“Internal lusts are traitors, and must be guarded against diligently. Moreover, they present much more of a threat than any open adversaries outside. Thousands of the enemy outside may assial the walls in vain, while one treacherous citizen inside can secretly open a door, and all is undone” (Beyond Stateliest Marble, p. 193).
Discipline and Punishment
“Some children, like certain patches of ground, are rockier than others. Such children require parents who are willing to take more pains over them. IF a farmer has two patches of ground, one of rich topsoil and the other filled with rocks, he cannot treat the two patches of ground the same way. Discipline is …
Just Sit There
“A man who desires a garden full of weeds does not need to do anything” (Beyond Stateliest Marble, p.189).
Dirty Pearls
“It is the part of wisdom to refuse to go pearl diving in a cesspool, but only folly, only a beetlewit, would walk by a pile of pearls because a few of them were dirty” (Beyond Stateliest Marble, p. 187).
Always More Room at the Bottom
“There is no situation so bad that we, through a bad attitude, cannot make . . . worse” (Beyond Stateliest Marble, p. 179).
Wanting to be Whole Grain
“The flour has to be ground fine if the bread is to be fine. As the old blues song put it, everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die. It would be lovely, we think, to be the finest bread that heaven holds, but we do not want to be ground to …
The Problem of the Boring Testimony
Far from being a degradation of standards of covenant purity, [the Half-way Covenant] was the direct result of having artificially high standards. The Bible requires a confession that Jesus is Lord, and the absence of a scandalous lifestyle. It does not require a convulsive Damascus road experience on the part of every convert, especially those …
Dismantling and Rebuilding
“There is nothing particularly intelligent about doubting. But intelligence can be revealed in how the doubts are raised and then answered” (Beyond Stateliest Marble, p. 167).
Instead of the Other Way Around
“A scriptural Christian knows how to take the truth seriously without taking himself too seriously” (Beyond Stateliest Marble, p. 164).
Wisdom at Home
“Shrewdness is wisdom in a homely setting . . . A wise professor might tell you not to take on more than you can handle. A shrewd uncle would tell you not to become a baker if your head’s made of butter. A lofty bit of advice might be to do your work right the …