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Series Code: AU
Program Code: AU000008S
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00:00 - It's the Easter season,
00:02 which means that all over the world 00:04 Christians are celebrating the Resurrection of Christ. 00:07 Of course, a lot of people think 00:09 that rising from the dead is a logical impossibility. 00:13 So today on Authentic, we're going to explore 00:15 why that might not be as farfetched 00:18 as a lot of people think. 00:20 [upbeat music] 00:42 Back in 1882, Frederic Myers founded 00:45 the Society for Psychical Research 00:47 as a reaction to this explosion of interest in spiritualism 00:51 that was sweeping the world in the 19th century, 00:54 especially in Great Britain 00:56 and right here in the United States. 01:00 Spiritualism was popular because, 01:03 well that was a reaction to the cold materialism 01:06 that was coming out of the Enlightenment. 01:09 You see, the Enlightenment had established human reason 01:13 as the foundation of all knowledge, 01:15 and it kind of reduced the whole universe 01:17 to this math-based machine. 01:20 Everything we said could be solved with logic. 01:23 And we told ourselves that given enough time, 01:26 our minds were capable of solving 01:28 just about all of humanity's very worst problems. 01:32 But what the Enlightenment 01:34 and Industrial Revolutions ignored 01:36 was the fact that human beings 01:38 are a deeply spiritual species. 01:41 And people weren't happy with this mechanistic universe 01:44 where you and I are just animals or biological machines 01:47 who live for a few short years, 01:49 and then [expelling air] we disappear for all eternity 01:53 never to be heard from again. 01:55 Death with this new understanding 01:57 suddenly became a hard finish line 02:00 and people weren't happy with that. 02:02 So, when the Fox Sisters in America 02:06 reported that they were talking to the dead, 02:09 and other spiritualists on both sides of the Atlantic 02:11 started giving the same kinds of reports, 02:14 well, people suddenly gravitated to these seances in droves 02:19 hoping these spiritualists were right, 02:21 that maybe death isn't the end. 02:24 Maybe, they hoped, somehow you and I continue to exist 02:28 minutes after we close our eyes for the very last time. 02:32 Now, all of this presented something of a challenge 02:35 to people like Charles Darwin 02:38 who was obviously a dedicated materialist 02:41 who was trying to explain life here on Planet Earth 02:44 in purely naturalistic terms. 02:47 His theory of evolution didn't require a Creator. 02:52 And it certainly didn't provide for an afterlife. 02:55 So, what happened is that 02:58 some of the materialists of the day tried to use 03:01 the scientific method to explain what was happening 03:05 in all those spiritualistic seances. 03:08 And that would actually include Mr. Darwin himself 03:11 who attended at least one seance that we know of. 03:16 Now, back to Frederic Myers, 03:19 who kind of had one foot in both camps. 03:23 On the one hand, he was a materialist 03:25 who wanted to explain spiritualistic phenomena 03:29 in scientific terms. 03:30 But on the other hand, 03:32 he also found himself irresistibly drawn 03:35 to the shadowy world of spirits 03:37 who appeared to be sending messages 03:39 from the other side of the grave. 03:42 It was a time when we had a lot of pseudo-science. 03:46 It's not unlike these paranormal reality TV shows 03:50 that we have today, where people try 03:52 to use scientific instruments 03:54 to prove the existence of ghosts. 03:57 The Society for Psychical Research 04:00 had a lot of big names associated with it. 04:03 At one point, William James, 04:05 the brother of the novelist, Henry James, 04:08 he was the president. 04:09 Charles Richet, the physiologist 04:12 who got a Nobel prize in 1913, 04:15 he was a member of the Society. 04:17 And he was the guy who actually invented the word ectoplasm. 04:22 Alfred Lord Tennyson, the poet, he was a member. 04:25 So were British prime ministers 04:27 like Arthur Balfour and W.E. Gladstone. 04:31 And what these people tried to do 04:34 was bring a level of respectability to paranormal events 04:38 by trying to mix them with some kind of rational science. 04:43 Not that any of what they were doing 04:45 would actually pass for science today. 04:48 So here's what happened to the founder, Frederic Myers. 04:52 He got Bright's disease, a rather nasty kidney affliction 04:57 that can lead to renal failure. 