Participants:
Series Code: AU
Program Code: AU000014S
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00:01 - Today we're gonna be talking a little bit
00:02 about the ultimate question, 00:04 and of course the ultimate question 00:06 about your human existence is death. 00:09 And I know this sounds a little depressing, 00:11 but I really think you're gonna wanna pay attention to this 00:13 because after all your turn is definitely coming. 00:18 [light music] 00:38 I know this is gonna sound a little bit morbid, 00:41 but the older I get naturally, 00:43 the more I find myself thinking about the subject of death. 00:47 And it's not that I'm afraid to die 00:49 because honestly I'm not, 00:50 I mean, we'll see what happens 00:52 when I actually get to the finish line, 00:53 I might have this little moment of panic, 00:55 I have seen some people do that, 00:57 but for right now I'm pretty comfortable 01:00 with the idea of my own mortality. 01:02 It does raise some questions however, 01:05 and these are questions that people have wrestled with 01:07 since at least the beginning of recorded history. 01:11 Stuff like, where do I go when I die? 01:14 What exactly happens one minute after I draw my final breath 01:17 and close my eyes for the last time? 01:20 Now if you wanna answer those kinds of questions, 01:23 you really have to figure out who or what you are. 01:26 Are you some kind of spiritual being 01:29 who just uses a physical body like a suit made out of meat, 01:33 or are you a purely physical being 01:35 who just happens to disappear the day you die? 01:38 And where exactly are you right now? 01:42 I mean, I know that I'm right here in a chair 01:44 and I occupy a specific position in space, 01:48 but where exactly is the core of who I am? 01:52 What is the essence of Shawn? 01:54 After centuries of scientific discovery, 01:56 we've come to the conclusion that the sum total 01:58 of my personality, my beliefs, my characteristics, 02:02 they're all housed in this, 02:03 well, three pound lump of gray matter 02:06 that sits behind my forehead. 02:09 And maybe because my eyes are right in front of my brain 02:12 and my eyes are the primary point of access to the world, 02:15 maybe that all just creates the illusion that the essence 02:18 of who I am resides up here inside my skull. 02:22 And I know we all kinda take that for granted, 02:24 but you know historically, 02:25 we haven't always thought of the brain 02:27 as the seat of consciousness. 02:29 So where exactly do I reside? 02:32 Is this where I am inside my head? 02:35 Is the brain the seat of the human soul? 02:40 I don't know if you've ever seen some of those 02:42 really schlocky science fiction movies from the 50s or 60s 02:45 like "The Brain That Wouldn't Die" 02:47 I've mentioned that one before, 02:49 it's where some mad scientist separates the human head 02:53 from the rest of the body and keeps it alive. 02:55 And the idea behind these movies is that 02:58 the brain is really the essence of who you are, 03:01 your body is just a support system 03:03 that keeps your brain alive 03:04 and allows it to interact with the external world. 03:07 But this up here is where you live, inside your head, 03:09 and everything else attached to your brain is there to serve 03:13 this incredible control center which makes it possible 03:17 for you to have a meaningful existence. 03:19 Now again, I know this all seems obvious to us, 03:22 but we haven't always located the seat of consciousness 03:26 in the brain. 03:27 Go back and read some of the old literature, 03:29 and you'll find people talking about using their hearts 03:32 to experience emotion which is something we still do today 03:35 when we tell people, follow your heart, 03:37 or love that person with all your heart. 03:40 Go back further in history 03:42 and you'll actually find some ancient cultures talking 03:45 about using their livers the same way. 03:48 I guess we've always known somehow that something physical 03:52 inside your body is responsible for who you are 03:56 and how you experience this universe. 03:59 Go back far enough and you'll find people guessing that 04:02 the various organs in your body were actually responsible 04:05 for creating certain temperaments or personality types. 