---
title: "Great Theology Lines"
description: "Browse 1,532 Theology quotes by 791 authors. Discover the best Theology sayings and thoughts."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e16/hillary-clinton-51_boxes_religion-is-about-god-s-truth-but-none-o_552532.jpg"
---

> [Religion is about God's truth, but none of us can grasp that truth absolutely, because of our own imperfections and limitations. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/religion-is-about-god-s-truth-but-none-of-us-can-grasp-that-truth/)

[Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e16/hillary-clinton-51_boxes_religion-is-about-god-s-truth-but-none-o_552532.jpg)

> [Religion does a lot of good, especially the loving kind, like at Grace Church. I know people who went to a more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-dewitt/religion-does-a-lot-of-good-especially-the-loving-kind-like-at-grace/)

Jerry DeWitt

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae6/jerry-dewitt-81655_bumps_religion-does-a-lot-of-good-especially-t_1032521.png)

> [“The argument against faith is all based upon the rigorous analysis of the scriptures, and not upon the objective observation of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-argument-against-faith-is-all-based-upon-the-rigorous-analysis-of/)

[Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c7/abhijit-naskar-99_agnostic_the-argument-against-faith-is-all-based_2674382.jpg)

> [Khalif (Caliph) Al-Ma'mun's period of rule (813 - 833 C.E.) may be considered the 'golden age' of science and learning. He had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bagot-glubb/khalif-caliph-al-ma-mun-s-period-of-rule-813-833-c-e-may-be/)

[John Bagot Glubb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bagot-glubb/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/13d/john-bagot-glubb-52402_activity_khalif-caliph-al-ma-mun-s-period-of-rule_432686.jpg)

> [“If I speak in the tongues of Reformers and of professional theologians, and I have not personal faith in Christ, my theology…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-vanhoozer/if-i-speak-in-the-tongues-of-reformers-and-of-professional/)

[Kevin Vanhoozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-vanhoozer/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/240/kevin-vanhoozer-37868_hope_if-i-speak-in-the-tongues-of-reformers-a_2677975.jpg)

> [Our passion is to imitate the ministry of Jesus in the power of the Spirit. This requires we must follow Jesus out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wimber/our-passion-is-to-imitate-the-ministry-of-jesus-in-the-power-of-the/)

[John Wimber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wimber/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/590/john-wimber-12473_ammunition_our-passion-is-to-imitate-the-ministry-o_3115019.jpg)

> [“The notion that evil is non-rational is a more significant claim for Eagleton than at first appears, because he is (in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-c-grayling/the-notion-that-evil-is-non-rational-is-a-more-significant-claim-for/)

[A.C. Grayling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-c-grayling/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a5/a-c-grayling-9398_atheism_the-notion-that-evil-is-non-rational-is_599668.png)

> [“Nothing could be easier than disturbing a status quo instituted by others; the real work of the sinister current is to break…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zeena-schreck/nothing-could-be-easier-than-disturbing-a-status-quo-instituted-by-2/)

[Zeena Schreck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zeena-schreck/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/495/zeena-schreck-12024_action_nothing-could-be-easier-than-disturbing_3227109.jpg)

> [ “It comes as no surprise to find \[Norman\] Mailer embracing \[in the book On God \] a form of Manicheanism, pitting the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/it-comes-as-no-surprise-to-find-norman-mailer-embracing-in-the-book/)

[Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90c/christopher-hitchens-117_book-review_it-comes-as-no-surprise-to-find-norman-m_1244888.jpg)

> [“In other words, The­ol­ogy is prac­ti­cal: espe­cially now. In the old days, when there was less edu­ca­tion and dis­cus­sion, per­haps it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/in-other-words-the-ol-ogy-is-prac-ti-cal-espe-cially-now-in-the-old/)

[C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86f/c-s-lewis-121_christianity_in-other-words-the-ol-ogy-is-prac-ti-cal_1193447.jpg)

> [“Take the case (to use an easy example) of a river, carrying boats and communicating to them its own velocity, yet limited…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/take-the-case-to-use-an-easy-example-of-a-river-carrying-boats-and/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97c/gottfried-wilhelm-von-leibniz_evil_take-the-case-to-use-an-easy-example-of_607642.jpg)

> [Christians have an important role to play in contending that no human life is "devoid of value." We can do so through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-yancey/christians-have-an-important-role-to-play-in-contending-that-no-human/)

