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Series Code: AU
Program Code: AU000106S
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00:00 - People have long dreamed
00:01 of building the perfect place to live, 00:03 paradise, a Garden of Eden. 00:05 And it's understandable that we wanna do that 00:07 because real life is pretty hard. 00:10 But there's a serious flaw with utopian thinking, 00:13 a flaw that shows up every single time we try. 00:16 [mellow music] 00:28 [mellow music continues] 00:37 Back in my college days, 00:39 and really back in my pre-Christian days, 00:41 I was forced to read this book, Plato's "Republic." 00:44 Now, that's not so unusual 00:46 because this is fairly standard reading 00:48 for first-year college students, 00:49 and at the age of, oh, 17 or 18, 00:52 this was really the first complete work 00:54 written by a Greek philosopher 00:56 that I ever read cover to cover. 00:58 I mean, I'd been dabbling in philosophy 01:00 but nothing quite like this. 01:02 And if I'm honest about it, I really hated this book. 01:06 The professor who assigned this 01:08 thought it presented a reasonable template 01:10 for building a better, more just society, 01:13 and he suggested that we would all do very well 01:15 to pay attention to what Plato was proposing. 01:18 So of course I read it, mostly because I had to, 01:22 and this is actually the very copy 01:24 I bought from the bookstore in the fall of 1987. 01:28 Now, personally, I'm not convinced that Plato meant this 01:32 as a blueprint for building a utopia, 01:34 and I honestly think it was more of a thought experiment 01:37 designed to help his audience explore the meaning 01:40 of one important concept, 01:42 and that concept is justice. 01:44 What does justice look like? 01:46 How can everybody get a fair shake? 01:49 And Plato makes his case 01:50 by using the metaphor of a well-ordered city. 01:54 That city, I believe, stood for the individual, 01:58 kind of the way John Bunyan used a city 02:00 to represent a single individual 02:01 in his brilliant book, "The Holy War." 02:04 So this is what I wrote in my term paper, 02:07 this is a metaphor. 02:09 And the professor, of course, 02:11 was underwhelmed by my teenaged attempt 02:13 to undermine one of his favorite books, 02:15 and he remained absolutely convinced 02:17 that there was something to Plato's work 02:19 that everybody should pay attention to. 02:22 He said this is the blueprint for a better government. 02:26 And of course that position left me very unhappy 02:30 because if you take this book 02:31 to be some kind of political manual, 02:33 and honestly, some people do, 02:35 you're gonna run into some really serious ethical issues. 02:40 For starters, let's think about the people 02:42 Plato apparently thinks are inferior to him. 02:46 As far as the ancient Greeks were concerned, 02:48 the philosopher was the highest station in life. 02:52 Good philosophers were enlightened, elite human beings 02:55 who lived well above the rest of us 02:57 up in the moral stratosphere. 02:59 Plato thought he was the smartest man in the room, 03:02 the one who was able to tap into the wisdom of the universe. 03:05 And so of course, when he was designing his ideal society, 03:08 he put the philosopher king 03:10 at the very top of the power pyramid 03:13 because he was obviously suited to rule all the rest of us, 03:17 and the rest of us should be happy about it. 03:19 Of course, 2,600 years later, 03:22 after some of these ancient eggheads 03:24 actually applied their knowledge to running a society, 03:27 we can definitively say 03:29 that they did not solve our worst problems. 03:32 They proved to be no better than the warrior kings, 03:34 and sometimes they were actually worse. 03:37 That's because running something like a civilization 03:40 has far too many variables 03:42 for anybody to ever make a perfectly informed decision. 03:46 Of course, that didn't stop these people from trying, 03:49 and somewhere along the way, a lot of these 03:51 so-called sophisticated rulers, intellectuals, 03:55 started to lose their grip 03:57 on the value of individual people. 04:00 Their intellectual and ideological goals 04:02 became more important than the value of a single human life, 04:06 and so eventually 04:08 the people they governed became expendable, 04:11 and they started to make decisions 04:12 that completely ignored individual rights. 