04:09 We still have artifacts 04:10 from that kinda thinking in our language today. 04:12 So for example, we identify people 04:14 as sanguine, or choleric, or melancholic or phlegmatic. 04:18 And if you look at those words carefully, 04:20 study the etymology, 04:22 you'll see that they're rooted in the various body fluids. 04:25 It's kind of disgusting, 04:26 but way back when we believe that sanguine people 04:29 were governed by their blood, so what the word means, 04:32 choleric people were governed by yellow bile, 04:34 melancholic people were governed by black bile, 04:37 and the phlegmatics kinda got the short end of the stick 04:40 because well, 04:42 it was believed they were governed by their flame. 04:45 The idea though is still kinda fascinating 04:47 because somehow we realized that who we are 04:50 is rooted in the very physical reality of our bodies. 04:54 You just can't escape physical existence, 04:58 and somehow that physical existence defines who you are. 05:05 Now that of course kinda runs foul of the way 05:07 that most people think about 05:08 the essential nature of human beings. 05:11 In a lot of cultures, people tend to think 05:14 in what we call dualistic terms, 05:16 you have your physical self, 05:18 but then you also have a spiritual self, 05:20 a consciousness that can somehow exist without a body, 05:24 and it can also somehow think without a brain. 05:28 Now from what I said [mumbles] 05:29 that raises some really important questions. 05:32 If I need a brain to think, 05:34 and then I suddenly die and leave my body, 05:36 how does that work? 05:38 How do I go on with the business of thinking 05:40 if I don't have a neural network? 05:43 Is it like a relay race where my physical brain 05:45 suddenly hands the baton of consciousness to my ghost 05:49 when it's leaving? 05:51 Or does my spirit kinda play my physical brain 05:54 and my neural network like a puppeteer 05:56 pulling the strings in a marionette 05:58 making my existence sing conscious and real, 06:02 but then it just dumps this whole me puppet 06:04 on the ground when the show is over? 06:06 Where exactly is the seat of the soul? 06:12 Now I know that most of us slept 06:13 through history class in high school, 06:15 but here comes payday for those of you who didn't, 06:18 there are lots of points in history we could visit 06:20 to examine the nature of humanity, 06:22 but since we only have a few minutes together, 06:24 let's go back to the big one, 06:26 let's go back to the Greek philosopher Plato. 06:29 Now I don't know if you remember studying 06:32 Plato's theory of forms or the Allegory of the cave, 06:36 but this is probably the number one influence 06:38 on the way that you and I think about death and dying. 06:41 And I hate to say it, 06:42 but Plato might actually be a bigger influence on us 06:46 than the Bible. 06:48 Plato taught that the material world is imperfect, 06:50 and in a lot of ways, well, I'd have to agree. 06:54 Everything you encounter in this life 06:55 is always gonna have some kind of flaw, 06:58 some little thing that makes it, well, less than perfect, 07:02 but Plato might argue that the reason 07:04 we know something is imperfect is because 07:07 we have some idea of what perfection should look like. 07:11 That model of perfection in our mind 07:13 is something he called the ideal, 07:16 something that doesn't actually exist here 07:17 in the physical world, 07:19 it belongs to the spiritual world out there somewhere, 07:23 and you and I live among shadowy representations 07:26 of those perfect ideals that only exist 07:29 in the non physical spirit world. 07:32 So Plato's analogy of the cave kinda goes like this, 07:37 imagine that you and I live in a deep dark cave 07:39 and we're stuck there, 07:40 we're chained to a wall 07:41 and we spend our entire lives staring 07:44 at the back wall of the cave. 07:47 Behind us there's a source of light, 07:49 a fire that cast shadows on the wall in front of us 07:52 so that when something moves past that source of light, 07:54 we can kind of see it except all we really see 07:57 is a blurry imperfect shadow. 08:00 So Plato said that the blurry shadow 08:03 is this material physical world, 08:05 everything we experience in this place 08:06 might seem physical and real, but it's an illusion, 08:10 it's just a fuzzy indistinct representation 08:13 of a much higher reality. 