Quotations for October, 2016
Saturday, October 1, 2016
Commemoration of Remigius, Bishop of Rheims, Apostle of the Franks, 533
Commemoration of Thérèse of Lisieux, Carmelite Nun, Spiritual Writer, 1897
Receive therefore every day as a resurrection from death, as a new enjoyment of life; meet every rising sun with such sentiments of God’s goodness, as if you had seen it, and all things, new-created upon your account: and under the sense of so great a blessing, let your joyful heart praise and magnify so good and glorious a Creator.
... William Law (1686-1761), A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life [1728], London: Methuen, 1899, p. 248-249 
(see the book; see also 1 Cor. 15:22; Ps. 8:1; 30:5; 2 Cor. 4:16; more at Blessing, Easter, God, Goodness, Heart, Life, Praise, Resurrection)
Sunday, October 2, 2016
The testimony of the New Testament cannot be lightly disregarded, nor can the claims of Christ be airily dismissed. Many otherwise intelligent people have never read with adult attention either the four Gospels or the Letters of the New Testament. When they so do, to my certain knowledge, they not infrequently become converted. Indeed, I know of no adult who has seriously studied the New Testament and rejected the stories of Christ as mythical or the evidence of changed lives in the Letters as mere fabrication.
... J. B. Phillips (1906-1982), God With Us: a Message for Christmas, London: Epworth Press, 1957, p. 11
(see the book; see also Col. 2:1-3; Acts 4:31; 2 Cor. 4:2; Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12; 13:7; more at Bible, Christ, Conversion, Knowledge, Life)
Monday, October 3, 2016
Commemoration of William Morris, Artist, Writer, 1896
Commemoration of George Kennedy Bell, Bishop of Chichester, Ecumenist, Peacemaker, 1958
In most parts of the Bible, everything is implicitly or explicitly introduced with “Thus saith the Lord.” It is... not merely a sacred book but a book so remorselessly and continuously sacred that it does not invite—it excludes or repels—the merely aesthetic approach. You can read it as literature only by a tour de force... It demands incessantly to be taken on its own terms: it will not continue to give literary delight very long, except to those who go to it for something quite different. I predict that it will in the future be read, as it always has been read, almost exclusively by Christians.
... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), They Asked for a Paper, London: Geoffrey Bles, 1962, p. 49
(see the book; see also Isa. 42:5-7; 28:16; Hag. 2:6-7; Mark 12:36; 1 Cor. 14:3,22; 1 Tim. 4:13; 2 Pet. 1:20-21; more at Belief, Bible, Book, Consecration, Future)
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Feast of Francis of Assisi, Friar, Deacon, Founder of the Friars Minor, 1226
Study always to have Joy, for it befits not the servant of God to show before his brother or another sadness or a troubled face.
... St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226), The Mirror of Perfection [c. 1280], tr. Robert Steele, London: J.M. Dent, 1903, p. 141
(see the book; see also Matt. 6:16-18; Mark 2:18; Luke 2:10; 10:21; John 15:11; more at Attitudes, God, Joy, Sadness, Service, Trouble)
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Unless we know the difference between flowers and weeds, we are not fit to take care of a garden.It is not enough to have truth planted in our minds. We must learn and labor to keep the ground clear of thorns and briars, follies and perversities, which have a wicked propensity to choke the word of life.
... Evan S. Coslett (1830-1939), Leaves of Gold, Clyde Francis Lytle, ed. [1948], Honesdale, Pa.: Coslett Publishing Company, 1938, p. 150
(see the book; see also Matt. 15:10-13; Isa. 60:21; Matt. 13:24-30,36-42; John 15:2,6; 1 Cor. 3:12-15; more at Evil, Flower, Folly, Knowledge, Labor, Life, Mind, Truth)
Thursday, October 6, 2016
Feast of William Tyndale, Translator of the Scriptures, Martyr, 1536
“Thou shalt not” is the beginning of wisdom. But the end of wisdom, the new law, is, “Thou shalt.” To be Christian is to be old? Not a bit of it. To be Christian is to be reborn, and free, and unafraid, and immortally young.
... Joy Davidman (1915-1960), Smoke on the Mountain, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1955, reprint, Westminster John Knox Press, 1985, p. 20
(see the book; see also Matt. 5:11-12; Ps. 143:8-10; John 16:13; Gal. 4:6; 5:16,18,22-25; Rom. 8:13-14; 2 Tim. 1:7; more at Attitudes, Beginning, Immortality, Law, Wisdom)
Friday, October 7, 2016
Although we have different ways of worshipping and doing things, we have only one God. So how can we claim to have... “Good News” unless people can see in us that Jesus Christ is breaking down barriers and bringing us together?
