Quote by Rodney Stark

“Virtue is a priest, kindness is a bishop, faith is a pope, and love is a religion.”

— Matshona Dhliwayo

“It was Pope Innocent III who placed in the hands of the church this terrible weapon of persecution, and who, by the awful severity…

— Rafael Sabatini

“He believed that all forms of government were spiritually bankrupt, that the only true way to follow Jesus was to be radically self-reliant –…

— Catherine Lacey

“Another reason these opponents find it difficult to comprehend the Papacy is a perspective, inherited from the Protestant Reformation, that is essentially anti-sacramental, anti-mediational,…

— Stephen K. Ray

“...the Pope vigorously upholds the real power of redemption to liberate the human heart from the domination of lust, calling men and women to…

— Christopher West

“Theology, after all, was made for the sake of the church, not the church for theology.”

— N.T. Wright

“And here, though it makes an odd sound, yet it is necessary to say, that whoever professes himself a member of the Church of…

— Jonathan Swift

“The most important segments of many religious dogmas are not their ethical principles, but rather factual statements such as ‘God exists’, ‘the soul is…

— Yuval Noah Harari

“The church belongs to Jesus—and its growth and health depend fully upon His power and our obedience to Him.”

— Paul Chappell

“will say this much for the nobility: that, tyrannical, murderous, rapacious, and morally rotten as they were, they were deeply and enthusiastically religious. Nothing…

— Mark Twain

“the church has unhesitatingly privileged the creed and let the canon fend for itself—”

— N.T. Wright

Once you have somebody that is telling you, 'We are interpreting God for you,' it seems like you either agree or you don't. You…

— Penn Jillette