Sir David Attenborough - Did You Catch It Too? - podcast episode cover

Sir David Attenborough - Did You Catch It Too?

Mar 20, 202416 min
--:--
--:--
Download Metacast podcast app
Listen to this episode in Metacast mobile app
Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more

Episode description

David Attenborough talking about God and religion, agnosticism, longevity and has a interesting debate with a creationist and scientist Professor Harvey Carey. Joe Kirby from Off the Kirb Ministries also shares the experience he has when he met David Attenborough at just 16 years old!

Transcript

This is David Attenborough and this is me. They say never meet your heroes. Well, before I tell you whether this is true or not, first let's investigate the four times when David Attenborough was challenged on whether God exists or not. You, I think you've described

yourself as an agnostic. Your agnosticism, I think is a Is this what you say is a scientific agnosticism you feel as a scientist, You should never say, you know, yeah, I I mean, I I can't help thinking of when I have, for example, taken off the the top of a termite hill and I've seen termites in there all busying about building walls, looking after the queen, caring for the pupae, clearing the nest, all busy about it.

Then they're all blind and they have the faintest idea that I am there watching what they're doing because they don't have those sense organisms which would allow them to know that. But I do sometimes feel that maybe I'm lacking in some sense of and I don't know whether there's anybody else involved in all this sort of thing. And it's a it's a very confident thing to say that you're absolutely sure that that there's nothing in this world that I don't have the sense

organs to appreciate. And Richard, I don't, I don't doubt would say, well that's rather feeble. That's not being very brave. And he maybe he's got a case. I don't know whether to be happy or sad with Davidde answer.

You see, on one side here is this man who has literally been knighted, this man who has all of this fame, and yet he's got the humility to be willing to accept that actually, yes, we might not know everything and there could actually be one superior mind who created everything. But then on the flip side, however, I'm saddened to think if he really does effectively admit that I actually could be blind, why is there no urgency to try and discover the truth?

Why is he still contented to live in his agnosticism? Because without being disrespectful, David is at the end of his life, and very soon that tiny little termite will see something much bigger than him. He will see God. The Bible says, let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a

ditch. So if David Attenborough is kind of admitting to the fact that he is spiritually blind, here is a man who's inspired millions of people, quite literally over generations, and yet he will lead these many people into a ditch. Oh, how wonderful it would be if David Attenborough would open his blind eyes and see the things of God, and then from seeing that then lead many others to Christ in his latter days. Because the beautiful message of the Bible is this.

Though we are tiny insignificant termites, The God of the universe who built all of the world, who flung stars into space, this great big God laid down his life on a cross for little termites like you and me. And if we trust in him, we can echo the words of John Newton. An Amazing Grace. I once was lost, but now I'm found was blind, but now I see. OK, we're about to watch a mini debate between David Attenborough and an Australian creationist.

Listen carefully and I'll tell you why I've brought this clip to your attention. How can you get evolution when every new species starts out as soon as it's formed? I don't know that we have enough evidence to say that because I don't think we've can experiment over a sufficient period of time to demonstrate processes which take 10s of millions of years.

My concern, as I've said, is is is not to argue about the mechanisms by which these changes took place, which I'm sure our knowledge is incomplete, but to look at the proposition that one form is descended from another, but there is a biological unity of life for which, it seems to me, the evidence is altogether overwhelming. There's no way of stopping you two.

I'm going to stop you anyway. If you are a Christian and you are not ashamed to let people know that you are a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, the chances are at some point you will enter into a debate with unbelievers who the Lord has purposely placed in your life, whether that be your family, your friends, your neighbors, or work colleagues. At some point people will challenge you on why you believe in God. And when this happens, you have two choices. You can either get really,

really angry. You can sort of, if you like, slam dunk them and make them look stupid and give all the best arguments. Or you can listen gently and have a friendly discussion and just gently challenge their points at why actually is very rational to believe in God. You see, I want to be the latter. But at points, yes, I hold my hand up. I've fallen into the first because of pride. I want to prove prove people wrong, but personally I just love the way that these two discussed evolution

