---
title: "Great Theology Qoutes"
description: "Browse 1,532 Theology quotes by 791 authors. Discover the best Theology sayings and thoughts."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/148/sherri-gragg-93203_bible_desperation-is-a-great-giver-of-clarity_1546309.jpg"
---

> [“Desperation is a great giver of clarity: Bartimaeus needed no time to decide what to do next. “Jesus! Son of David!” he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherri-gragg/desperation-is-a-great-giver-of-clarity-bartimaeus-needed-no-time-to/)

[Sherri Gragg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherri-gragg/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/148/sherri-gragg-93203_bible_desperation-is-a-great-giver-of-clarity_1546309.jpg)

> [“When it comes to our embedded beliefs, our relative intolerance to ambiguous and contrary information leads us in many instances to ignore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-goedken/when-it-comes-to-our-embedded-beliefs-our-relative-intolerance-to/)

[Brian Goedken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-goedken/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11e/brian-goedken-38890_christianity_when-it-comes-to-our-embedded-beliefs-ou_2335450.jpg)

> [Our modern world defined God as a ‘religious complex’ and laughed at the Ten Commandments as OLD FASHIONED. Then, through the laughter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-b-demille/our-modern-world-defined-god-as-a-religious-complex-and-laughed-at/)

[Cecil B. DeMille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-b-demille/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a1/cecil-b-demille-23018_bitter_our-modern-world-defined-god-as-a-religi_170749.jpg)

> [“For my own part, I tend to find the doctrinal books often more helpful in devotion than the devotional books, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/for-my-own-part-i-tend-to-find-the-doctrinal-books-often-more-helpful/)

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

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/404/c-s-lewis-121_books_for-my-own-part-i-tend-to-find-the-doctr_307418.jpg)

> [We can pursue the Cartesian project without restricting ourselves to theology and a priori faculties. A better, broader perspective is properly sought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/we-can-pursue-the-cartesian-project-without-restricting-ourselves-to/)

[Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4b/ernest-sosa-12656_cartesian_we-can-pursue-the-cartesian-project-with_837337.jpg)

> [“We also have to be particularly wary of imaginative thought processes for we can very easily create things and ideas in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-goedken/we-also-have-to-be-particularly-wary-of-imaginative-thought-processes/)

[Brian Goedken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-goedken/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b4/brian-goedken-38890_christianity_we-also-have-to-be-particularly-wary-of_812516.jpg)

> [“In Demons of the Flesh, Zeena describes how Shiva and Shakti are actually ‘two sides of the same deity’. The goal of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zeena-schreck/in-demons-of-the-flesh-zeena-describes-how-shiva-and-shakti-are/)

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

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f5/zeena-schreck-12024_action_in-demons-of-the-flesh-zeena-describes-h_3157908.jpg)

> [Searching for a better description of this rotting sadness, I came upon the concept of acedia. In Christian theology, it’s an antecedent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mishka/searching-for-a-better-description-of-this-rotting-sadness-i-came/)

[Mishka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mishka/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e29/mishka-97951_care_searching-for-a-better-description-of-th_2945792.jpg)

> [Many of the religious apologists out there are not stupid people, they are often brilliant. People working in the field of theology…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pz-myers/many-of-the-religious-apologists-out-there-are-not-stupid-people-they/)

[PZ Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pz-myers/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2e/pz-myers-24674_brilliant_many-of-the-religious-apologists-out-the_854373.jpg)

> [Let us no longer be blinded by the dim theology that only in the far seeing vision discovers a millennium, when violence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucretia-mott/let-us-no-longer-be-blinded-by-the-dim-theology-that-only-in-the-far/)

[Lucretia Mott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucretia-mott/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fad/lucretia-mott-19637_behold_let-us-no-longer-be-blinded-by-the-dim-t_2251183.png)

> [Man is a Religious Animal. He is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion--several of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/man-is-a-religious-animal-he-is-the-only-religious-animal-he-is-the-2/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c08/mark-twain-22_animal_man-is-a-religious-animal-he-is-the-only_1086497.png)

> [“The more important point is that Reality is much more 'nuanced' that we may imagine. Operationally co-existent economies make for a much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-alan-woods/the-more-important-point-is-that-reality-is-much-more-nuanced-that-we/)

[R. Alan Woods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-alan-woods/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2f/r-alan-woods-1455_economics_the-more-important-point-is-that-reality_8175.jpg)

> [It may be observed in general that the future is purchased by the present. It is not possible to secure distant or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/it-may-be-observed-in-general-that-the-future-is-purchased-by-the/)

[Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba6/samuel-johnson-50_belief_it-may-be-observed-in-general-that-the-f_326483.png)

> [“Očevidno je da ne postoji nikakav smisao povijesti koji bi se dao spasiti leđima okrenutim prema Auschwitzu niti postoji Bog kojemu se…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-baptist-metz/o-evidno-je-da-ne-postoji-nikakav-smisao-povijesti-koji-bi-se-dao/)

[Johann Baptist Metz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-baptist-metz/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8f/johann-baptist-metz-22840_auschwitz_o-evidno-je-da-ne-postoji-nikakav-smisao_837570.png)

> [This withdrawal of theology from the world of secular affairs is made more complete by the work of biblical scholars whose endlessly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lesslie-newbigin/this-withdrawal-of-theology-from-the-world-of-secular-affairs-is-made/)

[Lesslie Newbigin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lesslie-newbigin/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/74f/lesslie-newbigin-11290_affair_this-withdrawal-of-theology-from-the-wor_2309248.jpg)

> [If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry, that is a sign that you are subsciously aware of having no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/if-an-opinion-contrary-to-your-own-makes-you-angry-that-is-a-sign-2/)

[Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d41/bertrand-russell-69_angry_if-an-opinion-contrary-to-your-own-makes_997355.jpg)

> [“Christ is our Friend; He is also the Righteous King. God is our Father; He is also the Sovereign Lord. Christianity can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/christ-is-our-friend-he-is-also-the-righteous-king-god-is-our-father/)

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

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/69f/criss-jami-320_apologetics_christ-is-our-friend-he-is-also-the-righ_2178371.jpg)

> [Now, brethren, this is one of our greatest faults in our Christian lives. We are allowing too many rivals of God. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/now-brethren-this-is-one-of-our-greatest-faults-in-our-christian/)

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

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47b/anonymous-1_christian_now-brethren-this-is-one-of-our-greatest_2217373.jpg)

> [Systematic theology will ask questions like "What are the attributes of God? What is sin? What does the cross achieve?" Biblical theology…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-a-carson/systematic-theology-will-ask-questions-like-what-are-the-attributes/)

[D. A. Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-a-carson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/667/d-a-carson-4044_achieve_systematic-theology-will-ask-questions-l_1064335.jpg)

> [For this knowledge of right living, we have sought a new name... . As theology is the science of religious life, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-swallow-richards/for-this-knowledge-of-right-living-we-have-sought-a-new-name-as/)

[Ellen Swallow Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-swallow-richards/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b01/ellen-swallow-richards-22099_applied-science_for-this-knowledge-of-right-living-we-ha_1954964.png)

> [Palestinian believers have a unique experience with US foreign policy and our close ties with Israel. This alliance has many layers, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-mcbain/palestinian-believers-have-a-unique-experience-with-us-foreign-policy/)

[Ed McBain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-mcbain/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d9/ed-mcbain-29479_believer_palestinian-believers-have-a-unique-expe_1399537.jpg)

> [What is preaching? Logic on fire! Preaching is theology coming through a man who is on fire. A true understanding and experience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martyn-lloyd-jones/what-is-preaching-logic-on-fire-preaching-is-theology-coming-through/)

[Martyn Lloyd-Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martyn-lloyd-jones/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30b/martyn-lloyd-jones-10434_fire_what-is-preaching-logic-on-fire-preachin_1018548.jpg)

> [In The Lost Message of Jesus I claim that penal substitution is tantamount to 'child abuse - a vengeful Father punishing his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-chalke/in-the-lost-message-of-jesus-i-claim-that-penal-substitution-is/)

[Steve Chalke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-chalke/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9b/steve-chalke-56425_abuse_in-the-lost-message-of-jesus-i-claim-tha_2064999.jpg)

> [“A doctrine like that of the Trinity tells us that the very life of God is a yielding or giving-over into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-williams/a-doctrine-like-that-of-the-trinity-tells-us-that-the-very-life-of/)

[Rowan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-williams/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85c/rowan-williams-8580_doctrine_a-doctrine-like-that-of-the-trinity-tell_2656414.jpg)

> [“And some scientists and other intellectuals are convinced—too eagerly in my view—that the question of God's existence belongs in the forever inaccessible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/and-some-scientists-and-other-intellectuals-are-convinced-too-eagerly/)

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

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ed/richard-dawkins-115_hypothesis_and-some-scientists-and-other-intellectu_623755.jpg)

