Christian Quotations of the Day
for August, 2003
The theology of the last two decades [before 1956] has passed... through the cleansing fire of a
world-wide catastrophe. It was brought to its proper theme, to Jesus Christ.
Man is obliged to go, with everything he does or does not possess, where the
life and cross of Christ and His resurrection bring him to the real of realities:
to the reality of humanity in its exaltation and poverty, hope and judgment.
From here, from the time and place where Jesus the Nazarene lived, died, was
victorious, where all expectations of the Prophets and of Israel... were fulfilled,
it is necessary to look at man, his destination, his fall, his rebirth to a new life,
his place in human society, his freedom and rights, the question whether and what kind
of claims he may make on his happiness and security. This Christocentric view...
gives a better understanding of what should be the relation of man to man, of the
individual to society, of society to the individual, and to the securing of human freedoms by law.
... J. L. Hromadka, The Church and Theology in Today's Troubled Times
What man ever had more renown? The whole Jewish people foretell Jesus before His coming. The
Gentile people worship Him after His coming. The two peoples, Gentile and Jewish, regard
Him as their centre.
And yet what man enjoys this renown less? Of thirty-three years, He lives thirty without
appearing. For three years He passes as an impostor; the priests and the chief people
reject Him; His friends and His nearest relatives despise Him. Finally, He dies, betrayed
by one of His own disciples, denied by another, and abandoned by all.
What part, then, has He in this renown? Never had man so much renown; never had man more
ignominy. All that renown was only of use to us, to help us to recognize Him;
it was of no use to Him.
... Blaise Pascal, Pensées
It is absolutely unimportant in the eyes of God how many people follow the "Anglican tradition"
of belief and practice. It is of the greatest importance how many people there are who have
come to know and love our Lord because of what we Anglicans have said and done.
... Stephen F. Bayne, Jr.
Feast of John Vianney, Curè d'Ars, 1859
I do not want bishops to practice the ordination of voluntary clergy [merely] as a plausible policy,
for which something can be said. If by persuasive speech I could induce all the bishops in
the world to adopt that practice, I think that I should refuse. I do not believe that
Christian men should base their action upon such a foundation: I believe that the first blast
of difficulty would overthrow them if they did. I try to set forth a truth of Christ which
demands obedience. I call upon the church not to adopt a plausible policy, but to repent
of a sin; for to make void the word of Christ is sin.
... Roland Allen, The Case for Voluntary Clergy
Feast of Oswald, King of Northumbria, Martyr, 642
The student should beware lest he overlook the momentous issues involved in the refusal
of the State to allow any society or club to exist which had not first obtained official
recognition, and the equally momentous refusal of the Church to obtain such recognition.
The question is not one of legal technicalities or procedure, or the "sheer obstinacy",
as Marcus Aurelius would have phrased it, of Christian fanatics, but points rather to one
of those root antagonisms of principle the influence of which, in different forms, may be
felt in the twentieth as much as in the second century. By Roman theory, the State was
the one society which must engross every interest of its subjects, religious, social,
political, humanitarian, with the one possible exception of the family. There was no room
in Roman law for the existence, much less the development on its own line of organic growth,
of any corporation or society which did not recognize itself from the first as a mere department
or auxiliary of the State. The State was all and in all, the one organism with a life of its
own. Such a theory the Church, as the living kingdom of Jesus, could not possibly accept
either in the first century or the twentieth.
... H. B. Workman
Luther's rejection of Papal authority was not due to any difficulty he may have experienced in
reconciling the claims made for the Petrine office with the character of the men who occupied
the Papal throne in his time, nor to any confusion caused by the Conciliar Movement. His
objections went much deeper and sprang, not from the concrete existential situation of his time,
but from his theological principles. Luther saw quite early that his theory of justification by
faith alone implied a denial of any divinely appointed hierarchy in the Church. Already in 1518
he had accepted the Hussite doctrine that the True Church, the Church of the promises and the
Mystical Body of Christ is invisible. Luther's saving faith is the response of the individual
soul to the Word of God revealed in Scripture; in his theology there is no place for any created
activity to mediate to men God's saving action nor for any active sharing by men in the
dispensation of grace or divine truth.
... George H. Duggan
Commemoration of John Mason Neale, Priest, Poet, 1866
If you do not worship God seven days a week, you do not
worship Him on one day a week. There is no such thing known in
heaven as Sunday worship unless it is accompanied by Monday
worship and Tuesday worship and so on.
