“One of Gunter’s fears was that the Bible was a ‘policy’, a deliberately manipulative hoax. This venerable theme, revived by Machiavelli, now seemed more compelling than ever. During the Reformation age, Christendom had been splintered into national churches closely controlled… — Alec Ryrie Copy Share Image
“Doubts crept up on them unawares, seeping to the surface or erupting without warning. At the least, the language of temptation tells us that… — Alec Ryrie Copy Share Image
“One of Gunter’s fears was that the Bible was a ‘policy’, a deliberately manipulative hoax. This venerable theme, revived by Machiavelli, now seemed more… — Alec Ryrie Copy Share Image
“Luther’s breakthrough had a dazzling, corrosive simplicity to it. The power of those twin principles, “faith alone” and “Scripture alone,” lay in the word… — Alec Ryrie Copy Share Image
“In the 1640s, a formerly pious London teenager named Sarah Wight suffered four years of spiritual agonies. As she recalled: ‘I could see nothing… — Alec Ryrie Copy Share Image
“What makes Marlowe’s defiance and even D’Amville’s anticlerical contempt compelling is their moral edge. And in their very different ways, Acosta, Coornhert, Eleazar Duncan,… — Alec Ryrie Copy Share Image
“Luther disliked the idea of secret meetings, which he said reminded him of rats. Calvin had found a way of forming the rats into… — Alec Ryrie Copy Share Image
“All these people described their doubts in the same way: as having been thrust unwillingly into their minds by the devil. We might be… — Alec Ryrie Copy Share Image
