Skepticism

How Nave’s arranged it

• General scriptures concerningJob 21:15Job 22:17Psalms 14:1Psalms 53:1Zephaniah 1:12Malachi 3:14
• Of PharaohExodus 5:2
• Of ThomasJohn 20:25–28
• See Unbelief

The passages, in Bible order (8)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 8 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. Exodus 5:2

   But Pharaoh replied, “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go.”

   ›Commentary on Exodus 5:22 voices

   “And Pharaoh said, who is the Lord,....

   “Who is the Lord - Who is Jehovah, that I should obey his voice? What claims has he on me? I am under no obligation to him. Pharaoh spoke here under the common persuasion that every place and people had a tutelary deity, and he supposed that this Jehovah might be the tutelary deity of the Israelites, to whom he, as an Egyptian, could be under no kind of obligation. It is not judicious to bring this question as a proof that Pharaoh was an atheist: of this the text affords no evidence.

   Everything gathered on Exodus 5:2→

   Verse page →Original language →

2. Job 21:15

   Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’

   ›Commentary on Job 21:152 voices

   “Ver. 15. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? 52. For the mind of man being miserably discharged without, is so dissipated in things corporeal, as neither to return to itself within, nor to be able to think of Him, Who is invisible. Thus carnal men setting at nought spiritual commands, because they do not see God with bodily sight, one time or another come to this pass, that they even imagine Him not to be. Hence it is written, The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.

   “What is the Almighty, that we should serve him?.... "Who is he" (t)? as some render it; or what is there in him, in his nature, in his excellencies and perfections, that should oblige us to serve him?

   Everything gathered on Job 21:15→

   Verse page →Original language →

3. Job 22:17

   They said to God, ‘Depart from us. What can the Almighty do to us?’

   ›Commentary on Job 22:172 voices

   “Which said unto God, Depart from us. That this too blessed Job had said, who can doubt? But what we have unfolded in his words, on account of wearying the reader, we forbear to repeat. It goes on; And as though the Almighty could do nothing, so reckoned concerning Him. In this part likewise the wording, and not the statement, is changed. For what was expressed by blessed Job; What is the Almighty that we should serve Him? is expressed by Eliphaz, And as though the Almighty could do nothing, so reckoned concerning Him.

   “Which said unto God, depart from us,....

   Everything gathered on Job 22:17→

   Verse page →Original language →

4. Psalms 14:1

   The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt; their acts are vile. There is no one who does good.

   ›Commentary on Psalms 14:12 voices

   “Ver. 1. The fool. The Atheist is the fool preeminently, and a fool universally. He would not deny God if he were not a fool by nature, and having denied God it is no marvel that he becomes a fool in practice. Sin is always folly, and as it is the height of sin to attack the very existence of the Most High, so it is also the greatest imaginable folly.

   “This statement [about fools] is directly followed by one pointing out that their actions correspond with their thoughts: "They are corrupt, and their behavior is evil." The unrighteous person corrupts his body in every possible way: stealing, committing adultery, cursing, getting drunk, and doing similar things.… Count on it: those who are fools in their thoughts will do wicked deeds. As the Lord said [to the Pharisees], "How can you speak good things when you are evil?" And they truly were evil, because their thoughts were wicked.

   Everything gathered on Psalms 14:1→

   Verse page →Original language →

5. Psalms 53:1

   The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt; their ways are vile. There is no one who does good.

   ›Commentary on Psalms 53:12 voices

   “Ver. 1. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. And this he does because he is a fool. Being a fool he speaks according to his nature; being a great fool he meddles with a great subject, and comes to a wild conclusion. The atheist is, morally as well as mentally, a fool, a fool in the heart as well as in the head; a fool in morals as well as in philosophy.

   "The fool has said." Above, the Psalmist rebuked the wickedness of sinners from the side of their affection for sin; here he rebukes their wickedness from their contempt of God. The title: "Unto the end, for understanding, of David, for Amalek." The history of this …

   Everything gathered on Psalms 53:1→

   Verse page →Original language →

6. Zephaniah 1:12

   And at that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish the men settled in complacency, who say to themselves, ‘The LORD will do nothing, either good or bad.’

   ›Commentary on Zephaniah 1:122 voices

   “The Lord Jesus went into Jerusalem, into the temple. And when he had looked around upon all things, then, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve. The Lord went into Jerusalem and into the temple. He went in, and, having entered, what does he do? He looks about at everything. In the temple of the Jews he was looking for a place to rest his head and found none. "He had looked around upon all things." Why did it say, "He had looked around upon all that was there"?

   “And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles,....

   Everything gathered on Zephaniah 1:12→

   Verse page →Original language →

7. Malachi 3:14

   You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements and walking mournfully before the LORD of Hosts?

   ›Commentary on Malachi 3:142 voices

   “(Verse 14) You have said, 'It is vain to serve God, and what profit is it that we have kept his precepts, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts?' LXX: And you said, 'It is vain to serve God; and what good is it that we have kept his ordinances, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts?' To whom the Lord replied: You have said, It is in vain to serve God, and what profit is it that we have kept his precepts?

   “Ye have said, it is vain to serve God,.... This they said in their hearts, if not with their lips, that it was a vain thing for a man to serve God; he got nothing by it; he had no reward for it; it fared no better with him than the wicked; nay, the wicked fared better than he; and therefore who would be a worshipper of God? see Job 21:

   Everything gathered on Malachi 3:14→

   Verse page →Original language →

8. John 20:25–28

   So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands, and put my finger where the nails have been, and put my hand into His side, I will never believe.”

   ›Commentary on John 20:25–282 voices

   “The greatest marvels are always attended by incredulity, and any action which seems to exceed the measure of probability is ill-received by those who hear of it. But the sight of the eyes succeeds in banishing these doubts, and, as it were, compels a man by force to assent to the evidence before him. This was the state of mind of the wise Thomas, who did not readily accept the true testimony of the other disciples to our Saviour's Resurrection, although, according to the Mosaic Law, in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.

   “The other disciples therefore said unto him,....

   Everything gathered on John 20:25–28→

   Verse page →Original language →