- What exactly is religion?
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Most of us think
we know what it is,
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but try to define it in a
way that completely captures
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the meaning of this
rather strange human phenomenon.
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And I think you'll find
it's not as easy as you hope.
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That's our
subject on "Authentic".
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[soft pleasant music]
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What exactly does it mean when
you call somebody religious?
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Religion is a word
that a lot of people use,
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and unfortunately, they often
do it with a disparaging tone.
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Even though if you press
them on what it actually means,
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they'll often flounder,
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because defining
it's not a simple task.
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Precise definitions of
religion can be evasive.
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I mean, just try to
define it right now in your head
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without the help of a dictionary
or any other source book.
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And I think you'll see
what I'm talking about.
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If you're visual, like I
am, you're probably sifting
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through a huge
variety of mental images,
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like people sitting in
church on Christmas Eve,
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a crazy street
preacher waving a Bible
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and shouting down pedestrians,
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or maybe those crowds of people
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throwing bright
colored powder on each other
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during the Hindu
Festival of Holy.
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But of course,
mental images and memories
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are not exactly a
working definition.
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So let's suppose for a moment
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that an alien civilization
makes contact with our planet,
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and you've been put
on a representative team
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for planet Earth,
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and your job is to help explain
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how the human race functions.
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How would you go about
explaining the religious impulse
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that the vast majority
of people seem to have?
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And if you were specifically
asked to define religion,
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how would you do it?
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Fortunately, a lot
of really smart people
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have already
taken a stab at this,
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which is what you
would expect when religion
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is such a powerful part
of the history of humanity.
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And that means that you
and I don't actually have
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to start from scratch.
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The American
philosopher William James
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said that religion is quote,
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"The feelings, acts and
experiences of individuals
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"in their solitude, so far
as they apprehend themselves
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"to stand in relation
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"to whatever they
may consider the divine."
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Now, as an immigrant to America,
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that's a definition
that kind of makes me smile,
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because it has distinctly
American qualities to it,
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not the least of which is
the focus on individuality.
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And honestly, I'm a huge
fan of American individualism,
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because it has given us a
remarkable degree of liberty,
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especially religious liberty.
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And this is a freedom
that was practically unknown
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prior to the
birth of this nation.
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I mean, it did exist,
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and we have a few remarkable
examples from time to time
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like say the Dutch
Republic of the 1700s.
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But you know, over the
course of human history
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in its entirety, this kind
of freedom we have right now,
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it's been really hard to find.
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Today, I live in a place
where I'm pretty much free
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to believe whatever I want
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without any
interference from the state.
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As long as the
exercise of my beliefs
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does not infringe on
the freedom of my neighbors
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to do the same.
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I'm not only free
to believe what I want,
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I'm also free
to say what I want,
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at least for the time being.
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Now in practice,
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American religious liberty
has been anything but perfect.
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In fact, go to the history,
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we've made some
pretty big mistakes.
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But I will say this,
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as an outsider
coming into this country,
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I really appreciate
the freedoms I now enjoy.
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But let's get back to
William James for just a moment.
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His definition of
religion is rooted
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in individual experience,
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and he's writing from
the perspective of solitude.
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Now, as a practicing
Christian, I have to admit
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that there's something to
the idea of individual faith.
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As you flip through
the pages of the Bible,
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you discovered that
most of the great luminaries
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had an individual
experience with God
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before they shared the
revelations with the masses.
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So for example, you've
got Abraham striking out
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with just his own family
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to find a new home
in the promised land.
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You've got Moses who
encounters God at a burning bush
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out in the
wilderness where he's alone.
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And from that point forward,
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he experiences God on a
one-to-one basis as he serves
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as the leader of the nation.
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Moses climbs to the
top of Sinai, alone.
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He begs God to reveal his
glory on the mountain, alone.
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And at the very
beginning of the story,
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back in the Garden of Eden,
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we have one man and then
one couple who experienced
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the presence of
God all by themselves.
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The Bible gives us an awful lot
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of individual
religious experiences.
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But I think that
you and I both know
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that personal
individual experience is not
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an adequate
definition for religion.
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Especially in
light of the fact that
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so many of the world's
religions actually emphasize
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the transcendence of the
ego, the vanishing of self,
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and most of those, stress
the importance of community.
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So I'm gonna give William
James an a forever effort,
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because well, he
was a really smart guy,
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and of course this
is not the only thing
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he ever said about religion.
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But as far as a
working definition goes,
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well, that one fails
and we gotta keep looking.
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The Victorian poet,
Matthew Arnold, defined religion
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as quote, "Ethics heightened
and kindled lit up by feeling."
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Okay, that's a useful definition
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because it adds an element
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that we didn't get
from William James,
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and that's this idea
that religion has a body
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of ethical teachings.
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I mean, we could
give Mr. James credit
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for saying
religion includes the idea
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of how you relate to the divine.
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So there is an implication
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that religion should
affect your behavior,
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but he didn't explicitly say it.
