“In other days people chose a church on the basis of their doctrinal convictions. Now, lacking doctrinal convictions, they choose for social reasons.” PeopleReasonChristianSocialChurchBasesConvictionChristian InspirationalLacking Author:Vance Havner
“Real revival does not begin with joyous singing. It begins with conviction and repentance on the part of Christians.” DoeRealChristianSingingConvictionChristian InspirationalRepentanceRevivalJoyous Author:Vance Havner
“Too much preaching nowadays pats the back and tickles the ear, but does not get under the skin. There is no conviction and therefore no conversion. I am thinking not only of the ministry of reproof and rebuke but also of the message of inspiration, of encouragement, of comfort. People go out of church at noon with the depths unstirred, the heart untouched, the conscience unpricked.” PeopleThinkingHeartDoeInspirationChristianChurchToo MuchComfortMessagesConscienceSkinsEarsEncouragementDepthConvictionChristian InspirationalConversionMinistryPreachingNoonRebukeReproof Author:Vance Havner
“He who has not yet attained divine knowledge energized by love is proud of his spiritual progress. But he who has been granted such knowledge repeats with deep conviction the words uttered by the patriarch Abraham when he was granted the manifestation of God: 'I am dust and ashes' (Gen. 18:27).” Has BeensChristianSpiritualLove IsProgressDivineProudConvictionDustGrantedManifestationRepeatsOrthodoxAshesOrthodox ChristianAbrahamSpiritual ProgressPatriarch Author:Maximus the Confessor
“when Christian theology becomes traditionalism and men fail to hold and use it as they do a living language, it becomes an obstacle, not a help to religious conviction. To the greatest of the early Fathers and the great scholastics theology was a language which, like all language, had a grammar and a vocabulary from the past, but which they used to express all the knowledge and experience of their own time as well.” MenWellsHelpingUseChristianPastUsedReligionFatherLanguageReligiousFailingConvictionObstaclesTheologyVocabularyGrammarKnowledge And ExperienceChristian TheologyScholastics Author:Lily Dougall
“What I got in Sunday school ... was simply a firm conviction that the Christian faith was full of palpable absurdities, and the Christian God preposterous.... The act of worship, as carried on by Christians, seems to me to be debasing rather than ennobling. It involves groveling before a being who, if he really exists, deserves to be denounced instead of respected.” IfsSeemsSchoolChristianAtheismWorshipDeserveConvictionPositive AtheismFirmSundayAbsurdityChristian FaithSunday SchoolChristian GodGroveling Author:H. L. Mencken
“The arbitrary division between church and state... is used, as an easily identifiable rallying point, to subdue the opinions of that vast body of citizens who represent those with religious convictions.” StatesBodyChristianUsedChurchReligiousOpinionCitizensConvictionDivisionArbitraryChurch And StateRallyingRallying Point Author:Francis Schaeffer
“Christian action in the world will not be sustained or carried on in an intelligent and effective manner unless it is supported by doctrinal convictions that have achieved some degree of clarity.” WorldActionChristianDegreesIntelligentConvictionClarity Author:John Macquarrie
“The power of these recommendations is that they come from leaders representing a broad spectrum of religious conviction. At the table were people with Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Native American and humanist perspectives, as well as individuals from advocacy groups ranging from the American Civil Liberties Union to the American Center for Law and Justice.” PeopleWellsChristianLawIndividualReligiousJusticeLibertyLeaderGroupsPerspectiveTablesUnionsConvictionNativeHumanistBroadsHinduismNative AmericanSpectrumRepresentingCivil LibertiesAdvocacyRecommendationsLaw And Justice Author:Charles Haynes
“Whenever the early Christians entered a town the power structure got disturbed and immediately sought to convict them for being "disturbers of the peace" and "outside agitators." But they went on with the conviction that they were "a colony of heaven," and had to obey God rather than man. They were small in number but big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be "astronomically intimidated." They brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contest.” MenEndsBigsChristianEvilHeavenPeaceNumbersCommitmentTownsStructureAncientConvictionContestsDisturbedIntimidatedColonyConvictsIntoxicatedInfanticide Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.