- Today we're going back
to a 17th century philosopher
00:00:01.33\00:00:03.23
that we've actually
talked about in the past,
00:00:03.23\00:00:05.83
but now we're gonna
look at his lasting legacy
00:00:05.83\00:00:08.44
and why a lot of people
are finally starting to realize
00:00:08.44\00:00:11.31
just how wrong this guy was
00:00:11.31\00:00:14.48
and how right the
Bible is, by comparison.
00:00:14.48\00:00:17.75
[upbeat music]
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[upbeat music]
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I know that to ordinary,
everyday people like me,
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this idea that some
philosophers actually agonize
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over the
possibility they don't exist
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seems kind of
foolish because, well,
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to most of us,
existence seems kind of obvious.
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I mean, if there
was any question at all,
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it would've been resolved
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the day I placed my
stepladder on an icy sidewalk
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like an idiot and
climbed up to the roof.
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The moment I
reached the top rung,
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I suddenly felt the
bottom of the ladder
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start to slip out from under me.
00:01:08.86\00:01:10.47
And I knew full well
that in a matter of seconds,
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I'd be experiencing a rather
significant amount of pain.
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You know, that brief
moment where you realize
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you're about to get
hurt and you've got no choice
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but to ride out the experience?
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Let me say, the
moment I hit the sidewalk
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and I hit it so
hard, I bent the ladder,
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let me tell you,
I had no question
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that my physical
existence is very real.
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And it occurs to me
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that when you come
across these religious cults
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who insist that the physical
world is just an illusion
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and that things like
illness don't actually exist,
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what in the world goes
through those people's minds
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when they fall off the roof?
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Ooh, this isn't real.
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It's just in my head.
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The pain's not real.
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My broken jaw isn't real.
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Just how long
can somebody sustain
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that thought when they've
got to go to the emergency room
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to have a medical professional
set their broken arm?
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Just a few years ago,
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I had to endure a rather
uncomfortable surgical procedure
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that involved
feeding guide wires
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through my back, into
one of my internal organs.
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And as usual, they had
some trouble anesthetizing me.
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I guess I'm just one
of those lucky people
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with red roots in his
beard who doesn't really respond
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to anesthetic, and at
least I don't really twilight.
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And so I was awake
for the whole procedure,
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and I've got to tell you, again,
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that disabused me of any notion
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that the inquisition is over.
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So here's the question.
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Was all that awful
discomfort just an illusion,
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or does my body actually exist?
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It seems like a simple question
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until you consider the
fact that the sensation
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of pain actually happens
here upstairs in your brain.
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I mean, it seems
like your knee hurts
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or your elbow, but in reality,
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that's your brain
telling you something is wrong
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with your knee or your elbow.
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Ask a paraplegic
if his knee hurts,
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and he's
probably gonna tell you no
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because the signal no longer
makes its way to his brain.
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This is also the
reason we actually know
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the answer to the question.
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If a tree falls
over in the forest
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and nobody's around to hear it,
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does it still make a noise?
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And the answer's no,
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because sounds are just
your brain's interpretation
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of disturbances in the air.
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If there are no
eardrums present at the moment
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the tree hits the ground,
there are no sound waves,
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so there is no sound.
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That's why truly deaf
people hear absolutely nothing.
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The link from their eardrum
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to their brain
has been compromised.
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The same thing
happens when you get older.
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Look, the world around you isn't
getting fuzzier as you age.
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It's just that the
capacity of your eyes
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to perceive it has diminished
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and the signal to your
brain has been compromised.
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This is one of the reasons
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that a lot of
philosophers have struggled
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with the nature of reality.
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They realize that there's
something of a disconnect
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between our minds
and the physical world.
00:04:04.77\00:04:07.78
The people who write those
strange movies like "The Matrix"
00:04:07.78\00:04:11.41
aren't just coming
up with a brand new plot
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that nobody's
ever thought of before.
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They're tapping into
the angst of a long line
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of deep thinkers
who have wondered
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if the world around
us is actually real,
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if we can actually trust
the evidence of our senses.
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And of course, the
number one name that most people
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think of when it comes to
that question is Rene Descartes,
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who gave us the phrase,
"I think, therefore I am,"
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or if you wanna
sound sophisticated,
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you can say it in poorly
pronounced Latin like me,
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[speaking foreign language].
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Now, I know that I've
talked about Descartes
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on another program
two or three years ago,
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but I was thinking about
him again just the other day,
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and sometimes
that's how I decide
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what we're gonna
talk about on the show.
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And the work in question today
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is Descartes' qua
Dei or "Meditations,"
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which was the first
full-fledged philosophical work
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I ever read when I was a kid.
00:05:04.93\00:05:07.17
I mean, if you don't
count the popular works
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like "The Hitchhiker's
Guide to the Galaxy"
00:05:09.70\00:05:11.71
or "Zen and the Art of
Motorcycle Maintenance."
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I think I was 17 when
I first read Descartes.
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And back in those days,
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I certainly was not
a practicing Christian.
00:05:19.71\00:05:22.38
I mean, I had a
Christian background,
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but I wasn't living it.
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And you know,
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I went and tried to
find my beat-up old copy
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of Descartes in
my library for today
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so I could pull it
out and show it to you,
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but I think it's in my
storage locker somewhere.
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So I've got an iPad.