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Matthew Arnold, though,
who happened to be an agnostic,
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adds the idea that religion
does shape the way we interact
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with the world and each other.
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It provides a moral code.
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And we also get the
idea that ethical principles,
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whatever they are,
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can produce some
really powerful emotions.
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He's recognizing
that religious people
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are often very
passionate about their beliefs.
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But again, I
think that falls short,
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because the two
definitions we now have
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would never really
give an outsider an accurate
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or authentic
picture of humanity.
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I mean, people also get
passionate about gambling,
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and there are
gamblers who are ethical
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because they
wouldn't consider cheating.
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And some people have a
religious addiction to gambling.
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But they're hardly
the same thing, are they?
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And again, the
idea that religion
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is a solitary
experience doesn't account
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for the billions of
people who find themselves
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more or less united with
others on religious beliefs.
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And so they form communities
and cooperate with each other.
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And of course, we can always
go back to the dictionary,
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but with a
subject this complicated,
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that's gonna be too simplistic.
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And honestly, really,
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when I hear a public
speaker start a presentation
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by reciting a
dictionary definition,
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they've already lost me.
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I mean, if
somebody starts by saying,
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Webster defines
such and such as, well,
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I'm probably tempted to think
you didn't do your homework.
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But for the sake of exercise,
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let's read the
dictionary definition anyway.
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Dictionary.com
defines religion like this,
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a set of beliefs
concerning the cause,
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nature, and
purpose of the universe.
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So there's a
little cosmology in there,
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especially when
considered as the creation
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of a superhuman
agency or agencies.
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So you get the concept of a God,
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usually involving devotional
and ritual observances,
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and often containing
a moral code governing
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the conduct of human affairs.
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Alright, I'll admit it
that that wasn't too bad.
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It includes
cosmology, theology, and ethics.
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But again, if you were to read
that to a bunch of outsiders
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who came to visit this planet,
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I really doubt
they're gonna understand,
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unless they happen to be
deeply religious themselves.
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In an old textbook I read many,
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many moons ago
when I was an undergrad,
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professor John
Hick emphasized the idea
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that religion is far too complex
for a simple understanding.
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He said that we might have
to accept the fact that in order
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to define the word religion,
we might have to resort
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to a family of definitions.
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Here's what he wrote.
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Perhaps a more realistic
view is that the word religion
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does not have a
single correct meaning,
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but that the many
different phenomena subsumed
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under it are related in the way
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that the philosopher Ludwig
Wittgenstein has characterized
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as a family resemblance.
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Now, from there, he allows
Mr. Wittgenstein to give us
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an analogy that
really makes sense.
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But you're gonna have to
wait until after the break
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to see what that is.
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[soft pleasant music]
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- [Narrator] Here at
the Voice of Prophecy,
00:08:57.00\00:08:58.40
we're committed to
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like our audio adventure
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Discovery Mountain
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for kids of all
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Your family will enjoy
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With 24 seasonal
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[soft music]
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- When Ludwig
Wittgenstein tried to define
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the word religion,
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he compared what he was
doing to trying to define
00:09:30.77\00:09:32.97
the word game.
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Of course, you think
that explaining what a game is
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would be really easy,
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because we've all played games
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and we instinctively
know what they are.
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But then again, most
of us are also religious
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and we instinctively
know what religion means.
00:09:44.48\00:09:47.28
But we still find it
hard to explain it fully.
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Some people might
just try to explain
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that a game is
something you do for fun,
00:09:52.89\00:09:55.09
but that's not
a full definition.
00:09:55.09\00:09:56.86
Because there are people
who play games as professionals,
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like hockey
players or even gamblers,
00:09:59.46\00:10:01.83
and so they're doing it for
money, not necessarily for fun.
00:10:01.83\00:10:05.30
In fact, they have to do it
on the days they don't want to.
00:10:05.30\00:10:09.47
Other people might say a
game is a competitive event
00:10:09.47\00:10:12.21
where people try to
better their opponents.
00:10:12.21\00:10:14.08
But again, that
doesn't really explain it
00:10:14.08\00:10:16.24
because a lot of people consider
Sudoku puzzles to be games,
00:10:16.24\00:10:19.71
and that's
something you do alone.
00:10:19.71\00:10:21.58
Others might say that a
game requires a degree of skill,
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but again, there are
games like slot machines
00:10:25.09\00:10:27.79
that are pretty
much 100% random chance.
00:10:27.79\00:10:31.39
What you really
need to do is collect
00:10:31.39\00:10:33.16
all the
characteristics of games,
00:10:33.16\00:10:35.06
and think about them together,
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and then you might begin
to understand what a game is.
00:10:36.73\00:10:41.14
Now, the same thing holds true
00:10:41.14\00:10:42.64
if you want to explain religion.
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You're gonna have to
experience it and take the time
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to experience it rather broadly
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if you want to
understand what it is.
00:10:48.98\00:10:51.08
And when you do that,
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you might be in for a
few interesting surprises.
