WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:08.679 A lot of them, fundamental principles of weedom actually self interest, 2 00:00:09.880 --> 00:00:21.039 and the individual lots. This is the show. All right, everybody, 3 00:00:21.079 --> 00:00:26.719 welcome to your one book show on this Saturday, December twentieth. 4 00:00:28.519 --> 00:00:31.800 Thanks for joining me. We are you know I told 5 00:00:31.839 --> 00:00:35.759 you that I'll devote my Saturday shows to three general topics, 6 00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:40.719 uh kind of Christianity and civilization, uh, the search for 7 00:00:40.840 --> 00:00:45.799 meaning and uh and capitalism just just different aspects of capitalism. 8 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:50.600 So today we're back to the topic of civilization and 9 00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:57.200 UH and Christianity and uh uh yeah, well we'll keep 10 00:00:57.240 --> 00:01:00.719 on this rotation. I do not have any views today, 11 00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:03.159 but I do need to catch up on those, so 12 00:01:03.159 --> 00:01:08.359 we'll probably devote a midweek show sometime to at least 13 00:01:08.359 --> 00:01:11.519 catch up on reviews and get them all done and 14 00:01:11.560 --> 00:01:15.280 get them all or most of them done by year end. 15 00:01:16.439 --> 00:01:21.560 All right, Let's see, So I thought we talked today 16 00:01:21.560 --> 00:01:26.439 about Christian values and what they are, and then how 17 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:31.920 they relate to Western civilization, to civilization, to where we 18 00:01:31.959 --> 00:01:34.599 are today, to how we got to where we are today, 19 00:01:34.640 --> 00:01:38.200 how civilization came about, and to what extent we can 20 00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:43.799 attribute civilization to these, you know, co Christian values, to 21 00:01:43.840 --> 00:01:47.319 what extent is Christianity responsible, But we'll look at it 22 00:01:47.400 --> 00:01:51.120 through the lens of Christian values, of through the lens 23 00:01:51.120 --> 00:01:56.519 of Christian morality. I want to say one thing. I 24 00:01:56.560 --> 00:02:03.000 was thinking of calling this judo Christian values versus civilization, 25 00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:07.079 but then I thought, God, then I'd have to separate 26 00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:10.400 out what is exactly. I'd have to do the whole 27 00:02:10.439 --> 00:02:14.879 theology of the separation between Christianity and Judaism, and that 28 00:02:14.919 --> 00:02:17.840 seems ridiculous. Also, it just opens it up to the 29 00:02:17.919 --> 00:02:21.360 argument of no, there is no judo Christian It's really 30 00:02:21.639 --> 00:02:24.840 only Christian values and Jewish values are very different. And 31 00:02:24.879 --> 00:02:28.400 to some extent that's true. So I decide dealt with it. 32 00:02:28.439 --> 00:02:32.879 I mean, the reality is judo Christian values. The whole 33 00:02:32.879 --> 00:02:39.159 idea of judo Christian civilization, judo Christian whatever is probably 34 00:02:39.159 --> 00:02:43.840 a mid twentieth century concept. It is a post Holocaust concept. 35 00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:49.280 It's a way for Christians to pretend that Christianity had 36 00:02:49.319 --> 00:02:52.400 nothing to do with the Holocaust, for Christians to pretend 37 00:02:52.960 --> 00:02:55.159 they don't know. You know, we've always been on the 38 00:02:55.240 --> 00:02:59.199 Jews side, you know, when faced with the reality of 39 00:02:59.199 --> 00:03:04.240 what happened in you juring the World War two. Uh So, 40 00:03:04.240 --> 00:03:06.879 so there is no such thing as Judo Christian values. 41 00:03:06.919 --> 00:03:10.520 The Jews and the Christians indeed disagree on many of 42 00:03:10.560 --> 00:03:14.599 these values. They they they share common as well, see 43 00:03:16.080 --> 00:03:19.639 we won't see, but they'll share common irrationality, that the 44 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:23.000 irrationality of religion, the originality of faith, that they share. 45 00:03:23.039 --> 00:03:25.280 But they disagree on the particulars. And there's no point 46 00:03:25.319 --> 00:03:28.560 in really getting into it. Uh, just to be clear, 47 00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:31.479 just so nobody has any doubts, because I know a 48 00:03:31.479 --> 00:03:33.599 lot of people are out to get me on this issue. 