Hello, I'm Shelley
Quinn and welcome again to
00:00:30.87\00:00:33.50
Issues and Answers. I'm
so glad that you could join
00:00:33.54\00:00:37.71
me again today. With us
once again is Dr. Subodh Pandit
00:00:37.75\00:00:41.85
and you are from Hendersonville,
North Carolina. Right. Thank you
00:00:41.88\00:00:45.28
for coming back. We have been
having just such a fascinating
00:00:45.32\00:00:50.39
time with Dr. Pandit. This is
a gentleman who went on a very
00:00:50.42\00:00:55.46
intense search to find out
if God really existed and to
00:00:55.49\00:01:00.80
actually try to determine...
Growing up in India he was
00:01:00.84\00:01:04.89
exposed to a variety of
religions and although he grew
00:01:04.92\00:01:08.94
up in a Christian home he had
00:01:08.98\00:01:10.49
reached that point in his life
00:01:10.52\00:01:11.96
when he had to ask himself
is there really a God and if so
00:01:12.00\00:01:15.98
which one of these of these
religions, which God, should I
00:01:16.02\00:01:20.81
be following? So Dr. Pandit
now in Tennessee you are an E.R.
00:01:20.85\00:01:25.61
doctor, right? In
North Carolina, yes.
00:01:25.64\00:01:27.67
In North Carolina,
Hendersonville, of course.
00:01:27.71\00:01:30.75
When you were on this search
you were taking all of your
00:01:30.79\00:01:37.26
schooling, all of your
scientific methods to search for
00:01:37.30\00:01:43.70
a real God. We have already
covered all of the philosophical
00:01:43.74\00:01:48.25
things and determined in our
first three programs that you
00:01:48.29\00:01:52.27
went through does God exist
and you came down to absolutely
00:01:52.31\00:01:55.69
there has to be a God; all
of the evidence points to that,
00:01:55.73\00:01:59.07
particularly the law of
probability is what got my
00:01:59.11\00:02:01.54
attention. Then we have been
examining what is truth and our
00:02:01.57\00:02:05.95
last program you were talking
about how you decided that of
00:02:05.99\00:02:10.34
the three methods of truth,
which were the traditional
00:02:10.37\00:02:14.17
method, going back to
traditional writings, either
00:02:14.20\00:02:17.93
modernism or post-modernism,
we examined it and showed why
00:02:17.97\00:02:21.36
the traditional truths were the
best in going into the books of
00:02:21.40\00:02:26.12
antiquity. So now we are on a
search today to talk about what
00:02:26.15\00:02:30.84
are the different types of
ancient literature and let's
00:02:30.87\00:02:35.84
just see where this
program is going to lead us.
00:02:35.87\00:02:37.74
We had come to the point where
among them in deciding whether
00:02:37.77\00:02:43.97
all of them would be
equal paths to the same goal or
00:02:44.01\00:02:48.54
whether each of them
were exclusively the only way.
00:02:48.57\00:02:53.03
We found that all of them
claimed to be the only way and
00:02:53.06\00:02:56.56
on analyzing that state in which
three or four or five of them
00:02:56.59\00:03:01.36
say they are the only way
we came to the conclusions that
00:03:01.40\00:03:04.07
there was just one way.
00:03:04.11\00:03:05.30
Let's review for our audience
the five religions that you
00:03:05.33\00:03:09.44
actually were
looking at which were...
00:03:09.48\00:03:11.60
Hinduism, Buddhism, the Islamic
faith, Judaism and Christianity.
00:03:11.63\00:03:17.79
So now here you are studying
their ancient literature.
00:03:17.83\00:03:22.96
Do they fall into different
categories as far as ancient
00:03:23.00\00:03:28.10
literature is concerned?
00:03:28.14\00:03:29.95
No. All of them have manuscripts
Manuscripts mean writings that
00:03:29.98\00:03:35.64
were done by hand. So they
had to be copied by hand. All of
00:03:35.68\00:03:41.30
them fall into the category
of ancient literature or
00:03:41.33\00:03:44.49
literature of antiquity.
