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118 quotes associated with keyword ApologeticsIf only God would give me some clear sign! Like making a large deposit in my name at a Swiss bank. view
Absurdity, n.: A statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one's own opinion. view
A conclusion is the place where you get tired of thinking. view
But reason has also discerned that all previous cultures were founded by and on gods or belief in gods. Only if the new regimes are enormous successes, able to rival the creative genius and splendor of other cultures, could reason's rational foundings be ... view
"There is no God," the foolish saith, But none, "There is no sorrow." And nature oft the cry of faith In bitter need will borrow: Eyes which the preacher could not school, By wayside graves are raised; And lip... view
on the ACLU's suit to have a city nativity scene removed: They're just jealous because they don't have three wise men and a virgin in the whole organization. view
Examinations are formidable even to the best prepared, for the greatest fool may ask more than the wisest man can answer. view
Gravitation cannot be blamed for people falling in love. view
A Russian astronaut and a Russian brain surgeon were once discussing religion. The brain surgeon was a Christian but the astronaut was not. The astronaut said, "I've been out in space many times but I've never seen God or angels." And the brain surgeon sa... view
“Why do we cross our fingers during turbulence, even the most atheistic among us?” asked Atran when we spoke at his Upper West Side pied-à-terre in January. Atran, who is 55, is an anthropologist at the National Center for Scientific Research in Pari... view
The idea that religion can be studied as a natural phenomenon might seem to require an atheistic philosophy as a starting point. Not necessarily. Even some neo-atheists aren’t entirely opposed to religion. Sam Harris practices Buddhist-inspired meditati... view
Folkpsychology, as Atran and his colleagues see it, is essential to getting along in the contemporary world, just as it has been since prehistoric times. It allows us to anticipate the actions of others and to lead others to believe what we want them to b... view
... And malt does more than Milton can To justify God's ways to man view
I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else. view
It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in argument. view
The conflict is thus no longer between faith and reason but between a reasonable faith and a faithless reason. view
You have not converted a man because you have silenced him. view
Tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy. view
There is enough light for those who desire only to see, and enough darkness for those of a contrary disposition. view
When we want to correct someone usefully and show him he is wrong, we must see from what point of view he is approaching the matter, for it is usually right from that point of view, and we must admit this, but show him the point of view from which he is w... view
The heart has its reasons that the reason does not know. view
Principles are felt, propositions proved, and both with certainty though by different means. It is just as pointless and absurd for reason to demand proof of first principles from the heart before agreeing to accept them as it would be absurd for the hear... view
According to Pascal, there are two main pseudo-solutions to the meaninglessness of life without God: diversion and indifference. view
The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact than a drunken man is happier than a sober one. [Except that the state of drunkenness demonstrates the existence of alcohol -Glen] view
The gospel cannot be "proved," he says, because that would presuppose a truth more fundamental than the gospel, by which the gospel can be proved. view
The article cited new research saying that 91% of American women and 85% of men pray--but perhaps most amazing was the finding that one out of five atheists and agnostics prays each day! view
No one in the world speaks blemishless grammar; no one has ever written in--no one, either in the world or out of it (taking the Scriptures for evidence on the latter point); therefore it would not be fair to exact grammatical perfection from the people o... view
If someone says "Prove to me God exists," say "What would you accept as proof?" view
Going to church does not make a person religious, nor does going to school make a person educated, any more than going to a garage makes a person a car. view
God is dead - Nietzsche Nietzsche is dead - God view
I do not believe in God, but I want my banker, my lawyer and my doctor to do so. view
One can't proceed from the informal to the formal by formal means. view
I have never assumed that the people I talk to are so certain it is true that the question is not still very much alive for them. Is anyone ever that certain? I assume always that they want to know if it is true as much as I do myself. I assume that even ... view
I have put no emphasis on the virgin birth in the course of this chapter. This is not because I do not believe in it, for I do; but because, as I understand it, the account of Christ's miraculous birth was given in the Gospels for the sake of thos... view
It is of no use to say that Christ, as exhibited in the Gospels, is not historical, and that we know not how much of what is admirable has been super-added by the tradition of his followers. Who among his disciples or among their proselytes was c... view
The essential amorality of all atheist doctrines is often hidden from us by an irrelevant personal argument. We see that many articulate secularists are well-meaning and law-abiding men; we see them go into righteous indignation over injustice and oft... view
