Participants:
Series Code: AU
Program Code: AU000102S
|
00:01 - I know you probably laugh at horoscopes
00:02 because, well, I find 'em laughable too. 00:05 But I do know that some of you 00:07 still sneak a peek sometimes, don't you? 00:09 Why do you think that is? 00:12 [mellow music] 00:33 When I was a kid, there was this little Chinese restaurant 00:35 out on the highway. 00:36 I forget the exact name of it. 00:37 I think it was something like Yan's Kitchen 00:40 and it had a tiny little buffet 00:41 with no more than six or eight items. 00:45 My dad liked to take us there because, number one, 00:48 he really likes Chinese food. 00:50 Number two, it was a really cheap way 00:53 to feed a group of ravenous teenage boys. 00:55 I don't remember what the prices were, 00:57 but I think it was actually around two bucks a head. 01:00 And all of us boys could easily polish off 01:02 three or four plates stacked so high 01:05 they kinda looked like a pyramid. 01:07 And of course, because I was, what, maybe 14 01:09 or 15, I could eat all I wanted 01:12 and stay as skinny as a rail. 01:14 And that possibility, kids, if you're listening, 01:17 trust me, disappears when you enter adulthood. 01:19 Your body's gonna demand 01:21 that you keep on eating like that, 01:22 you'll be used to those quantities, but what's gonna happen 01:26 is you're gonna start putting on a new ring every year, 01:28 kinda like a tree. 01:30 Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. 01:32 I used to be a number 01:33 of belt sizes bigger than I am right now. 01:36 But back to the Chinese restaurant, 01:38 because like many places back in the good old days, 01:41 they had these paper placemats with the Chinese zodiac. 01:48 Along the top, or sometimes around the edges, 01:50 you could find the year of your birth 01:51 and look up your Chinese sign, 01:53 like this example that I found the other day. 01:56 Of course, if you're listening on the radio, 01:58 you're gonna have to imagine me 02:00 holding up a paper placement. 02:02 I'll make a little noise so you can hear it 02:04 and enjoy the theater of the mind. 02:07 So according to this, I was born in 1969, 02:11 and that would be the Year of the Rooster. 02:14 Not the whole year, mind you, 02:16 because the year in this Eastern zodiac 02:18 actually begins in February. 02:20 They don't always put that somewhere on the the placemat. 02:23 But if you're born in January, 02:24 you probably want to back up a year. 02:26 Not that it matters anyway, 02:28 because I still don't believe in this stuff. 02:31 But to the Chinese way of thinking, I'm a Rooster. 02:35 In the Western zodiac, apparently I'm a Scorpio. 02:39 So now let's have a little fun and do a comparison. 02:42 According to the placement, I'm a hard worker, 02:45 I am shrewd, I am decisive, and I often speak my mind. 02:51 Because of these qualities, it tells me, 02:52 I will sometimes seem a little boastful. 02:55 Well, my wife actually might be nodding her head 02:57 in agreement right now because I'm Dutch 02:59 and if there's one thing we do, we speak decisively 03:02 and quite bluntly. 03:04 Travelers to the Netherlands often say 03:06 they got their feelings hurt because we're so blunt. 03:09 But from a Dutch perspective, it's a sign of respect. 03:11 It means, well, we respect you enough 03:14 to get right to the point. 03:15 All right, the placemat also tells me I'm a dreamer 03:19 and I'm extravagant. 03:21 Now, the first part's probably true. 03:23 I have a very vivid internal life. 03:25 But extravagant? 03:26 Well, let me remind you, Mr. Placement, I'm Dutch 03:30 and our reputation isn't exactly, well, extravagant. 03:35 Now here comes the good part. 03:36 It says, "Under this sign, you should be happy 03:39 as a restaurant owner, publicist, soldier, 03:42 or world traveler." 03:44 So let me give credit where credit is due. 03:47 I've always thought I'd love to be a soldier, 03:49 but I was born just kind of crippled up enough, 03:51 I'd never get into the army. 03:53 World traveler? 03:55 Okay, that part turned out to be true. 03:57 So this must be accurate, right? 04:00 Well, no. 04:01 Millions of people still read their horoscope every day, 04:04 and some of them seem convinced 04:05 that there must be something to it 04:07 because it seems so right. 