They have come down to us in a
00:03:44.52\00:03:47.60
certain form. I was not going to
question that form. I was only
00:03:47.64\00:03:51.64
going to question the claims
that they were making and just
00:03:51.67\00:03:55.64
put them side by side
to see what would come out.
00:03:55.67\00:03:59.56
I want to also point out to
our viewers and to those who are
00:03:59.59\00:04:03.49
listening to this program that
for Dr. Pandit this was a very
00:04:03.53\00:04:07.93
personal search. I mean when he
came to this point in his life
00:04:07.97\00:04:12.14
where he was actually saying
I'm going to lay aside any of my
00:04:12.18\00:04:16.18
previous beliefs, he had a lot
of doubts actually and he really
00:04:16.21\00:04:20.18
wanted to that you know that
you know that what he finally
00:04:20.21\00:04:26.20
examined and discovered to
be truth was in fact just that.
00:04:26.24\00:04:31.23
So you came to it with a very
open mind, with the mind of an
00:04:31.26\00:04:35.89
inquirer, not as a skeptic, not
as a believer but one who really
00:04:35.92\00:04:40.51
was there to
search out this truth.
00:04:40.55\00:04:43.83
I did mention that to really
get to the end you much have an
00:04:43.86\00:04:47.27
atmosphere that would take you
to the end and you would have
00:04:47.30\00:04:51.33
to maintain and atmosphere of
humility, honesty, calmness and
00:04:51.36\00:04:55.35
respect. Yes. So
now let's talk about the
00:04:55.38\00:04:58.66
different kinds of
ancient literature that exists.
00:04:58.70\00:05:02.28
They are written down for
us. So my first approach at that
00:05:02.31\00:05:07.86
point was to tell myself that
I would ask a certain question
00:05:07.90\00:05:13.41
and ask all of them the
same question and whatever they
00:05:13.45\00:05:17.64
replied I would put them
side by side. There was one more
00:05:17.67\00:05:21.49
thing that I didn't mention
earlier and that is the mind of
00:05:21.53\00:05:25.71
an inquirer. A mind of an
inquirer has a certain quality
00:05:25.75\00:05:31.98
which allows that mind to be
amazed when a point is made or
00:05:32.01\00:05:37.60
some facts are brought. I
call it the wow factor. You are
00:05:37.64\00:05:42.45
willing to say wow. If you
will notice a believer if he is
00:05:42.49\00:05:46.51
presented with something that
is not in line with his view, he
00:05:46.55\00:05:50.37
will keep a stiff upper lip. The
same thing with a skeptic, but
00:05:50.41\00:05:54.39
an inquirer is not bound by his
previous idea so when a point
00:05:54.43\00:05:58.13
is good he says wow there is
good. So that's, I think, what
00:05:58.16\00:06:02.04
we will look at. The first
question, well there are 10,
00:06:02.07\00:06:05.57
we'll go to the first one.
The first question I asked was
00:06:05.61\00:06:11.05
what is the type of literature
this writing is? There are
00:06:11.09\00:06:15.83
really, when you look at the
literature of antiquity, four
00:06:15.86\00:06:20.57
types...
00:06:20.60\00:06:32.36
So what are some of the features
of some of these four types of
00:06:32.39\00:06:35.58
literature? Let's
take the first: folk tale.
00:06:35.62\00:06:39.25
Folk tales do not intend to give
us a true story. They prefer to
00:06:39.29\00:06:45.24
talk about a moral or a lesson.
So during the story the sun can
00:06:45.27\00:06:50.27
smile and the trees can whisper
and the birds and the animals
00:06:50.30\00:06:55.10
can have a big conference. They
know it's not true. They just
00:06:55.13\00:06:59.65
want to tell us something
else other than the real story.
00:06:59.69\00:07:04.52
When it comes to a legend, it
most probably began with a true
00:07:04.56\00:07:09.36
story and then there
were changes over time.
00:07:09.40\00:07:13.34
It got embellished a little bit.