49 00:03:36.199 --> 00:03:39.400 It's Judeo who cares. Judo is a martial art. I'm 50 00:03:39.400 --> 00:03:42.400 talking about Judo. You thought I was talking about Jews. 51 00:03:42.680 --> 00:03:46.039 Now I'm talking about Judo Christian. It's the it's the 52 00:03:46.039 --> 00:03:56.560 there's a Judo Christian thing, Judeo Judeo Christian. Just so 53 00:03:56.719 --> 00:04:00.439 we're clear, I don't think Jewish value said anything to 54 00:04:00.439 --> 00:04:03.879 do with the civilization either. So everything I say criticizing 55 00:04:03.960 --> 00:04:08.000 Christianity with some variations because the values are different, but 56 00:04:08.120 --> 00:04:11.199 basically applies to Judaism. But why don't I and this 57 00:04:11.280 --> 00:04:12.639 is a question I get all the time, right, why 58 00:04:12.680 --> 00:04:17.759 don't I attack the Jewish religion and Judeo values as 59 00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:20.920 much as I attack Christian values, primarily because they're just 60 00:04:21.160 --> 00:04:27.720 mostly in America, in Western civilization. Arguably even in Israel, 61 00:04:28.360 --> 00:04:32.279 they're not that relevant. We live in a world in 62 00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:39.199 which the relevant, the relevant values, the relevant, the relevant 63 00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:47.079 perception of morality, the relevant religion is Christianity. Judaism is 64 00:04:47.079 --> 00:04:51.199 an asterisk. It's barely significant that what I don't know, 65 00:04:51.240 --> 00:04:54.839 fifteen million Jews in the world, it doesn't count for anything. 66 00:04:55.720 --> 00:04:57.720 And most of those, many of those yewser if not 67 00:04:57.839 --> 00:05:00.959 most of those Jews a couple of secular and if 68 00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:04.319 they have any values, if they've absorbed any values they've 69 00:05:04.319 --> 00:05:09.160 absorted from the Christian culture around them. And indeed, arguably 70 00:05:09.279 --> 00:05:12.040 Judaism is being Christianized quite a bit in the last 71 00:05:12.079 --> 00:05:15.560 few hundred years. So it's just a waste of time 72 00:05:15.639 --> 00:05:20.279 to criticize Judaism. Now, if I lived in Israel, where 73 00:05:20.720 --> 00:05:24.439 Judaism is to a large extent a threat qua religion 74 00:05:24.879 --> 00:05:27.600 is a threat to I think the existence of the 75 00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:31.319 state of Israel, to the success of the State of Israel, 76 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:36.639 to the Western the civilized aspect of Israeli society. Then 77 00:05:36.680 --> 00:05:41.000 it's spent a lot of time in Israel criticizing Jewish values, 78 00:05:43.480 --> 00:05:47.560 but I'm living in America and my audience is overwhelmingly, 79 00:05:47.720 --> 00:05:54.000 well not overwhelmingly not Israeli. It's overwhelmingly American and Canadian, 80 00:05:54.079 --> 00:05:58.480 Australian and European. It's Anglo Saxon and European and a 81 00:05:58.519 --> 00:06:02.480 small fraction Israeli. So why would I talk Why would 82 00:06:02.480 --> 00:06:06.920 I spend time talking about Jewish values when it's not 83 00:06:07.079 --> 00:06:12.519 relevant to the challenges and struggles that we are are 84 00:06:12.639 --> 00:06:18.199 facing in America, the cultural issues that we face, and 85 00:06:18.279 --> 00:06:24.360 indeed to the very evolution of Western civilization. Western civilization 86 00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:32.639 evolved in the context of Christianity, you know, that's a reality. 87 00:06:32.759 --> 00:06:35.800 It didn't evolve in the context of Judaism. It didn't 88 00:06:35.800 --> 00:06:39.240 evolved in the context of this particular version of the 89 00:06:39.240 --> 00:06:43.000 context of Islam. Although Islam played a much bigger role Muslims, 90 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:47.759 not Islam. Muslims played a much bigger role, arguably suddenly 91 00:06:47.920 --> 00:06:51.839 in the in the in the push of of of 92 00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:56.959 civilizing the West than Jews did it because they were 93 00:06:57.000 --> 00:07:02.199 the transmitters. They were the people transmitted the knowledge of 94 00:07:02.199 --> 00:07:12.199 the Greeks to the West, not Jews. Muslims did did that. So, 95 00:07:15.560 --> 00:07:28.279 you know, religion, religion sucks and across the board, and 96 00:07:29.720 --> 00:07:32.839 I'm not biased towards Judaism. You know, you could we 97 00:07:32.920 --> 00:07:38.519 could have a discussion about the relative virtues and vices 98 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:43.160 of Christianity versus Judaism, and which version of Christianity, which 99 00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:45.839 versions of Judaism and so on. We could have that discussion. 