25.61\00:16:27.68
after the name
of his son, Enoch."
00:16:27.68\00:16:30.95
Now, that's the
first mention of a city,
00:16:30.95\00:16:33.66
and the next key
reference to urban development
00:16:33.66\00:16:35.96
comes just a few chapters later
over in Genesis Chapter 10,
00:16:35.96\00:16:40.03
and here's what that says.
00:16:40.03\00:16:42.30
"Cush fathered Nimrod;
00:16:42.30\00:16:44.17
he was the first on
earth to be a mighty man.
00:16:44.17\00:16:46.63
He was a mighty
hunter before the Lord.
00:16:46.63\00:16:48.47
Therefore it is said,
00:16:48.47\00:16:49.77
'Like Nimrod a mighty
hunter before the Lord.'
00:16:49.77\00:16:52.64
The beginning of his
kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad,
00:16:52.64\00:16:55.68
and Calneh, in
the land of Shinar.
00:16:55.68\00:16:58.25
From that land,
he went into Assyria
00:16:58.25\00:16:59.95
and built Nineveh,
Rehoboth-Ir, Calah,
00:16:59.95\00:17:02.82
and Resen between
Nineveh and Calah;
00:17:02.82\00:17:05.55
that is the great city."
00:17:05.55\00:17:07.16
You know, when I was a kid,
00:17:08.09\00:17:09.22
I knew this guy
who ran a trapline.
00:17:09.22\00:17:10.86
You can tell I'm not
from a major urban center.
00:17:10.86\00:17:14.00
And he had this sign
on his house that said,
00:17:14.00\00:17:16.77
"Home of Nimrod,
the mighty hunter."
00:17:16.77\00:17:19.30
Now, I know
what he was thinking.
00:17:19.30\00:17:20.84
He thought that Nimrod was
some kind of noble character.
00:17:20.84\00:17:23.54
After all, the Bible
says he was great before God.
00:17:23.54\00:17:26.91
But when the Bible says he
was mighty before the Lord,
00:17:26.91\00:17:29.18
it's actually
talking about his arrogance.
00:17:29.18\00:17:32.41
This guy was too
big for his britches,
00:17:32.41\00:17:34.32
and ancient legends about
him seem to support that idea.
00:17:34.32\00:17:37.79
He was ruthless,
brutal, and utterly selfish.
00:17:37.79\00:17:41.39
His subjects grew to hate him.
00:17:41.39\00:17:43.99
So what was the point of Nimrod
building all those cities?
00:17:43.99\00:17:47.66
I'll be right back
after this to tell you.
00:17:47.66\00:17:49.96
[mellow music]
00:17:49.96\00:17:52.60
- [Spokesperson] Life
can throw a lot at us.
00:17:53.97\00:17:56.37
Sometimes we don't
have all the answers.
00:17:56.37\00:17:59.77
But that's where
the Bible comes in.
00:17:59.77\00:18:02.21
It's our guide to a
more fulfilling life.
00:18:02.21\00:18:05.25
Here at The Voice of Prophecy,
00:18:05.25\00:18:06.82
we've created the
Discover Bible Guides
00:18:06.82\00:18:08.98
to be your guide to the Bible.
00:18:08.98\00:18:10.59
They're designed to
be simple, easy to use,
00:18:10.59\00:18:13.09
and provide answers to many
of life's toughest questions.
00:18:13.09\00:18:16.09
And they're absolutely free.
00:18:16.09\00:18:18.13
So jump online
now or give us a call,
00:18:18.13\00:18:20.43
and start your
journey of discovery.
00:18:20.43\00:18:22.73
- If you look at
the list of cities
00:18:23.70\00:18:25.13
mentioned in Genesis Chapter 10,
00:18:25.13\00:18:26.90
you'll notice that a few
of them are pretty famous.
00:18:26.90\00:18:29.70
You've got the city of Erech,
00:18:29.70\00:18:31.31
which gave its name to
the modern-day nation of Iraq.
00:18:31.31\00:18:34.51
And then of course
you've got Nineveh and Babylon,
00:18:34.51\00:18:37.21
powerful cities which get used
00:18:37.21\00:18:39.58
throughout the rest of the Bible
00:18:39.58\00:18:40.82
to symbolize
arrogance and wickedness
00:18:40.82\00:18:43.45
and rebellion
against the God of Heaven.
