{"id":23648,"date":"2018-09-07T12:05:39","date_gmt":"2018-09-07T16:05:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/?p=23648"},"modified":"2018-09-08T16:39:31","modified_gmt":"2018-09-08T20:39:31","slug":"more-biblical-evidence-on-honoring-political-rulers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2018\/09\/more-biblical-evidence-on-honoring-political-rulers.html","title":{"rendered":"More Biblical Evidence on Honoring Political Rulers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>

For background, see these writings of mine about respect for political rulers (especially the first<\/em> one):<\/span><\/p>\n

Holy Scripture: Honor and Respect Political Rulers<\/a>\u00a0[2-2-17]<\/p>\n

Crass Political Bigotry vs. Biblical Teaching on Honoring Rulers<\/a>\u00a0[Facebook, 5-18-17]<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

King Saul was chosen by God, who told the prophet Samuel to anoint him. Likewise, political rulers (in general) are:<\/span><\/p>\n

from God,\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

instituted by God.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

what God has appointed,\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

God\u2019s servant for your good.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

the servant of God to execute his wrath on the wrongdoer.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

ministers of God,\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

[all from Romans 13:1-7, RSV]<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

All that was said about Saul, pretty much, was that he was \u201cGod\u2019s anointed.\u201d David honored him after he had rebelled against God; even after he died. We have concrete examples of respect and honor towards rulers, with David and Saul, and Paul and the high priest. In both cases, they didn\u2019t engage in extended blasting and mockery and savaging. They both honored the rulers by shutting up.<\/span><\/p>\n

Negative descriptions can be found in the Bible about various leaders, such as \u201cstupid,\u201d \u201cwicked,\u201d \u201cfoolish,\u201d \u201cworthless,\u201d \u201crebels and companions of thieves,\u201d \u201clike grasshoppers . . . clouds of locusts,\u201d \u201chaving no understanding\u201d etc. These are worth examining, in order to\u00a0see what <\/em>is being referred to, and (importantly) by whom<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

I found exactly one<\/em> relevant reference to \u201cstupid\u201d leaders (I will be using RSV throughout):<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeremiah 10:21<\/strong> For the shepherds are stupid,\u00a0and do not inquire of the LORD;\u00a0therefore they have not prospered,\u00a0and all their flock is scattered.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cShepherds\u201d are used for spiritual and civic leaders in both the Old Testament and New. Moses is called a shepherd (Is 63:11, and even the heathen Persian ruler Cyrus (Is 44:28). Here it is the prophet Jeremiah saying it of the shepherds of his time, as a class. It was likely referring to priests, since Jeremiah blasts them several times in the book, or is described as clashing with them (2:8, 26; 5:31; 26:8, 11; 27:16; 32:32; 34:19) and false prophets (2:8, 26; 5:13, 31; 14:14-15; 23:13-16, 21, 25-26, 30-31; 26:8, 11; 27:9, 14-16; 29:8-9; 32:32); also secondarily to princes and sometimes to kings.<\/span><\/p>\n

The thing is, this is a prophet<\/em> saying all this stuff, or else God through the words of the prophet (which is usually the case with them). His role from God was to identify and expose the false prophets and compromised, idolatrous priests. I don\u2019t believe that in the old covenant the people en masse<\/em> were charged to do that: at least not primarily, if so at all. Nor is it usually (if at all) about kings. David honored and respected Saul, and Paul and Peter told us to obey and respect emperors.<\/span><\/p>\n

When it came to the common man, the Law was pretty clear: \u201cYou shall not . . . curse a ruler of your people\u201d (Ex 22:28; cited by St. Paul at his trial: Acts 23:5). The Israelites were taught to honor priests:<\/span><\/p>\n

Lamentations 4:16<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0[written by Jeremiah as well] The LORD himself has scattered them,\u00a0he will regard them no more;\u00a0no honor was shown to the priests,\u00a0no favor to the elders.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sirach 7:29, 31<\/strong>\u00a0With all your soul fear the Lord,\u00a0and honor his priests. . . . [31] Fear the Lord and honor the priest, . . .<\/span><\/p>\n

Deuteronomy 17:12-13<\/strong>\u00a0The man who acts presumptuously, by not obeying the priest who stands to minister there before the LORD your God, or the judge, that man shall die; so you shall purge the evil from Israel.\u00a0[13] And all the people shall hear, and fear, and not act presumptuously again.<\/span><\/p>\n