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And as weird as this sounds,
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Descartes actually
played a pretty significant role
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in my spiritual development
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because at the tender age of 17,
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as I was reading him, I
found myself getting excited
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by the fact that he was
making a reasonable argument
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for the existence of God
in kind of a roundabout way.
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Now, today, I recognize
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that Descartes' thinking
has some rather large gaps.
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There are intellectual
problems, but at 17,
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he blew me away.
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I found myself thinking
that God might actually be real.
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And while my teenage
self didn't really get around
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to adopting
Christianity at that time,
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there is no question that
Descartes actually helped me
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take my first
steps down that road.
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And so his work,
well, it holds a place
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of honor in my library.
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It's one of those 20 or so
books that most people have
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that proved to be
game changers in your life.
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So getting back to
the subject at hand,
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our ability to know
that our existence is real,
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well, Descartes is pretty famous
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for moving the
needle on that one.
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And again, we're
walking into an esoteric realm,
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a place where
philosophers usually hang out
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by themselves
while the rest of us
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are relatively happy
living here in the real world.
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But still, it's
important that we recognize
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what the eggheads in the
ivory towers are thinking about
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because their ideas
really do have a way
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of eventually
trickling down to the minds
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of everyday people, whether
it's through college classes
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or even through
popular TV shows.
00:07:07.92\00:07:10.16
I mean, here we are,
living in a world that continues
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to struggle with ideas that
we all used to take for granted.
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For example, once upon a time,
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we all understood
the concept of truth.
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We had an
objective view of the world,
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and we understood that
two contradictory things
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cannot possibly be
true at the very same time.
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To put it the way Aristotle did,
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A cannot equal non A.
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But today, we don't
speak like that anymore.
00:07:35.62\00:07:37.99
We don't speak about the truth.
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Instead, people talk
about my truth and your truth,
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and we've even coined
a new word to describe
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what we think might be true,
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but we're scared
to say it's true,
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so we use the word truthiness.
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It's a way of saying it's true
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without being too
definitive about it.
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So yeah, some of the bad ideas
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that come from
those ivory towers,
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ideas that were mostly harmless
when they first popped up
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in a classroom, they
can have a profound impact
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on the way that all of us
think and behave over time.
00:08:07.02\00:08:09.82
And I honestly believe
that we're currently witnessing
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some of the negative
impact of choosing to believe
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that nothing is
actually objectively true.
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So here's what
we're gonna do today.
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I've got to take
a break in a moment,
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but let me set the table
for our study with something
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that happened back in 1619,
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one year before the
Pilgrims landed Plymouth Rock.
00:08:27.80\00:08:31.47
On the night of November 10th,
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Descartes had a series
of three different dreams
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and they were
game changers for him.
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He'd been wrestling
with the idea of truth
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and how you and I could know
if something is actually true.
00:08:40.55\00:08:43.92
And when he went
to bed that night,
00:08:43.92\00:08:46.42
his subconscious started
to answer those questions.
00:08:46.42\00:08:50.33
And I'll be
right back after this
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to tell you what he learned.
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[upbeat chiming]
00:08:54.30\00:08:56.93
[upbeat music]
00:08:56.93\00:08:58.23
- [Narrator] Here at
the Voice of Prophecy,
00:08:58.23\00:08:59.63
we're committed to
creating top-quality programming
00:08:59.63\00:09:01.44
for the whole family,
00:09:01.44\00:09:02.80
like our audio adventure
series Discovery Mountain.
00:09:02.80\00:09:06.07
Discovery Mountain is a
bible-based program for kids
00:09:06.07\00:09:08.94
of all ages and backgrounds.
00:09:08.94\00:09:10.88
Your family will enjoy
the faith-building stories
00:09:10.88\00:09:13.68
from this small
mountain summer camp, pent down,
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with 24 seasonal
episodes every year
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and fresh content every week.
00:09:19.02\00:09:21.19
There's always a new
adventure just on the horizon.
00:09:21.19\00:09:24.43
- On November 10th,
1619, Rene Descartes
00:09:27.20\00:09:30.53
had what you might
call a hat trick of dreams,
00:09:30.53\00:09:33.67
three disturbing
nightmares in a row.
00:09:33.67\00:09:36.27
In the first dream,
he found himself crippled
00:09:36.27\00:09:38.47
and struggling to walk, and
the wind was blowing him around
00:09:38.47\00:09:41.38
as he tried to get about.
00:09:41.38\00:09:43.24
He noticed that the
other people around him
00:09:43.24\00:09:45.48
didn't have the same problem.
00:09:45.48\00:09:47.18
They could walk just fine,
00:09:47.18\00:09:48.72
and he tried to make
his way inside a chapel
00:09:48.72\00:09:51.35
to pray in this dream,
but he couldn't get there.
00:09:51.35\00:09:54.46
I mean, you've had
dreams like that too.
00:09:54.46\00:09:56.59
You can't walk.
00:09:56.59\00:09:58.03
So Descartes became afraid
00:09:58.03\00:10:00.00
that a malicious demon
was leading him astray.
00:10:00.00\00:10:03.37
That was the first dream.
00:10:03.37\00:10:05.13
In the second dream,
he hears a loud noise
00:10:05.13\00:10:07.70
and becomes enveloped
in this shower of sparks.