If Christianity should happen to be true -- that is to say, if its God is the real God of the universe -- then defending it may mean talking about anything and everything. Things can be irrelevant to the proposition that Christianity is false, but... view
Old truths must be constantly re-stated if they are not to be forgotten. To Homer, the dawn was "rosy-fingered"; to Shakespeare, it was "in russet mantle clad"; to Housman, "the ship of sunrise burning". The scientist can explain exactly why the... view
FROM CHAPTER ONE From Minister to Agnostic Some five hundred miles north of where Billy Graham was staging his Indianapolis campaign, I tracked [John] Templeton to a modern high-rise building in a middle-class neighborhood of Toronto. Taking the el... view
The evidence for Christian truth is not exhaustive, but it is sufficient. Too often, Christianity has not been tried and found wanting--it has been found wanting, and not tried. view
A few years ago, it was my privilege to speak on the campus of Toccoa Falls Bible College in Toccoa Falls, Georgia. My host led me along a lovely walkway to the famed Toccoa Falls, some 186 feet of plunging water. Beautiful... And, on one night, dead... view
A certain group of scholars, mostly German or influenced by German protestant theology, has rushed to abandon positions before they were attacked, and to demythologize the Gospel message when there was no clear evidence that intelligent minds outs... view
I have chosen the image of the journey because I think it is the deepest and most universal image in human life. And a number of my friends who are apologists say, "Well, that's not logical." And I come back and say that it is actually more logical than t... view
Two elements of apologetics: (not a quote) negative: pushing them to the logic of their contradictions, "relativizing the relativizers" positive: pushing them to the logic of their aspirations, "signals of transcendence" view
you know the argument: "After Auschwitz there can be no God." But as Victor Frankel points out, the person who wrote that declaration had never been to Auschwitz. In fact, more people deepened or discovered faith while in Auschwitz than lost it. view
[this is an excerpts from In Two Minds] Sometimes I almost feel on fire with the immensity of this: each of us is a person, alive, growing, and relating. From the moment we wake to the moment we fall asleep we think, we feel, we choose, we speak, we act,... view
If you are a Christian you do not have to believe that all the other religions are simply wrong all through. If you are an atheist you do have to believe that the main point in all the religions of the whole world is simply one huge mistake. If you are a ... view
When a comparison is made of the variant readings of the New Testament with those of other books which have survived from antiquity, the results are little short of astounding. For instance, although there are some 200,000 "errors" among the New ... view
In the long run, the answer to all those who object to the doctrine of hell is... a question: "What are you asking God to do?" To wipe out their past sins and, at all costs, to give them a fresh start, smoothing every difficulty and offering every mi... view
The attempt to make God just in the eyes of sinful men will always lead to error. view
The very strength and facility of the pessimists' case at once poses us a problem. If the universe is so bad, or even half so bad, how on earth did human beings ever come to attribute it to the activity of a wise and good Creator? Men are fools,... view
I suppose that every age has its own particular fantasy: ours is science. A seventeenth-century man like Blaise Pascal, who thought himself a mathematician and scientist of genius, found it quite ridiculous that anyone should suppose that rationa... view
If Christianity is false, it is of no importance. If Christianity is true, it is of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is of moderate importance. view
from PreachingToday.com "After six years given to the impartial investigation of Christianity as to its truth or falsity, I have come to the deliberate conclusion that Jesus Christ is the Messiah of the Jews, the Savior of the world, and my personal Savi... view
On my door there's a cartoon of two turtles. One says, "Sometimes I'd like to ask why he allows poverty, famine, and injustice when he could do something about it." The other turtle says, "I'm afraid God might ask me the same question." view
"it seems to me that there is no use proving the existence of God any more than there is any use in proving the existence of love. I'm really sure that love exists, despite the lack of proof, and God IS love." this quote is from an email sent to SAR l... view
If someone wants proof that [Jesus] is alive... all I can say in honesty is that I have none to give. No preacher can prove it, no teacher, no book, not even the Bible. It defies logic and reason, and it breaks the laws of nature as we understand them. ... view
Musician Michael Card said in an interview: Again and again in China I talked to people who had never heard of Christianity, never heard of Jesus, never heard a single word from the Bible. Yet through nature and their God-given conscience, many believed ... view
An egg that came from no bird is no more natural than a bird that has always existed. view
"I want atheism to be true and am made uneasy by the fact that some of the most intelligent and well-informed people I know are religious believers. It isn't just that I don't believe in God and, naturally hope that I'm right in my belief. It's that I ho... view
A 20TH CENTURY MYTH by Dr. Jaafar Sheikh Idris One of the myths of our century, a myth that is believed by almost all atheists as well as many theists, is that rationality and science are on the side of unbelief. As a corollary of this myth, unbelief... view
