“The fundamental condition of Christian heroism is humility before God, acceptance of His Revelation.”
-Georges Florovsky, Bible, Church, and Tradition

“The world after the fall is no lost planet, destined now to afford the Church a place in which to continue her combats; and humanity is no aimless mass of people which only serves the purpose of giving birth to the elect. On the contrary, the world now, as in the beginning, is the theater for the mighty works of God, and humanity remains a creation of His hand, which, apart from salvation, completes under this present dispensation, here on earth, a might process, and in its historical development is to glorify the name of Almighty God.”
-Abraham Kuyper, Lectures on Calvinism

“Why do Isaiah and Moses make their accusations in a song? In their spiritual wisdom they wanted to implant a very great thing in their listeners’ souls. Nothing is more useful than to recall one’s sins regularly, and nothing fixes something permanently in ones memory than a melody…He also uses the form of a song because people seem to be under some sort of compulsion to sing the words of a catchy tune again and again. As they repeat the words of this song, they will constantly be reminded of their sins, thus making it easier to teach them virtue. You know, of course, that today many people do not even know the names of many of the books of the Bible, though most have the words of the Psalms on the tips of their tongues because the Psalms are sung. This is a good example of the power of melody.”
-John Chrysostom, on Isaiah 5:1

“Our age is suffering because of the rift between the spiritual and the temporal. It is suffering not only because of the despiritualization of the world, but also because of the disincarnation of the church. The church, it seems to me, has separated itself from real life and thus simply abandoned the world to its practical difficulties and taken refuge in an ivory tower. And for this it bears a heavy responsibility for our present crisis. True, it still goes on preaching, but far from the public place where the practical life of men is lived.”
-Paul Tournier, The Whole Person in a Broken World

“But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” Jeremiah 29:7

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy…The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. Titus 3:3-5, 8

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