Whose Idea Was the “City of God”? – The City E11

00:00

Cities appear to be inherently bad in the story of the Bible. So when Jesus calls his followers a city on a hill, what does he mean? And why is the vision of the new creation a city instead of a garden? In this episode, Tim and Jon review some of the major motifs in the theme of the city so far and explore the concept of a city of God.View more resources on our website →Timestamps Part one (00:00-22:02)Part three (22:02-33:57)Part three (33:57-44:17)Part four (44:17-54:52)Referenced ResourcesNew International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis, Willem A. VanGemerenThe Garden City, John Mark ComerInterested in more? Check out Tim’s library here.You can experience our entire library of resources in the BibleProject app, available for Android and iOS.Show Music “Defender (Instrumental)” by TENTS“Goofy Nights in Tokyo” by Sam Stewart“Vivid” by Chromonicci“Can I Get a Cab?” by Tyler Bailey & Matthew Halbert-HowenShow produced by Cooper Peltz with Associate Producer Lindsey Ponder, Lead Editor Dan Gummel, and Editors Tyler Bailey and Frank Garza. Mixed by Tyler Bailey. Transcript edited by Grace Vang. Podcast annotations for the BibleProject app by Hannah Woo.Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

Released on 3 Jul 2023

Share this page...

Coming up next

Jesus, the New Jerusalem – The City E12

10 Jul 2023

01:03:42

As the story of the Bible unfolds, the expectation for a city of God—a new Jerusalem where Heaven and Earth will be fully united—continues to grow. Yet the gospel authors seem to think this new Jerusalem is most fully realized in Jesus himself. So if...

The Heavenly City – The City E13

17 Jul 2023

01:05:17

In the Bible, cities have a bad reputation as centers of immorality and unrighteous living. First-century followers of Jesus continued to live in cities, but they lived by an other-worldly ethic set by Jesus. Their way of living was so different that...

How Did Abraham Know About the City of God? – The City Q+R

24 Jul 2023

00:51:18

How could Abraham have anticipated a coming City of God, like the author of Hebrews said? What’s the connection between the shame of Adam and Eve and that of their son Cain? Was Genesis first an oral tradition, and how did it become a written account...

View all episodes

Request Messages Timeline Exceptions Views62 Route Queries26 Models16 Livewire1 Mails Gate Session

Settings Request history8.3.17232ms3MBGET podcasts/{podcast}/episodes/{episode}

status

200 OK

full_url

https://premier.amperative.site/podcasts/bibleproject/episodes/whose-idea-was-the-city-of-god-the-ci...

action_name

podcasts.episodes.show

controller_action

App\Http\Controllers\PodcastEpisodesController@show

uri

GET podcasts/{podcast}/episodes/{episode}

scope_bindings

true

controller

App\Http\Controllers\PodcastEpisodesController@show

file

app/Http/Controllers/PodcastEpisodesController.php:22-38

middleware

web

duration

231ms

peak_memory

4MB

response

text/html; charset=UTF-8

request_format

html

request_query

[]

request_request

[]

request_headers

  0 of 0   
array:15 [▼
  "host" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "premier.amperative.site"
  ]
  "connection" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "keep-alive"
  ]
  "pragma" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "no-cache"
  ]
  "cache-control" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "no-cache"
  ]
  "sec-ch-ua" => array:1 [▶
    0 => ""Chromium";v="130", "HeadlessChrome";v="130", "Not?A_Brand";v="99""
  ]
  "sec-ch-ua-mobile" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "?0"
  ]
  "sec-ch-ua-platform" => array:1 [▶
    0 => ""Windows""
  ]
  "upgrade-insecure-requests" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "1"
  ]
  "user-agent" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)"
  ]
  "accept" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,image/avif,image/webp,image/apng,*/*;q=0.8,application/signed-exchange;v=b3;q=0.7"
  ]
  "sec-fetch-site" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "none"
  ]
  "sec-fetch-mode" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "navigate"
  ]
  "sec-fetch-user" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "?1"
  ]
  "sec-fetch-dest" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "document"
  ]
  "accept-encoding" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "gzip, deflate, br, zstd"
  ]
]

request_cookies

[]

response_headers

  0 of 0   
array:3 [▼
  "content-type" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "text/html; charset=UTF-8"
  ]
  "cache-control" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "no-cache, private"
  ]
  "date" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "Wed, 25 Jun 2025 18:57:09 GMT"
  ]
]

session_attributes

  0 of 0   
array:1 [▼
  "_token" => "g3G1XNFZJboj9zlAWkKwMHoPgwWpTQb879SkNFG0"
]