08:15 Now that higher reality only exists 08:17 in the non-physical spiritual realm, he said, 08:20 which is somewhere out there outside of the cave. 08:23 So understandably, 08:25 what a lot of Greek philosophers wanted to do 08:27 more than anything else, 08:29 was leave this physical world with all of its problems 08:31 and ascend to the spiritual realm 08:33 where they could finally be free. 08:36 That's why in Plato's account to the death of Socrates, 08:40 you have this great teacher trying to comfort his students 08:42 with the idea that his impending execution by poison 08:46 is actually a good thing, 08:48 it's a promotion, he's going to escape the physical world. 08:52 Lemme read you just a little bit from Phaedo, 08:54 which is Plato's account of the death of Socrates, 08:58 and this is Socrates speaking. 09:01 "I want to make my argument before you, my judges, 09:03 "as to why I think that a man 09:05 "who has truly spent his life in philosophy 09:07 "is probably right to be of good cheer in the face of death 09:10 "and to be very hopeful that after death 09:13 "he will attain to the greatest blessings yonder." 09:18 In other words, he's saying that real philosophers 09:21 spend their lives contemplating a higher reality, 09:23 and when they die they get to leave 09:26 this imperfect physical existence 09:28 and live the way they wanna live in the world of spirits, 09:31 the world of perfect ideals. 09:34 That's why things like sexual relationships 09:36 or food and drink didn't matter 09:38 to some of these philosophers because 09:40 those kinds of physical activities are part 09:42 of this messy, imperfect physical world. 09:46 What the philosopher wanted was knowledge 09:49 which he believed is far more possible 09:51 once you leave this physical existence. 09:53 So here's what Socrates teaches his students. 09:58 "It has really been shown to us that, 10:01 "if we are to ever have pure knowledge, 10:03 "we must escape from the body 10:05 "and observe matters in themselves with the soul by itself. 10:09 "It seems likely that we shall, only then, 10:11 "when we are dead, attain that which we desire 10:14 "and of which we claim to be lovers, 10:16 "as our own argument shows, not while we live, 10:19 "for if it is impossible to attain 10:21 "any pure knowledge with the body, 10:22 "then one of two things is true: 10:24 "either we can never attain knowledge, 10:27 "or we can do so after death." 10:31 In other words what a philosopher wants to do 10:33 is step out of the deep dark cave 10:35 and out into the glorious light of day. 10:37 So the question of course is, 10:38 how does that mesh with what this book says? 10:43 Don't you go away, I'll be right back. 10:48 - [Announcer] Are you searching for answers 10:49 to life's toughest questions like, 10:51 where is God when we suffer? 10:53 Can I find real happiness? 10:55 Or is there any hope for our chaotic world? 10:58 The Discover Bible Guides will help you 11:00 find the answers you're looking for. 11:02 Visit us at biblestudies.com, 11:05 or give us a call at 888-456-7933 11:10 for your free Discover Bible Guides, 11:12 study online on our secure website, 11:15 or have the free guides mailed right to your home. 11:18 There is never a cost or obligation. 11:21 The Discover Bible Guides are our free gift to you. 11:24 Find answers in guides like, 11:25 "Does My Life Really Matter to God?" 11:27 and "A Second Chance at Life." 11:30 You'll find answers to the things that matter most to you 11:32 in each of the 26 Discover Bible Guides, 11:35 visit Biblestudies.com 11:37 and begin your journey today to discover answers 11:40 to life's deepest questions. 11:47 - As far as we know Socrates 11:49 never actually wrote anything down, 11:51 but we have people like Plato to thank 11:53 for what little we do know about his teachings. 11:58 And what you have in this account of his final moments 12:01 is the story of a wise philosopher 12:03 who's kind of excited by the thought of death 12:05 because he's going to leave the imperfect material world 12:08 and ascend to the world of spirits 12:09 where your mind is no longer impeded 12:12 by the inconvenience of being locked in a physical body. 12:16 Now that does raise the question of whether or not 12:18 your thoughts are actually located here in your brain. 