[Philip Yancey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-yancey/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/355/philip-yancey-840_approach_christians-have-an-important-role-to-pla_633778.png)

> [Insofar as theology is an attempt to define and clarify intellectual positions, it is apt to lead to discussion, to differences of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-vaughan/insofar-as-theology-is-an-attempt-to-define-and-clarify-intellectual/)

[Bill Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-vaughan/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43c/bill-vaughan-706_bias_insofar-as-theology-is-an-attempt-to-def_578572.png)

> [Solid scriptural theology should be valued in the church. Books in which Scripture is reverently regarded as the only rule of faith…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/solid-scriptural-theology-should-be-valued-in-the-church-books-in/)

[J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba1/j-c-ryle-789_bible_solid-scriptural-theology-should-be-valu_1183301.jpg)

> [“It is most important for the practice of the Christian ministry, especially in its missionary activities toward those both within and without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tillich/it-is-most-important-for-the-practice-of-the-christian-ministry/)

[Paul Tillich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tillich/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb9/paul-tillich-3183_christian-ministry_it-is-most-important-for-the-practice-of_1503968.jpg)

> [“To study theology involves entering into a long, ongoing conversation, one that we did not begin. Others have been talking about God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-s-horton/to-study-theology-involves-entering-into-a-long-ongoing-conversation/)

[Michael S. Horton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-s-horton/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c2/michael-s-horton-7082_bible_to-study-theology-involves-entering-into_109431.jpg)

> [I firmly believe that the method which sets theological theories against scientifically ascertained facts, is fatal to the current theology and injurious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyman-abbott/i-firmly-believe-that-the-method-which-sets-theological-theories/)

[Lyman Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyman-abbott/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e3/lyman-abbott-12542_appreciate_i-firmly-believe-that-the-method-which-s_3125222.png)

> [“Our enemies are quite good for relentlessly keeping us sharp and on our toes. This especially goes for sincere philosophers. They use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/our-enemies-are-quite-good-for-relentlessly-keeping-us-sharp-and-on/)

[Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b2/criss-jami-320_argument_our-enemies-are-quite-good-for-relentles_1262888.jpg)

> [Let us account for all we see by the facts we know. If there are things for which we cannot account, let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-us-account-for-all-we-see-by-the-facts-we-know-if-there-are-2/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a44/anonymous-1_accounts_let-us-account-for-all-we-see-by-the-fac_2609221.jpg)

> [I know that with consecration on the part of believers, separation from the world, disentanglement from enslaving sins, and a mighty baptism…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbott-eliot-kittredge/i-know-that-with-consecration-on-the-part-of-believers-separation/)

[Abbott Eliot Kittredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbott-eliot-kittredge/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce7/abbott-eliot-kittredge-28361_argument_i-know-that-with-consecration-on-the-par_74534.jpg)

> [“The love of Christ for me will get last say. He is merciful to me for his name’s sake, for the sake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-powlison/the-love-of-christ-for-me-will-get-last-say-he-is-merciful-to-me-for/)

David Powlison

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/13a/david-powlison-92906_compassion_the-love-of-christ-for-me-will-get-last_335789.jpg)

> [“The fact that it has nothing else to contribute to human wisdom is no reason to hand religion a free licence to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-fact-that-it-has-nothing-else-to-contribute-to-human-wisdom-is-no/)

[Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17e/richard-dawkins-115_bible_the-fact-that-it-has-nothing-else-to-con_989737.jpg)

> [“The literal sense of the author was "creation is the orderly act of a loving Creator God." What the modern reader often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-shea/the-literal-sense-of-the-author-was-creation-is-the-orderly-act-of-a/)

Mark Shea

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbc/mark-shea-86645_bible_the-literal-sense-of-the-author-was-crea_2450821.jpg)

> [“It was not the Fall of Adam, therefore, that set God’s agenda; it was the decision to share the great dance with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-baxter-kruger/it-was-not-the-fall-of-adam-therefore-that-set-god-s-agenda-it-was/)

C. Baxter Kruger

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d3/c-baxter-kruger-69998_adam_it-was-not-the-fall-of-adam-therefore-th_2116057.jpg)

> [Theology necessitates an image of God as a conscious, rational, supernatural being of unlimited power and scope who cares about humans and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-stark/theology-necessitates-an-image-of-god-as-a-conscious-rational/)