00:07:13.38\00:07:15.25
The key part really is that
the embellishments do not begin
00:07:15.28\00:07:20.28
in the witnessing generation. It
has to go beyond that, in other
00:07:20.31\00:07:26.28
words to a point of at least
when the witnesses have all
00:07:26.31\00:07:30.03
gone off the stage. Then you can
bring in an embellishment and
00:07:30.06\00:07:33.88
nobody will challenge it. That's
the key and it usually runs into
00:07:33.91\00:07:37.70
centuries before you make
a well-established legend.
00:07:37.73\00:07:41.87
When it comes to a myth, a
mythological story is too far
00:07:41.90\00:07:46.68
back in history for us to ever
say whether it's true or not.
00:07:46.72\00:07:52.16
Most likely it is not true.
We agree among those who look at
00:07:52.19\00:07:56.52
these myths that it is most
probably an imaginary story.
00:07:56.56\00:08:00.52
The characteristics are most
likely fictitious. When you come
00:08:00.56\00:08:05.98
to a historical piece of
literature it is that which the
00:08:06.02\00:08:11.91
writer meant to describe as
a true story as it happened.
00:08:11.94\00:08:17.76
That's what he wants to tell us.
There are really not many core
00:08:17.80\00:08:22.42
changes over time and when you
look at historical pieces the
00:08:22.46\00:08:27.05
closer it is to the
event the more credible it is.
00:08:27.09\00:08:31.13
Okay, so now if you take
this information and apply it to
00:08:31.16\00:08:35.63
these five ancient writings
of the five major religions that
00:08:35.67\00:08:40.17
you studied, how would you
fit those into those categories?
00:08:40.20\00:08:45.89
That was the study. For one, I
must also state that the reason
00:08:45.93\00:08:51.39
I took this first was because
the credibility of any writing
00:08:51.42\00:08:56.85
would depend on what
classification it was.
00:08:56.89\00:08:59.68
If it fell into the mythological
then I can dismiss a story which
00:08:59.71\00:09:04.73
I thought was not true whereas
if it was historical then I
00:09:04.77\00:09:08.53
cannot just dismiss it as a
legend or a myth. I must treat
00:09:08.57\00:09:11.79
it like a historical piece
of literature. That's the reason
00:09:11.82\00:09:15.38
I went into it. Now your
question. Let's take the Hindu
00:09:15.42\00:09:18.95
literature. The
punghalith gita is part of the
00:09:18.98\00:09:22.13
Mahabharata which is the
youngest of their orthodox
00:09:22.17\00:09:26.35
writings. In that the
introduction says that the
00:09:26.38\00:09:30.49
signs of Yoga or the core of
their religion was given over
00:09:30.53\00:09:36.42
a hundred million years ago and
then it was lost to antiquity
00:09:36.45\00:09:42.00
and then brought back in the
Battle of Kurukshetra which is
00:09:42.03\00:09:47.77
where the discussion was really
done in the Bhagavad Gita.
00:09:47.80\00:09:53.83
That was 50 centuries ago;
still 5000 years. We really do
00:09:53.87\00:09:59.83
not have any idea whether those
characters and those statements
00:09:59.86\00:10:04.70
were authentic. So we have to in
all honesty place it as probably
00:10:04.74\00:10:09.55
mythological. Now that doesn't
mean it is false; all we are
00:10:09.58\00:10:13.37
saying is that the credibility
of that writing has to be
00:10:13.41\00:10:17.12
treated like mythological
writing. When you look at the
00:10:17.16\00:10:22.16
Buddhist writings it's a very
clear way in which the story
00:10:22.19\00:10:26.98
has changed of Gautama
Buddha from the earlier what is
00:10:27.01\00:10:31.11
known as Theravada writings
which are the earliest writings
00:10:31.14\00:10:35.17
in which they describe the birth
and the death of Gautama Buddha.
00:10:35.21\00:10:39.56
Later on in the Christian
era, that's 500 years later, we
00:10:39.60\00:10:44.14
notice a change in the type
of description of the Buddha.
00:10:44.17\00:10:46.92
Then when you come about
800 or 900 years later to what
00:10:46.96\00:10:51.89
is known as the Mahayana
literature you hardly find the
00:10:51.92\00:10:56.81
humanity of the
Buddha left at all in him.