00:10:52.51\00:10:55.58
For example, there
are secular religions,
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religions that do not
acknowledge the existence
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of a supreme being.
00:11:00.82\00:11:01.96
And personally, I'd be tempted
00:11:01.96\00:11:03.53
to put Soviet
communism in that column.
00:11:03.53\00:11:06.23
And I know that's
not gonna sit right
00:11:06.23\00:11:07.83
with some people because a lot
of folks understand communism
00:11:07.83\00:11:10.67
to be a matter of
economics and politics,
00:11:10.67\00:11:12.77
and certainly not religion.
00:11:12.77\00:11:15.04
Over the last 120 years or so,
00:11:15.04\00:11:17.11
communist regimes
have, for the most part,
00:11:17.11\00:11:19.41
they know officially atheist.
00:11:19.41\00:11:21.31
But then if you
examine them closely,
00:11:21.31\00:11:24.18
you're gonna
find a number of ideas
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that have a
decidedly religious flavor.
00:11:25.88\00:11:28.72
There are underlying
assumptions to the philosophy
00:11:28.72\00:11:31.29
of Karl Marx beliefs that
you have to accept by faith,
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like the idea that history
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is somehow
automatically progressing,
00:11:36.52\00:11:38.89
getting better, moving
towards something higher.
00:11:38.89\00:11:42.33
Marx taught and he
proved to be wrong,
00:11:42.33\00:11:44.63
but Marx taught that history
00:11:44.63\00:11:46.57
was necessarily moving everybody
toward a communist state,
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where the means of production
could be owned by everybody.
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But let me ask you a
really important question.
00:11:54.44\00:11:57.35
Why in the world would
history be moving towards
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something better all on its own?
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If there is no
God, no higher power,
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than what makes anybody
think that a mindless universe
00:12:04.42\00:12:07.12
would generate moral progress?
00:12:07.12\00:12:09.52
And let's not forget,
00:12:09.52\00:12:10.93
more than a hundred
million people died at the hands
00:12:10.93\00:12:13.73
of communist regimes
over the 20th century,
00:12:13.73\00:12:16.10
which strongly
suggests that the idea
00:12:16.10\00:12:18.67
of moral progress was
nothing but an illusion.
00:12:18.67\00:12:21.40
It was a matter of faith,
00:12:21.40\00:12:23.14
and it was completely
wrongheaded on top of that.
00:12:23.14\00:12:26.04
Now going back to
Professor John Hick,
00:12:27.14\00:12:28.88
he explains quite
nicely how Marxism
00:12:28.88\00:12:31.38
actually qualifies
as a religious belief.
00:12:31.38\00:12:33.72
He writes, "Marxism has
its eschatological ideal
00:12:33.72\00:12:37.79
"of the ultimate
classless society.
00:12:37.79\00:12:39.95
"Its doctrine of predestination
00:12:39.95\00:12:41.62
"through historical necessity.
00:12:41.62\00:12:43.56
"Its scriptures,
prophets, saints, and martyrs.
00:12:43.56\00:12:46.73
"Thus, we can see it as
sharing some of the features
00:12:46.73\00:12:49.16
"of the family of
religions while lacking other
00:12:49.16\00:12:51.67
"and probably
more central ones."
00:12:51.67\00:12:53.64
Here's what we know.
00:12:54.57\00:12:56.07
Most of us, regardless of
our religious preferences,
00:12:56.07\00:12:58.31
still behave in religious ways.
00:12:58.31\00:13:00.41
Nobody's purely objective.
00:13:00.41\00:13:02.41
Nobody operates
strictly by rational analysis
00:13:02.41\00:13:05.88
of observable facts.
00:13:05.88\00:13:07.95
Every single worldview
has an element of faith.
00:13:07.95\00:13:10.72
They all produce people
who are passionately committed
00:13:10.72\00:13:13.19
to a body of opinions and
sometimes with religious fervor.
00:13:13.19\00:13:17.96
So maybe we need to acknowledge
00:13:17.96\00:13:19.89
that religious belief is
a key part of who we are,
00:13:19.89\00:13:22.76
no matter how we practice it.
00:13:22.76\00:13:24.97
Maybe when the
Bible says that all of us
00:13:24.97\00:13:27.20
have eternity in our hearts,
00:13:27.20\00:13:29.27
maybe that's a good
definition of who we really are.
00:13:29.27\00:13:32.34
Maybe there's a
reason we seek transcendence.
00:13:32.34\00:13:35.14
And we all seem to have this
feeling that something's wrong
00:13:35.14\00:13:38.55
with our present
mode of existence.
00:13:38.55\00:13:40.82
Almost all of the world's
religion seem to feature this
00:13:42.42\00:13:45.15
idea that we're supposed to
be better than we are right now.
00:13:45.15\00:13:48.02
There's something wrong they
teach, it needs to be fixed.
00:13:48.02\00:13:51.19
The ancient Greeks
blamed the material universe
00:13:51.19\00:13:53.73
for your problems.