[Rodney Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-stark/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/380/rodney-stark-7977_about_theology-necessitates-an-image-of-god-as_833068.png)

> [“In the Middle Ages there was no salvation outside the Church, and the theologians had a hard time explaining what God did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/in-the-middle-ages-there-was-no-salvation-outside-the-church-and-the/)

[Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-illich/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/870/ivan-illich-3546_economics_in-the-middle-ages-there-was-no-salvatio_781306.jpg)

> [People of different faiths, like yours and mine, sometimes wonder where we can meet in common purpose, when there are so many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitt-romney/people-of-different-faiths-like-yours-and-mine-sometimes-wonder-where-2/)

[Mitt Romney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitt-romney/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95a/mitt-romney-268_about_people-of-different-faiths-like-yours-an_1320069.jpg)

> [This, then, is the foundation of sanctification in Reformed theology. It is rooted, not in humanity and their achievement of holiness or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-b-ferguson/this-then-is-the-foundation-of-sanctification-in-reformed-theology-it/)

[Sinclair B. Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-b-ferguson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1d/sinclair-b-ferguson-3915_achievement_this-then-is-the-foundation-of-sanctific_1537275.jpg)

> [ Accumulating knowledge is a form of avarice and lends itself to another version of the Midas story ...man \[is\] so avid for… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/accumulating-knowledge-is-a-form-of-avarice-and-lends-itself-to/)

[Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e6/malcolm-muggeridge-2370_accumulating_accumulating-knowledge-is-a-form-of-avar_566709.jpg)

> [“The unbiblical idea of "spirituality" is that the truly "spiritual" man is the person who is sort of "non-physical," who doesn't get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-chilton/the-unbiblical-idea-of-spirituality-is-that-the-truly-spiritual-man/)

[David Chilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-chilton/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/29c/david-chilton-45622_christianity_the-unbiblical-idea-of-spirituality-is-t_809637.jpg)

> [The essence of science is that it is always willing to abandon a given idea, however fundamental it may seem to be,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-essence-of-science-is-that-it-is-always-willing-to-abandon-a-3/)

[H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41e/h-l-mencken-245_abandon_the-essence-of-science-is-that-it-is-alw_2715546.jpg)

> [The mere man of pleasure is miserable in old age, and the mere drudge in business is but little better, whereas, natural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-mere-man-of-pleasure-is-miserable-in-old-age-and-the-mere-drudge/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72a/thomas-paine-267_accounts_the-mere-man-of-pleasure-is-miserable-in_1439911.jpg)

> [“An attempt to wrest from God the prerogatives of absolute freedom and infinity leads to the inversion of Pentecost and what is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-e-gunton/an-attempt-to-wrest-from-god-the-prerogatives-of-absolute-freedom-and/)

Colin E. Gunton

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f6/colin-e-gunton-198641_absolute-freedom_an-attempt-to-wrest-from-god-the-preroga_79850.jpg)

> [“The rising influence of lay piety is particularly marked upon the Mariological controversies of the late medieval period. Two rival positions developed:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alister-e-mcgrath/the-rising-influence-of-lay-piety-is-particularly-marked-upon-the/)

[Alister E. McGrath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alister-e-mcgrath/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/58e/alister-e-mcgrath-11214_catholicism_the-rising-influence-of-lay-piety-is-par_561753.jpg)

> [“We believe that the creation of a woman was the crowning and final and most glorified moment of human creation. That we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-holland/we-believe-that-the-creation-of-a-woman-was-the-crowning-and-final/)

[Jeffrey R. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-holland/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a1/jeffrey-r-holland-1190_adam-and-eve_we-believe-that-the-creation-of-a-woman_3027139.png)

> [ The classic theology of my tradition comes from the French Renaissance. \[William\] Shakespeare was born in 1564, the year \[John\] Calvin died,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/the-classic-theology-of-my-tradition-comes-from-the-french/)

[Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9f/marilynne-robinson-602_born_the-classic-theology-of-my-tradition-com_3125577.png)

> [“Tell me something. Do you believe in God?' Snow darted an apprehensive glance in my direction. 'What? Who still believes nowadays?' 'It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanis-aw-lem/tell-me-something-do-you-believe-in-god-snow-darted-an-apprehensive/)

[Stanisław Lem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanis-aw-lem/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/771/stanis-aw-lem-7489_belief_tell-me-something-do-you-believe-in-god_1465422.jpg)