00:10:07.70\00:10:10.87
When he wakes up,
he sees his fireplace
00:10:10.87\00:10:12.97
and he figures
that the crackling
00:10:12.97\00:10:14.21
of the wood caused the dream.
00:10:14.21\00:10:16.78
Then he had a third dream
00:10:16.78\00:10:18.75
where he sees a book
sitting on the table.
00:10:18.75\00:10:21.28
Here's the way he described it.
00:10:21.28\00:10:23.39
"After a short time," he wrote,
00:10:23.39\00:10:25.15
I go back to sleep once more
00:10:25.15\00:10:26.79
and find myself
in a third dream.
00:10:26.79\00:10:29.16
In front of me, on
a table, is a book.
00:10:29.16\00:10:31.63
Having opened it, I see
that it is a dictionary.
00:10:31.63\00:10:34.73
Then I notice a second book,
this one, a poetry anthology.
00:10:34.73\00:10:38.53
I flick through
it and immediately
00:10:38.53\00:10:40.20
come upon the Latin verse:
'Quad vitae sectabor iter,'
00:10:40.20\00:10:44.87
Which path in
life will I choose?"
00:10:44.87\00:10:48.58
The two books, he
figured, were symbols
00:10:48.58\00:10:50.45
for different things.
00:10:50.45\00:10:51.95
The dictionary, of course,
was a collection of facts,
00:10:51.95\00:10:55.22
and that, he reckoned,
was the nature of this world,
00:10:55.22\00:10:58.59
of living here.
00:10:58.59\00:11:00.22
Throughout our lives,
00:11:00.22\00:11:01.76
you and I gather all kinds
of data through our five senses.
00:11:01.76\00:11:03.83
We collect facts
we believe to be true.
00:11:03.83\00:11:07.13
But over time, those same facts
00:11:07.13\00:11:08.93
kind of devolve
into a massive pile
00:11:08.93\00:11:10.93
of disconnected thoughts.
00:11:10.93\00:11:12.47
And what most people want
is to find a unifying principle
00:11:12.47\00:11:16.64
that ties all that
information together
00:11:16.64\00:11:19.11
so that the world
begins to make sense.
00:11:19.11\00:11:22.51
But the book of
poetry, in Descartes' opinion,
00:11:22.51\00:11:25.78
that was the music, the
beauty of the created universe,
00:11:25.78\00:11:29.18
and it represented the unity
00:11:29.18\00:11:30.99
that holds this
physical world together.
00:11:30.99\00:11:33.66
Incidentally,
the Greeks would've
00:11:34.62\00:11:36.09
called that
unifying principle the Logos.
00:11:36.09\00:11:39.23
It's where we
get the word logic.
00:11:39.23\00:11:41.60
And you'll notice that
when the disciple John begins
00:11:41.60\00:11:43.80
his gospel, he
identifies Jesus as the Logos.
00:11:43.80\00:11:48.00
Now, we think that's because
some of the early Christians
00:11:48.00\00:11:51.61
were starting to
dabble in Hellenistic thinking
00:11:51.61\00:11:54.01
and adopting some
really bad Greek ideas.
00:11:54.01\00:11:57.61
Those people
would've said that the creator
00:11:57.61\00:11:59.61
and the redeemer
were two different beings.
00:11:59.61\00:12:02.12
They were borrowing
that from pagan philosophy.
00:12:02.12\00:12:04.75
So John sets the
record straight in his gospel
00:12:04.75\00:12:08.32
by telling us that
Jesus is the Logos.
00:12:08.32\00:12:11.16
He's both the
Redeemer and the Creator,
00:12:11.16\00:12:14.46
and he's the principle
00:12:14.46\00:12:15.70
that holds the
whole universe together.
00:12:15.70\00:12:17.70
It's an idea that Paul backs up
00:12:17.70\00:12:19.40
in his Letter to the Colossians,
00:12:19.40\00:12:22.47
but let's get back to
Descartes and his dreams.
00:12:22.47\00:12:25.24
When he woke up from
that third nightmare,
00:12:25.24\00:12:27.34
it really shook him.
00:12:27.34\00:12:29.31
The dictionary was
cold, hard science,
00:12:29.31\00:12:32.05
and the poetry was
wisdom and philosophy
00:12:32.05\00:12:34.45
or what he might have called
revelation and enthusiasm.
00:12:34.45\00:12:39.32
It's tempting to summarize
them as facts and feelings,
00:12:39.32\00:12:43.12
but that would
be oversimplifying
00:12:43.12\00:12:44.69
what was going on
upstairs in Descartes' noodle.
00:12:44.69\00:12:47.30
Now, normally, most of us don't
put a lot of stock in dreams
00:12:47.30\00:12:51.00
unless you're Nebuchadnezzar
getting a message from God.
00:12:51.00\00:12:54.50
But for Descartes,
these nocturnal images
00:12:54.50\00:12:56.50
kept bothering him.
00:12:56.50\00:12:57.97
They were like your tongue
00:12:57.97\00:12:59.51
returning to a broken
tooth at the back of your mouth
00:12:59.51\00:13:01.91
over and over and over,
00:13:01.91\00:13:03.61
and it was that that produced
Descartes' most famous work,
00:13:03.61\00:13:07.68
his "Meditations on Philosophy."
00:13:07.68\00:13:11.02
Now, I'm not gonna bore
you with all the details,
00:13:11.02\00:13:13.22
but maybe let me try to
summarize his key argument.
