Participants:
Series Code: AU
Program Code: AU000069S
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00:01 - Let me ask you a rather simple question,
00:03 are you really thinking for yourself, 00:05 making your own decisions? 00:07 You might be surprised to find out 00:08 there are people who say you're not 00:10 and that's today's episode of "Authentic." 00:13 [slow country music] 00:34 Let me ask you 00:36 what amounts to being a very strange question, 00:38 did you consciously choose to listen to this show today 00:41 or did something or somebody else 00:43 make that decision for you? 00:46 And I know it kind of rubs our fur the wrong way 00:48 when somebody suggests that you and I 00:50 are not actually in control of our brains, our lives, 00:53 not actually making free will decisions. 00:56 But there's a growing body of belief, 00:59 a rising number of people who actually believe 01:03 that your sense of free will is nothing but an illusion. 01:07 You only think that you're making decisions 01:09 when in fact you're not. 01:11 And again, I know the evidence of your senses 01:14 does not agree with that idea. 01:17 You consciously made the decision 01:19 to download this podcast, didn't you? 01:22 You consciously made the decision 01:24 to slip in your earbuds or sit on the front porch 01:26 and listen to this on the radio 01:28 and you know for sure that you decided that stuff. 01:32 It's as obvious as the nose on your face. 01:35 But a number of very intelligent people 01:38 don't think that's true. 01:40 They think that the decisions you make are predetermined. 01:43 They're actually caused by the events 01:45 that came before this moment. 01:46 And while you think you made a conscious choice, 01:50 it was actually the events of your past 01:52 that determined what you're going to do right now. 01:55 And because your brain cannot possibly assess 01:58 all of the data all of the time, 02:01 there will always be a lot of influences 02:03 that you're just not aware of. 02:06 For example, 02:08 let's suppose you want to go shopping for a new sweater 02:10 and you pick out a dark red V-neck like the one I'm wearing 02:14 and you leave the other colors behind on the rack. 02:16 Your brain is telling you 02:18 you deliberately chose that color 02:21 and you might even be able to explain why you chose it. 02:24 It goes with the pants that you planned to wear 02:26 or it's Christmas time and you wanted something red 02:29 or maybe red reminds you of your dad's old car 02:32 and that gives you happy memories. 02:35 But can you really assess every bit of data 02:38 that went into making that decision? 02:41 Back in 2011, the author Shaun Nichols 02:44 published a piece in "Scientific American" 02:46 dealing with the issue of free will 02:49 and he describes the problem like this. 02:51 He writes, imagine a universe 02:54 in which everything that happens is completely caused 02:57 by whatever happened before it. 02:59 So what happened in the beginning of the universe 03:01 caused what happened next and so on 03:03 right up to the present. 03:05 If John decided to have french fries at lunch one day, 03:08 this decision, like all others, 03:10 was caused by what happened before it. 03:14 Now of course, that seems completely ridiculous. 03:16 Of course, John made a conscious decision 03:19 to eat french fries 03:20 and of course, we're in charge of our lives. 03:23 We might not be able to choose what happens to us 03:26 over the course of a lifetime, 03:28 but we can certainly choose how to respond 03:32 or can we? 03:34 Not according to some people. 03:36 Back in 2003, Benjamin Libet accepted a major prize 03:40 for his work in neuroscience. 03:42 And what he discovered was that, 03:44 when you decide to do something, 03:47 the brain actually fires a few hundred milliseconds 03:49 before you became aware of making that decision. 03:52 So in other words, 03:54 it looks like your neural network 03:57 is making the decision before you do 04:00 and you only think you willfully did it. 04:03 Of course, if that's true, 04:05 the implications are staggering. 04:07 It would mean that you're acting subconsciously 04:10 all the time. 04:12 Of course, his findings raised a lot of eyebrows 04:15 because it runs completely contrary 04:17 to everything we think we know 04:19 and it creates a problem 04:20 when it comes to holding people accountable. 04:24 After all, you can't really discipline a wayward employee 04:27 if he or she isn't actually choosing to misbehave. 04:31 And how do you sentence a murderer to life in prison 04:34 if he didn't actually have a choice in the matter? 04:38 Naturally, the theory has a lot of critics 04:40 and some people have pointed out 04:42 that the equipment Libet was using for that experiment 04:45 might have created the impression 04:47 that the subconscious brain fires first. 