> [“In short, an astonishingly broad spectrum of theologies of justification existed in the later medieval period, encompassing practically every option that had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alister-e-mcgrath/in-short-an-astonishingly-broad-spectrum-of-theologies-of/)

[Alister E. McGrath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alister-e-mcgrath/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3dc/alister-e-mcgrath-11214_catholic-church_in-short-an-astonishingly-broad-spectrum_1420373.jpg)

> [“It is a bad indication when, in any period, men will so exalt their confessions that they force the Scriptures to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-a-bad-indication-when-in-any-period-men-will-so-exalt-their/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b5b/l-s-chafer-195069_bible_it-is-a-bad-indication-when-in-any-perio_1437030.jpg)

> [“Ask any of us: What is your concept of God, your understanding of sin or salvation, your account of the nature and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-w-stone/ask-any-of-us-what-is-your-concept-of-god-your-understanding-of-sin/)

Howard W. Stone

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b2/howard-w-stone-112247_learning_ask-any-of-us-what-is-your-concept-of-go_331708.jpg)

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                        "text": "Religion is about God's truth, but none of us can grasp that truth absolutely, because of our own imperfections and limitations. We are only children of God, not God. Therefore, we must not attempt to fit God into little boxes, claiming that He supports this or that political position. This is not only bad theology; it marginalizes God.",
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                        "text": "Religion does a lot of good, especially the loving kind, like at Grace Church.  I know people who went to a more liberal kind of Christianity and were happy with that. The problem is, for me, there was a process involved in moving from Pentecostalism to a more liberal theology, like Grace Church. What makes me different is that process didn't stop, and it took me all the way. In the end, I couldn't help feeling that all religion, even the most loving kind, is just a speed bump in the progress of the human race.",
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                        "text": "“The argument against faith is all based upon the rigorous analysis of the scriptures, and not upon the objective observation of the actual individual sensation of faith. Historical experiences of the Kingdom of God gave rise to all the scriptures in the world, but the scriptures themselves don’t account for the actual globally prevalent psychological element of faith or divinity in the human mind. Faith is a natural evolutionary trait of the human mind, selected by Mother Nature as an internal coping-mechanism.”",
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                        "text": "Khalif (Caliph) Al-Ma'mun's period of rule (813 - 833 C.E.) may be considered the 'golden age' of science and learning. He had always been devoted to books and to learned pursuits. His brilliant mind was interested in every form of intellectual activity. Not only poetry but also philosophy, theology, astronomy, medicine and law all occupied his time.",
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                        "text": "“If I speak in the tongues of Reformers and of professional theologians, and I have not personal faith in Christ, my theology is nothing but the noisy beating of a snare drum. And if I have analytic powers and the gift of creating coherent conceptual systems of theology, so as to remove liberal objections, and have not personal hope in God, I am nothing. And if I give myself to resolving the debate between supra and infralapsarianism, and to defending inerrancy, and to learning the Westminster Catechism, yea, even the larger one, so as to recite it by heart backwards and forwards, and have not love, I have gained nothing.”",
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                        "text": "Our passion is to imitate the ministry of Jesus in the power of the Spirit. This requires we must follow Jesus out of baptismal waters, through our personal deserts, and into the harvest. We want to take the ammunition of the balanced evangelical theology with the fire power of Pentecostal practice, loading & readying the best of both worlds to hit the target of making & nurturing disciples…",
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                        "text": "“The notion that evil is non-rational is a more significant claim for Eagleton than at first appears, because he is (in this book [ On Evil ] as in others of his recent 'late period' prolific burst) anxious to rewrite theology: God (whom he elsewhere tells us is nonexistent, but this is no barrier to his being lots of other things for Eagleton too, among them Important) is not to be regarded as rational: with reference to the Book of Job Eagleton says, 'To ask after God's reasons for allowing evil, so [some theologians] claim, is to imagine him as some kind of rational or moral being, which is the last thing he is.' This is priceless: with one bound God is free of responsibility for 'natural evil'—childhood cancers, tsunamis that kill tens of thousands—and for moral evil also even though 'he' is CEO of the company that purposely manufactured its perpetrators; and 'he' is incidentally exculpated from blame for the hideous treatment meted out to Job.”",
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                        "text": "“Nothing could be easier than disturbing a status quo instituted by others; the real work of the sinister current is to break the rules we rigidly establish for ourselves.” -Zeena Schreck for \"Contemporary notions of Kundalini, its background and role within new Western religiosity,\" University of Stockholm, Malin Fitger 2004”",