... A. W. Tozer
Feast of Dominic, Priest, Founder of the Order of Preachers, 1221
I endeavor to keep all Shibboleths,
and forms and terms of distinction out of sight, as we keep knives and razors out of the
way of children; and if my hearers had not some other means of information, I think they
would not know from me that there are such creatures as Arminians and Calvinists in the
world. But we [would] talk a good deal about Christ.
... John Newton
Feast of Mary Sumner, Founder of the Mothers' Union, 1921
Man cuts the wine of paradox with the water of consistency. The mystery of God and things
is tamed to the simplicity of God or things; [man] builds himself a duller, skimpier world.
If he is a pagan, he abolishes the secular in favor of the sacred. The world becomes filled
with gods. To improve his wine, he searches, not for purer strains of yeast but for better
incantations, friendlier gods. He spends his time in shrines and caves, not chemistry.
Things, for him, become pawns in the chess game of heaven. Religion devours life. On the
other hand, if he is a secularist, he insists that God must have no part in the world at all.
That God has made Saccharomyces ellipsoideus competent enough to ferment sugar on its own,
becomes, for him, a proof that He never made it at all. Poor man! To be so nearly right,
and so devastatingly wrong. To hit so close, and yet miss the mark completely. Yeast,
without God to give it as a gift, ceases to be good company. It becomes merely useful --
a mechanism contributory to other mechanisms. And those, in turn, to the vast mechanism of
the whole. And that, at last, to -- well, he is hard put to say just what.
... Robert Farrar Capon, The Supper of the Lamb
Feast of Lawrence, Deacon at Rome, Martyr, 258
Insofar as theology is an attempt to define and clarify intellectual positions, it is apt to
lead to discussion, to differences of opinion, even to controversy, and hence to be divisive.
And this has had a strong tendency to dampen serious discussion of theological issues in most
groups, and hence to strengthen the general anti-intellectual bias inherent in much of
revivalistic Pietism... "Fundamentalism" in America, among other things, was a movement
that tried to recall these denominations to theological and confessional self consciousness.
But it was defeated in every major denomination, not so much by theological discussion and
debate as by effective political manipulations directed by denominational leaders to the
sterilizing of this "divisive" element.
... Sidney E. Mead in Church History (1954)
Feast of Clare of Assisi, Founder of the Order of Minoresses (Poor Clares), 1253
Commemoration of John Henry Newman, Priest, Teacher, Tractarian, 1890
Sermons should not be preached in churches. It harms Christianity in a high degree and
alters its very nature, that it is brought into an artistic remoteness from reality,
instead of being heard in the midst of real life... For all this talk about quiet, about
quiet places and quiet hours, as the right element for Christianity is absurd. So then
sermons should not be preached in churches but in the midst of life, of the reality of
daily life, weekday life.
... Søren Kierkegaard
Man's offense "smells to heaven": massacres, broken treaties, beatings-up, theft, kidnappings,
enslavement, deportation, floggings, lynchings, rape, insult, mockery, and odious hypocrisy,
make up that smell. But the thing comes nearer than that. Those of us who have little authority,
who have few people at our mercy, may be thankful. But how if one is an officer in the army (or,
perhaps worse, an N.C.O.)? a hospital matron? a magistrate? a prison-warden? a school prefect?
a trades-union official? a Boss of any sort? in a word, anyone who cannot be "answered back"?
It is hard enough, even with the best will in the world, to be just. It is hard, under the
pressure of haste, uneasiness, ill-temper, self-complacency, and conceit, to continue intending
justice. Power corrupts; the "insolence of office" will creep in. We see it so clearly in our
superiors; is it unlikely that our inferiors see it in us? How many of those who have been over
us did not sometimes (perhaps often) need our forgiveness? Be sure that we likewise need the
forgiveness of those that are under us.
... C. S. Lewis
Feast of Jeremy Taylor, Bishop of Down & Connor, Priest, Teacher, 1667
Commemoration of Florence Nightingale, Social Reformer, 1910
Commemoration of Octavia Hill, Worker for the Poor, 1912
I acknowledge, dear God, that I have deserved the greatest of thy wrath and indignation;
and that, if thou hadst dealt with me according to my deserving, I had now, at this instant,
been desperately bewailing my miseries in the sorrows and horrors of a sad eternity. But thy
mercy triumphing over thy justice and my sins, thou hast still continued to me life and time of
repentance; thou hast opened to me the gates of grace and mercy, and perpetually callest upon
me to enter in, and to walk in the paths of a holy life, that I might glorify thee, and be
glorified of thee eternally.