> [As far as I know, Clifford Pickover is the first mathematician to write a book about areas where math and theology overlap.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-gardner/as-far-as-i-know-clifford-pickover-is-the-first-mathematician-to/)

[Martin Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-gardner/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de1/martin-gardner-15175_areas_as-far-as-i-know-clifford-pickover-is-th_2085902.jpg)

> [“Creationists eagerly seek a gap in present-day knowledge or understanding. If an apparent gap is found, it is assumed that God, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/creationists-eagerly-seek-a-gap-in-present-day-knowledge-or-2/)

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

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/716/richard-dawkins-115_atheism_creationists-eagerly-seek-a-gap-in-prese_2998227.jpg)

> [“Evangelical Christians need to notice..., that the Reformation said 'Scripture Alone' and not 'the Revelation of God in Christ Alone'. If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-a-schaeffer/evangelical-christians-need-to-notice-that-the-reformation-said/)

[Francis A. Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-a-schaeffer/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ddd/francis-a-schaeffer-22002_bible_evangelical-christians-need-to-notice-th_2668364.jpg)

> [Roman Catholics utter their Papal edicts, Protestants quote their Bible, Fundamentalists declare their orthodox theological dogmas, and we are all expected to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-h-schuller/roman-catholics-utter-their-papal-edicts-protestants-quote-their/)

[Robert H. Schuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-h-schuller/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af1/robert-h-schuller-2371_catholic_roman-catholics-utter-their-papal-edicts_2094192.jpg)

> [“With theology as a code of dogmas which are to be believed, or at any rate repeated, under penalty of present or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-henry-huxley/with-theology-as-a-code-of-dogmas-which-are-to-be-believed-or-at-any/)

[Thomas Henry Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-henry-huxley/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11a/thomas-henry-huxley-14414_architecture_with-theology-as-a-code-of-dogmas-which_2504991.jpg)

> [Discipleship means adherence to Christ and, because Christ is the object of that adherence, it must take the form of discipleship. An…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/discipleship-means-adherence-to-christ-and-because-christ-is-the-2/)

[Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c9/dietrich-bonhoeffer-303_abstract_discipleship-means-adherence-to-christ-a_1533914.jpg)

> [“I agree with yours of the 22d that a professorship of Theology should have no place in our institution . but we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-agree-with-yours-of-the-22d-that-a-professorship-of-theology-should/)

[Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d88/thomas-jefferson-43_best_i-agree-with-yours-of-the-22d-that-a-pro_2525657.jpg)

> [Religion, therefore, as I now ask you arbitrarily to take it, shall mean for us the feelings, acts, and experiences of individual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/religion-therefore-as-i-now-ask-you-arbitrarily-to-take-it-shall-mean/)

[William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/982/william-james-228_asks_religion-therefore-as-i-now-ask-you-arbi_1167256.jpg)

> [I think gardening is nearer to godliness than theology. True gardeners are both iconographers and theologians insofar as these activities are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vigen-guroian/i-think-gardening-is-nearer-to-godliness-than-theology-true-gardeners/)

[Vigen Guroian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vigen-guroian/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbb/vigen-guroian-43696_activity_i-think-gardening-is-nearer-to-godliness_1259282.jpg)

> [Reformed theology does NOT teach that God brings the ELECT kicking and screaming, against their will, into His kingdom. It teaches that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/reformed-theology-does-not-teach-that-god-brings-the-elect-kicking/)

[R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a31/r-c-sproul-1006_christ_reformed-theology-does-not-teach-that-go_3030527.jpg)

> [“Truth changes with the season of our emotions. It is the shadow that moves with the phases of our inner sun. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/truth-changes-with-the-season-of-our-emotions-it-is-the-shadow-that/)

[Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9c/shannon-l-alder-363_activism_truth-changes-with-the-season-of-our-emo_774681.jpg)

> [Theology asserts propositions that cannot be proven true; ideologues hold stoutly to a worldview despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-moyers/theology-asserts-propositions-that-cannot-be-proven-true-ideologues/)

[Bill Moyers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-moyers/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c8/bill-moyers-2625_accepted_theology-asserts-propositions-that-canno_2128765.jpg)

> [The quickest way to detect a cult is to sniff for doublethink. The cult seeks control over its membership not by providing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-wittes/the-quickest-way-to-detect-a-cult-is-to-sniff-for-doublethink-the/)

[Benjamin Wittes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-wittes/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37d/benjamin-wittes-9097_control_the-quickest-way-to-detect-a-cult-is-to_1392888.jpg)