00:10:56.85\00:11:00.01
So Buddhism then has gone
through this transition over
00:11:00.04\00:11:03.76
these many centuries in
not actually teaching what they
00:11:03.80\00:11:07.49
taught in the beginning?
00:11:07.52\00:11:09.06
Quite so because even if you
look at their literature there
00:11:09.10\00:11:13.34
is a big change from what is
the earlier, which is known as
00:11:13.37\00:11:18.07
the Theravada. The Mahayanas
literature would look back at
00:11:18.11\00:11:22.35
that and call it Hinayana
meaning it's a lesser vehicle.
00:11:22.39\00:11:26.60
This is better. Then we've come
00:11:26.63\00:11:29.29
to now the most mystic form
00:11:29.33\00:11:31.46
which is Zen Buddhism. There is
00:11:31.50\00:11:33.56
a change. The point I was making
was the story of Gautama Buddha
00:11:33.60\00:11:37.47
himself. That itself has
undergone a change in his own
00:11:37.51\00:11:43.69
characteristics and I think
in all fairness it has to be now
00:11:43.73\00:11:48.39
taken to be a legendary
type of picture that we have of
00:11:48.42\00:11:52.47
him. When it comes to the Judaic
literature I ran into a problem
00:11:52.50\00:11:59.25
because there are 39 books
in the Old Testament, different
00:11:59.28\00:12:03.40
books, multiple authors. Some
of them really sounded a little
00:12:03.43\00:12:07.51
mythological and some
were so accurately historical.
00:12:07.55\00:12:10.38
What I did was left that part
unclassified. When I went to the
00:12:10.41\00:12:16.40
Islamic literature, that
was put together in 652 A.D. and
00:12:16.44\00:12:24.98
Mohammad died in 632. So it was
pretty close to the time when
00:12:25.02\00:12:31.79
in the same generation. So in
all honesty we must acknowledge
00:12:31.82\00:12:37.25
that what the writers wrote down
00:12:37.28\00:12:40.48
was what they
thought really happened
00:12:40.51\00:12:42.73
Now when you come to the
New Testament, we find that the
00:12:42.76\00:12:49.31
earliest manuscripts we have,
copies are, dated within 60
00:12:49.34\00:12:55.33
years, we think, of the
original copies. There are three
00:12:55.36\00:13:00.72
big archeologists who everyone
recognizes the world over,
00:13:00.75\00:13:05.96
Sir William Ramsey, Sir William
Albright and Nelson Glick.
00:13:05.99\00:13:10.30
This is what Sir William Ramsey
had to say about the books.
00:13:10.34\00:13:14.59
He said now there is no reason
for anyone to really date any
00:13:14.62\00:13:18.91
of the New Testament books
beyond A.D. 80 so that is in the
00:13:18.95\00:13:23.20
same generation as the
events that took place.
00:13:23.24\00:13:27.13
Beyond A.D. 80. So
that's interesting.
00:13:27.16\00:13:32.62
Okay, so all of the New
Testament books were written
00:13:32.66\00:13:35.72
before A.D. 80. And
some scholars even venture
00:13:35.75\00:13:40.41
to A.D. 70 because that was
the time when Titus the Roman
00:13:40.45\00:13:44.95
general came and destroyed
Jerusalem. It would be very
00:13:45.65\00:13:49.39
unusual for a Jewish writer not
to mention this at all, because
00:13:49.42\00:13:54.54
the Jews have a penchant for
keeping track of events in their
00:13:54.57\00:13:58.81
history. So it's not written
at all, I would say even before
00:13:58.84\00:14:03.53
A.D. 80 or before A.D. 70 when
all of them were written up.
00:14:03.56\00:14:08.21
Now once you go to that,
you have to... What I did was
00:14:08.24\00:14:12.71
compare the New Testament with
what is known all over the world
00:14:12.74\00:14:16.48
as historical writings. I'd like
to put this on the screen here
00:14:16.52\00:14:20.22
as a slide and look at this
00:14:20.26\00:14:22.52
comparison. Here are three books
00:14:22.55\00:14:26.17
Cesar's Gallic Wars, Herodotus'
00:14:26.20\00:14:29.19
History and Tacitus' Annals.