12:22 I mean, if you can leave your body 12:24 and still have conscious thoughts, 12:26 then why in the world do you need these three pounds 12:29 of gray matter to help you think? 12:31 And if thinking actually takes place somewhere other 12:34 than right here in your material brain, 12:36 if the real you is actually located somewhere else 12:38 like in a ghost, then why does it warp your thinking 12:41 to ingest physical substances like alcohol or LSD? 12:46 How does a chemical substance, 12:47 a molecule that very definitely exists 12:50 in the physical world, 12:51 how does that affect your non-physical mind? 12:55 That's a good question. 12:56 So let's do a little bit of digging. 12:59 By the time the Greeks established 13:00 the city of Alexandria and North Africa, 13:03 Greek philosophy was all the rage [mumbles] 13:05 there were a lot of Jewish intellectuals living there 13:08 who were eager to impress the Greeks 13:09 with their own capacity for logic and reason. 13:13 And in later years, this was also true of some Christians, 13:15 they wanted to prove that biblical thinking 13:18 was just as logical and just as profound 13:20 as Socrates or Plato or Aristotle. 13:25 So what we got was this blending of worlds. 13:28 We had incredibly bright thinkers 13:30 blending the world of Greek dualism 13:32 with the worldview that is actually taught in the Bible. 13:35 This became so prevalent at one point 13:37 that the church father, Tertullian 13:39 tried to slow things down by saying, 13:41 "What has Jerusalem to do with Athens, 13:43 "the Church with the Academy, 13:45 "the Christian with the heretic?" 13:48 What he was driving at was this, 13:51 there is enough difference between Greek philosophy 13:53 and the teachings of the Bible 13:55 that you wanna be very careful how you mix them. 13:58 Tertullian himself was 13:59 a former pagan converted to Christianity, 14:02 and he saw a dramatic difference between this book 14:05 and the writings of the ancient philosophers, 14:07 enough so that he drew a definite line in the scene. 14:11 You've got the worldview of Athens on the one hand, 14:14 and the worldview of Jerusalem on the other, 14:16 and you've got to choose between the two because 14:18 they really can't be reconciled. 14:21 However, that doesn't mean that we didn't try, 14:23 and you find pagan Greek dualism making huge inroads 14:28 into the Christian Church in ways that kind of changed 14:30 the way that a lot of Christians still think to this day. 14:34 And one of the most blatant examples 14:36 we have of this unfortunate blending of Jerusalem 14:38 and Athens is found in a group known as the Gnostics, 14:42 one of the earliest heresies to invade Christianity. 14:46 Gnosticism comes from a word that simply means knowledge, 14:49 and a lot of these Gnostics actually taught 14:51 that the material world, 14:52 the physical world you live in is evil. 14:54 It was created by some kind of lesser deity 14:57 who frankly blew it, 14:58 he made a mistake because the world is just so imperfect. 15:02 They called this lesser god, the Demiurge, 15:05 and they say that he was nothing, 15:07 but an imperfect emanation from a higher more perfect God 15:10 who existed in the purely spiritual realm. 15:14 Now that kind of thinking was one of 15:16 the biggest problems faced by the early Christian church. 15:18 And we think that one of the motives that Paul had 15:21 for writing the Book of Colossians was to fight 15:24 this corruption of biblical thought. 15:26 The Gnostic said the creator was imperfect, 15:28 that he messed things, 15:29 so here's what Paul writes about Jesus. 15:33 "He is the image of the invisible God, 15:37 "the firstborn over all creation. 15:39 "For by Him all things were created that are in heaven 15:42 "and that are on earth, visible and invisible, 15:45 "whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. 15:48 "All things were created through Him and for Him. 15:52 "And He is before all things, 15:54 "and in Him all things consist." 