RELIGION - (SPIRITUALITY)
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The greatest definition – “Faith is the assured expectation of what is hoped for, the evident demonstration of realities that are not seen.” – Heb. 11:1 – Apostle Paul – The HOLY SCRIPTURES
The heresy of one age becomes the orthodoxy of the next. - Helen Keller
What is faith? It is not just a belief system. An 8-year old girl - “Faith is belief in God without asking any questions.”
Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that unless we love the truth, we cannot know it. – Blaise Pascal
I am a historian; I am not a believer, but I must confess that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably at the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history. – H. G. Wells – THE OUTLINE OF HISTORY
If God didn’t exist, it would be necessary to invent Him. – Voltaire
Religion is for people who are scared to go to Hell. Spirituality is for people who have already been there. – Bonnie Raitt
‘They’ insisted that our schools must boot God out, and rely on ‘Junior’s’ intelligence. So we graduated a generation of juniors with refined intellects and undisciplined emotions—so school age suicides soared 92% in the last two years! – Paul Harvey
A lie gets half way around the world before the truth has had a chance to put its boots on. – Winston Churchill
The profound moral and spiritual intuitions of the Bible, which form a unique revelation of God to man through the channels of human experience, are just as true today as they were two or three thousand years ago. – William Albright (Archaeologist)
I am a born-again atheist. – Gore Vidal
Man’s unbroken string of failures in the past builds up within us no confidence in man’s ability to succeed in the future. Unless Jehovah does something for those dead politicians and leaders by means of a resurrection of the dead, they have perished forever! – BASIS FOR BELIEF IN A NEW WORLD - 1953
As long as the house of the Holy Spirit remains a haven for criminals, the reputation of the church will remain in ruins. – Sinead O’Connor
“I know a way out of hell. Find a child, a child whose mother and father have been killed, a little boy about this high, and raise him as your own. Only be sure he is a Muslim, and raise him as one.” – Ben Kingsley (Gandhi) to a Hindu murderer. – GANDHI – John Briley (Screenplay)
Below the naval is neither religion nor truth. – Italian Proverb
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“And He will certainly render judgment among the nations and set matters straight respecting many peoples. And they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning shears. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and neither will they learn war anymore.” – Prophet Isaiah – Isa. 2:4 –the HOLY SCRIPTURES – United Nations Plaza in New York
As the centuries pass, the evidence is accumulating that, measured by his affect on history, Jesus is the most influential life that ever lived on this planet. – Kenneth Latourette – (Historian)
Instead of building fancy shrines, why don’t these wealthy evangelists build temporary shelters for the homeless and job training centers for the unemployed? – Gary Pulliam
By and large, language is a tool for concealing truth. – George Carlin
“The wolves became lambs. Such transformations occur in last agonies of life. However different and imperfect the various sketches of religion are, even when belief is shapeless—there is a trembling of the soul.” – Victor Hugo – THE MAN WHO LAUGHS
If we only have the will to walk, then God is pleased with our stumbles. – C. S. Lewis
A house divided against itself cannot stand. – Abraham Lincoln
History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again. – Maya Angelou
Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities, has the power to make you commit injustices. – Voltaire
I desire to go to Hell, not to Heaven. In Hell I shall enjoy the company of popes, kings and princes, but in Heaven are only beggars, hermits, monks and apostles. – Niccolo Machiavelli (Italian diplomat / philosopher)
The tyrant dies and his rule is over. The martyr dies and his rule begins. – Soren Kierkegaard - (19th century Danish existentialist philosopher)
Spaceship earth came with a set of instructions. It says, “He that does not work, let him not eat.” It says women should wear modest apparel. It says don’t steal anything. It says sleep only with your wife. It says you don’t do as you want, you do as you ought. If that rule book were not divinely inspired, it would still be the best blueprint for orderly existence. If it did not promise life in the hereafter, it would still contain the best formula for a good life here. – Paul Harvey
Why is it when we talk to God we’re said to be praying, but when God talks to us, we’re schizophrenic? – Lily Tomlin
It’s not enough to belong to a religion. You must put it into practice. It’s like medicine; you have to ingest it to combat the illness. – The Delai Lama
Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers. – Garth Brooks
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“Not everyone saying to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter into the Kingdom of the heavens, but only the one doing the will of my Father who is in the heavens will.” – Jesus Christ (Sermon on the Mount) – Matt. 7:21 – Apostle Matthew – HOLY SCRIPTURES
Science is not only compliant with spirituality—it’s a profound source of spirituality. – Carl Sagan
The hardest thing to explain is the glaringly evident which everybody has decided not to see. – Ayn Rand
A bean supper will be held in the church hall on Tuesday evening. Music will follow. – An actual sign at an Australian church.