respectfully. Because no one likes to be shouted at, no one likes to be made to look like a fool, and yet they both listen to each other. So next time you have a debate, remember to be gentle and I'll use an old fashioned word. Remember to be winsome, because come on now, how awful would it be if you won the argument but lost the soul? David Attenborough in this interview again seems to be open to the possibility of

intelligent design. I personally see no conflict between the idea that there might there could be an omnipotent creator spirit that created this world and chose to do it by allowing things to evolve in the way that they have. There is the evidence, and if you believe that that God wanted to go that way, that's fine, and if you don't, that's fine. But the evidence that it went that way is a refute. If you wanted a title for this concept, it's called Theistic Evolution.

Now personally, I believe the Lord created the world in six days. I think he could have done it in six seconds if he wanted to, but I think he laid it out in that order to give us a a structure for our own week. However, that being said, I do have friends. I do look up to preachers and professors who hold this view, so I don't believe it's a salvation issue. But I also do believe there's a whole heap of evidence which

proves that it's not dumb. It's not silly to believe in Young Earth Creationism, that God created the world and actually the Earth is about 6000 years old. So if you would like to see that video that I'm going to make where I give you all of this evidence, please do subscribe. But just for now, let me ask you this. Would you trust a monkey to hold your baby? Would you trust Would you allow an ape to drive your car? Or would you allow a monkey to run your business?

Of course you wouldn't. So if you believe that our mind is nothing but a highly evolved monkey's mind, would you trust a monkey's mind to tell you anything? No. So then how can you trust your monkey's mind to say that we did evolve? Does that make sense? I believe God created us as human beings, made in the image of God, and we did not evolve over millions of years. Now he made us as we are.

But that's my opinion and if you want to know more about that, make sure you check out the video in a few weeks time. I can assure you of one thing, God has blessed David Attenborough with a long life for a reason. And here's what David had to say about his own longevity when he was pressed by the interviewer. Now, David, you've documented the life cycles of of many species. What about your own? You're at a very interesting stage of your life and it doesn't seem like you're slowing

down. You're still doing so much for someone in their 90s. How do you do it? Luck. You got to have luck. I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm unbelievably lucky. I mean I've got dear friends who are my age or or younger who can't walk about, you know, and it's not their fault and they

can't remember things. Well I can't remember things but but but seriously you can't remember things and and and why it happened to them and have something to me I don't know and it's not because I have eat anything peculiar or anything. I mean I I have just no idea. It's. Luck. I massively disagree with David Attimer on this one. The only reason any of us can walk, laugh, sing or even breathe is only by the grace of God. Look, has nothing to do with it.

And although David is rejecting Jesus as Lord, I do believe God is keeping him alive for a reason. I believe God is keeping David Attenborough alive to show the world his beautiful creation. I mean, think about it. There have been hundreds of wildlife presenters over the many years, and yet none of them can get anywhere near the viewership that David Attenborough gets. Even at the grand old age of 97 years. Old, young, handsome men, they can't beat what David

Attenborough's doing. So the Lord's keeping him alive to keep showing the world just what a wonderful creator he really is. But I hear what you say, you say. But Joe David doesn't even believe in God. Why would the Lord use him? Well, actually, all the way through the Bible we see the Lord using unbelievers for his purposes. Pharaoh the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart so that he might display his glory and deliverance through him.

King Cyrus was not a Christian believer, and God used him in his sovereign plans to accomplish something for him. The Bible says thus says Cyrus, King of Persia, all all the kingdoms of the earth. The Lord God of Heaven has given me and he has commanded me to build him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judea. God even uses wicked men to do his bidding. He used those hateful men to achieve his will by putting his son on a cross.

Again the scripture say him. That means Jesus being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God. You have taken by lawless hands, have crucified and put to death whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it.

Did you catch that? In other words, the nails, the crown of thorns, the shame, the cross, the mockery, all of that, as hard as it is for us to comprehend, all of that was the will of God. Somehow God was orchestrating our salvation through these hateful men so that you and I might have forgiveness of sins and eternal life. But this next part is going to blow your mind.