04:10 But do yourself a favor. 04:12 Read a few more of these paragraphs. 04:14 I mean the ones that don't correspond 04:16 with your birthday and see what you find. 04:19 Let's just say I'm not a Rooster. 04:21 I was born in the Year of the Dog. 04:23 What does the placemat tell me? 04:25 "The Dog will never let you down." 04:28 Okay, that's true. I tend to value loyalty. 04:30 It says, "You are honest and faithful to those you love." 04:34 Okay, that tends to be true too. 04:36 "You are plagued by constant worry." 04:39 Yep, I am. 04:40 "You have a sharp tongue 04:42 and a tendency to be a fault finder." 04:45 Okay, that's true too. 04:48 What they're describing though are human traits. 04:50 These are things that all of us have. 04:53 And as you're reading it, there's a part of you 04:54 that kind of wants this to be true, 04:56 especially the more flattering parts, 04:58 and so you latch onto these very vague descriptions 05:02 and the more you think about 'em, 05:04 the more you convince yourself 05:05 that there must be some element to this universe 05:08 that has predetermined who or what you are. 05:12 I mean, just think about some of the horoscopes you've seen 05:14 over the course of your life. 05:16 You open the newspaper first thing in the morning, 05:18 or at least that's how we used to do it, and there it is. 05:22 "Your job will be very interesting today," it says, 05:25 so you wonder, "Ooh, what's gonna happen?" 05:27 You go to work and all day long you wait for it. 05:30 And there it is, a surprise job site inspection 05:34 or a very obnoxious customer 05:36 or a patient who makes you laugh 05:38 or an assembly line that suddenly shuts down 05:40 because of a malfunction. 05:42 You think, "A-ha, there it is, the interesting event 05:45 that the universe promised to deliver." 05:47 But you know, I'd be far more impressed 05:49 if the horoscope actually spelled it out in detail. 05:52 "Today at 11:00 AM you will encounter a strange individual 05:56 wearing a long, yellow coat and he's gonna ask you 05:59 to help him do something very illegal at 11:00 AM sharp." 06:03 But of course, this never works that way, does it? 06:06 These are specifically written so that you will find a match 06:09 for the prediction over the course of the next 24 hours. 06:12 Now, you already know that kind of, 06:15 and you just read it for fun, right? 06:17 But still, let's ask a curious question. 06:20 What is it about this stuff we find so compelling? 06:23 Why do we feel the need to take a peek? 06:25 Why is it that even when we're laughing about it, 06:28 there's a part of us that kind of, 06:30 kind of wants it to be true? 06:33 Is it because it's better 06:34 than believing your life has no purpose? 06:37 That we are the product of a mechanistic universe 06:40 that just spit us out by accident? 06:43 Even if you don't believe in God, 06:44 why is it that you still seem to be incredibly attracted 06:47 to the idea that the universe might have a mind 06:50 of some kind, or there there's something out there 06:53 that affects your day-to-day existence. 06:56 And just to be clear, 06:57 I'm not actually talking about a philosophical concept 06:59 known as determinism, and that's the idea 07:02 that the course of your life 07:04 is already completely written out in advance, 07:06 baked into you the day you're born. 07:09 Determinism suggests that all of our life actions 07:12 are driven by outside causes. 07:14 You will always be living a life that was predetermined 07:17 by the long chain of events 07:19 and conditions that came before your birth. 07:23 It's a fatalistic worldview, one that robs you 07:25 of the capacity to make any meaningful choices. 07:28 And in some places, it's been a popular way 07:30 to think about life because, as always, 07:33 there's a tiny element of truth to it. 07:36 Does your childhood environment determine who you'll be? 07:39 Yeah, to an extent it does. 07:41 Was my understanding of the world 07:43 shaped by the World War II generation 07:46 that brought me into this world? 07:47 Yeah, sure. That goes without saying. 07:50 The Bible says, "Train up a child 07:52 in the way that he should go; 07:54 even when he is old, he will not depart from it." 07:57 Now, that is an encouragement to parents, 08:00 reminding us that the influences we experience in childhood 08:03 become a foundational part of who we are 08:05 for the rest of our lives. 