There is no exercise better than reaching down and lifting people up. – John Andrews Holmes
He who is not a good servant will not be a good master. – Plato
Whose voice came from heaven in front of eye witnesses when Jesus was baptized? Was it God or was Jesus using an act of ventriloquism as it was when Satan used the voice of a serpent to seduce Eve? – Gary Pulliam (on the controversy IS JESUS PART OF A TRINITY?)
True faith is the belief in the reality of absolute values. – William Ralph Inge
A new form of religious community appeared for the first time in history: not a nation celebrating its patriotic cult, but a voluntary group, in which social, racial and national distinctions were transcended: men and women coming together as individuals, before their God. – Paul Johnson – A HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY
The fewer the words, the better the prayer. – Martin Luther
For a small reward a man will hurry away on a long journey, while for eternal life, many will hardly take a single step. – Thomas a’ Kempis
Help me to do good, be good and stay good. – My son Toby’s goodnight prayer at 6 years old
We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy is when men are afraid of the light. – Socrates
The first time I sang in the church choir, 200 people changed their religion. – Fred Allen
One of the biggest problems of modern-day Christianity is that it has adopted a belief system ABOUT Jesus rather than adopting the religion OF Jesus. By accepting the mystical Trinity, they have elevated Jesus ABOVE the father that he depended on and prayed to, corrupting what he taught in the Sermon on the Mount into a philosophy of unpersuasive dogma that has no relevance to one’s relationship to God. – Gary Pulliam
Science without religion is lame—religion without science is blind. – Albert Einstein
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“Many will say to me in that day: ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophecy in your name, and expel demons in your name, and perform many powerful works in your name?’ And then I will declare to them: ‘I never knew you! Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness!”– Jesus Christ (Sermon on the Mount) Matt. 7:22,23 – Apostle Matthew – HOLY SCRIPTURES
Science teaches us what we can do. Religion teaches us what we must do. – Brilliant!
I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it. - Voltaire
The greatest question of our time is not communism verses individualism, not Europe verses America, not even East verses West, it is whether men can live without God.” – Will Durant (20th century writer / historian / philosopher)
Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays. – Soren Kierkegaard
When I admire the orders of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in the worship of the Creator. – Mohandas Gandhi
Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich. – Napoleon Bonaparte
More and more people care about religious tolerance as fewer and fewer care about religion. – Alexander Chase (Journalist)
When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. – Abraham Lincoln
One act of obedience is better than one hundred sermons. – Dietrich Bonhoeffer
There is little hope for democracy if the hearts of men and women cannot be touched by a call to something greater than themselves. – Margaret Thatcher
Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems we have. – Ronald Reagan
In every culture with a written history, there has always been a hope for the future, spurred on by the preservation of family and the search for God. – Gary Pulliam
I have been all things unholy. If God works through me, he can work through anyone. – Francis of Assisi
Many people believe that they are attracted by God, or by Nature, when they are only repelled by men. – William Ralph Inge (Britiah religious journalist)
When we blindly adopt a religion, a political system, a literature dogma, we become automatons. We cease to grow. – Anais Nin - French / American female writer.)
I don’t believe in God, but I’m very interested in her. – Arthur C. Clarke
Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair. – Gilbert K. Chesterton (British religious journalist)
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“Go in through the narrow gate, because broad is the gate and spacious is the road leading off into destruction, and many are going through it; whereas narrow is the gate and cramped the road leading off into life, and few are finding it.” – Jesus Christ (Sermon on the Mount) Matt. 7:13,14 – Apostle Matthew – HOLY SCRIPTURES
Disturbances in society are never more fearful than when those who are stirring up the trouble can use the pretext of religion to mask their true design. – Denis Diderot - (Age of Enlightenment French philosopher)
There is no government on earth that educates its citizens like the Kingdom. – A teaching point on God’s Kingdom
An unexamined life is not worth living. -- Socrates
If the prelates (appointed clergy) set aside the commandments of God and enjoin their own man-made commands, what they do and command is of no avail. – Wessel Gansfort (Dutch religious scholar) – published around 1520 -1522.