00:13:13.22\00:13:16.39
Here's the way he begins,
00:13:16.39\00:13:17.93
and I'm guessing
this is gonna resonate
00:13:17.93\00:13:19.96
with quite a few of you.
00:13:19.96\00:13:21.06
Here's what he says.
00:13:21.06\00:13:22.46
"Some years ago, I
noticed how many false things
00:13:22.46\00:13:25.03
I had accepted as
true in my childhood,
00:13:25.03\00:13:27.74
and how doubtful were the things
00:13:27.74\00:13:29.30
that I
subsequently built on them,
00:13:29.30\00:13:31.37
and therefore
that, once in a lifetime,
00:13:31.37\00:13:34.38
everything should be
completely overturned
00:13:34.38\00:13:36.58
and I should begin again
from the most basic foundations
00:13:36.58\00:13:39.68
if I ever wish to
establish anything firm
00:13:39.68\00:13:42.22
and durable in the sciences."
00:13:42.22\00:13:44.65
Of course, that's
really pretty good advice.
00:13:45.79\00:13:47.92
There does come a
time in everybody's life
00:13:47.92\00:13:50.53
when you're gonna want to assess
00:13:50.53\00:13:51.89
what you've always been told
00:13:51.89\00:13:54.10
and ask yourself
if it's all true.
00:13:54.10\00:13:56.13
I actually went
through that process
00:13:56.13\00:13:57.57
when I was in my early 20s,
00:13:57.57\00:13:59.27
and it ended with me believing
00:13:59.27\00:14:01.10
that the Bible
really is inspired by God.
00:14:01.10\00:14:04.87
Now, sometimes
when I was a little kid,
00:14:04.87\00:14:06.81
I used to wonder,
how do I really know
00:14:06.81\00:14:09.28
that I'm not just a brain
on a table in a science class,
00:14:09.28\00:14:12.41
out on an alien
planet somewhere,
00:14:12.41\00:14:14.72
and that my day-to-day
experience isn't just the
00:14:14.72\00:14:17.42
product of some alien kid poking
my brain with an electrode?
00:14:17.42\00:14:21.59
Descartes essentially
asked the same question,
00:14:21.59\00:14:23.83
but in his version, he
used a malicious demon.
00:14:23.83\00:14:27.00
How could he know for sure
00:14:27.00\00:14:28.36
that his sensory
experience wasn't being caused
00:14:28.36\00:14:31.27
by an evil demon who
was trying to deceive him?
00:14:31.27\00:14:34.50
So here's what he did.
00:14:34.50\00:14:36.17
In order to
figure out what's real,
00:14:36.17\00:14:38.34
he set about
doubting everything.
00:14:38.34\00:14:41.18
That's what he meant
when he said he was going back
00:14:41.18\00:14:43.08
to basic foundations.
00:14:43.08\00:14:44.51
He needed to put
everything to the test.
00:14:44.51\00:14:47.32
So to illustrate,
let's take something
00:14:47.32\00:14:49.18
that most of us believe is true,
00:14:49.18\00:14:50.92
the fact that we have
two arms, most of us do.
00:14:50.92\00:14:55.02
When I look down at
my body, there they are,
00:14:55.02\00:14:57.16
and when I look in the
mirror, there they are again.
00:14:57.16\00:15:00.63
But how do I actually know that?
00:15:00.63\00:15:03.16
Is a mirror
really solid evidence?
00:15:03.16\00:15:07.20
How do you know it's not
just an elaborate illusion?
00:15:07.20\00:15:10.17
Well, if you have any
doubts, Descartes said,
00:15:10.17\00:15:13.17
"That belief, if you
doubt it, it's got to go."
00:15:13.17\00:15:16.01
What he really
wanted was to find something
00:15:16.01\00:15:18.01
that was so unquestionable,
00:15:18.01\00:15:19.55
so certain that it
left no room for doubt.
00:15:19.55\00:15:23.32
And as you might
guess, at the end of the day,
00:15:23.32\00:15:25.52
he wasn't left with much
00:15:25.52\00:15:26.82
because you can
doubt just about anything.
00:15:26.82\00:15:29.32
So he ended up rejecting
all the evidence of his senses,
00:15:29.32\00:15:32.33
which left him with
nothing but his thoughts.
00:15:32.33\00:15:35.13
And that's when he wondered,
00:15:35.13\00:15:37.07
"How do I even
know that doubt is real?
00:15:37.07\00:15:39.37
What if my doubts
are also being planted
00:15:39.37\00:15:41.44
in my head by that demon?"
00:15:41.44\00:15:42.87
And that's when
the lights went on.
00:15:42.87\00:15:45.71
If he was
doubting his doubts, well,
00:15:45.71\00:15:48.44
he was still doubting.
00:15:48.44\00:15:50.05
So it seemed like the ability
to question stuff in his mind,
00:15:50.05\00:15:54.22
well, that was certain.
00:15:54.22\00:15:55.95
So then he went a
little bit further
00:15:55.95\00:15:57.32
and asked, "How do I
know that I'm thinking?
00:15:57.32\00:15:59.52
What if that's an illusion?"
00:15:59.52\00:16:01.12
But again, it occurred to him
00:16:01.12\00:16:02.32
that if he was
thinking about thinking,
00:16:02.32\00:16:03.99
well, then he's thinking.