Booting (58.32ms)time
Application (174ms)time
Routing (2.85ms)
1 x Application (74.84%)
174ms
1 x Booting (25.14%)
58.32ms
1 x Routing (1.23%)
2.85ms

62 templates were rendered

1x templates.podcast-episodes.showshow.blade.php#?blade
1x livewire.section-podcast-playersection-podcast-player.blade.php#?blade
1x components.sections.header-playerheader-player.blade.php#?blade
1x components.sections.header-topheader-top.blade.php#?blade
35x components.iconicon.blade.php#?blade
1x components.player.tracktrack.blade.php#?blade
1x components.modals.modal-confirmationmodal-confirmation.blade.php#?blade
3x components.modals.generic-1generic-1.blade.php#?blade
1x components.sharethissharethis.blade.php#?blade
3x components.cards.episodeepisode.blade.php#?blade
1x components.modals.model-show-signupmodel-show-signup.blade.php#?blade
1x components.recommendations.index-bespokeindex-bespoke.blade.php#?blade
1x components.promotional-blockspromotional-blocks.blade.php#?blade
1x components.sections.footerfooter.blade.php#?blade
2x components.form.inputinput.blade.php#?blade
2x components.form.input-groupinput-group.blade.php#?blade
1x components.layouts.mastermaster.blade.php#?blade
1x components.faviconfavicon.blade.php#?blade
1x components.social-metasocial-meta.blade.php#?blade
1x components.modals.searchsearch.blade.php#?blade
1x components.toast-controllertoast-controller.blade.php#?blade
1x components.modals.model-show-thank-youmodel-show-thank-you.blade.php#?blade

uri: GET podcasts/{podcast}/episodes/{episode}
middleware: web
scope_bindings: true
controller: App\Http\Controllers\PodcastEpisodesController@show
as: podcasts.episodes.show
file: app/Http/Controllers/PodcastEpisodesController.php:22-38

26 statements were executed (14 duplicates)Show only duplicates93.86ms

RedirectMiddleware.php#49premier910μsselect * from `redirects` where `is_regex` = 1 and `redirects`.`deleted_at` is null

Bindings	0: 1
Backtrace	app/Http/Middleware/RedirectMiddleware.php:49 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:180 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:116 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php:797 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php:776

RedirectMiddleware.php#79premier560μs

select * from `redirects` where `is_regex` = 0 and `match` = '/podcasts/bibleproject/episodes/whose-idea-was-the-city-of-god-the-city-e11' and `is_active` = 1 and `redirects`.`deleted_at` is null limit 1

Bindings	0: 0 1: /podcasts/bibleproject/episodes/whose-idea-was-the-city-of-god-the-city-e11 2: 1
Backtrace	app/Http/Middleware/RedirectMiddleware.php:79 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:180 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:116 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php:797 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php:776

DatabaseSessionHandler.php#97premier1.35msselect * from `sessions` where `id` = 'A2NUEDJrH1ncPXqJT86QsrDJZOSHml2OlM8xXb76' limit 1

Bindings	0: A2NUEDJrH1ncPXqJT86QsrDJZOSHml2OlM8xXb76
Backtrace	vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Session/DatabaseSessionHandler.php:97 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Session/Store.php:113 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Session/Store.php:101 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Session/Store.php:85 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Session/Middleware/StartSession.php:147

ContentFamilyTrait.php#42premier870μsselect * from `podcasts` where `slug` = 'bibleproject' and `is_active` = 1 and `podcasts`.`deleted_at` is null limit 1

Bindings	0: bibleproject 1: 1
Backtrace	app/Models/Traits/ContentFamilyTrait.php:42 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/ImplicitRouteBinding.php:61 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php:947 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Middleware/SubstituteBindings.php:41 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:180

ContentFamilyTrait.php#59premier40.85ms

select * from `podcast_episodes` where `podcast_episodes`.`podcast_id` = 36 and `podcast_episodes`.`podcast_id` is not null and `slug` = 'whose-idea-was-the-city-of-god-the-city-e11' and `podcast_episodes`.`deleted_at` is null order by `published_at` desc limit 1

Bindings	0: 36 1: whose-idea-was-the-city-of-god-the-city-e11
Backtrace	app/Models/Traits/ContentFamilyTrait.php:59 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/ImplicitRouteBinding.php:56 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php:947 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Middleware/SubstituteBindings.php:41 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:180