08:07 So if you train a kid correctly, 08:10 even if they go completely squirrely for a little while, 08:13 like most of us do, those baked-in principles 08:16 will eventually become a powerful part 08:18 of how and why you finally grow up and come around. 08:23 But of course, the opposite is also true. 08:26 If you grew up in a negative context, say an abusive home, 08:30 that's going to profoundly affect how you react 08:32 to everything for the rest of your life. 08:36 Today, that's kind of the thinking 08:37 behind the way we approach horrible, violent crimes. 08:41 Let's say we discover the existence 08:43 of a terrifying serial killer, 08:44 like say, the Toy Box Killer or John Wayne Gacy, 08:48 somebody who does unspeakable things to their victims. 08:53 These are the people 08:54 who become the stuff our very worst nightmares. 08:57 Once we find them and put them away 08:59 and recover the bodies of their victims, 09:02 what is it that we usually do next? 09:04 Well, actually, the break comes next, 09:06 but right after that, we'll come back and talk about that. 09:10 [mellow music] 09:13 - [Announcer] Here at The Voice of Prophecy, 09:14 we're committed to creating top quality programming 09:17 for the whole family, 09:18 like our audio adventure series, "Discovery Mountain." 09:21 Discovery Mountain is a bible-based program 09:24 for kids of all ages and backgrounds. 09:26 Your family will enjoy the faith-building stories 09:29 from this small mountain summer camp, Penn Town. 09:32 With 24 seasonal episodes every year 09:34 and fresh content every week, 09:36 there's always a new adventure just on the horizon. 09:40 [light music] 09:42 - When we discover the existence of a sociopathic killer, 09:46 somebody with no conscience, 09:48 pay attention to what we tend to do. 09:51 We know there's got to be a reason 09:52 this guy turned out so horribly. 09:55 So we probe his past, we examine his childhood, 09:57 we ask a really difficult question: 09:59 What happened to this guy at home? 10:02 Did his parents set the stage for this? 10:04 What were the causes of this very disturbing behavior? 10:08 See, we're convinced there's got to be something. 10:12 But if we don't find something, that really bothers us. 10:16 That's an outgrowth of determinism. 10:18 We believe there's always got to be a reason 10:20 for what happened. 10:22 Now, I'm using an extreme example to make my point, 10:25 but the point is that we appear to be wired 10:28 to believe in cause and effect. 10:31 Now, not every philosopher has always agreed with that. 10:33 For example, David Hume, the famous skeptic, 10:36 really struggled with the idea of cause and effect. 10:41 But for the most part, most of us assume that's true. 10:44 What's happening now was obviously caused 10:47 by something in the past. 10:50 Which brings me back to reading horoscopes. 10:52 There's a part of us that wants to believe 10:55 that our lives have some kind of order. 10:57 There's gotta be something guiding the whole process. 11:00 There's gotta be an explanation for who we are. 11:03 And if that explanation isn't going to be God, 11:05 there's a part of you that wants it to be something. 11:09 And of course when you bring God into the story, 11:11 that opens up a whole new can of worms. 11:14 Because throughout the history of Western thought, 11:16 we've had lots of people assume 11:18 that if God set the whole universe in motion 11:21 and He ultimately guides the creation, 11:24 that means that God determines 11:25 absolutely everything that happens all along the way. 11:30 It's a hardcore religious version of determinism 11:33 that eliminates the concept 11:35 or the possibility of free choice. 11:38 If God is the author of life, some people say, 11:41 then He's got to be the author of suffering. 11:44 And some people have actually taken this thought 11:46 all the way to its logical conclusion: 11:49 God has even predetermined who gets saved 11:52 and who gets sent to the fires of hell 11:54 to flip and fry throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity. 11:57 You don't have a say in the matter. 