... Albert Braithwaite
(see also John 13:13-15; 17:23; 1 Cor. 1:11-13; 8:4-6; Rom. 15:5; Eph. 4:3-6; more at Authenticity, God, Gospel, Jesus, Unity, Worship)
Saturday, October 8, 2016
The more a man hath unity and simplicity in himself, the more things and the deeper things he understandeth; and that without labour, because he receiveth the light of understanding from above. The spirit which is pure, sincere, and steadfast, is not distracted though it hath many works to do, because it doth all things to the honour of God, and striveth to be free from all thoughts of self-seeking.
... Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471), Of the Imitation of Christ [1418], Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1877, I.iii.3, p. 34
(see the book; see also Matt. 18:1-4; Rom. 12:6-8; 14:1-8; 2 Cor. 3:11; 1 Thess. 4:11-12; more at God, Honor, Knowing God, Purity, Simplicity, Sincerity, Spirit, Understanding, Unity)
Sunday, October 9, 2016
Commemoration of Denys, Bishop of Paris, & his Companions, Martyrs, 258
Commemoration of Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln, Philosopher, Scientist, 1253
Thou knowest how far Thou hast already changed me, who first healed me of the lust of vindicating myself, that so Thou mightest forgive all the rest of my iniquities, and heal all my infirmities, and redeem my life from corruption, and crown me with mercy and pity, and satisfy my desire with good things; who didst curb my pride with Thy fear, and tame my neck to Thy yoke. And now I bear it and it is light unto me, because so hast Thou promised, and hast made it; and verily it was so, and I knew it not, when I feared to take it.
... St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), Confessions [397], Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1886, X.xxxvi, p. 278
(see the book; see also 2 Tim. 2:20-22; Matt. 7:24; 11:29-30; John 13:17; 14:21-24; 15:10-14; Heb. 5:8-9; more at Corruption, Fear, Forgiveness, Goodness, Health, Life, Light, Mercy, Prayers, Pride, Promise, Redemption)
Monday, October 10, 2016
Feast of Paulinus, Bishop of York, Missionary, 644
It be a certain truth, that none can understand [the prophets’ and apostles’] writings aright, without the same Spirit by which they were written.
... George Fox (1624-1691), Journal, v. I, Philadelphia: B. & T. Kite, 1808, p. 110
(see the book; see also John 16:13; Rom. 8:16; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:20-21; 1 John 5:6; more at Authenticity, Bible, Holy Spirit, Prophet, Truth)
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
Commemoration of Ethelburga, Abbess of Barking, 675
We may search so far, and reason so long of faith and grace, as that we may lose not only them, but even our reason too, and sooner become mad than good. Not that we are bound to believe anything against reason, that is, to believe, we know not why. It is but a slack opinion, it is not Belief, that is not grounded upon Reason... It is true, we have not a Demonstration; not such an Evidence as that one and two are three, to prove these to be Scriptures of God; God hath not proceeded in that manner, to drive our reason into a pound, and to force it by a peremptory necessity to accept these for Scriptures, for then, here had been no exercise of our will, and our assent, if we could not have resisted.
... John Donne (1573-1631), Works of John Donne, vol. V, London: John W. Parker, 1839, Sermon CXVII, p. 55-57
(see the book; see also Acts 24:24-26; Matt. 21:32; Luke 22:67-69; 24:36-43; John 3:12; 5:37-40,46-47; 7:5; 10:25-26; Rom. 3:1-2; 2 Tim. 3:16; more at Belief, Bible, Faith, God, Grace, Knowledge, Proof, Reason, Scripture, Truth)
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Commemoration of Wilfrid, Abbot of Ripon, Bishop of York, Missionary, 709
Commemoration of Elizabeth Fry, Prison Reformer, 1845
Finally, what do we mean by the word “true?” How do we distinguish real Truth from human notions and ideas and opinions and doctrines? We are compelled to say that the word “true” means “grounded in reality, based on the real nature of things, on the basic facts which underlie the universe.” Hence, if people say, as many have said, that the moral ideals set out in the gospels are high and noble ideals, and express admiration for the moral character of Jesus, and stop there, not daring to affirm more than that, the answer they are giving to the Question [Is the Gospel true?] is “No”.