00:14:29.23\00:14:32.14
They were written at 100 and
400 B.C. and A.D. 100 but the
00:14:32.18\00:14:38.85
earliest manuscripts we have
00:14:38.89\00:14:41.42
are 900, 900 and 1100 A.D.
00:14:41.45\00:14:43.91
respectively. That gives us a
gap of 1000 years, 1300 years,
00:14:43.95\00:14:49.33
and 1000 years between the
actual writing and the earliest
00:14:49.36\00:14:53.71
manuscripts we have. In other
words, we do not know at all
00:14:53.75\00:14:58.02
what happened for 1000 years to
that writing and still we accept
00:14:58.06\00:15:02.47
them as historical. So we
have plenty of opportunity
00:15:02.51\00:15:07.72
for legendary or
mythology to jump in here.
00:15:07.75\00:15:12.19
Any change, any change. We don't
know and still we accept it.
00:15:12.23\00:15:16.30
How do they know, I'm curious,
how do they know that they were
00:15:16.34\00:15:20.38
written in 100 and 400 B.C.?
00:15:20.42\00:15:22.59
Well they, I think, do a
corroborative study of the
00:15:22.63\00:15:26.88
language, then pen, the ink, the
stuff on which they wrote, the
00:15:26.91\00:15:30.78
language, the culture, and
put it together and say that
00:15:30.81\00:15:33.04
historically Cesar lived at that
time. Herodotus lived at that
00:15:33.07\00:15:39.18
time and Tacitus lived at that
time. So from their own writings
00:15:39.22\00:15:43.82
and corroborative studies they
come to the conclusion that it's
00:15:43.85\00:15:48.42
written about this time.
But then you're saying that
00:15:48.45\00:15:51.48
it was like the manuscripts
disappeared between that time
00:15:51.51\00:15:55.65
and there's a 1000-year gap
and a 1300-year gap so how do we
00:15:55.69\00:15:59.49
know that what was written
1000 years and 1300 years later
00:15:59.52\00:16:03.29
can really even be
attributed to these people?
00:16:03.32\00:16:06.51
We don't and yet we accept them.
That's the point. All over the
00:16:06.55\00:16:11.02
world, every department
of history, you can get your
00:16:11.05\00:16:13.78
masters and Ph. D. quoting these
people as historical writings.
00:16:13.81\00:16:17.38
That's amazing. The
other thing when you look at
00:16:17.41\00:16:19.92
historical writings is how many
manuscripts back what is there
00:16:19.95\00:16:24.91
today. The key idea there is if
there are very few manuscripts
00:16:24.94\00:16:29.86
it can be manipulated. You
can go from place to place and
00:16:29.89\00:16:32.69
change the manuscripts, but when
it comes to a large number, then
00:16:32.73\00:16:37.82
it's difficult to change all
of them to say something else.
00:16:37.85\00:16:42.18
So on comparison, let's get
back to the slide here. So on
00:16:42.22\00:16:46.22
comparison look at the
number of years for one; the New
00:16:46.26\00:16:50.19
Testament had only a 20-50 year
gap and look at the number of
00:16:50.23\00:16:55.07
manuscripts. Cesar's Gallic Wars
is backed by 10 manuscripts,
00:16:55.11\00:16:59.52
Herodotus History is backed only
by eight manuscripts worldwide,
00:16:59.55\00:17:04.24
and Tacitus Annals is backed
by only 20 manuscripts, the New
00:17:04.27\00:17:08.92
Testament by 5664 Greek
manuscripts. Look at the
00:17:08.96\00:17:15.47
difference.
That's pretty compelling
00:17:15.50\00:17:17.40
evidence. It is
compelling and this is
00:17:17.44\00:17:19.27
just the Greek manuscripts. If
you add the Arabic and the Latin
00:17:19.30\00:17:24.44
and a whole host of Coptic and
all the other it comes to 24,000
00:17:24.47\00:17:29.57
manuscripts. That's impressive.
