Beware of the person of one book.
~ Saint Thomas Aquinas
Give me chastity and continence, but not yet.
~ Saint Augustine of Hippo
If you judge people, you have no time to love them.
~ Mother Teresa
For where God built a church, there the Devil would also build a chapel.
~ Martin Luther
When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a Communist.
~ Archbishop Dom Hélder Pessoa Câmara
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
From The Mouth of Believers
In the interest of showing that people of every ideology have something to offer to intellectual discussion, here are some of my favorite quotes from prominent believers.
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Great quotes! Here's two of my favorites from people of different ideologies:
ReplyDelete“Unless a life is lived for others, it is not worthwhile." -Mother Teresa of Calcutta
"If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall in the ditch." -Jesus Christ
A cool quotes Twitter to follow is HolyWords, which you can check out here- http://twitter.com/HolyWords
Here is one of my favorite from Paul of Tarsus -
ReplyDelete"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry. But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband.
ReplyDelete~ Letter of Paul to the Corinthians (1 Cor 7:1-4)
Ginx, you probably heard about the rational thinkers' forum WeAreSMRT.com right? Are you a member? There is no Ginx... ;)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I am sure other people following your blog might be interested in checking it out.
Too bad a lot of the rest Paul wrote was about women needing to be silent and submit totally to their husbands. Notice also in the quote Ginx posted it is only the wife's body that belongs to both and the wife doesn't own any of the man's body.
ReplyDeleteI could never understand how Paul could write such a wonderful description of love and then turn around to write some very misogynistic things.
Notice also in the quote Ginx posted it is only the wife's body that belongs to both and the wife doesn't own any of the man's body.
ReplyDeleteActually the verse continues as follows: "In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife".
SE's right. I just conveniently cut it off.
ReplyDeleteBut honestly, is it usually the man who turns down the pleasures of the flesh?
1 Corinthians 14:34-35 is none too flattering, either (as Beamstalk pointed out).
Paul was celebate, so he is likely refering to "agape," the love of god for people or a mother for her child.
Ahh thank you SE, I usually know the verses off the top of my head (thank you fundagelical upbringing) but I didn't double check it. There are many other places where Paul takes a very misogynistic tone, as Ginx pointed out. I would think a lot of that is cultural but if you are "speaking for God" you would think you would have a higher standard than cultural bias.
ReplyDeleteYes, in 1 Corinthians 13 he uses agape.
ReplyDeleteI also love the poetry of verse 12 in the KJV:
"For now we see through a glass, darkly."
I don't agree with the sentiment behind it though.
We do see through a glass, darkly. We can't trust our senses, which is why true knowledge only comes with verification from others. Our perception is very flawed individually, and our memory is even worse, but comparing notes with others is how we confirm our reality.
ReplyDeleteIt kind of reminds me of Plato's cave.
Well what Paul is talking about is the afterlife and heaven and being in God's presence, in the context you put it yes I agree, which is why I said I disagree with the sentiment behind it.
ReplyDeleteAquinas was very advanced for his time.
ReplyDeleteThe idea that we could know truth independent of revelation was a huge step forward for Dark Ages Europe - and I wonder if it didn't plant a few of the seeds for the Renaissance and Enlightenment.
I'm curious about St. Augustine, "Give me chastity and continence, but not yet." Any suggestions as to exactly what it is he's saying?
ReplyDeleteHe's saying "Make me able to resist sex... but not yet!"
ReplyDeletePerhaps another quote by St. Augustine will clear things up:
ReplyDelete"Prostitution in towns is like the sewer in a palace; take away the sewers, and the palace becomes an impure and stinking place."