04:59 He traveled to Rome to see a doctor 05:02 who promised to treat his condition. 05:04 And unfortunately he didn't make it. 05:07 He died in Rome in 1901. 05:11 And that provided an opportunity for his good friend, 05:14 William James, to test whether or not 05:17 it was actually possible to speak to the dead. 05:21 You see, Frederic and William apparently had an agreement 05:23 that whoever died first was going to try to communicate 05:27 from the great beyond. 05:29 Now they both believed it was possible. 05:32 Now they were going to prove it. 05:35 So William James waited, his notebook in hand, 05:39 to write down anything that Frederic 05:41 might say from the grave. 05:44 And the results, well it was disappointing. 05:47 According to someone who was there, quote, 05:49 "He sank down on a chair by the open door, 05:52 "his notebook on his knees, pen in hand, 05:55 "ready to take down the message 05:57 "with his usual methodical exactitude. 06:00 "When I went away, William James was still sitting 06:03 "leaning back in his chair, 06:05 "his hands over his face, 06:07 "his open notebook on his knees. 06:09 "The page was blank." 06:13 There was no communication, absolutely no confirmation 06:19 that human consciousness survives the moment of death. 06:22 And that was kind of devastating 06:24 because as Darwin's Theory of Evolution 06:27 became more and more accepted in the general public, 06:31 a lot of people started to feel, 06:34 well let's say, a little hopeless 06:36 because Darwinian evolution said 06:40 that when we die, we just die. 06:44 And even worse, Darwin said the whole human race 06:47 was eventually going to go extinct like the dinosaurs. 06:52 And even worse than that, he said the whole solar system 06:55 is doomed because eventually the star at the center, 06:59 well it's going to burn out 07:00 and that will be the end of all forms of life. 07:04 So while Darwin was skeptical about spiritualism, 07:09 he did completely understand 07:11 why people wanted spiritualism to be true. 07:13 He understood how stark his message is. 07:17 Here's what he wrote in his autobiography. 07:21 "With respect to immortality, 07:23 "nothing shows me so clearly how strong 07:25 "and almost instinctive a belief is 07:28 "as the consideration of the view 07:30 "now held by most physicists, 07:32 "namely, that the sun with all the planets 07:35 "will in time grow too cold for life, 07:38 "unless indeed some new great body dashes into the sun 07:42 "and thus gives it fresh life. 07:44 "Believing is I do that man in the distant future 07:48 "will be a far more perfect creature than he now is, 07:51 "it is an intolerable thought that he 07:54 "and all other sentient beings are doomed 07:57 "to complete annihilation 07:59 "after such long continued slow progress. 08:03 "To those who fully admit 08:04 "the immortality of the human soul, 08:07 "the destruction of our world will not appear so dreadful." 08:12 So, this is what was going on in the Western world. 08:16 People were looking for some kind of evidence 08:20 that we did not live in this hopeless 08:22 materialistic universe. 08:26 But a little later in the 20th century in Russia, 08:29 according to this book by John Gray, 08:34 people were taking a slightly different approach 08:36 to the subject of the afterlife. 08:38 And I'll be right back after this break 08:40 to tell you what they were doing 08:44 - [Female Announcer] Here at the Voice of Prophecy, 08:46 we're committed to creating top quality programming 08:48 for the whole family, like our audio adventure series, 08:51 "Discovery Mountain." 08:53 Discovery Mountain is a Bible-based program 08:55 for kids of all ages and backgrounds. 08:58 Your family will enjoy the faith-building stories 09:00 from this small mountain summer camp, Penn Town. 09:03 With 24 seasonal episodes every year 09:06 and fresh content every week, 09:08 there's always a new adventure just on the horizon. 09:14 - Beyond trying to communicate with disembodied spirits, 09:19 the Russians were also hoping that maybe science 09:22 and technological know-how could help them 09:24 defeat death altogether. 09:27 As much as the communists despised 09:29 the materialistic capitalists of the West, 09:33 they themselves were very materialistic, 09:35 although in a different sense. 09:38 In a way, Communism was a logical outgrowth of Darwinism 09:42 because it assumed an upward path for the human race. 09:46 Just like Darwin suggested, they believed 09:49 we were gonna get better with time. 09:52 But from the communist perspective, 09:54 there was no reason we couldn't give 09:55 the process of evolution a little push and help it along. 