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                        "text": "“It comes as no surprise to find [Norman] Mailer embracing [in the book On God ] a form of Manicheanism, pitting the forces of light and darkness against each other in a permanent stand-off, with humanity as the battlefield. (When asked if Jesus is part of this battle, he responds rather loftily that he thinks it is a distinct possibility.) But it is at points like this that he talks as if all the late-night undergraduate talk sessions on the question of theism had become rolled into one. 'How can we not face up to the fact that if God is All-Powerful, He cannot be All-Good. Or She cannot be All-Good.' Mailer says that questions such as this have bedevilled 'theologians', whereas it would be more accurate to say that such questions, posed by philosophers, have attempted to put theologians out of business. A long exchange on the probability of reincarnation (known to Mailer sometimes as “karmic reassignment”) manages to fall slightly below the level of those undergraduate talk sessions. The Manichean stand-off leads Mailer, in closing, to speculate on what God might desire politically and to say: 'In different times, the heavens may have been partial to monarchy, to communism, and certainly the Lord was interested in democracy, in capitalism. (As was the Devil!)' I think it was at this point that I decided I would rather remember Mailer as the author of Harlot's Ghost and The Armies of the Night .”",
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                            "@type": "Person",
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                        "text": "“In other words, The­ol­ogy is prac­ti­cal: espe­cially now. In the old days, when there was less edu­ca­tion and dis­cus­sion, per­haps it was pos­si­ble to get on with a very few sim­ple ideas about God. But it is not so now. Every­one reads, every­one hears things dis­cussed. Con­se­quently, if you do not lis­ten to The­ol­ogy, that will not mean that you have no ideas about God. It will mean that you have a lot of wrong ones — bad, mud­dled, out-of-date ideas. For a great many of the ideas about God which are trot­ted out as novel­ties to-day are simply the ones which real The­olo­gians tried cen­turies ago and rejected.”",
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                        "text": "“Take the case (to use an easy example) of a river, carrying boats and communicating to them its own velocity, yet limited by their own inertia so that, all the rest being equal, the more heavily loaded will be carried more slowly. Hence it can be stated that the speed of the boats comes from the river, the slowness, from the load; the positive, from the force of the propelling agent, the privative, from the inertia of the propelled. Quite in the same manner it may be said that God contributes to the creatures their perfections, yet is limited by their receptivity. Thus all goods are due to the divine force; the evils, to the torpor of the creature.”",
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                        "text": "Christians have an important role to play in contending that no human life is \"devoid of value.\" We can do so through courageous protest, as happened in Germany, as well, as in compassionate care for the most vulnerable members of society, as Mother Teresa did. In both approaches theology - what one believes about God and human life - matters. The world desperately needs that good news.",
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                        "text": "Insofar as theology is an attempt to define and clarify intellectual positions, it is apt to lead to discussion, to differences of opinion, even to controversy, and hence to be divisive. And this has had a strong tendency to dampen serious discussion of theological issues in most groups, and hence to strengthen the general anti-intellectual bias.",
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                        "text": "Solid scriptural theology should be valued in the church. Books in which Scripture is reverently regarded as the only rule of faith and practice-- books in which Christ and the Holy Ghost have their rightful office-- books in which justification, and sanctification, and regeneration, and faith, and grace, and holiness are clearly, distinctly, and accurately delineated and exhibited, these are the only books which do real good. Few things need reviving more than a taste for such books as these among readers.",
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                        "text": "“It is most important for the practice of the Christian ministry, especially in its missionary activities toward those both within and without the Christian culture, to consider pagans, humanists, and Jews as members of the latent Spiritual Community and not as complete strangers who are invited into the Spiritual Community from outside. This insight serves as a powerful weapon against ecclesiastical and hierarchical arrogance.”",
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                        "text": "“To study theology involves entering into a long, ongoing conversation, one that we did not begin. Others have been talking about God long before you or I entered this discussion. We do not read the Bible somewhere off by ourselves in a corner; we read it as a community of faith, together with the whole church in all times and places.”",
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                        "text": "I firmly believe that the method which sets theological theories against scientifically ascertained facts, is fatal to the current theology and injurious to the spirit of religion; and that the method which frankly recognizes the facts of life, and appreciates the spirit of the scientists whose patient and assiduous endeavor has brought those facts to light, will commend the spirit of religion to the new generation, and will benefit--not impair--theology as a science, by compelling its reconstruction.",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“Our enemies are quite good for relentlessly keeping us sharp and on our toes. This especially goes for sincere philosophers. They use their enemies to challenge their arguments so that they can know the weak points in their own reasoning and how to argue for and strengthen their position. There are just none like one's enemies to always look for his mistakes and do it harder than anyone else.”",