Jesus is ideal and wonderful, but you Christians—you are not like him. – Mohandas Gandhi
I’ve learned that I can always pray for someone when I don’t have the strength to help him in some other way. – Andy Rooney
Arthur Williams regularly witnessed to customers in the small grocery store he owned in Donnybrook, Australia in the years after World War 1. He displayed Bible literature prominently in the window. The window also displayed a sign that offered 100 pounds to anyone who could prove the Trinity—an unscriptural doctrine that Arthur firmly rejected. No one ever collected the money! – A Legacy That Has Lasted Seven Generations – Life story
Superstition is the religion of a feeble mind. – Edmund Burke
To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible. – Thomas Aquinas
‘They’ told us the churches are ‘old fashioned’ and they should modernize, liberalize, rationalize and compromise. And those that compromised most are shrinking the fastest. It appears that ‘they’ gave us some awfully bad advice. They did. – Paul Harvey
I would rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out that there isn’t, than live as if there isn’t and to find out there is. – Albert Camus (French Philosopher)
“O, Great spirit, Maker of all life. A warrior goes to you, swift and straight as an arrow shotinto the sun. Welcome him and let him take his place at the counsel fire of my people. He is Uncas, my son. Tell him to be patient and ask death for speed; for they are all there but one—I, Chingachgook—last of the Mohicans.” –THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS – Russell Means (Chingachgook) – Conclusion – (Michael Mann & Christopher Crowe) - Screenplay
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“God is a Spirit, and those worshipping him must worship with spirit and truth.” – Jesus Christ – John 4:24 – Apostle John – HOLY SCRIPTURES
We have enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another. – Jonathan Swift - Irish satirist / writer
When I have the terrible need of – shall I say it – religion, then I go out and paint the stars. – Vincent Van Gogh
Christianity helps us face the music even when we don’t like the tune. – Phillips Brooks (19th century American clegyman / writer)
When atheists claim to be “offended” by the mere existence of silent prayer being allowed in the classroom, then all prayer is summarily censored in all schools, whether any atheists are present or not. These offended parties are never told to be more tolerant or to develop respect for the opinions of others. Any person of faith is routinely portrayed as old-fashioned or anti-intellectual. This is a sure sign of the collapse of culture. – Gary Pulliam - 1980
The Bible shows the way to go to heaven, not the way the heavens go. – Galileo Galilei
Religion is the sigh of oppressed people, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of the soulless condition. It is the opium of the people. – Karl Marx
We don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are. – Anais Nin
Abominations inevitable result when men use their religions to justify selfish pursuits and ethnic self-interest. It is then that religion and prejudice emerge. – Psychologist, Gordon W. Allport – THE NATURE OF PREJUDICE
All Religion, my friend, simply evolved out of fraud, fear, greed, image and poetry. -- Edgar Allan Poe
Religion is essentially the art and theory of remaking man. Man is not a finished creature. – Edmund Burke - 16th century Irish / British statesman / writer
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful. – Seneca
Skeptical scrutiny is the means in both science and religion, by which deep thoughts can be winnowed from deep nonsense. – Carl Sagan
Religions die when their proved to be true. Science is the record of dead religions. – Oscar Wilde
Communism, like any other revealed religion, is largely made up of prophecies. – H. L. Mencken - (American journalist)
Lighthouses are more helpful than churches. – Benjamin Franklin.
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“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” – Jesus Christ – John 14:6 – Apostle John – HOLY SCRIPTURES
A myth is a religion in which no one any longer believes. – James Kern Feibleman - American writer / educator
Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction. – Blaise Pascal
When the missionaries came to Africa and we had the land, they said, “Let us pray.” We closed our eyes. When we opened them, we had the Bible and they had the land. – Desmond Tutu
You can safely assume that you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the people that you do. – Anne Lamott (American writer)
No man believes that the Bible means what it says. He is always convinced that it says what he means. – George Bernard Shaw
I do not know how to teach philosophy without becoming a disturber of established religion. – Baruch Spinoza - (17th century Dutch philosopher)
The truth of religions are never so well understood as by those who have lost the power of reason. – Voltaire
Man is a Religious Animal. He is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion – several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat if his theology isn’t straight. – Mark Twain
History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-risen people maintaining a free civil government. – Thomas Jefferson
Science is increasingly answering questions that used to be the province of religion. – Stephen Hawking - English theoretical physicist)
The deepest sin against the human mind is to believe in things without evidence. – Aldous Huxley (20th century writer / philosopher)
Morality is doing what is right, no matter what you are told. Religion is doing what you are told, no matter what is right. – H. L. Mencken
Religion is like a pair of shoes. Find one that fits for you, but don’t make me wear your shoes. – George Carlin
Religion. It’s given people hope into a world that’s torn apart by religion. – Jon Stewart
All Religion seems to need to prove that it’s the only truth. And that’s when it turns demonic. Because that’s when you get religious wars and persecution and burning heretics at the stake. – John Shelby Spong - (Episcopal bishop)
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“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” – Jesus Christ – John 8:32–Apostle John – HOLY SCRIPTURES
Be strong, believe in freedom and in God, love yourself, understand your sexuality, have a sense of humor, masturbate, don’t judge people by their religion, color or sex habits, love life and your family. – Madonna Ciccone (The negative influence of pop culture)
BELIEF IN JESUS OR GOD IS NOT ENOUGH! Most “Christian” religions look at Jesus only as the SAVIOR, or as God. But they live as if he doesn’t exist! Jehovah’s Witnesses look at Christ Jesus as much more, as their Master & Leader, and as the Son of God! – Gary Pulliam