04:50 And it might just be the case 04:51 that we can't actually measure 04:53 precisely what happens when. 04:56 It all comes down to the equipment you use 04:59 and its ability to capture accurate data in real time. 05:04 Given the limits of our understanding about brain science, 05:07 it may just seem to us that subconscious decisions happen 05:11 before you think about them. 05:12 And you've also got to ask yourself, 05:15 what else aren't we seeing? 05:17 Because while we monitor certain activities 05:20 with our scientific equipment, 05:22 it's entirely possible that we're missing processes 05:25 that we know nothing about. 05:26 We're not even looking for them. 05:30 Now personally, I think the real problem 05:32 that I have with this idea 05:34 is that it seems to fly in the face 05:36 of everyday human experience. 05:38 I mean, everything we have ever known 05:40 about what it means to be human 05:42 involves the idea of conscious choice. 05:46 Of course, that doesn't mean we've been right all this time 05:49 because sometimes what science reveals 05:51 ends up being stranger than fiction. 05:54 For example, consider the now famous double slit experiment, 05:58 which I'm sure you heard about in high school 06:00 at least if you were paying attention. 06:02 It's that experiment where light passes 06:05 through two small slits 06:06 and creates an interference pattern 06:08 on the surface behind it. 06:10 It's exactly what you'd expect 06:12 and it's kind of like dropping two stones in a pond 06:15 and watching the ripples start to overlap. 06:17 The valleys and peaks of those tiny little waves 06:20 begin to cancel each other out 06:22 and they create a distinctive and recognizable pattern. 06:26 And shining a normal light through those two slits 06:30 produces exactly the same pattern. 06:33 So of course, that leads most people 06:35 to think of light as a wave, 06:37 and in many ways that's exactly what light is. 06:41 But then let's assume also that light is a particle, 06:44 which is also true, 06:46 and we've got a special gun, let's say, 06:47 that fires just one light particle at a time 06:50 through those two slits. 06:52 But then we'll block off one of those slits, 06:54 meaning that we only have one. 06:56 So what do you get? 06:58 Well, you get what you'd expect, 07:00 a bunch of impact points on the walls behind the slit 07:02 where those light particles are landing. 07:05 But then open up the second slit 07:07 and you get something really weird. 07:09 Even though you're only firing one light particle at a time, 07:13 you still get an interference pattern. 07:16 It's as if the individual particles 07:18 are passing through both slits at the very same time. 07:23 So in other words, 07:25 the behavior of light at the atomic level in the microcosm 07:28 isn't what we expect. 07:30 It's a complete mystery 07:31 because now the universe appears to have 07:34 one set of physical principles up here at the big level, 07:37 but then apparently, another set of rules 07:40 for the world of tiny particles. 07:42 So welcome to the wonderful world of quantum mechanics 07:45 where particles appear to change behavior if we watch them 07:50 and where particles separated by vast distances 07:53 seem to be able to communicate with each other 07:55 at speeds faster than that of light. 07:58 It defies our expectations. 08:00 So the idea that free will must exist 08:04 because it seems obvious, 08:06 well, it doesn't necessarily mean 08:08 that's the way the universe actually is. 08:11 But still, I'm going to mount a bit of a protest 08:13 because the idea that we have absolutely no freedom, 08:16 no real moral agency, 08:19 well, it undermines everything we know 08:20 about what it means to be authentically human. 08:24 And now, I'm gonna make a conscious decision 08:27 to take a quick break 08:28 so that you can take advantage 08:29 of some really amazing resources 08:31 from the good people at The Voice of Prophecy. 08:34 I'll be right back after this. 08:40 - [Announcer] Dragons, beasts, cryptic statues, 08:44 Bible prophecy can be incredibly vivid and confusing. 08:49 If you've ever read Daniel or Revelation 08:51 and come away scratching your head, 08:53 you're not alone. 08:54 Our free focus on prophecy guides are designed 08:57 to help you unlock the mysteries of the Bible 08:59 and deepen your understanding of God's plan 09:02 for you and our world. 09:03 Study online or request them by mail 09:06 and start bringing prophecy into focus today. 09:10 - The idea that you and I have no free will 09:12 is often called determinism, 09:14 as in all your actions are already determined for you, 09:18 even if you think you're making conscious decisions. 09:21 And maybe one of the most significant names 09:23 when it comes to deterministic thinking 09:25 is the Dutch Jewish philosopher, Baruch Spinoza, 09:29 a man who lived and wrote during the 17th century. 