Quotes about Understanding

I would put myself in the attitude to look in the eye an abstract truth, and I cannot. I blench and withdraw on this side and on that. I seem to know what he meant who said, No man can see God face to face and live.

There is then creative reading as well as creative writing

Our eyes are holden that we cannot see things that stare us in the face, until the hour arrives when the mind is ripened; then we behold them, and the time when we saw them not is like a dream. — Ralph Waldo Emerson, from "Spiritual Laws," Essays and Lectures . (Library of America November 15, 1983)

Every scripture is to be interpreted by the same spirit which gave it forth,—is the fundamental law of criticism.

He's spilled the beans. He's poured out His intentions, allowing us full access. The humans put the Forbidden Book on display tables and shelves. But we actually read it; indeed we must no matter how loathsome.

wisdom begins with the humility to say there's a great deal I don't understand.

I feel like a child who has found a wonderful trail in the woods. Countless others have gone before and blazed the trail, but to the child it's as new and fresh as if it had never been walked before. The child is invariably anxious for others to join in the great adventure. It's something that can only be understood by actual experience. Those who've begun the journey, and certainly those who've gone further than I, will readily understand what I am saying.

Father to teenage son: My relationship with you is more important than anything I've got to say to you.

Charles Spurgeon's answer was to recognize that whatever God's Word teaches is true, whether or not it all makes sense to us. He said, I

What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us." —A. W. Tozer

Every worldview has to bring together reason and faith.

God has disclosed himself in descriptive terms that give us enough information to be able to know who he is, and he has hidden enough of himself for us to learn the balance between faith and reason.