00:16:03.99\00:16:05.33
And so that also
seemed undoubtable.
00:16:05.33\00:16:08.96
Here's what he actually wrote
in his "Discourse on Method,"
00:16:08.96\00:16:11.67
and this is the thing
that made Descartes famous.
00:16:11.67\00:16:14.10
He said, "I resolved to
pretend that all the things
00:16:14.10\00:16:17.67
that had ever entered
my mind were no more true
00:16:17.67\00:16:20.18
than the illusions of my dreams.
00:16:20.18\00:16:22.54
But immediately afterward,
00:16:22.54\00:16:24.15
I noticed that while I wanted
thus to think that everything
00:16:24.15\00:16:26.78
was false, it
necessarily had to be the case
00:16:26.78\00:16:29.68
that I, who was
thinking this, was something,
00:16:29.68\00:16:32.85
and noticing that this truth,
00:16:32.85\00:16:34.69
I think, therefore I am,
00:16:34.69\00:16:37.06
was so firm and so assured
00:16:37.06\00:16:39.89
that all of the most
extravagant suppositions
00:16:39.89\00:16:42.20
of the skeptics were
incapable of shaking it.
00:16:42.20\00:16:45.13
I judged that I could
accept it without scruple
00:16:45.13\00:16:47.90
as the first principle of
the philosophy I was seeking."
00:16:47.90\00:16:51.97
Now, I know that
some of you are wondering
00:16:51.97\00:16:54.38
what in the world
that has to do with you
00:16:54.38\00:16:56.01
because you haven't wasted much
time wondering if you exist.
00:16:56.01\00:17:00.25
But there's an
unexpected consequence
00:17:00.25\00:17:02.48
to this philosophy that
has affected most of us,
00:17:02.48\00:17:05.32
and it boils down to
his systematic separation
00:17:05.32\00:17:08.36
of the mind and the body.
00:17:08.36\00:17:10.36
What Descartes was left with
00:17:10.36\00:17:12.06
was a kind of dualism
where the physical world
00:17:12.06\00:17:14.93
and the world of the mind
became two different things.
00:17:14.93\00:17:18.13
We can probably
thank another philosopher,
00:17:18.13\00:17:20.47
Gottfried Leibniz,
for that because he said
00:17:20.47\00:17:23.94
that if two things
are gonna be identical,
00:17:23.94\00:17:25.91
they have to be identical
in every single detail.
00:17:25.91\00:17:29.01
That idea was
already being circulated
00:17:29.01\00:17:31.35
when Descartes
started to philosophize,
00:17:31.35\00:17:33.42
and obviously,
from his perspective,
00:17:33.42\00:17:35.65
mind and body were
now two different things.
00:17:35.65\00:17:38.09
He could count on the
existence of his mind,
00:17:38.09\00:17:40.62
but he couldn't
count on the existence
00:17:40.62\00:17:43.29
of the physical world.
00:17:43.29\00:17:45.29
It wasn't a new idea
00:17:45.29\00:17:46.83
because the pagans had
been teaching that for thousands
00:17:46.83\00:17:49.10
of years and the Greeks
became famous for promoting it.
00:17:49.10\00:17:53.07
But as we'll see
when we come back
00:17:53.07\00:17:54.40
from a really quick break,
00:17:54.40\00:17:56.44
there's a serious
problem buried in there.
00:17:56.44\00:17:59.01
I'll be right back after this.
00:17:59.01\00:18:01.31
[upbeat chiming]
00:18:01.31\00:18:04.38
[melancholic music]
00:18:04.38\00:18:05.65
- [Narrator] Life
can throw a lot at us.
00:18:05.65\00:18:07.22
Sometimes we don't
have all the answers,
00:18:07.22\00:18:10.62
but that's where
the Bible comes in.
00:18:10.62\00:18:12.52
[upbeat music]
00:18:12.52\00:18:13.82
It's our guide to a
more fulfilling life.
00:18:13.82\00:18:16.16
Here at the Voice of Prophecy,
00:18:16.16\00:18:17.66
we've created the
Discover Bible Guides
00:18:17.66\00:18:19.83
to be your guide to the Bible.
00:18:19.83\00:18:21.43
They're designed to
be simple, easy to use,
00:18:21.43\00:18:23.90
and provide answers to many
of life's toughest questions,
00:18:23.90\00:18:26.90
and they're absolutely free,
00:18:26.90\00:18:28.97
so jump online
now or give us a call
00:18:28.97\00:18:31.27
and start your
journey of discovery.
00:18:31.27\00:18:34.04
- The ideas that Rene
Descartes became famous for
00:18:34.04\00:18:36.81
are sometimes
called substance dualism
00:18:36.81\00:18:39.78
or Cartesian dualism
in honor of his last name.
00:18:39.78\00:18:44.25
It's the idea that your mind
can exist without your body,
00:18:44.25\00:18:47.69
that it's a separate
entity all by itself.
00:18:47.69\00:18:50.56
in this way of thinking,
00:18:50.56\00:18:51.86
the body is just a
meat locker for your ghost.
00:18:51.86\00:18:54.60
It can't think or
exist just by itself.
00:18:54.60\00:18:57.90
Now, this way of
thinking leads to something
00:18:57.90\00:18:59.60
that philosophers
call the mind-body problem,
00:18:59.60\00:19:03.10
which questions how the mind
00:19:03.10\00:19:04.71
and body actually
relate to each other.