15:57 So you'll notice that Paul is arguing that the invisible God 16:01 is the same as the creator God, 16:03 the Son is made in the image of the Father 16:05 and He is not some kind of lesser deity, 16:08 and it was Jesus who made the visible and invisible worlds. 16:13 So of course, that raises another question. 16:15 In the original design of the Creator, 16:17 which world did human beings belong to, 16:19 the visible or the invisible world? 16:23 Lemme show you something really important over 16:25 in the Book of Genesis, 16:26 this comes from Genesis 1, 16:28 where God has created the human race. 16:30 Here's what it says. 16:32 "Then God blessed them, and God said to them, 16:35 "'Be fruitful and multiply, 16:36 "'fill the earth and subdue it, 16:38 "'have dominion over the fish of the sea, 16:39 "'over the birds of the air, 16:40 "'and over every living thing that moves on the earth.' 16:43 "Then God saw everything that He had made, 16:45 "and indeed it was very good." 16:49 This book says that God made us as very physical beings, 16:55 and He put us in a very physical world, 16:56 and when He was finished creating us 16:57 He said it was all very good. 17:00 The way the Gnostics told the story, 17:01 you and I were sparks that emanated from a divine fire, 17:04 we were spirit beings who unfortunately got trapped 17:07 in a miserable physical existence 17:09 and we won't finally realize what it means 17:12 to live an authentic life 17:13 until we are released from our physical bodies 17:16 and we return to that divine fire out there in the universe. 17:21 So you gotta wonder where they got that 17:23 because it's not found in the Bible, 17:25 here we have a God who makes a real material world 17:28 and He doesn't step back and say, 17:29 oh, man, I really blew it, 17:32 He looks at what He made and He says, 17:34 "This is very good." 17:36 According to this book, 17:38 you and I were made for physical existence, 17:41 and this same book tells us that God's future ideal for us, 17:44 the afterlife, it's also going to be real and physical. 17:48 Lemme show you what I mean from Isaiah 35, 17:51 where it talks about the future. 17:53 "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, 17:55 "and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. 17:58 "Then the lame man shall leap like a deer, 18:00 "and the tongue of the dumb sing. 18:01 "For water shall burst forth in the wilderness, 18:03 "and streams in the desert." 18:06 What the Bible teachers is that God is gonna return us 18:10 to our original existence in the garden, 18:12 and this is something you find everywhere. 18:14 I mean, listen to this one, this comes from Revelation 22. 18:17 "And He showed me a pure river of water of life, 18:20 "clear as crystal, 18:21 "proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 18:23 "In the middle of its street, 18:25 "and on either side of the river was the tree of life." 18:27 That was something that was there in Eden. 18:29 "The tree of life which bore twelve fruits, 18:31 "each tree yielding its fruit every month. 18:33 "The leaves of the tree 18:35 "were for the healing of the nations." 18:38 And there's this one, this comes from Isaiah 65. 18:40 "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, 18:43 "and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind." 18:46 So what kinda new earth would that be? 18:48 Well, here's what it says just a few verses later, 18:51 "They shall build houses and inhabit them, 18:53 "they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 18:55 "They shall not build and another inhabit, 18:56 "they shall not plant and another eat, 18:58 "for as the days of a tree, 19:00 "so shall be the days of my people, 19:01 "and my elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands." 19:08 And you do not wanna miss where we're gonna go next, 19:11 I'll be right back after this break. 19:15 - [Announcer] Here at the Voice of Prophecy 19:16 we're committed to creating top quality programming 19:18 for the whole family like our audio adventure series 19:21 "Discovery Mountain". 19:23 Discovery Mountain is a Bible based program 19:26 for kids of all ages and backgrounds. 19:28 Your family will enjoy the faith building stories 19:31 from this small mountain summer camp Penn town 19:34 with 24 seasonal episodes every year 19:36 and fresh content every week, 19:38 there's always a new adventure just on the horizon. 