“The religious impulse, the quest for meaning that transcends the restricted space of empirical existence in this world, has been a perennial feature of humanity. (This is not a theological statement but an anthropological one—an agnostic or even an atheist philosopher may well agree with it.) It would require something close to a mutation of the species to extinguish this impulse for good.” -Peter Berger, The Desecularization of the World: Resurgent Religion and World Politics
Tag Archives: religion
No Religion, No Problem?
“Efforts to craft a public square from which religious conversation is absent, no matter how thoughtfully worked out, will always in the end say to those of organized religion that they alone, unlike everyone else, must enter public dialogue only after leaving behind that part of themselves that they may consider the most vital.” -Stephen Carter, (source unknown)
Everybody is Religious
“Your religion is what you do with your solitude.” -William Temple
The Paradox of the 20th Century
“The 20th century gave rise to one of the greatest and most distressing paradoxes of human history: that the greatest intolerance and violence of that century were practiced by those who believed that religion caused intolerance and violence.” -Alister McGrath
Note: For Reflections on Dependence on God and the Nature of (True) Religion
See C.S. Lewis The Four Loves, specifically his discussion of “Need-Love” starting at “But thirdly, we come…” in the Introduction.
“He lacks nothing, but our Need-love, as Plato saw, is ‘the son of Poverty’. It is the accurate reflection in consciousness of our actual nature. We are born helpless. As soon as we are fully conscious we discover loneliness. We need others physically, emotionally, intellectually; we need them if we are to know anything, even ourselves.” -C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves
What Religion Does
“It is one of the greatest blessings of mankind, though many denounce it as a curse. Not only does it touch the deepest springs of man’s life, but it also controls his thoughts and feelings and desires.” -Louis Berkhof, Summary of Christian Doctrine
Religion without Faith
“Religion without faith is a deadly thing.” -R.C. Sproul
The Main Place for Spirituality
The world is “the primary context for spirituality.” -Eugene Peterson
BTW NOTE: This is due to the fact that most of our life is lived in the world, outside the doors of the church.
Religion and Spirituality…
“Tragically, religion and spirituality provide a whole toolbox for avoiding Jesus today.” -Michael Horton
A Pilgrim's Theology 