11:59 I was actually raised in a religious tradition 12:02 that taught that even though I don't think 12:04 I can think of one person I knew growing up 12:06 who really was dedicated to that idea. 12:11 You're probably aware of the shortest verse in the Bible 12:13 from the gospel of John, "Jesus wept." 12:17 It's found in the context of the death of Lazarus, 12:20 who was a personal friend to Jesus. 12:22 The story tells us that Jesus heard that Lazarus was ill, 12:26 and then the next thing you know, Lazarus is dead. 12:29 So now Jesus makes the trip to Bethany, 12:32 and as He walks up to the house, Martha comes out 12:34 and says, "Lord, if you'd been here, 12:37 my brother would not have died." 12:39 In other words, "Jesus, 12:41 you could've done something to stop this, but you didn't." 12:45 And that, of course, is one of the most painful questions 12:48 that most of us wrestle with. 12:50 All of us have something in the past, 12:52 something incredibly painful 12:53 that makes us question the goodness of God. 12:56 If God is real, how could He let this happen? 13:00 I see it on social media posts 13:01 where somebody talks about a horrible tragedy 13:04 or a sick child or a natural disaster 13:06 and they say, "What kind of God would allow this?" 13:10 But let's think about that. 13:12 "Where was God?" is a slightly different question 13:15 than "How could God do this?" 13:18 "How could God do this?" 13:19 is a hardline, deterministic question, 13:22 as if God actually causes 13:24 absolutely everything that happens 13:26 and it suggests that you and I are helpless puppets 13:28 in some kind of sadistic theater. 13:31 But the other question, "Why didn't God stop this?" 13:35 is a question that reveals an awful lot 13:37 when you slow down long enough to really think about it. 13:40 It suggests that maybe not everything is predetermined. 13:44 There are choices. 13:46 I think we ask those questions 13:47 for the same reason we're tempted to peak at a horoscope. 13:50 We're hoping that somebody or something 13:52 is in charge of this place. 13:54 We can't seem to shake the notion 13:56 that there's gotta be a reason that we're here. 13:59 Even if you only believe in a cold, materialistic universe, 14:02 you still quietly hope that life doesn't mean nothing. 14:07 The idea that everything's just chaos, 14:09 that can lead to a very troubled life. 14:12 And before we move on, let me just address 14:14 that "How could God do this?" question for just a moment. 14:18 It's way too big of a question to answer quickly or easily. 14:22 But let me read you something I've read on previous shows 14:25 at least once, because I think it'll give you 14:28 something to think about. 14:30 This comes from a 19th century book that does an amazing job 14:34 of thinking about the history of the world 14:36 ever since the life of Christ. 14:38 It's one of my favorites because it's even brutally honest 14:42 about the way that Christians behaved 14:44 during the medieval period, 14:45 essentially denying the principles of our own faith. 14:49 The book admits, "Yes, we burned heretics, 14:52 and yes, we treated other people 14:53 in a way that would lead the world to think 14:56 that maybe God doesn't exist." 14:59 The number one group that discredits Christianity, 15:02 the author points out, has been Christians themselves. 15:08 But here's the specific part I want you to hear right now, 15:10 because it's gonna give you something to think about. 15:12 Again, I have read this before, but this is so profound, 15:15 I want to do it again. 15:17 The author writes, "It is impossible 15:20 to so explain the origin of sin as to give a reason 15:23 for its existence. 15:25 Yet enough may be understood concerning both the origin 15:28 and the final disposition of sin, 15:30 to fully make manifest the justice 15:32 and benevolence of God in all his dealings with evil. 15:36 Nothing is more plainly taught in Scripture 15:38 than that God was in nowise responsible 15:41 for the entrance of sin; 15:43 that there was no arbitrary withdrawal of divine grace, 15:46 no deficiency in the divine government, 15:48 that gave occasion for the uprising of rebellion. 15:51 Sin is an intruder, 15:53 for whose presence no reason can be given. 