00:17:29.61\00:17:32.18
So now let's ask ourselves
whether we are willing to use
00:17:32.22\00:17:36.19
the wow factor here and say yes
I am impressed, that the number
00:17:36.22\00:17:40.07
does impress. I would like
to quote another person who also
00:17:40.11\00:17:43.93
looked at this and this is
on the screen again by Ravi
00:17:43.96\00:17:47.47
Zacharias. Let me read out his
00:17:47.50\00:17:49.03
statement.
00:17:49.07\00:18:00.77
This is not talking about
religious writings. This is
00:18:12.97\00:18:17.48
talking about classical writings
across the board. The New
00:18:17.51\00:18:22.46
Testament is the best attested
ancient piece of literature in
00:18:22.49\00:18:27.41
the world. Praise
the Lord that he left us
00:18:27.44\00:18:31.38
this kind of evidence so that we
would know how to base our faith
00:18:31.41\00:18:35.31
and know that our faith is based
on truth. So as you're studying
00:18:35.34\00:18:39.20
this, Dr. Pandit, these five
different major religions, can
00:18:39.23\00:18:44.11
you share with us what some of
the top features or one of the
00:18:44.15\00:18:49.00
top features of each
one of these writings was.
00:18:49.03\00:18:51.89
That was the next question I
asked of these writings; what
00:18:51.92\00:18:55.49
is one of the top features. This
is a subjective topic but some
00:18:55.53\00:18:59.31
of those features really stand
out. For instance, and I think
00:18:59.34\00:19:02.87
we should be willing to say wow
I think in this to all of them.
00:19:02.91\00:19:07.02
Number one, the Islamic Quran:
I think that there's no doubt in
00:19:07.06\00:19:11.30
any scholar's mind that the top
feature is the beauty and the
00:19:11.34\00:19:15.26
rhythm that is found in the
Quran just sheer beauty of the
00:19:15.30\00:19:18.92
language. In their traditional
writings known as the Hadith
00:19:18.96\00:19:22.61
and the Ahadith there are
stories of how people have been
00:19:22.64\00:19:26.23
converted just by reading, that
is all. A quick story about one
00:19:26.26\00:19:30.78
person called Omar Qufab. He was
a contemporary of Muhammad who
00:19:30.82\00:19:34.34
was so angry with Muhammad for
bringing him this new religion
00:19:34.37\00:19:37.83
that he wanted to kill him.
The story goes that instead of
00:19:37.86\00:19:40.94
killing him he went back home
and found his own sister reading
00:19:40.98\00:19:45.09
the Quran which was anathema
to him. He was so upset that he
00:19:45.13\00:19:49.15
just hit her on the face
and asked her to leave. Then the
00:19:49.18\00:19:52.97
Quran fell open and he picked
it up. He had never wanted to
00:19:53.00\00:19:56.84
read the Quran. He picked it
up and it was open to chapter 20
00:19:56.87\00:20:01.21
and he read it, closed it, put
his sword back in its sheath,
00:20:01.24\00:20:05.17
walked straight out to Muhammad
and said today I am a Muslim.
00:20:05.21\00:20:08.93
In other words, it was just
the sheer beauty of the Quran.
00:20:08.97\00:20:12.94
So when we look at that factor
and that feature, I think it is
00:20:12.97\00:20:17.79
amazing that this description
is there. So it is beautiful,
00:20:17.82\00:20:22.60
exquisitely beautiful
and possibly supernatural.
00:20:22.64\00:20:26.56
When you go to the
Hindu religion, the National
00:20:26.60\00:20:30.45
Geographic had this statement
to say: The Hindu sages have
00:20:30.49\00:20:35.39
given to mankind one of the
most sophisticated philosophies
00:20:35.42\00:20:40.29
every devised. It's deep
philosophy that's the top
00:20:40.32\00:20:44.56
feature of the Hindu writings.
It is very deep, it is a blend
00:20:44.60\00:20:48.57
of all kinds of things;
philosophy, medicine, astronomy,
00:20:48.61\00:20:52.55
mathematics, the whole works.
One quick example: They have in
00:20:52.58\00:20:57.46
those writings, their
traditional writings, a span of
00:20:57.50\00:21:01.29
time known as culpa, culpa, it
is 4.32 billion years; it is a
00:21:01.33\00:21:06.87
half a day in the abode of
their creator God called Brahma.