09:32 He was descended from a long line of Portuguese Jews. 09:35 And of course, by the time we get to the 15 and 1600s, 09:39 a lot of Jews from the south of Europe 09:42 were looking for a new place to live 09:44 because of the Inquisition. 09:47 So it's no surprise that a man like Spinoza 09:49 was born in Amsterdam 09:51 because in the 17th century, 09:53 the Dutch Republic was about the most tolerant society 09:56 in Western Europe. 09:57 In fact, a lot of the English dissenters, 10:00 and we've talked about them on other shows, 10:03 a lot of English dissenters 10:04 who were being persecuted for their beliefs in England 10:07 were also living in the Netherlands, 10:09 including people like John Locke and the pilgrims 10:12 and other people who left England 10:14 to find just a little bit of intellectual freedom. 10:18 But of course, 10:20 even though the Netherlands was famously tolerant 10:22 and honestly an inspiration 10:24 to other people longing for freedom, 10:26 in spite of that, 10:28 Spinoza experienced more than a bit of trouble 10:30 when his synagogue in Amsterdam rejected his ideas 10:34 and excommunicated him back in 1654. 10:38 From that point on, 10:39 he had to earn his living as a lens grinder, 10:41 which likely led to his early death at 45 10:44 because of all the dust from glass 10:46 that he inhaled on the job. 10:49 And why was Spinoza excommunicated? 10:52 It was because of his views of the universe. 10:55 Spinoza didn't believe in a personal God, 10:58 but identified God with nature itself, 11:00 a way of thinking about the universe 11:02 that we often call pantheism, 11:05 as in God is everything and everything is God. 11:08 Spinoza often referred to something 11:10 he called the God of nature, 11:13 and what he meant by that 11:14 is an immovable underlying reality 11:17 behind the universe. 11:19 God, he said, was the substance of the universe, 11:23 and he used that word quite deliberately 11:25 because substance means that which stands underneath. 11:29 Everything around us, Spinoza taught, 11:31 is just a mode of the ultimate reality 11:34 and that would include you and me. 11:37 We are just seemingly individual expressions 11:39 of that ultimate substance, 11:41 but our individuality, he argued, 11:44 is really an illusion. 11:47 Of course, that perspective 11:48 was decidedly unwelcome at the synagogue 11:50 because both Orthodox Christians and Jews insisted 11:54 that God is not identical with the material universe. 11:58 The Bible teaches that God is transcendent and personal. 12:03 He exists in His own right, 12:04 quite apart from the creation, 12:06 but that's not what Spinoza believed. 12:09 And so, the synagogue became worried 12:10 that their otherwise tolerant Christian neighbors 12:13 and charitable Dutch hosts 12:15 might actually turn against them. 12:17 So they offered to pay Spinoza an annual salary 12:21 to keep his mouth shut, 12:23 but when they failed to secure his cooperation, 12:26 they just kicked him out of the synagogue. 12:28 Now, if you actually wanna read Spinoza's philosophy, 12:32 you're gonna have to set aside a little bit of time, 12:34 especially if you wanna read the ethics, 12:36 which is easily his most important work. 12:40 Not only is this really dense material 12:42 that will demand a lot of your attention, 12:45 it's also written in a mathematical style 12:47 as if philosophy can be discussed with geometric precision. 12:52 In the spirit of the famous mathematician, Euclid, 12:55 Spinoza's philosophy was presented 12:57 as a series of definitions, axioms and proofs. 13:01 So it's not exactly a relaxing read, 13:05 but it has been influential enough 13:07 that it's probably important 13:08 to make a note of his basic ideas 13:10 and what they imply about the nature of human free will. 13:15 Basically, Spinoza didn't believe that free will exists. 13:18 He said that the universe is based on an immutable law, 13:22 the law of nature, 13:23 which he also referred to as God in a very impersonal sense. 13:28 He taught that you and I are just being carried along 13:31 without any real freedom to choose. 13:33 This is really the ultimate work of determinism. 13:36 And if it wasn't such brutally tedious reading, 13:39 I'd be tempted to read a little bit of this to you, 13:42 but I think I'll spare you the boredom 13:43 and try to give you a thumbnail sketch of what it says. 13:47 In essence, Spinoza believed that everything that is 13:50 and everything that happens, 13:52 well, everything's exactly the way that it's supposed to be 13:55 and there's nothing you can do to change that. 13:58 The law of nature is simply the law of nature 14:01 and there's nothing you can do to fight against that. 14:04 The best we can do is understand our place in the world 14:07 and harmonize our thinking with the law of nature 14:10 if we wanna find greater happiness. 