15:56 It is mysterious, unaccountable; 15:59 to excuse it, is to defend it. 16:01 Could excuse for it be found, or cause be shown 16:03 for its existence, it would cease to be sin. 16:07 Our only definition of sin is that given in the Word of God; 16:10 it is 'the transgression of the law,' 16:12 It is the outworking of a principle 16:14 at war with the great law of love 16:16 which is the foundation of the divine government." 16:20 Now I know, at first glance, 16:21 it kind of looks like a little dodge. 16:24 When you don't understand something, just call it a mystery. 16:27 But go ahead, take a few hours sometime 16:29 to ponder that thought and see where it takes you. 16:33 If you can actually explain evil, 16:35 if you can find a really good reason for its existence, 16:38 then maybe it's not evil. 16:40 Maybe it's just determinism. 16:42 Maybe we can't help it. 16:43 Maybe if you work your way back through the long chain 16:46 of cause and effect that brought you into this world, 16:48 you can pin the blame on somebody else 16:51 at the beginning of the story. 16:53 Eventually, you're gonna blame God himself. 16:57 If you can explain something scientifically, 17:00 well, now you have proof there was no choice. 17:02 That serial killer? No choice. 17:04 The guy who robbed you? That's society's fault. 17:07 Your decision to cheat on your spouse? 17:09 Well, of course, that's your wife's fault, right? 17:12 Of course, I'm not saying 17:13 that other people didn't have a part to play 17:15 in some of your bad decisions, 17:17 but let's be honest, at the end of the day, 17:19 who actually made all your choices? 17:21 Some days we're so busy trying to figure out 17:23 who else is to blame, that we come to a point 17:26 where we don't really believe in free choice anymore. 17:29 We start to think in terms of hardcore determinism, 17:32 and we're addicted to that 17:33 because it takes the onus off of us. 17:36 Meanwhile, the Bible reminds us, "The heart is deceitful 17:39 above all things, and desperately sick; 17:42 who can understand it?" 17:44 Now, right now, I wanna be cautious 17:47 about one important thing. 17:49 A few moments ago, 17:50 we were talking about those horrible moments 17:52 when we want to know where God was 17:54 when something awful happened to us. 17:57 Some of you were really hurt as kids. 17:59 Somebody took away your freedom 18:00 to choose in the worst possible way. 18:03 So just to be perfectly clear, 18:05 I am not saying you are at fault for what happened. 18:09 You're not. 18:10 Somebody else did that. 18:11 That person who hurt you? 18:13 That was his or her decision, 18:15 and they still need to own 18:17 and live with their own wicked choices. 18:20 Alright, time for another quick break, 18:22 and I'll be right back after this. 18:25 [mellow music] 18:29 - [Announcer] Dragons, beasts, cryptic statues. 18:33 Bible prophecy can be incredibly vivid and confusing. 18:38 If you've ever read Daniel or Revelation 18:40 and come away scratching your head, you're not alone. 18:43 Our free "Focus on Prophecy" guides 18:45 are designed to help you unlock the mysteries of the Bible 18:48 and deepen your understanding of God's plan 18:51 for you and our world. 18:52 Study online or request them by mail 18:55 and start bringing prophecy into focus today. 18:58 - Well, we've certainly wandered over a lot 19:00 of wild country in just a few minutes. 19:02 So let me get back to the Chinese Zodiac. 19:06 Why is it that even in this postmodern, nihilistic world, 19:09 we can't seem to shake the notion 19:11 that there's gotta be something out there 19:12 driving the universe? 19:14 It makes me think of Richard Dawkins' book, 19:17 "Unweaving the Rainbow." 19:19 Dawkins, of course, is one of my favorite whipping boys 19:22 when it comes to notable atheists, 19:24 and I'll admit, I am picking the low hanging fruit. 19:27 As smart as Dawkins is, 19:28 and I have no doubt he's smarter than me, 19:31 I still have to say he's a much better biologist 19:34 than he is a philosopher or a theologian. 19:37 I'm convinced that he felt he had to write this book 19:40 because of his hardcore materialistic view of the universe. 19:43 His philosophy basically strips life of any meaning, 19:47 and I think at some level, Mr. Dawkins knows that. 19:50 So what did he do? 19:51 He wrote this book to appeal to our sense of wonder, 19:55 said, "The universe makes you feel awe and wonder." 