04:16 Now, obviously, you and I prize individualism 04:19 a lot more than some of our ancestors did, 04:21 and the American Revolution is really the product 04:24 of hundreds of years of careful thinking, 04:27 and we sometimes forget just how difficult it was 04:31 to codify the natural rights that you and I now enjoy. 04:35 But let's get back to the ancients 04:37 who probably prized a hierarchy more than most of us do. 04:42 One of the problems that emerges 04:43 when you have a handful of power brokers 04:45 sitting at the top is censorship. 04:49 This one might sound familiar 04:50 given the current political climate here in the West, 04:53 where some people really don't think 04:55 that their ideological opponents 04:56 should be allowed to say anything. 04:58 According to Plato, only the philosopher kings 05:02 could possibly be smart enough to know which ideas 05:05 should be allowed and which ones shouldn't. 05:08 The ruling class would have to take charge 05:10 of what children were allowed to learn 05:13 so that nobody would develop a new philosophy 05:16 that undermined the rulers' power. 05:19 Now, the lead character in Plato's "Republic" 05:22 is Socrates, the great philosopher 05:25 who didn't apparently write a book of his own. 05:27 The primary way we know about what Socrates believed 05:31 is through the writings of Plato, 05:33 who uses his character to guide philosophical discussions. 05:37 And here's what Plato had Socrates say about censorship, 05:42 and I quote, "First, as it seems, 05:45 we must supervise the makers of tales; 05:48 and if they make a fine tale, it must be approved, 05:50 but if it's not, it must be rejected. 05:52 We'll persuade nurses and mothers 05:54 to tell the approved tales to their children 05:56 and to shape their souls with tales 05:58 more than their bodies with hands. 06:00 Many of those they now tell must be thrown out." 06:05 So let's think about what this is saying. 06:08 He's saying mothers aren't smart enough 06:10 to know what's good for their children, 06:12 so the state should regulate what they're allowed to say. 06:15 Every child must only learn the stories 06:18 that help them appreciate the state and nothing else. 06:22 So in other words, the state owns your children, 06:26 and if that concept actually appeals to you, 06:28 you might wanna spend a little more time 06:29 thinking it through. 06:31 I mean, when in the history of humanity 06:34 has the state ever proven 06:36 to have your very best interests at heart? 06:39 When, ever? 06:41 This idea that the state owns you 06:43 is a key feature of just about any totalitarian regime. 06:47 The state, they say, is not your servant, 06:50 and it's not there to serve your needs 06:51 or protect your ability to live. 06:54 Instead, it's the other way around. 06:56 The state considers you to be an asset, 06:58 a tool for maintaining its own well-being. 07:01 I mean, you'll notice a guy like Hitler 07:03 immediately went after the kids because he believed 07:07 that if he could change the way the children think 07:09 he'd have their loyalty for life. 07:11 And the same thing happened in the former Soviet Union. 07:14 They went after the kids 07:15 as a way to eliminate resistance in the future. 07:18 And now, tragically, 07:20 we're starting to hear this same kind of thinking 07:22 right here in the West, 07:24 this idea that the state has primary ownership, 07:27 primary responsibility for your children, 07:30 and because of that, they're going to determine 07:32 what you're allowed to read or say 07:34 and what you're not allowed to read or say. 07:37 Now, here in the United States, 07:39 and for that matter, most of the Western nations, 07:42 the idea of a book ban probably isn't gonna fly, 07:45 at least not yet. 07:47 But when it comes to online content, 07:50 pay attention to what's going on. 07:52 We now have no shortage of people 07:53 suggesting that what we see on social media 07:56 should be heavily regulated by government. 07:59 And they're not talking about things 08:00 like graphic violence or pornography 08:03 where you could make a case 08:05 that maybe these kinds of things 08:06 shouldn't be out in the open 08:08 in an environment that clearly involves young people. 08:11 I'm really talking about having the wrong political opinion. 