00:13:53.73\00:13:55.06
You and I are imperfect
because we're physical,
00:13:55.06\00:13:57.57
and their
solution was transcendence.
00:13:57.57\00:13:59.47
The ultimate
triumph comes when you die,
00:13:59.47\00:14:01.70
when your ghost finally
disconnects from your body,
00:14:01.70\00:14:03.97
so you can return
to a disembodied state.
00:14:03.97\00:14:07.34
In the Hindu religion,
you find a similar concept,
00:14:07.34\00:14:10.21
the notion of samsara,
where where people pass
00:14:10.21\00:14:12.91
through a number
of bodily incarnations
00:14:12.91\00:14:15.12
being born over
and over and over,
00:14:15.12\00:14:17.72
until they move to
toward a higher state
00:14:17.72\00:14:19.82
where they can rejoin the
great oneness of the universe.
00:14:19.82\00:14:23.36
The average human being they
teach has been greatly deceived
00:14:23.36\00:14:26.83
about the nature of reality,
00:14:26.83\00:14:28.50
but we can find
salvation by finally learning
00:14:28.50\00:14:30.80
that we are one and
the same as Brahman,
00:14:30.80\00:14:34.47
the great oneness.
00:14:34.47\00:14:36.54
In Christianity, of
course, we have the idea
00:14:36.54\00:14:38.77
that human beings have
fallen from a state of grace.
00:14:38.77\00:14:41.34
We've been alienated
from our creator by sin,
00:14:41.34\00:14:43.91
and we need to be restored,
00:14:43.91\00:14:45.51
brought back to
what we used to be.
00:14:45.51\00:14:48.62
The apostle Paul
describes it this,
00:14:48.62\00:14:51.32
and you'll find this
in Colossians chapter one.
00:14:51.32\00:14:55.06
For it pleased the Father,
00:14:55.06\00:14:56.62
that in him all the
fullness should dwell,
00:14:56.62\00:14:58.86
and by him to reconcile
all things to himself, by Him,
00:14:58.86\00:15:02.86
whether things on
earth or things in heaven,
00:15:02.86\00:15:04.90
having made peace
through the blood of his cross.
00:15:04.90\00:15:07.64
And you who once were alienated
00:15:07.64\00:15:09.84
and enemies in your
mind by wicked works.
00:15:09.84\00:15:12.41
Yet now he has reconciled
in the body of his flesh
00:15:12.41\00:15:15.34
through death, to present
you wholly and blameless,
00:15:15.34\00:15:18.81
and above reproach in His sight.
00:15:18.81\00:15:21.28
The vast majority
of human beings realize
00:15:22.42\00:15:25.72
something has gone
wrong in this universe.
00:15:25.72\00:15:29.42
We're not happy with the
idea that pain and suffering
00:15:29.42\00:15:32.03
are supposed to be a
natural part of our existence.
00:15:32.03\00:15:34.66
And wouldn't you know
it, all across the planet
00:15:34.66\00:15:37.40
we seem to be deeply religious.
00:15:37.40\00:15:39.23
Something about our
existence on this pale blue dot
00:15:39.23\00:15:41.90
is really unsatisfying,
00:15:41.90\00:15:43.61
and we seem to think
there must be a solution.
00:15:43.61\00:15:45.94
There must be a
better way to live.
00:15:45.94\00:15:48.28
From where I sit,
00:15:48.28\00:15:49.74
religion is the exercise
00:15:49.74\00:15:51.88
of human beings
pursuing that solution.
00:15:51.88\00:15:54.88
It's a matter of figuring out
00:15:54.88\00:15:56.02
what we're
actually supposed to be,
00:15:56.02\00:15:57.55
and then
aspiring to become that.
00:15:57.55\00:16:00.09
In other words,
religion is the practice
00:16:00.09\00:16:02.29
of finding authenticity,
whatever that proves to be.
00:16:02.29\00:16:06.16
This is why I insist
that Marxism can be classified
00:16:06.16\00:16:09.80
as a religious belief,
00:16:09.80\00:16:11.33
because it's a secular attempt
to solve the same problem.
00:16:11.33\00:16:14.84
We know something's
wrong with human existence,
00:16:14.84\00:16:18.07
and that was just one more
attempt to explain it and fix
00:16:18.07\00:16:21.91
it. Now, I don't know if you
had to read "Lord of the Flies"
00:16:21.91\00:16:25.21
when you were in school.
00:16:25.21\00:16:26.05
But you probably did,
00:16:26.05\00:16:27.42
because once upon a time
that was required reading.
00:16:27.42\00:16:30.15
Of course, given
the current popularity
00:16:30.15\00:16:32.25
that censorship
seems to be enjoying,
00:16:32.25\00:16:34.19
I wouldn't be
surprised if it was no longer
00:16:34.19\00:16:36.59
a part of school curricula,
00:16:36.59\00:16:38.33
but I'm guessing that
most of you probably read it.