1 Maccabees 10:38\u00a0<\/strong>As for the three districts that have been added to Judea from the country of Samaria, let them be so annexed to Judea that they are considered to be under one ruler and\u00a0<\/b>obey\u00a0no other authority but the high priest.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The same applied to a prophet:<\/span><\/p>\n

2 Kings 17:13-14<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, \u201cTurn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.\u201d\u00a0[14] But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the LORD their God.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeremiah 7:25-26<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day;\u00a0[26] yet they did not listen to me, or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeremiah 29:19<\/strong>\u00a0because they did not heed my words, says the LORD, which I persistently sent to you by my servants the prophets, but you would not\u00a0<\/b>listen, says the LORD.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeremiah 37:2<\/strong>\u00a0But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land\u00a0<\/b>listened to the words of the LORD which he spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.<\/span><\/p>\n

Daniel 9:6<\/strong>\u00a0we have not listened to thy servants the prophets, who spoke in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.<\/span><\/p>\n

Haggai 1:12<\/strong>\u00a0Then Zerub\u2019babel the son of She-al\u2019ti-el, and Joshua the son of Jehoz\u2019adak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people,\u00a0<\/b>obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him; and the people feared before the LORD.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mark 6:4\u00a0<\/strong>And Jesus said to them, \u201cA prophet is not without\u00a0<\/b>honor, except in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When they were to reject a false prophet, it was because of direct commands from God, generally through a true prophet (Dt 13:1-3; 18:22; Jer 23:16; 27:9, 14, 16; 28:15; 29:8). When a priest or prophet was to be judged, as far as we can tell from the Old Testament, it was usually done through a prophet, directly guided by God and often conveying words right from God Himself. I don\u2019t see the common man doing it. They are commanded to obey and honor.<\/span><\/p>\n

So we found one example in the Bible where leaders were called \u201cstupid\u201d: from the prophet Jeremiah. Let\u2019s try searching \u201cwicked\u201d now. It appears about<\/span> 520 times<\/a> in the Bible. I don\u2019t have time to read all of those. So I searched \u201cwicked\u201d with \u201crulers\u201d. I got one result:<\/span><\/p>\n

Psalm 94:20-21<\/strong>\u00a0Can wicked rulers be allied with thee,\u00a0who frame mischief by statute?\u00a0[21] They band together against the life of the righteous, and condemn the innocent to death.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWicked and \u201cking\u201d was more fruitful (by one):<\/span><\/p>\n

2 Kings 21:11\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cBecause Manas\u2019seh king of Judah has committed these abominations, and has done things more\u00a0<\/b>wicked\u00a0than all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his idols;<\/span><\/p>\n

2 Chronicles 20:25<\/strong>\u00a0After this Jehosh\u2019aphat king of Judah joined with Ahazi\u2019ah king of Israel, who did\u00a0<\/b>wickedly.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Even these passages don\u2019t refer to a \u201cwicked king\u201d (that phrase \u2014 surprisingly to me \u2014 never appears<\/em> in the RSV), but says that a king \u201chas done things more\u00a0<\/b>wicked\u201d or \u201cdid\u00a0<\/b>wickedly.\u201d We also learn about one wicked high priest, Jason:<\/span><\/p>\n

2 Maccabees 4:7, 13<\/strong>\u00a0When Seleucus died and Antiochus who was called Epiphanes succeeded to the kingdom, Jason the brother of Onias obtained the high priesthood by corruption, . . . [13] There was such an extreme of Hellenization and increase in the adoption of foreign ways because of the surpassing wickedness of Jason, who was ungodly and no high priest,<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I don\u2019t see how any of these passages provide any analogy to widespread\u00a0 fanaticism and hysteria in bashing presidents and other political rulers. It\u2019s simply the Scripture writers referring to wicked kings and one corrupt priest.<\/span><\/p>\n

I searched \u201cfoolish.\u201d That got<\/span>\u00a075 matches<\/a> in my search engine. I guess I can go through those and see what is to be found:<\/p>\n