... Jeremy Taylor
Commemoration of Maximilian Kolbe, Franciscan Friar, Priest, Martyr, 1941
Priestcraft ... is fostered whenever and wherever the ... whole people of God begins to view
the ordained ministry as an office rather than as a function, and allows the office to shape
the function rather than the function to shape the office. Most churches and most Christians
in Britain -- the denomination is immaterial -- conceive the ministry as a professionalized
caste with its own exclusive tabus, rather than as a specially trained task force, working to
professional standards simply in order to make its service more effective.
(Continued tomorrow)
... Christopher Driver, A Future for the Free Churches?
The humblest and -- in the ecclesiastical sense -- lowest Congregational or Methodist chapel is as
vulnerable as any to priestcraft, even if it possesses no ordained minister to play the
role of the priest, for it can and usually does allow the very absence of a minister to
limit unnecessarily the ministry of its members, both in the church and in the community.
Such chapels, indeed, quite often openly put forward their lack of a paid, professional
minister as an excuse for their introversion. "We can't possibly do this ... study this ...
attend that. We haven't got a minister." The corrosive influence is especially visible
in these churches' pattern of worship. Whoever is actually conducting the services, ordained
minister or visiting lay preacher, the pattern is irretrievably sacerdotal, the congregation
neither speaking by itself nor performing an action from start to finish. Even the Lord's
Prayer is commonly "led" in a loud voice from the pulpit, presumably in case the congregation
forgets the words.
... Christopher Driver, A Future for the Free Churches?
It may be that the grace of renewal will not be given to us in our separation, will
not be given until we stand together for the healing of the nations.
... Gordon Rupp
Every logical position will eventually lead you into trouble, and heresy, and chaos.
Every logical position is consistent, but it is logic which is in the human mind,
not God's logic. The human mind is finite and cannot grasp eternity, and therefore
the finite mind sees the infinite as not graspable coherently. If we could grasp it
all coherently, without contradiction, we would be God. The person who insists on
being logical to the end winds up in a mess. I am not saying that we should not be
rational. I am not anti-intellectual. I am saying that the intellect by itself is
helpless to arrive at total truth.
... Kenneth L. Pike, Stir, Change, Create
'Cover, Lord, what has been: govern what shall be. Oh, perfect that which
Thou hast begun, that I suffer not shipwreck in the haven.
... Theodore Beza (his last words)
[Thanks to Bill Blake at pilgrimwb@aol.com]
Be able to be alone. Lose not the advantage of solitude, ... but
delight to be alone and single with Omnipresency... Life is pure
flame, and we live by an invisible sun within us.
... Sir Thomas Browne
Feast of Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, Teacher, 1153
Commemoration of William & Catherine Booth, Founders of the Salvation Army, 1912 & 1890
The renovation of our social system is a work so vast that no one of us, nor
all of us put together, can define all the measures what will have to be taken
before we attain even the cab-horse ideal of existence for our children and our
children's children. All that we can do is attack, in a serious, practical
spirit, the worst and most pressing evils, knowing that if we do our duty,
we obey the voice of God. He is the Captain of our Salvation. If we but
follow where he leads we shall not want for marching orders, nor need we
imagine that he will narrow the field of operations. I am laboring under
no delusions as to the possibility of inaugurating the millennium by any
social specific. In the struggle of life, the weakest will go to the wall,
and there are so many weak. The fittest, in tooth and claw, will survive.
All that we can do is to soften the lot of the unfit and make their suffering
less horrible than it is at present. No outside propping will make some men
stand erect. All material help from without is useful only in so far as it
develops moral strength within. And some men seem to have lost even the very
faculty of self-help. [Continued tomorrow]
... William Booth, In Darkest England
There is an immense lack of common sense and of vital energy on the part of
multitudes. Insoluble the problem is, I am absolutely convinced, unless it
is possible to bring new moral life into the soul of these people. This
should be the first object of every social,reformer -- whose work will only
last if it is built on the solid foundation of a new birth -- to cry, "You
must be born again!"... At the risk of being misunderstood and misrepresented,
I must assert in the most unqualified way that it is primarily and mainly
for the sake of saving the soul that I seek the salvation of the body. But
what is the use of preaching the Gospel to men whose whole attention is
concentrated upon a mad, desperate struggle to keep themselves alive? You
might as well give a tract to a shipwrecked sailor who is battling with the
surf which has drowned his comrades and threatens to drown him. He will not
listen to you. Nay, he cannot hear you. The first thing to do is to get him
at least a footing on firm ground, and to give him room to live. Then you may
have a chance. At present you have none.
