Catholicity, Orthodoxy, and Lordship
…the manner of the re-uniting of Christ’s soul and body in his resurrection is a mystery, one of the secret things that belong not to us; but the infallible proofs of his resurrection, that he did indeed rise from the dead, and was thereby proved to be the Son of God, are things revealed, which belong to us and to our children.[1]
As the resurrection of Christ is the most important article of our faith, and without it the hope of eternal life is extinguished, for this reason the Evangelists are the more careful to prove it, as John here collects many proofs, in order to assure us that Christ is risen from the dead.
–John Calvin, Commentary on John 20
Mansfield’s terrific biography of Arthur Guinness is filled with intriguing historical insights like this one:
You see, the yeast that is used to brew beer is unique. It is not like the yeast used for bread, which dies at high temperature, never to be used again. Instead, the yeast used for brewing beer grows in the process and can be skimmed off and used again and again. This was such a miraculous discovery to early brewers that they gave this reusable yeast the nickname “God-is-good (Mansfield, In Search for God and Guinness, 73).”
In baptism itself we are neither promising God that we will do something, nor are we asking God to do something, we are watching him do something.–Rob Rayburn
We shall not adjust our Bible to the age; but before we have done with it, by God’s grace, we shall adjust the age to the Bible. – Charles Haddon Spurgeon
For moral elevation, for richness, and comprehensiveness, for beauty and felicity of expression, it has had the admiration of the church in all ages.–Charles Hodge
And I confess, as an outsider to drinking and beer, I used to think it was all about the buzz, that drinking anything with alcohol was about escaping the present and drifting into a sloshy other world. But now I know something I did not before. Beer is not simply a means of drunkenness not is it merely a lubricant to grease the skids to sin. Beer, well respected and rightly consumed, can be a gift of God. It is one of his mysteries, which it was his delight to conceal, and the glory of kings to search out. And men enjoy it to mark their days and celebrate their moments and stand with their brothers in the face of what life brings.–Stephen Mansfield, The Search for God and Guinness
It is impossible for man in isolation from his fellows, to show forth the image of God in the fullest sense. He must have communion with other men, in the family, in the society, and ultimately in the Church, if he is to glorify the Triune God Who is in Himself a holy community of love and fellowship.–Steve Wilkins
Abortion involves killing and discarding something that’s alive. Whether it’s right or not to take the life of any living being depends entirely upon the answer to one question: What kind of being is it? The answer one gives is pivotal, the deciding element that trumps all other considerations.
Let me put the issue plainly. If the unborn is not a human person, no justification for abortion is necessary. However, if the unborn is a human person, no justification for abortion is adequate.