1 Samuel 13:13<\/strong>\u00a0And Samuel said to Saul, \u201cYou have done\u00a0<\/b>foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which he commanded you; for now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel for ever.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yep. Again, it\u2019s a prophet<\/em> rebuking the king. Even David didn\u2019t do that, and was very deferential towards Saul because he was the \u201cLORD\u2019s anointed\u201d (1 Sam 24:6, 10; 26:9, 11, 16, 23; 2 Sam 1:14, 16), and honored Saul after he died, for the same reason (2 Sam 1:17-19, 23-24; 2 Sam 2:5-6). Again, when it came time for David to be rebuked for adultery and murder, it was Nathan the prophet<\/em> who did it (2 Sam 12:1-15), not every Tom, Dick, and Harry, with an agenda led by salivating, unscrupulous scribes (the equivalent of today\u2019s media).<\/span><\/p>\n

2 Chronicles 16:9<\/strong> . . .\u00a0You have done foolishly in this; for from now on you will have wars.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Once again, it is a prophet, Hana\u2019ni, who was rebuking King Asa (16:7).<\/span><\/p>\n

Ecclesiastes 4:13\u00a0<\/strong>Better is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king, who will no longer take advice,<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is proverbial literature, and not about any specific king. In any event, it offers no rationale for mass criticism of kings, which would be contrary to Exodus 22:28. And it was written by King Solomon: an observation about some kings, written by a king.<\/span><\/p>\n

Isaiah 19:11\u00a0<\/strong>The princes of Zo\u2019an are utterly\u00a0<\/b>foolish; . . .<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is a prophet commenting on Egyptian princes, hence, not even his own rulers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ezekiel 13:3<\/strong>\u00a0Thus says the Lord GOD, Woe to the\u00a0foolish\u00a0prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A true prophet excoriating false prophets . . .<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s it for \u201cfoolish.\u201d Five passages . . . I tried to find some relevant connection to \u201cfool\u201d and found this:<\/span><\/p>\n

Hosea 9:7<\/strong> . . .\u00a0The prophet is a fool,\u00a0the man of the spirit is mad, . . .<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is, again, a\u00a0true prophet excoriating false prophets.<\/span><\/p>\n

I found one example<\/em> of a leader being described as \u201cworthless\u201d (by a prophet):<\/span><\/p>\n

Zechariah 11:15, 17<\/strong> Then the LORD said to me, \u201cTake once more the implements of a\u00a0<\/b>worthless\u00a0shepherd. . . . [17] Woe to my\u00a0worthless\u00a0shepherd, who deserts the flock!<\/span><\/p>\n

Isaiah 1:21-23<\/strong>\u00a0How the faithful city\u00a0has become a harlot,\u00a0she that was full of justice!\u00a0Righteousness lodged in her,\u00a0but now murderers.\u00a0[22] Your silver has become dross,\u00a0your wine mixed with water.\u00a0[23] Your princes are rebels\u00a0and companions of thieves.\u00a0Every one loves a bribe\u00a0and runs after gifts. They do not defend the fatherless,\u00a0and the widow\u2019s cause does not come to them.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is the only passage I could find with the phrase,\u201drebels and companions of thieves.\u201d I reiterate: it\u2019s almost always a prophet, or the Scripture writers, who\u00a0 condemn any leader in such strong language, not the common people. That was part of their<\/em> duty; not ours<\/em>. \u201cGrasshoppers and locusts\u201d also appears just once, and again, it is a prophet giving a typical prophetic denunciation of corruption and decadence among leaders, and it\u2019s about the destruction of Nineveh (3:7), not about Israel:<\/span><\/p>\n

Nahum 3:17-18<\/strong>\u00a0Your princes are like grasshoppers,\u00a0your scribes like clouds of locusts . . .\u00a0[18] Your shepherds are asleep,\u00a0O king of Assyria; your nobles slumber.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cNo understanding\u201d in this respect also appears once, and it is a prophet denouncing shepherds en masse<\/em>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Isaiah 56:11<\/strong> . . .\u00a0The shepherds also have\u00a0no understanding;\u00a0they have all turned to their own way,\u00a0each to his own gain, one and all.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jesus told His disciples to <\/span>follow the teachings<\/em>, of the Pharisees (Matthew 23) even when they were hypocrites. <\/span>He<\/em> (God) excoriated them, just as the prophets excoriated disobedient shepherds in the Old Testament. He didn\u2019t tell His disciples<\/em> to do so. And that would have been the great time to do so, when he mentioned that they were hypocrites (the same thing He always went after them for).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not talking about the usual political criticism, that can be seen every night in any political show that has guests of different viewpoints. I am opposing personal attacks, savaging, hatred, bitterness, slander, and showing that the Bible has no place for that, when it is discussing political rulers (even the bad ones) . . .<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