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                        "text": "Let us account for all we see by the facts we know. If there are things for which we cannot account, let us wait for light. To account for anything by supernatural agencies is, in fact to say that we do not know. Theology is not what we know about God, but what we do not know about Nature.",
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                        "text": "I know that with consecration on the part of believers, separation from the world, disentanglement from enslaving sins, and a mighty baptism of the Holy Spirit, the church would become a conquering power in the world, not by its constructed theology, not by its Sabbath services, not by its arguments to convince the intellect, but by its simple story of Jesus' love, by the Cross, the Cross--God's hammer, God's fire.",
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                            "name": "Abbott Eliot Kittredge"
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                            "caption": "“I know that with consecration on the part of believers, separation from the world, disentanglement from…” — Abbott Eliot Kittredge",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“The love of Christ for me will get last say. He is merciful to me for his name’s sake, for the sake of his own goodness, for the sake of his steadfast love and compassion (Psalm 25). When he thinks about me, he remembers what he is like, and that is my exceeding joy. My indestructible hope is that he has turned his face towards me, and he will never turn away.”",
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                            "name": "David Powlison"
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                            "caption": "“The love of Christ for me will get last say. He is merciful to me for his name’s sake, for the sake of his…” — David Powlison",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“The fact that it has nothing else to contribute to human wisdom is no reason to hand religion a free licence to tell us what to do. Which religion, anyway? The one in which we happen to have been brought up? To which chapter, then, of which book of the Bible should we turn—for they are far from unanimous and some of them are odious by any reasonable standards. How many literalists have read enough of the Bible to know that the death penalty is prescribed for adultery, for gathering sticks on the sabbath and for cheeking your parents? If we reject Deuteronomy and Leviticus (as all enlightened moderns do), by what criteria do we then decide which of religion's moral values to accept? Or should we pick and choose among all the world's religions until we find one whose moral teaching suits us? If so, again we must ask, by what criterion do we choose? And if we have independent criteria for choosing among religious moralities, why not cut out the middle man and go straight for the moral choice without the religion?”",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Richard Dawkins"
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                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-fact-that-it-has-nothing-else-to-contribute-to-human-wisdom-is-no/",
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                            "caption": "“The fact that it has nothing else to contribute to human wisdom is no reason to hand religion a free licence…” — Richard Dawkins",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“The literal sense of the author was \"creation is the orderly act of a loving Creator God.\" What the modern reader often hears, however, is \"The universe was made in six 24-hour days.\" This is as wrong-headed as taking me to mean I actually stood in line a million years or that my cardiac tissue has been torn in half or that Christ had delusions of being a grape plant. -- Making Senses of Scripture”",
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                            "caption": "“The literal sense of the author was \"creation is the orderly act of a loving Creator God.\" What the modern…” — Mark Shea",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“It was not the Fall of Adam, therefore, that set God’s agenda; it was the decision to share the great dance with us through Jesus. Adam’s plunge certainly threatened God’s dreams for us, but that threat had been anticipated and already strategically overcome in the predestination of the incarnation. Jesus Christ did not become human to fix the fall; he became human to accomplish the eternal purpose of our adoption, and in order to bring our adoption to pass, the Fall had to be called to a halt and undone….Jesus is not a footnote to Adam and his Fall; the Fall, and indeed creation itself, is a footnote to the purpose of God in Jesus Christ.”",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "C. Baxter Kruger"
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                            "caption": "“It was not the Fall of Adam, therefore, that set God’s agenda; it was the decision to share the great dance…” — C. Baxter Kruger",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Theology necessitates an image of God as a conscious, rational, supernatural being of unlimited power and scope who cares about humans and imposes moral codes and responsibilities upon them, thereby generating serious intellectual questions such as: 'Why does God allow us to sin?' 'Does the Sixth Commandment prohibit war?'",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Rodney Stark"
