THE CHRISTIAN QUOTATION OF THE DAY
Christ, our Light
Friday, September 7, 2012
Commemoration of Douglas Downes, Founder of the Society of Saint Francis, 1957

When I say that people are not good, I am not adopting a Christian or a moral standpoint. I am saying that their two great characteristics, no matter what their society or education, are covetousness and the desire for power. We find these traits always and everywhere. If, then, we give people complete freedom to choose, they will inevitably seek to dominate someone or something and they will inevitably covet what belongs to others, and a strange feature of covetousness is that it can never be assuaged or satisfied, for once one thing is acquired it directs its attention to something else.
... Jacques Ellul (1912-1994), Anarchy and Christianity, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1991, p. 20 (see the book; see also Eph. 5:5; Matt. 6:20; Col. 3:5; Heb. 13:5; 1 Tim. 6:9-10; Heb. 13:5; more at Choices, Freedom, Goodness, Morality, People, Power, Satisfaction)

 
Compilation Copyright, 1996-2024, by Robert McAnally Adams,
        Curator, Christian Quotation of the Day,
        with Robert Douglas, principal contributor
Logo image Copyright 1996 by Shay Barsabe, of “Simple GIFs”, by kind permission.
Send comments to curator@cqod.com.

Last updated: 08/27/22

 

 



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