> [“If I have so far argued that Foucault is a kind of closet liberal and thus deeply modern, I need to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-k-a-smith/if-i-have-so-far-argued-that-foucault-is-a-kind-of-closet-liberal-and/)

[James K.A. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-k-a-smith/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c54/james-k-a-smith-11405_buddhism_if-i-have-so-far-argued-that-foucault-is_2476239.png)

> [“I am, of course, aware that for over two hundred years scholars have laboured to keep history and theology, or history and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-t-wright/i-am-of-course-aware-that-for-over-two-hundred-years-scholars-have/)

[N.T. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a2/n-t-wright-1173_faith_i-am-of-course-aware-that-for-over-two-h_2214348.png)

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                        "text": "“Desperation is a great giver of clarity: Bartimaeus needed no time to decide what to do next. “Jesus! Son of David!” he shouted. “Have mercy on me!” (Mark 10:47). The crowd turned to him in disgust. “Shut your mouth, son of filth!” But Bartimaeus knew what it meant to be despised. He also knew that the chance of a lifetime was literally passing him by, so he called to the Savior all the louder. (From: Bartimaeus)”",
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                            "caption": "“Desperation is a great giver of clarity: Bartimaeus needed no time to decide what to do next. “Jesus! Son of…” — Sherri Gragg",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“When it comes to our embedded beliefs, our relative intolerance to ambiguous and contrary information leads us in many instances to ignore or less thoroughly process incoming data for its actual truth value. It is for this reason that society at large is so prone to religiosity because taking a skeptical stance is the difficult path; it is the path of greatest cognitive load. The cognitive load is high because we have to conscientiously work to continually question the information we receive and often re-program our subconscious for a subject matter that is both complex and abstract. More simply stated, it is cognitively easy for people to attribute perplexing phenomena to an abstract, all-powerful deity than it is to engage in a rigorous examination to discern potential explanatory data.”",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Our modern world defined God as a ‘religious complex’ and laughed at the Ten Commandments as OLD FASHIONED. Then, through the laughter came the shattering thunder of the World War. And now a blood-drenched, bitter world — no longer laughing — cries for a way out. There is but one way out. It existed before it was engraven upon Tablets of Stone. It will exist when stone has crumbled. The Ten Commandments are not rules to obey as a personal favor to God. They are the fundamental principles without which mankind cannot live together. They are not laws — they are The Law.",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Cecil B. DeMille"
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                            "caption": "“Our modern world defined God as a ‘religious complex’ and laughed at the Ten Commandments as OLD FASHIONED…” — Cecil B. DeMille",
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                        "text": "“For my own part, I tend to find the doctrinal books often more helpful in devotion than the devotional books, and I rather suspect that the same experience may await others. I believe that many who find that ‘nothing happens’ when they sit down, or kneel down, to a book of devotion, would find that the heart sings unbidden while they are working their way through a tough bit of theology with a pipe in their teeth and a pencil in their hand.”",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "C.S. Lewis"
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                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/for-my-own-part-i-tend-to-find-the-doctrinal-books-often-more-helpful/",
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                            "caption": "“For my own part, I tend to find the doctrinal books often more helpful in devotion than the devotional…” — C.S. Lewis",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "We can pursue the Cartesian project without restricting ourselves to theology and a priori faculties. A better, broader perspective is properly sought if we pursue the project with reliance on science broadly and on our full span of epistemic competences, including the empirical as well as the a priori.",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Ernest Sosa"
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                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/we-can-pursue-the-cartesian-project-without-restricting-ourselves-to/",
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                            "caption": "“We can pursue the Cartesian project without restricting ourselves to theology and a priori faculties. A…” — Ernest Sosa",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“We also have to be particularly wary of imaginative thought processes for we can very easily create things and ideas in our minds that are outright impossible or highly improbable to be manifested in the world-universe which we then deceive ourselves into thinking that they are either certain or probable likelihoods. We often take several different pieces of information or instilled beliefs and loosely wed them together to bestow some greater meaning which falsely represents reality.”",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Brian Goedken"
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                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-goedken/we-also-have-to-be-particularly-wary-of-imaginative-thought-processes/",
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                            "caption": "“We also have to be particularly wary of imaginative thought processes for we can very easily create things…” — Brian Goedken",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“In Demons of the Flesh, Zeena describes how Shiva and Shakti are actually ‘two sides of the same deity’. The goal of the initiate on the left-hand path is to become ‘this bisexual twin godhead’ and activate a state of perceptual sexual ecstasy within one's own consciousness. Zeena points out that a corresponding symbolism is found in the western hermeticism in the idea of ‘the inner androgyne.’ --About Zeena Schreck by Malin Fitger 'Contemporary notions of Kundalini, its background and role within new Western religiosity,' University of Stockholm, 2004”",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Zeena Schreck"
