Christian quotes

See in what peace a Christian can die.

-Joseph Addison
  Last words, to his stepson Lord Warwick. Quoted in EdwardYoung Conjectures on Original Composition (1759).

My object will be, if possible, to form Christian men, for Christian boys I can scarcely hope to make.

-Thomas Arnold
  Letter to Rev John Tucker, 2 Mar, on being appointed headmaster of Rugby School.

You ought certainly to forgive them as a Christian, but never toadmittheminyoursight, orallow their namesto be mentioned in your hearing.

-Jane Austen
  Pride and Prejudice, ch.57.

Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.

-Bible (NewTestament)
Acts of the  Apostles 26:28.

Appropriating the fruits of Christian civilisation, but rejecting the tree from which they spring.

- Isabella married name Isabella Bishop Bird
  Unbeaten Tracks in Japan:  An  Account of  Travels on Horseback in the Interior1880 (published1885).

It islawful for Christianmen, at the commandment of the Magistrate, to wear weapons, and serve in the wars.

-Book of Common Prayer
Articles of Religion, XXX VII Of the Civil Magistrates.

For my religion, though there be several circumstances that might persuade the world I have none at allas the general scandal of my profession, the natural course of my studies, the indifferency of my behaviour and discourse in matters of religion, neither violently defending one, nor with that common ardour and contention opposing anotheryet in despite hereof I dare without usurpation assume the honourable style of a Christian.

- SirThomas Browne
^5  Religio Medici (published1643), pt.1, section1.

The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.

- G(ilbert) K(eith) Chesterton
  What's Wrong with the World, ch.1,'The Unfinished Temple'.

   Every Stoic was a Stoic; but in Christendom where is the Christian?

- RalphWaldo Emerson
Essays: First Series,'Self-Reliance'.

Had every Christian in Hitler's Europe followed the example of the king of Denmark and decided to put on the yellow star, there would be today neither despair in the church nor talk of the death of God.

- Emil L Fackenheim
  Quest for Past and Future.

Can a Man be a Christian on a Pound a Week?

- (James) Keir Hardie
  Title of pamphlet.

I take it for granted that every Christian that is in health is up early in the morning; for it is much more reasonable to suppose a person up early because he is a Christian than becausehe is a labourerora tradesmanora servant or has business that wants him.

-William Law
  A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life.

Better sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian.

- Herman Melville
Moby Dick, ch.3.

   Aunt Sadie†so much disliked hearing about health that people often took her for a Christian Scientist, which, indeed, she might have become had she not disliked hearing about religion even more.

- Nancy Freeman Mitford
  The Pursuit of Love, ch.4.

Perhapsthemost sublimeinsights oftheJewishprophets and the Christian gospel is the knowledge that since perfection is love, the apprehension of perfection is at once the means of seeing one's imperfections and the consoling assurance of grace which makes this realization bearable. This ultimate paradox of high religion is not an invention of theologians or priests. It is constantly validated by the most searching experiences of life.

- Reinhold Niebuhr
  Reflections on the End of an Era.

As with the Christian religion, the worst advertisement for Socialism is its adherents.

- George pseudonym of  Eric Arthur Blair Orwell
  The Road to Wigan Pier, ch.11.

It is a fraud of the Christian system to call the sciences human invention; it is only theapplication of themthat is human. Every science has for its basis a system of principles as fixed and unalterable asthose by whichthe universe is regulated and governed. Man cannot make principles, he can only discover them.

-Thomas Paine
  TheAge of Reason, pt.1.

   What being a Christian means, at the very least, is that whenever there is a decision to be made, which may be several times a day, an alternative should not be discarded simply because it is sacrificial.

- M(organ) Scott Peck
  What Return Can I Make?

Avery heathen in the carnal part, Yet still a sad, good Christian at her heart.

- Alexander Pope
  Epistles to Several Persons,'To a Lady', l.67^8.

There was one poor tiger that hadn't got a Christian.

-Punch

'You're a Christian?' 'Church of England,'said Mr Polly. 'Mm,'said the employer, a little checked.'For good all round business work, I should have preferred a Baptist.'

- H(erbert) G(eorge) Wells
  The History of Mr Polly, ch.3, pt.2.