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                        "text": "“In the Middle Ages there was no salvation outside the Church, and the theologians had a hard time explaining what God did with those pagans who were visibly virtuous or saintly. Similarly, in contemporary society effort is not productive unless it is done at the behest of a boss, and economists have a hard time dealing with the obvious usefulness of people when they are outside the corporate control of a corporation, volunteer agency, or labour camp.”",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Ivan Illich"
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                        "text": "People of different faiths, like yours and mine, sometimes wonder where we can meet in common purpose, when there are so many differences in creed and theology. Surely the answer is that we can meet in service, in shared moral convictions about our nation stemming from a common worldview.",
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                        "text": "This, then, is the foundation of sanctification in Reformed theology. It is rooted, not in humanity and their achievement of holiness or sanctification, but in what God has done in Christ, and for us in union with him. Rather than view Christians first and foremost in the microcosmic context of their own progress, the Reformed doctrine first of all sets them in the macrocosm of God's activity in redemptive history. It is seeing oneself in this context that enables the individual Christian to grow in true holiness.",
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                            "name": "Sinclair B. Ferguson"
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                        "text": "Accumulating knowledge is a form of avarice and lends itself to another version of the Midas story ...man [is] so avid for knowledge that everything that he touches turns to facts; his faith becomes theology; his love becomes lechery; his wisdom becomes science; pursuing meaning, he ignores truth.",
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                        "text": "“The unbiblical idea of \"spirituality\" is that the truly \"spiritual\" man is the person who is sort of \"non-physical,\" who doesn't get involved in \"earthly\" things, who doesn't work very much or think very hard, and who spends most of his time meditating about how he'd rather be in heaven. As long as he's on earth, though, he has one main duty in life: Get stepped on for Jesus. The \"spiritual\" man, in this view, is a wimp. A Loser. But at least he's a Good Loser.”",
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                        "text": "The essence of science is that it is always willing to abandon a given idea, however fundamental it may seem to be, for a better one; the essence of theology is that it holds its truths to be eternal and immutable. To be sure, theology is always yielding a little to the progress of knowledge, and only a Holy Roller in the mountains of Tennessee would dare to preach today what the popes preached in the Thirteenth Century, but this yielding is always done grudgingly, and thus lingers a good while behind the event.",
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                        "text": "The mere man of pleasure is miserable in old age, and the mere drudge in business is but little better, whereas, natural philosophy, mathematical and mechanical science, are a continual source of tranquil pleasure, and in spite of the gloomy dogmas of priests and of superstition, the study of these things is the true theology; it teaches man to know and admire the Creator, for the principles of science are in the creation, and are unchangeable and of divine origin.",
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                        "text": "“An attempt to wrest from God the prerogatives of absolute freedom and infinity leads to the inversion of Pentecost and what is in effect a new Babel. 'Postmodernism' represents that Babel perfectly, because when each speaks a language unrelated to that of the other - when language is not the basis of the communication that shapes our being - the only outcome can be fragmentation. In that sense, postmodernism is modernity come home to roost.”",
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                        "text": "“The rising influence of lay piety is particularly marked upon the Mariological controversies of the late medieval period. Two rival positions developed: the maculist position, which held that Mary was subject to original sin, in common with every other human being; and the immaculist position, which held that contrary view that Mary was in some way preserved from original sin, and was thus to be considered sinless. The maculist position was regarded as firmly established within the High Scholasticism of the thirteenth century. The veneration of the Virgin within popular piety, however, proved to have an enormously creative power that initially challenged, and subsequently triumphed over, the academic objections raised against it by university theologians.”",
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                        "text": "“We believe that the creation of a woman was the crowning and final and most glorified moment of human creation. That we start with light & dark and land & sea and we move through fish & fowl & beasts of the field and we get to Adam and it's still not good enough. And only when Eve was created -- this is our theology [...] -- that is our theology, that the crowning creation and the glory of the human experience came with the creation of Eve.”",