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                            "caption": "“In Demons of the Flesh, Zeena describes how Shiva and Shakti are actually ‘two sides of the same deity’. The…” — Zeena Schreck",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Searching for a better description of this rotting sadness, I came upon the concept of acedia. In Christian theology, it’s an antecedent to sloth, the least sexy of the seven deadly sins. Thomas Aquinas winnowed it down for me: acedia is sorrow so complete that the flesh prevails completely over the spirit. You don’t just turn your back on the world, you turn your back on God. You don’t care, and you don’t care that you don’t care.",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Mishka"
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                            "caption": "“Searching for a better description of this rotting sadness, I came upon the concept of acedia. In Christian…” — Mishka",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Many of the religious apologists out there are not stupid people, they are often brilliant. People working in the field of theology and philosophy smart people everywhere. What they are those religious apologists are smart poeple who can build these amazingly intricate rationalizations for whatever weird practice they favor. Whether it's ritual cannibalism, or praying to spirits, or treating women as chattel. And they always building this on terrible shaky foundation of false premises.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "PZ Myers"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pz-myers/many-of-the-religious-apologists-out-there-are-not-stupid-people-they/",
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                            "caption": "“Many of the religious apologists out there are not stupid people, they are often brilliant. People working…” — PZ Myers",
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                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Let us no longer be blinded by the dim theology that only in the far seeing vision discovers a millennium, when violence shall no more be heard in the land wasting nor destruction in her borders; but let us behold it now, nigh at the door lending faith and confidence to our hopes, assuring us that even we ourselves shall be instrumental in proclaiming liberty to the captive.",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Lucretia Mott"
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                            "caption": "“Let us no longer be blinded by the dim theology that only in the far seeing vision discovers a millennium…” — Lucretia Mott",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Man is a Religious Animal. He is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion--several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat if his theology isn't straight. He has made a graveyard of the globe in trying his honest best to smooth his brother's path to happiness and heaven…The higher animals have no religion. And we are told that they are going to be left out in the Hereafter. I wonder why? It seems questionable taste.",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Mark Twain"
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                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/man-is-a-religious-animal-he-is-the-only-religious-animal-he-is-the-2/",
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                            "caption": "“Man is a Religious Animal. He is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True…” — Mark Twain",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“The more important point is that Reality is much more 'nuanced' that we may imagine. Operationally co-existent economies make for a much better fit into what we now know about our material universe per quantum physics, et al. This is after all His creation and He is the Rational One. Reason and Faith are not antithetical, but rather synergistic.”",
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                            "name": "R. Alan Woods"
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                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-alan-woods/the-more-important-point-is-that-reality-is-much-more-nuanced-that-we/",
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                            "caption": "“The more important point is that Reality is much more 'nuanced' that we may imagine. Operationally…” — R. Alan Woods",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "It may be observed in general that the future is purchased by the present. It is not possible to secure distant or permanent happiness but by the forbearance of some immediate gratification. This is so evidently true with regard to the whole of our existence that all precepts of theology have no other tendency than to enforce a life of faith; a life regulated not by our senses but by our belief; a life in which pleasures are to be refused for fear of invisible punishments, and calamities sometimes to be sought, and always endured, in hope of rewards that shall be obtained in another state.",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Samuel Johnson"
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                            "caption": "“It may be observed in general that the future is purchased by the present. It is not possible to secure…” — Samuel Johnson",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“Očevidno je da ne postoji nikakav smisao povijesti koji bi se dao spasiti leđima okrenutim prema Auschwitzu niti postoji Bog kojemu se čovjek može klanjati leđa okrenutih prema Auschwitzu. Kao teološko-politička katastrofa Auschwitz ne ostavlja pošteđenima niti kršćanstvo i njegovu teologiju niti društvo i njegovu politiku.”",
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                            "name": "Johann Baptist Metz"
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                            "caption": "“Očevidno je da ne postoji nikakav smisao povijesti koji bi se dao spasiti leđima okrenutim prema Auschwitzu…” — Johann Baptist Metz",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "This withdrawal of theology from the world of secular affairs is made more complete by the work of biblical scholars whose endlessly fascinating exercises have made it appear to the lay Christian that no one untrained in their methods can really understand anything the Bible says. We are in a situation analogous to one about which the great Reformers complained. The Bible has been taken out of the hands of the layperson; it has now become the professional property not of the priesthood but of the scholars.",
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                            "name": "Lesslie Newbigin"