... Gabriel Hebert (1886-1963), The Christ of Faith and the Jesus of History, London: SCM Press, 1962, p. 102
(see the book; see also Acts 17:30-32; John 3:16; Acts 2:36; Rom. 8:3-4; Gal. 4:4-6; more at Gospel, Ideal, Jesus, Morality, Truth, Universe)
Thursday, October 13, 2016
Feast of Edward the Confessor, 1066
[He said:] That all possible kinds of mortification, if they were void of the love of God, could not efface a single sin. That we ought, without anxiety, to expect the pardon of our sins from the blood of Jesus Christ, only endeavoring to love Him with all our hearts. That GOD seemed to have granted the greatest favors to the greatest sinners, as more signal monuments of His mercy.
... Brother Lawrence (c.1605-1691), The Practice of the Presence of God, New York, Revell, 1895, Second Conversation, p. 12-13
(see the book; see also Isa. 55:7; Matt. 10:37-38; Luke 7:41-47; John 21:15-17; Gal. 5:6; 1 Tim. 1:15; 1 John 4:19; more at Anxiety, Blood, Endeavor, Forgiveness, Jesus, Love, Mercy, Sin, Sinner)
Friday, October 14, 2016
The “great” commitment is so much easier than the ordinary, everyday one—and can all too easily shut our hearts to the latter. A willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice can be associated with, and even produce, a great hardness of heart.
... Dag Hammarskjöld (1905-1961), Markings, tr. Leif Sjöberg & W. H. Auden, (q.v.), New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1964 (post.), p. 131
(see the book; see also Phil. 3:17-19; Jer. 6:16; 1 Cor. 10:32-33; 11:1; Phil. 4:9; 1 Thess. 1:6; 2 Thess. 3:9; Heb. 12:1; 13:7; more at Commitment, Heart, Obedience, Sacrifice)
Saturday, October 15, 2016
Feast of Teresa of Avila, Mystic, Teacher, 1582
We must not content ourselves with the gift of prayer, or with liberty and consolation and gust in prayer. We must come out from prayer the most rapturous and sweet, only to do harder and ever harder works for God and our neighbors. Otherwise the prayer is not good, and the gusts are not from God.
... Teresa of Avila (1515-1582), Santa Teresa, an Appreciation, Alexander Whyte, ed., London: Oliphant, Anderson & Ferrier, 1897, p. 72
(see the book; see also Luke 22:45-46; Ps. 17:1; 34:4; Luke 18:1-7; Rom. 12:12; Eph. 6:18; Col. 4:2; 1 Pet. 4:7; more at Consolation, Gifts, God, Liberty, Neighbor, Prayer, Work)
Sunday, October 16, 2016
Commemoration of the Oxford Martyrs, Hugh Latimer, Nicolas Ridley, and Thomas Cranmer, bishops and martyrs, 1555
Justification is withdrawn from works, not that no good works may be done, or that what is done may be denied to be good, but that we may not rely upon them, glory in them, or ascribe salvation to them.
... John Calvin (1509-1564), The Institutes of the Christian Religion, v. II, tr. John Allen, Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School Work, 1921, III.xvii.1, p. 34
(see the book; see also Eph. 2:8-9; Rom. 3:20-24,28; Gal. 2:15-16; 3:11,24; more at Faith, Glory, Good works, Justification, Salvation)
Monday, October 17, 2016
Feast of Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, Martyr, c.107
Steadfastness in believing doth not exclude all temptations from without. When we say a tree is firmly rooted, we do not say the wind never blows upon it.
... John Owen (1616-1683), Works of John Owen, v. IX, New York: R. Carter, 1851, Serm. I, p. 27
(see the book; see also Luke 22:31-32, Ps. 1:1-3; 46:1; John 14:1; Rom. 4:20; Jas. 1:5-6; more at Belief, Faith, Temptation, Tree)
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
Feast of Luke the Evangelist
Jesus ventured to trust God far beyond the degree that any other man had trusted God. Abraham, Moses, and David were valiant believers, but compared to Jesus they were timid souls. Consider the human disappointments Jesus endured: rejected in his home town, harassed and persecuted by the religious leaders of his nation, misunderstood by his own family, betrayed with a kiss and abandoned by all his followers. Yet through it all Jesus never complained or rebelled against God; he trusted God even on the cross. Psalm 34 sets forth Jesus’ pioneering discovery of God’s faithfulness and delivering power. Thus Jesus was “delivered from all his fears” (v 4), “saved ... out of all his troubles” (v 6), “delivered out of all his afflictions” (v 19).Certainly Jesus is our primary teacher and example in trusting God. If David could teach his followers to trust in God, how much more Jesus. As we see the steadfast faith of our Lord through weariness, disappointment, rejection, and even death on a cross, we cannot but be encouraged to believe that God can deliver us through our small trials. That is why we should run the race set before us looking unto Jesus.