09:59 If people took control of the means of production, 10:02 and we centralized everything under the power of the state, 10:05 we could make human progress go, well, faster. 10:10 Of course, the price of that progress 10:13 was tens of millions of people who had to die 10:15 because they were considered expendable. 10:18 They were standing in the way of that so-called progress, 10:22 but that would be a story for another day. 10:25 You see it only made sense that the communists 10:28 who denied the existence of a Creator 10:31 would turn to rationalism and science 10:34 to tackle the question of death. 10:37 If we could push human society upward 10:40 through radical, rational, social engineering, 10:44 then maybe the bright minds of science 10:47 could also extend a human lifespan, and maybe indefinitely. 10:54 Now to be sure, the Russians also entertained 10:56 a lot of very occult ideas in the 20th Century, 11:00 which weren't all that far removed 11:01 from the spiritualism going on here in the West. 11:05 But maybe even more than the West, 11:08 the Soviets dressed their spiritualistic ideas 11:11 in the language of science. 11:13 Human beings might be nothing but biological machines 11:16 they believe, but they were machines 11:19 that could be well, deified, 11:21 through the process of rational experimentation. 11:25 Man could potentially become immortal. 11:30 Now of course that science would take 11:32 a lot of experimentation. 11:35 And if you're going to have a lot of experiments, 11:37 you're going to need a lot of subjects, 11:40 human subjects on which to run those experiments. 11:45 And history has taught us, 11:46 this was something the Soviets 11:47 were more than willing to do. 11:50 After Joseph Stalin established 11:52 an Institute of Experimental Medicine 11:54 in the middle of the 20th century, 11:57 the famous Soviet writer, Maxim Gorky, 12:00 showed his excitement over the potential of such things, 12:03 by writing this. 12:05 He said, "We need to experiment on humans themselves. 12:09 "We need to study the human organism, 12:11 "the processes of intracellular feeding, 12:15 "blood circulation, the chemistry of the nervous system 12:18 "and in general, all processes of the human organism. 12:23 "Hundreds of human units will be required." 12:27 Of course, a lot of those human subjects 12:30 were pulled out of the Gulags, 12:31 and a lot of the experiments had more to do 12:34 with chemical weapons than finding the key to immortality, 12:38 but you kind of get the point. 12:41 Somehow we have this idea that we can push 12:45 the human race forward, whatever forward means. 12:49 And we even hold out hope 12:51 that one day we might be able to conquer death. 12:54 Now, here in the West, we point to growing life expectancy 12:59 as proof that science can at least extend a life, 13:03 if not yet preserve it forever. 13:06 But there are those who believe that given enough time 13:09 we will finally unlock the secrets of aging and death, 13:13 and you and I will become immortal. 13:17 I'm not sure what happens with the problem 13:19 of overcrowding in that case, 13:21 unless we all stop reproducing, 13:23 but some people really believe 13:25 the potential for everlasting life is there. 13:29 It's a thought that drives a very unique 13:32 and well, hotly debated industry here in the West. 13:35 It's an industry known as cryonics, 13:38 not to be confused with cryogenics 13:40 which is just the study of how things behave 13:43 at very low temperatures. 13:46 Cryonics is the disputed practice 13:49 of freezing your body when you die, 13:51 so that one day in the future, 13:54 you could be thawed out and resurrected 13:58 after scientists have finally figured out 14:00 how to cure whatever it is that killed you. 14:03 Or if you wanna save a little money 14:05 and not freeze your entire body, 14:08 I've been given to understand 14:09 they can just cut off your head and freeze just that, 14:12 which would mean they would have to somehow 14:15 clone you a new body when they bring you back to life, 14:17 or maybe you just exist as a head on a tray 14:21 like some kind of bad 1950s drive-in movie. 14:25 The idea behind it is the same thing 14:27 that motivated 20th century Russian thinkers, 14:30 the belief that the human race can use logic 14:34 to conquer death. 14:36 There's actually an old rumor. 14:38 Maybe you've heard this one, Walt Disney did this 14:40 when he died back in 1966. 