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                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lesslie-newbigin/this-withdrawal-of-theology-from-the-world-of-secular-affairs-is-made/",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry, that is a sign that you are subsciously aware of having no good reason for thinking as you do. [...] The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way. Persecution is used in theology, not in arithmetic, because in arithmetic there is knowledge, but in theology there is only opinion. So whenever you find yourself getting angry about a difference of opinion, be on your guard; you will probably find, on examination, that your belief is going beyond what the evidence warrants.",
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                            "name": "Bertrand Russell"
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                            "caption": "“If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry, that is a sign that you are subsciously aware of having…” — Bertrand Russell",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“Christ is our Friend; He is also the Righteous King. God is our Father; He is also the Sovereign Lord. Christianity can be said to be both a religion and a relationship. You may often hear the cliché that it is not a religion, but a relationship only - which, I believe, is a bit too vague a statement - 'religion' has long had different meanings and implications depending on who you ask or where you are coming from. Honestly, it is sometimes the case that Christians like to think they are too cool and free and up-close and personal with God to be like other religions. Perhaps that could be argued, that could be the case, as it is written thus: 'You are no longer a slave to sin, but God's child.' So we might very well assert that Christianity is not at all some stale philosophy centered around legalistic guilt and empty rule-keeping, as the modernists so commonly define religion; although by other definitions we might as well be boasting that it is 'The Religion' simply by claiming that it is too real and too special to be deemed 'just another religion'.”",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Now, brethren, this is one of our greatest faults in our Christian lives. We are allowing too many rivals of God. We actually have too many gods. We have too many irons in the fire. We have too much theology that we don't understand. We have too much churchly institutionalism. We have too much religion. Actually, I guess we just have too much of too much.",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Anonymous"
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Systematic theology will ask questions like \"What are the attributes of God? What is sin? What does the cross achieve?\" Biblical theology tends to ask questions such as \"What is the theology of the prophecy of Isaiah? What do we learn from John's Gospel? How does the theme of the temple work itself out across the entire Bible?\" Both approaches are legitimate; both are important. They are mutually complementary.",
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                            "name": "D. A. Carson"
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                            "caption": "“Systematic theology will ask questions like \"What are the attributes of God? What is sin? What does the…” — D. A. Carson",
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                    "position": 20,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "For this knowledge of right living, we have sought a new name... . As theology is the science of religious life, and biology the science of [physical] life ... so let Oekology be henceforth the science of [our] normal lives ... the worthiest of all the applied sciences which teaches the principles on which to found... healthy... and happy life.",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Ellen Swallow Richards"
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                            "caption": "“For this knowledge of right living, we have sought a new name... . As theology is the science of religious…” — Ellen Swallow Richards",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Palestinian believers have a unique experience with US foreign policy and our close ties with Israel. This alliance has many layers, but given the strong support of the US church, and the frequency of religious language surrounding these policies, Palestinian Christian friends raise important and challenging questions about how we understand the intertwining of theology and politics in the US.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Ed McBain"
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                            "caption": "“Palestinian believers have a unique experience with US foreign policy and our close ties with Israel. This…” — Ed McBain",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "What is preaching? Logic on fire! Preaching is theology coming through a man who is on fire. A true understanding and experience of the Truth must lead to this. I say again that a man who can speak about these things dispassionately has no right whatsoever to be in a pulpit; and should never be allowed to enter one.",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Martyn Lloyd-Jones"
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                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martyn-lloyd-jones/what-is-preaching-logic-on-fire-preaching-is-theology-coming-through/",
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                            "caption": "“What is preaching? Logic on fire! Preaching is theology coming through a man who is on fire. A true…” — Martyn Lloyd-Jones",
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                    "position": 23,
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "In The Lost Message of Jesus I claim that penal substitution is tantamount to 'child abuse - a vengeful Father punishing his Son for an offence he has not even committed.' Though the sheer bluntness of this imagery (not original to me of course) might shock some, in truth, it is only a stark 'unmasking' of the violent, pre-Christian thinking behind such a theology.",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Steve Chalke"
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                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-chalke/in-the-lost-message-of-jesus-i-claim-that-penal-substitution-is/",
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                            "caption": "“In The Lost Message of Jesus I claim that penal substitution is tantamount to 'child abuse - a vengeful…” — Steve Chalke",
