In Psalm 38, David first complains that the Lord is attacking Him with arrows and blows from His hand (vv. 1-2), acknowledges the weight of his sin (vv. 3-4), then recounts his physical suffering (vv. 5-10) and the way his sufferings cause his friends and companions to recoil (vv. 11) and his . . . . Continue Reading »
Edwards emphasizes that faith must do in order to be faith at all in this arresting formulation ( The Miscellanies, 833-1152 , #856): “The acts of holy Christian practice do as much belong to the acceptance of Christ as the outward act of a beggar, in putting forth his hand, and outwardly . . . . Continue Reading »
Jesus’ numerous predictions concerning the coming destruction of Jerusalem, Edwards says ( The Miscellanies, 1153-1360 , #1316) demonstrate that Jesus is a prophet. Plus, in prophesying the end of Jerusalem, Jesus was also prophesying the end of the old order of worship and priesthood, and . . . . Continue Reading »
Edwards speculates ( The Miscellanies, 1153-1360 , #1236) that the dispersion of the Jews was so massive that it sent Jews all the way to China: “It is probable that some of the Israelites that had been carried into captivity penetrated as far as China, long before the Christian era; because . . . . Continue Reading »
Might Socrates and Plato have been inspired by God? Why not? asks Edwards ( The Miscellanies, 1153-1360 , #1162). After all, “Inspiration is not so high an honor and privilege as some are ready to think. It is no peculiar privilege of God’s special favorites. Many very bad men have been . . . . Continue Reading »
According to Edwards ( Notes on Scripture , 170-1), the conquest of Canaan sent shocks throughout the Eastern Mediterranean. Joshua 11:8 states that Joshua chased Canaanites to Zidon, and they didn’t stop there: “Bedford . . . supposes that great numbers of them made their escape from . . . . Continue Reading »
In discussing the flood ( Notes on Scripture ), Edwards supports the historical accuracy of the biblical account with long quotations from Samuel Bochart’s Geographia Sacra: Seu Phaleg Et Chanaan , Grotius’s De veritate religionis Christianæ , and several other sources: . . . . Continue Reading »
Commenting on Genesis 3:1 in his Notes on Scripture , Edwards digresses into comparative religion to demonstrate that “the serpent has all along been the common symbol and representation of the heathen deities”: “That the Babylonians worshiped a dragon, we may learn from the . . . . Continue Reading »
As Moses recounts the incident with the golden calf, he reminds Israel that he ground the idol to powder and threw it in the “brook ( nachal ) that came down from the mountain” (Deuteronomy 9:21). There was a brook in Egypt (Numbers 34:5), the Nile that watered the land and made it the . . . . Continue Reading »
What are the chances that someone sometime in nearly every ancient culture decided that killing animals was a good way to worship their gods? What are the chances that this would be a near-universal practice without any tradition, any traditio /handing-over, of sacrificial rites? Aren’t the . . . . Continue Reading »
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