00:19:04.71\00:19:07.51
And again, I know,
00:19:07.51\00:19:08.81
it sounds like a lot
of academic gobbledygook,
00:19:08.81\00:19:11.01
but hear me out,
because according to Descartes,
00:19:11.01\00:19:14.05
one of our most
prominent Western philosophers,
00:19:14.05\00:19:17.42
the mind and body
are two separate things.
00:19:17.42\00:19:20.32
But then our
day-to-day experience tells us,
00:19:20.32\00:19:22.52
every day,
that's not really true.
00:19:22.52\00:19:25.63
Really bad news, for example,
00:19:25.63\00:19:27.40
is comprehended
upstairs in your mind,
00:19:27.40\00:19:29.90
but the tears
that come to your eyes,
00:19:29.90\00:19:31.67
that's a physical response.
00:19:31.67\00:19:33.27
So there really is a
connection between your mind
00:19:33.27\00:19:35.94
and your body,
and there's no way
00:19:35.94\00:19:38.17
they're completely separate.
00:19:38.17\00:19:40.74
Likewise, I can stand at a door
00:19:40.74\00:19:42.71
and imagine that
it's opening all day long,
00:19:42.71\00:19:45.58
but it's not going to happen.
00:19:45.58\00:19:46.92
It's not gonna open
00:19:46.92\00:19:48.32
unless you know, doing
magic tricks like Uri Geller.
00:19:48.32\00:19:51.92
You can picture it,
you can visualize it.
00:19:51.92\00:19:54.99
But to make the door open,
00:19:54.99\00:19:56.46
my brain is gonna
have to tell my hand
00:19:56.46\00:19:58.19
to reach out and
grab the doorknob.
00:19:58.19\00:20:00.36
The mind has to rely on
the body to get things done.
00:20:00.36\00:20:04.77
And I know, a lot of
us were raised on the idea
00:20:04.77\00:20:07.70
that the mind is
actually independent of the body
00:20:07.70\00:20:09.97
and that we can
float off after we die
00:20:09.97\00:20:12.11
and live some kind of
disembodied experience.
00:20:12.11\00:20:14.91
That's really the
essence of dualism.
00:20:14.91\00:20:18.35
But let's think
about that for a moment.
00:20:18.35\00:20:21.18
If that's really true, if
you can completely separate mind
00:20:21.18\00:20:25.72
and body, then how do you
explain what happens to people
00:20:25.72\00:20:29.09
who take psychoactive
drugs like alcohol or LSD?
00:20:29.09\00:20:34.20
Those drugs operate
on physical principles.
00:20:34.20\00:20:37.43
They change your brain chemistry
00:20:37.43\00:20:39.60
and they alter how
you perceive the world.
00:20:39.60\00:20:42.84
These substances dampen
the reliability of your senses,
00:20:42.84\00:20:46.24
but that's not the
only thing that happens.
00:20:46.24\00:20:48.91
They actually
change the way you think.
00:20:48.91\00:20:51.28
I mean, just visit
a courtroom sometime
00:20:51.28\00:20:53.68
and listen to the
number of people who try
00:20:53.68\00:20:55.72
to excuse their awful
behavior by blaming alcohol.
00:20:55.72\00:21:00.69
I wasn't thinking
straight, your honor.
00:21:01.82\00:21:03.29
Well, why not?
00:21:03.29\00:21:04.39
Why weren't you
thinking straight?
00:21:04.39\00:21:06.23
If the mind is completely
separated from the body,
00:21:06.23\00:21:08.93
then how did molecules of
alcohol change the way you
00:21:08.93\00:21:14.00
think? We all know that drunk
human beings will do things
00:21:15.30\00:21:16.91
they would never consider
doing when they're sober.
00:21:16.91\00:21:20.01
Alcohol lowers your inhibitions.
00:21:20.01\00:21:22.18
And the crime stats prove it.
00:21:22.18\00:21:24.65
According to one
study I was reading
00:21:24.65\00:21:26.21
just a little while ago,
00:21:26.21\00:21:27.75
53% of the murders
committed in the United States
00:21:27.75\00:21:30.99
were fueled by liquor.
00:21:30.99\00:21:32.89
57% of the rapes,
47% of the robberies
00:21:32.89\00:21:36.83
and 60% of physical assaults.
00:21:36.83\00:21:40.03
They were motivated
or at least emboldened
00:21:40.03\00:21:43.16
by liquor consumption.
00:21:43.16\00:21:44.93
And tragically,
something like 80%
00:21:44.93\00:21:47.87
of suicides involve alcohol.
00:21:47.87\00:21:50.84
So clearly, alcohol dramatically
changes the way you think.
00:21:50.84\00:21:55.81
So now let's ask ourselves.
00:21:56.71\00:21:58.98
How could it be
that the mind and body
00:21:58.98\00:22:00.72
are two separate things?
00:22:00.72\00:22:02.95
The reasonable
answer is they're not.
00:22:02.95\00:22:06.59
And wouldn't you know it?
00:22:06.59\00:22:08.22
That's the
description of human nature
00:22:08.22\00:22:10.03
you actually find in the Bible.
00:22:10.03\00:22:12.19
Contrary to popular thinking,
00:22:12.19\00:22:14.00
the Bible does not
separate the mind and body.