100 00:07:45.920 --> 00:07:48.759 It could be an interesting discussion which one is worse 101 00:07:49.120 --> 00:07:53.199 Christianity of Judaism. But that's not that important. It's not 102 00:07:53.319 --> 00:07:56.560 that interesting from the perspective of I reject them both 103 00:07:57.360 --> 00:08:05.519 from the perspective of the rejection of religion. All right, Uh, 104 00:08:06.680 --> 00:08:09.240 just a few other things. Somebody says, the Golden Age Islam. Yes, 105 00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:11.000 I'm you know. I read a book I told you 106 00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:13.800 about this. I read a book about Central Asia, Islam 107 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:17.040 in Central Asia and the Golden Age, the Enlightenment in 108 00:08:17.480 --> 00:08:23.000 Central Asia in the I don't know, ninth to eleventh century, 109 00:08:23.560 --> 00:08:26.399 and it was amazing. It was a really incredible book. 110 00:08:26.439 --> 00:08:31.800 And I'm reading a book now about Spain basically during 111 00:08:31.800 --> 00:08:34.200 the Middle Ages, that is the Islami consequest of Spain 112 00:08:34.279 --> 00:08:38.320 and then the erosion of that and and what happened there. 113 00:08:38.360 --> 00:08:44.759 Not as good of a book to too engaged in 114 00:08:44.799 --> 00:08:48.240 the politics of it. This King did that and rather 115 00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:51.720 than in the intellectual it's not. Now, granted, the book 116 00:08:51.799 --> 00:08:55.759 is focused differently, it's not focused on enlightenment, it's not focused, 117 00:08:55.799 --> 00:09:02.840 but it still emphasizes the extent a where the the 118 00:09:02.840 --> 00:09:10.679 the fact that Christians were welcomed into Islamic Spain, into Andalusia, 119 00:09:10.759 --> 00:09:14.120 the south of Spain, which was which is which was 120 00:09:14.200 --> 00:09:18.200 Muslim for a very long time, and and were allowed 121 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:24.879 into the libraries and therefore copied and translated the writings 122 00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:28.879 of of the Greek Greek Greek philosophers, and and also 123 00:09:29.879 --> 00:09:36.360 the the Asian Islamic uh Enlightenment was also being translated. 124 00:09:36.399 --> 00:09:41.279 And then of course there was everywhere everyone is who 125 00:09:41.399 --> 00:09:47.320 is the great Muslim philosopher in Spain, who was as Italian? 126 00:09:47.360 --> 00:09:51.639 Who was translated into Latin. That is what's set off 127 00:09:52.200 --> 00:09:58.039 the intellectual revolution that made that that that led to 128 00:09:58.080 --> 00:10:03.600 the Renaissance, that led to Western civilization. So you cannot 129 00:10:04.240 --> 00:10:09.639 you cannot understand Western civilization. You cannot understand the rise 130 00:10:09.960 --> 00:10:14.279 of of of a Statilian ideas, the the even the 131 00:10:14.279 --> 00:10:19.279 creation of universities and in Europe without an understanding of 132 00:10:19.320 --> 00:10:21.759 what they were reading, what was being translated, what was 133 00:10:21.799 --> 00:10:26.559 being what, what was being transmitted into Europe from the 134 00:10:26.639 --> 00:10:31.639 Muslim world during this period, primarily from Spain Primelli, from 135 00:10:31.639 --> 00:10:35.279 the from the libraries and places like Cordoba. Uh and 136 00:10:35.279 --> 00:10:41.039 and later uh god, what's the what's the Toledo uh 137 00:10:41.080 --> 00:10:44.440 in in for the North Toledo which was occupied by 138 00:10:44.440 --> 00:10:48.279 the by the by the Christians pretty early and immediately 139 00:10:48.279 --> 00:10:55.279 they started translating everything and moving it out. So yeah, 140 00:10:55.360 --> 00:10:59.080 I mean, and Delicia was no paradise. So I gotside 141 00:10:59.120 --> 00:11:01.399 recommended the myth of these in paradise one week ago. 142 00:11:02.039 --> 00:11:04.080 I don't I don't know if that's the book I'm reading, 143 00:11:04.080 --> 00:11:07.000 but I'm reading a book that basically says, yeah, it 144 00:11:07.120 --> 00:11:09.440 was no paradise, and it certainly it was no paradise. 145 00:11:09.480 --> 00:11:11.279 And I don't even know what you mean by paradise. 