19:59 But if there is no God, 20:00 then why do you have a profound sense of awe and wonder? 20:03 Why do I feel such a profound emotion when I look directly 20:07 into the eye of a whale in the aquarium 20:09 or the eye of an elephant in a game park? 20:13 Why is it that right here in Colorado 20:15 when I take the back road to Estes Park 20:17 and go over that final hill, 20:19 my heart nearly stops when the majesty 20:22 of Longs Peak suddenly rises from the horizon? 20:25 And why does the night sky always dare me to believe 20:29 that there's got to be something out there? 20:32 It reminds me of something Paul said 20:34 when he was standing on Mars Hill in the city of Athens. 20:37 He was talking to a group of philosophers, 20:40 a bunch of epicureans and stoics, 20:42 and they became fascinated 20:44 when he started to talk about Jesus. 20:47 Now, just as a side note, if you're one of those skeptics 20:49 who believes that the deity of Christ was invented 20:52 at the Council of Nicaea, you'll notice 20:55 that these philosophers in this story say, 20:58 "'He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities,' 21:01 because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection." 21:05 So much for the idea that the deity of Christ 21:07 was invented some 300 years later. 21:10 Now, if you've ever been to Athens, 21:11 you'll know that Mars Hill is kind of unremarkable. 21:14 It's just a big lump of rock. 21:16 But it is in the shadow of the Acropolis 21:19 and it overlooks the ancient Agora, 21:21 the ruins of the city below. 21:24 I don't know what I was expecting when I went there, 21:26 but you know how it goes. 21:27 You always build a place up in your imagination, 21:30 and I guess I was expecting 21:31 some kind of beautiful amphitheater. 21:33 It's not. 21:34 But on this lump of rock, 21:36 Paul begins to talk about the unknown God, 21:39 the one these philosophers figured might be out there, 21:42 but they'd never been able to find him. 21:43 So here's what Paul says: 21:46 "And he," that's God, "made from one man 21:48 every nation of mankind 21:50 to live on all the face of the earth, 21:52 having determined allotted periods 21:54 and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 21:57 that they should seek God 21:58 and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. 22:01 Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 22:03 for 'in him we live and move and have our being;' 22:07 as even some of your own poets have said, 22:09 'For we are indeed his offspring.'" 22:12 In other words, God has allowed all of us to go our own way 22:15 because every detail of our existence is not predetermined. 22:21 God values freedom of choice. 22:23 After all, the Bible describes him as love, 22:25 and love is not love if it doesn't involve choice. 22:29 I know you're looking for something Paul said 22:32 to these philosophers 22:33 because you know the universe can't just be chaos. 22:37 There's got to be something behind it. 22:40 You'll notice that he said something similar 22:42 to another group in the city of Lystra 22:44 over in modern-day Turkey. 22:46 He said, "In past generations, he," that's God, 22:50 "allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways. 22:53 Yet he did not leave himself without witness." 22:58 That, according to the Bible, is the reason 23:01 for that sense of wonder that you have. 23:04 It's the reason that so many people can't let go of the idea 23:07 that there's got to be something in charge of this place. 23:10 It's the reason so many people laugh at the horoscope 23:13 in front of their friends, but then quietly hope 23:16 there's something to it. 23:18 And of course, I'm convinced it's the real reason 23:21 that Mr. Dawkins had to write his book. 23:23 He knows full well 23:25 that a materialistic universe can be explained 23:27 with scientific formulas, 23:30 but it doesn't really explain humanity. 23:34 Just listen to what he writes. 23:36 He says, "It is a central tenet of this book 23:40 that science, at its best, should leave room for poetry. 23:44 It should note helpful analogies 23:46 and metaphors that stimulate the imagination, 23:48 conjure in the mind images and allusions 23:51 that go beyond the needs of straightforward understanding." 