Quotes thread

[Gregg]

I did not have my mother long, but she cast over me an influence which has lasted all my life. The good effects of her early training I can never lose. If it had not been for her appreciation and her faith in me at a critical time in my experience, I should never likely have become an inventor. I was always a careless boy, and with a mother of different mental calibre, I should have turned out badly. But her firmness, her sweetness, her goodness, were potent powers to keep me in the right path. My mother was the making of me. The memory of her will always be a blessing to me.

Thomas A. Edison

 

[Learner]

Jean Paul Sartre

"That God does not exist,I canot deny,That my whole being cries out for God I cannot forget."

 

[Learner]

Fulton J.Sheen

"To say we want no dogmas in religion is to assert a dogma."

 

[Learner]

Paul Johnson

"The study of history is a powerful antidote to contemporary arrogance.It is humbling to discover how many of our glib assumptions,which seem to us novel and plausible,have been tested before,not once but many times and in innumerable guises;and discovered to be,at great human cost,wholly false."

 

[Learner]

G.K.Chesterton

"The modern habit of saying,'Every man has a different philosophy;this is my philosophy and it suits me'-- the habit
of saying this is mere weak mindedness.A cosmic philosophy
is not constructed to fit a man;a cosmic philosophy is constructed to fit a cosmos.A man can no more possess a
private religion than he can possess a private sun and moon."

 

[Learner]

A.W.Tozer

"The apostle does not genuflect to the little god Tolerance
(The worship of which has become in America a kind of
secondary surface religion);he is bluntly intolerant.He knows that tolerance may be merely another name for indifference.
It takes a vigorous faith to accept the teaching of the man John.It is so much easier to blur the lines of seperation and so offend no one."

 

[Learner]

J.C.Ryle in 1890

"There are certain facts in history which the world tries hard to forget and ignore.These facts get in the way of some
of the world's favourite theories,and are highly inconvenient.The consequences is that the world shuts its eyes to them."

 

[Learner]

A.W.Tozer

"God has not bowed to our nervous haste nor embraced the methods of our machine age.It is well that we accept the
hard truth now;the man who would know God must give time to Him."

 

[Learner]

G.K.Chesterton

"It is absurd for the Evolutionist to complain that it is unthinkable for an admittedly unthinkable God to make everything out of nothing,and then pretend that it is more thinkable that nothing should turn itself into anything."

 

[Learner]

A.W.Tozer

"Faith is thus conceived as a kind of religious magic,bringing to the Lord great delight,and possessing mysterious power to open the kingdom of heaven...the harmful effects of this faith-as-magic creed are greater than
could be imagined by anyone who has not come face-to-face with them."

 

[Learner]

A.W.Tozer

"We boast not in our weakness but in our strength.Values which Christ has declared to be false are brought back into evangelical favor and promoted as the very life and substance of the Christian way."

 

[Learner]

A.W.Tozer

"So carnal is the body of Christians which composes the
conservative wing of the Church,so shockingly irreverent are
our public services in some quarters,so degraded are our religious tastes in still others,that the need for power could scarcely have been greater at any time in history.I believe we should profit immensely were we to declare a period of silence and self-examination[instead of religious activity]."

 

[Learner]

Kind of a quote:note I made in the past

"When Gregory of Nazianzus(sp?)went to Constantinople
in 380 he complained that he could hardly get his hair cut,because the barbers of the city were too preoccupied arguing about the consubstantiality of the Son with the Father!"

 

[C. Matthew McMahon]

"The biggest enemy of books is neither water nor smoke, but rather dust, because it symbolizes negelct." Dr. Roger Nicole.

 

[Gregg]

I have a lot of dusty books... Gregg

 

[Learner]

A.W.Tozer

"The difficulty we modern Christians face is not misunderstanding the Bible,but persuading our untamed hearts to accept its plain instructions."

 

[Learner]

Lane T. Dennis 1988

"The new barbarianism has embraced a new pagan mentality,on one hand it proclaims that there is no fixed truth,no final good,no ultimate meaning and purpose,and that the living God is a primitive illusion.On the other hand,it
champions mysticism,occult forces and powers,communion with nature,and exotic religions.And where these pagan impulses hold sway the results are moral and intellectual decay paralleled only by Pompeii and Sodom--not to mention the bloody American abortion of twenty million unborn children."

 

[Learner]

Lady Huntingdon

A letter she wrote to Henry Venn ,an unregenerate minister at the time:"Oh my friend,we can make no atonement to a violated law;we have no inward holiness of our own;the Lord Jesus Christ is the 'the Lord our righteousness.'Cling not to such beggarly elements,such filthy rags,mere cobwebs of Pharisaical pride;but look to him who hath wrought out a perfect righteousness for his people.You find it a hard task to comenaked and miserable to Christ;to come divested of every recommendation but that of abject wretchedness and misery,and receive from the outstretched hand of our Immanuel the riches of redeeming grace.But if you come at all you must come thus;and,like the dying thief,the cry of your heart must be,'lord,remember me.'There must be no conditions;Christ and Christ alone must be the only mediator between God and sinful men;no miserable performance can be placed between the sinner and the Savour.And now,my dear friend,no longer let false doctrine disgrace your pulpit.Preach Christ crucified as the only foundation of the sinner's hope.Preach him as the Author and Finisher as well as the sole Object of faith,that faith which is the gift of God.Exhort Christless sinners to flee to the City of Refuge;to look to Him who is exalted as Prince and Saviour,to give repentance and the remission of sins.Go on,then,and may your bow abide in strength.Be bold,be firm,be decided.Let Christ be your Alpha and Omega of all you advance in your addresses to your fellow-men.Leave the consequences to your Divine Master."

