Feast of Juliana of Norwich, Mystic, Teacher, c.1417 If afore us were laid together all the pains in Hell... and in Earth -- death and the rest -- and by itself, sin, we would rather choose all that pain than sin. For sin is so vile and so greatly to be hated that it may be likened to no pain that is not sin. To me was shown no harder hell than sin.
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There have always been two kinds of Christianity -- man's and Christ's. Does anyone today remember how the emperor Constantine read more
There have always been two kinds of Christianity -- man's and Christ's. Does anyone today remember how the emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion? It is said that he had a vision -- saw a cross in the sky with the inscription, "In this sign shalt thou conquer." He accepted the new faith promptly, because he thought it would defeat his enemies for him. That is man's Christianity, a means to earthly triumph. And in our present crisis we are appealing to it to defeat the Russians for us. We hear of the life-and-death struggle between Christianity and Communism, the necessity of "keeping God alive as a social force" -- as if our Lord could not survive a Soviet victory! It is a poor sort of faith that imagines Christ defeated by anything men can do.
When a comparison is made of the variant readings of the New Testament with those of other books which have read more
When a comparison is made of the variant readings of the New Testament with those of other books which have survived from antiquity, the results are little short of astounding. For instance, although there are some 200,000 "errors" among the New Testament manuscripts, these appear in only about 10,000 places, and only about one-sixtieth rise above the level of trivialities. Westcott and Hort, Ezra Abbot, Philip Schaff, and A. T. Robertson have carefully evaluated the evidence and have concluded that the New Testament text is over 99 percent pure. In the light of the fact that there are over 5,000 Greek manuscripts, some 9,000 versions and translations, the evidence for the integrity of the New Testament is beyond question.
Feast of Monica, Mother of Augustine of Hippo, 387 Concluding a short series on the Bible: Christ is read more
Feast of Monica, Mother of Augustine of Hippo, 387 Concluding a short series on the Bible: Christ is the master; the Scriptures are only the servant.
My father had never lost his temper with us, never beaten us, but we had for him that feeling often read more
My father had never lost his temper with us, never beaten us, but we had for him that feeling often described as fear, which is something quite different and far deeper than alarm. It was that sense which, without irreverence, I have thought to find expressed by the great evangelists when they speak of the fear of God. One does not fear God because He is terrible, but because He is literally the soul of goodness and truth, because to do Him wrong is to do wrong to some mysterious part of oneself, and one does not know exactly what the consequences may be.
Feast of Janani Luwum, Archbishop of Uganda, Martyr, 1977 The principal part of faith is patience.
Feast of Janani Luwum, Archbishop of Uganda, Martyr, 1977 The principal part of faith is patience.
To perpetuate the clerical role of answer man, the layman when inside the church building must act as if he read more
To perpetuate the clerical role of answer man, the layman when inside the church building must act as if he has only half a brain, while outside, in the world, he is expected to be an ambassador for Christ, a lay transmitter of faith. Outside, he is to be informed and vocal; inside, he must appear ignorant and mute as a sheep. Christians have within them many questions -- questions that are at once elementary and profound, questions that would ripple the water were they raised. However, because a Christian is supposed to have "answers", life's important questions are not discussed outside the church building; and, because the pastor is the educated, spiritual authority, they are not discussed inside either.
The Revelation of God is not a book or a doctrine, but a living Person.
The Revelation of God is not a book or a doctrine, but a living Person.
Feast of Hilda, Abbess of Whitby, 680 Commemoration of Elizabeth, Princess of Hungary, Philanthropist, 1231 Commemoration of Mechtild, Bèguine of read more
Feast of Hilda, Abbess of Whitby, 680 Commemoration of Elizabeth, Princess of Hungary, Philanthropist, 1231 Commemoration of Mechtild, Bèguine of Magdeburg, Mystic, Prophet, 1280 Where, then, does happiness lie? In forgetfulness, not indulgence, of the self. In escape from sensual appetites, not in their satisfaction We live in a dark, self-enclosed prison, which is all we see or know if our glance is fixed ever downward. To lift it upward, becoming aware of the wide, luminous universe outside -- this alone is happiness. At its highest level, such happiness is the ecstasy that mystics have inadequately described At more humdrum levels, it is human love; the delights and beauties of our dear earth, its colors and shapes and sounds; the enchantment of understanding and laughing, and all other exercise of such faculties as we possess; the marvel of the meaning of everything, fitfully glimpsed, inadequately expounded, but ever present.
Feast of John and Charles Wesley, Priests, Poets, Teachers, 1791 & 1788 The cause of their decline was read more
Feast of John and Charles Wesley, Priests, Poets, Teachers, 1791 & 1788 The cause of their decline was not, as has been supposed, because there is no more need for [the charismatic gifts], "because all the world had become Christian". ... The real cause was: the love of many, of almost all Christians so called, was waxed cold; ... The real cause why the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit were no longer to be found in the Christian Church [was that] the Christians were turned heathen again, and had only a dead form left.
