“A certain type of man is always able to trim his sails to suit the prevailing winds, and he takes pride in the fact that he is adept at it. He does not know where he is going, but he is making good time” (For Kirk and Covenant, p. 169).
Extreme Obedience?
“It is not really possible to love God too much. It is not possible to take his Word to extremes, because His Word prohibits that use of it. If a man is careful to keep his conduct, motives, attitudes, and manner within the boundaries set by Scripture, how could we object to him without objecting …
Half Way There and Face Down
“Half measures generally fall down half way” (For Kirk and Covenant, p. 158).
Staying Raveled
“God must be understood to be fully God. Otherwise, everything sound in religion unravels” (For Kirk and Covenant, p. 151).
Protesting Catholics
“Many modern readers of history fail to see the catholicity of the Reformation. In no way did the reformers desire to found ‘a denomination’ in the modern sense; rather, they desired the reformation of the one Church. They were one party within the Church; the other party was the papal faction” (For Kirk and Covenant, …
Obedience a Two-Way Street
“It is easy to have strong views on the subject of authority, but these usually come up when we are considering how someone else ought to be obeying us. When we turn to consider those that we should be obeying, our ardor sometimes dims” (For Kirk and Covenant, p. 129).
Humorless Reformers
“Few things are more terrible in human society than the humorless reformer . . . a man who cannot see what he most needs to see, which his own contribution to the problem. In this vain and fallen world, a man who cannot laugh has no business undertaking to cure the world’s ills, because he …
Whatever That Was
“However, it was not merely academic; because it was the work of the Spirit of God, the Reformation was scholarship on fire. In many respects, it was an essential part of the Renaissance, whatever that was” (For Kirk and Covenant, p. 121).
Shrink-Wrapped Reformation
“Whenever a great change is brought about by men of vision, who do not love the sounds of compromise, the fruits of that victory are commonly parceled out by men who come bustling up ten minutes after the battle (a battle they solemnly warned against), all eager now to share in the spoil. First thing …
Context Matters
“Utterly forgiven, and all by God’s grace in Christ, the early Protestants could scrutinize their failings and sins. All this done in much the same way that a boy might study an ugly tooth that had caused him so much pain . . . after it was out” (For Kirk and Covenant, p. 114).