Startling Proofs (1995) - full transcript
It is the demand of every skeptic: prove to me that God exists. Of course making a decision to accept the Gospel of Christ is a matter of faith.
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WHAT AN ABSOLUTELY AMAZING WORLD.
MANY BELIEVE THAT EVERYTHING,
THE SUN, THE MOON, THE STARS, OUR EARTH,
EVEN THIS GLORIOUS MORNING, EVERYTHING WAS CREATED BY
SOME SUPERIOR BEING. THEY BELIEVE IN THE BIBLE,
GENESIS AND GOD. THERE ARE OTHERS WHO BELIEVE THAT
ALL OF THIS CAME ABOUT THROUGH TIME AND CHANCE
AND THAT NATURE AND SCIENCE DETERMINE OUR EXISTENCE
AND THAT WE ARE A STAGE IN AN EVOLUTIONARY PROCESS.
THEY BELIEVE THAT ONLY MAN CAN DETERMINE EXISTENCE
AND DECIDE WHAT IS TRUE AND WHAT IS FALSE.
MANY HOWEVER ACCEPT PARTS OF BOTH OF THESE VIEWPOINTS,
AND NEVER THINK THAT YOU CAN NOT ACCEPT THEM BOTH.
THERE REALLY ARE ONLY TWO ANSWERS AS TO HOW WE ARE HERE.
BY DESIGN, OR BY CHANCE.
WHICH SIDE DOES THE EVIDENCE SUPPORT?
WELL IT'S AN IMPORTANT QUESTION.
IT ANSWERS WHERE WE CAME FROM, WHERE WE'RE GOING,
AND THE ETERNAL QUESTION, DOES GOD EXIST?
LET'S START WITH WHAT WE KNOW.
WE KNOW I'M HERE, WE KNOW THE EARTH IS HERE,
WE KNOW THIS WATCH IS HERE. SO LET'S KEEP IT SIMPLE.
WHERE DID THIS WATCH COME FROM?
THE UNIVERSE AND THE WATCH ARE OFTEN COMPARED.
BOTH HAVE MANY COMPLEX PARTS. PARTS THAT WORK TOGETHER
TO FORM A FUNCTIONAL SYSTEM. BOTH ALSO EXIST,
AND SINCE THEY EXIST, THEY HAD AN ORIGIN.
A MAN DROPS A WATCH ON THE BEACH.
A WATCH HE BOUGHT FROM A THIEF.
A WATCH THE THIEF STOLE FROM THE WATCH MAKER.
THE WATCH THEREFORE, DESPITE THE TWISTS AND TURNS,
CAME FROM THE WATCH MAKER. IT WAS MADE IN HIS SHOP,
WITH HIS PARTS, AND WITH HIS DESIGN AND SKILL.
THERE ARE A LOT OF EVIDENCES FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD.
THE BIBLE TALKS ABOUT THE UNIVERSE, FOR EXAMPLE.
I THINK YOU WOULD HAVE TO BE, IN MY OPINION, AN IDIOT,
TO THINK THAT THIS UNIVERSE HAPPENED BY CHANCE.
THAT LIFE AND INTELLIGENCE SPRANG SPONTANEOUSLY
FROM DEAD EMPTY SPACE. IT JUST COULDN'T HAPPEN.
I THINK MOST PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF CAUSE AND EFFECT.
YOU SEE SOMETHING HAPPEN, YOU IMMEDIATELY, YOU LOOK,
WHY DID IT HAPPEN, WHAT'S THE CAUSE?
THAT'S HOW SCIENCE FUNCTIONS. WE CAN'T FUNCTION
WITHOUT THE CONCEPT OF CAUSE AND EFFECT.
AND WHEN WE LOOK AT THE EFFECT, THE AMAZING DESIGN,
AND WE LOOK AT THE TREMENDOUS EFFECTS, WE MUST NOW
DETERMINE IT'S CAUSE, LOGICALLY, IN ORDER TO ACCOUNT FOR IT.
IF YOU SHOW SOMEONE A PENCIL, OR A CAR, OR A WATCH
AND ASK THEM WHERE IT CAME FROM, THEY'LL ROLL THEIR EYES
AND TELL YOU, SOMEONE MADE IT. THE IDEA THAT SOMETHING
AS SIMPLE AS A PENCIL COULD HAVE SIMPLY HAPPENED BY CHANCE,
WELL IT'S UNBELIEVABLE.
THE CONCEPT OF CAUSE AND EFFECT IS NOT SOMETHING
NEW OR COMPLICATED. IT IS A PRINCIPLE WE FOLLOW EVERY DAY.
SIR ISAAC NEWTON TRIED TO DEMONSTRATE THIS
BY BUILDING A MODEL OF THE UNIVERSE.
NEWTON, THIS IS AMAZING. WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?
DID YOU MAKE THIS?
NO, IT'S SOMETHING THAT JUST FORMED.
NEWTON REALIZED THAT THE UNIVERSE, LIKE THE WATCH,
HAD TO HAVE HAD A CAUSE.
WHAT WE HAVE IN THE EXTERNAL WORLD IS, IN MY OPINION,
A, THE CREATION OF GOD AND B, IT BEARS HIS SIGNATURE,
SO THAT GOD DID MAKE THE MARVELS OF OUR ENVIRONMENT,
THE OCEAN AND THE SKY AND THE SEA AND THE LAND AND THE FLOWERS
AND THEN THE PEOPLE IN IT, AND NO-ONE IN HIS RIGHT MIND
CAN LOOK AT THESE THINGS AND DENY THE EXISTENCE OF GOD,
AS WE ALREADY SAID, AS THE WATCH DEMANDS A WATCH MAKER,
WE HAVE A UNIVERSE THAT RUNS LIKE A WATCH,
AND THE BEAUTIES OF IT ARE REALLY THRILLING THINGS TO SEE.
SO THE WORLD DEMANDS A WORLD MAKER. NO ONE WOULD EVER SAY
A WATCH HAPPENED BY ACCIDENT.
IT IS OBVIOUSLY DIFFICULT FOR ANYONE TO SAY THAT THEY CAN
TOTALLY UNDERSTAND. THE INSTANTANEOUS CREATION
OF EVERYTHING IN THIS VAST UNIVERSE, AND ALL OF LIFE
THAT EXISTS ON THIS PLANET WITHIN 6 DAYS,
BUT IT'S EQUALLY, IN FACT, MORE DIFFICULT, I THINK,
IF YOU'RE HONEST, TO IMAGINE THAT EVERYTHING HAPPENED
OUT OF SOME SPONTANEOUS, UNCONTROLLED EXPLOSION,
AND THAT OVER BILLIONS AND BILLIONS OF YEARS,
AN INCREDIBLE SERIES OF THE MOST UNLIKELY COINCIDENCES
TOOK PLACE.
TIME IS OFTEN THE CHAMPION OF EVOLUTION. SOMETHING WHICH IS
IMPOSSIBLE ACCORDING TO SCIENCE AND COMMON SENSE,
SUDDENLY BECOMES POSSIBLE WHEN THE ELEMENT OF TIME IS ADDED.
IN TRUTH, TIME CAN NOT BE THE HERO.
ARIDDLE ASKS:
IT'S A LAW AS BASIC AS, AND ACCEPTED AS THE LAW OF GRAVITY.
IT'S ALSO CALLED THE LAW OF ENTROPY.
AND BASICALLY IT STATES THAT ANYTHING LEFT BY ITSELF WILL
BREAK DOWN AND DECAY. AND THAT'S WHY OUR BODIES WILL
BREAK DOWN AND DIE WITH AGE. EINSTEIN SAID, OF ALL THE
PHYSICAL LAWS, THIS IS THE MOST OBVIOUS AND THE
MOST PROVABLE OF THEM ALL.
IN OUR CULTURE, WE'VE DECIDED THAT WE WORSHIP NOTHINGNESS.
THAT THIS UNIVERSE HERE, GOD WASN'T EVEN NECESSARY,
OF ANY KIND, THAT WE'RE HERE BY RANDOM CHANCE, AND UTTERLY
REFUSE THE LAWS OF ENTROPY, UTTERLY REFUSE WHAT WE
DO KNOW ABOUT SCIENCE, YET WE CLING TO THAT BECAUSE,
TO TAKE ANY OTHER VIEW WOULD IMPLY A RESPONSIBILITY
TO THE ONE THAT PUT US HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE.
IT'S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THAT FROM A SCIENTIFIC
POINT OF VIEW, BOTH EVOLUTION AND CREATION WOULD BE
TREATED AS THEORIES. NOW A THEORY IS BASED OR DISCARDED
UPON THE EVIDENCE THAT IS PRESENTED.
TO IGNORE EVIDENCE OR A VERIFIABLE LAW BECAUSE OF
YOU BIAS, NOT ONLY IS POOR SCIENCE, BUT MAKES THE
ASKING OF THE ORIGINAL QUESTION POINTLESS.
SO IF WE ARE GOING TO ASK, DOES GOD EXIST?
WE HAVE TO BE WILLING TO ACCEPT THE ANSWER,
WHATEVER IT MAY BE.
LET'S TAKE ANOTHER LOOK AT THIS WATCH.
WE HAVE BEEN SHOWN THAT THERE HAS TO HAVE BEEN A CAUSE
IN ORDER TO CREATE IT, LIKE A WATCH MAKER.
BUT COULDN'T THERE HAVE BEEN A DIFFERENT CAUSE?
COULDN'T A RANDOM COMBINATION OF TIME AND ELEMENTS SIMPLY HAVE
COME TOGETHER IN ORDER TO CREATE IT.
THE IDEA THAT THE UNIVERSE COULD HAVE HAPPENED BY ACCIDENT
IS ABOUT THE SAME AS SAYING A TORNADO COULD GO THROUGH
A JUNKYARD AND PUT TOGETHER AN F-16 AIRPLANE AS A RESULT
OF ALL OF THIS. IT JUST IS SIMPLY IMPOSSIBLE,
AND EVERYBODY WITH A BRAIN IN HIS HEAD KNOWS IT.
WE'RE HERE BY EXQUISITE DESIGN.
WE HEAR THE ECOLOGISTS SCREAM ABOUT A TENTH OF ONE PERCENT
CHANGE IN THE OZONE LAYER WILL BRING COSMIC DOOM.
TURN THAT COIN AROUND. HOW DID IT GET SO DELICATELY BALANCED?
YOU TRY TELLING ME THAT THERE'S A BALANCE IN NATURE THAT'S
SO PRECISE THAT YOU CHANGE IT JUST A LITTLE BIT,
AND LIFE CAN'T EXIST. THAT'S EVIDENCE OF DESIGN.
SOMEBODY WENT TO A LOT OF TROUBLE TO BALANCE IT.
THERE IS SO MUCH DESIGN, FROM THE GRAND SCALE DOWN TO
THE SMALLEST MOLECULES. IT'S IMPOSSIBLE NOT TO SEE
THE ORDER AND THE COMPLEXITY THAT ORIGINATES WITH DESIGN.
WHEN I SEE THE LOGIC IN NATURE, WHEN I SEE THE ORDER IN NATURE,
THESE ARE ALL EVIDENCES TO ME THAT GOD EXISTS,
BECAUSE I SEE DESIGN IN THE UNIVERSE. AND I CAN SEE DESIGN,
A DESIGN NEEDS A DESIGNER, OF COURSE, AND I CAN SEE DESIGN
RIGHT FROM THE LEVEL OF THE DNA MOLECULES,
RIGHT UP TO THE WAY THAT THE GALAXIES ARE CONSTRUCTED.
SO IT'S DESIGN ALL THE WAY.
LARGE EXPLOSIONS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH DEATH AND DESTRUCTION,
NOT WITH ORDER AND LIFE.
A VOLCANO ERUPTING IS A NATURAL DISASTER,
NOT A NATURAL BENEFIT.
WHILE MANY BLINDLY ACCEPT THAT THE BIG BANG CREATED ORDER
OUT OF NOTHING, SCIENCE SPEAKS AGAINST IT,
MATHEMATICAL PROBABILITY RULES IT OUT,
AND COMMON SENSE DISMISSES IT.
THE FOOL HAS SAID IN HIS HEART, THERE IS NO GOD.
WHAT THE BIBLE IS SAYING, I BELIEVE, IS THAT THE EVIDENCE
FROM DESIGN, THE EVIDENCE THAT THE UNIVERSE IS FULL OF
THE MOST INCREDIBLY COMPLICATED DESIGN,
FROM HOW A TREE IS MADE, TO THE SMALLEST CELL IN THE HUMAN BODY,
THE WAY THE OPTIC NERVE TRANSMITS AN IMAGE TO THE MIND,
EVERY ELEMENT OF CREATION IS OF SUCH A DEGREE OF COMPLEXITY,
THAT ANY HONEST PERSON WHO LOOKS AT IT AND SAYS THAT HE BELIEVES
THIS HAPPENED BY PURE CHANCE, I BELIEVE IS NOT BEING HONEST.
SIR ISAAC NEWTON SAID THAT:
THE MOST POWERFUL EVIDENCE FOR A CREATOR IS THE VERY DESIGN
OF THINGS. IF YOU LOOK AT THE COMPLEXITY AND THE INTEGRATION
OF COMPLEXITY IN LIVING ORGANISMS IN PARTICULAR,
FOSSIL RECORD OR LIVING WORLD, THERE'S A STUNNING LEVEL
OF COMPLEXITY THAT CAN NOT BE ACCOUNTED FOR,
I BELIEVE, BY ANY OTHER MEANS THAN BY A GOD OF THE KIND OF
POWER AND MANIPULATIVE ABILITY AND INTELLIGENCE THAT IS
CONSISTENT WITH THE CHRISTIAN GOD.
CERTAIN RESEARCHERS HAVE SAID THAT LIFE COULD NOT HAVE
EVOLVED ON EARTH UNDER THE SCENARIOS THAT WE CAN
CREATE HERE. WE JUST DO NOT UNDERSTAND HOW THAT
COULD HAVE OCCURRED, BUT INSTEAD OF TURNING TO LOOK AT DESIGN,
OR LOOK AT A CREATOR, THEY SAY, IT MUST HAVE COME FROM
OUTER SPACE. IF YOU WERE LOOKING FOR INTELLIGENT LIFE,
IN OUTER SPACE, THE SETI PROGRAM,
SEARCH FOR EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE, REALLY LOOKS
FOR THAT. AND YOU ASK THEM, WHAT IS AN EXAMPLE?
HOW WOULD YOU KNOW IF YOU FOUND A SIGNAL FROM OUTER SPACE?
ONE OF THE ANSWERS, IN SHORT, WOULD BE THAT THERE'S
A PATTERN TO IT. THERE'S SOMETHING THAT'S NOT GRAND
ABOUT IT. THERE'S SOME SIGNAL THERE THAT INDICATES TO US
SOME SIGN OF INTELLIGENCE. BUT THEN YOU TURN THE MICROSCOPE
INSIDE INSTEAD OF OUT INTO SPACE, AND YOU BEGIN TO
LOOK AT THE CELL, AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT YOU SEE.
YOU SEE ORGANIZATION, YOU SEE MESSAGES, YOU SEE INTELLIGENCE
AND DESIGN IN THERE, BUT DO YOU SAY THIS IS INTELLIGENCE?
THEY SAY, OH NO, THAT'S JUST RANDOM.
BUT WHEN WE LOOK AT DNA FOR EXAMPLE, IN OURSELVES,
IN THE SMALLEST, SIMPLEST CELL WE KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT,
THERE IS SO MUCH COMPLEX INFORMATION THERE
THAT IT'S MIND-BOGGLING. IT SUPERCEDES ANYTHING MAN
IS DOING TODAY. CARL SAKEN RECENTLY SAID THAT IN THE
SIMPLEST CELL WE KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT, WE HAVE INFORMATION
THAT IS THE EQUIVALENT OF TEN TO THE TWELFTH BITS,
IF YOU'RE A COMPUTER FREAK. TO PUT IT IN MORE ORDINARY TERMS,
HE GOES ON TO ILLUSTRATE, IT'S LIKE 100 MILLION PAGES OF THE
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA. NOW IF YOU'RE WALKING ALONG THE BEACH
AND YOU SEE 100 MILLION PAGES OF THE ENCYCLOPEDIA,
OR YOU SEE ONE PAGE OR PART OF A PAGE THAT'S INTELLIGIBLE,
YOU DON'T ASSUME THAT HAPPENED NATURALLY.
THAT HAPPENED AS A RESULT OF INTELLIGENT DESIGN.
FIRST LIFE WOULD HAVE HAD TO HAVE BEEN WHAT THEY CALL
A SIMPLE CELL. AND THAT IS REALLY SOMETHING I TAKE
AS A MICROBIOLOGIST, AN EXCEPTION TO.
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A 'SIMPLE' CELL.
AND WE ARE MADE UP, A HUMAN BODY, IS SOMETHING LIKE
55 TRILLION CELLS IN THE BODY, AND YET, ALL OF THOSE CELLS
COOPERATE TOGETHER. THIS IS NOT THE RESULT OF
RANDOM CHEMICAL MOTION.
EVEN WITH A MAP OF ONE HUMAN CELL, A MAP THAT TOOK
BRILLIANT SCIENTISTS A LIFETIME TO PLOT, A TRIP THROUGH
THAT ONE TINY CELL WOULD BE ALMOST AN IMPOSSIBLE JOURNEY.
EACH ROAD QUICKLY BRANCHES INTO NUMEROUS COMPLEX
CHEMICAL REACTIONS AND ENERGY TRANSFERS,
SUCENATE, GLUCERATE AND CITRATE ARE JUST 3 OF THE LITERALLY
THOUSANDS OF CHEMICALS THAT TRAVEL THE DIVERSE AND
AMAZING PATHWAYS. THIS IS ONE HUMAN CELL, WHICH EVEN HERE,
IS STILL INCOMPLETE. THE TRIP CONTINUES TO BECOME
MORE COMPLICATED. DRIVING DOWN A DEAD-END, WE FIND PROTEINS,
ONLY THIS DEAD-END IS JUST AS ESSENTIAL TO THE LIFE OF
THE CELL AS EVERY OTHER PART. AND PROTEINS ARE ANOTHER LAND
UNTO ITSELF. SUCH INCREDIBLE AMOUNTS OF INFORMATION
QUICKLY LEAVES ONE'S HEAD SPINNING.
IT IS DIFFICULT TO COMPREHEND EVEN ONE SMALL PART OF
HOW PROTEIN OF A CELL WORKS. YET EVEN IF ONE SMALL PART
OF JUST ONE OF THESE INTERACTIONS FAILS
OR IS NOT THERE, THE CELL WILL EITHER FAIL OR DIE.
THE CELLS COMPLEXITY IS INCONCEIVABLE FOR THE
AVERAGE PERSON, AND PERPLEXING FOR THE TRAINED SCIENTIST,
AND POSSIBLE, IT SEEMS, ONLY IF IT WERE DESIGNED BY A BEING
FAR SUPERIOR TO IT.
NOW DOESN'T IT SEEM STRANGE THAT CRILLIANT MEN COULD SPEND
THEIR ENTIRE LIVES IN A LAB TRYING TO CREATE LIFE,
JUST TO SHOW THAT NO INTELLIGENCE WAS NECESSARY
TO FORM IT IN THE FIRST PLACE. FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS,
BRILLIANT MEN HAVE BEEN TRYING AND FAILING TO MAKE EVEN
THE SIMPLEST LIFE, AND YET THOSE VERY SAME MEN,
WHICH HAVE YOU BELIEVE THAT LIFE DID BEGIN JUST THROUGH
RANDOM TIME AND CHANCE.
I THINK THE EVIDENCE OF DESIGN, OR THE CONCLUSION OF WHAT
THE CELL REALLY IS IN TERMS OF DESIGN, IS YOU HAVE TO LOOK
AT HOW ALL THE PIECES WORK TOGETHER, AND THE FACT
THAT THESE THINGS COULD NOT HAVE OCCURRED IN ISOLATION.
THEY ARE BIO CHEMICALLY CO DEPENDANT.
ONE FEATURE OF THE CELL REALLY DEPENDS ON ANOTHER FEATURE,
AND IF ALL OF THE FEATURES DON'T WORK TOGETHER AT THE SAME TIME,
THE CELL WON'T EXIST.
THE OLD QUESTION WOULD BE THE CHICKEN AND THE EGG,
WHICH CAME FIRST, THE CHICKEN OR THE EGG?
DID PROTEIN COME OR DID DNA COME?
DNA IS A LONG, LARGE MOLECULE. IT'S A GREAT MOLECULE
DID PROTEIN COME OR DID DNA INFORMATION PACKED INTO IT,
YOU CAN'T READ IT. I COULD GIVE YOU A CD, BUT IF YOU
DON'T HAVE A CD PLAYER, YOU CAN NOT LISTEN TO THAT CD.
I COULD GIVE YOU A TAPE, AND IT COULD HAVE ALL THE INSTRUCTIONS
ON HOW TO MAKE A TAPE PLAYER INCLUDED ON THE TAPE.
BUT IF YOU DON'T HAVE A TAPE PLAYER, YOU CAN NOT GET
THAT INFORMATION OFF THE TAPE TO BUILD THE PLAYER.