23:55 But why, Mr. Dawkins? 23:58 Why do you think we have that need for poetry? 24:00 Why aren't we just happy 24:01 with the cold hard facts and the math? 24:04 Why is it that your hardcore, materialistic view 24:07 failed to take deep root in the hearts of all humanity? 24:11 I'll be right back after this. 24:13 [mellow music] 24:17 - [Announcer] Life can throw a lot at us. 24:19 Sometimes we don't have all the answers. 24:23 But that's where the Bible comes in. 24:25 It's our guide to a more fulfilling life. 24:28 Here at The Voice of Prophecy, 24:30 we've created the "Discover" Bible guides 24:32 to be your guide to the Bible. 24:33 They're designed to be simple, easy to use, 24:36 and provide answers to many of life's toughest questions. 24:39 And they're absolutely free, 24:41 so jump online now or give us a call 24:43 and start your journey of discovery. 24:46 - Alright, I guess it's time to wrap things up. 24:48 And I know I probably raised more questions than I answered. 24:51 I do that all the time. 24:53 But you know, honestly, that might be a good thing. 24:56 I mean, at the end of the day, 24:57 nobody else can do all your thinking for you. 24:59 And all I really want to do 25:01 is to have you honestly consider the claims of this book. 25:05 You know, I find it very interesting 25:07 that about 20 years ago, all the famous apostles 25:11 of atheism decided they didn't want to be identified 25:14 with a negative term. 25:15 After all, atheism is negative. 25:17 It's a denial of God. 25:20 They really wanted something more affirming 25:22 so some of them started calling themselves the Brights, 25:26 as in everybody else is stupid 25:28 and they're the only smart ones. 25:30 And then some of them suggested 25:32 that religious faith is a mental disorder, 25:35 an abnormality of some kind. 25:38 Of course, that does present a major problem 25:40 because how do you account for the fact 25:42 that the vast majority of human beings 25:45 believe there is a God of some kind out there? 25:49 Wouldn't that vast majority be the norm, 25:51 the default mode for human existence? 25:54 And wouldn't that tiny, tiny, tiny minority of atheists 26:00 actually be the ones with an abnormality? 26:02 It kind of makes you wonder. 26:03 And of course, truth is never determined 26:06 by majority vote anyway, 26:07 because historically speaking, 26:09 majorities have been wrong way too often. 26:13 But it's still kind of interesting that such a tiny sliver 26:15 of the population thinks everybody else is mentally ill 26:20 for not agreeing with them. 26:22 The outright denial of any kind of God 26:25 proves to be a really tough sell in this world, 26:28 and not just here in the West. 26:30 And the reason it's hard to sell 26:32 is because most of us have this nagging feeling 26:34 that the universe can't possibly just be random chaos. 26:39 There's got to be something to explain who we are 26:42 and why we feel the way we do 26:44 and why we experience the world the way we do. 26:47 If this was all just a matter of biology, physics, or math, 26:51 then why do we have music? 26:53 Why the art? 26:55 Why the poetry? 26:56 And why that deep need to explain our existence? 27:00 So yeah, I still think that knowing I was born 27:03 in the Year of the Rooster is kind of entertaining, 27:06 and when I'm in a place with the placemats, 27:08 I can't help but look at it. 27:10 Do I believe it? Not at all. 27:12 But does it reveal something important about our condition? 27:15 Sure. 27:17 The Bible says that God did not leave himself 27:19 without witness, which means that he designed us 27:22 to start looking for him. 27:24 And why does he make us go and look? 27:27 Why not just break through the clouds and announce himself? 27:30 Well, let me put it like this. 27:32 Would you rather be told you're gonna marry someone, 27:34 or would you rather have that person ask? 27:36 Would you rather have someone look for you, 27:38 pursue you, and win you? 27:40 Who in the world do you think made you feel that way? 27:44 Thanks for joining me today. 27:45 I'm Shawn Boonstra, and this has been another week 27:48 of trying to be authentic. 27:51 [mellow music] |
Revised 2024-05-21