14:42 They froze his body, and now it's stashed away 14:46 in some secret cryonic chamber 14:48 under that ride "Pirates of the Caribbean." 14:51 Of course, it's not true. 14:52 It's just a spooky urban legend 14:54 and the truth is that Walt Disney was cremated, 14:58 and his ashes are still in Forest Lawn Cemetery to this day. 15:04 But there are people who have done this. 15:08 In 1967, the year after Walt Disney died, Dr. James Bedford, 15:12 a professor of psychology at the University of California, 15:16 became the first person we put on ice 15:19 in the hopes of a future resurrection. 15:22 And since that time, something like 250 more people 15:26 have done this, and another 1,500 I understand, 15:30 are standing in line to have this done when they die. 15:34 Now, unfortunately for the early adopters, 15:37 cryonics companies found it too expensive 15:40 to preserve the bodies. 15:42 And in the 1970s, a bunch of these companies went belly up, 15:45 which means, well, they thawed out the bodies 15:49 and got rid of them. 15:52 I guess the point that I'm making is this. 15:55 A lot of human beings have placed an awful lot of faith 15:59 in the ability of science to keep them alive. 16:02 And to some extent we have been successful. 16:04 Things that used to kill us 100 years ago 16:07 can now be treated, 16:09 and lifespans have definitely gotten longer 16:13 on this side of the 20th century. 16:15 So naturally people hold out hope 16:17 that the sky might be the limit, 16:19 that maybe one day we won't have to die anymore. 16:25 Yet for some reason, when it comes to the central story 16:29 of this book, the Resurrection of Christ, 16:32 a lot of people make fun of it and say, "That's impossible." 16:36 They say that people simply do not come back from the dead. 16:42 But let's suppose for a moment that God is absolutely real. 16:45 I happen to believe that he is. 16:47 And let's suppose there really is a Creator 16:50 who made the human race in the first place. 16:54 Are we really willing to say 16:56 that human science might be able to conquer death, 17:01 but the God who gave us life in the first place can't do it? 17:07 A little while ago, I was watching this online debate 17:09 between the professed atheist, Sam Harris, 17:12 and Jordan Peterson, the best-selling Toronto psychologist 17:15 who has become something of a YouTube sensation. 17:19 Obviously neither one of these men 17:22 is a professing Christian, 17:23 at least not in the traditional Bible-believing sense. 17:27 But if you read what Jordan Peterson writes, 17:30 you discover that he does have respect for scripture 17:34 even though he kind of used the book of Genesis 17:37 as a collection of very useful ancient myths 17:40 that spell out important psychological principles. 17:45 Now, at one point in this online debate, 17:48 Sam Harris suddenly challenged Jordan Peterson 17:51 to confirm or deny the Resurrection of Christ. 17:56 "Do you think it's possible" he asked, 17:58 "that Jesus was literally resurrected from the dead?" 18:04 And that's the moment when Dr. Peterson hesitated, 18:10 and his answer was to say that it wasn't a simple question. 18:12 It would take him something like 40 hours to answer that. 18:17 Now I know that this is not 18:19 what Dr. Peterson was driving at, not even close. 18:22 But I'd have to agree with his hesitation. 18:26 The question of whether or not resurrection is possible 18:29 is not as simple as it sounds. 18:32 The skeptic wants to say, "Almost certainly not." 18:36 And that's what Sam Harris said in that debate. 18:39 And we wanna say that because in our experience 18:41 people do not come back from the dead. 18:46 But at the same time, we somehow seem to think 18:48 that the secret of immortality might lie 18:51 within our scientific reach, 18:53 that eventually science might be able to put an end 18:56 to things like aging and death. 18:59 So now I've got to ask the question, 19:03 "Why would that be possible, 19:05 "but it's not possible that Jesus could rise from the dead. 19:09 "How would we be more intelligent than God?" 19:13 Now before you say there is no God, 19:15 for some reason the vast majority of us worldwide 19:18 continue for some reason to believe that there is. 19:22 Even after almost two centuries of Darwin's skepticism, 19:25 we still can't seem to shake the idea 19:27 that somebody must have put us here. 19:31 So why couldn't that Creator raise a man from the dead? 19:35 Are you and I really smarter than the divine mind 19:38 who invented life in the first place? 