146 00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:14.919 They were all killing each other constantly, and raping and 147 00:11:15.120 --> 00:11:18.919 murdering and fighting and infighting, and and they were all 148 00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:22.480 in on it, the Christians, the Muslims, the Jews, they 149 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:25.759 were all scheming and politically it was a complete disaster 150 00:11:26.200 --> 00:11:28.320 and there was no stability, and there really was no 151 00:11:29.039 --> 00:11:33.440 period of of of paradise. But there were periods of 152 00:11:33.480 --> 00:11:37.840 great achievement, you know, not so much in the sciences, 153 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:45.360 but philosophy you get mimonodes and and Avicenna nos in 154 00:11:45.440 --> 00:11:51.679 Asia and and mimonodes and and in poetry and and 155 00:11:51.759 --> 00:11:55.080 other cultural culturally it thrived what politically it was It 156 00:11:55.159 --> 00:11:57.559 was just a complete and out a disaster. And it 157 00:11:57.600 --> 00:12:01.120 was never paradise in a sense that everybody was constantly 158 00:12:01.159 --> 00:12:06.000 discriminating against everybody. You know, it wasn't everybody again was 159 00:12:06.120 --> 00:12:14.679 slaughtering everybody. So very is very is all right? So 160 00:12:15.360 --> 00:12:18.399 I want to say that's also relevant because relevant to 161 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:21.360 a discussion of where civilization comes from and how it involves, 162 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:28.360 and relevant to the discussion about Christianity. But but I 163 00:12:28.679 --> 00:12:29.960 just want to fill you in kind of on the 164 00:12:29.960 --> 00:12:36.200 books that I am that I am reading. God, where's 165 00:12:36.240 --> 00:12:39.360 my phone? I didn't bring my phone into the office. Okay, 166 00:12:40.120 --> 00:12:44.679 that is fine. Uh, I want to say something else, No, 167 00:12:44.759 --> 00:12:46.919 I think that's all I want to say is in 168 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:50.879 a sense a backup. You know, introduction wasn't even really 169 00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:53.759 an introduction. But okay, let's jump in. Let's talk about 170 00:12:53.799 --> 00:12:56.320 Christian values, and we'll talk about the relations between Christian 171 00:12:56.399 --> 00:12:59.679 values and civilization. And let's be clear. Hear what I 172 00:12:59.720 --> 00:13:05.000 mean by civilization? What I mean by civilization. Uh is 173 00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:09.279 a is a culture of achievements. Uh, it's a it's 174 00:13:09.320 --> 00:13:13.519 a society, a civilized society, as a society where you 175 00:13:13.639 --> 00:13:20.639 see great achievements in human life, that is in the arts, 176 00:13:21.039 --> 00:13:26.159 in architecture, in sciences, in the advancement of human well being. 177 00:13:27.080 --> 00:13:31.120 Civilization in a sense as a relative term, because it's 178 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:34.960 contextual to the peuit it was in We talked about 179 00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:39.000 this last time we talked about civilization. Right, Egypt was 180 00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:41.840 a civilization when it was a civilization. If you took 181 00:13:41.879 --> 00:13:45.159 that civilizations and planted in today, it would be barbaric. 182 00:13:45.679 --> 00:13:49.000 It would be primitive, barbaric, and and and and you know, 183 00:13:49.080 --> 00:13:54.559 completely uncivilized. But in the context of its time, it 184 00:13:54.679 --> 00:13:59.960 provided stability, it provided a legal system, It it proved 185 00:14:00.120 --> 00:14:07.679 I did some you know, human achievement, pyramids, some dabbling 186 00:14:07.720 --> 00:14:14.600 in primitive science, particularly astronomy, and and and some arts 187 00:14:14.960 --> 00:14:18.679 in Egyptian sculpture and things like that. Right, So it's 188 00:14:18.840 --> 00:14:23.240 relative to the time. Greece is exceptional in a sense 189 00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:28.720 that much of that civilization would be civilized in any 190 00:14:28.759 --> 00:14:32.159 period except for the fact that Greeks had slaves and 191 00:14:32.279 --> 00:14:36.440 viewed slavery positively as a positive feature, you know, with 192 00:14:36.519 --> 00:14:40.159 some exceptions or some Greek thinkers who condemned slavery, Greek 193 00:14:40.200 --> 00:14:46.600 stated women, you know, awfully, democracy or political participation was very, 194 00:14:46.720 --> 00:14:52.120 very limited. So it was civilized in some respects even today. 195 00:14:52.879 --> 00:14:57.320 But for its time, it's a civilization. It's a great civilization. 