08:15 And right now, it doesn't seem to matter 08:16 which side of the ideological fence you sit on. 08:20 You will find plenty of people who would be very happy 08:23 to legally shut down your ability to express yourself. 08:29 And of course, in recent history, 08:30 we've seen lots of opposition 08:31 to the social media platform TikTok 08:34 because people now fear that the Chinese government 08:37 is using it to harvest data. 08:39 Now, for that reason, 08:40 personally, I wouldn't put TikTok on my phone. 08:44 But now we have governments proposing 08:45 that we simply ban the whole platform altogether nationwide. 08:50 And honestly, I understand why they're thinking that. 08:52 I understand why the government 08:54 doesn't want its employees to use this platform. 08:57 But are you really sure you want to give a government 09:00 even greater ability to control the information you consume? 09:04 Now, censorship was just the tip of the iceberg 09:07 when it comes to objectionable ideas 09:10 in the writings of Plato. 09:11 But right now, the clock on the wall wishes to censor me, 09:14 so I have to take a break. 09:16 [mellow music] 09:19 [gentle uplifting music] 09:20 - [Spokesperson] Here at The Voice of Prophecy, 09:21 we're committed to creating top-quality programming 09:23 for the whole family, 09:25 like our audio adventure series, "Discovery Mountain." 09:28 "Discovery Mountain" is a bible-based program 09:30 for kids of all ages and backgrounds. 09:33 Your family will enjoy the faith-building stories 09:35 from this small mountain summer camp and town. 09:38 With 24 seasonal episodes every year 09:41 and fresh content every week, 09:43 there's always a new adventure just on the horizon. 09:46 [gentle uplifting music continues] 09:49 - The next horrible idea I found in Plato's "Republic" 09:52 suggests that because people 09:54 are essentially competitive by nature, 09:56 we should eliminate the concept of private property. 10:00 Here's what it says. 10:02 "And what about this? 10:03 Won't lawsuits and complaints against one another, 10:06 in a word, vanish from among them 10:08 thanks to their possessing nothing private but the body, 10:11 while the rest is in common? 10:13 On this basis they will then be free from faction, 10:16 to the extent at any rate 10:18 that human beings divide into factions 10:20 over the possession of money, children, and relatives?" 10:24 Now, you tell me, does that sound familiar? 10:26 You will own nothing, and you will be happy. 10:29 It's another concept you'll find emerging 10:31 in almost every utopian experiment, 10:34 this idea that the state should own everything 10:36 because, again, obviously the state knows better than you. 10:40 And so we get despots, people who are absolutely convinced 10:44 that they are the smartest people in the room, 10:46 and they can do whatever they want, 10:48 quote, "for the good of everybody." 10:50 So they start to confiscate stuff 10:52 and funnel it all to the top, 10:54 and if you try to protest, you'll be decried as selfish 10:57 because apparently you're not interested 10:59 in the welfare of others, which is just not true. 11:04 And then Plato comes 11:05 to what is probably his most horrific concept, 11:08 this idea that a philosopher king 11:10 might be smart enough to actually sculpt the human race, 11:14 breeding us like farm animals 11:17 to eliminate our very worst traits. 11:20 And you might think that could never happen, 11:22 but how do you explain the race experiments 11:24 of the Third Reich 11:26 or the eugenics craze that existed right here in the US 11:29 back in the 1920s? 11:32 Why is it that utopians almost always land on the idea 11:36 that some people are undesirable, 11:38 they're standing in the way of progress? 11:41 In Plato's "Republic," 11:42 Socrates asks a guy about his farm animals, 11:45 and he asks if a responsible farmer 11:47 would fail to breed the animals wisely. 11:50 Here's what he says. 11:52 "'My dear comrade,' I said, 11:54 'how very much we need eminent rulers after all, 11:57 if it is also the same with the human species. 12:00 Because it will be a necessity for them 12:02 to use many drugs,' I said. 12:03 Presumably we believe that for bodies not needing drugs, 12:07 but willing to respond to the proscribed course of life, 12:10 even a common doctor will do. 12:12 But, of course, when there is also a need to use drugs, 12:15 we know there is a need of the most courageous doctor." 