... John R. Cogdell, “The humanity of Jesus Christ, as revealed in certain Psalms”, section II
(see the book; see also Ps. 34; Isa. 53:7; Matt. 5:11-12; Mark 15:2-5; Acts 20:24; Rom. 8:18; 2 Cor. 4:17-18; Heb. 12:1-2; 1 Pet. 1:6-7; more at Betrayal, Cross, Death, Deliverance, Disappointment, Faith, Jesus, Persecution, Steadfast, Trust)
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Feast of Henry Martyn, Translator of the Scriptures, Missionary in India & Persia, 1812
The apostle asked the converts of Apollos one question: “Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” and got a plain answer. His modern successors are more inclined to ask either “Did you believe exactly what we teach?” or “Were the hands that were laid on you our hands?” and—if the answer is satisfactory—to assure the converts that they have received the Holy Spirit even if they don’t know it.
... Lesslie Newbigin (1909-1998), The Household of God, London, SCM Press, 1953, New York: Friendship Press, 1954, p. 104
(see the book; see also Acts 19:1-7; Joel 2:28; Acts 8:12-17; 10:44-48; Gal. 3:2-5; more at Belief, Church, Conversion, Holy Spirit, Teach)
Thursday, October 20, 2016
By God’s grace we live in a time of rediscovery of the Church and of the wholeness of the Church. We see more clearly than often has been the case that ecclesiology and christology are one. The ekklesia, the community of believers, has as its first and foremost qualification that it is that community which, as community, belongs to Christ and is in Christ, and as such is the sphere of God’s salvation, redemption and reconciliation and of Christ’s rulership. This is the archetypal reality of the Church. To see and seize this essential point is a great blessing. This blessing, however, could as well become a curse, if it remained a theme of theological meditation and self-contemplation. This new knowledge is not real knowledge, if it is not accompanied by a horror about the alienation of the empirical Church from its own fundamental reality and by a deep longing for a tangible manifestation of the Church’s true nature. This horror and this longing are the deeper motives which are operating in many of the events and passionate discussions around the place and responsibility of the laity as an organic part of the Church.
... Hendrik Kraemer (1888-1965), A Theology of the Laity, London: Lutterworth Press, 1958, p. 100
(see the book; see also Acts 20:27-31; Isa. 46:9-11; Matt. 28:19-20; John 15:15; 2 Cor. 5:17; 11:3; Rev. 3:1-2,14-16; more at Blessing, Christ, Church, Community, God, Grace, Reconciliation, Redemption, Responsibility, Salvation)
Friday, October 21, 2016
When we look at the history of the Church, at the reckless fashion in which we have squandered our strength and time in fratricidal struggles between sect and sect, in embittered bickerings over matters often of secondary moment, while the world about us lies unwon, and the Church’s great commission remains plainly unfulfilled, surely we can understand that outburst of Erasmus, when he cried that he wished that we would cease from our disputings altogether, and put all that energy and zeal that we are wasting upon them into the carrying of the Gospel to the heathen! Or recall the infinite pains that have been taken, down the centuries, to preserve minute orthodoxy in all points of mental belief while ugly evils flaunt along the streets and are accepted meekly as part of the makeup of things! Or recollect how easy it is to assume that we, ourselves, are Christian people. Why? Oh, well, just the usual reasons: we say our prayers, when we are not too sleepy; and we come to church, when there is nothing much to do; and so, of course, there is no doubt of it, although our tempers may remain uncurbed, and our characters are not the least like Jesus Christ’s, nor growing any nearer it! Do we not need that solemn warning that Christ gives us when He tells us bluntly that many people lose their lives and souls, because they are always laying the emphasis and stress on the wrong points?
