GOD QUOTES XIII

quotations about God

Remember the perfections of that God whom you worship, that he is a Spirit, and therefore to be worshipped in spirit and truth; and that he is most great and terrible, and therefore to be worshipped with seriousness and reverence, and not to be dallied with, or served with toys or lifeless lip-service; and that he is most holy, pure, and jealous, and therefore to be purely worshipped; and that he is still present with you, and all things are naked and open to him with whom we have to do. The knowledge of God, and the remembrance of his all-seeing presence, are the most powerful means against hypocrisy.

RICHARD BAXTER

Christian Ethics

Tags: Richard Baxter


Men fail to find God because they curiously reverse the position -- the natural, legitimate, rightful position -- between the soul and God. There is a word common in theology, though not very familiar in ordinary intercourse, -- theodicy, which means justifying the ways of God to man. When a man begins to justify the ways of God to man, he has entered on a very dangerous process. For example, it is said, " If there is a God, he must be omnipotent and omniscient; and an omnipotent and omniscient God could and would make a world without sin and without suffering; but the world is not without sin nor without suffering, therefore there is no God." Such a man frames in his own mind his notion of what a God must be, and then brings God himself to that standard, and measures him by it. Theodicy! Justifying the ways of God to man! Sit, my soul, on the judgment throne, and summon God to stand before thee. "Now, Almighty One, I will see whether thou art righteous. Why didst thou allow famine in India? What right hast thou to allow a deluge in Japan? What right hast thou to allow man to go to war with his fellow-man in Europe? Justify thyself; explain thyself; answer for thyself." No man will ever find his way to the heart of God in that spirit.

LYMAN ABBOTT

Seeking After God

Tags: Lyman Abbott


God is only a word dreamed up to explain the world.

ALPHONSE DE LAMARTINE

"Le Tombeau d'une mère", Harmonies


God is a lion that comes in the night. God is a hawk gliding among the stars--
If all the stars and the earth, and the living flesh of the night that flows in between them, and whatever is beyond them
Were that one bird. He has a bloody beak and harsh talons, he pounces and tears.

ROBINSON JEFFERS

"The Inhumanist"

Tags: Robinson Jeffers


On all things created remaineth the half-effaced signature of God,
Somewhat of fair and good, though blotted by the finger of corruption.

MARTIN FARQUHAR TUPPER

Proverbial Philosophy


Most sermons sound to me like commercials -- but I can't make out whether God is the Sponsor or the Product.

MIGNON MCLAUGHLIN

The Neurotic's Notebook


I do not mind if I lose my soul for all eternity. If the kind of God exists Who would damn me for not working out a deal with Him, then that is unfortunate. I should not care to spend eternity in the company of such a person.

MARY MCCARTHY

Memories of a Catholic Girlhood


God's gifts put man's best dreams to shame.

ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING

Sonnets from the Portuguese

Tags: Elizabeth Barrett Browning


God is still in the business of coming down to earth: to this cubicle, this email, this room, this house, this job, this hospital room, this car, this bed, this vacation. Any place can become Bethel, the house of God. Cleveland, maybe. Or the chair you're sitting in as you read these words.

JOHN ORTBERG

God Is Closer Than You Think

Tags: John Ortberg


Thou O Spirit, that dost prefer
Before all Temples th' upright heart and pure,
Instruct me, for Thou know'st; Thou from the first
Wast present, and with mighty wings outspread
Dove-like satst brooding on the vast Abyss
And mad'st it pregnant: What is in me dark
Illumine, what is low raise and support;
That to the heighth of this great Argument
I may assert Eternal Providence,
And justify the ways of God to men.

JOHN MILTON

Paradise Lost


They say that God is everywhere, and yet we always think of Him as somewhat of a recluse.

EMILY DICKINSON

letter to Mrs. J. G. Holland, spring 1878

Tags: Emily Dickinson


I am circling around God, around the ancient tower, and I have been circling for a thousand years, and I still don't know if I am a falcon, or a storm, or a great song.

RAINER MARIA RILKE

The Book of Hours


The true guide of our conduct is no outward authority, but the voice of God, who comes down to dwell in our souls, who knows all our thoughts, to whom are owing all the truth we know, and all the good we do; for vice is voluntary, and virtue comes from the grace of the heavenly spirit within.

LORD ACTON

The History of Freedom in Antiquity


He that lives in love lives in God.

WILLIAM PENN

Some Fruits of Solitude


Gods must be seen to be omnipotent, or the sky will fall.

K. J. PARKER

Devices and Desires


God speaks silently, he speaks in your heart; if your heart is noisy, chattering, you will not hear.

CARYLL HOUSELANDER

This War is the Passion

Tags: Caryll Houselander


An honest God's the noblest work of man.

SAMUEL BUTLER

Further Extracts from the Note Books


A God wise enough to create me and the world I live in is wise enough to watch out for me.

PHILIP YANCEY

Where Is God When It Hurts?


If you're sincerely seeking God, God will make His existence evident to you.

WILLIAM LANE CRAIG

God?: A Debate Between a Christian and an Atheist

Tags: William Lane Craig


I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures, or has a will of the type of which we are conscious in ourselves. An individual who should survive his physical death is also beyond my comprehension, nor do I wish it otherwise; such notions are for the fears or absurd egoism of feeble souls.

ALBERT EINSTEIN

The World as I See it

Tags: Albert Einstein