“Christian - One who follows the teachings of Christ insofar as they are not inconsistent with a life of sin.”

Source: The Devil's Dictionary and Other Works

Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Ambrose Bierce204

American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabu… 1842–1914

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Source: Why We Fail as Christians (1919), p. 53
Context: There is a world of difference between the one who would imitate the conduct of the successful merchant, who sits in the front pew of his church, and him who would follow literally the teachings of Jesus Christ. To attain perfectly the one ideal—if it be an ideal—is a comparatively simple task. To attain the other, is perhaps an impossibility.