Sterling Terrell

smart ideas from books (mostly)

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The Imposition Of Belief

The Imposition Of Belief

This line, the imposition of belief, reminds me of a talk I heard the other day about how the Christian gospel is both attractive and repulsive at the same time.

It offers redemption, hope, and salvation.

But it also laughs at good works, requires total dependence, and calls out sin.

I think most people can’t swallow calling something a sin – if you want to know the truth. (But this area is swimming with misunderstanding too.)

People get hung up on little things that cloud their judgment about everything – but don’t we all.

In Weil’s view, we should not fail to see how the early modern era ushered in a great spiritual decline; but we should assign the causes more accurately, and see that nonreligious, or antireligious, humanism was a genuine attempt, however misguided and doomed to failure, to seek spiritual freedom from the oppression imposed by the “imposition of belief” of the Gothic era. “Today, in the grip of affliction, we feel a loathing for the process which has led to the present situation.

-Alan Jacobs, The Year Of Our Lord 1943 (Amazon)

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Filed Under: PotpourriTagged With: #Religion, #Sin

Do We Desire Heaven?

Do We Desire Heaven?

We certainly don’t act as if we desire heaven, do we?

I mean, the envy and greed and gossip and pride that spring forth from our lips and hearts without the least bit of encouragement tells the story.

It is a story we tell by our actions.

However, it may also be likely that when we lay our heads on our pillows at night and close our eyes – our hearts disagree.

Or at least I hope they do.

I think it natural – and human – for us to wish for more than just “this.”

There have been times when I think we do not desire heaven; but more often I find myself wondering whether, in our heart of hearts, we have ever desired anything else. You may have noticed that the books you really love are bound together by a secret thread. You know very well what is the common quality that makes you love them, though you cannot put it into words: but most of your friends do not see it at all, and often wonder why, liking this, you should also like that.

-C.S. Lewis, The Problem Of Pain (Amazon)

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Filed Under: PotpourriTagged With: #Faith, #Religion

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