Great Quotations

This page contains quotes from my readings that have given me food for thought. 

Sadhu Sundar Singh, Essential Writings

Page 31, “Atheists deny the existence of God altogether, but they cannot prove their claim that God does not exist.”

Page 32, “Some claim that God is unknowable, but this is utter non-sense. Such an assertion can only be made on the basis of some kind of limited knowledge of God. If God is completely beyond our knowing, how can we know that he is unknowable?”

Page 34, “If it were helpful or necessary for us to know God perfectly now, then God would have provided the means to meet that need…how can we expect to have full knowledge of the Creator when even our knowledge of created things is limited.”

Page 71 “If we open our hearts in prayer and meditation, the warming rays of the sun are always there to heal the wounds of our sins and to give us perfect spiritual health.”

Page 55, “By leading a life of prayer, we receive from God the gift to dwell in the spiritual realm even while we remain in the material world. If we live in prayer, no force of evil or temptation can overcome us; we remain in safe communion with God without fear.”

The Dawkins Delusion, by Alister and Joanna McGrath

Page 38, “Scientific theories cannot be said to ‘explain the world’—they only explain the phenomena that are observed within the world.”

In response to Ludwig Feuerbach argument that God was basically an invention dreamed up by to human beings to provide metaphysical and spiritual consolation (a view that Richard Dawkins embraces), the authors state on page 54, “For a start, wanting something is no demonstration that it does not exist. Human thirst points to the need for water. It also suggests that all worldviews are a response to human needs and desires–including, of course, atheism, which can be seen as a response to the human desire for moral autonomy.”

Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life , by Henri Nouwen. 

On page 18, Nouwen quotes Henry David Thoreau, “When our life ceases to be inward and private, conversation degenerates into mere gossip…In proportion as our inward life fails, we go more constantly and desperately to the post office.”

Page 21, “It is our vocation to prevent the harmful exposure of our inner sanctuary, not only for our own protection but also as a service to our fellow human beings…Just as words lose their power when they are not born out of silence, so openess loses its meaning when there is no ability to be closed.”

Page 33, ”Once we have tasted this solitude a new life becomes possible, in which we can become detached from false ties and attached to God and each other in a surprisingly new way.” 

Page 30, “Without the solitude of heart, our relationships with others easily become needy and greedy, sticky and clinging, dependent and sentimental, exploitative and parasitic, because without the solitude of heart we cannot experience the others as different from ourselves but only as people who can be used for the fulfillment of our own, often hidden, needs.”

Money, Possessions and Eternity by Randy Alcorn. 

On page 351 Alcorn gives a lengthy quote from William MacDonald. “Reserves are crutches and props which become a substitute for trust in the Lord. We can’t trust when we can see. Once we decide to provide for our future, we run into these problems. How much will be enough? How long will we live? Will there be a depression? Will there be inflation? Will we have heavy medical bills? It is impossible to know how much will be enough. Therefore we spend our lives amassing wealth to provide for a few short years of retirement. In the meantime, God has been robbed and our own life has been spent in seeking security where it cannot be found. How much better it is to work diligently for our current necessities, serve the Lord to the maximum extent, put everything above present needs into the work of the Lord, and trust him for the future.”