THAT'S THE SITUATION THE CELL IS FACED WITH IN IT'S
CO DEPENDANT SITUATION. THE DNA CONTAINS ALL THE INFORMATION,
BUT YOU NEED PROTEINS TO GET THE INFORMATION OUT.
BUT THE PROTEINS THEMSELVES ARE THE INFORMATION THAT IS
CODED WITHIN THE DNA. SO IT'S CHEMICALLY CO DEPENDANT.
SIR FRED HOYLE, FOR EXAMPLE, HE DISCOVERED THE RED SHIFT,
HE SAYS THAT IF THE WHOLE UNIVERSE WAS MADE OUT OF,
WHAT DOES HE CALL IT, PRIMITIVE SOUP, OR WHATEVER, YOU KNOW,
FROM WHICH LIFE FORMS COME, WHAT WOULD BE THE CHANCE THAT
IN BILLIONS AND BILLIONS OF YEARS, THAT YOU COULD GET
EVEN THE BASIC ENZYMES OF LIFE, BY CHANCE.
JUST TO GET THOSE COMBINATIONS MATHEMATICALLY PUT TOGETHER
HE CALCULATED, HE SAID IT WOULD BE ONE IN TEN TO THE -40,000.
THAT'S A 1 OVER 1 WITH 40,000 ZERO'S ADDED TO IT.
YOU CAN'T EVEN IMAGINE WHAT THAT FRACTION IS.
SO TO GIVE YOU SOME IDEA, WHAT WOULD BE THE LIKELIHOOD THAT
YOU COULD REACH OUT AND BY CHANCE PICK A PARTICULAR ATOM
OUT OF OUR UNIVERSE. THAT'S ONE IN TEN TO THE -80,
OR 1 OVER 1 WITH 80 ZERO'S AFTER IT.
MAKE ANOTHER UNIVERSE OUT OF EVERY ONE OF THOSE ATOMS,
WHAT'S THE LIKELIHOOD THAT YOU CAN REACH OUT AND PLUCK A
PARTICULAR ATOM OUT, THAT'S ONLY ONE IN TEN TO THE -160.
WELL, ONE IN TEN TO THE -40,000, FORGET IT. IT'S ZERO.
IT CAN'T HAPPEN.
SO THERE IS GREAT EVIDENCE OF DESIGN, AND THEREFORE OF GOD,
IN LIFE AND THE UNIVERSE. DETERMINED EVOLUTIONISTS,
HOWEVER, MIGHT SAY THAT WE HAVE BEEN BIASING THIS STUDY.
THEY WOULD SAY THE WATCH IS COMPLEX. AND ACCORDING TO
EVOLUTIONARY STANDARDS, LIFE STARTED VERY SIMPLY.
IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE REMAIN OBJECTIVE.
SO LET'S LOOK AT SOMETHING SIMPLE.
A PIECE OF ROCK, FOR EXAMPLE.
GRANITE, WHAT MANY CONSIDER A COMMON AND SOMEWHAT
BORING ROCK. HOWEVER, IT IS THE ONLY ROCK THAT WE CAN NOT MAKE.
WITH ALL OF OUR ADVANCEMENTS IN TECHNOLOGY,
WE CAN MAKE DIAMONDS, AND ANY OTHER ROCK, BUT NOT GRANITE.
GRANITE HAS POLONIUM IN IT.
INTERESTING THING ABOUT POLONIUM 218 IS,
THAT IT HAS A HALF LIFE OF ABOUT 3 MINUTES.
A HALF LIFE MEANS THAT YOU START WITH ONE KILO OF
POLONIUM 218, WITHIN 3 MINUTES, YOU'VE GOT HALF A KILO.
IN ANOTHER 3 MINUTES, YOU HAVE A QUARTER OF A KILO, AND SO ON.
SO WE'RE SAYING THAT THIS POLONIUM 218
WAS ENCAPSULATED IN THAT ROCK WITHIN 30 MINUTES OF IT
COMING INTO EXISTENCE.
POLONIUM HALO'S INDICATE GRANITE, AND THEREFORE
THE EARTH WAS CREATED IN LESS THAN AN HOUR.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ONE HOUR AND EVOLUTION'S
BILLIONS OF YEARS, IS NOT A SMALL ONE.
HOWEVER, POLONIUM CAN BE PRODUCED FROM URANIUM.
BUT WHEN YOU FIND THE POLONIUM HALO'S ALONE,
WITHOUT THE URANIUM HALO'S, THEN YOU'VE GOT A BIT OF A MYSTERY.
HOW IS IT THAT THE POLONIUM WAS THERE WITHOUT WHATEVER
PRODUCED IT. IF YOU ONLY FIND POLONIUM HALO'S,
IT WOULD SEEM TO INDICATE THERE MUST BE SOME SOURCE FOR,
THE POLONIUM MUST BE BROUGHT IN PERHAPS, OR THE POLONIUM
WAS FORMED WITH THE ROCK, AND THE ROCK WOULD HAVE TO BE COOL,
BECAUSE IF THE ROCK WAS MOLTEN, THE MATERIAL GOING OUT
PRODUCING HALO'S, THE MOLTEN ROCK WOULD MESS UP THE HALO,
YOU WOULDN'T FIND A HALO. SO THE ROCK HAS TO BE COOL,
AND THE POLONIUM CREATED IN IT, TO PRODUCE THESE
POLONIUM HALO'S. SO IT MUST HAVE BEEN WHEN IT WAS
ORIGINALLY CREATED, THE EARTH, THESE ELEMENTS,
THESE RADIOACTIVE ELEMENTS WERE ALREADY THERE,
AND WITHIN 19 MINUTES AT THE MOST, THE EARTH WAS SOLID.
WE HEAR SCIENTISTS SAYING SO MANY DIFFERENT THINGS,
IT'S OFTEN DIFFICULT TO DECIDE WHO TO BELIEVE.
SOMETIMES IT SEEMS LIKE WE SHOULD BE FINDING THE ANSWERS,
INSTEAD OF LEAVING IT TO SOME GUY WHO LIVES IN A LAB.
WHEN YOU'RE OUT HERE, LOOKING AT THE SKY, THE WATER
AND EVERYTHING ELSE, IT'S NOT DIFFICULT TO IMAGINE
SOME HIGHER FORCE BEING BEHIND IT ALL. WELL MAYBE THAT'S IT.
MAYBE SOMEBODY JUST MADE UP THIS IDEA OF GOD.
I LIKE TO CHALLENGE PEOPLE ON THAT. OH YEAH, I'VE GOT
AN ACTIVE IMAGINATION. ALL RIGHT, COME UP WITH A NEW
PRIME COLOR TO THE RAINBOW. YOU CAN'T DO IT.
YOU COULD THINK ABOUT PINK ELEPHANTS,
BUT PINK EXISTS AND ELEPHANTS EXIST. TRY TO THINK ABOUT
SOMETHING THAT DOESN'T EXIST. YOU CAN'T DO IT.
GOD ALONE CREATES OUT OF NOTHING.
WE CAN DO AMAZING THINGS WITH WHAT HE'S GIVEN US, OKAY,
AND LONDON RECOGNIZED THIS. SO THEN HE SAID, BUT MAN HAS
THIS IDEA OF GOD. WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?
THIS INSIDIOUS LIE, THIS OPIATE OF THE MASSES THAT WAS
SEWED INTO THEIR MINDS BY THESE PREACHERS.
YEAH, BUT WHERE DID THE PREACHERS GET THE IDEA?
YOU CAN'T COME UP WITH IT. SO THAT'S ANOTHER EVIDENCE
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD. HE HAS PUT THE KNOWLEDGE,
THIS KNOWLEDGE OF HIS EXISTENCE IN EVERY HUMAN BEING.
THAT'S QUITE A HEAVY TOPIC TO BE DISCUSSING ON SUCH
A BEAUTIFUL DAY. SOME PEOPLE NEVER EVEN WONDER ABOUT
SUCH THINGS BECAUSE OF THEIR HECTIC LIVES,
OR BECAUSE IT JUST DOESN'T SEEM IMPORTANT.
BUT WHETHER YOU REALIZE IT OR NOT, THE QUESTION OF THE
EXISTENCE OF GOD AND OF WHAT AUTHORITY HE HAS,
IS ASKED EVERY SINGLE DAY. WESTERN CIVILIZATION WAS
BASED ON CHRISTIAN VALUES AND NOW MANY OF THOSE VALUES
ARE BEING QUESTIONED. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT, ABORTION
AND SEXUALITY ARE ALL SENSITIVE ISSUES. ISSUES THAT ARE
DIRECTLY INFLUENCED BY A BELIEF OR A NON-BELIEF IN GOD.
YET WE ARE LIVING IN MODERN TIMES. SHOULD WE STILL FOLLOW
OR EVEN CARE WHAT ONE ANCIENT BOOK HAS TO SAY?
WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? THERE'S NO WAY YOU CAN
BELIEVE EVERYTHING IT SAYS.
NO, NOT EVERYTHING. WHAT I MEAN IS, IT'S A GOOD
GUIDE TO LIVE BY.
A GOOD GUIDE? IT'S A FAIRY TALE. HAVE YOU EVER READ THE BIBLE?
IT'S FULL OF CONTRADICTIONS.
BUT IT'S-
NO, WAIT. LISTEN, IF YOU GO WITH SCIENCE, THEN YOU BELIEVE
IN EVOLUTION, RIGHT?
RIGHT.
WELL, THEN THIS WHOLE THING OF ADAM AND EVE CAN'T BE TRUE,
AND IF THAT CAN'T BE TRUE, THEN WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IN?
I MEAN, ARE YOU JUST GOING TO PICK AND CHOOSE?
THAT'S HOW THE BIBLE BEGINS.
YEAH, BUT MAYBE WE'RE READING IT WRONG.
WHAT EXACTLY DOES THE BIBLE SAY? IS IT FULL OF CONTRADICTIONS?
WHAT DOES SCIENCE HAVE TO SAY ABOUT IT?
THE BIBLE IS THE NUMBER ONE BEST SELLER OF ALL TIMES.
IT'S BEEN READ BY MORE PEOPLE, AND PUBLISHED IN MORE
LANGUAGES THAN ANY OTHER BOOK. IT'S ALSO BEEN STUDIED,
QUESTIONED AND TESTED MORE THAN ANY OTHER BOOK IN HISTORY.
SURELY WITH ALL THIS ATTENTION, WE SHOULD HAVE
SOME ANSWERS BY NOW.
SIR WILLIAM RAMSEY WAS A MAN WHO HAD A HUNGER FOR THE TRUTH.
LIVING IN THE LATE 1800'S, HE WAS HIGHLY INTELLIGENT
AND RESOURCEFUL. HE WAS ALSO DETERMINED TO SET OUT TO PROVE
THAT THE BIBLE WAS WRITTEN BY AMBITIOUS MONKS,
AND NOT INSPIRED BY GOD. RAMSEY FOUND THE FAULTS
HE WAS LOOKING FOR IN LUKE'S GOSPEL.
ACCORDING TO RAMSEY'S CONTEMPORARY RECORDS AND
ARCHEOLOGICAL FINDS, LUKE HAD MADE A NUMBER OF ERRORS.
LUKE'S GEOGRAPHY WAS WRONG, AND THERE NEVER WAS A CENSUS
IN BETHLEHEM. HE INCORRECTLY IDENTIFIED THE GOVERNOR
OF SERIA, AND IMPROPERLY TITLED ROMAN DIGNITARIES.
HOWEVER, AS RAMSEY CONTINUED HIS SEARCH, ALL OF HIS DOUBTS
WERE SILENCED. IN FACT, HIS PROBING STUDY PROVED THE BIBLE
WAS VALID AFTER ALL. HE FOUND AN INSCRIPTION PROVING THE
GEOGRAPHY CORRECT FOR THAT TIME, AND A PARCHMENT DATED
104 A.D. WAS UNEARTHED AND CONFIRMED THAT THERE HAD
BEEN A CENSUS IN BETHLEHEM. THE GOVERNOR IN QUESTION WAS
PROVEN TO HAVE BEEN GOVERNOR NOT ONCE, BUT TWICE,
VERIFYING WHAT LUKE WROTE, AND LUKE'S TITLES FOR
THE DIGNITARIES WERE PRECISELY CORRECT.
RAMSEY WAS NO LONGER A SKEPTIC. HE REALIZED THAT THOSE WHO
HAD WRITTEN THE WORD OF GOD, WERE INDEED EYEWITNESSES
TO THE EVENTS THEY DESCRIBED.
WILLIAM RAMSEY'S WORK IS AMAZING.
BECAUSE HERE WAS A GUY CONVINCED THAT THE BIBLE WAS WRONG,
AND THAT GOD DIDN'T EXIST, EVEN WITH THAT ENORMOUS BIAS,
HE STILL COULDN'T DENY THAT WHAT HE WAS FINDING
WAS PROVING THE BIpBLE TO BE TRUE. YOU SEE,0P
RAMSEY'S ORIGINAL THEORIES THAT THE BIBLE WAS
WRITTEN BY MONKS HUNDREDS OF YEARS AFTER THE FACT
COULDN'T POSSIBLY BE TRUE BECAUSE THOSE MONKS WOULD
HAVE HAD THE SAME FALSE INFORMATION THAT HE HAD.
THE TRUTH, THE PROOF, HADN'T BEEN DISCOVERED YET.
BUT I HAVE FOUND THAT WHEN I LOOK CAREFULLY AT WHAT
THE BIBLE SAYS, I HAVE NEVER FOUND A STATEMENT MADE
IN THE SCRIPTURE WITH REGARD TO HISTORY OR WITH REGARD
TO SCIENCE, OR WITH REGARD TO ANY FACT,
THAT CAN BE SHOWN TO BE FALSE.
WHEN I FIRST BECAME A CHRISTIAN, I WOULD OFTEN EXPLAIN A NUMBER
OF THINGS AWAY IN SCRIPTURE SAYING THAT, OKAY,
THAT'S WHAT WE READ, BUT PEOPLE DIDN'T QUITE
UNDERSTAND IT THEN. THAT'S WHAT WE READ,
BUT THIS IS WHAT'S REALLY MEANT. AND THROUGHOUT THE YEARS,
I'VE BEEN PROVED OVER AND OVER AGAIN TO BE WRONG.
WHEN A FRENCH MONARCH PROPOSED THE PERSECUTION OF THE
CHRISTIANS IN HIS DOMINION, AN OLD STATESMAN AND WARRIOR
SAID TO HIM:
IF WE GO BACK 100 YEARS, MANY SCIENTISTS SAID
THAT THE BIBLE MUST BE WRONG BECAUSE THE BOOK OF DANIEL
AND EZEKIEL TALK ABOUT NEBUCHADNEZZAR AS ONE OF
THE KINGS OF BABYLON, AND THEY SAID LOOK,
WE'VE NEVER FOUND AN INSCRIPTION WITH HIS NAME UPON IT,
SO IT MUST BE WRONG. NOW THEY'VE FOUND LITERALLY
TENS OF THOUSANDS OF BRICKS IN BABYLON WITH HIS INSCRIPTION.
TAKE FOR INSTANCE, THERE USED TO BE AN ARGUMENT THAT
YOU COULDN'T HAVE AN OLD TESTAMENT BECAUSE
WRITING WAS UNKNOWN IN THOSE DAYS. WELL THE ARCHAEOLOGISTS
AT THAT TIME, EXCAVATED A PLACE IN EGYPT CALLED TEL EL IMARNA.
AND THE TEL EL IMARNA TABLETS DEMONSTRATED THAT NOT ONLY
DID WRITING EXIST IN THOSE DAYS, BUT THAT IT WAS A COMMON
METHOD OF COMMUNICATION FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES
AND OTHER THINGS IN THE WORLD IN THAT DAY.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT ARCHEOLOGISTS HAVE TRIED
TO DISPROVE FOR MANY YEARS, HAS BEEN THE EXISTENCE OF
THE HITTITES. THE IDEA IN SCRIPTURE THAT THESE
PEOPLE HAD A LOT OF INFLUENCE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF ISRAEL,
THEY HAVE PUT ON ONE SIDE AS SAYING, IT'S NOT REAL.
HOWEVER, ARCHEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE RECENTLY HAS FOUND THAT
INDEED IT IS REAL, THEY ARE A REAL CIVILIZATION.
AUTHOR ROBERT WILSON SAYS THAT OVER 40 KINGS ARE MENTIONED
IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, FROM 2000 B.C. TO 400 B.C.,
AND THAT THEY ARE ALL SPELLED CORRECTLY AND THEY'RE ALL
IN THE RIGHT AREA AND ALL IN THE RIGHT TIME.
HE SAYS THAT:
HE NOTES MATHEMATICALLY THAT THE CHANCES OF THIS OCCURRING
BY MERE CIRCUMSTANCE, IS 1 OVER 1 WITH
23 ZERO'S AFTER IT.
THE SCIENTISTS ARE ABLE WITH ARCHEOLOGY TO GO BACK
AND LOOK AT THE WALLS OF THE CITY, SUCH AS JERICHO,
AS AN EXAMPLE, THE BIBLE SAYS THAT THE WALLS OF JERICHO FELL,
AND THIS WAS A SUPER NATURAL EVENT. THEY FELL LITERALLY
STRAIGHT DOWN WHEN THE SOLDIERS OF ISRAEL MARCHED AROUND
THE CITY 7 TIMES AND BLEW ON THEIR TRUMPETS,
ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF GOD. WELL THE SCIENTISTS HAVE
GONE BACK TO JERICHO, AND WHEN THEY'VE EXAMINED THE WALLS
OF THE CITY, THEY FOUND SOMETHING REALLY STRANGE.
THAT THE WALLS ARE NOT PUSHED INWARD AS ONE WOULD EXPECT,
BECAUSE BATTERING RAMS PUSHED WALLS INWARD, THEY'RE NOT
PUSHED OUTWARD, IN FACT THE WALLS FELL STRAIGHT DOWN.
IT'S AS IF THE EARTH OPENED UP UNDERNEATH THEM AND THEY
LITERALLY DROPPED. AND THAT'S WHAT THE BIBLE SAID
ACTUALLY HAPPENED.
NELSON GLUECK, AN ARCHAEOLOGIST, SAID:
THOSE WHO TRULY SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH, THEY'LL FIND IT
AND THEY'LL KNOW THAT GOD EXISTS.
RECENTLY, ROBERT W. FAID, AN AMERICAN NUCLEAR ENGINEER
AND SCIENTIST, MADE THE SEARCH. HE WAS A PRODUCT OF THE
SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY AND DENIED THE EXISTENCE OF GOD.
THE MAJESTY OF MAN WAS ALL THAT HE NEEDED UNTIL ONE DAY,
A DOCTOR CALLED ABOUT SOME TESTS AND SAID, WE HAVE TO TALK.
FAID'S INSIDES WERE FULL OF CANCER, AND THERE WAS NOTHING
THAT SCIENCE OR TECHNOLOGY COULD DO. FACING DEATH, HE FELT
A STRANGE SENSE OF CALM, AS IF EVERYTHING WOULD BE ALL RIGHT,
AND MIRACULOUSLY, IT WAS. A WEEK LATER, A DOCTOR TOLD FAID
THE CANCER WAS GONE. COMPLETELY GONE,
AND THERE WAS NO EXPLANATION OF WHY IT DISAPPEARED.
REJOICING WHEN SHE HEARD THE NEWS, THE SCIENTISTS WIFE
TOLD FAID HOW SHE HAD ORGANIZED OVER 2000 CHRISTIANS TO PRAY
FOR HIM. HE SAID THANKS, BUT COULD STILL NOT BELIEVE IN
MIRACLES OR IN A GOD. THE SCIENTIST IN HIM DEMANDED
HARD, UNDENIABLE EVIDENCE. FAID'S REMARKABLE RECOVERY,
HOWEVER, CALLS HIM TO QUESTION HIS AGNOSTIC BELIEFS.
SO HE TURNED HIS SCIENTIFIC METHODS AND SKILLS TO TEST
THE THEORY OF GOD. AFTER YEARS OF THOROUGH INVESTIGATION,
FAID'S CONCLUSION LED HIM TO ACCEPT THE REALITY OF CHRIST
FROM A SCIENTIFIC POINT OF VIEW. SHORTLY THEREAFTER,
HE ACCEPTED HIM AS HIS SAVIOR, AND HE EVEN WROTE A BOOK
ABOUT HIS RESEARCH.
OKAY LISTEN, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY DIFFERENT
TRANSLATIONS THE BIBLE HAS GONE THROUGH?
AND HOW MUCH OF THAT WAS BEFORE THE PRINTING PRESS?
YEAH, BUT THEY HAD SPECIALLY TRAINED PEOPLE JUST TO DO THAT,
TO MAKE SURE IT WAS CORRECT.
HAVE YOU EVER PLAYED THE RUMOR GAME?
SURE YOU HAVE, YOU KNOW, WHERE YOU GET A GROUP OF PEOPLE,
AND ONE PERSON WHISPERS SOMETHING TO THE NEXT PERSON.
THEY IN TURN WHISPER IT TO THE NEXT, AND SO ON, BY THE TIME
IT GETS TO THE LAST PERSON, THE MESSAGE IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT.