12:19 That's pretty horrible thinking. 12:21 He's suggesting that ordinary problems 12:23 can be solved by ordinary people, 12:25 but when it comes to the big stuff, the big problems, 12:28 you're gonna need the doctors, 12:30 in other words, the philosopher kings 12:32 to help you solve your problems, 12:34 and they're probably going to have to administer 12:36 some really bitter medicine to keep the people in line. 12:39 The drugs are just a metaphor 12:41 for the difficult ideas that average people are gonna hate 12:45 when the government implements them. 12:47 It continues, "'To this,' I said, 12:50 'it's likely that our rulers 12:51 will have to use a throng of lies and deceptions 12:53 for the benefit of the ruled. 12:55 And, of course, we said that everything of this sort 12:58 is useful as a form of remedy.'" 13:00 In this way of thinking, the ends always justify the means. 13:05 If you have to lie to the people to get what you want, 13:07 so be it. 13:08 After all, it's for their own good. 13:10 And you are, after all, the benevolent ruler, 13:13 and you're the one who knows what's best for all. 13:17 Now, does any of this sound remotely familiar? 13:20 You know, it actually gets worse. 13:21 Plato then suggests that the ruling class 13:23 should be able to choose who gets to have kids. 13:27 You can't just allow ordinary people 13:28 to go out and reproduce. 13:30 That privilege should be reserved 13:32 for the brightest and the best. 13:35 Look, what this all boils down to 13:37 is a very low view of humanity. 13:40 People are expendable if you think you are charting a course 13:43 toward a better society. 13:45 Joseph Stalin is rumored to have said, 13:46 "Look, if you're gonna have to make an omelet, 13:48 you're gonna have to break a few eggs." 13:50 And with that, he put millions of his own people to death. 13:54 He banished their ideas 13:55 and then eventually banished their persons. 13:58 He starved millions in Ukraine 14:00 and sent millions more to die in the gulags 14:03 because, well, in his empire, life was cheap, 14:06 and you can't let people 14:07 stand in the way of building paradise. 14:10 And that's where building Utopia 14:13 faces its very biggest challenge. 14:16 It comes from this idea 14:17 that you and I are capable of actually restoring paradise. 14:21 We all seem to have this collective memory 14:24 that somehow, some way, 14:26 this world used to be a much better place. 14:28 We understand that the world 14:30 hasn't always been bad like this, 14:32 that somehow suffering isn't supposed to be the way life is. 14:37 What I find absolutely fascinating is the account you find 14:40 over in the opening chapters of Genesis. 14:44 In just a few short pages, 14:45 you find the seed of almost every idea, 14:48 every single issue that has ever plagued us as a human race. 14:54 So, for example, in the book of Genesis, 14:55 we find the birth of urban development, 14:57 which proved to be a bit of a mixed blessing. 15:01 On the one hand, 15:02 when you get a lot of people gathered in one place, 15:04 you suddenly have access to a lot more resources. 15:07 You get better hospitals, better doctors, 15:09 better orchestras, better libraries, and so on. 15:13 But then you've got to ask, 15:14 why do so many people want to leave the city 15:17 and move out to the country? 15:19 It's because a lot of people squeezed into one small place 15:22 comes with some pretty notable problems. 15:24 You get more crime, more pollution, higher cost of living, 15:28 and far more poverty. 15:30 People in large urban centers 15:32 have to steel themselves against pain and suffering 15:34 because there's just so much of it. 15:37 And what's curious 15:38 is the way the opening chapters of Genesis 15:40 presents the birth of cities in a rather negative light. 15:44 I mean, who's the first guy to build a city in the Bible? 15:47 It's Cain, the guy who murdered his brother. 15:50 Just ask yourself, 15:51 why is Abel still a relatively popular baby name, 15:54 but nobody calls their child Cain? 15:57 It'd be like naming your kid Judas or Lucifer. 16:01 Now let's take a look at what it actually says 16:03 in Genesis Chapter 4, 16:05 immediately after Cain is punished 16:07 and required to leave the area near the gates of Eden. 16:10 This proves to be leaving the very presence of God. 16:15 Here's what it says. 16:16 "Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord 16:19 and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. 