 

[Learner]

A surprising quote

Wesley's Works,Volume 9 page 429:

"A denial of original sin cotradicts the main design of the gospel,which is to humble vain man,and to ascribe to God's free grace,not man's free will,the whole of his salvation.Nor,indeed,can we let this doctrine go without giving up,at the same time,the greatest part,if not all,of the essential articles of the Christian faith.If we give up this,we cannot defend either justification by the merits of Christ,or the renewal of our natures by his spirit."

 

[Learner]

Felix Neff:Apostle to the High Alps

These words deal with those who betray the Church and Christ.

"Many Christians,are more disposed to condemn a man who calls attention to these evils than their authors.When he cries 'wolf 'they would shoot him and let the beast continue his depredations.
"Others think that ,if it is necessary to attack errors and abuses,it should be done without regard to persons.But things rarely come without persons and often this distinction becomes impossible.
...Is it 'judging'to say of a man one hears cursing that he is a blasphemer,or of one who comes staggering out of a drink-shop that he is a drunkard?Is it 'judging'to say of a man who denies the divinity of the Saviour and the necessity of sacrifice,the corruption of the human heart,and the action of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of believers and who does this publicly in his sermons or his writings--is it 'judging'to say of such a one 'There's an unbeliever and enemy of the cross of Christ?'The spiritual man judges all things and his judgment is just because it is based upon the law of God and not on the prejudices and maxims of this world."

 

[Learner]

John Adams

"Facts are stubborn things,and whatever may be our wishes,our inclinations,or the dictates of our passions,they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence."

 

[Learner]

George Whitefield

This is from a letter he wrote to James Hervey which is in J.C.Ryles' book on "18th Century Church Leaders"

"I long to have my dear friend come forth and preach the truth as it is in Jesus;not a righteousness or holiness of our own,whereby we make ourselves meet,but the righteousness of another,even the Lord our righteousness;upon the imputation and apprehending of which by faith we shall be made meet by his Holy Spirit to live with and enjoy God.Dear Mr.Hervey,it is an excellent thing to be convinced of the freeness and riches of God's grace in Christ Jesus.It is sweet to know and preach that Christ justifies the ungodly,and that all good works are not so much as partly the cause,but the effect of our justification.Till convinced of these truths,you must own free will is in man,which is directly contrary to the Holy Scriptures...Let me advise dear Mr.Hervey,laying aside all prejudices,to read and pray over St.Paul's Epistles to the Romans and Galatians,and then to tell me what he thinks of this doctrine..."

 

[RamistThomist]

[b:1d166f79c8]G K Chesterton[/b:1d166f79c8]

(On Courage)

"He must seek his life with a furious indifference to it; he must desire life like water and yet drink death like wine."

 

[RamistThomist]

[b:9bc445a508] Martin Luther[/b:9bc445a508]

"Do not suppose that abuses are eliminated by destroying the object which is abused. Men go wrong with wine and women. Shall we then prohibit and abolish women?"

 

[blhowes]

[b:da9f21d7b2]John Flavel[/b:da9f21d7b2]
Study the singular benefits and advantages of a will resigned up and melted into the will of God.

 

[Scot]

"Christ's death did not 'create opportunities,' it established certainties." - Tom Wells

 

[Learner]

Joseph Irons:"The Sinless Saviour"2/4/1849

"...If you cannot show me something like conformity to the image of Jesus Christ,I cannot admit your Christianity to be genuine.You must bear with me,if I am somewhat severe here.The nearer I approach my crown,the more deeply do I feel the importance of being honest with souls.'He did no sin.'Can you allow it?And can you do it willingly?'He did no sin.'Is there in you any conformity to His likeness,in your abhorrence of the nature and existence of sin,and,most of all sin,in your heart;the sinful practices and customs of the world;the sinful practices which conscience,in its cool moments,and in retirement at midnight,could not approve of?'He did no sin.'How far are you like Him?What conformity have you to His image?Is sin loathed?Is it warred against?I know that,on this side of eternity,it will never be said of you or me that we did no sin.But,if you have genuine Christianity,there must be so much grace in you as to produce a loathing of self on account of sin,and a loathing of sin in all its shapes and forms...Where is your conformity?"

 

[Irishcat922]

Defection from Doctrine

by J. C. Ryle


"Crowds, and crying, and hot rooms, and high-flown singing, and an incessant rousing of the emotions, are the only things which many care for. Inability to distinguish differences in doctrine is spreading far and wide, and so long as the preacher is 'clever' and 'earnest,' hundreds seem to think it must be all right, and call you dreadfully 'narrow and uncharitable' if you hint that he is unsound."

 

[Learner]

Moses Hoge

Strange ! that every reflection upon such amazing love does not melt your hearts , and set your souls on fire . When you grow remiss and careless --when earthly enjoyments lie too near your hearts , when your conversation is vain and your life unfruitful -- do you then believe and realize this love and grace ? No: If the everlasting unmerited love of God , and the sovereign distinguishing grace of Christ were known and heartedly believed , you would not fold your arms with the slothful-- trifle with the vain , or pursue the world as if it were your all . The sweet , the melting , and the constraining influence of such amazing love and grace would bear you away in an unremitted course of cheerful and devout obedience to the laws of your God and the gospel of your Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ .


Taken from Morton Smith's : " Studies in Southern Presbyterian Theology "