AND THAT'S JUST WITH A SHORT MESSAGE, FORGET ABOUT TRYING
TO DUPLICATE A WHOLE BOOK.
YOU KNOW, I NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT THAT. SURELY THE BIBLE
WOULD HAVE CHANGED SINCE IT WAS FIRST WRITTEN.
EVEN IF IT WAS INSPIRED BY GOD, IT WOULD HAVE TO BE
RE-WRITTEN BY MAN.
IN 1947, THE ACCURACY OF THE BIBLE WAS PUT TO TEST.
A BEDOUIN SHEPHERD BOY HAD DISCOVERED A CAVE IN A CLIFF
ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE DEAD SEA. INSIDE WERE SEVERAL
LARGE JARS CONTAINING LEATHER SCROLLS. THESE WERE
THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS. THEY HAD BEEN CAREFULLY SEALED
AND PRESERVED IN THEIR JARS FOR OVER 1900 YEARS.
COINS FOUND INSIDE THE JARS AND PALEOGRAPHERS FROM AROUND
THE WORLD ALL DATE THE SCROLLS FROM AROUND 125 B.C.
YOU KNOW, UNTIL THAT TIME, THE EARLIEST BIBLICAL MANUSCRIPTS
WERE ABOUT 900 A.D. HOW COULD ANYONE SAY THAT THE BIBLE
HADN'T CHANGED FROM EVEN THE TIME OF CHRIST,
ABOUT 32 A.D., ALMOST 900 YEARS LATER. BUT WITH THE DEAD SEA
SCROLLS, THEY COULD. THE ISAIAH SCROLL DATED IN ABOUT 125 B.C.
MATCHED PRECISELY WITH THE MASERATIC TEXT OF ISAIAH
DATED IN 916 A.D. THAT 1,000 YEARS OF COPY AFTER COPY,
TRANSLATION AFTER TRANSLATION, WITH COMPLETE ACCURACY.
AND TODAY AFTER ANOTHER THOUSAND YEARS, THAT SAME ISAIAH SCROLL
STILL MATCHES THE KING JAMES VERSION OF THE BIBLE PERFECTLY.
I THINK THE DOCUMENTATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT AND THE
DOCUMENTATION OF THE OLD, PRETTY WELL SPEAKS FOR ITSELF.
INDEED, THE MORE WE FIND WE LEARN OF HISTORY,
WE DISCOVER THE BIBLICAL RECORD IS VALIDATED.
SO EVERY TIME THE SKEPTIC SAID SOMETHING, THAT IS NOT TRUE
ABOUT THE BIBLE, WHEN THE ARCHAEOLOGISTS FINALLY
DIG UP THE EVIDENCE, THE BIBLE IS RIGHT 100% OF THE TIME,
AND THE SKEPTICS ARE WRONG. I READ EVERYTHING THAT ALL THE
ATHEISTS, THE CRITICS HAVE EVER SAID ABOUT THIS BOOK THAT I
COULD FIND, AND THE MORE I READ, IT STRENGTHENED MY FAITH
BECAUSE THEY HAD SUCH PITIFUL ARGUMENTS.
THERE IS NOT AN ARGUMENT, A GOOD ARGUMENT THAT YOU CAN
GIVE AGAINST THIS. THERE'S NOT A GOOD ARGUMENT YOU CAN GIVE
AGAINST THE EXISTENCE OF GOD.
THE BIBLE HAS MORE BACKUP COPIES AND OLDER COPIES OF
MANUSCRIPTS THAN ANY OTHER ANCIENT RECORDS OF HISTORY.
IF THE BIBLE WAS DEEMED TO BE HISTORICALLY INACCURATE,
THEN ALL RECORDS OF ANCIENT HISTORY WOULD ALSO
HAVE TO BE DISCARDED. FOR EXAMPLE, HISTORIANS DO NOT
QUESTION THE ACCURACY OF CAESAR'S GALLIC WARS.
YET THERE ARE ONLY 10 COPIES OF THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT,
THE EARLIEST OF THESE 10 COPIES WAS WRITTEN 1,000 YEARS AFTER
THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT WAS WRITTEN. HOWEVER, THE BIBLE
HAS WELL OVER 13,000 COPIES OF THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT,
ALSO, MANY OF THESE COPIES WERE WRITTEN ONLY 250 YEARS
AFTER THE ORIGINAL.
WHAT THE BIBLE CLAIMS TO BE IS EXACTLY THAT,
AN INSTRUCTION BOOK FROM GOD. AND WRITTEN BY MENtú!!
CHOSEN BY GOD OVER A 1600 YEAR PERIOD.s sw
44 DIFFERENT AUTHORS WHO WROTE 66 BOOKS, INSPIRED BY GOD,vss
MANY OF THEM DID NOT KNOW EACH OTHER, AND YET THERE'Sçs
NOT A SINGLE REAL CONTRADICTION IN ANY OF THOSE BOOKS.w??
HISTORICAL MANUSCRIPTS ARE OFTEN CHECKED FOR ACCURACY
BY COMPARING QUOTATIONS FROM THEM FOUND IN OTHER WORKS.
WHEN A QUOTATION IS FOUND, IT CAN BE COMPARED TO THE
MANUSCRIPT. THE BIBLE PROVES SO DURABLE UNDER THIS TEST,
THAT IF EVERY EXISTING BIBLE WERE DESTROYED,
A FULLY COMPLETE AND ACCURATE COPY OF IT COULD STILL BE
PIECED TOGETHER FROM JUST THE BOOKS FOUND IN
ONE AVERAGE LIBRARY.
IT'S ALL VERY WELL TO SAY THAT THE BIBLE IS HISTORICALLY
ACCURATE AND VERY VIABLE TODAY, BUT REALLY COULDN'T ALL THAT
BE TRUE AND YET THE BIBLE STILL BE A HOAX?
I MEAN, THE BIBLE WAS PHYSICALLY WRITTEN BY MEN,
EVEN THE MOST DEVOUT CHRISTIAN HAS TO ADMIT THAT.
NOR WERE THESE MEN THE PILLARS OF SOCIETY, EITHER.
MAYBE THOSE WRITING THE BIBLE WERE TRYING TO DECEIVE OTHERS,
JUST LIKE MANY CULT LEADERS OF TODAY.
THESE GUYS WERE NOT GREAT MODELS OF HEROISM, MACHOISM.
THEY WERE COWARDS. AND WHEN THEY CAME AND TOOK JESUS
IN THE GARDEN, IT'S SAID THEY ALL TURNED TAIL AND RAN,
TO SAVE THEIR OWN LIVES. BUT AT THAT POINT, UP TILL THEN,
THEY HAD BELIEVED JESUS WAS THE MESSIAH.
NOW, IF AFTER HIS DEATH THEY KNOW HE'S NOT THE MESSIAH,
BECAUSE THEY HAD TO, YOU KNOW, FAKE THIS THING,
AND GET HIS BODY OUT AND HIDE IT AWAY SOMEWHERE, YOU MEAN,
PEOPLE THAT DIDN'T HAVE THE COURAGE TO DIE FOR WHAT THEY
BELIEVE WAS THE TRUTH, NOW SUDDENLY GET THE COURAGE
TO DIE FOR WHAT THEY KNOW IS A LIE? IT JUST DOESN'T HAPPEN.
J.N.D. ANDERSON WROTE:
BUT THERE'S ANOTHER SIDE TO THIS, SUPPOSE I TOLD YOU
THAT SOME YEARS AGO JOHN F. KENNEDY WAS
KILLED IN DALLAS BY A BOW AND ARROW. WOULD YOU BELIEVE ME?
OF COURSE NOT. THE REASON I COULDN'T FLY THAT KIND
OF A YARN, IS BECAUSE AS WE SPEAK, THERE'S TOO MANY
PEOPLE AROUND THAT WERE EYEWITNESSES.
AND WHEN PAUL WROTE IN HIS FIRST LETTER TO CORINTH,
THERE WERE 500 PEOPLE THAT WITNESSED HIS RESURRECTION
THAT WERE AMONG THEM.
IF YOU EXAMINE HISTORY, EXAMINE LITERATURE, YOU FIND THAT
PEOPLE VERY NATURALLY PRESENé THEMSELVES(IN THE
BEST LIGHT AVAILABLE. THEY DISGUISE(THEIR(BAD MOTIVES
AND THEY TRY(AND GIVE A SLANT ON A STORY OF HOW AN(EVENT
HAPPENED(TO LET THEMSELVES LOOK GOOD. HOWEVEZ IN$THE BIBLE,
YOU FIND THE EXACT REVERSE. I DEFY YOU TO FIND ANY OTHER BOOK
OUTSIDE THE BIBLE IN WHICH THE DISCIPLES WOULD PRESENT
THEMSELVES AS COWARDS WHO ABANDONED THEIR LORD
WHEN HE WAS CRUCIFIED, AFRAID FOR THEIR LIVES.
SCIENCE IS UPHELD AS A CHAMPION OF OBJECTIVITY.
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD IS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOVE EMOTIONS
AND OPINIONS. YET ANYONE FAMILIAR WITH THE BATTLE
BETWEEN THE THEORIES OF EVOLUTION AND CREATION,
KNOW THAT THERE ARE FEW TOPICS THAT GENERATE MORE
STRONGLY BIASED VIEWS. THERE IS LITTLE ARGUMENT NOW, HOWEVER,
THAT THE BIBLE DOES IN FACT HOLD REMARKABLE
SCIENTIFIC IDEAS. IDEAS THAT FOR MANY YEARS,
WERE SCOFFED AT, AND IGNORED BY, MANY TOP SCIENTISTS.
THERE ARE MANY THINGS FOUND IN THE BIBLE, FROM THOUSANDS OF
YEARS AGO, THAT ARE ABSOLUTELY SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN TODAY.
JUST A FEW EXAMPLES COME TO MIND. IN THE BOOK OF JOB,
WHICH IS BY THE WAY, THE OLDEST BOOK IN THE BIBLE,
WE FIND A NUMBER OF SCIENTIFIC FACTS.
NOT ONLY TALKING ABOUT THE CONSTELLATIONS AND ASTRONOMY,
AND MENTIONS SOME OF THE STAR SYSTEMS THAT EXIST,
BUT WE FIND A COMPLETE HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE,
THAT HERE IN A BOOK THAT IS SOME 4,000 YEARS OLD,
IT DESCRIBES EXACTLY HOW EVAPORATION TAKES PLACE
FROM A LAKE AND THAT THE WATER VAPOR IS TAKEN UP IN THE
HEAVENS AND THEN IT'S TURNED INTO, ULTIMATELY INTO
A CLOUD AND INTO RAIN AND INTO HAIL, INTO SNOW AND THEN
DOWN INTO THE EARTH AGAIN. THINGS THAT COULD NOT HAVE
BEEN KNOWN, SCIENTIFICALLY AT THAT TIME.
IN THE PENETUK, WRITTEN BY MOSES, YOU HAVE THE MOST
ADVANCED HYGIENIC LAWS, AND THIS IS WHY, DURING THE BLACK DEATH
PLAGUE, AND WHEN LEPROSY SPREAD ACROSS EUROPE,
THEY BLAMED THE JEWS FOR STARTING IT,
BECAUSE IN THE JEWISH GALLOWS, THEY DIDN'T HAVE THESE PLAGUES,
BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T HAVE SEWAGE RUNNING IN THE STREETS
LIKE YOU HAD IN PARIS, GOING INTO THE, PEOPLE ARE
DRINKING OUT OF IT AND BATHING OUT OF IT.
PEOPLE USED TO PRACTICE BLOOD LETTING, ONCE UPON A TIME.
AND BLOOD LETTING WAS THOUGHT TO BE THE ANSWER TO DISEASE.
BUT WE FOUND OUT LATER, THAT THAT'S WHAT KILLS PEOPLE
RATHER THAN CAUSES THEM TO LIVE. BUT THE BIBLE SAYS
THE LIFE OF THE BODY IS IN THE BLOOD, AND HAD THAT BEEN
SIMPLY READ AND ACCEPTED ONCE UPON A TIME,
IT WOULD HAVE EFFECTED "MEDICAL SCIENCE" FROM THE BEGINNING.
WELL NOT UNTIL 1900 DID SCIENTISTS KNOW THERE WAS
SUCH A THING AS GERMS. IN FACT, IN HOSPITALS IN EUROPE
AND AMERICA IN 1900, THE DOCTORS WOULD DO AN AUTOPSY
IN THE MORNING AND LEAVE THE AUTOPSY ROOM WITH THEIR HANDS
STILL BLOODY AND WOULD DELIVER BABIES. THE WOMEN WHO WERE
DELIVERING BABIES WERE DYING AT OVER 60% MORTALITY RATE
FOR ANY WOMAN WHO ENTERED A HOSPITAL.
AND WHEN ONE CHRISTIAN WHO WAS READING THE BOOK
OF LEVITICUS, WENT TO HIS HOSPITAL AND SAID,
NOW I'M INSTRUCTING ALL OF YOU TO WASH YOUR HANDS IN
HOT SOAPY WATER BEFORE YOU EVER TOUCH A WOMAN WHO'S
GOING TO HAVE A CHILD, HE WAS RIDICULED.
BUT BECAUSE HE WAS IN CONTROL, THEY DID IT,
AND THE MORTALITY RATE DROPPED TO ABOUT ONE TENTH
OF WHAT IT WAS, IN ALL THE OTHER HOSPITALS.
LET'S JUST TAKE, ONE EXAMPLE, THE CIRCUMCISION,
THAT WAS ORDERED ON THE EIGHTH DAY, NOT THE SEVENTH,
NOT THE NINTH, BUT THE EIGHTH. BUT IT'S ONLY IN RECENT YEARS
THAT IT'S BEEN FOUND THAT THE CLOTTING FACTOR IN THE@
HUMAN BEING, THE BABY, REACHES IT'S MAXIMUM PEAK
AT THE EIGHTH DAY. SO THIS WOULD BE THE IDEAL TIME
FOR THAT TYPE OF OPERATION TO BE CARRIED OUT.
THIS WOULD BE THE SAFEST TIME.
THE BIBLE CONTAINS INFORMATION THAT IS SCIENTIFIC AND MEDICAL
THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO EXPLAIN UNLESS IT WAS DIVINELY
INSPIRED BY GOD.
THE BIBLE IS OFTEN SAID NOT TO BE SCIENTIFIC BECAUSE OF
STORIES LIKE CREATION, AND NOAH AND THE FLOOD.
WHILE MANY BELIEVE THAT THE EARTH IS BILLIONS OF
YEARS OLD, AND NOAH ONLY A FICTIONAL STORY,
THE EVIDENCE SAYS OTHERWISE. DESPITE WHAT IS TOUGHT
IN MANY SCHOOLS TODAY, THE EVIDENCE FOR A YOUNG EARTH
AND NOAH'S FLOOD ARE OVERWHELMING.
YOU TAKE WHAT'S THERE AND IT INDICATES A VERY,
VERY YOUNG EARTH. YOU JUST TAKE THE FACTS AS THEY ARE
WITHOUT ALL THE EXTRA ASSUMPTIONS,
AND IT COMES OUT YOUNG.
OBSERVATIONS OF THE MAGNETIC FIELD, YOU CAN MEASURE
THE STRENGTH OF IT AT THE SURFACE, INDICATE THAT OVER
THE LAST 300 YEARS, THE MAGNETIC FIELD OF THE EARTH
HAS BEEN DECREASING IN INTENSITY. IT'S BEEN GETTING
LESS AND LESS AND LESS. NOW THIS IS CONSISTENT WITH THE IDEA
THAT THERE ARE LITTLE ELECTRONS RUNNING AROUND AND THEY'RE
SLOWING DOWN IN THE COURSE OF TIME.
BUT THEY'RE SLOWING DOWN SO FAST, WITH A HALF LIFE OF
1,400-2,000 YEARS, THAT IN FACT THE EARTH CAN'T BE ANY,
THE EARTH'S MAGNETIC FIELD, ANYWAY, CAN'T BE ANY OLDER
THAN 10,000 YEARS OR THEY'D BE TOO STRONG FOR LIFE
TO BE COMFORTABLE ON THE EARTH.
DOWN IN TEXAS WE'VE GOT A LOT OF OIL WELLS,
AND THERE'S TREMENDOUS PRESSURES DOWN THERE,
AND IT GETS RATHER DANGEROUS SOMETIMES, YOU TAP INTO
SOME OF THESE GAS POCKETS, AND IT JUST BLOWS THE RIGS SKY HIGH,
I MEAN, JUST THOUSANDS OF FEET UP INTO THE AIR.
TREMENDOUS PRESSURE. WELL, ONE OF THE FACTORS
THAT YOU HAVE TO KNOW ABOUT WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING FOR OIL
IS THE POROSITY OF THE ROCK. HOW MANY LITTLE PORES PER INCH,
OR WHATEVER, AND YOU CAN CALCULATE VERY EASILY
HOW LONG THESE ROCKS WOULD HOLD THE PRESSURES.
YOU COME OUT WITH ABOUT A MAXIMUM OF 50,000 YEARS.
AND YET YOU'VE GOT TREMENDOUS PRESSURES DOWN THERE
THAT DON'T SEEM TO HAVE ABATED, COULDN'T HAVE BEEN MUCH
STRONGER THAN THEY ARE, AND IT CAN'T LAST THAT LONG.
THAT SAYS IT HADN'T BEEN THERE FOR BILLIONS OF YEARS.
EROSION OF NIAGARA FALLS IN CANADA, IS ANOTHER DRAMATIC
PIECE OF EVIDENCE FOR A YOUNG EARTH AND NOAH'S FLOOD.
ALTHOUGH IN RECENT YEARS, THE HORSESHOE FALLS
HAVE BEEN REINFORCED, THERE USED TO BE NOTICEABLE EROSION
EVERY YEAR. THE EROSION WAS ESTIMATED AT ABOUT
1-3 FEET PER YEAR. SINCE THE NIAGARA GORGE IS 7 MILES LONG,
OR 35,000 FEET, IT WAS CALCULATED TO BE ABOUT
35,000 YEARS OLD.
EVIDENCE HAS SHOWN US IN FACT, SINCE THAT TIME,
AND IT'S NOT ONE FOOT, IT'S NOT THREE. CLOSER TO SIX.
SIX INTO 35,000, GOES ABOUT 5-6 THOUSAND YEARS.
EXACTLY WHAT WE WOULD EXPECT IF IN FACT THAT GORGE BEGAN,
AND THOSE FALLS BEGAN SHORTLY AFTER THE TIME OF THE FLOOD.
EVIDENCES OF THE FLOOD ARE A REALLY LARGE NUMBER
OF SUCH EVIDENCES. ONE OF THE BEST EVIDENCES I THINK,
IS THE WIDESPREAD NATURE OF SEDIMENTS THAT YOU FIND
ON THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH. NEAR WHERE I LIVE
IN DAYTON, TENNESSEE, THERE'S A SANDSTONE LAYER THAT AGAIN,
IS FOUND OVER THOUSANDS OF SQUARE MILES OF AREA,
AND IT HAS EVIDENCE IN IT OF BEING DEPOSITED VERY,
VERY RAPIDLY, AS IF, AND UNDERWATER, AS IF YOU'VE GOT
A MOVING OCEAN MOVING OVER THE INTERIOR OF THE CONTINENT.
YOU CAN TRACE THE LIMESTONES IN MY AREA OF DAYTON, TENNESSEE
ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE STATES CONTINUOUS WITH LIMESTONES
THAT YOU FIND IN MONTANA, AND WITH LIMESTONES IN THE
GRAND CANYON. ACROSS THE ENTIRE CONTINENT. SO WHAT YOU HAVE IS
INTERCONTINENTAL DISTRIBUTION OF SEDIMENTS ACROSS THE WORLD.
SEEMS TO ARGUE VERY POWERFULLY FOR, AGAIN, A MOVING OCEAN,
A AGORABLE FLOOD.
I THINK A UNIVERSAL FLOOD IS THE BEST EXPLANATION
FOR THE GEOLOGIC PHENOMENON THAT WE SEE.
AS WE'VE SUGGESTED, NICK LOSTINO,
THE FOUNDERS OF THE DISCIPLINE OF GEOLOGY AND STATIGRAPHY
ALL BELIEVE THAT THAT'S WHAT DID IT.
THE ABUNDANCE OF FOSSILS ON RECORD ARGUES FOR VERY RAPID
DEPOSITION, WHICH I BELIEVE IS ACCOUNTED FOR IN THE
BIBLICAL FLOOD. THE FLOOD THAT CAME UP IN THE DAYS OF NOAH,
AND COVERED THE LAND'S SURFACE VERY RAPIDLY,
MOVING SEDIMENTS AROUND AND DUMPING LARGE AMOUNTS
OF SEDIMENT IN PARTICULAR AREAS, BURYING CREATURES VERY FAST,
VERY RAPIDLY, I BELIEVE THAT IS THE EVENT THAT PRODUCED US
MOST OF THE FOSSIL RECORD.
COURT CASES ARE WON OR LOST ON THE EVIDENCE THAT IS PRESENTED.
SO FAR, WE'VE ESTABLISHED THAT THERE IS EVIDENCE OF THE
ETERNAL CREATOR, BECAUSE THERE IS A WONDERFULLY
DESIGNED CREATION. ALSO, WE'VE LOOKED AT THE BIBLE.