16:22 Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. 16:25 When he built a city, he called the name of the city 16:27 after the name of his son, Enoch." 16:30 Now, that's the first mention of a city, 16:33 and the next key reference to urban development 16:35 comes just a few chapters later over in Genesis Chapter 10, 16:40 and here's what that says. 16:42 "Cush fathered Nimrod; 16:44 he was the first on earth to be a mighty man. 16:46 He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. 16:48 Therefore it is said, 16:49 'Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord.' 16:52 The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, 16:55 and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 16:58 From that land, he went into Assyria 16:59 and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah, 17:02 and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; 17:05 that is the great city." 17:08 You know, when I was a kid, 17:09 I knew this guy who ran a trapline. 17:10 You can tell I'm not from a major urban center. 17:14 And he had this sign on his house that said, 17:16 "Home of Nimrod, the mighty hunter." 17:19 Now, I know what he was thinking. 17:20 He thought that Nimrod was some kind of noble character. 17:23 After all, the Bible says he was great before God. 17:26 But when the Bible says he was mighty before the Lord, 17:29 it's actually talking about his arrogance. 17:32 This guy was too big for his britches, 17:34 and ancient legends about him seem to support that idea. 17:37 He was ruthless, brutal, and utterly selfish. 17:41 His subjects grew to hate him. 17:43 So what was the point of Nimrod building all those cities? 17:47 I'll be right back after this to tell you. 17:49 [mellow music] 17:53 - [Spokesperson] Life can throw a lot at us. 17:56 Sometimes we don't have all the answers. 17:59 But that's where the Bible comes in. 18:02 It's our guide to a more fulfilling life. 18:05 Here at The Voice of Prophecy, 18:06 we've created the Discover Bible Guides 18:08 to be your guide to the Bible. 18:10 They're designed to be simple, easy to use, 18:13 and provide answers to many of life's toughest questions. 18:16 And they're absolutely free. 18:18 So jump online now or give us a call, 18:20 and start your journey of discovery. 18:23 - If you look at the list of cities 18:25 mentioned in Genesis Chapter 10, 18:26 you'll notice that a few of them are pretty famous. 18:29 You've got the city of Erech, 18:31 which gave its name to the modern-day nation of Iraq. 18:34 And then of course you've got Nineveh and Babylon, 18:37 powerful cities which get used 18:39 throughout the rest of the Bible 18:40 to symbolize arrogance and wickedness 18:43 and rebellion against the God of Heaven. 18:46 So overall, this chapter 18:48 is not some kind of eulogy for Nimrod. 18:50 It's not a tribute to his greatness. 18:53 It's actually a pretty sharp criticism. Why? 18:56 It's because Nimrod was trying to build artificial paradise. 19:00 You see, when the human race rebelled against God 19:02 and no longer had access to the original paradise, 19:05 survival suddenly became a whole lot harder. 19:09 Remember what the Bible says. 19:11 "Cursed is the ground because of you," God explains to Adam. 19:15 "In pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 19:18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; 19:20 and you shall eat the plants of the field." 19:23 After our rebellion, life was gonna get a whole lot harder 19:27 because we abandoned the authentic human existence 19:30 that God originally designed. 19:32 And so as the new reality began to dawn on folks, 19:35 some of them decided they could make life better. 19:39 They might not be in Eden anymore, 19:40 but they could build their own version of Eden, 19:43 walled-off cities with all the resources you could dream of 19:46 to secure your personal safety 19:48 and keep yourself relatively comfortable. 19:52 And honestly, it's not that hard 19:54 to see the appeal of big urban centers 19:56 because, well, some of that appeal is still there today. 19:59 Cities just offer us more opportunities, more resources, 20:02 and the collective talents of an awful lot of people. 20:05 They tend to have more of everything, 20:08 and it's mimicking the ease and abundance of paradise. 20:11 But here's what happened. 