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                        "text": "The classic theology of my tradition comes from the French Renaissance. [William] Shakespeare was born in 1564, the year [John] Calvin died, and that theology was very influential in England in his lifetime. I think Shakespeare was attentive to questions raised by it, about human nature, history, reality itself. I find the two literatures to be mutually illuminating.",
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                        "text": "“Tell me something. Do you believe in God?' Snow darted an apprehensive glance in my direction. 'What? Who still believes nowadays?' 'It isn't that simple. I don't mean the traditional God of Earth religion. I'm no expert in the history of religions, and perhaps this is nothing new--do you happen to know if there was ever a belief in an...imperfect God?' 'What do you mean by imperfect?' Snow frowned. 'In a way all the gods of the old religions were imperfect, considered that their attributes were amplified human ones. The God of the Old Testament, for instance, required humble submission and sacrifices, and and was jealous of other gods. The Greek gods had fits of sulks and family quarrels, and they were just as imperfect as mortals...' 'No,' I interrupted. 'I'm not thinking of a god whose imperfection arises out of the candor of his human creators, but one whose imperfection represents his essential characteristic: a god limited in his omniscience and power, fallible, incapable of foreseeing the consequences of his acts, and creating things that lead to horror. He is a...sick god, whose ambitions exceed his powers and who does not realize it at first. A god who has created clocks, but not the time they measure. He has created systems or mechanisms that serves specific ends but have now overstepped and betrayed them. And he has created eternity, which was to have measured his power, and which measures his unending defeat.' Snow hesitated, but his attitude no longer showed any of the wary reserve of recent weeks: 'There was Manicheanism...' 'Nothing at all to do with the principles of Good and Evil,' I broke in immediately. 'This god has no existence outside of matter. He would like to free himself from matter, but he cannot...' Snow pondered for a while: 'I don't know of any religion that answers your description. That kind of religion has never been...necessary. If i understand you, and I'm afraid I do, what you have in mind is an evolving god, who develops in the course of time, grows, and keeps increasing in power while remaining aware of his powerlessness. For your god, the divine condition is a situation without a goal. And understanding that, he despairs. But isn't this despairing god of yours mankind, Kelvin? Is it man you are talking about, and that is a fallacy, not just philosophically but also mystically speaking.' I kept on: 'No, it's nothing to do with man. man may correspond to my provisional definition from some point of view, but that is because the definition has a lot of gaps. Man does not create gods, in spite of appearances. The times, the age, impose them on him. Man can serve is age or rebel against it, but the target of his cooperation or rebellion comes to him from outside. If there was only a since human being in existence, he would apparently be able to attempt the experiment of creating his own goals in complete freedom--apparently, because a man not brought up among other human beings cannot become a man. And the being--the being I have in mind--cannot exist in the plural, you see? ...Perhaps he has already been born somewhere, in some corner of the galaxy, and soon he will have some childish enthusiasm that will set him putting out one star and lighting another. We will notice him after a while...' 'We already have,' Snow said sarcastically. 'Novas and supernovas. According to you they are candles on his altar.' 'If you're going to take what I say literally...' ...Snow asked abruptly: 'What gave you this idea of an imperfect god?' 'I don't know. It seems quite feasible to me. That is the only god I could imagine believing in, a god whose passion is not a redemption, who saves nothing, fulfills no purpose--a god who simply is.”",
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                        "text": "“In short, an astonishingly broad spectrum of theologies of justification existed in the later medieval period, encompassing practically every option that had not been specifically condemned as heretical by the Council of Carthage. In the absence of any definitive magisterial pronouncement concerning which of these options (or even what range of options) could be considered authentically catholic, it was left to each theologian to reach his own decision in this matter. A self-perpetuating doctrinal pluralism was thus an inevitability.”",
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                        "text": "“It is a bad indication when, in any period, men will so exalt their confessions that they force the Scriptures to a secondary importance, illustrated in one era, when as Tulloch remarks: 'Scripture as a witness, disappeared behind the Augsburg Confession\" ...No decrees of councils; no ordinances of synods; no \"standard\" of doctrines; no creed or confession, is to be urged as authority in forming the opinions of men. They may be valuable for some purposes, but not for this; they may be referred to as interesting parts of history, but not to form the faith of Christians; they may be used in the church to express its belief, not to form it.”",
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                        "text": "“Ask any of us: What is your concept of God, your understanding of sin or salvation, your account of the nature and purpose of the church, or your Christian view of right and wrong? Caught short by the question, we may come up with a pat answer. This is understandable. Or we may hesitate and stammer, unless we have stopped at some earlier point to consider the matter. And yet our day-to-day decisions are based upon this embedded theology.”",
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            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```