MANY CONSIDER IT TO BE THE ACTUAL INHERENT WORD OF GOD.
WE'VE AT LEAST ESTABLISHED IT TO BE A CREDIBLE WITNESS.
FROM IT'S HISTORICAL ACCURACY, IT'S VAST DOCUMENTATION,
AND IT'S REMARKABLE VIEWS ON SCIENCE, THE BIBLE HAS EARNED
IT'S DAY IN COURT.
NOW THINK OF WHAT THE BIBLE CLAIMS TO BE.
IT'S A MESSAGE WRITTEN BY THE CREATOR TO HIS CREATION.
THAT'S POWERFUL. IT'S MORE THAN POWERFUL, IT'S MIND-BOGGLING.
THE QUESTION IS, HOW DOES THE CREATOR AUTHENTICATE
HIS MESSAGE? HOW DOES HE PROVE TO A CREATION,
A CREATION THAT HE HAS GIVEN GREAT MENTAL FACULTIES TO,
THAT HE IS INDEED THE ONE SENDING THE MESSAGE?
WELL THE PRIMARY WAY HE'S CHOSEN TO DO THAT IS TO TELL US
THE FUTURE BEFORE IT HAPPENS. IN FACT THE GOD OF THE BIBLE
WARNS US THERE'LL BE A LOT OF GOD WANNABE'S,
AND THAT HE WILL PROVE THAT HE'S THE ONLY TRUE ETERNAL CREATOR
BECAUSE HE CAN DO WHAT NO ONE ELSE CAN.
ABOUT PERHAPS, 1/3 OF THE BIBLE IS PROPHECY,
THE BIBLE PROPHESIED PERHAPS 2-300 SEPARATE DETAILS ABOUT
THE BIRTH AND THE LIFE AND THE DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION
OF JESUS CHRIST, AND ALL OF THOSE HAVE COME TO PASS
IN ABSOLUTELY PERFECT FULFILLMENT OF WHAT
THE OLD TESTAMENT SAYS. THE FACT THAT JESUS CHRIST WAS BORN
OF A VIRGIN, PREDICTED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.
BORN IN THE CITY OF BETHLEHEM, PREDICTED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.
BORN AT A TIME IN WHICH AN ELEMENT OF THE NATIONS WOULD
WAIL BECAUSE OF HIM, AND WE HAVE THE NEW TESTAMENT
PRESENT TO US THE FULFILLMENT OF THIS, IMAGINE HEROD
CONDEMNING THE CHILDREN TO DEATH IN A GIVEN AREA OF
THE WORLD IN HIS ATTEMPT TO DO AWAY WITH THE MESSIAH,
PREDICTED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.
AND THE THESIS WAS THAT JESUS KNEW THESE PROPHECIES
AND HE AND JUDAS CONSPIRED TO FULFILL THEM.
HOW DID JESUS KNOW WHO WOULD BE ON DUTY THAT DAY,
SO THAT HE COULD GET NAILED BETWEEN TWO THIEVES
AND FULFILL THE SCRIPTURES, SO HE COULD HAVE THEM GAMBLE
FOR HIS CLOTHES, SO HE COULD HAVE THEM GIVE HIM
VINEGAR MINGLED WITH GALL WHEN HE SAID I THIRST,
AND SO FORTH, AND FINALLY, THE RESURRECTION. YOU KNOW,
GREAT, BIG DEAL, I CONVINCED EVERYBODY I'M THE MESSIAH,
BUT I GOT KILLED IN THE PROCESS, SO YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO
COME BACK TO LIFE. HOW'S HE GOING TO PULL THAT ONE OFF?
IN FACT, THE PROPHECIES SURROUNDING THE TRIAL
AND DEATH OF JESUS ARE SO ACCURATE THAT CRITICS HAVE
HAD TO TRY TO ARGUE THAT THE PROPHECIES WERE WRITTEN
AFTER THE FACT. BUT EVEN THAT ARGUMENT WAS DEFEATED
WITH THE DISCOVERY OF THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS, WHICH RECORDED
THE WORDS OF ISAIAH AT LEAST 250 YEARS BEFORE THE
COMING OF JESUS. BUT ONE OF THE MOST STARTLING PROPHECIES
CONCERNING THE ARRIVAL OF JESUS IN ISRAEL HAD TO DO WITH
THE EXACT YEAR, THE EXACT MONTH AND IN FACT THE EXACT DAY
WHEN HE PRESENTED HIMSELF TO ISRAEL AS THEIR MESSIAH.
IT'S ABOUT 500 YEARS BEFORE THE TIME OF CHRIST.
THE PROPHET DANIEL IS IN CAPTIVITY IN BABYLON,
AND THE ANGEL GABRIEL BRINGS HIM A MESSAGE FROM THE CREATOR.
HE TELLS HIM THAT THE ORDER IS SOON GOING TO COME FORTH
ORDERING THE REBUILDING OF JERUSALEM. AND THEN HE
TELLS HIM THAT EXACTLY 483 YEARS FROM THAT DAY,
THE DAY THAT THE COMMANDMENT IS GIVEN, THE MESSIAH WILL
PRESENT HIMSELF TO ISRAEL.
WHEN YOU GO THROUGH THAT ARITHMETIC, IT'S AMAZING.
YOU COME OUT TO 173,880 DAYS. GABRIEL'S MARGIN FOR ERROR
WAS ZERO. NOW WHAT MAKES THAT SO DRAMATIC, IS THAT THERE'S
NO WAY TO REFUTE IT. THE DATES ARE WELL KNOWN,
THEY'RE DOCUMENTED IN SECULAR HISTORY.
THE PRECISION IS THERE. FOR THAT TO BE CONTRIVED,
IS IMPOSSIBLE, IT'S PART OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.
CENTURIES BEFOREHAND.
WHAT HAPPENED ON THAT DAY OF APRIL THE 6TH, 32 A.D.
IN AN EVENT STILL COMMEMORATED TO THIS DAY.
IT WAS WHAT WE KNOW AS PALM SUNDAY.
COMMEMORATING THE DAY WHEN JESUS RODE INTO JERUSALEM
ON A DONKEY, PRESENTING HIMSELF AS THE MESSIAH.
I MEAN, HOW ARE YOU GOING TO CONSPIRE WHERE YOU'RE
GOING TO BE BORN, IN BETHLEHEM AND WHEN SO THAT YOU CAN
RIDE INTO JERUSALEM AT EXACTLY THE RIGHT TIME AND SO FORTH.
WE'RE TALKING ABOUT PROOFS AND EVIDENCE HERE.
ONE OF THE THINGS ABOUT EVIDENCE, IS PROBABILITY.
IT'S JUST A MATTER OF SIMPLE MATH. HISTORIANS AGREE
THAT THE EVIDENCE DOES INDICATE THAT JESUS FULFILLED ALL OF
THE PROPHECIES ABOUT THE LIFE, DEATH AND RESURRECTION
OF THE MESSIAH. THAT'S SEVERAL HUNDRED PROPHECIES.
INCLUDING DOZENS OVER WHICH HE COULD HAVE NO CONTROL.
WHAT ARE THE ODDS ON THAT?
BUT DID THE EFFORTS OF THE CREATOR TO AUTHENTICATE
HIS MESSAGE END WITH PROPHECIES FULFILLED ALMOST
2,000 YEARS AGO, OR, AS SCHOLARS STATE, DID THE CREATOR PROMISE
THAT THIS MESSIAH, HIS ONLY SON, WOULD RETURN TO EARTH
ONE MORE TIME? MANY PREDICTIONS HAVE BEEN MADE ABOUT
GOD'S PEOPLE AND THE END TIMES. MAYBE WE DON'T HAVE TO
LOOK AT ANCIENT HISTORY IN ORDER TO SEE IF GOD EXISTS.
WHAT IF WE COULD SEE THOSE ANCIENT PROPHECIES
COMING TO LIGHT IN THIS GENERATION?
AND YET MIRACLE OF MIRACLE, THE BIBLE PROPHESIED THAT
IN THE LAST DAYS, THE JEWS WOULD COME BACK INTO THEIR LAND.
NOW NO OTHER NATION IN HISTORY HAS CEASED TO EXIST
FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS AND EVER BECOME A NATION AGAIN.
BUT THE BIBLE PROPHESIED THAT IT WOULD. AND FURTHERMORE,
THE BIBLE PROPHESIED, IN THE WORDS OF EZEKIEL 4:4-6,
THAT ISRAEL WOULD BE REBORN AS A NATION. EXACTLY IN MAY 1948.
THE HISTORY OF THE JEWS IS ONE OF THE GREATEST PROOFS
THAT GOD EXISTS. HERE IS A PEOPLE THAT HAVE BEEN
PERSECUTED FOR OVER 3,000 YEARS, HAVE BEEN CAST OUT OF
THEIR COUNTRY, HAVE BEEN TORTURED AND KILLED
AND IMPRISONED.
TO ANY OTHER PEOPLE IN HISTORY THAT THIS HAS HAPPENED TO,
THEY HAVE SIMPLY DISAPPEARED. FOR SOMEONE TO KEEP THEIR
NATIONAL IDENTITY WITHOUT A NATION IS INCREDIBLE.
BUT TO KEEP IT EVEN IN THE FACE OF DEATH SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE.
WELL IT IS ABSOLUTELY REMARKABLE IN THAT THE JEWS LOST THEIR
LANGUAGE.ABOUT 2,000 YEARS AGO. EVEN IN THE DAYS OF JESUS,
THE JEWS WERE NO LONGER SPEAKING HEBREW, WHICH WAS
THE ANCIENT BIBLICAL LANGUAGE, 2,000 YEARS PAST
WHAT GOD HAD PROPHESIED 25 CENTURIES AGO,
IN THE WORDS OF ZEPHANIA 3:9:
THIS EXTRAORDINARY PROPHECY THAT IN THE LAST DAYS, ISRAEL WOULD
RESTORE THE LANGUAGE. THE PURE LANGUAGE OF HEBREW,
WAS AN EXTRAORDINARY AND UNLIKELY PROPHECY,
IN THAT NO OTHER NATION IN HISTORY HAS LOST.IT'S LANGUAGE
AN EVER RECOVERED IT.
YOU'VE GOT ISRAEL BACK IN HER LAND. THAT'S THE CORNERSTONE
OF PROPHECY. IT'S RECORDED IN A DOZEN DIFFERENT PLACES
IN THE BIBLE. THE GENERATION THAT SEES THE RETURN OF
ISRAEL TO HER LAND WILL SEE THE SECOND COMING OF THE MESSIAH.
BUT IT'S FAR MORE THAN THAT. IN THIS SAME GENERATION
YOU'VE GOT A EUROPEAN DEMOCRATIC SUPER STATE RISING
IN THE EUROPEAN UNION EXACTLY AS PROPHESIED.
YOU'VE GOT AN OUT OF CONTROL SUPER POWER TO THE
NORTH OF ISRAEL, EXACTLY AS PROPHESIED.
THE STATUS OF JERUSALEM THREATENS WORLD PEACE,
EXACTLY AS PROPHESIED. AND WE'RE MOVING TO A NEW WORLD ORDER
AND ONCE AGAIN, THAT'S EXACTLY AS PROPHESIED.
ON THE DESOLATE ISLAND OF PATMOS, THE EXILED APOSTLE JOHN
WROTE THE BOOK OF THE REVELATION.
A BOOK OF THE BIBLE THAT PREDICTS FUTURE EVENTS
WITH STARTLING ACCURACY. DRAMATIC CHANGES TO
GLOBAL WEATHER PATTERNS, PESTILENCES UNLIKE ANYTHING
KNOWN IN HISTORY. EARTHQUAKES OCCURRING
WITH GREATER FREQUENCY THAN EVER BEFORE.
THE ADVENT OF NUCLEAR POWER, AN ARMY FROM THE FAR EAST
NUMBERING 200 MILLION, A HOLE IN THE OZONE LAYER.
THESE WERE ALL CLEARLY PROPHESIED IN THE BIBLE
AS EVENTS THAT WOULD TAKE PLACE IN THE GENERATION THAT SAW
ISRAEL COME BACK TO HER LAND.
THESE ARE POWERFUL PIECES OF EVIDENCE.
AND THAT'S WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT: EVIDENCE.
SO AMONG ALL THE HUNDREDS OF PROPHECIES THAT SEEM TO
SPEAK SO DIRECTLY TO THIS GENERATION, ARE THERE ANY
THAT SHOW THE BIBLE, WRITTEN THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO,
FORESAW EVENTS AND REALITIES THAT NO MAN COULD HAVE FORESEEN.
ONE OF THE MOST DRAMATIC PROPHECIES ABOUT THIS
LAST GENERATION WAS RECORDED IN THE BOOK OF DANIEL
ABOUT 2500 YEARS AGO. HERE GOD TOLD THE PROPHET DANIEL
THAT THE LAST GENERATION IN HISTORY WOULD BE DIFFERENT FROM
ANY OTHER GENERATION IN ONE SPECIFIC WAY.
THERE WOULD BE AN EXPONENTIAL INCREASE IN KNOWLEDGE.
IT'S INCREDIBLE. AND WHAT MAKES ALL THIS POSSIBLE IS
THE COMPUTER. CALCULATIONS AND THEORIES THAT TOOK
YEARS TO WORK OUT CAN NOW BE DONE IN SECONDS.
OUR TOTAL KNOWLEDGE IS DOUBLING EVERY TWO YEARS.
IT'S"A"WORLD ON FAST FORWARD. IT'S A GENERATION,
A TIME IN HISTORY TOTALLY DISTINCT FROM ANY BEFORE.
I DON'T SEE HOW ANYONE COULD ARGUE THAT THIS DIFFERENCE
IS NOT BASED ON AN EXPONENTIAL INCREASE IN KNOWLEDGE.
THE BOOK OF REVELATION MAKES A PROPHECY UN UNDERSTANDABLE TO
ANY OTHER GENERATION. IT TELLS US THAT IN THE LAST DAYS,
NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO BUY OR SELL ANYTHING WITHOUT
A MARK IN THE RIGHT HANDS OR FOREHEAD.
THIS IS AN INCREDIBLE PROPHECY COMING FROM 2,000 YEARS AGO.
HOW ARE YOU GOING TO TRACK THE BUYING OR SELLING OF EVERYONE
WHEN PEOPLE LIVED OFF THE LAND? BUT THIS GENERATION
IS DIFFERENT. WE HAVE AUTOMATED TELLER MACHINES,
ELECTRONIC FUND TRANSFERS, SMART CARDS, DEBIT CARDS,
AN ELECTRONIC SYSTEM THAT MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO TRACK THE
BUYING AND SELLING OF EVERYONE ON THIS EARTH.
JESUS HIMSELF, SPEAKING OF THE LAST GENERATION, SAID UNLESS
HE RETURNED TO PERSONALLY INTERVENE IN HISTORY,
MANKIND WOULD ENTER A WAR. A BATTLE CALLED ARMAGEDDON,
IN WHICH HE WOULD USE HIS NEW TECHNOLOGIES TO DESTROY
EVERY SINGLE PERSON ON THE PLANET.
HOW COULD THAT HAVE HAPPENED IN ANY OTHER GENERATION?
THINK BACK EVEN A HUNDRED YEARS. MEN FOUGHT THEIR WARS
WITH BOWS AND ARROWS AND MUSKETS AND CANNONS.
HOW CAN YOU WIPE OUT ALL FLESH THAT WAY?
NOT A CHANCE.
SO WHAT ABOUT ALL THIS EVIDENCE? WE'VE LOOKED AT IT,
WE'VE EXAMINED IT. BUT WHAT WOULD A LAWYER, A MAN TRAINED
IN THE LAWS OF EVIDENCE, SAY? AND WHAT IF, FOR EXAMPLE,
HE WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST EXPERTS ON THE LAWS
OF EVIDENCE IN THIS GENERATION.
YOU REMEMBER SIMON GREENLEAF, HE WAS THE GREATEST AUTHORITY
ON EVIDENCE, AND HE'S ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF THE HARVARD SCHOOL
OF LAW. AND SOME OF THE STUDENTS CHALLENGED HIM ONE DAY,
SOMETHING LIKE THIS, THEY SAID, DR. GREENLEAF, YOU'RE THE
WORLD'S GREATEST AUTHORITY ON EVIDENCE, WHY DON'T YOU
USE YOUR KNOW-HOW AND EXAMINE THE EVIDENCE FOR THE CLAIMS
JESUS OF NAZARETH, THIS GUY MADE CLAIMS LIKE NOBODY ELSE MADE.
WHY DON'T YOU APPLY YOUR KNOW-HOW TO THIS AND SEE
WHETHER THEY'RE TRUE OR FALSE. HE SAID GREAT IDEA.
I NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT. HE SPENT SEVERAL MONTHS
ON HIS INVESTIGATION, AND HE REPORTED BACK SOMETHING
LIKE THIS, HE SAID, I HAVE CAREFULLY EXAMINED THE CLAIMS
OF JESUS OF NAZARETH ON THE BASIS OF LEGAL EVIDENCE,
HOW DO YOU ALLOW EVIDENCE, WHAT EVIDENCE WILL YOU ALLOW
IN COURT? HOW DO YOU EXAMINE IT? WHAT TESTIMONY WILL YOU ALLOW
TO ARRIVE AT A JUST AND SOUND CONCLUSION?
HE SAYS, I HAVE EXAMINED THE EVIDENCE, AND I TELL YOU,
BASED UPON THE EVIDENCE, THERE'S NO DOUBT ABOUT IT,
JESUS IS WHO HE CLAIMED TO BE. HE SAID, HE IS THE SON OF GOD,
HE'S GOD WHO CAME TO THIS EARTH, BECAME A MAN, HE DIED FOR
OUR SINS, HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD THE THIRD DAY,
THERE'S NO DOUBT ABOUT IT, THE RESURRECTION IS AS FULLY
ESTABLISHED AS ANY EVENT THAT YOU CAN FIND IN HISTORY,
BUT HE SAID, JESUS, HE MADE A PROMISE, AFTER HE ROSE FROM
THE DEAD, HE SAID IF ANYONE HEAR MY VOICE AND OPEN THE DOOR,
HIS HEART, HIS LIFE, I'LL COME IN AND LIVE WITH HIM,
AND SIMON GREENLEAF SAID, I TOOK HIS WORD AND I
INVITED HIM IN, HE CHANGED MY LIFE. HE'S DONE FOR ME
WHAT I COULDN'T DO FOR MYSELF. WELL THESE ARE SOME OF THE
EVIDENCES TO ME, THAT I DON'T THINK ANY, I DON'T THINK,
I KNOW, THAT NO SKEPTIC, NOBODY CAN DENY. YOU CAN'T BE
AN ATHEIST. NOBODY CAN BE AN AGNOSTIC. YOU'VE GOT TO
ACKNOWLEDGE THE EVIDENCE. NOW WHETHER YOU ACCEPT CHRIST
OR NOT, WHETHER YOU BOW YOUR KNEE AND YOUR WILL TO HIM
OR NOT, THAT'S ANOTHER QUESTION.
THE EVIDENCE OF GOD'S EXISTENCE IS SOMETHING THAT DEMANDS
A VERDICT. THE FACT THAT WE ARE HERE ON THIS REMARKABLE PLANET,
FLOATING IN SPACE, SHOULD BE REASON ENOUGH FOR US
TO WONDER WHERE WE CAME FROM. WE'VE LOOKED AT ONE BOOK
THAT ANSWERS THAT QUESTION. THE BIBLE.
IT HAS SURVIVED THE TESTS OF TIME, HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY
LIKE NOTHING EVER HAS OR EVER WILL. OFTEN IT'S PROVEN
SCIENCE BEFORE SCIENCE HAS PROVEN ITSELF.
THE BIBLE TRULY IS A REMARKABLE TESTAMENT TO THE EXISTENCE
OF GOD. DESPITE REPEATED AND FIERCE ATTACKS,
IT IS A TESTAMENT THAT DEFENDS ITSELF TIME AND AGAIN,
WITHOUT THE NEED OF ANYONE'S HELP OR INTERPRETATION.
THE BIBLE MAY MAKE SOME MIND EXPANDING CLAIMS,
BUT WE LIVE IN AN INCREDIBLE WORLD.
WHICH IS MORE BELIEVABLE? THAT IMPOSSIBLE THINGS HAPPEN
THROUGH TIME AND CHANCE, AGAINST THE LAWS OF SCIENCE
AND PROBABILITY OR THAT IMPOSSIBLE THINGS HAPPEN
THROUGH THE WILL OF GOD, AND THROUGH THE LAWS OF SCIENCE?
AND WHO OTHER THAN GOD WOULD BE ABLE TO SEE INTO THE FUTURE?
IF SOMEONE TODAY CLAIMED TO BE GOD, WOULDN'T WE ASK HIM
TO TELL US WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN? AND IF HE DID IT
PRECISELY AND ACCURATELY EVERY SINGLE TIME,
WOULDN'T WE WONDER AT LEAST A LITTLE BIT?
LOGICALLY THEN, SHOULDN'T WE WONDER ABOUT JESUS?