20:13 I mean, if you're going to live in close proximity 20:15 to an awful lot of very selfish people, 20:18 and that would be all of us, 20:19 there's going to be competition over those resources. 20:22 That would also be true in the countryside, mind you, 20:25 but when you gather huge numbers of fallen human beings 20:28 and concentrate them into a really small patch of land, 20:32 the problem gets magnified. 20:34 And naturally, selfish people quickly learn 20:36 that power gives them access to more resources, 20:39 and so the shrewd among us, the powerful, 20:42 always seemed to rise to the top of the heap. 20:45 Take for example the story of Gilgamesh, 20:47 the ancient king of the Mesopotamian city of Uruk. 20:50 Some scholars believe that Gilgamesh 20:52 was actually the Assyrian version of Nimrod, the same guy. 20:56 And honestly, there's so much similarity 20:59 between the two stories, between Nimrod and Gilgamesh, 21:02 that I think it's true. 21:04 For starters, you've got the names 21:05 of the cities they founded, Erech and Uruk. 21:09 And then in the "Epic of Gilgamesh," 21:11 you find the story of a man who survived a global flood. 21:14 Coincidence? Hmm. 21:16 But even if they're not the same person, 21:18 Gilgamesh gives us yet another example 21:20 of these ancient warrior kings. 21:22 Just like Nimrod, he was brutal. 21:25 I mean, he enslaved his own men 21:27 and forced them to build the city walls, 21:29 and as they were working, he took their wives for himself. 21:35 According to the "Epic of Gilgamesh," 21:36 which we rediscovered in the ruins of Nineveh 21:39 back in the 1830s, 21:41 life in Uruk Got so bad 21:43 that the people cried out to the gods to bring them relief. 21:47 And sadly, that's the story with most of our human history. 21:52 Well-intentioned people start making all kinds of promises 21:55 so they can rise to the top of power, 21:57 but it seems like as soon as they manage 21:59 to accumulate even a little bit of that power, 22:02 they start to think of other people 22:04 as a way to advance their own interests. 22:07 They start to think of other people as expendable. 22:11 And that's why utopian experiments 22:13 almost always end in disaster. 22:16 They end with crushing poverty, broken dreams, 22:19 and an awful lot of dead bodies. 22:22 You know, when you're sitting in a college classroom 22:24 reading the utopian dreams of ancient Greek philosophers, 22:27 it's easy to imagine that Plato might be onto something. 22:31 Maybe these are good ideas. 22:33 Maybe we can finally solve our worst problems 22:35 and just use our logic and reason to restore paradise. 22:40 But then out there in the real world, 22:42 every single time somebody tries to do this, 22:45 an awful lot of people get hurt. 22:47 And the word hurt is a dramatic understatement. 22:52 So what would be the alternative? 22:54 Let's take a look at the biblical prophet Micah, 22:57 who was preaching in Judah 22:58 at about the same time that the Assyrians 23:01 were making life miserable for everybody in the Near East. 23:04 And at one point, Micah paints a picture 23:07 of what God originally intended for us. 23:10 He shows us what an authentic human life 23:13 is supposed to look like. 23:14 Just listen to this because this kind of speaks for itself. 23:17 It says, "It shall come to pass in the latter days 23:20 that the mountain of the house of the Lord 23:22 shall be established as the highest of the mountains, 23:25 and it shall be lifted up above the hills; 23:28 and peoples shall flow to it, 23:29 and many nations shall come and say, 23:31 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, 23:34 to the house of the God of Jacob, 23:36 that he may teach us his ways 23:38 and that we may walk in his paths.' 23:40 For out of Zion shall go forth the law, 23:42 and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 23:45 He shall judge between many peoples, 23:47 and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away; 23:50 and they shall beat their swords into plowshares 23:52 and their spears into pruning hooks; 23:55 nation shall not lift up sword against nation, 23:57 neither shall they learn war anymore; 24:00 but they shall sit every man under his vine 24:02 and under his fig tree, 24:04 and no one shall make them afraid, 24:06 for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken." 24:10 I'll be right back after this. 24:12 [mellow music] 24:15 [majestic music] 24:17 - [Spokesperson] Dragons, beasts, cryptic statues. 