00:21:06.90\00:21:12.15
At the other end of the spectrum
they have time span know as
00:21:12.18\00:21:18.10
kashta. Kashta is 3/100
millionths of a second. What
00:21:18.13\00:21:25.54
were they doing with these
time spans? The only thing that
00:21:25.57\00:21:29.15
matches it today are actually
half-lives of radio isotopes.
00:21:29.18\00:21:34.01
The radio isotope of uranium 238
is 4.53 billion years and the
00:21:34.05\00:21:38.84
half-life of the subatomic
particles like baryons and
00:21:38.88\00:21:42.17
hyperons and mesons is a 100
millionth of a second. When you
00:21:42.20\00:21:46.75
read such detailed and specific
things you have to agree that
00:21:46.78\00:21:50.62
there's something there that
was written that cannot be just
00:21:50.65\00:21:54.82
dismissed. So I'm amazed at the
deep philosophy and intricate
00:21:54.86\00:21:59.00
details of the Hindu thought.
00:21:59.03\00:22:01.25
That's the wow factor there.
00:22:01.28\00:22:03.42
There is a wow factor.
When it comes to Buddhism it is
00:22:03.46\00:22:07.06
difficult to say what is
the top feature, but I think the
00:22:07.09\00:22:11.33
vastness, the detailed
nature of the writings and the
00:22:11.36\00:22:15.55
mysteriousness. This has
been seen by many authors.
00:22:15.58\00:22:19.70
The vastness for instance:
If you take the Tibetan and the
00:22:19.73\00:22:23.77
Chinese and the Indian, just
these three Buddhist literatures
00:22:23.80\00:22:27.80
it comes to 470,000 pages.
Half of them have never been
00:22:27.83\00:22:34.04
translated before till today.
Huge, Huge! You have to stand
00:22:34.07\00:22:39.13
awed at such a huge amount of
literature. Detailed: When you
00:22:39.17\00:22:43.44
look at the way they describe
for instance how you make out
00:22:43.48\00:22:48.23
who a Buddha is; they give you
detail, it must be this, 10 of
00:22:48.26\00:22:52.27
this and 18 of that and 80 of
this and 100 of that, only then
00:22:52.31\00:22:56.29
can you identify him as
a Buddha, very detailed.
00:22:56.32\00:23:00.03
The mysteriousness is
also something that will catch
00:23:00.07\00:23:03.71
anybody's attention. For
instance, the statement that the
00:23:03.74\00:23:08.50
absolute, ultimate
truth is absolute nothingness.
00:23:08.54\00:23:14.64
Very difficult to grasp and
we have to acknowledge that's
00:23:14.67\00:23:18.49
mysterious. So when you
put all these three things...
00:23:18.53\00:23:22.31
That sounds like post
modernism thinking to me.
00:23:22.35\00:23:24.53
Well we could say that but
really they do try to describe
00:23:24.56\00:23:30.17
what the meaning of that
is and I think to me it is
00:23:30.21\00:23:32.60
definitely something that you
can't dismiss. When you come to
00:23:32.64\00:23:37.40
Judeo-Christian, I put these
two together because of the way
00:23:37.43\00:23:42.29
this top feature is and it is
the writing of this thing called
00:23:42.33\00:23:47.38
the Bible, the Old and the New
Testaments - multiple authors.
00:23:47.42\00:23:52.44
The key feature that I
want to point out here is that
00:23:52.47\00:23:58.15
unusually, very unusually,
each writer could also look at
00:23:58.18\00:24:03.79
another writer and say that the
source that I got my information
00:24:03.83\00:24:09.15
from is the same source that
gave that person his information
00:24:09.18\00:24:15.75
200, 500, or 1000 years before.
This is an unusual feature.
00:24:15.78\00:24:20.66
I call it cross referencing.
There is cross referencing
00:24:20.69\00:24:24.78
between authors of the
Old Testament, between authors
00:24:24.82\00:24:28.19
of the New Testament and
between authors of the New to
00:24:28.22\00:24:31.53
the old. So here's what I say.