... William Booth, In Darkest England
The will is that which has all power; it makes heaven and it makes hell: for
there is no hell but where the will of the creature is turned from God, nor
any heaven but where the will of the creature worketh with God.
... William Law
Commemoration of Rose of Lima, Contemplative, 1617
Those who think God did this almost incredible thing call it Good Friday
because only an extremely good God could do a thing like that. All
religions attempt to bridge the gulf between the terrific purity of God
and the sinfulness of man, but Christianity believes that God built that
bridge Himself. This particular Friday commemorates His deliberate
action in allowing Himself to be caught up in the sin-suffering-death
mechanism which haunts mankind. He didn't let it end there, for He went
on, right through death. But the men who believe in Him can't forget
the kind of Person such an act reveals. That's why they call it Good Friday.
... J. B. Phillips, Is God at Home?
Feast of Bartholomew the Apostle
To him that chose us first,
Before the world began;
To him that bore the curse
To save rebellious man;
To him that formed
Our hearts anew
Is endless praise
And glory due.
The Father's love shall run
Through our immortal songs;
We bring to God the Son
Hosannahs on our tongues:
Our lips address
The Spirit's name
With equal praise,
And zeal the same.
Let every saint above,
And angel round the throne,
For ever bless and love
The sacred Three in One;
Thus heav'n shall raise
His honors high,
When earth and time
Grow old and die.
... Isaac Watts, Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, 39
Hosannah to the King
Of David's ancient blood!
Behold, he comes to bring
Forgiving grace from God:
Let old and young
Attend his way,
And at his feet
Their honors lay.
Glory to God on high,
Salvation to the Lamb;
Let earth, and sea, and sky,
His wondrous love proclaim:
Upon his head
Shall honors rest,
And every age
Pronounce him blest
... Isaac Watts, Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, 45
Do you so love the truth and the right that you welcome, or at least submit
willingly to, the idea of an exposure of what in you is yet unknown to
yourself -- an exposure that may redound to the glory of the truth by making
you ashamed and humbled?... Are you willing to be made glad that you were
wrong when you thought others were wrong?... We may trust God with our past
as heartily as with our future. It will not hurt us so long as we do not try
to hide things, so long as we are ready to bow our heads in hearty shame where
it is fit that we should be ashamed. For to be ashamed is a holy and blessed thing.
Shame is a thing to shame only those who want to appear, not those who want
to be. Shame is to shame those who want to pass their examination, not
those who would get into the heart of things... To be humbly ashamed is to be
plunged in the cleansing bath of truth.
... George Macdonald, "The Final Unmasking"
Feast of Monica, Mother of Augustine of Hippo, 387
Let the Gospels speak. Of what I have learnt from these documents
in the course of my long task, I will say nothing now. Only this,
that they bear the seal of the Son of Man and God, they are the
Magna Charta of the human spirit. Were we to devote to their
comprehension a little of the selfless enthusiasm that is now expended
on the riddle of our physical surroundings, we would cease to say that
Christianity is coming to an end -- we might even feel that it had only
just begun.
... E. V. Rieu, The Four Gospels
Feast of Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Teacher, 430
Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you
may believe, but believe that you may understand.
... St. Augustine
Do not be too quick to condemn the man who no longer believes in God:
for it is perhaps your own coldness and avarice and mediocrity and
materialism and selfishness that have chilled his faith.
... Thomas Merton
Many things seem good and yet are not, because they be not done with a
good mind and intention; and therefore our Saviour saith in the Gospel,
"If thy eye has naught, all thy body shall be dark." For when the
intention is wicked, all the work that follows is naught, although it
seemed to be never so good.
... St. Gregory the Great
Feast of Aidan, Bishop of Lindisfarne, Missionary, 651
Commemoration of Cuthburga, Founding Abbess of Wimborne, c.725
Commemoration of John Bunyan, Spiritual Writer, 1688
I never knew all there was in the Bible until I spent those years in jail.
I was constantly finding new treasures.
... John Bunyan
Compilation Copyright, 1996-2008, by Robert McAnally Adams,
Curator, Christian Quotation of the Day.
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GIFs", by kind permission.
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