196 00:14:57.399 --> 00:15:01.080 It's one of the great civilizations ever because it has 197 00:15:01.159 --> 00:15:07.679 features Greece that impacted all civilization following it, and indeed 198 00:15:07.759 --> 00:15:13.440 would be considered civilized even today. So you know, civilization 199 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:16.480 is this threat that goes through history. Maybe it starts 200 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:24.159 in with Soopotamia, Egypt, Babylon and Persia, Greece, Rome, Central Asia, 201 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:33.360 you know, to some extent, you know, Andalusia, Baghdad, southern Spain, 202 00:15:34.039 --> 00:15:39.279 and then I think comes to Europe as a civilizing force, 203 00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:46.799 and Europe becomes civilized at some point, but it's not civilized. 204 00:15:47.080 --> 00:15:51.639 There's no Western civilization i'd certainly say before the Renaissance, 205 00:15:51.919 --> 00:15:55.519 and really no civilization in the sense of the achievements 206 00:15:55.559 --> 00:16:02.639 of the modern world before the Enlightenment. So you know, 207 00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:06.080 there's no there is a Mayan civilization, there is a 208 00:16:06.840 --> 00:16:16.080 there are you know, American civilizations pre in in pre Europeans, 209 00:16:16.200 --> 00:16:21.440 arriving here. Those civilizations are civilized only in the context 210 00:16:21.879 --> 00:16:24.320 of the place and the time, but not in time, 211 00:16:24.600 --> 00:16:31.159 because there were already much more dramatic achievements in other places. Uh, 212 00:16:31.639 --> 00:16:34.320 you know, given the time, but given the place. They 213 00:16:34.360 --> 00:16:38.600 were improvements, you know, for for and compared to the 214 00:16:38.600 --> 00:16:42.519 culture surrounding them. They were improvements to the mining civilization, 215 00:16:42.759 --> 00:16:46.200 the Aztec civilization, and so on. And of course there 216 00:16:46.240 --> 00:16:49.279 was Chinese civilization, Indian civilization, who were kind of parallel 217 00:16:49.320 --> 00:16:54.720 civilizations that in many respects got stuck and never really 218 00:16:55.559 --> 00:16:58.279 never really advanced into the modern world, never really took 219 00:16:58.279 --> 00:17:03.320 the next step, you know, beyond uh, an organized society 220 00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:06.359 with the rule of law and a government, I mean 221 00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:10.319 at least laws and and and a government and a 222 00:17:10.440 --> 00:17:15.839 declining violence and UH and some technological and material achievements, right, 223 00:17:16.920 --> 00:17:20.559 it got stuck. Those material achievements got stuck. They never 224 00:17:20.599 --> 00:17:24.960 made political achievements. The philosophical achievements got stuck. That there's 225 00:17:25.200 --> 00:17:28.640 you know, confuse Confucius and I mean there are a 226 00:17:28.680 --> 00:17:34.200 few others, but it a philosophical culture doesn't evolve like 227 00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:38.640 it does in Greece. And then ultimately UH in UH 228 00:17:38.720 --> 00:17:46.480 in Europe, so so what we have is so that's 229 00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:49.119 how we consider civilization. That's what I consider civilization. And 230 00:17:49.160 --> 00:17:53.839 then the question is is civilization can we see a 231 00:17:53.880 --> 00:18:00.599 causal relationship between civilization and the Christian values? And so 232 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:02.720 think about it this way, you know. Can we see 233 00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:08.000 a relationship between the political achievements of the funding Fathers 234 00:18:08.519 --> 00:18:11.720 and Christian values? Can we see a relationship between the 235 00:18:11.880 --> 00:18:16.119 esthetic achievements of the Renaissance and Christian values? Can you 236 00:18:16.200 --> 00:18:24.279 see a relationship between the incredible scientific scientific achievements of 237 00:18:24.640 --> 00:18:27.920 the Renaissance through the Age of Science and the Age 238 00:18:27.960 --> 00:18:31.880 of Reason and into the modern world through Christian values? 239 00:18:31.920 --> 00:18:37.000 Can we see the material advancement that happens starting you know, 240 00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:39.920 sometimes in the late eighteenth century, through the Industrial Revolution 241 00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:44.240 through the twentieth century. Can we find those do those 242 00:18:44.319 --> 00:18:47.559 have a root in Christian values? Can we see the 243 00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:53.279 relative decline in violence that happens starting in certainly starting 244 00:18:53.319 --> 00:18:57.880 in the early nineteenth century today in spite of the 245 00:18:57.880 --> 00:19:01.240 Two World Wars? Can we see the decline of violence 246 00:19:01.319 --> 00:19:05.519 during a certain period in Western civilization as anchored in 247 00:19:05.799 --> 00:19:15.200 Christian values? So, you know, that's that's the that's the project, 248 00:19:15.279 --> 00:19:18.759 that's that's what that's what I H. That's what I 249 00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:21.880 want to talk about today. We can't cover the whole topic. 