... A. J. Gossip (1873-1954), The Galilean Accent, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1926, p. 236-237
(see the book; see also Phil. 1:9-11; Matt. 23:13; Rom. 2:17-21; 1 Tim. 1:3-4; 2 Tim. 2:14,16; 4:3-4; Tit. 1:13-14; 2 Pet. 1:16; more at Church, Historical, Sect, Sloth)
Saturday, October 22, 2016
In some communities there remains, as a vestige of a false conception of the church building, a resistance to the sale and purchase of books on a table... anywhere on the premises. When this position is expressed, it must be attacked directly and unapologetically, because it represents a genuine evil, ... the idolatry of bricks and mortar, a heresy specifically undermined by the Apostle Paul in Athens when he said, “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by man” (Acts 17:24). The notion that it is perfectly all right to sell a New Testament in the department store on Monday, but that it is wrong to sell it in the meetinghouse on Sunday, represents a confusion so great that it is truly appalling.As Christians, we believe in the Real Presence, but it is a severe denial of the divine power to claim that this Presence is limited geographically. If, in a building dedicated to worship, a seeker buys a book on Sunday morning and his life is deepened in consequence, the only important thing to say is that the Gospel has thereby been preached, and this is one of the major tasks of the Church.
... Elton Trueblood (1900-1994), The Incendiary Fellowship, New York: Harper, 1967, p. 64-65
(see the book; see also Acts 17:24-25; 1 Kings 8:27; 2 Chr. 2:6; 6:18; John 4:22-23; Acts 7:48-50; more at Belief, Bible, Book, Church, Confusion, God, Gospel, Heresy, Morning, Sunday, Worship)
Sunday, October 23, 2016
I am glad ye have been acquainted from your youth with the wrestlings of God, being cast from furnace to furnace, knowing if you were not dear to God, and if your health did not require so much of him, he would not spend so much physic upon you. All the brethren and sisters of Christ must be conformed to his image in suffering, Rom. 8:17, and some do more clearly resemble the copy than others.
... Samuel Rutherford (1600-1664), Letters of Samuel Rutherford, Edinburgh: William Whyte & Co., 1848, letter, Jan. 15, 1629, p. 8
(see the book; see also Rom. 8:17; Deut. 4:20; Isa. 48:10; Mal. 3:2; Matt. 16:24; Luke 24:26; Acts 14:21-22; Phil. 1:29-30; 2 Tim. 2:10-14; more at God, Health, Historical, Knowing God, Suffer)
Monday, October 24, 2016
God’s child in Christ adopted—Christ my all—What that earth boasts were not lost cheaply, ratherThan forfeit that blest name, by which I callThe Holy One, the Almighty God, my Father?—Father! in Christ we live, and Christ in Thee—Eternal Thou and everlasting we.The heir of heaven, henceforth I fear not death:In Christ I live! in Christ I draw the breathOf the true life!—let then earth, sea, and skyMake war against me! On my heart I showTheir mighty Master’s seal. In vain they tryTo end my life, that can but end its woe.—Is that a death-bed where a Christian lies?Yes, but not his—’tis Death itself there dies.
... Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), The Poetical Works of S. T. Coleridge, v. II, London: W. Pickering, 1835, p. 151
(see the book; see also Rom. 8:1-2; Matt. 5:44-45; Luke 20:35-36; Rom. 8:23; 1 Cor. 15:51-57; Phil. 3:20-21; 1 John 3:2; more at Authenticity, Christ, Death, Everlasting, Father, Heaven)
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Commemoration of Crispin & Crispinian, Martyrs at Rome, c.285
If we are prepared to admit, even as a possibility, that Jesus was divine, or even that without being divine he was unique, then we must, as a matter of logic, discard any attempt to discredit the Gospel accounts on the ground that they record abnormal occurrences [i.e. miracles].
... E. L. Mascall (1905-1993), The Secularization of Christianity, London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1966, p. 211-212
(see the book; see also John 3:18,21; 5:19; 6:38; 8:28; 12:49-50; more at Apologetics, Belief, Gospel, Jesus, Logic, Miracle)
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Feast of Alfred the Great, King of the West Saxons, Scholar, 899
Commemoration of Cedd, Founding Abbot of Lastingham, Bishop of the East Saxons, 664
In quite recent times we seem to have entered a particularly dangerous new phase of anthropological aberration, namely, a queer combination of nihilism and deification. Theoretically, man is said to be nothing but an animal with a highly developed cerebrum. At the same time, it is believed of this man that he is capable by science and technical devices of achieving whatever he wants. The deification which might have been thought to be finally overcome, returns as it were from behind, in the form of a deification of technical creativity to which not much less than omnipotence is ascribed. After mankind has done away with the pseudo-religion of race and blood, it is faced with the even greater danger of a technocratical pseudo-religion. There is no room for human personality, freedom and justice in either of these new religions of divine man. But the most dangerous of all must be the one which makes man at the same time nothing and God.