Frost: Do you believe in the Sermon on the Mount? Gates: I don't. I'm not somebody who goes to church on a regular basis. The specific elements of Christianity are not something I'm a huge believer in. There's a lot of merit in the moral aspects of reli... view
Gates was profiled in a January 13, 1996 TIME magazine cover story. Here are some excerpts compiled by the Drudge Report: "Isn't there something special, perhaps even divine, about the human soul?" interviewer Walter Isaacson asks Gates "His face sudden... view
John and Mary Pay a Visit This morning there was a knock at my door. When I answered the door I found a well groomed, nicely dressed couple. The man spoke first: "Hi! I'm John, and this is Mary." Mary: "Hi! We're here to invite you to come kiss Hank's ... view
Richard Wurmbrand, a Romanian Jew, has been called "the voice of the underground church." In the 1940s, he was jailed and tortured by communist officials in his home country. While imprisoned, he spoke boldly of the gospel to his atheistic captors. About... view
Many writers have critically examined the gospels to show that no proof exists for the facts they relate about the life of Christ, even strongly suggesting that He may never have existed. Archbishop Whateley wrote a little work, Historic Doubts Relative t... view
People who attend religious services and pray perform more acts of kindness each year than those who don't attend services, reports The National Opinion Research Center (NORC). An NORC study found people who never attend services helped others about 96 t... view
Pray Together, Stay Together? Want a marriage that lasts? Dust off your hymnal. A 15-year study found that couples who went to church once a month were less than half as likely to divorce than non-churchgoers. In the study, 37 percent of those who rar... view
Unfortunately, many people assume the Bible is an unreliable document. The truth is that of all ancient literature the New Testament is the most well-authenticated document, with an overwhelming amount of evidence supporting its reliability. There are mor... view
Author Richard Exley writes: I know one minister who returned to his pulpit ten days after his son committed suicide. Under duress he read his text: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called accord... view
[after conducting a poll on religion around the globe] I haven't said much about our poll results, because there's a certain rabbit-from-hat quality we need on the night. But something did catch my eye as we went through them. And maybe I have some rethi... view
"Sigma Xi, the international honor society for scientific and engineering research, polled its members about religion and found that 41 percent of Ph.D. scientists reported that they attended church on a typical Sunday. Another survey found 52 percent of ... view
If your religion does not change you, then you should change your religion. view
Without somehow destroying me in the process, how could God reveal himself in a way that would leave no room for doubt? If there were no room for doubt, there would be no room for me. view
""There may be signs of (Gods) existence, but they point both ways and are therefore ambiguous and so prove nothing... The wonders of the universe do not convince those most conversant with the wonders, the scientists themselves." view
I felt something more, like stabs of joy. These pointed to something other and outer. -- view
Any philosophy that can be put in a nutshell belongs there. -- Sydney J. Harris view
The great religions were first preached and long practiced in a world without chloroform. view
If we believe absurdities, we shall commit atrocities. view
It is the test of a good religion whether you can joke about it. view
Responding to the question, 'What does it take to make a good theologian?' Martin Luther is reported to have answered, 'Suffering.' By: Martin Luther view
Before I am saved, Christians will have to look more saved. By: Friedreich Nietzsche view
When the learned skeptic says, 'The visions of the Old Testament were local, and rustic, and grotesque,' we shall answer: 'Of course. They were genuine.' By: G.K. Chesterton Source: Ward, pg. 175-6, Wisdom and Innocence by Joseph Pearce, Ignatius Press, ... view
The existence of evil and suffering in the world is a proof, not that God is either good but powerless, or all powerful and not good. On the contrary, it is proof that God is both loving and omnipotent. Only absolute love could grant unhindered freedom, a... view
One of the reasons that C.S. Lewis is still so popular and still speaks to people in this age is that he dealt with both reason and imagination. And he said at one point in his writings that "Reason is the natural organ of truth, and imagination is the or... view
Our greatness and wretchedness are so evident that the true religion must necessarily teach us that there is in us some great principle of greatness and some great principle of wretchedness. It must also account for such amazing contradictions. To make ... view
[He had many] questions he knew God would not answer. I listened to his questions and tried to stay as quiet as God. After all, Im Gods ambassador, and ambassadors shouldnt make things up." - Pastor David Hanson, Leadership (Fall 2003) view
Paul read pagan poets. In his writings he quotes Epimenides of Crete (Titus 1:12), Aratus of Cilicia (Acts 17:28) and Menander, author of the Greek comedy Thais (1 Corinthians 15:33). view
This column was syndicated by Scripps Howard News Service on 01/12/2005 Believers often wrestle with tragedy and death on the Mukono campus of the Uganda Christian University. Families are large and disease common, affecting young and old. Terrorism and... view
http://www.christianitytoday.com/bc/2005/001/3.8.html American Christians live in the richest nation on earth and enjoy an average household income of $42,409.17 The World Bank reports that 1.2 billion of the world's poorest people try to survive on ju... view