Because consider this Jesus Christ, who is God in a skin who knows all things Jesus Christ. Before these men were even born, he could foresee into the future at what they would do to him. And yet he willingly, obediently went to the cross because his father asked asked him to do it. And Jesus did that so that you and I could be saved. These things are mysteries. But there's one thing which doesn't take a Sherlock to figure out, and it's this. Joe Kirby is a Sinner, and so

are you. And we need the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, to take our sins, to take them on the cross and to pay the price for them, that you and I can have a fresh start and new beginning in Him. So whether you are one of the most loved people on earth, whether you've been knighted like Sir David Attenborough or if you're more like, if I can say this, those animals which David has filmed. If you've lived a life that is, is shameful, very unbecoming.

If that's you, My dear friends, know this. All of us alike need Jesus Christ to cleanse us, to scrub away our sins and to give us a hope beyond the grave. And Jesus, as willing as he was to go to the cross, he's even more willing to save you today. If only you'd come to him. Some people wonder, why would God even save me? Why would God even love me? But it's all you have to do is look at the cross and you'll see that God wants you saved more than you yourself want to be saved.

So rest assured in that. So back to our original picture. How did I meet David Attenborough and was he as nice as I thought he would be? Well, spoiler alerts, yes, he was a lovely man, but it worked like this. You might not believe this, but actually my biggest goal is I wanted to be a wildlife presenter when I was growing up and then later I wanted to be an actor. But really when I was young I was just so in love with the

wildlife world. I just loved animals and I sort of thought, well if I can meet David Attenborough I can ask him as a 15 year old boy, how do I get your job? So when I heard that he was doing a book signing, I bought a copy of his book Life in Cold Blood and I joined a 5 hour queue in a shopping mall near me. When my moment came, I knew that my time was brief. So I thought I'll just ask him this one question.

Do I need to study zoology at university and biology or should I go and study you know, presenting a wildlife presenting if I want to be a wildlife presenter like you. And David said rather friendly, but also a a little sternly well, you do need to have something to say before you stand in front of the camera get the knowledge 1st. And he was right, you do need a knowledge. You need a knowledge of wildlife, of animals and fauna. So I went away and I studied at college biology.

But very sadly I failed because I just didn't have the brain capacity to study this. I didn't have the knowledge to learn all of these facts and all of this information. But there's one thing I did find the knowledge of, and that's the knowledge of the Lord Jesus, Jesus Christ. And something really wonderful about Jesus is this often, yes, the David Attenborough of the world that the smart brains, the big brains, the nobles, the kings.

There's not many of those who end up worshipping the Lord, and yet he reveals it to babes to simple souls like me and you. If I can call you a simple soul, I don't mind admitting to being a simple soul. But you know what I'm trying to say. Let me read you a verse which expresses this. The Bible says, for you see your calling brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to

shame the wise. And God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty. And I would love it if David Attenborough, Sir David Attenborough would join that tiny list of those wise men, those who are mighty, those who are noble, if he joined that list and be saved. Because there are many like me who are foolish things, who trust in Christ, but there are still professors who love him

too. And I hope that David Attenborough, as wise as he is in the world's wisdom, will find Christ also one day. I wonder, now, are some of you starting to piece the puzzles together? Does it now make sense why I make videos about sea monsters, about biblical creatures? Because I have a fascination about them. Well, Speaking of life in cold blood, I actually made a video about the craziest, the biggest

snakes that have ever lived. If you want to see that more off the curb type of video, please do click here. And also, if you've noticed, this isn't actually my home. We're actually away right now because we're spending some time with my family who live down in Wales. So if you want to see more videos, please do subscribe because I'm dedicated. That's why I'm filming here

right now. I'm dedicated to getting one video out every week this year, so please do subscribe because it would be an honor to see you next week. God bless you all and thank you for watching.

Transcript source: Provided by creator in RSS feed: download file
For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android