00:18:43.45\00:18:46.02
So overall, this chapter
00:18:46.79\00:18:48.72
is not some kind
of eulogy for Nimrod.
00:18:48.72\00:18:50.99
It's not a
tribute to his greatness.
00:18:50.99\00:18:53.13
It's actually a
pretty sharp criticism. Why?
00:18:53.13\00:18:56.43
It's because Nimrod was trying
to build artificial paradise.
00:18:56.43\00:19:00.40
You see, when the human
race rebelled against God
00:19:00.40\00:19:02.44
and no longer had access
to the original paradise,
00:19:02.44\00:19:05.84
survival suddenly
became a whole lot harder.
00:19:05.84\00:19:09.28
Remember what the Bible says.
00:19:09.28\00:19:11.31
"Cursed is the ground because
of you," God explains to Adam.
00:19:11.31\00:19:15.15
"In pain you shall eat of
it all the days of your life;
00:19:15.15\00:19:18.22
thorns and thistles it
shall bring forth for you;
00:19:18.22\00:19:20.49
and you shall eat
the plants of the field."
00:19:20.49\00:19:23.99
After our rebellion, life
was gonna get a whole lot harder
00:19:23.99\00:19:27.30
because we abandoned the
authentic human existence
00:19:27.30\00:19:30.20
that God originally designed.
00:19:30.20\00:19:32.27
And so as the new
reality began to dawn on folks,
00:19:32.27\00:19:35.94
some of them decided
they could make life better.
00:19:35.94\00:19:39.11
They might not
be in Eden anymore,
00:19:39.11\00:19:40.91
but they could build
their own version of Eden,
00:19:40.91\00:19:43.61
walled-off cities with all
the resources you could dream of
00:19:43.61\00:19:46.75
to secure your personal safety
00:19:46.75\00:19:48.98
and keep yourself
relatively comfortable.
00:19:48.98\00:19:51.49
And honestly, it's not that hard
00:19:52.62\00:19:54.29
to see the appeal
of big urban centers
00:19:54.29\00:19:56.29
because, well, some of that
appeal is still there today.
00:19:56.29\00:19:59.39
Cities just offer us more
opportunities, more resources,
00:19:59.39\00:20:02.96
and the collective talents
of an awful lot of people.
00:20:02.96\00:20:05.80
They tend to have
more of everything,
00:20:05.80\00:20:08.04
and it's mimicking the
ease and abundance of paradise.
00:20:08.04\00:20:11.91
But here's what happened.
00:20:11.91\00:20:13.38
I mean, if you're going
to live in close proximity
00:20:13.38\00:20:15.58
to an awful lot of
very selfish people,
00:20:15.58\00:20:18.21
and that would be all of us,
00:20:18.21\00:20:19.71
there's going to be competition
over those resources.
00:20:19.71\00:20:22.72
That would also be true
in the countryside, mind you,
00:20:22.72\00:20:25.42
but when you gather huge
numbers of fallen human beings
00:20:25.42\00:20:28.06
and concentrate them into
a really small patch of land,
00:20:28.06\00:20:32.03
the problem gets magnified.
00:20:32.03\00:20:34.10
And naturally,
selfish people quickly learn
00:20:34.10\00:20:36.33
that power gives them
access to more resources,
00:20:36.33\00:20:39.60
and so the shrewd
among us, the powerful,
00:20:39.60\00:20:42.30
always seemed to rise
to the top of the heap.
00:20:42.30\00:20:45.11
Take for example
the story of Gilgamesh,
00:20:45.11\00:20:47.18
the ancient king of the
Mesopotamian city of Uruk.
00:20:47.18\00:20:50.85
Some scholars
believe that Gilgamesh
00:20:50.85\00:20:52.61
was actually the Assyrian
version of Nimrod, the same guy.
00:20:52.61\00:20:56.99
And honestly,
there's so much similarity
00:20:56.99\00:20:59.25
between the two stories,
between Nimrod and Gilgamesh,
00:20:59.25\00:21:02.32
that I think it's true.
00:21:02.32\00:21:04.13
For starters,
you've got the names
00:21:04.13\00:21:05.66
of the cities they
founded, Erech and Uruk.