AT LEAST WE SHOULD LISTEN TO THE ARGUMENTS WITH AN OPEN MIND,
AND AN OPEN HEART.
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WHAT AN ABSOLUTELY AMAZING WORLD.
MANY BELIEVE THAT EVERYTHING,
THE SUN, THE MOON, THE STARS, OUR EARTH,
EVEN THIS GLORIOUS MORNING, EVERYTHING WAS CREATED BY
SOME SUPERIOR BEING. THEY BELIEVE IN THE BIBLE,
GENESIS AND GOD. THERE ARE OTHERS WHO BELIEVE THAT
ALL OF THIS CAME ABOUT THROUGH TIME AND CHANCE
AND THAT NATURE AND SCIENCE DETERMINE OUR EXISTENCE
AND THAT WE ARE A STAGE IN AN EVOLUTIONARY PROCESS.
THEY BELIEVE THAT ONLY MAN CAN DETERMINE EXISTENCE
AND DECIDE WHAT IS TRUE AND WHAT IS FALSE.
MANY HOWEVER ACCEPT PARTS OF BOTH OF THESE VIEWPOINTS,
AND NEVER THINK THAT YOU CAN NOT ACCEPT THEM BOTH.
THERE REALLY ARE ONLY TWO ANSWERS AS TO HOW WE ARE HERE.
BY DESIGN, OR BY CHANCE.
WHICH SIDE DOES THE EVIDENCE SUPPORT?
WELL IT'S AN IMPORTANT QUESTION.
IT ANSWERS WHERE WE CAME FROM, WHERE WE'RE GOING,
AND THE ETERNAL QUESTION, DOES GOD EXIST?
LET'S START WITH WHAT WE KNOW.
WE KNOW I'M HERE, WE KNOW THE EARTH IS HERE,
WE KNOW THIS WATCH IS HERE. SO LET'S KEEP IT SIMPLE.
WHERE DID THIS WATCH COME FROM?
THE UNIVERSE AND THE WATCH ARE OFTEN COMPARED.
BOTH HAVE MANY COMPLEX PARTS. PARTS THAT WORK TOGETHER
TO FORM A FUNCTIONAL SYSTEM. BOTH ALSO EXIST,
AND SINCE THEY EXIST, THEY HAD AN ORIGIN.
A MAN DROPS A WATCH ON THE BEACH.
A WATCH HE BOUGHT FROM A THIEF.
A WATCH THE THIEF STOLE FROM THE WATCH MAKER.
THE WATCH THEREFORE, DESPITE THE TWISTS AND TURNS,
CAME FROM THE WATCH MAKER. IT WAS MADE IN HIS SHOP,
WITH HIS PARTS, AND WITH HIS DESIGN AND SKILL.
THERE ARE A LOT OF EVIDENCES FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD.
THE BIBLE TALKS ABOUT THE UNIVERSE, FOR EXAMPLE.
I THINK YOU WOULD HAVE TO BE, IN MY OPINION, AN IDIOT,
TO THINK THAT THIS UNIVERSE HAPPENED BY CHANCE.
THAT LIFE AND INTELLIGENCE SPRANG SPONTANEOUSLY
FROM DEAD EMPTY SPACE. IT JUST COULDN'T HAPPEN.
I THINK MOST PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF CAUSE AND EFFECT.
YOU SEE SOMETHING HAPPEN, YOU IMMEDIATELY, YOU LOOK,
WHY DID IT HAPPEN, WHAT'S THE CAUSE?
THAT'S HOW SCIENCE FUNCTIONS. WE CAN'T FUNCTION
WITHOUT THE CONCEPT OF CAUSE AND EFFECT.
AND WHEN WE LOOK AT THE EFFECT, THE AMAZING DESIGN,
AND WE LOOK AT THE TREMENDOUS EFFECTS, WE MUST NOW
DETERMINE IT'S CAUSE, LOGICALLY, IN ORDER TO ACCOUNT FOR IT.
IF YOU SHOW SOMEONE A PENCIL, OR A CAR, OR A WATCH
AND ASK THEM WHERE IT CAME FROM, THEY'LL ROLL THEIR EYES
AND TELL YOU, SOMEONE MADE IT. THE IDEA THAT SOMETHING
AS SIMPLE AS A PENCIL COULD HAVE SIMPLY HAPPENED BY CHANCE,
WELL IT'S UNBELIEVABLE.
THE CONCEPT OF CAUSE AND EFFECT IS NOT SOMETHING
NEW OR COMPLICATED. IT IS A PRINCIPLE WE FOLLOW EVERY DAY.
SIR ISAAC NEWTON TRIED TO DEMONSTRATE THIS
BY BUILDING A MODEL OF THE UNIVERSE.
NEWTON, THIS IS AMAZING. WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?
DID YOU MAKE THIS?
NO, IT'S SOMETHING THAT JUST FORMED.
NEWTON REALIZED THAT THE UNIVERSE, LIKE THE WATCH,
HAD TO HAVE HAD A CAUSE.
WHAT WE HAVE IN THE EXTERNAL WORLD IS, IN MY OPINION,
A, THE CREATION OF GOD AND B, IT BEARS HIS SIGNATURE,
SO THAT GOD DID MAKE THE MARVELS OF OUR ENVIRONMENT,
THE OCEAN AND THE SKY AND THE SEA AND THE LAND AND THE FLOWERS
AND THEN THE PEOPLE IN IT, AND NO-ONE IN HIS RIGHT MIND
CAN LOOK AT THESE THINGS AND DENY THE EXISTENCE OF GOD,
AS WE ALREADY SAID, AS THE WATCH DEMANDS A WATCH MAKER,
WE HAVE A UNIVERSE THAT RUNS LIKE A WATCH,
AND THE BEAUTIES OF IT ARE REALLY THRILLING THINGS TO SEE.
SO THE WORLD DEMANDS A WORLD MAKER. NO ONE WOULD EVER SAY
A WATCH HAPPENED BY ACCIDENT.
IT IS OBVIOUSLY DIFFICULT FOR ANYONE TO SAY THAT THEY CAN
TOTALLY UNDERSTAND. THE INSTANTANEOUS CREATION
OF EVERYTHING IN THIS VAST UNIVERSE, AND ALL OF LIFE
THAT EXISTS ON THIS PLANET WITHIN 6 DAYS,
BUT IT'S EQUALLY, IN FACT, MORE DIFFICULT, I THINK,
IF YOU'RE HONEST, TO IMAGINE THAT EVERYTHING HAPPENED
OUT OF SOME SPONTANEOUS, UNCONTROLLED EXPLOSION,
AND THAT OVER BILLIONS AND BILLIONS OF YEARS,
AN INCREDIBLE SERIES OF THE MOST UNLIKELY COINCIDENCES
TOOK PLACE.
TIME IS OFTEN THE CHAMPION OF EVOLUTION. SOMETHING WHICH IS
IMPOSSIBLE ACCORDING TO SCIENCE AND COMMON SENSE,
SUDDENLY BECOMES POSSIBLE WHEN THE ELEMENT OF TIME IS ADDED.
IN TRUTH, TIME CAN NOT BE THE HERO.
ARIDDLE ASKS:
IT'S A LAW AS BASIC AS, AND ACCEPTED AS THE LAW OF GRAVITY.
IT'S ALSO CALLED THE LAW OF ENTROPY.
AND BASICALLY IT STATES THAT ANYTHING LEFT BY ITSELF WILL
BREAK DOWN AND DECAY. AND THAT'S WHY OUR BODIES WILL
BREAK DOWN AND DIE WITH AGE. EINSTEIN SAID, OF ALL THE
PHYSICAL LAWS, THIS IS THE MOST OBVIOUS AND THE
MOST PROVABLE OF THEM ALL.
IN OUR CULTURE, WE'VE DECIDED THAT WE WORSHIP NOTHINGNESS.
THAT THIS UNIVERSE HERE, GOD WASN'T EVEN NECESSARY,
OF ANY KIND, THAT WE'RE HERE BY RANDOM CHANCE, AND UTTERLY
REFUSE THE LAWS OF ENTROPY, UTTERLY REFUSE WHAT WE
DO KNOW ABOUT SCIENCE, YET WE CLING TO THAT BECAUSE,
TO TAKE ANY OTHER VIEW WOULD IMPLY A RESPONSIBILITY
TO THE ONE THAT PUT US HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE.
IT'S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THAT FROM A SCIENTIFIC
POINT OF VIEW, BOTH EVOLUTION AND CREATION WOULD BE
TREATED AS THEORIES. NOW A THEORY IS BASED OR DISCARDED
UPON THE EVIDENCE THAT IS PRESENTED.
TO IGNORE EVIDENCE OR A VERIFIABLE LAW BECAUSE OF
YOU BIAS, NOT ONLY IS POOR SCIENCE, BUT MAKES THE
ASKING OF THE ORIGINAL QUESTION POINTLESS.
SO IF WE ARE GOING TO ASK, DOES GOD EXIST?
WE HAVE TO BE WILLING TO ACCEPT THE ANSWER,
WHATEVER IT MAY BE.
LET'S TAKE ANOTHER LOOK AT THIS WATCH.
WE HAVE BEEN SHOWN THAT THERE HAS TO HAVE BEEN A CAUSE
IN ORDER TO CREATE IT, LIKE A WATCH MAKER.
BUT COULDN'T THERE HAVE BEEN A DIFFERENT CAUSE?
COULDN'T A RANDOM COMBINATION OF TIME AND ELEMENTS SIMPLY HAVE
COME TOGETHER IN ORDER TO CREATE IT.
THE IDEA THAT THE UNIVERSE COULD HAVE HAPPENED BY ACCIDENT
IS ABOUT THE SAME AS SAYING A TORNADO COULD GO THROUGH
A JUNKYARD AND PUT TOGETHER AN F-16 AIRPLANE AS A RESULT
OF ALL OF THIS. IT JUST IS SIMPLY IMPOSSIBLE,
AND EVERYBODY WITH A BRAIN IN HIS HEAD KNOWS IT.
WE'RE HERE BY EXQUISITE DESIGN.
WE HEAR THE ECOLOGISTS SCREAM ABOUT A TENTH OF ONE PERCENT
CHANGE IN THE OZONE LAYER WILL BRING COSMIC DOOM.
TURN THAT COIN AROUND. HOW DID IT GET SO DELICATELY BALANCED?
YOU TRY TELLING ME THAT THERE'S A BALANCE IN NATURE THAT'S
SO PRECISE THAT YOU CHANGE IT JUST A LITTLE BIT,
AND LIFE CAN'T EXIST. THAT'S EVIDENCE OF DESIGN.
SOMEBODY WENT TO A LOT OF TROUBLE TO BALANCE IT.
THERE IS SO MUCH DESIGN, FROM THE GRAND SCALE DOWN TO
THE SMALLEST MOLECULES. IT'S IMPOSSIBLE NOT TO SEE
THE ORDER AND THE COMPLEXITY THAT ORIGINATES WITH DESIGN.
WHEN I SEE THE LOGIC IN NATURE, WHEN I SEE THE ORDER IN NATURE,
THESE ARE ALL EVIDENCES TO ME THAT GOD EXISTS,
BECAUSE I SEE DESIGN IN THE UNIVERSE. AND I CAN SEE DESIGN,
A DESIGN NEEDS A DESIGNER, OF COURSE, AND I CAN SEE DESIGN
RIGHT FROM THE LEVEL OF THE DNA MOLECULES,
RIGHT UP TO THE WAY THAT THE GALAXIES ARE CONSTRUCTED.
SO IT'S DESIGN ALL THE WAY.
LARGE EXPLOSIONS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH DEATH AND DESTRUCTION,
NOT WITH ORDER AND LIFE.
A VOLCANO ERUPTING IS A NATURAL DISASTER,
NOT A NATURAL BENEFIT.
WHILE MANY BLINDLY ACCEPT THAT THE BIG BANG CREATED ORDER
OUT OF NOTHING, SCIENCE SPEAKS AGAINST IT,
MATHEMATICAL PROBABILITY RULES IT OUT,
AND COMMON SENSE DISMISSES IT.
THE FOOL HAS SAID IN HIS HEART, THERE IS NO GOD.
WHAT THE BIBLE IS SAYING, I BELIEVE, IS THAT THE EVIDENCE
FROM DESIGN, THE EVIDENCE THAT THE UNIVERSE IS FULL OF
THE MOST INCREDIBLY COMPLICATED DESIGN,
FROM HOW A TREE IS MADE, TO THE SMALLEST CELL IN THE HUMAN BODY,
THE WAY THE OPTIC NERVE TRANSMITS AN IMAGE TO THE MIND,
EVERY ELEMENT OF CREATION IS OF SUCH A DEGREE OF COMPLEXITY,
THAT ANY HONEST PERSON WHO LOOKS AT IT AND SAYS THAT HE BELIEVES
THIS HAPPENED BY PURE CHANCE, I BELIEVE IS NOT BEING HONEST.
SIR ISAAC NEWTON SAID THAT:
THE MOST POWERFUL EVIDENCE FOR A CREATOR IS THE VERY DESIGN
OF THINGS. IF YOU LOOK AT THE COMPLEXITY AND THE INTEGRATION
OF COMPLEXITY IN LIVING ORGANISMS IN PARTICULAR,
FOSSIL RECORD OR LIVING WORLD, THERE'S A STUNNING LEVEL
OF COMPLEXITY THAT CAN NOT BE ACCOUNTED FOR,
I BELIEVE, BY ANY OTHER MEANS THAN BY A GOD OF THE KIND OF
POWER AND MANIPULATIVE ABILITY AND INTELLIGENCE THAT IS
CONSISTENT WITH THE CHRISTIAN GOD.
CERTAIN RESEARCHERS HAVE SAID THAT LIFE COULD NOT HAVE
EVOLVED ON EARTH UNDER THE SCENARIOS THAT WE CAN
CREATE HERE. WE JUST DO NOT UNDERSTAND HOW THAT
COULD HAVE OCCURRED, BUT INSTEAD OF TURNING TO LOOK AT DESIGN,
OR LOOK AT A CREATOR, THEY SAY, IT MUST HAVE COME FROM
OUTER SPACE. IF YOU WERE LOOKING FOR INTELLIGENT LIFE,
IN OUTER SPACE, THE SETI PROGRAM,
SEARCH FOR EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE, REALLY LOOKS
FOR THAT. AND YOU ASK THEM, WHAT IS AN EXAMPLE?
HOW WOULD YOU KNOW IF YOU FOUND A SIGNAL FROM OUTER SPACE?
ONE OF THE ANSWERS, IN SHORT, WOULD BE THAT THERE'S
A PATTERN TO IT. THERE'S SOMETHING THAT'S NOT GRAND
ABOUT IT. THERE'S SOME SIGNAL THERE THAT INDICATES TO US
SOME SIGN OF INTELLIGENCE. BUT THEN YOU TURN THE MICROSCOPE
INSIDE INSTEAD OF OUT INTO SPACE, AND YOU BEGIN TO
LOOK AT THE CELL, AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT YOU SEE.
YOU SEE ORGANIZATION, YOU SEE MESSAGES, YOU SEE INTELLIGENCE
AND DESIGN IN THERE, BUT DO YOU SAY THIS IS INTELLIGENCE?
THEY SAY, OH NO, THAT'S JUST RANDOM.
BUT WHEN WE LOOK AT DNA FOR EXAMPLE, IN OURSELVES,
IN THE SMALLEST, SIMPLEST CELL WE KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT,
THERE IS SO MUCH COMPLEX INFORMATION THERE
THAT IT'S MIND-BOGGLING. IT SUPERCEDES ANYTHING MAN
IS DOING TODAY. CARL SAKEN RECENTLY SAID THAT IN THE
SIMPLEST CELL WE KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT, WE HAVE INFORMATION
THAT IS THE EQUIVALENT OF TEN TO THE TWELFTH BITS,
IF YOU'RE A COMPUTER FREAK. TO PUT IT IN MORE ORDINARY TERMS,
HE GOES ON TO ILLUSTRATE, IT'S LIKE 100 MILLION PAGES OF THE
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA. NOW IF YOU'RE WALKING ALONG THE BEACH
AND YOU SEE 100 MILLION PAGES OF THE ENCYCLOPEDIA,
OR YOU SEE ONE PAGE OR PART OF A PAGE THAT'S INTELLIGIBLE,
YOU DON'T ASSUME THAT HAPPENED NATURALLY.
THAT HAPPENED AS A RESULT OF INTELLIGENT DESIGN.
FIRST LIFE WOULD HAVE HAD TO HAVE BEEN WHAT THEY CALL
A SIMPLE CELL. AND THAT IS REALLY SOMETHING I TAKE
AS A MICROBIOLOGIST, AN EXCEPTION TO.
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A 'SIMPLE' CELL.
AND WE ARE MADE UP, A HUMAN BODY, IS SOMETHING LIKE
55 TRILLION CELLS IN THE BODY, AND YET, ALL OF THOSE CELLS
COOPERATE TOGETHER. THIS IS NOT THE RESULT OF
RANDOM CHEMICAL MOTION.
EVEN WITH A MAP OF ONE HUMAN CELL, A MAP THAT TOOK
BRILLIANT SCIENTISTS A LIFETIME TO PLOT, A TRIP THROUGH
THAT ONE TINY CELL WOULD BE ALMOST AN IMPOSSIBLE JOURNEY.
EACH ROAD QUICKLY BRANCHES INTO NUMEROUS COMPLEX
CHEMICAL REACTIONS AND ENERGY TRANSFERS,
SUCENATE, GLUCERATE AND CITRATE ARE JUST 3 OF THE LITERALLY
THOUSANDS OF CHEMICALS THAT TRAVEL THE DIVERSE AND
AMAZING PATHWAYS. THIS IS ONE HUMAN CELL, WHICH EVEN HERE,
IS STILL INCOMPLETE. THE TRIP CONTINUES TO BECOME
MORE COMPLICATED. DRIVING DOWN A DEAD-END, WE FIND PROTEINS,
ONLY THIS DEAD-END IS JUST AS ESSENTIAL TO THE LIFE OF
THE CELL AS EVERY OTHER PART. AND PROTEINS ARE ANOTHER LAND
UNTO ITSELF. SUCH INCREDIBLE AMOUNTS OF INFORMATION
QUICKLY LEAVES ONE'S HEAD SPINNING.
IT IS DIFFICULT TO COMPREHEND EVEN ONE SMALL PART OF
HOW PROTEIN OF A CELL WORKS. YET EVEN IF ONE SMALL PART
OF JUST ONE OF THESE INTERACTIONS FAILS
OR IS NOT THERE, THE CELL WILL EITHER FAIL OR DIE.
THE CELLS COMPLEXITY IS INCONCEIVABLE FOR THE
AVERAGE PERSON, AND PERPLEXING FOR THE TRAINED SCIENTIST,
AND POSSIBLE, IT SEEMS, ONLY IF IT WERE DESIGNED BY A BEING
FAR SUPERIOR TO IT.
NOW DOESN'T IT SEEM STRANGE THAT CRILLIANT MEN COULD SPEND
THEIR ENTIRE LIVES IN A LAB TRYING TO CREATE LIFE,
JUST TO SHOW THAT NO INTELLIGENCE WAS NECESSARY
TO FORM IT IN THE FIRST PLACE. FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS,
BRILLIANT MEN HAVE BEEN TRYING AND FAILING TO MAKE EVEN
THE SIMPLEST LIFE, AND YET THOSE VERY SAME MEN,
WHICH HAVE YOU BELIEVE THAT LIFE DID BEGIN JUST THROUGH
RANDOM TIME AND CHANCE.
I THINK THE EVIDENCE OF DESIGN, OR THE CONCLUSION OF WHAT
THE CELL REALLY IS IN TERMS OF DESIGN, IS YOU HAVE TO LOOK
AT HOW ALL THE PIECES WORK TOGETHER, AND THE FACT
THAT THESE THINGS COULD NOT HAVE OCCURRED IN ISOLATION.
THEY ARE BIO CHEMICALLY CO DEPENDANT.
ONE FEATURE OF THE CELL REALLY DEPENDS ON ANOTHER FEATURE,
AND IF ALL OF THE FEATURES DON'T WORK TOGETHER AT THE SAME TIME,
THE CELL WON'T EXIST.
THE OLD QUESTION WOULD BE THE CHICKEN AND THE EGG,
WHICH CAME FIRST, THE CHICKEN OR THE EGG?
DID PROTEIN COME OR DID DNA COME?
DNA IS A LONG, LARGE MOLECULE. IT'S A GREAT MOLECULE
DID PROTEIN COME OR DID DNA INFORMATION PACKED INTO IT,
YOU CAN'T READ IT. I COULD GIVE YOU A CD, BUT IF YOU
DON'T HAVE A CD PLAYER, YOU CAN NOT LISTEN TO THAT CD.
I COULD GIVE YOU A TAPE, AND IT COULD HAVE ALL THE INSTRUCTIONS
ON HOW TO MAKE A TAPE PLAYER INCLUDED ON THE TAPE.
BUT IF YOU DON'T HAVE A TAPE PLAYER, YOU CAN NOT GET
THAT INFORMATION OFF THE TAPE TO BUILD THE PLAYER.