PromotionalBlockCacheMiddleware.php#24premier1.9ms

select * from `promotional_blocks` where (`display_from` is null or `display_from` < '2025-06-25 19:57:09') and (`display_to` is null or `display_to` > '2025-06-25 19:57:09')

Bindings	0: 2025-06-25 19:57:09 1: 2025-06-25 19:57:09
Backtrace	app/Http/Middleware/PromotionalBlockCacheMiddleware.php:24 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408 app/Http/Middleware/PromotionalBlockCacheMiddleware.php:23 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:180

PodcastEpisodesController.php#24premier1.68msselect exists(select * from `brands` where `brands`.`id` is null and `brands`.`deleted_at` is null) as `exists`

Backtrace

app/Http/Controllers/PodcastEpisodesController.php:24
vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Controller.php:54
vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/ControllerDispatcher.php:43
vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Route.php:259
vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Route.php:205

PodcastEpisode.php#193premier1.4ms

select exists(select * from `musicables` where `musicables`.`musicable_type` = 'App\Models\PodcastEpisode' and `musicables`.`musicable_id` = 13162 and `musicables`.`musicable_id` is not null) as `exists`

Bindings	0: App\Models\PodcastEpisode 1: 13162
Backtrace	app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:193 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:76 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:31 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/Util.php:41

PodcastEpisode.php#100premier1.69msselect * from `podcasts` where `podcasts`.`id` = 36 and `podcasts`.`deleted_at` is null limit 1

Bindings	0: 36
Backtrace	app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:100 app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:193 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:76 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:31 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36

Podcast.php#215premier1.19ms

select exists(select * from `music_genres` inner join `musicables` on `music_genres`.`id` = `musicables`.`music_genre_id` where `musicables`.`musicable_id` = 36 and `musicables`.`musicable_type` = 'App\Models\Podcast' and `music_genres`.`deleted_at` is null) as `exists`

Bindings	0: 36 1: App\Models\Podcast
Backtrace	app/Models/Podcast.php:215 app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:193 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:76 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:31 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36

SectionPodcastPlayer.php#80premier6.92ms

select * from `listenable_progress_items` where `listenable_progress_items`.`listenable_type` = 'App\Models\PodcastEpisode' and `listenable_progress_items`.`listenable_id` = 13162 and `listenable_progress_items`.`listenable_id` is not null and `user_id` is null limit 1

Bindings	0: App\Models\PodcastEpisode 1: 13162
Backtrace	app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:80 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:31 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/Util.php:41 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:93

SectionPodcastPlayer.php#140premier14.92ms

select * from `podcast_episodes` where `podcast_id` = 36 and `published_at` < '2023-07-03 08:00:00' and `podcast_episodes`.`deleted_at` is null order by `published_at` desc limit 1

Bindings	0: 36 1: 2023-07-03 08:00:00
Backtrace	app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:140 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:33 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/Util.php:41 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:93

SectionPodcastPlayer.php#150premier9.84ms

select * from `podcast_episodes` where `podcast_id` = 36 and `published_at` > '2023-07-03 08:00:00' and `podcast_episodes`.`deleted_at` is null order by `published_at` asc limit 3

Bindings	0: 36 1: 2023-07-03 08:00:00
Backtrace	app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:150 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:34 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/Util.php:41 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:93

PodcastEpisode.php#193premier1.17ms

select exists(select * from `musicables` where `musicables`.`musicable_type` = 'App\Models\PodcastEpisode' and `musicables`.`musicable_id` = 13162 and `musicables`.`musicable_id` is not null) as `exists`

Bindings	0: App\Models\PodcastEpisode 1: 13162
Backtrace	app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:193 view::livewire.section-podcast-player:4 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:84 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:59 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/View.php:195

Podcast.php#215premier1.77ms

select exists(select * from `music_genres` inner join `musicables` on `music_genres`.`id` = `musicables`.`music_genre_id` where `musicables`.`musicable_id` = 36 and `musicables`.`musicable_type` = 'App\Models\Podcast' and `music_genres`.`deleted_at` is null) as `exists`

Bindings	0: 36 1: App\Models\Podcast
Backtrace	app/Models/Podcast.php:215 app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:193 view::livewire.section-podcast-player:4 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:84 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:59

Setting.php#20premier400μsselect * from `settings` where `setting_key` = 'web_donation_link' limit 1

Bindings	0: web_donation_link
Backtrace	app/Models/Setting.php:20 app/Helpers/Settings.php:6 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:84 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:59 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/View.php:195

Setting.php#20premier850μsselect * from `settings` where `setting_key` = 'web_donation_link' limit 1