250 00:19:22.319 --> 00:19:25.440 We'll take on a few a few elements, and you know, 251 00:19:25.440 --> 00:19:28.000 maybe we'll talk about this again sometimes in the future. 252 00:19:29.319 --> 00:19:33.519 Reminder to feel fee to ask questions about about this 253 00:19:33.799 --> 00:19:37.480 or you know, anything else. But you know, it would 254 00:19:37.480 --> 00:19:40.400 be particularly interesting if you ask questions about this topic 255 00:19:40.519 --> 00:19:44.799 or generally about civilization, about history, the history of civilization, 256 00:19:45.240 --> 00:19:48.079 you know, and all of that. That would be the 257 00:19:48.079 --> 00:19:51.079 most interesting and I think useful if you could, if 258 00:19:51.079 --> 00:19:54.640 you could do that. So we've got one question so far, 259 00:19:54.759 --> 00:19:57.680 but it's a fifty dollars one, so that's cool. And 260 00:19:57.720 --> 00:20:01.960 of course you could support the show with stickers all right. Now, 261 00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:06.759 in order to figure out what what Christian values are, 262 00:20:07.079 --> 00:20:11.720 this is important important, I turned to my UH, to 263 00:20:11.799 --> 00:20:17.960 my UH basically UH, the companion theologian, the theodre, the 264 00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:21.319 in house if you will, my in house theologian UH, 265 00:20:21.599 --> 00:20:25.440 to ask about you what are coote Christian values? And 266 00:20:25.480 --> 00:20:29.599 in my household the in house theologian is chat Gypt 267 00:20:29.759 --> 00:20:32.880 five point two. That that that's uh, that is UH. 268 00:20:32.960 --> 00:20:37.680 That is where I get my theological advice from. Now 269 00:20:38.079 --> 00:20:41.640 I know for For some this will not be very satisfying. 270 00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:46.880 They would rather I had an actual, you know, theologian here, 271 00:20:46.960 --> 00:20:51.440 but you know, alas I do not know any and uh, 272 00:20:51.519 --> 00:20:54.559 I've discovered that chat Gypt does a really decent job, 273 00:20:54.680 --> 00:20:58.839 like if you ask chachipt about iron Man, which I 274 00:20:58.920 --> 00:21:00.799 do you know? In view of this, I mean in 275 00:21:00.880 --> 00:21:04.599 view that it does a really good job of summarizing 276 00:21:04.599 --> 00:21:07.200 a philosophy of addressing it. Now, it's wrong on some things, 277 00:21:07.640 --> 00:21:09.519 and there's some nuances that are wrong, and it's a 278 00:21:09.559 --> 00:21:15.240 little skeptical of objectivism, but generally it's pretty damn good. 279 00:21:16.440 --> 00:21:19.400 Now I don't I don't have groc although I guess 280 00:21:19.400 --> 00:21:21.319 I could use it through through Twitter, but I think 281 00:21:21.400 --> 00:21:26.640 checchiut seems to be quite good. Again, my measure quite 282 00:21:26.680 --> 00:21:30.240 good is is asking about something that I know, and uh, 283 00:21:30.720 --> 00:21:33.039 you know, I know objectivism. So I said about objectivism, 284 00:21:33.160 --> 00:21:37.279 and and it does it does it? It does it 285 00:21:37.400 --> 00:21:43.039 quite well. Jason says Moments will cook you dinner, Yeah, 286 00:21:43.039 --> 00:21:45.160 but without want to eat it. I don't know. Momon 287 00:21:45.240 --> 00:21:48.119 food does not strike me as advertizing. I apologize to 288 00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:51.720 any moments out there who might be great chefs, but 289 00:21:51.720 --> 00:21:54.880 but just generic moment food is not my thing. Uh. 290 00:21:55.279 --> 00:21:58.200 You know, people are pretty just saying you know, Grock 291 00:21:58.319 --> 00:22:01.279 is more straightforward. You know. I wonder if I ask 292 00:22:01.359 --> 00:22:04.440 Groac what my core about core Christian values? Where they 293 00:22:04.519 --> 00:22:07.960 get a different answer, significantly the same with Gemini. Anyway, 294 00:22:08.079 --> 00:22:11.839 here we are. These are the core Christian values. It's 295 00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:16.240 got ten. I get the associate with the with the 296 00:22:16.240 --> 00:22:19.160 ten Commandments, and it's separating from the Ten Commandments. I 297 00:22:19.160 --> 00:22:22.599 give it credit for not just giving me the Tin Commandments. Indeed, 298 00:22:22.599 --> 00:22:26.200 none of these are in the Ten Commandments explicitly. Uh so, 299 00:22:28.039 --> 00:22:34.680 uh you know Number one? Love charity, Love and charity. 