19:45 - The Bible simply doesn't describe an afterlife 19:47 that is non-material out there 19:49 in the misty universe somewhere, 19:51 it's a concept that you find in Greek philosophy, 19:53 but you don't actually find it in this book, 19:55 I mean, go ahead and see if you can find it. 19:59 The Bible describes a real material existence, 20:02 and the reason we have imperfection is not because 20:05 the Creator blew it, it's because we did. 20:07 You and I are the ones who introduced pain and suffering 20:10 when we decided to separate ourselves from the Creator. 20:13 The reason this world seems like it's a dim shadow 20:15 of something higher and better is because it is, 20:19 but that something higher and better was is real 20:22 and physical as it gets. 20:25 So let's ask the question again, 20:27 does the real you, the one that God originally intended, 20:31 does that exist way out there in a theory 20:33 or a world without physical form? 20:35 Are you really just a ghost? 20:38 Now there's no way we can explore this question 20:41 like we should not with the time that we have, 20:44 but I'm hoping that you're gonna start thinking about this, 20:46 and that you'll take time to explore 20:48 what this book actually says to see where it takes you 20:53 because if there's one place I wanna know for sure, 20:56 if there's one place I don't wanna rely 20:58 on mythology and superstition, 21:00 if there's one thing I just need certainty on it's this, 21:03 I wanna know who or what I am and where I might be going. 21:09 I think if you look at this book 21:11 you might be surprised by what you find. 21:13 Lemme show you just a few more interesting passages 21:16 to help you get started on that exploration. 21:18 For hundreds of years now, 21:20 Christians have insisted that my real existence, 21:23 the real me is non-physical, 21:25 so we think about death the same way Socrates did, 21:29 like a final release from a horrible physical existence, 21:32 but I want you to notice how Job describes it. 21:35 He says, 21:36 "For I know that my Redeemer lives, 21:38 "and He shall stand at last on the earth, 21:40 "and after my skin is destroyed," 21:43 In other words he dies. 21:44 "This I know, that in my flesh I shall see God." 21:49 So you tell me, 21:51 how do you reconcile that with the teachings of the Greeks? 21:55 Maybe Tertullian was right, 21:58 maybe there is no harmony between Athens and Jerusalem, 22:01 maybe our reason, 22:03 our logic 'cause it has actually taken us 22:04 in the wrong direction, 22:06 pointing us to something that just isn't so. 22:10 I mean, think about it like this, 22:12 in the beginning God made a very physical world, 22:15 populated by very physical real people, and He said, 22:18 "That is very good." 22:20 That's what He wanted to make, 22:22 and in the the original plan, 22:24 you and I were never supposed to die, 22:26 that was never going to happen. 22:28 And now what God has planned for the future, 22:31 is a complete restoration of the physical world 22:34 that used to be, a new heavens and a earth, 22:37 so we're going back to that original, 22:40 perfect physical existence. 22:43 So if we were physical to start with, 22:46 and we will be restored to that same physical perfection, 22:50 what would be the purpose of locating the real you 22:54 anywhere except in the real physical you? 22:59 What would be the purpose of a ghost 23:01 that leaves during a death 23:03 that was never supposed to happen? 23:07 You know, right now scientists have figured out 23:09 that if you freeze a human brain, or even just a part of it, 23:12 you can thought out and bring it back. 23:14 As I mentioned on another show, a few rich people 23:16 have already put their brains on ice, 23:18 hoping for the day when they can be revived 23:20 and cured of whatever killed them. 23:23 So let's say that it takes a 100 years, 23:25 your brain is frozen for a century. 23:28 During that time, where are you? 23:30 And when they thought you out, 23:32 and we know they can do this 23:33 because they've already done it with animals. 23:34 When they thought you out, 23:36 do you suddenly come back from a non-physical afterlife 23:39 and resume your physical existence? 