“The 'I', the 'self' of the child of God, is born in the midst of the ruins of repented idolatry.”
Source: Faith Beyond Resentment: Fragments Catholic and Gay (2001), " Theology amidst the stones and dust http://girardianlectionary.net/res/alison_elijah.htm", p. 40.
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James Alison 28
Christian theologian, priest 1959Related quotes

“It is this idolatry of self which they have bequeathed to us in the form of patriotism.”
Source: Prelude to Politics (1943), p. 220, also in The Need for Roots : prelude towards a declaration of duties towards mankind (1952)
Context: Our patriotism comes straight from the Romans. This is why French children are encouraged to seek inspiration for it in Corneille. It is a pagan virtue, if these two words are compatible. The word pagan, when applied to Rome, early possesses the significance charged with horror which the early Christian controversialists gave it. The Romans really were an atheistic and idolatrous people; not idolatrous with regard to images made of stone or bronze, but idolatrous with regard to themselves. It is this idolatry of self which they have bequeathed to us in the form of patriotism.

John Knox, A Vindication of the Doctrine that the Sacrifice of the Mass is Idolatry http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualNLs/vindicat.htm, 1550; as quoted in Selected Writings of John Knox: Public Epistles, Treatises, and Expositions to the Year 1559

"Repentance and Impenitence" p. 366
Lectures on Systematic Theology (1878)

“On the laugh of a child I am borne to the joy of the King.”
The Nuts of Knowledge (1903)

The Danites: and Other Choice Selections from the Writings of Joaquin Miller (1877), p. 52.

“To Hosea, marriage is the image of the relationship of God and Israel. ... Idolatry is adultery.”
Volume 1, p. 50
The Prophets (1962)

Speech at a rally at the University Stadium, Lahore (30 October 1947)
A Literary History of Persia, Vol. 2, p. 123 https://archive.org/details/a-literary-history-of-persia-vol-2-1964
Poetry

“I want every child that's born in the world to be planned and wanted.”
"Dr. Joycelyn Elders is so fucking cool", 2007-06-04, Jessica Valenti, w:Jessica Valenti, 2014-05-23, Feministing.com http://web.archive.org/web/20070713094431/http://feministing.com/archives/007116.html,
Abortion