... Emil Brunner (1889-1966), The Scandal of Christianity, London: SCM Press, 1951, reprint, John Knox Press, 1965, p. 70
(see the book; see also 1 Cor. 3:18-20; Pr. 3:5,7; 26:12; Isa. 5:21; 44:24-26; Rom. 1:21-23; 1 Cor. 1:19-21; 2:6; 8:2; Gal. 6:3; more at Achievement, Danger, God, Man, Omnipotence, Religion, Science)
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Never let us be discouraged with ourselves; it is not when we are conscious of our faults that we are the most wicked: on the contrary, we are less so. We see by a brighter light. And let us remember, for our consolation, that we never perceive our sins till we begin to cure them.
... François Fénelon (1651-1715), Selections from Fénelon, ed. Mary Wilder Tileston, Boston: Roberts Bros., 1879, p. 158
(see the book; see also Jas. 4:9-10; Ps. 6:1-2; Isa. 9:1-2; 2 Cor. 4:8-9; 12:9-10; Heb. 12:3-7; more at Consolation, Discouragement, Evil, God, Sanctification, Sin)
Friday, October 28, 2016
Feast of Simon & Jude, Apostles
People naturally do not shout it out, least of all into the ears of us ministers. But let us not be deceived by their silence. Blood and tears, deepest despair and highest hope, a passionate longing to lay hold of ... Him who overcomes the world because He is its Creator and Redeemer, its beginning and ending and Lord, a passionate longing to have the word spoken, the word which promises grace in judgment, life in death, and the beyond in the here and now, God’s word—this it is that animates our church-goers.
... Karl Barth (1886-1968), The Word of God and the Word of Man, Harper, 1957, p. 108
(see the book; see also John 1:17; 14:6; Rom. 5:20-21; 6:14; 15:8-12; 2 Tim. 4:2; Heb. 10:3-10; 1 Pet. 1:3-5; more at Blood, Church, Death, Despair, God, Grace, Judgment, Life, Longing, Minister, Promise, Redemption)
Saturday, October 29, 2016
Commemoration of James Hannington, Bishop of Eastern Equatorial Africa, Martyr in Uganda, 1885
Let no one suppose, that we may attain to this true light and perfect knowledge, or life of Christ, by much questioning, or by hearsay, or by reading and study, nor yet by high skill and great learning. Yea, so long as a man taketh account of anything which is this or that, whether it be himself, or any other creature; or doeth anything, or frameth a purpose, for the sake of his own likings or desires, or opinions, or ends, he cometh not unto the life of Christ.
... Theologia Germanica [1518], Anonymous, ascribed to Johannes de Francfordia, (1380?-1440) & Susanna Winkworth, tr., published anonymously by Martin Luther, ch. XIX
(see the book; see also Eccl. 12:12-13; Isa. 41:9; Rom. 8:30; 1 Cor. 1:9; Tit. 3:4-7; 1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 19:9; more at Attitudes, Authenticity, Christ, Knowledge, Light, Perfection, Purpose, Truth)
Sunday, October 30, 2016
Commemoration of Martin Luther, Teacher, Reformer, 1546
Let every man then who has learnt that he is a Christian recognize what he is, and be certain that we are all equally priests, that is, we have the same power in the word and in any sacrament whatever.
... Martin Luther (1483-1546), The Babylonian Captivity of the Church [1520], par. 7.16
(see the book; see also Rev. 1:4-6; 1 Pet. 2:4-5,9; Rev. 5:9-10; 20:6; more at Church, Equality, Preacher, Priest, Sacrament)
Monday, October 31, 2016
Reformation Day
Here he tells us that the new birth is first of all “not of blood.” You don’t get it through the blood stream, through heredity. Your parents can give you much, but they cannot give you this. Being born in a Christian home does not make you a Christian.
... E. Stanley Jones (1884-1973), Conversion, New York: Abingdon Press, 1959, p. 37
(see the book; see also John 3:5-6; Luke 20:35-36; John 1:12-13; Rom. 8:19,23; 1 Cor. 2:12; 1 John 2:29; 5:1,6; more at Blood, Conversion, Giving, Home, New birth)
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