If they were acknowledged as
00:24:31.56\00:24:36.34
unusual writers, meaning to
say they got their information
00:24:36.37\00:24:41.08
somewhere else, they acknowledge
that their information was from
00:24:41.11\00:24:44.83
a certain source and gave
the same source the credit for
00:24:44.86\00:24:48.19
somebody else, then I would have
to say that the source lived
00:24:48.22\00:24:51.92
and supervised the writing
at least for the period of 1400
00:24:51.96\00:24:56.03
years which took that long.
To look at that feature, it does
00:24:56.06\00:25:00.09
become beyond human
attainment. Nobody has lived
00:25:00.13\00:25:03.42
more than 120 years.
00:25:03.46\00:25:04.74
And the fact that all of these
00:25:04.77\00:25:07.96
authors of these 66 books do not
00:25:08.00\00:25:11.12
contradict themselves
is what is so amazing.
00:25:11.15\00:25:13.30
It is amazing because there is
one lead character and can you
00:25:13.34\00:25:18.83
you imagine farmers and herdsmen
00:25:18.87\00:25:23.13
writing the same thing as a
00:25:23.16\00:25:26.05
military general or as a king
and all of them kind of forming
00:25:26.09\00:25:31.60
the same tapestry describing
one lead character from the
00:25:31.63\00:25:36.60
beginning to the end. It is
amazing. Any inquirer must stand
00:25:36.63\00:25:41.57
amazed. So in your
journey as you read
00:25:41.60\00:25:45.79
these five, I know that you came
to a conclusion and why don't
00:25:45.83\00:25:49.62
you share that conclusion with
our audience. We have about a
00:25:49.66\00:25:53.42
minute and a half left.
00:25:53.45\00:25:54.80
Well the claims, and we said
we'll take all the claims as
00:25:54.83\00:25:59.20
face value, the claims of this
man Jesus and the Bible stand
00:25:59.23\00:26:04.15
too far ahead of any. That is
what I can just say. I need to
00:26:04.19\00:26:09.07
back it up and that's
what we will do further.
00:26:09.10\00:26:11.44
So in the programs to come then
we will be looking at that but
00:26:11.47\00:26:15.65
for you in this search as you're
going through your process of
00:26:15.69\00:26:20.47
elimination your final decision
was, and we will have more
00:26:20.50\00:26:24.68
programs to come on this,
but your final decision was the
00:26:24.72\00:26:30.67
Bible stands alone as the
one religion that can claim that
00:26:30.71\00:26:35.64
exclusivity that there is
one one way and only one way.
00:26:35.67\00:26:40.56
That's the point. Praise
the Lord, Praise the Lord
00:26:40.60\00:26:44.45
I'm just so thankful that you
did this research and I'm sure
00:26:44.49\00:26:49.34
that this time period
was quite a struggle for you.
00:26:49.38\00:26:53.06
But I have never been energized
more than by this conclusion
00:26:53.09\00:26:57.34
ever in my life. My
husband often says to me
00:26:57.37\00:27:02.38
that it used to be a source
of irritation for him when he'd
00:27:02.42\00:27:07.01
ask me a question and he'd ask
me why do you know and I'd say
00:27:07.05\00:27:10.81
well I know that I know that
I know because I had researched
00:27:10.85\00:27:14.58
various topics or various
sources and then when I study
00:27:14.62\00:27:19.69
it from Genesis to Revelation
and don't just give up on it
00:27:19.73\00:27:23.91
then and finally now he knows
that he knows that he knows
00:27:23.94\00:27:27.59
and he said it makes all the
difference in the world. So I
00:27:27.63\00:27:31.47
hope that you're enjoying these
programs with Dr. Pandit from
00:27:31.50\00:27:35.32
Hendersonville, North Carolina
and Dr. Pandit is going to be
00:27:35.36\00:27:39.89
joining us again next time to
share more this wonderful search
00:27:39.92\00:27:44.60
the Lord led him through and we
will say God led him because I
00:27:44.63\00:27:48.76
believe that to be true. He's
going to share how you can know
00:27:48.79\00:27:52.88
that the Christian religion
is the only one. Thank you.
00:27:52.91\00:28:00.14