00:16:38.33\00:16:41.00
I had to read it in the
third grade, if you can imagine.
00:16:41.00\00:16:44.17
And I've come to
believe after reading it,
00:16:44.17\00:16:46.13
that really wasn't
written for eight year olds.
00:16:46.13\00:16:48.67
But if you've read
it, you might remember.
00:16:48.67\00:16:50.77
It's the story
of a group of boys
00:16:50.77\00:16:52.71
who end up stranded
on a deserted island.
00:16:52.71\00:16:55.04
And the reason this book
got a lot of traction was
00:16:55.04\00:16:57.45
because it's a rather detailed
study of basic human nature.
00:16:57.45\00:17:01.52
It's pure fiction of course.
00:17:02.58\00:17:04.05
But there was
something about the story
00:17:04.05\00:17:05.62
that rang a lot
of people's bells.
00:17:05.62\00:17:07.59
It bothered us because
Mr. Golding seemed to capture
00:17:07.59\00:17:10.63
some rather uncomfortable
facts about human nature.
00:17:10.63\00:17:14.36
In the story, a bunch of
prepubescent boys attempt
00:17:14.36\00:17:17.53
to build a civilization of
their own because they have to.
00:17:17.53\00:17:21.17
So they decide on
a form of government.
00:17:21.17\00:17:23.64
And eventually
wouldn't you know it,
00:17:23.64\00:17:24.87
they also create a religion.
00:17:24.87\00:17:27.21
They convince themselves
there's a dangerous beast
00:17:27.21\00:17:29.54
living somewhere on the island,
00:17:29.54\00:17:30.98
and they even
start finding evidence
00:17:30.98\00:17:32.75
that this creature is real.
00:17:32.75\00:17:34.62
So one of the
boys becomes a leader
00:17:34.62\00:17:36.42
when he promises he
can deal with the threat.
00:17:36.42\00:17:39.32
And for the rest of the story,
00:17:39.32\00:17:40.92
they build their little
civilization around that idea
00:17:40.92\00:17:44.39
with disastrous consequences.
00:17:44.39\00:17:46.76
And after I take a little break,
00:17:46.76\00:17:48.06
we'll enjoy a little
bit of reading theater
00:17:48.06\00:17:50.20
and see if Mr.
Golding was onto something.
00:17:50.20\00:17:53.17
[soft pleasant music]
00:17:53.17\00:17:56.60
- [Narrator] Life
can throw a lot at us.
00:17:56.60\00:17:59.01
Sometimes we don't
have all the answers,
00:17:59.01\00:18:02.38
but that's where
the Bible comes in.
00:18:02.38\00:18:04.81
It's our guide to a
more fulfilling life.
00:18:04.81\00:18:07.92
Here at The Voice of Prophecy,
00:18:07.92\00:18:09.48
we've created the
Discover Bible guides
00:18:09.48\00:18:11.62
to be your guide to the Bible.
00:18:11.62\00:18:13.22
They're designed to
be simple, easy to use,
00:18:13.22\00:18:15.72
and provide answers to many
of life's toughest questions,
00:18:15.72\00:18:18.73
and they're absolutely free.
00:18:18.73\00:18:20.76
So jump online
now or give us a call
00:18:20.76\00:18:23.06
and start your
journey of discovery.
00:18:23.06\00:18:25.37
- Okay, we're
back from the break,
00:18:26.33\00:18:27.57
and now it's time
to break out a book
00:18:27.57\00:18:29.27
that I first read
back in the third grade.
00:18:29.27\00:18:31.24
And I seem to remember somebody
also showed us the movie
00:18:31.24\00:18:33.98
before we were 10 years old.
00:18:33.98\00:18:36.51
Now, to be clear,
I'm not condoning sharing
00:18:36.51\00:18:38.61
this with children,
00:18:38.61\00:18:39.98
because there are ideas
in the story that require,
00:18:39.98\00:18:42.02
well, a little bit of life
experience to really understand.
00:18:42.02\00:18:45.32
And I just happened
to be one of those kids
00:18:45.32\00:18:46.82
who read absolutely everything
I could get my hands on.
00:18:46.82\00:18:49.99
In fact, I
sometimes had heated arguments
00:18:49.99\00:18:52.46
with the town librarian,
00:18:52.46\00:18:53.63
because I had an
orange library card,
00:18:53.63\00:18:56.30
which restricted me to
the children's section.
00:18:56.30\00:18:58.73
But I was forever
trying to sign out books
00:18:58.73\00:19:00.30
from the green
section, which was for adults.
00:19:00.30\00:19:02.90
But that's all beside the point,
00:19:02.90\00:19:04.47
because I wanna explore
one of the central ideas
00:19:04.47\00:19:07.11
in Mr. Golding's
"Lord of the Flies".
00:19:07.11\00:19:09.81
It's the story
of some British boys
00:19:09.81\00:19:11.58
who find themselves
stranded on an island.
