Originally posted by ivanhoelol you just made 5 posts that had not a glint of spirituality in them. Rules are rules ya know.
Dear debaters, this is a "spiritual quotes" thread. If you want to post jokes, I suggest you open a new thread. Thanks.
For centuries, theologians have been explaining the unknowable in terms of the-not-worth-knowing.
H. L. Mencken (1880 - 1956)
Religion [has become] modern again. Its disappearance is no longer anticipated; on the contrary, various new forms of it are growing luxuriantly. In the leaden loneliness of a God-forsaken world, in its interior boredom, the search for mysticism, for any sort of contact with the divine, has sprung up anew .... Some complain that this new search for religion, to a great extent, is passing the traditional Christian churches by. An institution is inconvenient, and dogma is bothersome. They are looking for experience, an encounter with the entirely Other.
- Ratzinger, Cardinal Joseph (Pope Benedict XVI). Introduction to Christianity. pp.18-19. Communio, 1990.
Originally posted by lucifershammerHe'll have to do better than that if he wishes to drum up new business.
Religion [has become] modern again. Its disappearance is no longer anticipated; on the contrary, various new forms of it are growing luxuriantly. In the leaden loneliness of a God-forsaken world, in its interior boredom, the search for mysticism, for any sort of contact with the divine, has sprung up anew .... Some complain that this new search for re ...[text shortened]... dinal Joseph (Pope Benedict XVI). Introduction to Christianity. pp.18-19. Communio, 1990.
"Just as we have ... recognised that the believer does not live immune to doubt but is always threatened by the plunge into the void [of atheism], so now we can discern the entangled nature of human destinies and say that the nonbeliever does not lead a sealed-off, self-sufficient life, either. However vigorously he may assert that he is a pure positivist, who has long left behind him supernatural temptations and weaknesses and now accepts only what is immediately certain, he will never be free of the secret uncertainty about whether positivism really has the last word."
- Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI). Introduction to Christianity. p.45.
"You will have already heard that some books on prayer give advice to the soul to enter into itself; now this is the same thing. A great theologian said to me not long ago, that souls who do not pray are like a body that is paralysed or disabled, which, though it has feet and hands, cannot use them, and in the same way, some souls are so weak, and so much given up to exterior things, that there is no improving them, nor do they seem to be able to enter into themselves. They are so accustomed to mix with the reptiles and beasts that are round about the castle†, that they have contracted their habits, and though by nature so richly endowed as to be capable of conversing with God, there is no curing them."
- St. Teresa of Jesus (Teresa of Avila). The Interior Castle. Ch.1.
† The premise of The Interior Castle (aka The Mansions) is that the human soul is like a magnificent castle with many treasures; but most humans never discover these because they do not "enter into" themselves. For St. Teresa, "prayer and reflection are the gateway into this Castle" (ibid.)
"So I asked this God a question
and by way of firm reply,
He said -- I'm not the kind you have to wind up on Sundays."
from 'Wind-Up', by Jethro Tull.
IMO, the majority of the rest of the lyrics from the song are artistically misplaced and just demonstrate bitterness through accusations. but, in its better moments, the song is about self-discovery and awakening.
"Not even God can hit a 1-iron."
--said by many a golfer when playing through electrical storms. occasionally, it is uttered in a sarcastic voice while holding a 1-iron toward the sky during electrical storms, usually with a glaring and dangerous lack of respect for....physics.