Quotations for May, 2026
Friday, May 1, 2026
Feast of Philip & James, Apostles
Many worthy people, and many good books, with no doubt the best intentions, ... have represented a life of sin as a life of pleasure; they have pictured virtue as self-sacrifice, austerity as religion... Even in everyday life we meet with worthy people who seem to think that whatever is pleasant must be wrong, that the true spirit of religion is crabbed, sour, and gloomy; that the bright, sunny, radiant nature which surrounds us is an evil and not a blessing; a temptation devised by the Spirit of Evil and not one of the greatest delights showered on us in such profusion by the Author of all Good.
... Sir John Lubbock (1834-1913), The Use of Life, Macmillan & Co., 1894, p. 15 
(see the book; see also Phil. 4:4; Matt. 6:16-18; Rom. 8:13; 12:12; Phil. 3;1; 1 Thess. 5:16-18; more at Blessing, Doubt, Intention, Pleasure, Religion, Self-sacrifice, Sin, Temptation, Truth, Virtue, Wrong)
Saturday, May 2, 2026
Feast of St. Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, Teacher, 373
The Christian’s life is lived in the open, not in a pious cubby-hole. As Christ gives Himself to feed us, so we have to incarnate something of His all-loving, all-sacrificing soul. If we do not, then we have not really received Him. That is the plain truth. It has been said that there are many ways and degrees of receiving the Blessed Sacrament. It really depends on how wide we open our hearts. A spiritually selfish communion is not a communion at all.
... Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941), The Light of Christ, New York: Longmans, Green, 1949, p. 89
(see the book; see also Matt. 10:26-27; Matt. 5:37; Acts 5:20; 2 Cor. 3:12; more at Christ, Communion, Incarnation, Legalism, Life, Selfish)
Sunday, May 3, 2026
Utopias of historical progress cannot seduce those who believe in Christ. Utopias are the straws to which those cling who have no real hope; utopias are as unattractive as they are incredible, for those who know what real hope is. Utopias are not a consequence of true hope but a poor substitute for it and therefore a hindrance and not a help. The hope that is in Jesus Christ is different from all utopias of universal progress. It is based on the revelation of the crucified one. It is, therefore, not an uncertain speculation about the future but a certainty based upon what God has already revealed. One cannot believe in Jesus Christ without knowing for certain that God’s victory over all powers of destruction, including death, is the end towards which the time process moves as its own end.
... Emil Brunner (1889-1966), The Scandal of Christianity, London: SCM Press, 1951, reprint, John Knox Press, 1965, p. 111
(see the book; see also 1 Pet. 3:14-15; Col. 1:27; Tit. 1:1-2; Heb. 3:6; 6:18-19; 1 Pet. 1:3-4; more at Belief, Certainty, Death, Historical, Hope, Knowledge, Progress, Revelation, Victory)
Monday, May 4, 2026
Feast of English Saints & Martyrs of the Reformation
To love another as oneself is only the halfway house to Heaven, though it seems as far as it was prudent to bid man go. The “greater love than this” of which our Lord speaks, though He does not command it, is to give oneself for one’s friends. And when one does this, or is ready to do this, prayer even for “us” seems too selfish—and it is unnecessary, for we then possess all that God Himself can give us. The easy renunciation of self for the Beloved becomes the very breath of life.
... Coventry Patmore (1823-1896), Memoirs and Correspondence of Coventry Patmore, v. II, London: George Bell & Sons, 1900, p. 88
(see the book; see also John 15:13; Lev. 19:18; John 10:11-15; Rom. 5:6-8; Eph. 5:1-2; 1 John 4:7-11; more at Commandment, God, Heaven, Life, Love, Possession, Prayer, Renunciation)
Tuesday, May 5, 2026
It is Truth which we must look for in Holy Writ, not cunning of words. All Scripture ought to be read in the spirit in which it was written. We must rather seek for what is profitable in Scripture, than for what ministereth to subtlety in discourse.
... Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471), Of the Imitation of Christ [1418], Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1877, I.v.1, p. 37
(see the book; see also 2 Tim. 4:1-4; Ps. 19:8; 119:105; Pr. 6:23; John 8:45; 1 Cor. 2:4; Col. 1:28-29; 1 Thess. 5:20; 2 Pet. 1:9; more at Bible, Scripture, Spirit, Truth)
Wednesday, May 6, 2026
Christians must learn again what Christians have always known—how to live without immediate hopes in the world.
... T. R. Milford (1895-1987), quoted in Christian Missions and the Judgment of God, David M. Paton, London: SCM Press, 1953, p. 57
(see the book; see also 1 Pet. 4:17-19; Jer. 49:12; Matt. 3:9-10; Luke 12:47-48; 1 Tim. 6:17; 1 John 2:15; more at Affliction, Hope, Life, Sin, World)
Thursday, May 7, 2026
It is no longer the fashion to suffer for the sake of God, and to bear the Cross for Him; for the diligence and real earnestness, that perchance were found in man, have been extinguished and have grown cold; and now no one is willing any longer to suffer distress for the sake of God.
... Johannes Tauler (ca. 1300-1361), The Inner Way, Sermon XXII
(see the book; see also 1 Pet. 4:13-14; Rom. 8:17; Phil. 3:10-11; Col. 1:24; 1 Pet. 5:10; more at Bearing, Cross, Diligence, God, Sin, Suffer)
Friday, May 8, 2026
Feast of Juliana of Norwich, Mystic, Teacher, c.1417
Commemoration of Dallas Willard, Teacher, Spiritual Writer, 2013
This is our Lord’s will, that our prayer and our trust be both alike large. For if we do not trust as much as we pray, we fail in full worship to our Lord in our prayer; and also we hinder and hurt ourselves. The reason is that we do not know truly that our Lord is the ground from which our prayer springeth; nor do we know that it is given us by his grace and his love. If we knew this, it would make us trust to have of our Lord’s gifts all that we desire. For I am sure that no man asketh mercy and grace with sincerity, without mercy and grace being given to him first.
... Juliana of Norwich (1342?-1417), Revelations of Divine Love, Grace Harriet Warrack, ed., Methuen, 1901, ch. XLII
(see the book; see also Luke 11:11-13; Ps. 4:5; 73:26; 142:5; Pr. 3:5; Lam. 3:24; Matt. 7:7-11; John 4:10; 7:37-39; 14:13; 16:23-24; Jas. 1:5; 1 John 5:14-15; more at Grace, Love, Prayer, Sincerity, Trust, Will of God, Worship)
Saturday, May 9, 2026
The truth is neither mine nor his nor another’s; but belongs to us all whom Thou callest to partake of it, warning us terribly, not to account it private to ourselves, lest we be deprived of it.
... St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), Confessions [397], Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1886, XII.xxv, p. 342
(see the book; see also Gal. 2:5; John 14:6; 1 Cor. 14:4; Gal. 4:16; Eph. 1:13; 2 Pet. 1:20-21; more at Call, Community, Prayers, Truth)
Sunday, May 10, 2026
Every other creature in nature is simply itself, without this discord which is our constant lot. That is why we can study everything else in nature much more surely than we can study ourselves. With ourselves, all we have to go on is an occasional glimpse of some small part of the truth, and we must be content with that, knowing that we are truly known by Him who alone knows us.
... Paul Tournier (1898-1986), The Meaning of Persons, New York: Harper, 1957, p. 83
(see the book; see also Pr. 1:7; Ps. 71:6; 111:10; Pr. 9:10; Isa. 49:5; Jer. 1:5; Gal. 1:15-17; more at Contentment, Discord, Faith, Knowing God, Nature, Truth)
Monday, May 11, 2026
I am persuaded that some have scarce any better or more forcible argument to satisfy their own minds that they are in the right in religion, than the inclination they find in themselves to hate and persecute them whom they suppose to be in the wrong.