00:19:11.58\00:19:13.58
And after a while they
develop their own mythology
00:19:13.58\00:19:16.62
and their own
system of governance
00:19:16.62\00:19:18.55
and eventually
their own religion.
00:19:18.55\00:19:20.86
And it's really a
bit of a disturbing story
00:19:20.86\00:19:22.72
because everything
goes terribly wrong.
00:19:22.72\00:19:24.79
In fact, one of the
main characters ends up dead.
00:19:24.79\00:19:28.50
There are very deep religious
undertones to this tale,
00:19:28.50\00:19:31.57
and I'll give you an example.
00:19:31.57\00:19:33.20
The boys are trying
to determine what exactly
00:19:33.20\00:19:35.14
the scary beast living
in the forest must be like.
00:19:35.14\00:19:37.51
So now we hear from
Ralph, one of the boys
00:19:37.51\00:19:40.74
who emerges as a leader.
00:19:40.74\00:19:43.01
See if this sounds religious.
00:19:43.01\00:19:45.31
He stopped again.
00:19:45.31\00:19:47.02
The careful plan of this
assembly had broken down.
00:19:47.02\00:19:49.95
What do you want me to say then?
00:19:49.95\00:19:51.39
I was wrong to call
this assembly so late.
00:19:51.39\00:19:53.76
We'll have to vote on
them on ghosts, I mean,
00:19:53.76\00:19:56.02
and then go to the shelters
because we're all tired.
00:19:56.02\00:19:58.86
No, Jack, is it, wait a minute.
00:19:58.86\00:20:01.76
I'll say here and now
that I don't believe in ghosts
00:20:01.76\00:20:04.30
or I don't think I do.
00:20:04.30\00:20:06.20
But I don't like
the thought of them,
00:20:06.20\00:20:07.87
not now that is in the dark,
00:20:07.87\00:20:10.11
but we were gonna
decide what's what.
00:20:10.11\00:20:12.51
Golden is using a
microcosm of humanity,
00:20:13.64\00:20:15.84
a group of young boys to show us
00:20:15.84\00:20:17.48
what he thinks
human beings are like.
00:20:17.48\00:20:20.85
It's a powerful illustration
00:20:20.85\00:20:22.42
of our inherent
need to find order.
00:20:22.42\00:20:24.45
Our need to explain
and then deal with chaos.
00:20:24.45\00:20:27.42
And of course,
our repeated failure
00:20:27.42\00:20:29.02
to find any absolute security.
00:20:29.02\00:20:31.93
These boys are
absolutely convinced
00:20:31.93\00:20:33.63
something on
the island is wrong.
00:20:33.63\00:20:35.60
There's a beast in the forest
that needs to be dispatched,
00:20:35.60\00:20:38.63
and so they expend a lot
of energy trying to figure out
00:20:38.63\00:20:41.34
how they're
gonna accomplish that.
00:20:41.34\00:20:43.51
But of course, the idea
that you can just take a vote
00:20:43.51\00:20:45.94
to figure out what's true
00:20:45.94\00:20:47.88
or what you should do about it.
00:20:47.88\00:20:49.94
It's not entirely comforting,
00:20:49.94\00:20:51.31
because
civilization has been doing that
00:20:51.31\00:20:53.01
for thousands of years now.
00:20:53.01\00:20:54.62
And that process has led
to some pretty tragic results.
00:20:54.62\00:20:58.92
Over the course of
the last 2000 years,
00:20:58.92\00:21:00.96
a lot of church councils have
made some rather bad decisions
00:21:00.96\00:21:04.13
about what truth is by
putting the matter to a vote.
00:21:04.13\00:21:07.66
And making truth subservient
00:21:07.66\00:21:09.43
to popular opinion
has created a long legacy
00:21:09.43\00:21:12.53
of
embarrassment from the pogroms
00:21:12.53\00:21:14.77
launched against
the Jews in Spain,
00:21:14.77\00:21:16.54
to the hunting of
Waldensians and Albigenses
00:21:16.54\00:21:19.31
during the Middle Ages.
00:21:19.31\00:21:21.28
We have managed
to convince ourselves
00:21:21.28\00:21:23.04
that many minds make
for better decisions,
00:21:23.04\00:21:25.35
because sometimes that's true.
00:21:25.35\00:21:28.15
And the Bible
actually supports that.
00:21:28.15\00:21:30.42
Without counsel, it
says, plans go awry,
00:21:30.42\00:21:33.49
but in the multitude
of counselors, they are
00:21:33.49\00:21:37.19
established. So in other words,
there is safety to be found
00:21:37.19\00:21:39.89
when you consider
everybody's perspective.
00:21:39.89\00:21:42.66
But still, you're not
guaranteed to find truth
00:21:42.66\00:21:46.53
by collecting opinions.