300 00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:37.519 So uh you know, love God and love your neighbor. 301 00:22:38.000 --> 00:22:42.720 Love your neighbor as yourself. You know. This includes compassion, 302 00:22:43.079 --> 00:22:46.440 self sacrifice, and concern for the vulnerable. Okay, so so 303 00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:50.680 love love, you know, not so much as an emotion, 304 00:22:51.079 --> 00:22:53.240 but as a as a as a kind of a 305 00:22:54.319 --> 00:23:02.599 how do how does you know? As as actions as 306 00:23:02.759 --> 00:23:09.920 a guide to action, faith, love, faith, trusting God, commitment 307 00:23:09.960 --> 00:23:14.119 to his teachings. Not you know this is this is 308 00:23:14.160 --> 00:23:17.680 about reliance on God, loyalty to God, and this is 309 00:23:17.920 --> 00:23:23.799 where important truths come from. It's faith. The most important 310 00:23:23.799 --> 00:23:29.119 truths come from three Humility, recognition of human limitations, and 311 00:23:29.200 --> 00:23:35.519 dependence on God. Rejects pride and self exaltation. The last 312 00:23:35.519 --> 00:23:43.160 shall be first. The last should be first. Forgiveness, forgiving 313 00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:47.839 others as God forgives. Uh, you know, and I find 314 00:23:47.920 --> 00:23:52.119 this weird. Forgiving others as God forgives. God is unbelievably unforgiving. 315 00:23:52.359 --> 00:23:54.599 Now everybody tells me that that's true of the Old 316 00:23:54.599 --> 00:23:56.559 Testament God. But the New Testament God is a very 317 00:23:56.640 --> 00:24:01.319 loving God and is very forgiving God if you follow 318 00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:05.279 his dictates to the letter. And even then it's not clear, right. 319 00:24:05.640 --> 00:24:08.559 I mean, in the day of judgment, I go to Hell, 320 00:24:09.519 --> 00:24:13.160 I mean, where's forgiveness? Like, Okay, I've sinned here and there, 321 00:24:13.519 --> 00:24:17.799 But you know, where's the forgiveness to me? No, you 322 00:24:17.960 --> 00:24:20.240 got to help because why because you were born Jewish 323 00:24:20.279 --> 00:24:22.119 and you're an atheist. You got to help Hell. What 324 00:24:22.480 --> 00:24:25.599 you actually did in life? Hell is for you. I 325 00:24:25.680 --> 00:24:29.279 don't know. Forgiveness, I don't see that turned the other 326 00:24:29.400 --> 00:24:31.519 cheek turn out the chief Christians are very good at 327 00:24:31.559 --> 00:24:39.400 tuning the other cheek ah justice, which is more righteousness 328 00:24:39.440 --> 00:24:44.960 and care for the poor, oppressed and marginalized mercy. It's 329 00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:48.720 often paid with mercy. Justice and mercy are related, right, 330 00:24:49.759 --> 00:24:52.720 And then another use of most is mostly in compassion. 331 00:24:53.200 --> 00:24:57.359 This is a number six, I guess, showing kindness. And 332 00:24:57.880 --> 00:25:04.079 again some of these repetitive ultimately because as we'll see, 333 00:25:04.119 --> 00:25:08.880 honesty and integrity, truthfulness and would in action and living 334 00:25:08.920 --> 00:25:12.920 consistently with one small commitments self sacrifice, willing it to 335 00:25:13.000 --> 00:25:15.640 give up personal comfort for others. I like the way 336 00:25:15.960 --> 00:25:20.480 Chadgypt puts it personal comfort person that self sacrifice. Jesus 337 00:25:20.559 --> 00:25:23.119 gave up personal comfort to be put in a cross 338 00:25:23.480 --> 00:25:26.759 and kneel to it and suffer an agonizing slow death. 339 00:25:28.720 --> 00:25:34.920 I mean, that's a whitewashing of self sacrifice. How about 340 00:25:34.920 --> 00:25:38.480 willingness to give up your life, to give up your values, 341 00:25:39.519 --> 00:25:42.240 to give up what makes me happy, to give up 342 00:25:42.279 --> 00:25:48.960 what's yours for others. And then it says the second 343 00:25:49.000 --> 00:25:52.920 bullet point is modify modeled on Christ's life and crucifixion. 