Christianity Quote by Alan Kreider

“This, the Christians believed, was God’s work and not theirs. So they did not engage in frantic action to save those who were not baptized; instead they entrusted the outsiders to God. The church, patiently, also entrusted itself to God, who would bring people into “the community of saints…” quote by Alan Kreider — Download Open image

““This, the Christians believed, was God’s work and not theirs. So they did not engage in frantic action to save those who were not baptized; instead they entrusted the outsiders to God. The church, patiently, also entrusted itself to God, who would bring people into “the community of saints participating in truth” by the arduous means of catechesis and baptism.””

Alan Kreider

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 2.3 out of 5 (3 ratings)

Christianity Truth

More by Alan Kreider

“An unmixed marriage, Christian with Christian—this according to Tertullian enabled believers to live life in its fullness. This is not what we expect from the ascetic Tertullian, who said harsh things about marriage. 66 But here it is—Tertullian celebrating the knitting together of “two who are one,” who together serve the same Master. Nothing divides them. And together they are…

Alan Kreider

“At the heart of early Christian worship was table fellowship. Throughout the first three centuries Christian communities gathered once a week for a meal. Across time these communities moved from an early model, which Tertullian called “our small feasts,” to a later model, which Origen called a “great feast.” 3 I call these models the “evening banquet” and the “morning…

Alan Kreider

“Does my subjectivity shape the book? Of course it does, and that dynamic can be bad or good, or both! For example, in reading the early Christian writers closely I have been astonished to discover the widespread presence of the theme of peace in the life and mission of the church. And I have asked myself: Why have others not…

Alan Kreider

“According to Tertullian, impatient actions do not produce what they promise. Instead, impatient actions make things worse, bringing about massive misfortunes. “Now, nothing undertaken through impatience can be transacted without violence, and everything done with violence has either met with no success or has collapsed or has plunged to its own destruction.” 57 Patience, on the other hand, brings new…

Alan Kreider

“The Christians’ focus was not on “saving” people or recruiting them; it was on living faithfully—in the belief that when people’s lives are rehabituated…

Alan Kreider

Image

“When people seek to follow Christ, according to Origen, God forms them into people who embody this patience. Christ’s followers are not in a hurry; they listen carefully when the word is read and preached, and they patiently call to account straying Christians who attend worship services irregularly. 27 Patient believers trust God. When they are subjected to penitential discipline,…

Alan Kreider

“Origen was most articulate about this struggle. “For you who are redeemed by Christ,” he challenged believers in Caesarea, “a physical sword has been removed from your hands.” But this did not mean they were powerless. “In its place the ‘sword of the Spirit’ has been given and you must seize it.” 131 Christians fight by means of “prayers and…

Alan Kreider

“So, in our imaginative scenario, Constantine the Christian decided to adopt a policy of mission true to the early Christians’ tradition of patience: Regarding paganism: Constantine would abolish state subsidies for pagan temples and sacrifice. But he would not abolish sacrifice (let the aristocrats pay for it if they want to) or plunder the temples. The many forms of paganism…

Alan Kreider

“We can hear the catechist intoning precept 26: “That it is of small account to be baptized and to receive the eucharist unless you…

Alan Kreider

Image

“As Tertullian put it around AD 200, “Christians are made, not born.” 4”

Alan Kreider

Image

“In all their activities Christians are “filled with joy uttering and doing the precepts of the Lord,” teaching their children never to lose hold…

Alan Kreider

Image

“the church’s growth; it is life in “the way of Christ,” distinctive and hopeful. Christians, as Cyprian knew well, were growing in numbers because…

Alan Kreider

Image

Explore all 30 Alan Kreider quotes

More Christianity quotes

Christianity was never meant to be defined by its disciplines, but by its passions.

Bill Johnson

Image

I think, here's what I've realized from interviewing people, and I've been very open about my Catholicism and my love of Christ and I…

Jay Mohr

Image

“God hates Hell. He hates the idea of people going there. He hates it so much that He was willing to take on human…

Evan Minton

Image

“some of my good Baptist brethren in Georgia had done a little preaching from the pulpit against the KKK, I would have a little…

Norman Moss

Image

I pray that wherever we are and whatever duties we have in the priesthood of God, we will be united in the cause to…

Henry B. Eyring

Image

Why do Christians sing when they are together? The reason is, quite simply, because in singing together it is possible for them to speak…

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Image

“every church can treat each discipleship class and each worship service as an opportunity for continual rehearsal of what the words, stories, symbols, rituals,…

Sarah Arthur

Image

The ability of the gospel to unite us on common strengths and common truths is one of the great miracles . . . of the gospel.

Jeffrey R. Holland

Image

“A question for Christians who accept evolution: When did we gain a "soul"? Did Homo habilis have a soul? Homo ergaster? Did God only…

David G. McAfee

Image

The notion of a non-religious Christmas is ridiculous. But so is the insistence on the part of Christians that politicians and retailers carry out their pro-Christmas crusade.

Rachel Campos-Duffy

A real Christian in an odd number anyway. He feels supreme love for One whom he has never seen, talks familiarly every day to Someone he cannot see, expects to go to heaven on the virtue of Another, empties himself in order to be full, admits he is wrong so he can be declared right, goes down in order to…

Anonymous