00:21:46.53\00:21:48.94
I guess what I really
appreciate about Mr. Golding
00:21:48.94\00:21:51.31
is the way he
illustrates the fact
00:21:51.31\00:21:53.17
that even our best thinking,
00:21:53.17\00:21:54.61
our best efforts
seem to be flawed,
00:21:54.61\00:21:57.48
and the human race
seems to have this talent
00:21:57.48\00:21:59.65
for making bad
things worse all the time.
00:21:59.65\00:22:02.58
Even now, at the height
of technological achievement
00:22:02.58\00:22:05.32
and scientific enlightenment,
00:22:05.32\00:22:07.02
sometimes all of our
accomplishments only serve
00:22:07.02\00:22:09.72
to magnify our flaws
instead of mitigate them.
00:22:09.72\00:22:13.43
So that's where
the Bible's perspective
00:22:14.56\00:22:16.73
becomes quite helpful.
00:22:16.73\00:22:18.33
Most of the world's
religions have the human race
00:22:18.33\00:22:20.54
trying to find their way back
00:22:20.54\00:22:21.64
to whatever it is that we lost,
00:22:21.64\00:22:23.61
by paying attention to karma
00:22:23.61\00:22:25.74
or by accumulating
a bunch of good deeds,
00:22:25.74\00:22:28.08
or by turning inward in an
effort to shed the illusion
00:22:28.08\00:22:31.41
of life and achieve some
kind of higher understanding.
00:22:31.41\00:22:35.02
Most of our efforts
are rooted in the idea
00:22:35.02\00:22:37.12
that we need to
better ourselves.
00:22:37.12\00:22:39.72
But we have consistently,
consistently failed to do that.
00:22:39.72\00:22:44.03
Like you find in a Greek
tragedy, we often contribute
00:22:44.03\00:22:46.83
to our own downfall in the
process of trying to avoid it.
00:22:46.83\00:22:50.93
So from that perspective,
00:22:50.93\00:22:52.83
almost every
history book I've read,
00:22:52.83\00:22:54.67
becomes a catalog
of religious beliefs.
00:22:54.67\00:22:57.31
They show me a long
record of bad results.
00:22:57.31\00:23:00.18
Unintended
consequences were our very best
00:23:00.18\00:23:03.01
efforts to improve this
world never seemed to fix it.
00:23:03.01\00:23:06.88
But in the Bible, we
have a unique perspective
00:23:06.88\00:23:09.55
that makes a lot of sense,
00:23:09.55\00:23:11.45
like you find in this
passage in the book of Isaiah.
00:23:11.45\00:23:14.66
Where it says, but we are
all like an unclean thing,
00:23:14.66\00:23:18.53
and all our righteousnesses
are like filthy rags.
00:23:18.53\00:23:22.03
We all fade as a
leaf and our iniquities
00:23:22.03\00:23:24.37
like the wind
have taken us away.
00:23:24.37\00:23:26.53
The Christian faith
gives an honest assessment
00:23:27.77\00:23:30.34
of the problem.
00:23:30.34\00:23:31.54
It admits that
something is wrong
00:23:31.54\00:23:33.74
and that you are
powerless to fix it.
00:23:33.74\00:23:36.14
There is no working
your way back to paradise,
00:23:36.14\00:23:38.88
because the essential
flaw in the human race
00:23:38.88\00:23:40.85
is anything but superficial.
00:23:40.85\00:23:42.95
It's not like we
have a broken leg,
00:23:42.95\00:23:44.55
and we can patch it with
a splint made from sticks,
00:23:44.55\00:23:47.19
and then hobble our
way back to civilization.
00:23:47.19\00:23:49.99
It's far more serious than that.
00:23:49.99\00:23:52.16
It's more like your
limbs have been amputated.
00:23:52.16\00:23:55.46
So what we have in the pages
00:23:56.50\00:23:58.07
of the Bible is a
different kind of religion,
00:23:58.07\00:24:01.00
a faith where the
supreme being recognizes
00:24:01.00\00:24:03.34
our tragic shortcomings,
00:24:03.34\00:24:04.71
and then he makes a
move in our direction
00:24:04.71\00:24:07.71
because he knows it
doesn't work the other way.
00:24:07.71\00:24:10.95
I'll be right back after this.
00:24:10.95\00:24:13.78
[soft pleasant music]
00:24:13.78\00:24:17.22
- [Narrator] Dragons,
beasts, cryptic statues.
00:24:17.22\00:24:21.49
Bible prophecy can be
incredibly vivid and confusing.
00:24:21.49\00:24:26.06
If you've ever read
"Daniel a Revelation"
00:24:26.06\00:24:28.23
and come away scratching
your head, you are not alone.
00:24:28.23\00:24:31.30
Our free focus on
prophecy guides are designed
00:24:31.30\00:24:34.20
to help you unlock
the mysteries of the Bible
00:24:34.20\00:24:36.47
and deepen your
understanding of God's plan
00:24:36.47\00:24:38.91
for you and our world.
00:24:38.91\00:24:40.54
Study online or
request them by mail
00:24:40.54\00:24:43.01
and start bringing
prophecy into focus today.