14:13 The idea that we can actually make choices though, 14:16 well, Spinoza said that's not possible 14:19 except for the matter of how we choose to think about life. 14:23 Now, to help make sense of this, 14:25 we should probably make a note of the fact 14:27 that lots of other prominent thinkers 14:29 were saying there's a fundamental difference 14:31 between your mind and your body. 14:33 There are two separate and distinct realms, 14:35 which are the physical and the spiritual, 14:38 but Spinoza said those two things are the same. 14:41 Your mind is your body and your body is your mind. 14:44 And then, he suggested the same thing was true about God. 14:47 He said that the universe was actually God's body, 14:51 which is one of the ideas that got him excommunicated. 14:55 All we can hope to do, Spinoza argued, 14:57 is find a little bit of happiness 14:59 by better understanding the nature of the universe 15:02 and then aligning ourselves with that nature. 15:05 Whatever happened in the past was predetermined, he said, 15:08 and whatever happens in the future is also predetermined. 15:11 You and I are just part 15:12 of this mathematically precise machine 15:15 and that will never change. 15:17 You are not free to change things 15:19 and everything you experience 15:21 is the product of unseen causes that drive you. 15:24 You are, to put it simply, a puppet of the universe. 15:28 It's the same thing 15:30 that some psychologists are saying today. 15:32 You and I don't really have free will, they suggest, 15:35 it just seems like we do. 15:37 We might think we make conscious decisions, 15:40 but we're never completely aware of all the unseen causes 15:44 that lead us to make those decisions. 15:46 Your genetics play a role, 15:48 your past experience plays a role, 15:50 your biology plays a role, 15:52 and you're mostly unaware of those influences. 15:55 Most of the time, ideas just seem to pop into your head, 15:58 but you'd be at a loss to explain why you got those ideas 16:02 and exactly where they came from. 16:04 It's determinism 16:06 and it leads to a serious moral problem 16:08 if you're going to choose to believe that it's true, 16:11 because if there is no free will, no real moral agency, 16:15 then how in the world can you hope 16:17 to hold other people responsible for their actions? 16:21 That's a question worth exploring 16:22 because to some extent, 16:24 there is some truth to what these people are saying. 16:26 You and I aren't even remotely aware 16:29 of what our brains are doing at any given moment 16:32 and we do operate on autopilot 16:34 an awful lot of the time. 16:36 Most of the things you do every single day 16:38 do not require you to think about them. 16:41 For example, you don't make a conscious decision to breathe, 16:45 although you could do that if you wanted to. 16:47 And you don't make a decision 16:49 to digest your food or blink your eyes. 16:52 Those things just happen automatically 16:54 and that's a good thing 16:56 because if you did have to make a conscious decision 16:58 about every little thing your body does 17:00 right down to the cellular level, 17:03 well, that would make a mess of you 17:05 and you'd be incapable of actually living. 17:08 So instead, most of what we do 17:10 happens in the background of our brains, 17:12 leaving us free to make decisions about the big stuff, 17:16 the stuff that goes into living an authentic human life. 17:20 Now, what determinants will tell you 17:22 is that your conscious decisions 17:23 are also happening on autopilot 17:26 and you're being deceived into thinking 17:28 that you're making those decisions. 17:30 But that's exactly where the determinants 17:33 and the Bible part company. 17:36 What I find in the Bible 17:38 appears to be a more realistic view of human moral agency. 17:41 It seems to match our actual experience 17:44 better than this idea that we're all just puppets 17:47 having our strings pulled involuntarily. 17:49 And the Bible does agree 17:51 that a lot of what you choose to do in this life 17:53 is the product, not of deliberate rational thought, 17:57 but of unseen influences taking place in the background. 18:00 Let me show you what I mean now from the words of Jesus 18:03 where He says, for out of the abundance of the heart, 18:06 the mouth speaks. 18:08 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart 18:10 brings forth good things 18:12 and an evil man out of the evil treasure 18:15 brings forth evil things. 18:18 In other words, there are subconscious autonomic processes 18:22 that drive you to do the things that you do 18:24 and to say the things that you say. 18:26 But at the same time, 18:28 the Bible still makes us responsible for our behavior, why? 18:31 Because we're the ones who program 18:33 those automatic responses in the first place. 