Bindings	0: web_donation_link
Backtrace	app/Models/Setting.php:20 app/Helpers/Settings.php:6 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:84 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:59 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/View.php:195

Setting.php#20premier750μsselect * from `settings` where `setting_key` = 'web_donation_link' limit 1

Bindings	0: web_donation_link
Backtrace	app/Models/Setting.php:20 app/Helpers/Settings.php:6 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:84 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:59 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/View.php:195

PodcastEpisode.php#193premier450μs

select exists(select * from `musicables` where `musicables`.`musicable_type` = 'App\Models\PodcastEpisode' and `musicables`.`musicable_id` = 13162 and `musicables`.`musicable_id` is not null) as `exists`

Bindings	0: App\Models\PodcastEpisode 1: 13162
Backtrace	app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:193 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:104 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/Util.php:41 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:93

Podcast.php#215premier560μs

select exists(select * from `music_genres` inner join `musicables` on `music_genres`.`id` = `musicables`.`music_genre_id` where `musicables`.`musicable_id` = 36 and `musicables`.`musicable_type` = 'App\Models\Podcast' and `music_genres`.`deleted_at` is null) as `exists`

Bindings	0: 36 1: App\Models\Podcast
Backtrace	app/Models/Podcast.php:215 app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:193 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:104 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/Util.php:41

PodcastEpisode.php#100premier600μsselect * from `podcasts` where `podcasts`.`id` = 36 and `podcasts`.`deleted_at` is null limit 1

Bindings	0: 36
Backtrace	app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:100 app/Models/Traits/ThumbnailImage.php:26 app/Models/Traits/ThumbnailImage.php:66 view::livewire.section-podcast-player:168 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:84

PodcastEpisode.php#100premier650μsselect * from `podcasts` where `podcasts`.`id` = 36 and `podcasts`.`deleted_at` is null limit 1

Bindings	0: 36
Backtrace	app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:100 app/Models/Traits/ThumbnailImage.php:26 app/Models/Traits/ThumbnailImage.php:66 view::livewire.section-podcast-player:168 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:84

PodcastEpisode.php#100premier1.4msselect * from `podcasts` where `podcasts`.`id` = 36 and `podcasts`.`deleted_at` is null limit 1

Bindings	0: 36
Backtrace	app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:100 app/Models/Traits/ThumbnailImage.php:26 app/Models/Traits/ThumbnailImage.php:66 view::livewire.section-podcast-player:168 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:84

Setting.php#20premier570μsselect * from `settings` where `setting_key` = 'web_login_modal_title' limit 1

Bindings	0: web_login_modal_title
Backtrace	app/Models/Setting.php:20 app/Helpers/Settings.php:6 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Filesystem/Filesystem.php:110 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/PhpEngine.php:58 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:69

Setting.php#20premier310μsselect * from `settings` where `setting_key` = 'web_login_modal_subtitle' limit 1

Bindings	0: web_login_modal_subtitle
Backtrace	app/Models/Setting.php:20 app/Helpers/Settings.php:6 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Filesystem/Filesystem.php:110 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/PhpEngine.php:58 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:69

Setting.php#20premier300μsselect * from `settings` where `setting_key` = 'web_donation_link' limit 1

Bindings	0: web_donation_link
Backtrace	app/Models/Setting.php:20 app/Helpers/Settings.php:6 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Filesystem/Filesystem.php:110 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/PhpEngine.php:58 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:69

App\Models\Setting: 6Setting.php#?
App\Models\Podcast: 5Podcast.php#?
App\Models\PodcastEpisode: 5PodcastEpisode.php#?

section-podcast-player #9fsw1vPj7wghRnIwKAAo: array:5 [ "data" => array:8 [ "podcast" => App\Models\Podcast {#2057 #connection: "mysql...

_token: g3G1XNFZJboj9zlAWkKwMHoPgwWpTQb879SkNFG0

AutoshowClear Show all

	Date ↕	Method	URL	Data
#1	2025-06-25 19:57:09	GET	/podcasts/bibleproject/episodes/whose-idea-was-the-city-of-god-the-city-e11	62 26 16 1

Whose Idea Was the “City of God”? – The City E11

Sorry, this content isn’t currently available in your region

Coming up next

Jesus, the New Jerusalem – The City E12

The Heavenly City – The City E13

How Did Abraham Know About the City of God? – The City Q+R

Sign in to your Premier Account

Trending Audio

1 x Application (74.84%)	174ms
1 x Booting (25.14%)	58.32ms
1 x Routing (1.23%)	2.85ms