THAT'S THE SITUATION THE CELL IS FACED WITH IN IT'S
CO DEPENDANT SITUATION. THE DNA CONTAINS ALL THE INFORMATION,
BUT YOU NEED PROTEINS TO GET THE INFORMATION OUT.
BUT THE PROTEINS THEMSELVES ARE THE INFORMATION THAT IS
CODED WITHIN THE DNA. SO IT'S CHEMICALLY CO DEPENDANT.
SIR FRED HOYLE, FOR EXAMPLE, HE DISCOVERED THE RED SHIFT,
HE SAYS THAT IF THE WHOLE UNIVERSE WAS MADE OUT OF,
WHAT DOES HE CALL IT, PRIMITIVE SOUP, OR WHATEVER, YOU KNOW,
FROM WHICH LIFE FORMS COME, WHAT WOULD BE THE CHANCE THAT
IN BILLIONS AND BILLIONS OF YEARS, THAT YOU COULD GET
EVEN THE BASIC ENZYMES OF LIFE, BY CHANCE.
JUST TO GET THOSE COMBINATIONS MATHEMATICALLY PUT TOGETHER
HE CALCULATED, HE SAID IT WOULD BE ONE IN TEN TO THE -40,000.
THAT'S A 1 OVER 1 WITH 40,000 ZERO'S ADDED TO IT.
YOU CAN'T EVEN IMAGINE WHAT THAT FRACTION IS.
SO TO GIVE YOU SOME IDEA, WHAT WOULD BE THE LIKELIHOOD THAT
YOU COULD REACH OUT AND BY CHANCE PICK A PARTICULAR ATOM
OUT OF OUR UNIVERSE. THAT'S ONE IN TEN TO THE -80,
OR 1 OVER 1 WITH 80 ZERO'S AFTER IT.
MAKE ANOTHER UNIVERSE OUT OF EVERY ONE OF THOSE ATOMS,
WHAT'S THE LIKELIHOOD THAT YOU CAN REACH OUT AND PLUCK A
PARTICULAR ATOM OUT, THAT'S ONLY ONE IN TEN TO THE -160.
WELL, ONE IN TEN TO THE -40,000, FORGET IT. IT'S ZERO.
IT CAN'T HAPPEN.
SO THERE IS GREAT EVIDENCE OF DESIGN, AND THEREFORE OF GOD,
IN LIFE AND THE UNIVERSE. DETERMINED EVOLUTIONISTS,
HOWEVER, MIGHT SAY THAT WE HAVE BEEN BIASING THIS STUDY.
THEY WOULD SAY THE WATCH IS COMPLEX. AND ACCORDING TO
EVOLUTIONARY STANDARDS, LIFE STARTED VERY SIMPLY.
IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE REMAIN OBJECTIVE.
SO LET'S LOOK AT SOMETHING SIMPLE.
A PIECE OF ROCK, FOR EXAMPLE.
GRANITE, WHAT MANY CONSIDER A COMMON AND SOMEWHAT
BORING ROCK. HOWEVER, IT IS THE ONLY ROCK THAT WE CAN NOT MAKE.
WITH ALL OF OUR ADVANCEMENTS IN TECHNOLOGY,
WE CAN MAKE DIAMONDS, AND ANY OTHER ROCK, BUT NOT GRANITE.
GRANITE HAS POLONIUM IN IT.
INTERESTING THING ABOUT POLONIUM 218 IS,
THAT IT HAS A HALF LIFE OF ABOUT 3 MINUTES.
A HALF LIFE MEANS THAT YOU START WITH ONE KILO OF
POLONIUM 218, WITHIN 3 MINUTES, YOU'VE GOT HALF A KILO.
IN ANOTHER 3 MINUTES, YOU HAVE A QUARTER OF A KILO, AND SO ON.
SO WE'RE SAYING THAT THIS POLONIUM 218
WAS ENCAPSULATED IN THAT ROCK WITHIN 30 MINUTES OF IT
COMING INTO EXISTENCE.
POLONIUM HALO'S INDICATE GRANITE, AND THEREFORE
THE EARTH WAS CREATED IN LESS THAN AN HOUR.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ONE HOUR AND EVOLUTION'S
BILLIONS OF YEARS, IS NOT A SMALL ONE.
HOWEVER, POLONIUM CAN BE PRODUCED FROM URANIUM.
BUT WHEN YOU FIND THE POLONIUM HALO'S ALONE,
WITHOUT THE URANIUM HALO'S, THEN YOU'VE GOT A BIT OF A MYSTERY.
HOW IS IT THAT THE POLONIUM WAS THERE WITHOUT WHATEVER
PRODUCED IT. IF YOU ONLY FIND POLONIUM HALO'S,
IT WOULD SEEM TO INDICATE THERE MUST BE SOME SOURCE FOR,
THE POLONIUM MUST BE BROUGHT IN PERHAPS, OR THE POLONIUM
WAS FORMED WITH THE ROCK, AND THE ROCK WOULD HAVE TO BE COOL,
BECAUSE IF THE ROCK WAS MOLTEN, THE MATERIAL GOING OUT
PRODUCING HALO'S, THE MOLTEN ROCK WOULD MESS UP THE HALO,
YOU WOULDN'T FIND A HALO. SO THE ROCK HAS TO BE COOL,
AND THE POLONIUM CREATED IN IT, TO PRODUCE THESE
POLONIUM HALO'S. SO IT MUST HAVE BEEN WHEN IT WAS
ORIGINALLY CREATED, THE EARTH, THESE ELEMENTS,
THESE RADIOACTIVE ELEMENTS WERE ALREADY THERE,
AND WITHIN 19 MINUTES AT THE MOST, THE EARTH WAS SOLID.
WE HEAR SCIENTISTS SAYING SO MANY DIFFERENT THINGS,
IT'S OFTEN DIFFICULT TO DECIDE WHO TO BELIEVE.
SOMETIMES IT SEEMS LIKE WE SHOULD BE FINDING THE ANSWERS,
INSTEAD OF LEAVING IT TO SOME GUY WHO LIVES IN A LAB.
WHEN YOU'RE OUT HERE, LOOKING AT THE SKY, THE WATER
AND EVERYTHING ELSE, IT'S NOT DIFFICULT TO IMAGINE
SOME HIGHER FORCE BEING BEHIND IT ALL. WELL MAYBE THAT'S IT.
MAYBE SOMEBODY JUST MADE UP THIS IDEA OF GOD.
I LIKE TO CHALLENGE PEOPLE ON THAT. OH YEAH, I'VE GOT
AN ACTIVE IMAGINATION. ALL RIGHT, COME UP WITH A NEW
PRIME COLOR TO THE RAINBOW. YOU CAN'T DO IT.
YOU COULD THINK ABOUT PINK ELEPHANTS,
BUT PINK EXISTS AND ELEPHANTS EXIST. TRY TO THINK ABOUT
SOMETHING THAT DOESN'T EXIST. YOU CAN'T DO IT.
GOD ALONE CREATES OUT OF NOTHING.
WE CAN DO AMAZING THINGS WITH WHAT HE'S GIVEN US, OKAY,
AND LONDON RECOGNIZED THIS. SO THEN HE SAID, BUT MAN HAS
THIS IDEA OF GOD. WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?
THIS INSIDIOUS LIE, THIS OPIATE OF THE MASSES THAT WAS
SEWED INTO THEIR MINDS BY THESE PREACHERS.
YEAH, BUT WHERE DID THE PREACHERS GET THE IDEA?
YOU CAN'T COME UP WITH IT. SO THAT'S ANOTHER EVIDENCE
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD. HE HAS PUT THE KNOWLEDGE,
THIS KNOWLEDGE OF HIS EXISTENCE IN EVERY HUMAN BEING.
THAT'S QUITE A HEAVY TOPIC TO BE DISCUSSING ON SUCH
A BEAUTIFUL DAY. SOME PEOPLE NEVER EVEN WONDER ABOUT
SUCH THINGS BECAUSE OF THEIR HECTIC LIVES,
OR BECAUSE IT JUST DOESN'T SEEM IMPORTANT.
BUT WHETHER YOU REALIZE IT OR NOT, THE QUESTION OF THE
EXISTENCE OF GOD AND OF WHAT AUTHORITY HE HAS,
IS ASKED EVERY SINGLE DAY. WESTERN CIVILIZATION WAS
BASED ON CHRISTIAN VALUES AND NOW MANY OF THOSE VALUES
ARE BEING QUESTIONED. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT, ABORTION
AND SEXUALITY ARE ALL SENSITIVE ISSUES. ISSUES THAT ARE
DIRECTLY INFLUENCED BY A BELIEF OR A NON-BELIEF IN GOD.
YET WE ARE LIVING IN MODERN TIMES. SHOULD WE STILL FOLLOW
OR EVEN CARE WHAT ONE ANCIENT BOOK HAS TO SAY?
WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? THERE'S NO WAY YOU CAN
BELIEVE EVERYTHING IT SAYS.
NO, NOT EVERYTHING. WHAT I MEAN IS, IT'S A GOOD
GUIDE TO LIVE BY.
A GOOD GUIDE? IT'S A FAIRY TALE. HAVE YOU EVER READ THE BIBLE?
IT'S FULL OF CONTRADICTIONS.
BUT IT'S-
NO, WAIT. LISTEN, IF YOU GO WITH SCIENCE, THEN YOU BELIEVE
IN EVOLUTION, RIGHT?
RIGHT.
WELL, THEN THIS WHOLE THING OF ADAM AND EVE CAN'T BE TRUE,
AND IF THAT CAN'T BE TRUE, THEN WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IN?
I MEAN, ARE YOU JUST GOING TO PICK AND CHOOSE?
THAT'S HOW THE BIBLE BEGINS.
YEAH, BUT MAYBE WE'RE READING IT WRONG.
WHAT EXACTLY DOES THE BIBLE SAY? IS IT FULL OF CONTRADICTIONS?
WHAT DOES SCIENCE HAVE TO SAY ABOUT IT?
THE BIBLE IS THE NUMBER ONE BEST SELLER OF ALL TIMES.
IT'S BEEN READ BY MORE PEOPLE, AND PUBLISHED IN MORE
LANGUAGES THAN ANY OTHER BOOK. IT'S ALSO BEEN STUDIED,
QUESTIONED AND TESTED MORE THAN ANY OTHER BOOK IN HISTORY.
SURELY WITH ALL THIS ATTENTION, WE SHOULD HAVE
SOME ANSWERS BY NOW.
SIR WILLIAM RAMSEY WAS A MAN WHO HAD A HUNGER FOR THE TRUTH.
LIVING IN THE LATE 1800'S, HE WAS HIGHLY INTELLIGENT
AND RESOURCEFUL. HE WAS ALSO DETERMINED TO SET OUT TO PROVE
THAT THE BIBLE WAS WRITTEN BY AMBITIOUS MONKS,
AND NOT INSPIRED BY GOD. RAMSEY FOUND THE FAULTS
HE WAS LOOKING FOR IN LUKE'S GOSPEL.
ACCORDING TO RAMSEY'S CONTEMPORARY RECORDS AND
ARCHEOLOGICAL FINDS, LUKE HAD MADE A NUMBER OF ERRORS.
LUKE'S GEOGRAPHY WAS WRONG, AND THERE NEVER WAS A CENSUS
IN BETHLEHEM. HE INCORRECTLY IDENTIFIED THE GOVERNOR
OF SERIA, AND IMPROPERLY TITLED ROMAN DIGNITARIES.
HOWEVER, AS RAMSEY CONTINUED HIS SEARCH, ALL OF HIS DOUBTS
WERE SILENCED. IN FACT, HIS PROBING STUDY PROVED THE BIBLE
WAS VALID AFTER ALL. HE FOUND AN INSCRIPTION PROVING THE
GEOGRAPHY CORRECT FOR THAT TIME, AND A PARCHMENT DATED
104 A.D. WAS UNEARTHED AND CONFIRMED THAT THERE HAD
BEEN A CENSUS IN BETHLEHEM. THE GOVERNOR IN QUESTION WAS
PROVEN TO HAVE BEEN GOVERNOR NOT ONCE, BUT TWICE,
VERIFYING WHAT LUKE WROTE, AND LUKE'S TITLES FOR
THE DIGNITARIES WERE PRECISELY CORRECT.
RAMSEY WAS NO LONGER A SKEPTIC. HE REALIZED THAT THOSE WHO
HAD WRITTEN THE WORD OF GOD, WERE INDEED EYEWITNESSES
TO THE EVENTS THEY DESCRIBED.
WILLIAM RAMSEY'S WORK IS AMAZING.
BECAUSE HERE WAS A GUY CONVINCED THAT THE BIBLE WAS WRONG,
AND THAT GOD DIDN'T EXIST, EVEN WITH THAT ENORMOUS BIAS,
HE STILL COULDN'T DENY THAT WHAT HE WAS FINDING
WAS PROVING THE BIpBLE TO BE TRUE. YOU SEE,0P
RAMSEY'S ORIGINAL THEORIES THAT THE BIBLE WAS
WRITTEN BY MONKS HUNDREDS OF YEARS AFTER THE FACT
COULDN'T POSSIBLY BE TRUE BECAUSE THOSE MONKS WOULD
HAVE HAD THE SAME FALSE INFORMATION THAT HE HAD.
THE TRUTH, THE PROOF, HADN'T BEEN DISCOVERED YET.
BUT I HAVE FOUND THAT WHEN I LOOK CAREFULLY AT WHAT
THE BIBLE SAYS, I HAVE NEVER FOUND A STATEMENT MADE
IN THE SCRIPTURE WITH REGARD TO HISTORY OR WITH REGARD
TO SCIENCE, OR WITH REGARD TO ANY FACT,
THAT CAN BE SHOWN TO BE FALSE.
WHEN I FIRST BECAME A CHRISTIAN, I WOULD OFTEN EXPLAIN A NUMBER
OF THINGS AWAY IN SCRIPTURE SAYING THAT, OKAY,
THAT'S WHAT WE READ, BUT PEOPLE DIDN'T QUITE
UNDERSTAND IT THEN. THAT'S WHAT WE READ,
BUT THIS IS WHAT'S REALLY MEANT. AND THROUGHOUT THE YEARS,
I'VE BEEN PROVED OVER AND OVER AGAIN TO BE WRONG.
WHEN A FRENCH MONARCH PROPOSED THE PERSECUTION OF THE
CHRISTIANS IN HIS DOMINION, AN OLD STATESMAN AND WARRIOR
SAID TO HIM:
IF WE GO BACK 100 YEARS, MANY SCIENTISTS SAID
THAT THE BIBLE MUST BE WRONG BECAUSE THE BOOK OF DANIEL
AND EZEKIEL TALK ABOUT NEBUCHADNEZZAR AS ONE OF
THE KINGS OF BABYLON, AND THEY SAID LOOK,
WE'VE NEVER FOUND AN INSCRIPTION WITH HIS NAME UPON IT,
SO IT MUST BE WRONG. NOW THEY'VE FOUND LITERALLY
TENS OF THOUSANDS OF BRICKS IN BABYLON WITH HIS INSCRIPTION.
TAKE FOR INSTANCE, THERE USED TO BE AN ARGUMENT THAT
YOU COULDN'T HAVE AN OLD TESTAMENT BECAUSE
WRITING WAS UNKNOWN IN THOSE DAYS. WELL THE ARCHAEOLOGISTS
AT THAT TIME, EXCAVATED A PLACE IN EGYPT CALLED TEL EL IMARNA.
AND THE TEL EL IMARNA TABLETS DEMONSTRATED THAT NOT ONLY
DID WRITING EXIST IN THOSE DAYS, BUT THAT IT WAS A COMMON
METHOD OF COMMUNICATION FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES
AND OTHER THINGS IN THE WORLD IN THAT DAY.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT ARCHEOLOGISTS HAVE TRIED
TO DISPROVE FOR MANY YEARS, HAS BEEN THE EXISTENCE OF
THE HITTITES. THE IDEA IN SCRIPTURE THAT THESE
PEOPLE HAD A LOT OF INFLUENCE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF ISRAEL,
THEY HAVE PUT ON ONE SIDE AS SAYING, IT'S NOT REAL.
HOWEVER, ARCHEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE RECENTLY HAS FOUND THAT
INDEED IT IS REAL, THEY ARE A REAL CIVILIZATION.
AUTHOR ROBERT WILSON SAYS THAT OVER 40 KINGS ARE MENTIONED
IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, FROM 2000 B.C. TO 400 B.C.,
AND THAT THEY ARE ALL SPELLED CORRECTLY AND THEY'RE ALL
IN THE RIGHT AREA AND ALL IN THE RIGHT TIME.
HE SAYS THAT:
HE NOTES MATHEMATICALLY THAT THE CHANCES OF THIS OCCURRING
BY MERE CIRCUMSTANCE, IS 1 OVER 1 WITH
23 ZERO'S AFTER IT.
THE SCIENTISTS ARE ABLE WITH ARCHEOLOGY TO GO BACK
AND LOOK AT THE WALLS OF THE CITY, SUCH AS JERICHO,
AS AN EXAMPLE, THE BIBLE SAYS THAT THE WALLS OF JERICHO FELL,
AND THIS WAS A SUPER NATURAL EVENT. THEY FELL LITERALLY
STRAIGHT DOWN WHEN THE SOLDIERS OF ISRAEL MARCHED AROUND
THE CITY 7 TIMES AND BLEW ON THEIR TRUMPETS,
ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF GOD. WELL THE SCIENTISTS HAVE
GONE BACK TO JERICHO, AND WHEN THEY'VE EXAMINED THE WALLS
OF THE CITY, THEY FOUND SOMETHING REALLY STRANGE.
THAT THE WALLS ARE NOT PUSHED INWARD AS ONE WOULD EXPECT,
BECAUSE BATTERING RAMS PUSHED WALLS INWARD, THEY'RE NOT
PUSHED OUTWARD, IN FACT THE WALLS FELL STRAIGHT DOWN.
IT'S AS IF THE EARTH OPENED UP UNDERNEATH THEM AND THEY
LITERALLY DROPPED. AND THAT'S WHAT THE BIBLE SAID
ACTUALLY HAPPENED.
NELSON GLUECK, AN ARCHAEOLOGIST, SAID:
THOSE WHO TRULY SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH, THEY'LL FIND IT
AND THEY'LL KNOW THAT GOD EXISTS.
RECENTLY, ROBERT W. FAID, AN AMERICAN NUCLEAR ENGINEER
AND SCIENTIST, MADE THE SEARCH. HE WAS A PRODUCT OF THE
SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY AND DENIED THE EXISTENCE OF GOD.
THE MAJESTY OF MAN WAS ALL THAT HE NEEDED UNTIL ONE DAY,
A DOCTOR CALLED ABOUT SOME TESTS AND SAID, WE HAVE TO TALK.
FAID'S INSIDES WERE FULL OF CANCER, AND THERE WAS NOTHING
THAT SCIENCE OR TECHNOLOGY COULD DO. FACING DEATH, HE FELT
A STRANGE SENSE OF CALM, AS IF EVERYTHING WOULD BE ALL RIGHT,
AND MIRACULOUSLY, IT WAS. A WEEK LATER, A DOCTOR TOLD FAID
THE CANCER WAS GONE. COMPLETELY GONE,
AND THERE WAS NO EXPLANATION OF WHY IT DISAPPEARED.
REJOICING WHEN SHE HEARD THE NEWS, THE SCIENTISTS WIFE
TOLD FAID HOW SHE HAD ORGANIZED OVER 2000 CHRISTIANS TO PRAY
FOR HIM. HE SAID THANKS, BUT COULD STILL NOT BELIEVE IN
MIRACLES OR IN A GOD. THE SCIENTIST IN HIM DEMANDED
HARD, UNDENIABLE EVIDENCE. FAID'S REMARKABLE RECOVERY,
HOWEVER, CALLS HIM TO QUESTION HIS AGNOSTIC BELIEFS.
SO HE TURNED HIS SCIENTIFIC METHODS AND SKILLS TO TEST
THE THEORY OF GOD. AFTER YEARS OF THOROUGH INVESTIGATION,
FAID'S CONCLUSION LED HIM TO ACCEPT THE REALITY OF CHRIST
FROM A SCIENTIFIC POINT OF VIEW. SHORTLY THEREAFTER,
HE ACCEPTED HIM AS HIS SAVIOR, AND HE EVEN WROTE A BOOK
ABOUT HIS RESEARCH.
OKAY LISTEN, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY DIFFERENT
TRANSLATIONS THE BIBLE HAS GONE THROUGH?
AND HOW MUCH OF THAT WAS BEFORE THE PRINTING PRESS?
YEAH, BUT THEY HAD SPECIALLY TRAINED PEOPLE JUST TO DO THAT,
TO MAKE SURE IT WAS CORRECT.
HAVE YOU EVER PLAYED THE RUMOR GAME?
SURE YOU HAVE, YOU KNOW, WHERE YOU GET A GROUP OF PEOPLE,
AND ONE PERSON WHISPERS SOMETHING TO THE NEXT PERSON.
THEY IN TURN WHISPER IT TO THE NEXT, AND SO ON, BY THE TIME
IT GETS TO THE LAST PERSON, THE MESSAGE IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT.
AND THAT'S JUST WITH A SHORT MESSAGE, FORGET ABOUT TRYING
TO DUPLICATE A WHOLE BOOK.
