“The particular temptation of contemporary Christian communities is to tailor our beliefs so that they are socially respectable. Whether our beliefs are respectable or not varies from place to place and from time to time. Right now it happens that in Western society there is a growing awareness of the relevance of Christian commitment. But if this were not the case, it should be no less surely and no less arrogantly our commitment. We must not let our decision about Christian obedience be measured by what our neighbors would consider "socially responsible."”
Source: Radical Christian Discipleship (2012), p. 47
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John Howard Yoder15
20th century American Mennonite theologian 1927–1997Related quotes
Bertrand Russell book Why I Am Not a Christian
What is a Christian? https://users.drew.edu/~jlenz/whynot.html (1927) <br class="br">1920s, Why I Am Not a Christian (1927)
“What is now decisive against Christianity is our taste, no longer our reasons.”
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German philosopher, poet, composer, cultural critic, and classical philologist
Sec. 132
The Gay Science (1882)
“Our united belief in social justice demands no less.”
Alex Salmond (1954) Scottish National Party politician and former First Minister of Scotland
Principles and Priorities : Programme for Government (September 5, 2007)
Tenzin Gyatso (1935) spiritual leader of Tibet
"A Talk to Western Buddhists" p. 87.
The Dalai Lama: A Policy of Kindness (1990)
William Hanna Shomali (1950) auxiliary bishop of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
‘Get out of the ghetto,’ new auxiliary bishop of Jerusalem urges Christians https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/19813/get-out-of-the-ghetto-new-auxiliary-bishop-of-jerusalem-urges-christians (May 27, 2010)
Jair Bolsonaro (1955) Brazilian president elect
On 13 June 2019. Bolsonaro Renews Call for Evangelical Christian on Brazilian Supreme Court https://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/rio-politics/society/bolsonaro-says-it-is-time-for-an-evangelical-christian-on-brazilian-supreme-court/. The Rio Times (14 June 2019).
Clive Staples Lewis book God in the Dock
"Christian Apologetics" (1945), p. 92
God in the Dock (1970)
R.S. Thomas (1913–2000) Welsh poet
"R. S. Thomas in conversation with Molly Price-Owen" in The David Jones Journal R. S. Thomas Special Issue (Summer/Autumn 2001)
Context: True Christianity at its most profound is as good as you get. … I think I've been lucky in the period which I've lived through because obviously I would have been for the chop in earlier days. The Inquisition would have rooted me out; even in the 19th century I would probably have been had up by a Bishop and asked to change my views, or to keep them to myself etc.... I think that so much of our Christian beliefs … are an attempt to convey through language something which is unsayable.