00:21:05.66\00:21:09.40
And then in the
"Epic of Gilgamesh,"
00:21:09.40\00:21:11.23
you find the story of a man
who survived a global flood.
00:21:11.23\00:21:14.80
Coincidence? Hmm.
00:21:14.80\00:21:16.47
But even if they're
not the same person,
00:21:16.47\00:21:18.17
Gilgamesh gives us
yet another example
00:21:18.17\00:21:20.78
of these ancient warrior kings.
00:21:20.78\00:21:22.74
Just like Nimrod, he was brutal.
00:21:22.74\00:21:25.11
I mean, he enslaved his own men
00:21:25.11\00:21:27.25
and forced them to
build the city walls,
00:21:27.25\00:21:29.52
and as they were working, he
took their wives for himself.
00:21:29.52\00:21:33.99
According to the
"Epic of Gilgamesh,"
00:21:35.06\00:21:36.93
which we rediscovered
in the ruins of Nineveh
00:21:36.93\00:21:39.39
back in the 1830s,
00:21:39.39\00:21:41.30
life in Uruk Got so bad
00:21:41.30\00:21:43.83
that the people cried out to
the gods to bring them relief.
00:21:43.83\00:21:47.30
And sadly, that's the story
with most of our human history.
00:21:47.30\00:21:52.01
Well-intentioned people start
making all kinds of promises
00:21:52.01\00:21:55.41
so they can rise
to the top of power,
00:21:55.41\00:21:57.78
but it seems like
as soon as they manage
00:21:57.78\00:21:59.85
to accumulate even a
little bit of that power,
00:21:59.85\00:22:02.98
they start to
think of other people
00:22:02.98\00:22:04.89
as a way to advance
their own interests.
00:22:04.89\00:22:07.89
They start to think of
other people as expendable.
00:22:07.89\00:22:11.23
And that's why
utopian experiments
00:22:11.23\00:22:13.63
almost always end in disaster.
00:22:13.63\00:22:16.16
They end with crushing
poverty, broken dreams,
00:22:16.16\00:22:19.67
and an awful lot of dead bodies.
00:22:19.67\00:22:22.40
You know, when you're
sitting in a college classroom
00:22:22.40\00:22:24.31
reading the utopian dreams
of ancient Greek philosophers,
00:22:24.31\00:22:27.74
it's easy to imagine that
Plato might be onto something.
00:22:27.74\00:22:31.55
Maybe these are good ideas.
00:22:31.55\00:22:33.42
Maybe we can finally
solve our worst problems
00:22:33.42\00:22:35.92
and just use our logic and
reason to restore paradise.
00:22:35.92\00:22:40.72
But then out
there in the real world,
00:22:40.72\00:22:42.72
every single time
somebody tries to do this,
00:22:42.72\00:22:45.69
an awful lot of people get hurt.
00:22:45.69\00:22:47.93
And the word hurt is a
dramatic understatement.
00:22:47.93\00:22:51.27
So what would
be the alternative?
00:22:52.37\00:22:54.74
Let's take a look at
the biblical prophet Micah,
00:22:54.74\00:22:57.51
who was preaching in Judah
00:22:57.51\00:22:58.81
at about the same
time that the Assyrians
00:22:58.81\00:23:01.34
were making life miserable
for everybody in the Near East.
00:23:01.34\00:23:04.75
And at one point,
Micah paints a picture
00:23:04.75\00:23:07.18
of what God
originally intended for us.
00:23:07.18\00:23:10.12
He shows us what an
authentic human life
00:23:10.12\00:23:13.02
is supposed to look like.
00:23:13.02\00:23:14.59
Just listen to this because
this kind of speaks for itself.
00:23:14.59\00:23:17.63
It says, "It shall come
to pass in the latter days
00:23:17.63\00:23:20.90
that the mountain of
the house of the Lord
00:23:20.90\00:23:22.86
shall be established as
the highest of the mountains,
00:23:22.86\00:23:25.80
and it shall be
lifted up above the hills;
00:23:25.80\00:23:28.37
and peoples shall flow to it,
00:23:28.37\00:23:29.84
and many nations
shall come and say,
00:23:29.84\00:23:31.77
'Come, let us go up to
the mountain of the Lord,
00:23:31.77\00:23:34.28
to the house of
the God of Jacob,
00:23:34.28\00:23:36.48
that he may teach us his ways
00:23:36.48\00:23:38.25
and that we may
walk in his paths.'
