--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Today, on our own turf, we face pagan…" description: "\"Today, on our own turf, we face pagan ignorance about God every bit as deep as that which the early church faced in the Roman Empire.\" — J. I. Packer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/74a/j-i-packer-1856_bits_today-on-our-own-turf-we-face-pagan-igno_232596.png" --- # Today, on our own turf, we face pagan ignorance about God… ![“Today, on our own turf, we face pagan ignorance about God every bit as deep as that which the early church faced in the Roman Empire.” quote by J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/74a/j-i-packer-1856_bits_today-on-our-own-turf-we-face-pagan-igno_232596.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/74a/j-i-packer-1856_bits_today-on-our-own-turf-we-face-pagan-igno_232596.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/74a/j-i-packer-1856_bits_today-on-our-own-turf-we-face-pagan-igno_232596.png) > “Today, on our own turf, we face pagan ignorance about God every bit as deep as that which the early church faced in the Roman Empire.” [J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote compares modern secular ignorance about God to the early church’s challenges, highlighting persistent misunderstanding across ages. **In simple terms:** People still misunderstand God today. Key Takeaway Recognize enduring cultural resistance. Themes faith ignorance history Mood concerned serious Type theological observational When to use this quote - church outreach - public discourse - education programs Key Concepts secularism religious conflict cultural shift Questions to Reflect On - How does today’s secularism differ from ancient paganism? - What can churches learn from past challenges? A Different Perspective Modern contexts differ; not all ignorance is identical. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bits/) [Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/church/) [Church Faced](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/church-faced-2351279/) [Empires](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empires/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Ignorance God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance-god-864958/) [Pagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pagan/) [Pagan Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pagan-ignorance-2351278/) [Roman empire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/roman-empire/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) [Turf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turf/) ## Related quotes > [But how shall we excuse the supine inattention of the Pagan and philosophic world to those evidences which were presented by the hand of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/but-how-shall-we-excuse-the-supine-inattention-of-the-pagan-and/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [The Doxology ... that testimonial to the Platonic Trinity, which divided the Roman Empire into at least eighteen quarreling sects, none of whom knew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-hurmence-green/the-doxology-that-testimonial-to-the-platonic-trinity-which-divided/) [Ruth Hurmence Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-hurmence-green/) > [I think it's important to realise that what happens in Neo-Platonism beginning with Plotinus and Porphyry and then going on for the next several…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-adamson/i-think-it-s-important-to-realise-that-what-happens-in-neo-platonism/) [Peter Adamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-adamson/) > [As the Roman Empire came to its close, all the old gods of the pagan world were seen as demons by the Christians who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/as-the-roman-empire-came-to-its-close-all-the-old-gods-of-the-pagan/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) > [People came into the Church in the Roman Empire because the Church was so good-Catholics were so good to one another, and they were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-greeley/people-came-into-the-church-in-the-roman-empire-because-the-church/) [Andrew Greeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-greeley/) > [“labelling our ignorance "God".”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/labelling-our-ignorance-god/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [If the history of science shows us anything, it is that we get nowhere by labeling our ignorance “God”.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-the-history-of-science-shows-us-anything-it-is-that-we-get-nowhere/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Ignorance is God's prison. Knowing is God's palace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/ignorance-is-god-s-prison-knowing-is-god-s-palace/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [No one infers a god from the simple, from the known, from what is understood, but from the complex, from the unknown, and incomprehensible.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/no-one-infers-a-god-from-the-simple-from-the-known-from-what-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Every human being is a god today. A god, who creates his own world employing deceit, envy, betrayal, murder, legality, obligation, superstition, faith, devotion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shankar-lamichhane/every-human-being-is-a-god-today-a-god-who-creates-his-own-world/) [Shankar Lamichhane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shankar-lamichhane/) > [Wisdom leads to unity, but ignorance to separation. So long as God seems to be outside and far away, there is ignorance. But when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramakrishna/wisdom-leads-to-unity-but-ignorance-to-separation-so-long-as-god/) [Ramakrishna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramakrishna/) > [“Against ignorance, God Himself is helpless.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-j-lawrence/against-ignorance-god-himself-is-helpless/) [R.J. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-j-lawrence/) > [Our ignorance is God; what we know is science. When we abandon the doctrine that some infinite being created matter and force, and enacted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/our-ignorance-is-god-what-we-know-is-science-when-we-abandon-the/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [Our ignorance of God is too great, because our estimations of God are too little.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-charnock/our-ignorance-of-god-is-too-great-because-our-estimations-of-god-are/) [Stephen Charnock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-charnock/) > [There are many aspects of the universe that still cannot be explained satisfactorily by science; but ignorance implies only ignorance that may someday be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/there-are-many-aspects-of-the-universe-that-still-cannot-be-explained/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) ## More by J. I. Packer > [We need to discover all over again that worship is natural to the Christian, as it was to the godly Israelites who wrote the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer/we-need-to-discover-all-over-again-that-worship-is-natural-to-the/) [J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) > [What matters supremely, therefore, is not, in the last analysis, the fact that I know God, but the larger fact which underlies it -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer/what-matters-supremely-therefore-is-not-in-the-last-analysis-the-fact/) [J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) > [For what higher, more exalted, and more compelling goal can there be than to know God?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer/for-what-higher-more-exalted-and-more-compelling-goal-can-there-be/) [J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) > [Fanciful spiritualizing, so far from yielding God's meaning, actually obscured it. 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Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) > [Maturity is a compound of wisdom, goodwill, resilience, and creativity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer/maturity-is-a-compound-of-wisdom-goodwill-resilience-and-creativity/) [J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) > [The peace of God is first and foremost peace with God; it is the state of affairs in which God, instead of being against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer/the-peace-of-god-is-first-and-foremost-peace-with-god-it-is-the-state/) [J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) > [God is triune; there are within the Godhead three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; and the work of salvation is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer/god-is-triune-there-are-within-the-godhead-three-persons-the-father/) [J. I. 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