... John Owen (1616-1683), “Indulgence and Toleration Considered” [1667], in Works of John Owen, v. XIII, London: Johnson & Hunter, 1852, p. 538
(see the book; see also Rom. 14:1-4; Isa. 40:11; Eze. 34:4; Rom. 14:21; 15:1,7; Zech. 11:16; Matt. 14:31; 18:6; more at Argument, Hatred, Persecution, Religion, Wrong)
Tuesday, May 12, 2026
Commemoration of Aiden Wilson Tozer, Spiritual Writer, 1963
Modern civilization is so complex as to make the devotional life all but impossible. It wears us out by multiplying distractions and beats us down destroying our solitude, where otherwise we might drink and renew our strength, before going out to face the world again.“The thoughtful soul to solitude retires,” said the poet * of other and quieter times; but where is the solitude to which we can retire today? ... “Commune with your own heart upon your bed and be still,” is a wise and healing counsel; but how can it be followed in this day of the newspaper, the telephone, the radio and the television? These modern playthings, like pet tiger cubs, have grown so large and dangerous that they threaten to devour us all. What was intended to be a blessing has become a positive curse. No spot is now safe from the world’s intrusion...The need for solitude and quietness was never greater than it is today. What the world will do about it is their problem. Apparently the masses want it the way it is, and the majority of Christians are so completely conformed to this present age that they, too, want things the way they are. They may be annoyed a bit by the clamor and by the goldfish-bowl existence they live, but apparently they are not annoyed enough to do anything about it.* from Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, stanza IV
... A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), Of God and Men, Harrisburg, Penn.: Christian Publications, Inc., 1960, p. 103,105
(see the book; see also Ps. 4:4; 46:10; Hab. 2:20; Zech. 2:13; Mark 1:35; Luke 4:42; 6:12; John 6:15; more at Blessing, Devotion, Life, Need, Prayer, Solitude, World)
Wednesday, May 13, 2026
You go to your saint and find God working and manifest in him. He got near to God by some saint of his that went before him, or that stood beside him, in whom he saw the divine presence. That saint again lighted his fire at some flame before him; and so the power of the sainthoods animates and fills the world.
... Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), Sermons, New York: E. P. Dutton, 1878, p. 122
(see the book; see also Phil. 4:8-9; 1 Cor. 10:31-33; 11:1; Phil. 3:17; 1 Thess. 1:6; 2:14; 4:1-8; more at Fire, God, Historical, Power, Saint, Work)
Thursday, May 14, 2026
Ascension
Feast of Matthias the Apostle
The Christian Mission is what the New Testament calls a ‘mystery’. It is what St. Paul calls the mystery—a secret hidden within God even before the creation of the world, but now made known to men and women of faith, whereby all nations are to be gathered up and presented to God through Jesus Christ. This gathering up takes place in the Church, the mystical Body of Christ. The mystery has been unfolded according to a divine plan; prepared by the vocation of the Jewish people; and substantially realized by the mission of the Incarnate Word, Jesus Christ, who by His Ascension introduced human nature for all eternity into the sphere of the life of the Divine Trinity: and this plan is to be accomplished among the various peoples of the world, during the time between Pentecost and the Second Coming. [Continued tomorrow]
... David M. Paton (1913-1992), Christian Missions and the Judgment of God, London: SCM Press, 1953, p. 11
(see the book; see also Eph. 3:8-11; Matt. 13:11; Rom. 16:25-26; 1 Cor. 2:7-10; Col. 1:26-29; more at Ascension, Bible, Body of Christ, Incarnation, Mission, Mystic, Nation, Trinity)
Friday, May 15, 2026
Commemoration of Charles Williams, Spiritual Writer, 1945
[Continued from yesterday]The Christian Mission is thus anchored in dogma, is a result of what ordinary Christians believe. It is God’s plan, God’s activity; but because God became man and took up manhood into Himself, it is God’s will embodied in active obedience on the part of the Christian individual, the Christian group within the Church, and the Christian Church as a whole—we are all involved in it, all of us, in our various callings.