Photo credit:<\/strong>\u00a0Jeremiah on the ruins of Jerusalem<\/i> (1844), by Horace Vernet (1789-1863)<\/span> [public domain \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a>]<\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For background, see these writings of mine about respect for political rulers (especially the first one): Holy Scripture: Honor and Respect Political Rulers\u00a0[2-2-17] Crass Political Bigotry vs. Biblical Teaching on Honoring Rulers\u00a0[Facebook, 5-18-17] \u00a0 \u00a0 King Saul was chosen by God, who told the prophet Samuel to anoint him. Likewise, political rulers (in general) are: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2331,"featured_media":23654,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[289],"tags":[2769,3654,2540,6425,3661,3662,3652,3653,6422,3060,2699,3656,6419,6438,3659,6435,3660,3059,6416,338,3663,3655],"class_list":["post-23648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-ethical-moral-issues","tag-american-politics","tag-deference","tag-discussion-ethics","tag-emperors","tag-evil-talk","tag-gossip","tag-honoring-rulers","tag-honoring-the-king","tag-kings","tag-personal-insults","tag-polemics","tag-political-opposition","tag-presidents","tag-respect-for-political-rulers","tag-respect-for-politicians","tag-respect-for-presidents","tag-respect-for-the-presidential-office","tag-rhetoric","tag-rulers","tag-slander","tag-speaking-evil-of-rulers","tag-submission"],"yoast_head":"\nMore Biblical Evidence on Honoring Political Rulers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Bible teaches us to respect and obey our rulers. 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Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \\\"This Rock\\\" (now called \\\"Catholic Answers Magazine\\\"), \\\"Envoy Magazine\\\" (Patrick Madrid), \\\"The Catholic Answer,\\\" \\\"The Coming Home Journal,\\\" \\\"Gilbert Magazine\\\" (American Chesterton Society), and \\\"The Latin Mass.\\\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \\\"The Michigan Catholic\\\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \\\"Envoy Magazine.\\\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \\\"Catholic Answers Live\\\" (twice), \\\"Faith and Family Live\\\" (Steve Wood), \\\"Kresta in the Afternoon,\\\" \\\"Son Rise Morning Show,\\\" \\\"Catholic Connection\\\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \\\"The Catholics Next Door.\\\" His large and popular website, \\\"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\\\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \\\"Envoy Magazine.\\\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \\\"index\\\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \\\"Surprised by Truth\\\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \\\"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\\\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \\\"The Catholic Verses\\\" (2004), \\\"The One-Minute Apologist\\\" (2007), \\\"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\\\" (2009), \\\"The Quotable Newman\\\" (editor: 2012), and \\\"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\\\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \\\"The New Catholic Answer Bible\\\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \\\"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\\\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \\\"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\\\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \\\"Quotable Wesley\\\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. They have three sons and a daughter, and reside in southeast Michigan (metro Detroit).\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@LuxVeritatisApologetics\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"More Biblical Evidence on Honoring Political Rulers","description":"The Bible teaches us to respect and obey our rulers. 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Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \"This Rock\" (now called \"Catholic Answers Magazine\"), \"Envoy Magazine\" (Patrick Madrid), \"The Catholic Answer,\" \"The Coming Home Journal,\" \"Gilbert Magazine\" (American Chesterton Society), and \"The Latin Mass.\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \"The Michigan Catholic\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \"Envoy Magazine.\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \"Catholic Answers Live\" (twice), \"Faith and Family Live\" (Steve Wood), \"Kresta in the Afternoon,\" \"Son Rise Morning Show,\" \"Catholic Connection\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \"The Catholics Next Door.\" His large and popular website, \"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \"Envoy Magazine.\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \"index\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \"Surprised by Truth\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \"The Catholic Verses\" (2004), \"The One-Minute Apologist\" (2007), \"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\" (2009), \"The Quotable Newman\" (editor: 2012), and \"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \"The New Catholic Answer Bible\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \"Quotable Wesley\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. They have three sons and a daughter, and reside in southeast Michigan (metro Detroit).","sameAs":["https:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@LuxVeritatisApologetics"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2331"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23648\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}