00:22:14.00\00:22:17.27
And I know, for a lot of us,
that's a big pill to swallow,
00:22:17.27\00:22:20.30
but hear me out.
00:22:20.30\00:22:22.20
I'm reminded of
something Jesus said.
00:22:22.20\00:22:24.44
He was talking to the
Pharisees who were really upset
00:22:24.44\00:22:28.04
because he was healing somebody,
00:22:28.04\00:22:30.51
and unbelievably,
they started telling people
00:22:30.51\00:22:32.85
that Jesus was healing people
through the power of a demon.
00:22:32.85\00:22:36.62
So now listen to
how Jesus responded.
00:22:36.62\00:22:39.09
He said, "You brood of vipers!"
00:22:39.09\00:22:41.82
I like some of Jesus' responses.
00:22:41.82\00:22:44.06
"You brood of vipers!
00:22:44.06\00:22:46.36
How can you speak
good when you are evil?
00:22:46.36\00:22:49.06
For out of the
abundance of the heart,"
00:22:49.06\00:22:51.43
he's talking about the mind now,
00:22:51.43\00:22:53.54
"the mouth speaks.
00:22:53.54\00:22:55.74
The good person, out
of his good treasure,
00:22:55.74\00:22:58.17
brings forth good,
and the evil person,
00:22:58.17\00:23:00.24
out of his evil
treasure, brings forth evil."
00:23:00.24\00:23:03.78
Okay, it's not
really rocket science
00:23:03.78\00:23:06.08
to discover that your
thoughts affect your behavior,
00:23:06.08\00:23:09.62
but let's consider
this from the perspective
00:23:09.62\00:23:11.49
of substance dualism.
00:23:11.49\00:23:13.66
The Bible presents your
mind as a fundamental part
00:23:13.66\00:23:16.52
of your body, not something
that exists entirely on its own.
00:23:16.52\00:23:21.56
What happens
when somebody develops
00:23:22.63\00:23:23.97
one of those
horrible degenerative diseases
00:23:23.97\00:23:25.90
like Alzheimer's or dementia?
00:23:25.90\00:23:28.44
At the root, it's
a physical problem.
00:23:28.44\00:23:31.44
It's the breakdown of the brain,
00:23:31.44\00:23:33.68
and there's no question
00:23:33.68\00:23:35.08
that the physical breakdown
is changing the person.
00:23:35.08\00:23:38.65
Their personality changes,
00:23:38.65\00:23:40.72
their ability to
comprehend and analyze
00:23:40.72\00:23:42.75
the world begins to dissolve.
00:23:42.75\00:23:45.25
What's going on?
00:23:45.25\00:23:46.86
A distinctly physical problem
00:23:46.86\00:23:49.12
is altering the mind.
00:23:49.12\00:23:51.43
This is precisely why
so many modern philosophers
00:23:51.43\00:23:54.20
are now rejecting
Descartes' dualism.
00:23:54.20\00:23:57.07
It doesn't make sense.
00:23:57.07\00:23:58.63
It doesn't match reality,
00:23:58.63\00:24:01.14
and it doesn't match
what the Bible teaches either.
00:24:01.14\00:24:03.64
According to this book,
00:24:03.64\00:24:05.01
that all important connection
00:24:05.01\00:24:06.41
between your mind and your body
00:24:06.41\00:24:07.88
ends up being
exactly who you are.
00:24:07.88\00:24:11.28
Your thoughts
change your behavior
00:24:11.28\00:24:13.35
and your behavior
changes your thoughts.
00:24:13.35\00:24:16.15
I'll be right back after this.
00:24:16.15\00:24:18.52
[upbeat chiming]
00:24:18.52\00:24:21.46
[beasts roaring]
00:24:21.46\00:24:22.76
- [Narrator] Dragons,
beasts, cryptic statues,
00:24:22.76\00:24:26.59
Bible prophecy can be
incredibly vivid and confusing.
00:24:26.59\00:24:31.13
If you've ever read
Daniel and Revelation
00:24:31.13\00:24:33.34
and come away scratching
your head, you are not alone.
00:24:33.34\00:24:36.37
Our free, Focus on
Prophecy guides are designed
00:24:36.37\00:24:39.31
to help you unlock
the mysteries of the Bible
00:24:39.31\00:24:41.58
and deepen your
understanding of God's plan
00:24:41.58\00:24:44.01
for you and our world.
00:24:44.01\00:24:45.65
Study online or
request them by mail
00:24:45.65\00:24:48.08
and start bringing
prophecy into focus today.
00:24:48.08\00:24:51.69
- There's a really
interesting passage
00:24:51.69\00:24:53.82
in the Book of Proverbs.
00:24:53.82\00:24:55.12
It kind of underlines
what I was talking about
00:24:55.12\00:24:57.49
with mind-altering chemicals.
00:24:57.49\00:24:59.59
Just listen to what this says,
00:24:59.59\00:25:00.80
and you can find
this in Proverbs 31.
00:25:00.80\00:25:03.80
It says, "It is not
for kings, O Lemuel,
00:25:03.80\00:25:06.80
it is not for
kings to drink wine,
00:25:06.80\00:25:08.60
or for rulers to
take strong drink,
00:25:08.60\00:25:10.77
lest they drink and
forget what has been decreed
00:25:10.77\00:25:13.61
and pervert the
rights of all the afflicted."