344 00:25:53.359 --> 00:25:55.720 But the whole point of the crucifixion is it wasn't 345 00:25:55.799 --> 00:26:00.200 just giving up a personal comfort. It was a lot 346 00:26:00.240 --> 00:26:09.119 more than that. All Right, Maybe I'll try grock. Maybe 347 00:26:09.359 --> 00:26:11.880 maybe groc won't won't sneak in personal comfort kind of 348 00:26:11.920 --> 00:26:15.960 stuff in there? Obedience to God. Obedience to God, which 349 00:26:15.960 --> 00:26:20.079 I think is part of faith. Alliging one's life with 350 00:26:20.240 --> 00:26:23.799 God's will is revealed in the scripture and conscience and conscience, 351 00:26:25.920 --> 00:26:30.000 and they finally hope, confidence and salvation although most of 352 00:26:30.079 --> 00:26:32.039 you are not going to get salvation. You're not going 353 00:26:32.079 --> 00:26:35.000 to get salvation, you know. And if you believe in Augustine, 354 00:26:35.720 --> 00:26:38.160 before you were born, God already decided whether you were 355 00:26:38.200 --> 00:26:43.039 saved or not, so forget it. Resurrection and eternal life, 356 00:26:46.119 --> 00:26:50.000 so hope. All right. So here's the thing I mean, basically, 357 00:26:50.079 --> 00:26:53.039 what does this all boil down to. It balls down 358 00:26:53.079 --> 00:26:56.920 to faith. It boils down to faith, and under faith 359 00:26:57.559 --> 00:27:01.799 you can put in a obedience to God and really hope. 360 00:27:02.759 --> 00:27:05.880 If hope is confidence in salvation, resurrection, eternal life, those 361 00:27:05.880 --> 00:27:10.359 all based purely on faith. Uh, providing meaning and suffering 362 00:27:10.400 --> 00:27:14.119 in adversity. That's all faith, the faith that there is something. 363 00:27:14.240 --> 00:27:18.119 So I would say, you know, one is hope, sorry, 364 00:27:18.200 --> 00:27:24.880 one is faith. Faith captures much of this, right. A 365 00:27:24.960 --> 00:27:30.799 second is self sacrifice. Self sacrifice includes justice and mercy 366 00:27:31.759 --> 00:27:37.920 and forgiveness. Uh, they're all captured under self sacrifice, right, 367 00:27:38.440 --> 00:27:43.200 self sacrifice, justice, mercy, and forgiveness. So that's that's true. 368 00:27:43.559 --> 00:27:48.039 We got faith, which captures hope, obedience to God and faith, 369 00:27:48.720 --> 00:27:53.839 and we've got and we've got we've got self sacrifice. 370 00:27:56.279 --> 00:28:00.480 And what's the third one. What's the third one? I 371 00:28:00.519 --> 00:28:08.839 mean third one would be I think humility or yeah, humility, 372 00:28:10.799 --> 00:28:17.880 which is, you know, recognition of your own limitation. And 373 00:28:18.000 --> 00:28:20.480 I would say this is also connected with love, although 374 00:28:20.559 --> 00:28:23.839 love could be also related to self sacrifice, because that's 375 00:28:23.920 --> 00:28:26.160 kind of the conception of love that they have. Their 376 00:28:26.240 --> 00:28:31.400 love is self sacrificial. Their love is about compassion, about 377 00:28:31.400 --> 00:28:34.519 concern for the vulnerable, about loving your neighbor as yourself. 378 00:28:34.599 --> 00:28:40.759 Where they you know, so you know this humility, Yeah, 379 00:28:40.839 --> 00:28:42.799 there's kind of they throw in here two things like 380 00:28:42.920 --> 00:28:50.519 honesty and and what is honesty and integrity? Integrity, So okay, 381 00:28:51.119 --> 00:28:53.200 they have that in there. It's in the same commandments 382 00:28:53.519 --> 00:28:57.319 that shall not lie as duties. But you know, it 383 00:28:57.480 --> 00:29:00.519 doesn't that that is really so different than all the 384 00:29:00.599 --> 00:29:07.440 other ones. And you could add it, but I don't 385 00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:10.000 think it's significant. I think the three that I want 386 00:29:10.039 --> 00:29:15.640 to focus on really a faith, self sacrifice, and humility. Faith, 387 00:29:15.720 --> 00:29:19.119 self sacrifice and humility. And the question is to what 388 00:29:19.279 --> 00:29:27.359 extent the faith, self sacrifice, and humility encourage or discourage civilization? 389 00:29:28.440 --> 00:29:31.359 To what extent did they play a role? These Christian values, 390 00:29:32.079 --> 00:29:34.799 these essential I think Christian values that capture a lot 391 00:29:35.359 --> 00:29:37.960 of the other Christians values. To what extent did they 392 00:29:38.119 --> 00:29:45.920 really represent the striving towards and achievements of civilization. Think 393 00:29:45.920 --> 00:29:50.640 of a civilization that is built on faith, self sacrifice, 394 00:29:51.039 --> 00:29:57.200 and humility. I can't think of one. I can't think 395 00:29:57.240 --> 00:30:01.279 of them because I don't think that these are compatible 396 00:30:02.000 --> 00:30:05.880 with civilization. Indeed, if you think of an error in 397 00:30:05.960 --> 00:30:11.720 human history, with faith, self sacrifice, and humility were elevated 398 00:30:11.799 --> 00:30:17.599 above all else, we're elevated as the as the values 399 00:30:17.640 --> 00:30:21.359 that should dominate human life and should dominate human organization, 400 00:30:21.599 --> 00:30:27.160 you know organization. Then if you think about a period 401 00:30:27.240 --> 00:30:29.720