... David M. Paton (1913-1992), Christian Missions and the Judgment of God, London: SCM Press, 1953, p. 11
(see the book; see also Eph. 3:12; Rom. 5:1-2; Heb. 4:14-16; 10:19-22; 1 Thess. 4:13-17; more at Body of Christ, Church, Dogma, Mission, Obedience)
Saturday, May 16, 2026
Commemoration of Caroline Chisholm, Social Reformer, 1877
A really patient servant of God is as ready to bear inglorious troubles as those which are honorable. A brave man can easily bear with contempt, slander, and false accusations from an evil world; but to bear such injustice at the hands of good men, of friends and relations, is a great test of patience.
... François de Sales (1567-1622), Introduction to the Devout Life [1609], London: Rivingtons, 1876, III.iii, p. 137
(see the book; see also Rom. 15:2-3; Ps. 119:86; Matt. 5:10-12; Rom. 5:7-8; Jas. 5:10-11; 1 Pet. 2:19-21; more at Bearing, God, Man, Patience, Trial, Weakness)
Sunday, May 17, 2026
Among Christians so much prominence has been given to the disciplinary effects of sorrow, affliction, bereavement, that they have been in danger of overlooking the other and more obvious side: that by every joy, by every favor, by every sign of prosperity—yea, and by these chiefly—God designs to educate and discipline His children. This one-sided view of the truth has made many morbid, gloomy Christians, who look for God’s hand only in the lightning and never think of seeing it in the sunlight.
... F. E. Clark (1851-1927), included in Leaves of Gold, Evan S. Coslett & Clyde Francis Lytle, ed. [1948], Honesdale, Pa.: Coslett Publishing Company, 1938, p. 84
(see the book; see also Ps. 107:8; 65:9-13; 145:9; Nahum 1:7; Matt. 5:44-45; Acts 14:17; 17:25; more at Affliction, Bereavement, Child, Discipline, Gloom, Sorrow, Weakness)
Monday, May 18, 2026
Here is the great truth that, only when we see things in the light of God, do we see things as they are. It is only when we see things in the light of God that we see what things are really important, and what things are not. Things which seem vastly important, things like ambition, and prestige, and money and gain, lose all their value and importance when they are seen in the light of God. Pleasures and habits and social customs which seem permissible enough, are seen for the dangerous things they are when they are seen in the light of God. Things which seem evils, hardship, toil, discipline, unpopularity, even persecution, are seen in their glory when they are seen in the light of God.
... William Barclay (1907-1978), The Revelation of John, v. II, Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1961, p. 276
(see the book; see also Rev. 22:5; Ps. 36:10; Isa. 60:19-20; Matt. 25:31-32; Rom. 5:17; 8:18-19; 1 Pet. 1:3-4; 1 John 3:2; more at Ambition, Attitudes, Danger, Discipline, Evil, Glory, God, Light, Money, Persecution, Sight, Truth)
Tuesday, May 19, 2026
Feast of Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, 988
Eternal Lord, how faint and smallOur greatest, strongest thoughts must seemTo Thee, who overseest all,And leads us through Life’s shallow stream.
How tangled are our straightest ways;How dimly flares our brightest star;How earthbound is our highest praiseTo Thee, who sees us as we are.
Our feet are slow where Thine are fast;Thy kiss of grace meets lips of stone;And we admit Thy love at lastTo hearts that have none of their own.
... Robert MacColl Adams (1913-1985)
(see also Ps. 139:1-4; Matt. 22:36-37; Eph. 2:1-2; Rom. 5:5; 1 John 4:19; more at Everlasting, Grace, Heart, Jesus, Love, Praise, Thought)
Wednesday, May 20, 2026
To us, our denomination is a source of pride: we feel an intimate link with our fellow church-member in Fiji, and we think how wonderful it is that we belong to a communion which spans the entire globe. We do not normally reflect that this sense of solidarity is very often gained at the expense of the unity which we ought to be experiencing with our fellow-Christian next door who belongs to a different denomination.