YOU KNOW, I NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT THAT. SURELY THE BIBLE
WOULD HAVE CHANGED SINCE IT WAS FIRST WRITTEN.
EVEN IF IT WAS INSPIRED BY GOD, IT WOULD HAVE TO BE
RE-WRITTEN BY MAN.
IN 1947, THE ACCURACY OF THE BIBLE WAS PUT TO TEST.
A BEDOUIN SHEPHERD BOY HAD DISCOVERED A CAVE IN A CLIFF
ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE DEAD SEA. INSIDE WERE SEVERAL
LARGE JARS CONTAINING LEATHER SCROLLS. THESE WERE
THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS. THEY HAD BEEN CAREFULLY SEALED
AND PRESERVED IN THEIR JARS FOR OVER 1900 YEARS.
COINS FOUND INSIDE THE JARS AND PALEOGRAPHERS FROM AROUND
THE WORLD ALL DATE THE SCROLLS FROM AROUND 125 B.C.
YOU KNOW, UNTIL THAT TIME, THE EARLIEST BIBLICAL MANUSCRIPTS
WERE ABOUT 900 A.D. HOW COULD ANYONE SAY THAT THE BIBLE
HADN'T CHANGED FROM EVEN THE TIME OF CHRIST,
ABOUT 32 A.D., ALMOST 900 YEARS LATER. BUT WITH THE DEAD SEA
SCROLLS, THEY COULD. THE ISAIAH SCROLL DATED IN ABOUT 125 B.C.
MATCHED PRECISELY WITH THE MASERATIC TEXT OF ISAIAH
DATED IN 916 A.D. THAT 1,000 YEARS OF COPY AFTER COPY,
TRANSLATION AFTER TRANSLATION, WITH COMPLETE ACCURACY.
AND TODAY AFTER ANOTHER THOUSAND YEARS, THAT SAME ISAIAH SCROLL
STILL MATCHES THE KING JAMES VERSION OF THE BIBLE PERFECTLY.
I THINK THE DOCUMENTATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT AND THE
DOCUMENTATION OF THE OLD, PRETTY WELL SPEAKS FOR ITSELF.
INDEED, THE MORE WE FIND WE LEARN OF HISTORY,
WE DISCOVER THE BIBLICAL RECORD IS VALIDATED.
SO EVERY TIME THE SKEPTIC SAID SOMETHING, THAT IS NOT TRUE
ABOUT THE BIBLE, WHEN THE ARCHAEOLOGISTS FINALLY
DIG UP THE EVIDENCE, THE BIBLE IS RIGHT 100% OF THE TIME,
AND THE SKEPTICS ARE WRONG. I READ EVERYTHING THAT ALL THE
ATHEISTS, THE CRITICS HAVE EVER SAID ABOUT THIS BOOK THAT I
COULD FIND, AND THE MORE I READ, IT STRENGTHENED MY FAITH
BECAUSE THEY HAD SUCH PITIFUL ARGUMENTS.
THERE IS NOT AN ARGUMENT, A GOOD ARGUMENT THAT YOU CAN
GIVE AGAINST THIS. THERE'S NOT A GOOD ARGUMENT YOU CAN GIVE
AGAINST THE EXISTENCE OF GOD.
THE BIBLE HAS MORE BACKUP COPIES AND OLDER COPIES OF
MANUSCRIPTS THAN ANY OTHER ANCIENT RECORDS OF HISTORY.
IF THE BIBLE WAS DEEMED TO BE HISTORICALLY INACCURATE,
THEN ALL RECORDS OF ANCIENT HISTORY WOULD ALSO
HAVE TO BE DISCARDED. FOR EXAMPLE, HISTORIANS DO NOT
QUESTION THE ACCURACY OF CAESAR'S GALLIC WARS.
YET THERE ARE ONLY 10 COPIES OF THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT,
THE EARLIEST OF THESE 10 COPIES WAS WRITTEN 1,000 YEARS AFTER
THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT WAS WRITTEN. HOWEVER, THE BIBLE
HAS WELL OVER 13,000 COPIES OF THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT,
ALSO, MANY OF THESE COPIES WERE WRITTEN ONLY 250 YEARS
AFTER THE ORIGINAL.
WHAT THE BIBLE CLAIMS TO BE IS EXACTLY THAT,
AN INSTRUCTION BOOK FROM GOD. AND WRITTEN BY MENtú!!
CHOSEN BY GOD OVER A 1600 YEAR PERIOD.s sw
44 DIFFERENT AUTHORS WHO WROTE 66 BOOKS, INSPIRED BY GOD,vss
MANY OF THEM DID NOT KNOW EACH OTHER, AND YET THERE'Sçs
NOT A SINGLE REAL CONTRADICTION IN ANY OF THOSE BOOKS.w??
HISTORICAL MANUSCRIPTS ARE OFTEN CHECKED FOR ACCURACY
BY COMPARING QUOTATIONS FROM THEM FOUND IN OTHER WORKS.
WHEN A QUOTATION IS FOUND, IT CAN BE COMPARED TO THE
MANUSCRIPT. THE BIBLE PROVES SO DURABLE UNDER THIS TEST,
THAT IF EVERY EXISTING BIBLE WERE DESTROYED,
A FULLY COMPLETE AND ACCURATE COPY OF IT COULD STILL BE
PIECED TOGETHER FROM JUST THE BOOKS FOUND IN
ONE AVERAGE LIBRARY.
IT'S ALL VERY WELL TO SAY THAT THE BIBLE IS HISTORICALLY
ACCURATE AND VERY VIABLE TODAY, BUT REALLY COULDN'T ALL THAT
BE TRUE AND YET THE BIBLE STILL BE A HOAX?
I MEAN, THE BIBLE WAS PHYSICALLY WRITTEN BY MEN,
EVEN THE MOST DEVOUT CHRISTIAN HAS TO ADMIT THAT.
NOR WERE THESE MEN THE PILLARS OF SOCIETY, EITHER.
MAYBE THOSE WRITING THE BIBLE WERE TRYING TO DECEIVE OTHERS,
JUST LIKE MANY CULT LEADERS OF TODAY.
THESE GUYS WERE NOT GREAT MODELS OF HEROISM, MACHOISM.
THEY WERE COWARDS. AND WHEN THEY CAME AND TOOK JESUS
IN THE GARDEN, IT'S SAID THEY ALL TURNED TAIL AND RAN,
TO SAVE THEIR OWN LIVES. BUT AT THAT POINT, UP TILL THEN,
THEY HAD BELIEVED JESUS WAS THE MESSIAH.
NOW, IF AFTER HIS DEATH THEY KNOW HE'S NOT THE MESSIAH,
BECAUSE THEY HAD TO, YOU KNOW, FAKE THIS THING,
AND GET HIS BODY OUT AND HIDE IT AWAY SOMEWHERE, YOU MEAN,
PEOPLE THAT DIDN'T HAVE THE COURAGE TO DIE FOR WHAT THEY
BELIEVE WAS THE TRUTH, NOW SUDDENLY GET THE COURAGE
TO DIE FOR WHAT THEY KNOW IS A LIE? IT JUST DOESN'T HAPPEN.
J.N.D. ANDERSON WROTE:
BUT THERE'S ANOTHER SIDE TO THIS, SUPPOSE I TOLD YOU
THAT SOME YEARS AGO JOHN F. KENNEDY WAS
KILLED IN DALLAS BY A BOW AND ARROW. WOULD YOU BELIEVE ME?
OF COURSE NOT. THE REASON I COULDN'T FLY THAT KIND
OF A YARN, IS BECAUSE AS WE SPEAK, THERE'S TOO MANY
PEOPLE AROUND THAT WERE EYEWITNESSES.
AND WHEN PAUL WROTE IN HIS FIRST LETTER TO CORINTH,
THERE WERE 500 PEOPLE THAT WITNESSED HIS RESURRECTION
THAT WERE AMONG THEM.
IF YOU EXAMINE HISTORY, EXAMINE LITERATURE, YOU FIND THAT
PEOPLE VERY NATURALLY PRESENé THEMSELVES(IN THE
BEST LIGHT AVAILABLE. THEY DISGUISE(THEIR(BAD MOTIVES
AND THEY TRY(AND GIVE A SLANT ON A STORY OF HOW AN(EVENT
HAPPENED(TO LET THEMSELVES LOOK GOOD. HOWEVEZ IN$THE BIBLE,
YOU FIND THE EXACT REVERSE. I DEFY YOU TO FIND ANY OTHER BOOK
OUTSIDE THE BIBLE IN WHICH THE DISCIPLES WOULD PRESENT
THEMSELVES AS COWARDS WHO ABANDONED THEIR LORD
WHEN HE WAS CRUCIFIED, AFRAID FOR THEIR LIVES.
SCIENCE IS UPHELD AS A CHAMPION OF OBJECTIVITY.
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD IS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOVE EMOTIONS
AND OPINIONS. YET ANYONE FAMILIAR WITH THE BATTLE
BETWEEN THE THEORIES OF EVOLUTION AND CREATION,
KNOW THAT THERE ARE FEW TOPICS THAT GENERATE MORE
STRONGLY BIASED VIEWS. THERE IS LITTLE ARGUMENT NOW, HOWEVER,
THAT THE BIBLE DOES IN FACT HOLD REMARKABLE
SCIENTIFIC IDEAS. IDEAS THAT FOR MANY YEARS,
WERE SCOFFED AT, AND IGNORED BY, MANY TOP SCIENTISTS.
THERE ARE MANY THINGS FOUND IN THE BIBLE, FROM THOUSANDS OF
YEARS AGO, THAT ARE ABSOLUTELY SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN TODAY.
JUST A FEW EXAMPLES COME TO MIND. IN THE BOOK OF JOB,
WHICH IS BY THE WAY, THE OLDEST BOOK IN THE BIBLE,
WE FIND A NUMBER OF SCIENTIFIC FACTS.
NOT ONLY TALKING ABOUT THE CONSTELLATIONS AND ASTRONOMY,
AND MENTIONS SOME OF THE STAR SYSTEMS THAT EXIST,
BUT WE FIND A COMPLETE HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE,
THAT HERE IN A BOOK THAT IS SOME 4,000 YEARS OLD,
IT DESCRIBES EXACTLY HOW EVAPORATION TAKES PLACE
FROM A LAKE AND THAT THE WATER VAPOR IS TAKEN UP IN THE
HEAVENS AND THEN IT'S TURNED INTO, ULTIMATELY INTO
A CLOUD AND INTO RAIN AND INTO HAIL, INTO SNOW AND THEN
DOWN INTO THE EARTH AGAIN. THINGS THAT COULD NOT HAVE
BEEN KNOWN, SCIENTIFICALLY AT THAT TIME.
IN THE PENETUK, WRITTEN BY MOSES, YOU HAVE THE MOST
ADVANCED HYGIENIC LAWS, AND THIS IS WHY, DURING THE BLACK DEATH
PLAGUE, AND WHEN LEPROSY SPREAD ACROSS EUROPE,
THEY BLAMED THE JEWS FOR STARTING IT,
BECAUSE IN THE JEWISH GALLOWS, THEY DIDN'T HAVE THESE PLAGUES,
BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T HAVE SEWAGE RUNNING IN THE STREETS
LIKE YOU HAD IN PARIS, GOING INTO THE, PEOPLE ARE
DRINKING OUT OF IT AND BATHING OUT OF IT.
PEOPLE USED TO PRACTICE BLOOD LETTING, ONCE UPON A TIME.
AND BLOOD LETTING WAS THOUGHT TO BE THE ANSWER TO DISEASE.
BUT WE FOUND OUT LATER, THAT THAT'S WHAT KILLS PEOPLE
RATHER THAN CAUSES THEM TO LIVE. BUT THE BIBLE SAYS
THE LIFE OF THE BODY IS IN THE BLOOD, AND HAD THAT BEEN
SIMPLY READ AND ACCEPTED ONCE UPON A TIME,
IT WOULD HAVE EFFECTED "MEDICAL SCIENCE" FROM THE BEGINNING.
WELL NOT UNTIL 1900 DID SCIENTISTS KNOW THERE WAS
SUCH A THING AS GERMS. IN FACT, IN HOSPITALS IN EUROPE
AND AMERICA IN 1900, THE DOCTORS WOULD DO AN AUTOPSY
IN THE MORNING AND LEAVE THE AUTOPSY ROOM WITH THEIR HANDS
STILL BLOODY AND WOULD DELIVER BABIES. THE WOMEN WHO WERE
DELIVERING BABIES WERE DYING AT OVER 60% MORTALITY RATE
FOR ANY WOMAN WHO ENTERED A HOSPITAL.
AND WHEN ONE CHRISTIAN WHO WAS READING THE BOOK
OF LEVITICUS, WENT TO HIS HOSPITAL AND SAID,
NOW I'M INSTRUCTING ALL OF YOU TO WASH YOUR HANDS IN
HOT SOAPY WATER BEFORE YOU EVER TOUCH A WOMAN WHO'S
GOING TO HAVE A CHILD, HE WAS RIDICULED.
BUT BECAUSE HE WAS IN CONTROL, THEY DID IT,
AND THE MORTALITY RATE DROPPED TO ABOUT ONE TENTH
OF WHAT IT WAS, IN ALL THE OTHER HOSPITALS.
LET'S JUST TAKE, ONE EXAMPLE, THE CIRCUMCISION,
THAT WAS ORDERED ON THE EIGHTH DAY, NOT THE SEVENTH,
NOT THE NINTH, BUT THE EIGHTH. BUT IT'S ONLY IN RECENT YEARS
THAT IT'S BEEN FOUND THAT THE CLOTTING FACTOR IN THE@
HUMAN BEING, THE BABY, REACHES IT'S MAXIMUM PEAK
AT THE EIGHTH DAY. SO THIS WOULD BE THE IDEAL TIME
FOR THAT TYPE OF OPERATION TO BE CARRIED OUT.
THIS WOULD BE THE SAFEST TIME.
THE BIBLE CONTAINS INFORMATION THAT IS SCIENTIFIC AND MEDICAL
THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO EXPLAIN UNLESS IT WAS DIVINELY
INSPIRED BY GOD.
THE BIBLE IS OFTEN SAID NOT TO BE SCIENTIFIC BECAUSE OF
STORIES LIKE CREATION, AND NOAH AND THE FLOOD.
WHILE MANY BELIEVE THAT THE EARTH IS BILLIONS OF
YEARS OLD, AND NOAH ONLY A FICTIONAL STORY,
THE EVIDENCE SAYS OTHERWISE. DESPITE WHAT IS TOUGHT
IN MANY SCHOOLS TODAY, THE EVIDENCE FOR A YOUNG EARTH
AND NOAH'S FLOOD ARE OVERWHELMING.
YOU TAKE WHAT'S THERE AND IT INDICATES A VERY,
VERY YOUNG EARTH. YOU JUST TAKE THE FACTS AS THEY ARE
WITHOUT ALL THE EXTRA ASSUMPTIONS,
AND IT COMES OUT YOUNG.
OBSERVATIONS OF THE MAGNETIC FIELD, YOU CAN MEASURE
THE STRENGTH OF IT AT THE SURFACE, INDICATE THAT OVER
THE LAST 300 YEARS, THE MAGNETIC FIELD OF THE EARTH
HAS BEEN DECREASING IN INTENSITY. IT'S BEEN GETTING
LESS AND LESS AND LESS. NOW THIS IS CONSISTENT WITH THE IDEA
THAT THERE ARE LITTLE ELECTRONS RUNNING AROUND AND THEY'RE
SLOWING DOWN IN THE COURSE OF TIME.
BUT THEY'RE SLOWING DOWN SO FAST, WITH A HALF LIFE OF
1,400-2,000 YEARS, THAT IN FACT THE EARTH CAN'T BE ANY,
THE EARTH'S MAGNETIC FIELD, ANYWAY, CAN'T BE ANY OLDER
THAN 10,000 YEARS OR THEY'D BE TOO STRONG FOR LIFE
TO BE COMFORTABLE ON THE EARTH.
DOWN IN TEXAS WE'VE GOT A LOT OF OIL WELLS,
AND THERE'S TREMENDOUS PRESSURES DOWN THERE,
AND IT GETS RATHER DANGEROUS SOMETIMES, YOU TAP INTO
SOME OF THESE GAS POCKETS, AND IT JUST BLOWS THE RIGS SKY HIGH,
I MEAN, JUST THOUSANDS OF FEET UP INTO THE AIR.
TREMENDOUS PRESSURE. WELL, ONE OF THE FACTORS
THAT YOU HAVE TO KNOW ABOUT WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING FOR OIL
IS THE POROSITY OF THE ROCK. HOW MANY LITTLE PORES PER INCH,
OR WHATEVER, AND YOU CAN CALCULATE VERY EASILY
HOW LONG THESE ROCKS WOULD HOLD THE PRESSURES.
YOU COME OUT WITH ABOUT A MAXIMUM OF 50,000 YEARS.
AND YET YOU'VE GOT TREMENDOUS PRESSURES DOWN THERE
THAT DON'T SEEM TO HAVE ABATED, COULDN'T HAVE BEEN MUCH
STRONGER THAN THEY ARE, AND IT CAN'T LAST THAT LONG.
THAT SAYS IT HADN'T BEEN THERE FOR BILLIONS OF YEARS.
EROSION OF NIAGARA FALLS IN CANADA, IS ANOTHER DRAMATIC
PIECE OF EVIDENCE FOR A YOUNG EARTH AND NOAH'S FLOOD.
ALTHOUGH IN RECENT YEARS, THE HORSESHOE FALLS
HAVE BEEN REINFORCED, THERE USED TO BE NOTICEABLE EROSION
EVERY YEAR. THE EROSION WAS ESTIMATED AT ABOUT
1-3 FEET PER YEAR. SINCE THE NIAGARA GORGE IS 7 MILES LONG,
OR 35,000 FEET, IT WAS CALCULATED TO BE ABOUT
35,000 YEARS OLD.
EVIDENCE HAS SHOWN US IN FACT, SINCE THAT TIME,
AND IT'S NOT ONE FOOT, IT'S NOT THREE. CLOSER TO SIX.
SIX INTO 35,000, GOES ABOUT 5-6 THOUSAND YEARS.
EXACTLY WHAT WE WOULD EXPECT IF IN FACT THAT GORGE BEGAN,
AND THOSE FALLS BEGAN SHORTLY AFTER THE TIME OF THE FLOOD.
EVIDENCES OF THE FLOOD ARE A REALLY LARGE NUMBER
OF SUCH EVIDENCES. ONE OF THE BEST EVIDENCES I THINK,
IS THE WIDESPREAD NATURE OF SEDIMENTS THAT YOU FIND
ON THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH. NEAR WHERE I LIVE
IN DAYTON, TENNESSEE, THERE'S A SANDSTONE LAYER THAT AGAIN,
IS FOUND OVER THOUSANDS OF SQUARE MILES OF AREA,
AND IT HAS EVIDENCE IN IT OF BEING DEPOSITED VERY,
VERY RAPIDLY, AS IF, AND UNDERWATER, AS IF YOU'VE GOT
A MOVING OCEAN MOVING OVER THE INTERIOR OF THE CONTINENT.
YOU CAN TRACE THE LIMESTONES IN MY AREA OF DAYTON, TENNESSEE
ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE STATES CONTINUOUS WITH LIMESTONES
THAT YOU FIND IN MONTANA, AND WITH LIMESTONES IN THE
GRAND CANYON. ACROSS THE ENTIRE CONTINENT. SO WHAT YOU HAVE IS
INTERCONTINENTAL DISTRIBUTION OF SEDIMENTS ACROSS THE WORLD.
SEEMS TO ARGUE VERY POWERFULLY FOR, AGAIN, A MOVING OCEAN,
A AGORABLE FLOOD.
I THINK A UNIVERSAL FLOOD IS THE BEST EXPLANATION
FOR THE GEOLOGIC PHENOMENON THAT WE SEE.
AS WE'VE SUGGESTED, NICK LOSTINO,
THE FOUNDERS OF THE DISCIPLINE OF GEOLOGY AND STATIGRAPHY
ALL BELIEVE THAT THAT'S WHAT DID IT.
THE ABUNDANCE OF FOSSILS ON RECORD ARGUES FOR VERY RAPID
DEPOSITION, WHICH I BELIEVE IS ACCOUNTED FOR IN THE
BIBLICAL FLOOD. THE FLOOD THAT CAME UP IN THE DAYS OF NOAH,
AND COVERED THE LAND'S SURFACE VERY RAPIDLY,
MOVING SEDIMENTS AROUND AND DUMPING LARGE AMOUNTS
OF SEDIMENT IN PARTICULAR AREAS, BURYING CREATURES VERY FAST,
VERY RAPIDLY, I BELIEVE THAT IS THE EVENT THAT PRODUCED US
MOST OF THE FOSSIL RECORD.
COURT CASES ARE WON OR LOST ON THE EVIDENCE THAT IS PRESENTED.
SO FAR, WE'VE ESTABLISHED THAT THERE IS EVIDENCE OF THE
ETERNAL CREATOR, BECAUSE THERE IS A WONDERFULLY
DESIGNED CREATION. ALSO, WE'VE LOOKED AT THE BIBLE.