19:42 Look, I've gotta take a break, but I'm coming right back. 19:47 - [Female Announcer] Life can throw a lot at us. 19:50 Sometimes we don't have all the answers 19:53 but that's where the Bible comes in. 19:55 It's our guide to a more fulfilling life. 19:59 Here at the Voice of Prophecy, 20:00 we've created the "Discover Bible Guides" 20:02 to be your guide to the Bible. 20:04 They're designed to be simple, easy to use, 20:06 and provide answers to many of life's toughest questions, 20:09 and they're absolutely free. 20:11 So jump online now or give us a call 20:14 and start your journey of discovery. 20:17 - A lot of people hear the story 20:18 of the Resurrection of Christ or the resurrection 20:21 of a handful of other people mentioned in this book 20:23 and they just write it off as some kind of fairy tale. 20:28 But if it never happened, if Jesus never rose from the dead, 20:31 then the entire Christian faith falls apart. 20:34 I know there are people out there 20:36 who profess to be Christians 20:37 and they treat the Resurrection story as an allegory. 20:41 But according to the first century Christians 20:43 who gave us this book, 20:44 if the Resurrection didn't actually happen, 20:47 there is no Christian faith. 20:50 Let me show you what I mean 20:51 from the writings of Paul, the Apostle. 20:53 He was of course the great missionary of the first century, 20:56 the man who took the Christian faith to the Gentile world, 20:59 helping to establish it as a global religion. 21:03 What we have in the New Testament 21:05 is this collection of letters that Paul wrote 21:08 to some of the churches he started. 21:10 And we have two of his letters 21:11 to the church in Corinth, in modern day Greece. 21:15 And at one point, this is what he writes. 21:19 "For I delivered to you, first of all 21:21 "that which I also received, 21:24 "that Christ died for our sins 21:25 "according to the scriptures and that he was buried, 21:28 "and that he rose again the third day 21:30 "according to the scriptures, 21:32 "and that he was seen by Cephas, 21:34 "then by the 12. 21:35 "After that, he was seen by over 500 brethren at once, 21:38 "of whom the greater part remain to the present, 21:40 "but some have fallen asleep. 21:42 "After that he was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 21:45 "Then last of all he was seen by me also, 21:48 "as by one born out of due time." 21:52 So you can see that from Paul's perspective, 21:54 the story of the Resurrection was not an allegory. 21:57 It wasn't a story the church made up 21:59 in order to illustrate spiritual awakening 22:01 or some other esoteric concept. 22:05 As far as Paul was concerned, the Resurrection was real 22:08 if for no other reason than the fact 22:10 that he had seen the risen Christ. 22:13 And you'll notice he was not the only one 22:16 who claimed to see him. 22:17 More than 500 made the same claim. 22:20 So as far as first century Christians were concerned, 22:23 the Resurrection was real. 22:25 But then notice what Paul says to his skeptics 22:28 down in verse 12. 22:29 "Now if Christ is preached 22:32 "that he has been raised from the dead, 22:33 "how do some among you say 22:34 "there is no resurrection of the dead?" 22:39 Here's what was happening. 22:41 Apparently some of the church members 22:43 in the city of Corinth were arguing about the afterlife, 22:46 whether or not you and I have any hope 22:48 of an existence after we die. 22:51 And what Paul does is point out 22:54 that their entire religion is built on this idea. 22:58 He argues, "How can you preach 23:01 "that Jesus rose from the dead 23:04 "and then deny that such things are possible?" 23:07 He continues in verse 13, 23:09 and here's the point I wanna leave you with 23:11 during this Easter season. 23:13 I'll just read you the whole thing. 23:16 "But if there is no resurrection of the dead, 23:18 "then Christ is not risen. 23:20 "And if Christ is not risen, 23:21 "then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. 23:25 'Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God 23:28 "because we have testified of God 23:29 "that he raised up Christ, whom he did not raise up 23:32 "if in fact the dead do not rise. 23:35 "For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. 23:37 "And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile, 23:41 "you are still in your sins. 23:43 "Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ 23:45 "have perished. 23:46 "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, 23:49 "we are of all men the most pitiable." 23:53 Now let me ask you a simple question. 