... Anthony T. Hanson (1916-1991), The Church of the Servant, London: SCM Press, 1962, p. 120
(see the book; see also Matt. 23:8; John 17:20,21; Phil. 1:27-28; 1 Pet. 3:8; more at Church, Communion, Neighbor, Pride, Unity, World)
Thursday, May 21, 2026
Feast of Commemoration of Helena, Protector of the Faith, 330
[Christ] tells us plainly, and without any qualifications, that we are involved in a war in which there is no room for neutrals. Yet people attempt to evade His statement.Generally speaking, these are the very people who are the quickest in laying the blame upon God for all the sorrow and sin in the world. They argue that He could prevent it. They excuse their own do-nothing attitude by making of evil’s apparent predominance a ground for doubt of His loving purpose. It never seems to occur to them to look for the cause in mankind.
... Hugh Redwood (1883-1963), Live Coals, New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1935, p. 120
(see the book; see also Matt. 10:41-42; 12:30; 26:3-4; Mark 9:40-42; Acts 23:6; Eph. 1:4; more at Argument, Attitudes, Christ, Doubt, Evil, God, People, Sin, Sorrow, War)
Friday, May 22, 2026
Within the life of the church, the paths of the single and the married should not be allowed to diverge. The shared life of the Christian community must become a context in which the differing gifts can be used for each other. There is much still to be learned about this. Are the homes of married Christians an added support for the single? Is the availability of the single Christian put at the disposal of his married friends, for “babysitting” duties and the like? And what is true of the mutual support of married and single needs to be true in a wider way of the care exercised by the married and the single for each other, so that nobody’s home life becomes completely cut off from support and help.
... Oliver O’Donovan (b. 1945), “Marriage and the Family”, in The Changing World, Bruce Kaye, ed., vol. 3 of Obeying Christ in a Changing World, John Stott, gen. ed., 3 vol., London: Fountain, 1977, p. 105
(see the book; see also 1 Cor. 12:24-27; Rom. 12:4-8; Eph. 1:22-23; 4:11-13; Col. 1:24; more at Church, Community, Friend, Gifts, Home, Life, Marriage)
Saturday, May 23, 2026
Commemoration of Petroc, Abbot of Padstow, 6th century
God often takes a course for accomplishing His purposes directly contrary to what our narrow views would prescribe. He ... brings a death upon our feelings, wishes and prospects when He is about to give us the desire of our hearts.
... John Newton (1725-1807), in a letter, 1777, The Works of the Rev. John Newton, v. I, New York: Williams and Whiting, 1810, p. 593-594
(see the book; see also 2 Cor. 12:7-9; Rom. 8:13-14; Eph. 2:14-16; Col. 3:3-4; 1 Pet. 1:17-19; Rev. 2:10; more at Blessing, Death, God, Heart, Providence, Purpose)
Sunday, May 24, 2026
Pentecost
Feast of John and Charles Wesley, Priests, Poets, Teachers, 1791 & 1788
Every time we say, ‘I believe in the Holy Spirit,’ we mean that we believe that there is a living God able and willing to enter human personality, and change it.
... J. B. Phillips (1906-1982), Plain Christianity, London: Macmillan, 1954, p. 70
(see the book; see also Acts 1:8; Ps. 51:10; Acts 2:4; Rom. 5:5; 8:13-14; 12:2; 1 Cor. 2:12; Col. 3:9-10; more at Belief, God, Holy Spirit, Life, Sanctification)
Monday, May 25, 2026
Feast of the Venerable Bede, Priest, Monk of Jarrow, Historian, 735
Commemoration of Aldhelm, Abbot of Mamsbury, Bishop of Sherborne, 709
Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;Naught be all else to me, save what Thou art:Thou my best thought, by day or by night;Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
Be Thou my Wisdom and Thou my true Word;I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;Thou my great Father, I Thy true son,Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
Riches I need not, nor man’s empty praise;Thou mine inheritance, now and always:Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.