18:37 All right, I've gotta take another quick break, 18:39 but I'll be right back after this. 18:44 - [Announcer] Here at The Voice of Prophecy, 18:46 we're committed to creating top quality programming 18:48 for the whole family 18:50 like our audio adventure series, "Discovery Mountain." 18:53 "Discovery Mountain" is a bible-based program 18:55 for kids of all ages and backgrounds. 18:58 Your family will enjoy the faith-building stories 19:00 from this small mountain summer camp and town. 19:03 With 24 seasonal episodes every year 19:06 and fresh content every week, 19:08 there's always a new adventure just on the horizon. 19:14 - The determinists tell us that the physical universe 19:17 predetermines how you think, 19:20 that your thoughts are really a product 19:21 of who or what you are. 19:23 Into a tiny little degree, in some ways, 19:26 the Bible kind of agrees with that, 19:30 but it also presents the opposite point of view. 19:32 It says that you and I become what we think. 19:36 For example, Proverbs 23 verse seven tells us 19:40 for as he thinks in his heart, so is he. 19:44 In other words, how you choose to think 19:46 ultimately changes who you are, 19:49 and over the long run that can lead to changes 19:52 in your fundamental makeup. 19:54 That's the opposite of what Spinoza taught. 19:57 Just before the break, 19:58 we looked at the words of Jesus who blamed bad behavior 20:01 on the information we choose to put in our brains. 20:05 Of course, that means 20:06 there are a lot of subconscious processes going on 20:09 every time you make a decision 20:11 and most of us aren't even close 20:14 to understanding all the factors at play. 20:17 But it's also true that we placed 20:19 a lot of those unconscious influences in our minds 20:23 through conscious choices. 20:26 That's why the Bible suggests 20:27 that you guard the gates of your heart very carefully, 20:30 that you be careful about what kinds of information 20:33 you allow yourself to absorb 20:36 because at some point, 20:37 that information is going to resurface 20:40 and it will become an unconscious factor 20:43 in the decisions you're making in the future. 20:45 And yeah, it can feel like you're helpless 20:49 and being driven by uncontrollable instinct, 20:52 which is why Jesus said in John eight verse 34 20:55 that whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. 20:59 It's why David said in Psalm 101, 21:02 "I will set nothing wicked before my eyes. 21:05 I hate the work of those who fall away, 21:07 it shall not clinging to me." 21:10 Sometimes it might seem like you don't have a choice, 21:13 that you're being carried along 21:14 by forces that are out of your control, 21:17 but that's because you already made a choice a long time ago 21:22 and now you've programmed your brain 21:23 to do the same thing over and over and over again. 21:28 So while determinists say that free will is an illusion, 21:32 I wanna suggest that it's the other way around. 21:35 Determinism is the illusion. 21:37 You are not necessarily locked into the life that you have 21:41 and you do have the power to make real choices. 21:44 You can change the programming. 21:47 That's not to say that everything 21:48 that happens to you is somehow your fault 21:50 because that's also not necessarily true. 21:53 There are some factors that you didn't choose 21:56 that shaped who you are today, 21:58 like the childhood you had 22:00 or the genetic traits you picked up from your parents. 22:03 But that doesn't mean you're a helpless puppet 22:05 the way that some people would suggest. 22:07 You might not be able to control what happens to you, 22:11 but you can make meaningful choices 22:13 about what you're going to do about it. 22:15 It's right at this point 22:17 that determinism hits a roadblock 22:19 when you compare it to reality. 22:21 If nobody is really making any conscious choices 22:24 and everything they do is somehow predetermined, 22:27 well then there would be no such thing as evil. 22:30 I mean, if the determinists are right, 22:32 then Jeffrey Dahmer had no choice 22:34 when it came to killing and eating those people, 22:37 we probably just need to accept that. 22:39 And of course, I have no doubt 22:41 that Dahmer suffered from environmental influences, 22:44 that he was somehow a product of his childhood experience, 22:48 but to suggest that he had no choice 22:50 but to commit those crimes, 22:52 do we really wanna believe that? 22:54 If that was true, 22:56 would there be any point to punishment ever? 22:59 If nobody has meaningful choices, 23:01 how could you hold anybody morally culpable 23:04 for what they do? 23:06 Just listen to what it says 23:07 over in Proverbs 22 in verse eight 23:09 because it completely disagrees 23:12 with the idea that you're helpless. 23:14 It says, he who sows iniquity will reap sorrow 23:18 and the rod of his anger will fail. 23:21 The book of Isaiah suggests 23:23 that this principle works in two directions 23:25 where it says this. 23:26 Sow for yourselves righteousness, 23:29 reap in mercy. 