23:56 Does that sound to you like there was any doubt 23:59 in Paul's mind that the Resurrection was a literal event? 24:02 No way! 24:04 And if Christ did not rise from the dead, he argues, 24:06 then there is no point to the Christian faith. 24:08 You see, this is not just a book of spiritual proverbs, 24:11 a collection of mythologies. 24:14 This is an historical record of events 24:16 that actually took place. 24:18 And if the Resurrection didn't take place, 24:20 then you and I are just biological machines 24:23 without any hope. 24:24 The very best we can do is try to extend our lives 24:27 a few years by studying medical science. 24:30 But even then, we'll just be living 24:32 in a cold uncaring universe, 24:35 and a longer lifespan isn't gonna mean a whole lot. 24:39 But if Jesus did rise from the dead 24:41 and this book happens to be true, 24:44 that means you have an awful lot to live for, 24:46 and an awful lot to look forward to. 24:49 Because what you have in this ancient record 24:51 is not some misty pie-in-the-sky future 24:54 in existence in the ether. 24:56 When the Bible says that Jesus rose from the dead, 24:58 it means he really rose from the dead with a physical body. 25:02 The eyewitness testimony you find 25:04 in the first four books in the New Testament 25:06 doesn't talk about some ethereal spirit being 25:09 who sort of came back from the grave. 25:11 It describes a real flesh and blood man, 25:14 like this passage says in Luke Chapter 24. 25:19 "Now as they said these things, 25:20 "Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and said, 25:23 "'Peace be to you.' 25:24 "But they were terrified and frightened 25:26 "and supposed they had seen a spirit. 25:28 "And he said to them, 'Why are you troubled? 25:30 "'And why do doubts arise in your hearts? 25:32 "'Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. 25:35 "'Handle me and see, for a spirit 25:38 "'does not have flesh and bones 25:40 "'as you see I have.'" 25:42 Then to prove the point, he ate something. 25:44 So here's what I'm driving at. 25:46 This book does talk about something after the grave. 25:49 And it's as real as the existence that you have right now. 25:52 I guess you could say the Russians 25:54 were more right than the spiritualists. 25:57 The future this book describes 25:59 is not a world of fuzzy disembodied voices 26:01 that come and rap on a table during a seance. 26:04 It's real flesh and blood people. 26:06 It talks about an earth made new 26:08 where we actually do things, 26:10 and the problems that plague us now, 26:12 they're going to be gone forever. 26:14 So why is it that the Russians thought 26:17 they might be able to extend life 26:18 maybe forever by using science? 26:21 And why is it we think that maybe science 26:24 can slow down aging or maybe even stop it? 26:27 Why do you think we can freeze people 26:30 and bring them back to life one day, 26:31 but then at the same time when this book says 26:34 that somebody's already done it, 26:35 well then we say it's impossible? 26:39 We gotta wonder, what are we trying to avoid 26:41 when we become so insistent that the stories in this book 26:44 couldn't possibly be true? 26:46 On the one hand, we dream about conquering 26:48 all of our problems using logic, 26:51 we dream of visiting the stars, 26:53 but then we say the claims of this book can't be true. 26:58 What are we trying to avoid? 27:00 Don't go away. 27:02 I'll be right back. 27:04 - [Male Announcer] Dragons, beasts, cryptic statues. 27:08 Bible prophecy can be incredibly vivid and confusing. 27:13 If you've ever read "Daniel, a Revelation," 27:15 and come away scratching your head, 27:17 you're not alone. 27:18 Our free "Focus on Prophecy Guides" 27:21 are designed to help you unlock 27:22 the mysteries of the Bible and deepen your understanding 27:25 of God's plan for you and our world. 27:27 Study online, or request them by mail 27:30 and start bringing prophecy into focus today. 27:34 - You know, you've got to wonder why it is 27:36 that we want to live longer. 27:37 Why do we pursue immortality? 27:41 Why do we find it so deeply unsatisfying 27:44 this thought that the universe is just gonna run down 27:46 and then finish and we're gone. 27:49 I think it has something to do with something 27:51 this book said a very long time ago. 27:54 In Ecclesiastes 3:11 it says that we were created 27:57 with eternity in our hearts. 28:00 Maybe it's time to explore that again. 28:02 I'm Shawn Boonstra. 28:03 This has been Authentic. 28:06 [upbeat music] |
Revised 2021-03-31