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                    "position": 24,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“A doctrine like that of the Trinity tells us that the very life of God is a yielding or giving-over into the life of an Other, a 'negation' in the sense of refusing to settle for the idea that normative life or personal identity is to be conceived in terms of self-enclosed and self-sufficient units. The negative is associated with the 'ek-static', the discovery of identity in self-transcending relation. And accordingly, theology itself has to speak in a mode that encourages us to question ourselves, to deny ourselves, in the sense of denying systems and concepts that are the comfortable possession of individual minds.”",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Rowan Williams"
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                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-williams/a-doctrine-like-that-of-the-trinity-tells-us-that-the-very-life-of/",
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                            "caption": "“A doctrine like that of the Trinity tells us that the very life of God is a yielding or giving-over into the…” — Rowan Williams",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“And some scientists and other intellectuals are convinced—too eagerly in my view—that the question of God's existence belongs in the forever inaccessible PAP category. From this, as we shall see, they often make the illogical deduction that the hypothesis of God's existence, and the hypothesis of his non-existence, have exactly equal probability of being right.”",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Richard Dawkins"
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                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/and-some-scientists-and-other-intellectuals-are-convinced-too-eagerly/",
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                            "caption": "“And some scientists and other intellectuals are convinced—too eagerly in my view—that the question of God's…” — Richard Dawkins",
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                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "As far as I know, Clifford Pickover is the first mathematician to write a book about areas where math and theology overlap. Are there mathematical proofs of God? Who are the great mathematicians who believed in a deity? Does numerology lead anywhere when applied to sacred literature? Pickover covers these and many other off-trail topics with his usual verve, humor, and clarity. And along the way the reader will learn a great deal of serious mathematics.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Martin Gardner"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-gardner/as-far-as-i-know-clifford-pickover-is-the-first-mathematician-to/",
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                            "caption": "“As far as I know, Clifford Pickover is the first mathematician to write a book about areas where math and…” — Martin Gardner",
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                    "position": 27,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“Creationists eagerly seek a gap in present-day knowledge or understanding. If an apparent gap is found, it is assumed that God, by default, must fill it. What worries thoughtful theologians such as Bonhoeffer is that gaps shrink as science advances, and God is threatened with eventually having nothing to do and nowhere to hide.”",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Richard Dawkins"
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                            "caption": "“Creationists eagerly seek a gap in present-day knowledge or understanding. If an apparent gap is found, it…” — Richard Dawkins",
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                    "position": 28,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“Evangelical Christians need to notice..., that the Reformation said 'Scripture Alone' and not 'the Revelation of God in Christ Alone'. If you do not have the view of the Scriptures that the Reformers had, you really have no content in the word 'Christ' - and this is the modern drift in theology. Modern theology uses the word without content because 'Christ' is cut away from the Scriptures. The Reformation followed the teaching of Christ Himself in linking the revelation Christ gave of God to the revelation of the written Scriptures.”",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Francis A. Schaeffer"
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                            "caption": "“Evangelical Christians need to notice..., that the Reformation said 'Scripture Alone' and not 'the…” — Francis A. Schaeffer",
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                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Roman Catholics utter their Papal edicts, Protestants quote their Bible, Fundamentalists declare their orthodox theological dogmas, and we are all expected to renounce private reflection and peacefully acquiesce to these pronouncements. And the result is that the dignity of the person is violated by such oppressive, intelligence-smothering forms of communication.",
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                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Robert H. Schuller"
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                        "text": "“With theology as a code of dogmas which are to be believed, or at any rate repeated, under penalty of present or future punishment, or as a storehouse of anaesthetics for those who find the pains of life too hard to bear, I have nothing to do; and, so far as it may be possible, I shall avoid the expression of any opinion as to the objective truth or falsehood of the systems of theological speculation of which I may find occasion to speak. From my present point of view, theology is regarded as a natural product of the operations of the human mind, under the conditions of its existence, just as any other branch of science, or the arts of architecture, or music, or painting are such products. Like them, theology has a history. Like them also, it is to be met with in certain simple and rudimentary forms; and these can be connected by a multitude of gradations, which exist or have existed, among people of various ages and races, with the most highly developed theologies of past and present times.”",
