“We ought to be very cautious in the prosecution of magic and heresy. The attempt to put down these two crimes may be extremely perilous to liberty, and may be the origin of a number of petty acts of tyranny if the legislator be not on his guard; for as such an accusation does not bear directly on the overt acts of a citizen, but refers to the idea we entertain of his character.” IfsMayDoeTwoIdeasCharacterLawReligionIndividualJusticeNumbersLibertyMagicCrimeBearsOughtCitizensConscienceTyrannyPersecutionPettyCautiousHeresyLegislatorsAccusationIndividual RightsProsecution Author:Baron de Montesquieu
“There is one god, greatest among gods and men, who bears no similarity to humans either in shape or thought... but humans believe that the gods are born like themselves, and that the gods wear clothes and have bodies like humans and speak in the same way... but if cows and horses or lions had hands or could draw with the hands and manufacture the things humans can make, then horses would draw the forms of gods like horses, cows like cows, and they would make the gods' bodies resemble those which each kind of animal had itself.” IfsMenWayBelieveHumansKindBodyHandsFormReligionSpeakBornAnimalBearsMoralityShapesClothesDrawsHorseLionsCowsSimilarity Author:Xenophanes
“The world has a thousand creeds, and never a one have I; Nor church of my own, though a million spires are pointing the way on high. But I float on the bosom of faith, that bears me along like a river; And the lamp of my soul is alight with love, for life, and the world, and the Giver.” WorldWaySoulReligionChurchMy OwnMillionsBearsThousandRiversMy SoulLove LifeCreedsLampsPointingFloatsGiverBosomsSpires Author:Ella Wheeler Wilcox
“The world of religion is no longer a concrete fact proposed for our acceptance and adoration. It is an unfathomable universe which engulfs us, and which lives its own majestic uncomprehended life: and we discover that our careful maps and cherished definitions bear little relation to its unmeasured reality.” WorldLittlesFactsRealityReligionUniverseAcceptanceBearsRelationDefinitionsCarefulMapsConcreteAdorationMajesticUnfathomable Author:Evelyn Underhill
“Why did the consensus of Christian churches not only accept these astonishing views but establish them as the only true form of Christian doctrine? . . . these religious debates - questions of the nature of God, or of Christ - simultaneously bear social and political implications that are crucial to the development of Christianity as an institutional religion. In simplest terms, ideas which bear implications contrary to that development come to be labeled as 'heresy'; ideas which implicitly support it become 'orthodox.'” IdeasChristianFormPoliticalReligionSocialTermChristChurchReligiousViewsAcceptingChristianitySupportDevelopmentBearsContraryDebateDoctrineOrthodoxCrucialSimplestConsensusAstonishingImplicationsHeresyChristian ChurchChristian Doctrine Author:Elaine Pagels
“The whole of natural theologyresolves itself into one simple, though somewhat ambiguous proposition, That the cause or causesof order in the universe probably bear some remote analogy to human intelligence.” HumansWholeReligionOrderUniverseCausesNaturalSimpleBearsPropositionsAnalogiesAmbiguousHuman IntelligenceOrder In The Universe Author:David Hume
“Christ is the most perfect image of God, into which we are so renewed as to bear the image of God, in knowledge, purity, righteousness, and true holiness.” WisdomTruthAgeReligionChristPerfectKnowledgeHonestyBearsPurityHolinessRighteousnessGod Image Book:The Institutes Of The Christian Religion (Annotated Edition) Source: The Institutes Of The Christian Religion (Annotated Edition)
“The biblical account of Noah's Ark and the Flood is perhaps the most implausible story for fundamentalists to defend. Where, for example, while loading his ark, did Noah find penguins and polar bears in Palestine?” LifeInspirationalStoriesFunnyReligionExampleBearsAccountsBiblicalFloodPalestineArkPenguinsPolar BearsNoah's Ark Author:Judith Hayes