00:23:38.25\00:23:40.42
For out of Zion
shall go forth the law,
00:23:40.42\00:23:42.55
and the word of the
Lord from Jerusalem.
00:23:42.55\00:23:45.02
He shall judge
between many peoples,
00:23:45.02\00:23:47.09
and shall decide disputes
for strong nations far away;
00:23:47.09\00:23:50.63
and they shall beat
their swords into plowshares
00:23:50.63\00:23:52.86
and their spears
into pruning hooks;
00:23:52.86\00:23:55.03
nation shall not lift
up sword against nation,
00:23:55.03\00:23:57.97
neither shall
they learn war anymore;
00:23:57.97\00:24:00.60
but they shall sit
every man under his vine
00:24:00.60\00:24:02.80
and under his fig tree,
00:24:02.80\00:24:04.41
and no one shall
make them afraid,
00:24:04.41\00:24:06.31
for the mouth of the
Lord of hosts has spoken."
00:24:06.31\00:24:10.08
I'll be right back after this.
00:24:10.08\00:24:12.18
[mellow music]
00:24:12.18\00:24:14.82
[majestic music]
00:24:15.75\00:24:17.12
- [Spokesperson] Dragons,
beasts, cryptic statues.
00:24:17.12\00:24:20.92
Bible prophecy can be
incredibly vivid and confusing.
00:24:20.92\00:24:25.49
If you've ever read
Daniel or Revelation
00:24:25.49\00:24:27.66
and come away scratching
your head, you're not alone.
00:24:27.66\00:24:30.73
Our free Focus
on Prophecy guides
00:24:30.73\00:24:33.10
are designed to help you unlock
the mysteries of the Bible
00:24:33.10\00:24:35.90
and deepen your
understanding of God's plan
00:24:35.90\00:24:38.31
for you and our world.
00:24:38.31\00:24:39.97
Study online or
request them by mail,
00:24:39.97\00:24:42.44
and start bringing
prophecy into focus today.
00:24:42.44\00:24:45.88
- You know, once in a while,
00:24:45.88\00:24:47.08
I'll still pick
up this old textbook
00:24:47.08\00:24:48.38
and thumb through the pages,
00:24:48.38\00:24:49.88
like I did right before I
came into the studio today.
00:24:49.88\00:24:53.12
And I'm seeing these
notes in the margins,
00:24:53.12\00:24:55.56
scribblings I made when
I was a teenage freshman
00:24:55.56\00:24:58.13
at the University of Victoria.
00:24:58.13\00:25:00.06
And most of the
notes I find in here
00:25:00.06\00:25:02.30
are actually
expressions of horror
00:25:02.30\00:25:04.90
that some people
actually think these ideas
00:25:04.90\00:25:07.04
are some of the best
ideas we've ever come up with.
00:25:07.04\00:25:09.84
I mean, if this is our
best, we're in trouble.
00:25:09.84\00:25:13.81
And I'd throw the book out,
00:25:13.81\00:25:15.34
but it represents a key point
00:25:15.34\00:25:16.71
in my own
intellectual development.
00:25:16.71\00:25:18.38
And because it's had
such a profound influence
00:25:18.38\00:25:21.38
on the development
of Western civilization,
00:25:21.38\00:25:23.99
this still has a
place on my bookshelf.
00:25:23.99\00:25:26.35
It's up there with
all the other big names
00:25:26.35\00:25:27.96
like Aristotle or
Descartes or Kant or Locke
00:25:27.96\00:25:31.13
or John Stuart
Mill, you name it.
00:25:31.13\00:25:33.83
You might say
that my younger self
00:25:33.83\00:25:35.60
was a little bit
of a philosophy nerd,
00:25:35.60\00:25:37.60
and I probably still am.
00:25:37.60\00:25:39.37
But here's what I've noticed.
00:25:40.27\00:25:41.70
After combing through
tens of thousands of pages
00:25:41.70\00:25:44.21
written by our
very best thinkers,
00:25:44.21\00:25:46.81
not one of these people
00:25:46.81\00:25:48.18
has ever managed to
solve our worst problems.
