Interesting quotes:

On topics from: Resistance to Salvation

(No pun or disrespect is intended.
It just turned out this way......honest!)

Sponsored link.

Included are quotes on:
Resistance to unjust government actions, and salvation.

Resistance to unjust government actions:

	John Calvin, from Commentary on Daniel, Lecture XXX Daniel 6:22: "For earthly princes lay aside their power when they rise up against God, and are unworthy to be reckoned among the number of mankind. We ought, rather, to spit upon their heads than to obey them."
	John Calvin, from The Institution of the Christian Religion: "If government authorities "command anything against Him (God), let it go unesteemed. And here let us not be concerned about all the dignity which the magistrates possess."
	John Knox: "If their princes exceed their bounds, Madam, it is no doubt that they may be resisted even by power."

Sponsored link

Revelation -- open or closed:

	Robert Green Ingersoll: "Every sect is a certificate that God has not plainly revealed his will to man. To each reader the Bible conveys a different meaning."
	Gracie Allen: "Never place a period where God has placed a comma." From a note to her husband, George Burns, that he allegedly found after her death. 1
	Anon: "Never place a question mark where God has put a period." From an old Christian tract implying that God has a well defined will and that everyone knew it. 2
	Pat Robertson: "Never place a comma where God has placed a period. God has spoken!" 3
	David Herndon: "Who among us can claim certainty? Therefore, we need to be open to the experiences and truths of others."  4
	Ralph Waldo Emerson: "It is the office of a true teacher to show us that God is, not was; that He speaketh, not spake." 5
	Samuel Longfellow: "Revelation is not sealed."

Sponsored link:

Salvation:

	Hints about Salvation from the Bible: Salvation is by faith only: Romans 3:28: "... man is justified by faith without the [necessity of] deeds of the law." Salvation is by works and faith: James 2:24: "Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only." Salvation is by works only: Matthew 25:34-45: "Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me...Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels..." Salvation by faith motivated by love: Galatians 5:6: "For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love." No non-Christians will be saved: Rev 20:15: "And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire."
	Statements about salvation from creeds, church leaders, and others: Salvation is pre-determined; we cannot influence our own salvation: John Calvin: "God preordained...a part of the human race, without any merit of their own, to eternal salvation, and another part, in just punishment of their sin, to eternal damnation." Salvation is by baptism: Nicene Creed: "We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins." Salvation by special case: The Westminster Confession of Faith: "Elect infants, dying in infancy, are regenerated, and saved by Christ, through the Spirit, who worketh when, and where, and how He pleaseth: so also are all other elect persons who are uncapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the Word." [The document provides salvation for selected infants who die, and for persons who are sufficiently mentally challenged to not be able to understand the Gospel.] 6 Don't be "born again: "The church doesn't like for people to grow up, because you can't control grown-ups. That's why we talk about being born again. When you're born again, you're still a child. People don't need to be born again. They need to grow up. They need to accept their responsibility for themselves and the world." Episcopal Bishop John S. Spong. 7 All will be saved: "The idea that Jesus is the only way to God or that only those who have been washed in the blood of Christ are ever to be listed among the saved, has become anathema and even dangerous in our shrinking world." Episcopal Bishop John S. Spong. 8 Original Sin: "Each and every one has this contamination according to the Christians....He [God]¸blames you for something that you didn`t do and he blesses you for what someone else did." [That is, God blames everyone for the sins of Adam and Eve, and blesses believers for the sacrifice of Jesus] Ahamed Deedat. 9
	Salvation for non-Catholics "There is no salvation for those outside the [Roman Catholic] Church." Mel Gibson, director of "The Passion" movie. 10  "There is but one universal Church of the faithful, outside of which no one at all can be saved." Pope Innocent III (circa 1160 - 1216 CE) "For those who are not formally and visibly members of the [Roman Catholic] Church, 'salvation in Christ is accessible by virtue of a grace which, while having a mysterious relationship to the Church, does not make them formally part of the Church, but enlightens them in a way which is accommodated to their spiritual and material situation'." Dominus Iesus, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. 11
	Other comments on salvation: "As to the Christian God who brings mischief into this world and who sends people to eternal damnation just because they can't see their way to follow John 3:16, that God is easily dismissed as a demonic projection of the malevolent side of human nature." Dennis Littrell. 12 "The notion that faith in Christ is to be rewarded by an eternity of bliss, while a dependence upon reason, observation, and experience merits everlasting pain, is too absurd for refutation, and can be relieved only by that unhappy mixture of insanity and ignorance called 'faith'." Robert G. Ingersoll "Forget Jesus. The stars died so you could be born." Lawrence M. Krauss [This is a reference to the fact that heavy elements, required for all forms of life, are generated in supernovae. Humans are, at a very fundamental level, stardust.]

This topic is continued in the next essay with topics
ranging from Satan to "Separation of Church and State"

Footnotes:

The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.

1. "God is still speaking," United Church of Christ, at: http://www.stillspeaking.com/
2. Milan Chytil, "Never put a period where....," Sermon, Pilgrim Congregational Church, 2002-JUL-21.
3. Attributed to Pat Robertson, 700 Club TV show, Late 2004. Cited by Rev. Rich Smith, 2004-DEC-19, at: http://www.westmorelanducc.org/
4. David Herndon, "Unitarian Universalism for Beginners," First Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh, 2005-JUN-5, at: http://www.first-unitarian-pgh.org/
5. Ralph Waldo Emerson, "The Divinity School Address," in Conrad Wright, Ed., "Three Prophets of Religious Liberalism: Channing, Emerson, Parker," Beacon Press, (1961), Page 107.
6. Howard Garcia, "Laugh or Cry." A book review of Matt Young, "No sense of obligation: Science and religion in an impersonal universe," Skeptical Inquirer, 2002-MAR/APR, Page 51 & 52.
7. Leslie Salzillo, "Retired Bishop John Shelby Song: 'God Is Not A Christian'," Daily KOS, 2013-JUN-11, at: http://www.dailykos.com/
8. There is a debate over whether a period should appear after the "S" in Truman's name. When he was born, his parents could not decide on a middle name. So they gave him a simple "S" to represent his two grandfathers: Shipp and Solomon. We follow The Chicago Manual of Style and the U.S. Government Printing Office's Style Manual which state that the period should be used.
9. From Gustavo Gutiérrez' book: "Essential Writings"
10. "The Jesus War (New Yorker piece on Mel Gibson, "The Passion")," a posting by Greg Luzinski to FreeRepublic.com news forum, at: http://www.freerepublic.com/
11. "Dominus Iesus," at: http://www.vatican.va/
12. From his review on Amazon.com of Todd Gates, "Dialogue with a Christian Proselytizer, Booklocker, (2006). Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store

Copyright © 1996 to 2016 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance.
Copyrights for the individual quotations held by their creators
Last updated: 2016-FEB-16
Compiled by: B.A. Robinson

Sponsored link

Go to the previous page, or to the "Quotation menu," or choose:

Web ReligiousTolerance.org

Page Translator: This page translator works on Firefox, Opera, Chrome, and Safari browsers only After translating, click on the "show original" button at the top of this page to restore page to English.