“This doctrine ['that the condition of man cannot be ameliorated, that what has been must ever be, and that to secure ourselves where we are we must tread with awful reverence in the footsteps of our fathers']is the genuine fruit of the alliance between Church and State, the tenants of which finding themselves but too well in their present condition, oppose all advances which might unmask their usurpations and monopolies of honors, wealth and power, and fear every change as endangering the comforts they now hold.” MenWellsHas BeensStatesMightFatherChurchWealthConditionsHonorComfortFindingsFruitPositive AtheismGenuineDoctrineSecureAwfulReverenceMonopolyOur FatherAlliancesChurch And StateFootstepsTenantsUsurpationPower And Fear Book:Jefferson: Writings Source: Jefferson: Writings
“The Church knows nothing of a sacredness of war. The Church which prays'Our Father'asks God only for peace.” KnowsWarAsksFatherChurchPrayingOur FatherSacredness Author:Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“As a newborn baby breathes and cries, so the signs of life in a newborn Christian are faith and repentance, inhaling the love of God and exhaling an initial cry of distress. And at that point what God provides, exactly as for a newborn infant, is the comfort, protection, and nurturing promise of a mother. "If God is our father, the church is our mother." The words are those of the Swiss Reformer John Calvin ... it is as impossible, unnecessary, and undesirable to be a Christian all by yourself as it is to be a newborn baby all by yourself.” IfsChristianMotherFatherChurchImpossibleCryBabyComfortPromiseProtectionBreatheGod LoveRepentanceUnnecessaryDistressInfantInitialsOur FatherNurturingNewbornReformersSwissUndesirableNewborn BabySigns Of LifeGod ProvidesExhaling Author:N. T. Wright
“If we claim heritage in Bacon, Shakespeare and Milton, we also acknowledge that it was for liberties guaranteed Englishmen by sacred charters our fathers triumphantly fought. While wisely rejecting throne and caste and privilege and an Established Church in their new-born state, they adopted the substance of English liberty and the body of English law.” IfsStatesBodyLawFatherBornChurchLibertyClaimsSacredPrivilegeSubstanceAcknowledgeHeritageThronesAdoptedOur FatherEnglishmenRejectingCharterCastesMiltonEnglish Law Book:Oration and memorial addresses Source: Oration and memorial addresses
“If we all gave all our goods to the poor, the church would fall apart. If we all hated our father and mother, as Jesus told us to, there'd be an end of the church's emphasis on the family as being the one important thing holding the whole society together. There are all sorts of ways in which the church's teachings contradict directly what Jesus says in the Gospel.” IfsWayImportantEndsWholeTogetherMotherFallFatherJesusChurchPoorTeachingImportant ThingsHatedGoodsEmphasisFalling ApartOur Father Author:Philip Pullman