High King of Heaven, my victory won,May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all!
... Anonymous, medieval Irish hymn, Eriu, Journal of the School of Irish Learning, v. 2-3, Kuno Meyer, John Strachan, Dublin: School of Irish Learning, 1905, p.90
(see the book; see also Jas. 3:17; Isa. 6:9-10; 9:2; 60:1-2; 61:1-3; John 1:5; more at Heart, Heaven, Praise, Prayers, Salvation, Thought, Truth, Vision, Wisdom)
Tuesday, May 26, 2026
Feast of Augustine, first Archbishop of Canterbury, 605
Commemoration of Arthur John Gossip, Spiritual Writer, 1954
If people gathered to a political meeting, and the chief speaker spoke to them only for some quarter of an hour, they would be annoyed, would feel with some resentment that he had not taken them seriously, had dealt much too cavalierly with the question of the hour... But the things of the soul are far more momentous, and to be asked to deal with huge, unfathomable facts like the Cross in a few minutes, means that people are not really interested in these things. This is, of course, a snippety age, with a snippety press, and snippety novels. But must we preachers follow and be snippety, too?
... A. J. Gossip (1873-1954), In Christ’s Stead, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1925, p. 201-202
(see the book; see also 1 Cor. 2:6-8; Ps. 78:1-3; Rom. 16:25-26; 2 Tim. 4:3-5; 1 Pet. 1:10-11; more at Church, Cross, People, Preacher, Question, Soul)
Wednesday, May 27, 2026
Commemoration of John Calvin, renewer of the Church, 1564
Whenever man decides that he is competent to do as he pleases he is soon enjoying Hell on earth, partly because much of what he pleases, except he know he must obey God, is low-down disgusting and partly because, even when he pleases to do something decent, he is mostly too weak-willed and too addle-pated to bring the same to good effect. Man must be redeemed by a power outside himself... I do not regard the overdetermined “optimists” as silly; they seem to me only the victims of a wishful thinking which disregards plain facts.
... Bernard Iddings Bell (1886-1958), God is Not Dead, New York: Harper & Brothers, 1945, p. xiv
(see the book; see also 1 Cor. 7:23-24; Rom. 6:21; 7:5; 8:1,4-6; Eph. 5:3-5; Col. 3:5-6; Jas. 1:13-15; more at God, Hell, Obedience, Pleasure, Redemption, Sin)
Thursday, May 28, 2026
Commemoration of Lanfranc, Prior of Le Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1089
What is the relation of a secular, this-worldly unification of mankind to the biblical promise of the summing up of all things in Christ? Is it a total contradiction of it? Is it some sort of a reflection of it? or perhaps a devil’s parody of it? Or has it nothing to do with it at all? Perhaps there will be many Christians to whom it would not occur to pose the question whether the process of secularization has anything to do with the biblical understanding of the goal of history. The Bible, for them, belongs to a religious world which is not admitted to belong to the world of secular events—the world in which we are when we read the daily newspaper. But this is to read the Bible wrongly. Whatever else it may be, the Bible is a secular book dealing with the sort of events which a news editor accepts for publication in a daily newspaper; it is concerned with secular events, wars, revolutions, enslavements and liberations, migrants and refugees, famines and epidemics and all the rest. It deals with events which happened and tells a story which can be checked... We miss this because we do not sufficiently treat the Bible as a whole. When we do this, we see at once that the Bible—whatever be the variety of material which it contains: poetry, prayers, legislation, genealogy, and all the rest—is in its main design a universal history. It is an interpretation of human history as a whole, beginning with a saga of creation and ending with a vision of the gathering together of all the nations and the consummation of God’s purpose for mankind. The Bible is an outline of world history.