00:25:13.61\00:25:16.95
So again, let's
think about this.
00:25:16.95\00:25:19.08
How in the world can we believe
00:25:19.08\00:25:21.02
that the mind is somehow
independent of the physical body
00:25:21.02\00:25:23.39
when we know that the mind
can be dramatically altered
00:25:23.39\00:25:26.69
through physical means?
00:25:26.69\00:25:28.26
The wise man tells the
king that rulers cannot afford
00:25:28.26\00:25:30.83
to consume alcohol
because it will make them
00:25:30.83\00:25:33.16
forget God's moral precepts,
00:25:33.16\00:25:34.83
and they will quote, "Pervert
the rights of the afflicted."
00:25:34.83\00:25:38.13
Their ability to
think has been compromised
00:25:38.13\00:25:41.00
by a physical reality.
00:25:41.00\00:25:43.41
So do I think
Descartes was right?
00:25:43.41\00:25:46.14
Well, yes and no.
00:25:46.14\00:25:47.71
I believe he was right
when he observed two things.
00:25:47.71\00:25:50.28
First, your
senses can deceive you.
00:25:50.28\00:25:53.05
Secondly, we do know
that we actually exist.
00:25:53.05\00:25:57.39
More than that,
00:25:57.39\00:25:58.65
we can know that our
existence is meaningful.
00:25:58.65\00:26:01.09
Of course, I've gotta give
credit where credit is due.
00:26:01.09\00:26:03.53
Descartes was one of the
first people to help me realize
00:26:03.53\00:26:06.83
that the Christian
faith is perfectly reasonable.
00:26:06.83\00:26:10.80
But dualism?
00:26:10.80\00:26:12.47
A split between
the mind and the body?
00:26:12.47\00:26:15.87
No, as a student of the Bible,
00:26:15.87\00:26:18.31
that's something
I just can't accept.
00:26:18.31\00:26:20.38
The scriptures give
us no reason to believe
00:26:20.38\00:26:22.74
that the mind is
something other than your brain.
00:26:22.74\00:26:25.41
That's why brain injuries
can change your personality
00:26:25.41\00:26:28.15
and physical
diseases can compromise
00:26:28.15\00:26:30.69
your cognitive capacity.
00:26:30.69\00:26:33.05
Your ability to
think clearly declines
00:26:33.05\00:26:35.62
as your physical body goes.
00:26:35.62\00:26:38.46
You know, when
Moses died, the Bible says
00:26:38.46\00:26:40.43
that "his eye was undimmed
and his vigor unabated."
00:26:40.43\00:26:44.60
And of course, the
reason it points that out
00:26:44.60\00:26:46.23
is because that
was highly unusual.
00:26:46.23\00:26:48.50
It's considered
somewhat miraculous.
00:26:48.50\00:26:51.34
The rest of us,
00:26:51.34\00:26:52.54
we lose a lot as we get older.
00:26:52.54\00:26:54.84
My stamina isn't
what it was when I was 18,
00:26:54.84\00:26:57.51
and my eyesight
isn't the same either.
00:26:57.51\00:26:59.88
And as much as I
hate to admit it,
00:26:59.88\00:27:01.45
my mental recall isn't
as sharp as it used to be.
00:27:01.45\00:27:05.22
I mean, I can't even
begin to count the number
00:27:05.22\00:27:07.46
of times I walk through
the house to go get something,
00:27:07.46\00:27:09.62
but before I get there, I
forgot what I was looking for.
00:27:09.62\00:27:13.33
And if time should last,
00:27:13.33\00:27:14.56
I know full well
that my mental acuity
00:27:14.56\00:27:17.00
is going to fall apart.
00:27:17.00\00:27:18.53
Why?
00:27:18.53\00:27:20.07
Because my thoughts take
place in my biological hardware,
00:27:20.07\00:27:23.71
and as my body wears down,
so does my cognitive ability.
00:27:23.71\00:27:27.64
In the beginning,
the Bible teaches,
00:27:27.64\00:27:29.14
God created us with a
decidedly physical existence.
00:27:29.14\00:27:32.15
Go back and read it.
00:27:32.15\00:27:33.78
Then when Christ
came to live among us,
00:27:33.78\00:27:35.52
he actually retained
his human physical existence
00:27:35.52\00:27:37.75
for all time.
00:27:37.75\00:27:39.05
You find that in the
encounter with Thomas
00:27:39.05\00:27:41.32
at the end of Luke.
00:27:41.32\00:27:42.69
Jesus rose with a physical body.
00:27:42.69\00:27:45.39
And when God restores us,
00:27:45.39\00:27:46.76
he brings us back to
what we had in the beginning.
00:27:46.76\00:27:48.70
And Earth made new a
place that was physical
00:27:48.70\00:27:52.07
and God said "was very good."
00:27:52.07\00:27:55.57
Maybe it's time to
pick up this old book
00:27:55.57\00:27:57.44
and see just how much it agrees
00:27:57.44\00:27:59.57
with everything we're learning
about this world we live in.
00:27:59.57\00:28:02.58
Thanks for joining me.
00:28:02.58\00:28:03.95
I'm Shawn Boonstra, and
this has been "Authentic."
00:28:03.95\00:28:07.68
[upbeat music]
00:28:07.68\00:28:10.32
[upbeat music]
00:28:16.42\00:28:19.09