23:31 Now instinctively, most of us would agree with that, 23:34 we reap what we sow, 23:36 it just seems like human nature 101. 23:38 But the determinants will tell you 23:40 that that's just an illusion. 23:41 You didn't really decide to do right or wrong 23:44 and the consequences of your actions 23:46 are just the laws of the universe. 23:48 You're nothing but a cog in a great big machine. 23:52 But then you have to ask, 23:54 how just would that universe be? 23:56 Do not be deceived, it says in the Book of Galatians, 23:59 God is not mocked, 24:01 for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 24:04 For he who sows to his flesh 24:06 will of the flesh reap corruption, 24:08 but he who sows to the Spirit 24:10 will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. 24:14 The words of this book are permeated with the idea 24:17 that you really do have the power of choice. 24:20 Of course, it also says that you and I have a fallen nature, 24:24 which means that we are predisposed 24:27 to corrupting influences like selfishness. 24:30 And that fallen nature that we possess 24:32 can seem overwhelming sometimes, 24:34 completely impossible to overcome 24:37 as if our actions are completely involuntary. 24:41 But that's when I suddenly remember the words of Paul 24:44 who gives us an important solution, 24:46 which I'll show you as soon as I come back from this break. 24:53 - [Announcer] Life can throw a lot at us. 24:55 Sometimes we don't have all the answers, 24:59 but that's where the Bible comes in. 25:01 It's our guide to a more fulfilling life. 25:04 Here at The Voice of Prophecy, 25:06 we've created the Discover Bible guides 25:08 to be your guide to the Bible. 25:10 They're designed to be simple, easy to use, 25:12 and provide answers to many of life's toughest questions. 25:15 And they're absolutely free. 25:17 So jump online now or give us a call 25:19 and start your journey of discovery. 25:23 - In the book of Romans, 25:24 there's a famous passage 25:25 I'm sure I've read to you before, 25:27 but in the context of studying free moral agency, 25:30 I think we should look at it again. 25:32 Here's what Paul says. 25:34 I find then a law that evil is present with me, 25:37 the one who wills to do good. 25:39 For I delight in the law of God 25:41 according to the inward man. 25:43 But I see another law in my members 25:44 warring against the law of my mind 25:47 and bringing me into captivity 25:48 to the law of sin, which is in my members. 25:51 O wretched man that I am. 25:53 Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25:56 I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. 26:00 So yeah, there's a law work in this universe 26:02 and it's very powerful. 26:03 You and I often find ourselves powerless 26:06 to become the person we want to be, 26:08 to live the life we want to live 26:10 and many of us are horrified 26:12 by the darkness that seems to lurk in our hearts. 26:15 Our fallen nature seems completely impossible to beat. 26:18 And so in that regard, 26:20 I'd have to give Spinoza high marks. 26:22 There is some kind of force that carries us along, 26:25 determining the choices we make. 26:27 He called that God or nature, 26:30 but the Bible calls it sin. 26:32 And if you have no moral choice at all, 26:34 then there is no such thing as sin. 26:36 There is no such thing as holding people accountable, 26:38 not if they can't help it. 26:41 But the way the Bible talks about sin, 26:43 it's not okay. 26:45 Even though sin is an overwhelming force, 26:47 a very dark influence on your thinking, 26:49 there is a way out. 26:51 "Who will deliver me from this body of death," Paul asked, 26:54 "I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord." 26:58 You might actually be powerless to change who you are, 27:00 to change the way you think, 27:02 but I can assure you God is not. 27:04 Look, I really respect the work of Spinoza, 27:07 particularly when it comes to his views 27:09 on the importance of religious and personal liberty 27:12 and he was obviously smarter than me, 27:14 but our day-to-day reality screams, 27:16 no, we are not puppets 27:18 and there's got to be something better than this. 27:21 And that's when we find another view of human nature 27:23 that actually offers us hope. 27:26 Spinoza said hope is pointless 27:28 and he scoffed the idea that such a thing exists, why? 27:31 Because he thought there's no way to change the future. 27:34 But this book disagrees 27:36 and it doesn't just offer hope, 27:38 it offers an awful lot of it. 27:40 And personally, I'm still finding every day 27:42 that as interesting as Spinoza was 27:45 and he was interesting, 27:47 this book appears to be a much closer match for reality. 27:51 Thanks for joining me this week. 27:53 I'm Shawn Boonstra 27:54 and this has been "Authentic." 27:58 [slow country music] |
Revised 2023-03-01