00:25:48.18\00:25:51.25
I mean, yes, there
are some who contributed
00:25:51.25\00:25:53.78
to the freedom we now enjoy,
00:25:53.78\00:25:55.28
and as a fan of
religious liberty,
00:25:55.28\00:25:57.29
I've gotta tip my hat in
those philosophers' direction
00:25:57.29\00:26:00.26
for achieving that.
00:26:00.26\00:26:01.79
I'm also a pretty big fan
of the American experiment,
00:26:01.79\00:26:04.83
at least as it was
originally formulated,
00:26:04.83\00:26:07.00
and I know that we can
thank both the reformers
00:26:07.00\00:26:09.86
and the
Enlightenment philosophers
00:26:09.86\00:26:11.73
for a lot of what happened.
00:26:11.73\00:26:13.40
You see, a lot of the ideas
00:26:14.20\00:26:15.54
that led to the
birth of Western liberty
00:26:15.54\00:26:17.51
actually came from the minds
of Bible-believing Christians,
00:26:17.51\00:26:20.88
dedicated reformers
who compared the people
00:26:20.88\00:26:23.28
who run the world with what
God says should be happening.
00:26:23.28\00:26:27.08
And these people
were absolutely right.
00:26:27.08\00:26:28.65
The scriptures represent
the highest possible ideal,
00:26:28.65\00:26:31.85
and, wouldn't you know it,
00:26:31.85\00:26:33.36
the scriptures do that
without the need to subjugate
00:26:33.36\00:26:36.22
and use people
to achieve an end.
00:26:36.22\00:26:39.29
So out of all the
books on my shelf,
00:26:39.29\00:26:41.56
there's only one that I
reach for every single day,
00:26:41.56\00:26:43.53
and it's this one, the Bible,
00:26:43.53\00:26:46.17
the book inspired by the one
who made us in the first place.
00:26:46.17\00:26:49.77
And in the pages of the Bible,
00:26:49.77\00:26:51.34
what I find is a righteous king
00:26:51.34\00:26:53.54
who turned our
ideas of good government
00:26:53.54\00:26:55.54
completely on their head.
00:26:55.54\00:26:57.68
Instead of
forcing us to serve Him,
00:26:57.68\00:27:00.12
He came to the
world and served us.
00:27:00.12\00:27:02.58
Instead of demanding
our blood for His cause,
00:27:02.58\00:27:05.85
He shed His blood to save us.
00:27:05.85\00:27:08.19
In other words,
00:27:08.19\00:27:09.62
God places the highest
possible value on your life.
00:27:09.62\00:27:14.10
God doesn't lie to get His way.
00:27:14.86\00:27:16.10
In fact, before
the story is finished,
00:27:16.10\00:27:17.37
the Bible says God
opens the books of Heaven
00:27:17.37\00:27:19.53
and shows us
absolutely everything.
00:27:19.53\00:27:22.40
He doesn't force us
to live a certain way.
00:27:22.40\00:27:24.47
He doesn't try to censor us,
00:27:24.47\00:27:26.04
even though He'd be the
one being in the whole universe
00:27:26.04\00:27:29.24
who had an
absolute right to do that.
00:27:29.24\00:27:32.21
You know, given the current mess
00:27:32.21\00:27:33.35
that our world is in right now,
00:27:33.35\00:27:34.75
I think you might
find it a welcome relief
00:27:34.75\00:27:37.12
to spend a
little more time reading
00:27:37.12\00:27:38.55
what God says human
life is supposed to be like.
00:27:38.55\00:27:42.69
I think you'll find hope
00:27:42.69\00:27:44.39
when you see that God
intends to give everything back
00:27:44.39\00:27:47.30
in spite of what we've done.
00:27:47.30\00:27:49.36
I mean, sure, you can go out
00:27:49.36\00:27:51.07
and pattern
yourself after tyrants,
00:27:51.07\00:27:53.60
or you can pattern
yourself after a man
00:27:53.60\00:27:55.64
who was the
smartest man in the room
00:27:55.64\00:27:58.01
but still chose to give
His life at Calvary for you.
00:27:58.01\00:28:01.58
Thanks for joining me today.
00:28:01.58\00:28:03.11
I'm Shawn Boonstra, and
this has been "Authentic."
00:28:03.11\00:28:06.92
[mellow music]
00:28:06.92\00:28:09.55
[mellow music continues]
00:28:18.89\00:28:22.36