MANY CONSIDER IT TO BE THE ACTUAL INHERENT WORD OF GOD.
WE'VE AT LEAST ESTABLISHED IT TO BE A CREDIBLE WITNESS.
FROM IT'S HISTORICAL ACCURACY, IT'S VAST DOCUMENTATION,
AND IT'S REMARKABLE VIEWS ON SCIENCE, THE BIBLE HAS EARNED
IT'S DAY IN COURT.
NOW THINK OF WHAT THE BIBLE CLAIMS TO BE.
IT'S A MESSAGE WRITTEN BY THE CREATOR TO HIS CREATION.
THAT'S POWERFUL. IT'S MORE THAN POWERFUL, IT'S MIND-BOGGLING.
THE QUESTION IS, HOW DOES THE CREATOR AUTHENTICATE
HIS MESSAGE? HOW DOES HE PROVE TO A CREATION,
A CREATION THAT HE HAS GIVEN GREAT MENTAL FACULTIES TO,
THAT HE IS INDEED THE ONE SENDING THE MESSAGE?
WELL THE PRIMARY WAY HE'S CHOSEN TO DO THAT IS TO TELL US
THE FUTURE BEFORE IT HAPPENS. IN FACT THE GOD OF THE BIBLE
WARNS US THERE'LL BE A LOT OF GOD WANNABE'S,
AND THAT HE WILL PROVE THAT HE'S THE ONLY TRUE ETERNAL CREATOR
BECAUSE HE CAN DO WHAT NO ONE ELSE CAN.
ABOUT PERHAPS, 1/3 OF THE BIBLE IS PROPHECY,
THE BIBLE PROPHESIED PERHAPS 2-300 SEPARATE DETAILS ABOUT
THE BIRTH AND THE LIFE AND THE DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION
OF JESUS CHRIST, AND ALL OF THOSE HAVE COME TO PASS
IN ABSOLUTELY PERFECT FULFILLMENT OF WHAT
THE OLD TESTAMENT SAYS. THE FACT THAT JESUS CHRIST WAS BORN
OF A VIRGIN, PREDICTED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.
BORN IN THE CITY OF BETHLEHEM, PREDICTED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.
BORN AT A TIME IN WHICH AN ELEMENT OF THE NATIONS WOULD
WAIL BECAUSE OF HIM, AND WE HAVE THE NEW TESTAMENT
PRESENT TO US THE FULFILLMENT OF THIS, IMAGINE HEROD
CONDEMNING THE CHILDREN TO DEATH IN A GIVEN AREA OF
THE WORLD IN HIS ATTEMPT TO DO AWAY WITH THE MESSIAH,
PREDICTED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.
AND THE THESIS WAS THAT JESUS KNEW THESE PROPHECIES
AND HE AND JUDAS CONSPIRED TO FULFILL THEM.
HOW DID JESUS KNOW WHO WOULD BE ON DUTY THAT DAY,
SO THAT HE COULD GET NAILED BETWEEN TWO THIEVES
AND FULFILL THE SCRIPTURES, SO HE COULD HAVE THEM GAMBLE
FOR HIS CLOTHES, SO HE COULD HAVE THEM GIVE HIM
VINEGAR MINGLED WITH GALL WHEN HE SAID I THIRST,
AND SO FORTH, AND FINALLY, THE RESURRECTION. YOU KNOW,
GREAT, BIG DEAL, I CONVINCED EVERYBODY I'M THE MESSIAH,
BUT I GOT KILLED IN THE PROCESS, SO YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO
COME BACK TO LIFE. HOW'S HE GOING TO PULL THAT ONE OFF?
IN FACT, THE PROPHECIES SURROUNDING THE TRIAL
AND DEATH OF JESUS ARE SO ACCURATE THAT CRITICS HAVE
HAD TO TRY TO ARGUE THAT THE PROPHECIES WERE WRITTEN
AFTER THE FACT. BUT EVEN THAT ARGUMENT WAS DEFEATED
WITH THE DISCOVERY OF THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS, WHICH RECORDED
THE WORDS OF ISAIAH AT LEAST 250 YEARS BEFORE THE
COMING OF JESUS. BUT ONE OF THE MOST STARTLING PROPHECIES
CONCERNING THE ARRIVAL OF JESUS IN ISRAEL HAD TO DO WITH
THE EXACT YEAR, THE EXACT MONTH AND IN FACT THE EXACT DAY
WHEN HE PRESENTED HIMSELF TO ISRAEL AS THEIR MESSIAH.
IT'S ABOUT 500 YEARS BEFORE THE TIME OF CHRIST.
THE PROPHET DANIEL IS IN CAPTIVITY IN BABYLON,
AND THE ANGEL GABRIEL BRINGS HIM A MESSAGE FROM THE CREATOR.
HE TELLS HIM THAT THE ORDER IS SOON GOING TO COME FORTH
ORDERING THE REBUILDING OF JERUSALEM. AND THEN HE
TELLS HIM THAT EXACTLY 483 YEARS FROM THAT DAY,
THE DAY THAT THE COMMANDMENT IS GIVEN, THE MESSIAH WILL
PRESENT HIMSELF TO ISRAEL.
WHEN YOU GO THROUGH THAT ARITHMETIC, IT'S AMAZING.
YOU COME OUT TO 173,880 DAYS. GABRIEL'S MARGIN FOR ERROR
WAS ZERO. NOW WHAT MAKES THAT SO DRAMATIC, IS THAT THERE'S
NO WAY TO REFUTE IT. THE DATES ARE WELL KNOWN,
THEY'RE DOCUMENTED IN SECULAR HISTORY.
THE PRECISION IS THERE. FOR THAT TO BE CONTRIVED,
IS IMPOSSIBLE, IT'S PART OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.
CENTURIES BEFOREHAND.
WHAT HAPPENED ON THAT DAY OF APRIL THE 6TH, 32 A.D.
IN AN EVENT STILL COMMEMORATED TO THIS DAY.
IT WAS WHAT WE KNOW AS PALM SUNDAY.
COMMEMORATING THE DAY WHEN JESUS RODE INTO JERUSALEM
ON A DONKEY, PRESENTING HIMSELF AS THE MESSIAH.
I MEAN, HOW ARE YOU GOING TO CONSPIRE WHERE YOU'RE
GOING TO BE BORN, IN BETHLEHEM AND WHEN SO THAT YOU CAN
RIDE INTO JERUSALEM AT EXACTLY THE RIGHT TIME AND SO FORTH.
WE'RE TALKING ABOUT PROOFS AND EVIDENCE HERE.
ONE OF THE THINGS ABOUT EVIDENCE, IS PROBABILITY.
IT'S JUST A MATTER OF SIMPLE MATH. HISTORIANS AGREE
THAT THE EVIDENCE DOES INDICATE THAT JESUS FULFILLED ALL OF
THE PROPHECIES ABOUT THE LIFE, DEATH AND RESURRECTION
OF THE MESSIAH. THAT'S SEVERAL HUNDRED PROPHECIES.
INCLUDING DOZENS OVER WHICH HE COULD HAVE NO CONTROL.
WHAT ARE THE ODDS ON THAT?
BUT DID THE EFFORTS OF THE CREATOR TO AUTHENTICATE
HIS MESSAGE END WITH PROPHECIES FULFILLED ALMOST
2,000 YEARS AGO, OR, AS SCHOLARS STATE, DID THE CREATOR PROMISE
THAT THIS MESSIAH, HIS ONLY SON, WOULD RETURN TO EARTH
ONE MORE TIME? MANY PREDICTIONS HAVE BEEN MADE ABOUT
GOD'S PEOPLE AND THE END TIMES. MAYBE WE DON'T HAVE TO
LOOK AT ANCIENT HISTORY IN ORDER TO SEE IF GOD EXISTS.
WHAT IF WE COULD SEE THOSE ANCIENT PROPHECIES
COMING TO LIGHT IN THIS GENERATION?
AND YET MIRACLE OF MIRACLE, THE BIBLE PROPHESIED THAT
IN THE LAST DAYS, THE JEWS WOULD COME BACK INTO THEIR LAND.
NOW NO OTHER NATION IN HISTORY HAS CEASED TO EXIST
FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS AND EVER BECOME A NATION AGAIN.
BUT THE BIBLE PROPHESIED THAT IT WOULD. AND FURTHERMORE,
THE BIBLE PROPHESIED, IN THE WORDS OF EZEKIEL 4:4-6,
THAT ISRAEL WOULD BE REBORN AS A NATION. EXACTLY IN MAY 1948.
THE HISTORY OF THE JEWS IS ONE OF THE GREATEST PROOFS
THAT GOD EXISTS. HERE IS A PEOPLE THAT HAVE BEEN
PERSECUTED FOR OVER 3,000 YEARS, HAVE BEEN CAST OUT OF
THEIR COUNTRY, HAVE BEEN TORTURED AND KILLED
AND IMPRISONED.
TO ANY OTHER PEOPLE IN HISTORY THAT THIS HAS HAPPENED TO,
THEY HAVE SIMPLY DISAPPEARED. FOR SOMEONE TO KEEP THEIR
NATIONAL IDENTITY WITHOUT A NATION IS INCREDIBLE.
BUT TO KEEP IT EVEN IN THE FACE OF DEATH SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE.
WELL IT IS ABSOLUTELY REMARKABLE IN THAT THE JEWS LOST THEIR
LANGUAGE.ABOUT 2,000 YEARS AGO. EVEN IN THE DAYS OF JESUS,
THE JEWS WERE NO LONGER SPEAKING HEBREW, WHICH WAS
THE ANCIENT BIBLICAL LANGUAGE, 2,000 YEARS PAST
WHAT GOD HAD PROPHESIED 25 CENTURIES AGO,
IN THE WORDS OF ZEPHANIA 3:9:
THIS EXTRAORDINARY PROPHECY THAT IN THE LAST DAYS, ISRAEL WOULD
RESTORE THE LANGUAGE. THE PURE LANGUAGE OF HEBREW,
WAS AN EXTRAORDINARY AND UNLIKELY PROPHECY,
IN THAT NO OTHER NATION IN HISTORY HAS LOST.IT'S LANGUAGE
AN EVER RECOVERED IT.
YOU'VE GOT ISRAEL BACK IN HER LAND. THAT'S THE CORNERSTONE
OF PROPHECY. IT'S RECORDED IN A DOZEN DIFFERENT PLACES
IN THE BIBLE. THE GENERATION THAT SEES THE RETURN OF
ISRAEL TO HER LAND WILL SEE THE SECOND COMING OF THE MESSIAH.
BUT IT'S FAR MORE THAN THAT. IN THIS SAME GENERATION
YOU'VE GOT A EUROPEAN DEMOCRATIC SUPER STATE RISING
IN THE EUROPEAN UNION EXACTLY AS PROPHESIED.
YOU'VE GOT AN OUT OF CONTROL SUPER POWER TO THE
NORTH OF ISRAEL, EXACTLY AS PROPHESIED.
THE STATUS OF JERUSALEM THREATENS WORLD PEACE,
EXACTLY AS PROPHESIED. AND WE'RE MOVING TO A NEW WORLD ORDER
AND ONCE AGAIN, THAT'S EXACTLY AS PROPHESIED.
ON THE DESOLATE ISLAND OF PATMOS, THE EXILED APOSTLE JOHN
WROTE THE BOOK OF THE REVELATION.
A BOOK OF THE BIBLE THAT PREDICTS FUTURE EVENTS
WITH STARTLING ACCURACY. DRAMATIC CHANGES TO
GLOBAL WEATHER PATTERNS, PESTILENCES UNLIKE ANYTHING
KNOWN IN HISTORY. EARTHQUAKES OCCURRING
WITH GREATER FREQUENCY THAN EVER BEFORE.
THE ADVENT OF NUCLEAR POWER, AN ARMY FROM THE FAR EAST
NUMBERING 200 MILLION, A HOLE IN THE OZONE LAYER.
THESE WERE ALL CLEARLY PROPHESIED IN THE BIBLE
AS EVENTS THAT WOULD TAKE PLACE IN THE GENERATION THAT SAW
ISRAEL COME BACK TO HER LAND.
THESE ARE POWERFUL PIECES OF EVIDENCE.
AND THAT'S WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT: EVIDENCE.
SO AMONG ALL THE HUNDREDS OF PROPHECIES THAT SEEM TO
SPEAK SO DIRECTLY TO THIS GENERATION, ARE THERE ANY
THAT SHOW THE BIBLE, WRITTEN THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO,
FORESAW EVENTS AND REALITIES THAT NO MAN COULD HAVE FORESEEN.
ONE OF THE MOST DRAMATIC PROPHECIES ABOUT THIS
LAST GENERATION WAS RECORDED IN THE BOOK OF DANIEL
ABOUT 2500 YEARS AGO. HERE GOD TOLD THE PROPHET DANIEL
THAT THE LAST GENERATION IN HISTORY WOULD BE DIFFERENT FROM
ANY OTHER GENERATION IN ONE SPECIFIC WAY.
THERE WOULD BE AN EXPONENTIAL INCREASE IN KNOWLEDGE.
IT'S INCREDIBLE. AND WHAT MAKES ALL THIS POSSIBLE IS
THE COMPUTER. CALCULATIONS AND THEORIES THAT TOOK
YEARS TO WORK OUT CAN NOW BE DONE IN SECONDS.
OUR TOTAL KNOWLEDGE IS DOUBLING EVERY TWO YEARS.
IT'S"A"WORLD ON FAST FORWARD. IT'S A GENERATION,
A TIME IN HISTORY TOTALLY DISTINCT FROM ANY BEFORE.
I DON'T SEE HOW ANYONE COULD ARGUE THAT THIS DIFFERENCE
IS NOT BASED ON AN EXPONENTIAL INCREASE IN KNOWLEDGE.
THE BOOK OF REVELATION MAKES A PROPHECY UN UNDERSTANDABLE TO
ANY OTHER GENERATION. IT TELLS US THAT IN THE LAST DAYS,
NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO BUY OR SELL ANYTHING WITHOUT
A MARK IN THE RIGHT HANDS OR FOREHEAD.
THIS IS AN INCREDIBLE PROPHECY COMING FROM 2,000 YEARS AGO.
HOW ARE YOU GOING TO TRACK THE BUYING OR SELLING OF EVERYONE
WHEN PEOPLE LIVED OFF THE LAND? BUT THIS GENERATION
IS DIFFERENT. WE HAVE AUTOMATED TELLER MACHINES,
ELECTRONIC FUND TRANSFERS, SMART CARDS, DEBIT CARDS,
AN ELECTRONIC SYSTEM THAT MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO TRACK THE
BUYING AND SELLING OF EVERYONE ON THIS EARTH.
JESUS HIMSELF, SPEAKING OF THE LAST GENERATION, SAID UNLESS
HE RETURNED TO PERSONALLY INTERVENE IN HISTORY,
MANKIND WOULD ENTER A WAR. A BATTLE CALLED ARMAGEDDON,
IN WHICH HE WOULD USE HIS NEW TECHNOLOGIES TO DESTROY
EVERY SINGLE PERSON ON THE PLANET.
HOW COULD THAT HAVE HAPPENED IN ANY OTHER GENERATION?
THINK BACK EVEN A HUNDRED YEARS. MEN FOUGHT THEIR WARS
WITH BOWS AND ARROWS AND MUSKETS AND CANNONS.
HOW CAN YOU WIPE OUT ALL FLESH THAT WAY?
NOT A CHANCE.
SO WHAT ABOUT ALL THIS EVIDENCE? WE'VE LOOKED AT IT,
WE'VE EXAMINED IT. BUT WHAT WOULD A LAWYER, A MAN TRAINED
IN THE LAWS OF EVIDENCE, SAY? AND WHAT IF, FOR EXAMPLE,
HE WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST EXPERTS ON THE LAWS
OF EVIDENCE IN THIS GENERATION.
YOU REMEMBER SIMON GREENLEAF, HE WAS THE GREATEST AUTHORITY
ON EVIDENCE, AND HE'S ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF THE HARVARD SCHOOL
OF LAW. AND SOME OF THE STUDENTS CHALLENGED HIM ONE DAY,
SOMETHING LIKE THIS, THEY SAID, DR. GREENLEAF, YOU'RE THE
WORLD'S GREATEST AUTHORITY ON EVIDENCE, WHY DON'T YOU
USE YOUR KNOW-HOW AND EXAMINE THE EVIDENCE FOR THE CLAIMS
JESUS OF NAZARETH, THIS GUY MADE CLAIMS LIKE NOBODY ELSE MADE.
WHY DON'T YOU APPLY YOUR KNOW-HOW TO THIS AND SEE
WHETHER THEY'RE TRUE OR FALSE. HE SAID GREAT IDEA.
I NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT. HE SPENT SEVERAL MONTHS
ON HIS INVESTIGATION, AND HE REPORTED BACK SOMETHING
LIKE THIS, HE SAID, I HAVE CAREFULLY EXAMINED THE CLAIMS
OF JESUS OF NAZARETH ON THE BASIS OF LEGAL EVIDENCE,
HOW DO YOU ALLOW EVIDENCE, WHAT EVIDENCE WILL YOU ALLOW
IN COURT? HOW DO YOU EXAMINE IT? WHAT TESTIMONY WILL YOU ALLOW
TO ARRIVE AT A JUST AND SOUND CONCLUSION?
HE SAYS, I HAVE EXAMINED THE EVIDENCE, AND I TELL YOU,
BASED UPON THE EVIDENCE, THERE'S NO DOUBT ABOUT IT,
JESUS IS WHO HE CLAIMED TO BE. HE SAID, HE IS THE SON OF GOD,
HE'S GOD WHO CAME TO THIS EARTH, BECAME A MAN, HE DIED FOR
OUR SINS, HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD THE THIRD DAY,
THERE'S NO DOUBT ABOUT IT, THE RESURRECTION IS AS FULLY
ESTABLISHED AS ANY EVENT THAT YOU CAN FIND IN HISTORY,
BUT HE SAID, JESUS, HE MADE A PROMISE, AFTER HE ROSE FROM
THE DEAD, HE SAID IF ANYONE HEAR MY VOICE AND OPEN THE DOOR,
HIS HEART, HIS LIFE, I'LL COME IN AND LIVE WITH HIM,
AND SIMON GREENLEAF SAID, I TOOK HIS WORD AND I
INVITED HIM IN, HE CHANGED MY LIFE. HE'S DONE FOR ME
WHAT I COULDN'T DO FOR MYSELF. WELL THESE ARE SOME OF THE
EVIDENCES TO ME, THAT I DON'T THINK ANY, I DON'T THINK,
I KNOW, THAT NO SKEPTIC, NOBODY CAN DENY. YOU CAN'T BE
AN ATHEIST. NOBODY CAN BE AN AGNOSTIC. YOU'VE GOT TO
ACKNOWLEDGE THE EVIDENCE. NOW WHETHER YOU ACCEPT CHRIST
OR NOT, WHETHER YOU BOW YOUR KNEE AND YOUR WILL TO HIM
OR NOT, THAT'S ANOTHER QUESTION.
THE EVIDENCE OF GOD'S EXISTENCE IS SOMETHING THAT DEMANDS
A VERDICT. THE FACT THAT WE ARE HERE ON THIS REMARKABLE PLANET,
FLOATING IN SPACE, SHOULD BE REASON ENOUGH FOR US
TO WONDER WHERE WE CAME FROM. WE'VE LOOKED AT ONE BOOK
THAT ANSWERS THAT QUESTION. THE BIBLE.
IT HAS SURVIVED THE TESTS OF TIME, HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY
LIKE NOTHING EVER HAS OR EVER WILL. OFTEN IT'S PROVEN
SCIENCE BEFORE SCIENCE HAS PROVEN ITSELF.
THE BIBLE TRULY IS A REMARKABLE TESTAMENT TO THE EXISTENCE
OF GOD. DESPITE REPEATED AND FIERCE ATTACKS,
IT IS A TESTAMENT THAT DEFENDS ITSELF TIME AND AGAIN,
WITHOUT THE NEED OF ANYONE'S HELP OR INTERPRETATION.
THE BIBLE MAY MAKE SOME MIND EXPANDING CLAIMS,
BUT WE LIVE IN AN INCREDIBLE WORLD.
WHICH IS MORE BELIEVABLE? THAT IMPOSSIBLE THINGS HAPPEN
THROUGH TIME AND CHANCE, AGAINST THE LAWS OF SCIENCE
AND PROBABILITY OR THAT IMPOSSIBLE THINGS HAPPEN
THROUGH THE WILL OF GOD, AND THROUGH THE LAWS OF SCIENCE?
AND WHO OTHER THAN GOD WOULD BE ABLE TO SEE INTO THE FUTURE?
IF SOMEONE TODAY CLAIMED TO BE GOD, WOULDN'T WE ASK HIM
TO TELL US WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN? AND IF HE DID IT
PRECISELY AND ACCURATELY EVERY SINGLE TIME,
WOULDN'T WE WONDER AT LEAST A LITTLE BIT?
LOGICALLY THEN, SHOULDN'T WE WONDER ABOUT JESUS?
AT LEAST WE SHOULD LISTEN TO THE ARGUMENTS WITH AN OPEN MIND,
AND AN OPEN HEART.
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