... Lesslie Newbigin (1909-1998), Honest Religion for Secular Man, London: SCM Press, 1966, p. 19-20
(see the book; see also Eph. 1:7-10; 2 Sam. 7:15-17; Isa. 11:1-4; Dan. 7:13-14; Zech. 12:8; Luke 1:31-33; Rom. 8:17-18; 1 Cor. 15:22-24; 2 Thess. 1:6-7; more at Bible, Christ, God, Historical, Promise, Purpose, Understanding, Unity, World)
Friday, May 29, 2026
Extraordinary afflictions are not always the punishment of extraordinary sins, but sometimes the trial of extraordinary graces.
... Matthew Henry (1662-1714), An Exposition of the Old and New Testaments [1828], Job 8, in loc. v. 1-7,II.2
(see the book; see also Job 5:17-18; 8:1-7; Matt. 5:11-12; Luke 6:22-23; Rom. 8:18; Jas. 5:10-11; more at Affliction, Grace, Punishment, Sanctification, Sin, Trial, Weakness)
Saturday, May 30, 2026
Feast of Josephine Butler, Social Reformer, 1906
Commemoration of Joan of Arc, Visionary, 1431
Commemoration of Apolo Kivebulaya, Priest, Evangelist, 1933
What do I mean by “interpret in a religious sense?” In my view, that means to speak on the one hand metaphysically, and on the other individualistically. Neither of these is relevant to the Bible message or to the man of today. Is it not true to say that individualistic concern for personal salvation has almost completely left us all? Are we not really under the impression that there are more important things than bothering about such a matter? (Perhaps not more important than the matter itself, but more than bothering about it). I know it sounds pretty monstrous to say that. But is it not, at bottom, even Biblical?... It is not with the next world that we are concerned, but with this world as created and preserved and set subject to laws and atoned for and made new. What is above the world is, in the Gospel, intended to exist for this world—I mean that not in the anthropocentric sense of liberal, pietistic, ethical theology, but in the Bible sense of the creation and of the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
... Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), A Testament to Freedom: the essential writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Geffrey B. Kelly, F. Burton Nelson, eds., HarperCollins, 1995, p. 504
(see the book; see also Mark 12:28-31; Deut. 6:4; 10:12; 30:6; John 3:16-17; Rom. 8:32; 1 Tim. 1:5; more at Atonement, Crucifixion, Existence, Gospel, Jesus, Knowledge, Resurrection, Salvation, Theology, Truth, World)
Sunday, May 31, 2026
Trinity Sunday
Pray with your intelligence. Bring things to God that you have thought out and think them out again with Him. That is the secret of good judgment. Repeatedly place your pet opinions and prejudices before God. He will surprise you by showing you that the best of them need refining and some the purification of destruction.
... Charles H. Brent (1862-1929), With God in Prayer, London: Jacobs & Co., 1907, p. 16
(see the book; see also Amos 5:14-15; Eph. 6:17; Phil. 4:6-8; Col. 4:2; 1 Thess. 5:17; Jude 1:20; more at God, Judgment, Prayer, Prejudice, Thought)
|
Welcome to the CQOD archive. This page contains all the quotations for May, 2026.
means text and bibliography have been verified.
Here are some important links to help you get around:
Previous month
CQOD for today
CQOD on the go!
Use our double opt-in listserve to receive CQOD by email
CQOD daily index
All monthly archives
What’s New on CQOD
Author index
Title index
Poetry index
Scripture index
Subject index
Search CQOD (or see below)
CQOD Blog
 CQOD RSS
 Facebook CQOD Fan Page
 Follow CQOD on Twitter
 Follow CQOD on Instagram
About CQOD
CQOD on the Web
CQOD FAQ
CQOD Liturgical Calendar
Mere Christianity: a conversation
Simple Songs for Psalms
Quotations Bible Study
Essays Archive
Bookworms
Spotlights
Publications:
Jonah: a miracle play
Ruth: a play
Also visit these organizations:
Arab Vision
Crescendo
Oratorium
More devotionals
Search CQOD:
|