24:20 Bible prophecy can be incredibly vivid and confusing. 24:25 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 24:33 are designed to help you unlock the mysteries of the Bible 24:35 and deepen your understanding of God's plan 24:38 for you and our world. 24:39 Study online or request them by mail, 24:42 and start bringing prophecy into focus today. 24:45 - You know, once in a while, 24:47 I'll still pick up this old textbook 24:48 and thumb through the pages, 24:49 like I did right before I came into the studio today. 24:53 And I'm seeing these notes in the margins, 24:55 scribblings I made when I was a teenage freshman 24:58 at the University of Victoria. 25:00 And most of the notes I find in here 25:02 are actually expressions of horror 25:04 that some people actually think these ideas 25:07 are some of the best ideas we've ever come up with. 25:09 I mean, if this is our best, we're in trouble. 25:13 And I'd throw the book out, 25:15 but it represents a key point 25:16 in my own intellectual development. 25:18 And because it's had such a profound influence 25:21 on the development of Western civilization, 25:23 this still has a place on my bookshelf. 25:26 It's up there with all the other big names 25:27 like Aristotle or Descartes or Kant or Locke 25:31 or John Stuart Mill, you name it. 25:33 You might say that my younger self 25:35 was a little bit of a philosophy nerd, 25:37 and I probably still am. 25:40 But here's what I've noticed. 25:41 After combing through tens of thousands of pages 25:44 written by our very best thinkers, 25:46 not one of these people 25:48 has ever managed to solve our worst problems. 25:51 I mean, yes, there are some who contributed 25:53 to the freedom we now enjoy, 25:55 and as a fan of religious liberty, 25:57 I've gotta tip my hat in those philosophers' direction 26:00 for achieving that. 26:01 I'm also a pretty big fan of the American experiment, 26:04 at least as it was originally formulated, 26:07 and I know that we can thank both the reformers 26:09 and the Enlightenment philosophers 26:11 for a lot of what happened. 26:14 You see, a lot of the ideas 26:15 that led to the birth of Western liberty 26:17 actually came from the minds of Bible-believing Christians, 26:20 dedicated reformers who compared the people 26:23 who run the world with what God says should be happening. 26:27 And these people were absolutely right. 26:28 The scriptures represent the highest possible ideal, 26:31 and, wouldn't you know it, 26:33 the scriptures do that without the need to subjugate 26:36 and use people to achieve an end. 26:39 So out of all the books on my shelf, 26:41 there's only one that I reach for every single day, 26:43 and it's this one, the Bible, 26:46 the book inspired by the one who made us in the first place. 26:49 And in the pages of the Bible, 26:51 what I find is a righteous king 26:53 who turned our ideas of good government 26:55 completely on their head. 26:57 Instead of forcing us to serve Him, 27:00 He came to the world and served us. 27:02 Instead of demanding our blood for His cause, 27:05 He shed His blood to save us. 27:08 In other words, 27:09 God places the highest possible value on your life. 27:14 God doesn't lie to get His way. 27:16 In fact, before the story is finished, 27:17 the Bible says God opens the books of Heaven 27:19 and shows us absolutely everything. 27:22 He doesn't force us to live a certain way. 27:24 He doesn't try to censor us, 27:26 even though He'd be the one being in the whole universe 27:29 who had an absolute right to do that. 27:32 You know, given the current mess 27:33 that our world is in right now, 27:34 I think you might find it a welcome relief 27:37 to spend a little more time reading 27:38 what God says human life is supposed to be like. 27:42 I think you'll find hope 27:44 when you see that God intends to give everything back 27:47 in spite of what we've done. 27:49 I mean, sure, you can go out 27:51 and pattern yourself after tyrants, 27:53 or you can pattern yourself after a man 27:55 who was the smartest man in the room 27:58 but still chose to give His life at Calvary for you. 28:01 Thanks for joining me today. 28:03 I'm Shawn Boonstra, and this has been "Authentic." 28:06 [mellow music] 28:18 [mellow music continues] |
Revised 2024-06-18