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                        "text": "Discipleship means adherence to Christ and, because Christ is the object of that adherence, it must take the form of discipleship. An abstract theology, a doctrinal system, a general religious knowledge of the subject of grace or the forgiveness of sins, render discipleship superfluous, and in fact exclude any idea of discipleship whatsoever, and are essentially inimical to the whole conception of following Christ…Christianity without the living Christ is inevitably Christianity without discipleship, and Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.",
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                        "text": "“I agree with yours of the 22d that a professorship of Theology should have no place in our institution . but we cannot always do what is absolutely best. those with whom we act, entertaining different views, have the power and the right of carrying them into practice. truth advances, & error recedes step by step only; and to do to our fellow-men the most good in our power, we must lead where we can, follow where we cannot, and still go with them, watching always the favorable moment for helping them to another step. [ Comment on establishing Jefferson's University of Virginia, a secular college, in a letter to Thomas Cooper 7 October 1814 ]”",
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                        "text": "Religion, therefore, as I now ask you arbitrarily to take it, shall mean for us the feelings, acts, and experiences of individual men in their solitude, so far as they apprehend themselves to stand in relation to whatever they may consider the divine. Since the relation may be either moral, physical, or ritual, it is evident that out of religion in the sense in which we take it, theologies, philosophies, and ecclesiastical organizations may secondarily grow.",
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                        "text": "I think gardening is nearer to godliness than theology. True gardeners are both iconographers and theologians insofar as these activities are the fruit of prayer 'without ceasing.' Likewise, true gardeners never cease to garden, not even in their sleep, because gardening is not just something they do. It is how they live.",
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                        "text": "Reformed theology does NOT teach that God brings the ELECT kicking and screaming, against their will, into His kingdom. It teaches that God so-works in the hearts of the Elect as to make them willing and pleased to come to Christ. They come to Christ because they want to. They want to because God has created in their hearts a desire for Christ.",
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                        "text": "“Truth changes with the season of our emotions. It is the shadow that moves with the phases of our inner sun. When the nights falls, only our perception can guess where it hides in the dark. Within every solar system of the soul lies a plan of what truth is--- the design God has created, in our own unique story. This is as varying as the constellations, and as turning as the tide. It is not one truth we live to, but many. If we ever hope to determine if there is such a thing as truth, apart from cultural and personal preferences, we must acknowledge that we are then aiming to discover something greater than ourselves, something that transcends culture and individual inclinations. Some say that we must look beyond ourselves and outside of ourselves. However, we don’t need to look farther than what is already in each other. If there was any great plan from a higher power it is a simplistic, repetitious theme found in all religions; the basic core importance to unity comes from shared theological and humanistic virtues. Beyond the synagogue, mosques, temples, churches, missionary work, church positions and religious rituals comes a simple “message of truth” found in all of us, that binds theology---holistic virtues combined with purpose is the foundation of spiritual evolution. The diversity among us all is not divided truth, but the opportunity for unity through these shared values. Truth is the framework and roadmap of positive virtues. It unifies diversity when we choose to see it and use it. It is simple message often lost among the rituals, cultural traditions and socializing that goes on behind the chapel doors of any religion or spiritual theology. As we fight among ourselves about what religion, culture or race is right, we often lose site of the simple message any great orator has whispered through time----a simplistic story explaining the importance of virtues, which magically reemphasizes the importance of loving one another through service.”",
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                        "text": "Theology asserts propositions that cannot be proven true; ideologues hold stoutly to a worldview despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality. When ideology and theology couple, their offspring are not always bad but they are always blind. And there is the danger: voters and politicians alike, oblivious to the facts.",
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                        "text": "The quickest way to detect a cult is to sniff for doublethink. The cult seeks control over its membership not by providing a coherent theological system but by providing the opposite: an unstable theology infinitely malleable to the needs of the cult's top echelon and uninterpretable at all times to anyone below that level.",
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                        "text": "“If I have so far argued that Foucault is a kind of closet liberal and thus deeply modern, I need to be equally critical of evangelical (and especially American) Christianity's modernity and its appropriation of Enlightenment notions of the autonomous self. Indeed, many otherwise orthodox Christians, who recoil at the notion of theological liberalism, have unwittingly adopted notions of freedom and autonomy that are liberal to the core. Averse to hierarchies and control, contemporary evangelicalism thrives on autonomy: the autonomy of the nondenominational church, at a macrocosmic level, and the autonomy of the individual Christian, at the microcosmic level. And it does not seem to me that the emerging church has changed much on this score; indeed, some elements of emergent spirituality are intensifications of this affirmation of autonomy and a laissez-faire attitude with respect to institutions.”",
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                        "text": "“I am, of course, aware that for over two hundred years scholars have laboured to keep history and theology, or history and faith, at arm’s length from one another. There is a good intention behind this move: each of these disciplines has its own proper shape and logic, and cannot simply be turned into a branch of the other.”",
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