Davidius
Puritan Board Post-Graduate
I was reading Job 1 this morning and found it interesting that the sailors aboard Jonah's ship to Tarshish were converted by fear of the storm, not by conviction of sin and desire for forgiveness and eternal life. In the passage, they find out by lots that Jonah and his flight from God are the cause of the storm, and ask him what they should do. When he tells them to throw him overboard, they do so. The storm abates and the sailors "fear God, offer sacrifices, and make vows." Should we import into these phrases all the things we deem necessary for true conversion, or were they not truly converted?