00:24:43.01\00:24:45.95
- In the book of Jeremiah,
00:24:46.95\00:24:48.22
there's a famous
description of human nature,
00:24:48.22\00:24:50.22
and it reads like this.
00:24:50.22\00:24:52.12
Can the Ethiopian change his
skin or the leopard its spots?
00:24:52.12\00:24:56.12
Then may you also do good
00:24:56.12\00:24:57.53
who are accustomed to do evil.
00:24:57.53\00:25:00.16
In other words,
our essential flaw
00:25:00.16\00:25:01.70
is not just a matter
of making some mistakes,
00:25:01.70\00:25:03.83
like an accountant accidentally
00:25:03.83\00:25:05.57
putting a number
in the wrong column.
00:25:05.57\00:25:07.90
Our problem is
far more baked in.
00:25:07.90\00:25:10.21
It's an actual
flaw in our makeup.
00:25:10.21\00:25:12.87
My fallen nature is
every bit as much a part of me
00:25:12.87\00:25:16.01
as the color of my
skin or the size of my feet.
00:25:16.01\00:25:18.38
It's something I was born into.
00:25:18.38\00:25:21.38
What it means is
that my best attempts
00:25:21.38\00:25:23.75
to correct my flaws
are going to be defective,
00:25:23.75\00:25:26.02
because we're talking
about a systemic problem.
00:25:26.02\00:25:29.36
From the biblical perspective,
00:25:29.36\00:25:30.93
sin is not just a matter
of doing some bad things,
00:25:30.93\00:25:33.93
it's what we are when
we're alienated from God.
00:25:33.93\00:25:37.23
And so what we find in
the Bible is God himself
00:25:37.23\00:25:40.10
becoming one of us, a real
flesh and blood human being.
00:25:40.10\00:25:44.67
And as an actual human being,
00:25:44.67\00:25:46.68
He lived the only
perfect human life on record,
00:25:46.68\00:25:49.71
which means that He is
the only perfect example
00:25:49.71\00:25:53.08
of what it means to be
made in the image of God.
00:25:53.08\00:25:56.18
And then at the peak of that
experience, we crucified Him,
00:25:56.18\00:26:01.26
which only proved
how broken we are.
00:26:02.32\00:26:03.83
I mean, we were able to murder
00:26:03.83\00:26:06.13
the very person who created us.
00:26:06.13\00:26:08.93
There's a statement
in the book of Romans,
00:26:10.10\00:26:11.90
it's one of my
absolute favorites.
00:26:11.90\00:26:13.94
But God demonstrates
his own love toward us,
00:26:13.94\00:26:17.44
and that while we were still
sinners, Christ died for us.
00:26:17.44\00:26:22.04
Of all the religious
documents I've ever read,
00:26:22.04\00:26:24.51
the Bible stands alone.
00:26:24.51\00:26:26.35
It's the only one
that openly admits
00:26:26.35\00:26:29.12
that our personal
religious experiments
00:26:29.12\00:26:31.35
are never going to work.
00:26:31.35\00:26:33.05
And the only solution,
the only possible solution,
00:26:33.05\00:26:37.73
is a loving God who
takes over on our behalf.
00:26:37.73\00:26:41.70
Now, if you find
yourself who this God is,
00:26:41.70\00:26:44.77
if you really
don't know where to start
00:26:44.77\00:26:46.87
in studying this book,
to find out for yourself
00:26:46.87\00:26:49.47
for once to see what
it says, let me help you.
00:26:49.47\00:26:52.91
Go to biblestudies.com.
00:26:52.91\00:26:55.01
That's a website
run by the good people
00:26:55.01\00:26:57.68
who sponsor "Authentic,
The Voice of Prophecy".
00:26:57.68\00:27:00.88
And there you'll find
a number of Bible courses
00:27:00.88\00:27:03.72
that are absolutely free to you.
00:27:03.72\00:27:06.39
You can go through
the Bible theme by theme.
00:27:06.39\00:27:08.79
I know a lot of people
start reading this book
00:27:08.79\00:27:10.76
and they give up somewhere
around Leviticus and Numbers.
00:27:10.76\00:27:13.76
We can help you another way.
00:27:13.76\00:27:15.36
We can help you
read at theme by themes
00:27:15.36\00:27:17.27
so that you
understand all the major themes
00:27:17.27\00:27:19.70
in the Bible for yourself.
00:27:19.70\00:27:22.40
And if you have
questions, you can ask.
00:27:22.40\00:27:24.77
There's no obligation.
00:27:24.77\00:27:26.17
It's absolutely free to you.
00:27:26.17\00:27:27.61
Head on over to
biblestudies.com.
00:27:27.61\00:27:30.48
I can't wait to meet you there.
00:27:30.48\00:27:32.75
Thanks for joining
me again this week.
00:27:32.75\00:27:34.62
I'm Shawn Boonstra,
00:27:34.62\00:27:36.02
and you've been watching
another episode of "Authentic".
00:27:36.02\00:27:39.05