23:42 It doesn't make sense, 23:44 and it doesn't harmonize with the way the Bible presents it. 23:46 I mean, just read Genesis 2, it says, 23:49 "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, 23:52 "and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, 23:54 "and man became a living being." 23:58 This is how you're supposed to be real and physical 24:02 except that you're gonna get a bit of an upgrade 24:04 when God finally puts you back 24:06 to where you're supposed to be, 24:07 the pain and suffering will disappear for good. 24:11 I'll be right back after this. 24:16 - [Announcer] Dragons, beasts, cryptic statues, 24:20 Bible prophecy can be incredibly vivid and confusing. 24:24 If you've ever read Daniel or Revelation 24:27 and come away scratching your head, you're not alone. 24:30 Our free Focus on Prophecy guides 24:32 are designed to help you unlock the mysteries of the Bible 24:35 and deepen your understanding of God's plan 24:37 for you and our world. 24:39 Study online, or request them by mail, 24:41 and start bringing prophecy into focus today. 24:46 - You know, over the years, 24:47 a lot of Christians have wondered about all of this. 24:49 How does it work? 24:51 You know, who am I? 24:53 Is this the seat of my consciousness? 24:54 Do I leave my body when I die? 24:57 What happens after you draw your last breath? 25:00 And well, as they begin to explore the subject, 25:03 they're in for a few surprises, 25:05 the Bible has a few surprises 25:06 and then they go back to history 25:08 and start looking at what people have said about this, 25:09 from Martin Luther down to the great Lutheran theologian 25:13 of the 20th century Oscar Coleman. 25:15 And as people look, 25:17 more and more are discovering that the Bible gives 25:21 a lot more detail about this stuff than you think it does. 25:25 This book has incredible, 25:27 incredible detail about who you really are, 25:31 where you came from and what actually happens 25:34 when you draw your last breath and die. 25:37 And I know I've opened a huge can of worms here because 25:42 well, we didn't have a lot of time, 25:43 and so I've kinda left you with just the beginnings 25:47 of a study and it's a little disconcerting to think, 25:50 well, maybe I've been wrong about something so essential. 25:52 And I guarantee after what we just did, 25:55 you've got a lot of questions about this. 25:57 I know I still have lingering questions, 26:00 the more I read this book though, 26:03 the more I discover that the detail is all there. 26:06 So here's what I've done for you 26:07 because we're out of time for another week, 26:10 I've put together a little book that talked somewhat about 26:13 the Greek influence on Christian thought, 26:15 how it made its way into Christianity. 26:18 And this little book takes you through the entire Bible 26:21 and it asks some really important questions, 26:25 it's called, "Draining the Styx: 26:27 "Taking the Mystery Out of Death and Hell". 26:30 Now it probably won't answer all of your questions, 26:34 I mean, it's a big subject 26:35 and people have wrestled with it for thousands of years, 26:37 but this will take you through 26:39 all of the major Bible passages that describe this. 26:43 So for example, what does God intend for your future? 26:46 After you die what happens next? 26:48 Are we really going to be strumming harps on clouds? 26:51 Is that anywhere in the Bible? 26:53 Do we become angels when we die? 26:55 Are we gonna just float around in the ether 26:57 and become part of the great cosmic consciousness? 27:00 Or is the afterlife a real, tangible, physical existence 27:04 with Christ who if you read the Bible carefully 27:08 you'll discover also rose from the dead 27:11 with a real physical body. 27:14 Just navigate to our website, 27:16 you're gonna find this book there for really cheap, 27:18 I'm practically giving the whole thing away 27:21 because I'd like you to have it. 27:23 It's called "Draining the Styx" 27:24 go to store.vop, Victor, Oscar, Peter, 27:28 store.vop.com to get "Draining the Styx". 27:32 Now I am out of time, 27:34 so you start your explanation 27:36 and I'll meet you right back here 27:38 at the same time next week. 27:40 Thanks for joining me, 27:41 I'm Shawn Boonstra, 27:43 this has been Authentic. 27:45 [light music] |
Revised 2021-05-12