"most Americans feel the same way about hockey as they do conservative Christianity: they want for it to exist as long as they never, ever have to encounter it." http://www.collegehumor.com/?update_id=158 view
Believe in God and you will have to face hours when it seems obvious that this material world is the only reality; disbelieve in Him and you must face hours when this material world seems to shout at you that it is not all. No conviction, religious or irr... view
Thomas Aquinas, too, apparently could not raise himself above his times. In the Summa Theologica he poses the question of whether heretics can be endured, tolerated. And his answer is that heretics can not be tolerated. If it was just to condemn counterfe... view
There are no entirely false opinions. The listener, then, must proceed from what is valid in the opinions of the speaker to the fuller and purer truth as he, the listener, understands it. view
When I told him [his friend Sydney Cockerell] I had become a Catholic he was genuinely puzzled, saying, `But how can you believe in a creative, all-good, all-wise God, knowing that you have an appendix, which is a totally useless organ and can prove dange... view
Many students have a teflon piety - no matter what you tell them they keep believing what they believe. (paraphrased) view
The intoxication of anger, like that of the grape, shows us to others, but hides us from ourselves. We injure our own cause in the opinion of the world when we too passionately defend it. view
I was new and nurturing a transcendent hatred of Ohio. Verm found out I liked the Smiths, and we started swapping tapes. Before long, we were hanging out after school. Then the moment came that always comes when you make friends with a born-again: "Listen... view
As early as the 7th century the church was condemning slavery. Slavery was unknown in Medieval Europe as a result, and when it came to New World slavery it was grounds for excommunication. How come nobody knows this? view
paraphrased: Paul's apologetic to Felix (sin, righteousness, and the coming judgement) included points of relevance, reference, and disturbance. view
Sometimes when I'm faced with an unbeliever, an atheist, I am tempted to invite him to the greatest gourmet dinner that one could ever serve, and when we finished eating that magnificent dinner, to ask him if he believes there's a cook. view
When I stumble upon a passage exhorting genocide, I grab my sword and cast about for any Amelekites that have the misfortune to be within my line of sight. And I then think that God is more complex and scary than I can really wrap my brain around. I've... view
If you cannot express yourself well on each of your beliefs, work and study until you can. If you don’t, other people may miss out on the blessings that come from knowing the truth. Strive to re-express a truth of God to yourself clearly and understanda... view
It's hard to laugh about religion in Northern Ireland, but Oxford theologian Alister McGrath likes to tell the following joke that hints at the challenges he faced as a young skeptic in that troubled land. While visiting Belfast, an Englishman was corn... view
I categorize people’s reasons for believing this way. Dumb Reasons ------------------ 1. An authority figure told me it was true. (They all lie) 2. It’s written in a book. (So is Spiderman) 3. How else could reality come into existence? (Ignora... view
God is infinite while we are finite. We can never fully comprehend the infinite, but we do have within us a spiritual sense that allows us to recognize and enjoy God's presence. The ocean is vast beyond our imagining, and it would never be possible for a ... view
God never discourages a seeker by judging his or her beliefs to be wrong. Rather, God allows each person to recognize spiritual error or truth by degrees. The story is told a poor grass cutter who found a beautiful stone in the jungle. He had often heard ... view
Sometimes people say they are ready to believe in God if only this or that doubt is removed or satisfied. Can one go to a doctor and ask that the pain of a broken arm be removed before the bone is set? This would be ridiculous because the pain is the resu... view
Shortly after his 50th birthday, Einstein also gave a remarkable interview in which he was more revealing than he had ever been about his religious sensibility.... To what extent are you influenced by Christianity? "As a child I received instruction bo... view
[The common notion among intellectuals is that] Christianity has been a source (in the West) of unparalleled oppression and violence and that if Christians had their way, they’d subjugate everyone. This is a popular view and, like most popular views, i... view
Is knowledge of science somehow in conflict with being religious? Childhood religious background, not exposure to scientific education, seems to be the most powerful predictor of future irreligion. Those scientists raised in almost any faith tradition are... view
[The argument goes that because there are marked contrasts in style within the book of Isaiah, there must be multiple authors who each contributed different sections of the book.] ...such differences as there are may be easily accounted for by the change ... view
There is a world--I do not say a world in which all scholars live but one at any rate into which all of them sometimes stray, and which some of them seem permanently to inhabit--which is not the world in which I live. In my world, if The Times and The Tel... view
Moreover, trusting testimony is a normal, perfectly rational thing to do. One can try to test the reliability of witnesses, but then they have to be trusted. We cannot independently verify everything they say and that’s the point of testimony. view
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