Books Vs Bible

There is one problem that I usually face with the educated. "Have you read this book" or "...that book", they ask, while never quoting or referring much to the Bible, almost to the extent that one begins to feel reading the Bible is too simple; and, yes it is, because it is God's Word to Every Man. But, I can hardly skim through most of these books, while I can drink every letter of the Word of God and be highly energized! Have you read your Bible today?

Plato on God and the Problem of Evil: Is God the Author of Evil?

From The Republic

And no good thing is hurtful?
No, indeed.
And that which is not hurtful hurts not?
Certainly not.
And that which hurts not does no evil?
No.
And can that which does no evil be a cause of evil?
Impossible.
And the good is advantageous?
Yes.
And therefore the cause of well-being?
Yes.
It follows therefore that the good is not the cause of all things, but of the good only?
Assuredly.
Then God, if he be good, is not the author of all things, as the many assert, but he is the cause of a few things only, and not of most things that occur to men.  For few are the goods of human life, and many are the evils, and the good is to be attributed to God alone; of the evils the causes are to be sought elsewhere, and not in him.
That appears to me to be most true, he said.

On Work, Time, and Vocation - Plato

From The Republic

I am myself reminded that we are not all alike; there are diversities of natures among us which are adapted to different occupations.
Very true.
And will you have a work better done when the workman has many occupations, or when he has only one?
When he has only one.
Further, there can be no doubt that a work is spoilt when not done at the right time?
No doubt.
For business is not disposed to wait until the doer of the business is at leisure; but the doer must follow up what he is doing, and make the business his first object.
He must.
And if so, we must infer that all things are produced more plentifully and easily and of a better quality when one man does one thing which is natural to him and does it at the right time, and leaves other things.

On Sin, Hope, and the Fear of Death - Cephalus to Socrates

Cephalus to Socrates in Plato's The Republic

... let me tell you, Socrates, that when a man thinks himself to be near death, fears and cares enter into his mind which he never had before; the tales of a world below and the punishment which is exacted there of deeds done here were once a laughing matter to him, but now he is tormented with the thought that they may be true: either from the weakness of age, or because he is now drawing nearer to that other place, he has a clearer view of these things; suspicions and alarms crowd thickly upon him, and he begins to reflect and consider what wrongs he has done to others.  And when he finds that the sum of his transgressions is great he will many a time like a child start up in his sleep for fear, and he is filled with dark forebodings.  But to him who is conscious of no sin, sweet hope, as Pindar charmingly says, is the kind nurse of his age:

Hope, he says, cherishes the soul of him who lives in justice and holiness and is the nurse of his age and the companion of his journey;--hope which is mightiest to sway the restless soul of man.

How admirable are his words!  And the great blessing of riches, I do not say to every man, but to a good man, is, that he has had no occasion to deceive or to defraud others, either intentionally or unintentionally; and when he departs to the world below he is not in any apprehension about offerings due to the gods or debts which he owes to men.  Now to this peace of mind the possession of wealth greatly contributes; and therefore I say, that, setting one thing against another, of the many advantages which wealth has to give, to a man of sense this is in my opinion the greatest.

Walking in the Spirit is not merely intellectual...

Walking in the Spirit is not merely intellectual. The moment you’re out of the light, it’s all darkness, and you no longer know what you knew while in the light. But, when you’re in the light all things are different

Preacher, Are You Known in Hell?

‎"Preacher, if you are not known in hell, I won't give a hill of beans for you. I don't care about your eloquence, I don't care about your Bible knowledge, I don't care how far you have travelled--if you are not known in hell, to me you're a zero, plus zero, plus zero."

~ Leonard Ravenhill (Only Glory in the Cross, Sermon)

Quotes by Ruth Bell Graham

"It is a foolish woman who expects her husband to be to her that which only Jesus Christ Himself can be: always ready to forgive, totally understanding, unendingly patient, invariably tender and loving, unfailing in every area, anticipating every need, and making more than adequate provision. Such expectations put a man under an impossible strain"
— Ruth Bell Graham

"If I cannot give my children a perfect mother I can at least give them more of the one they've got--and make that one more loving. I will be available. I will take time to listen, time to play, time to be home when they arrive from school, time to counsel and encouerage."
— Ruth Bell Graham

"Down through the years, I turned to the Bible and found in it all that I needed"
— Ruth Bell Graham

"Death -
Death can be faced,
dealt with,
adjusted to,
outlived.
It's the
not knowing
that destroys
interminably...
This
being suspended
in suspense;
waiting - weightless,
How does one face
the faceless,
adjust to nothing?
Waiting implies
something to wait for.
Is there?
There is One.
One who knows...
I rest my soul on that."
— Ruth Bell Graham

"Take all away. I am content to know
Such love is mine-for life is all too brief
To grieve for pleasures bringing only grief;
Give me but You; it is enough just so."
— Ruth Bell Graham (Sitting By My Laughing Fire (Paperback)

From Goodreads.com

The Longer that I am in the ministry... (Ravi Zacharias)

‎"The longer I am in the ministry, the more healthy a respect I have developed for its calling, and the less qualified I feel myself to be in it." ~ Ravi Zacharias (Brittle Clay in Tender Hands)

Quotes by Publilius Syrus

Publilius (less correctly Publius) Syrus, a Latin writer of maxims, flourished in the 1st century BC. He was a Syrian who was brought as a slave to Italy, but by his wit and talent he won the favor of his master, who freed and educated him.

Source: http://www.quotationspage.com

1. A suspicious mind always looks on the black side of things.


2. Admonish thy friends in secret, praise them openly.


3. An angry man is again angry with himself when he returns to reason.


4. Count not him among your friends who will retail your privacies to the world.


5. Depend not on fortune, but on conduct.


6. Everything is worth what its purchaser will pay for it.


7. How unhappy is he who cannot forgive himself.


8. If you refuse where you have always granted you invite to theft.


9. In a heated argument we are apt to lose sight of the truth.


10. It is folly to punish your neighbor by fire when you live next door.


11. It is more tolerable to be refused than deceived.


12. It is no profit to have learned well, if you neglect to do well.


13. Learn to see in another's calamity the ills which you should avoid.


14. Look to be treated by others as you have treated others.


15. Never promise more than you can perform.


16. Ready tears are a sign of treachery, not of grief.


17. Tis foolish to fear what you cannot avoid.


18. To-day is the pupil of yesterday.


19. We must give lengthy deliberation to what has to be decided once and for all.


20. You should not live one way in private, another in public.


21. A fair exterior is a silent recommendation.


22. A good reputation is more valuable than money.


23. A rolling stone gathers no moss.


24. Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm.


25. Better be ignorant of a matter than half know it.


26. Do not turn back when you are just at the goal.


27. Every day should be passed as if it were to be our last.


28. For a good cause, wrongdoing is virtuous.


29. He doubly benefits the needy who gives quickly.


30. I have often regretted my speech, never my silence.


31. It is a bad plan that admits of no modification.


32. It is a consolation to the wretched to have companions in misery.


33. It is a very hard undertaking to seek to please everybody.


34. It is better to learn late than never.


35. It is not every question that deserves an answer.


36. It is only the ignorant who despise education.


37. It takes a long time to bring excellence to maturity.


38. Let a fool hold his tongue and he will pass for a sage.


39. Many receive advice, few profit by it.


40. Money alone sets all the world in motion.


41. Never find your delight in another's misfortune.


42. No man is happy who does not think himself so.


43. No one knows what he can do till he tries.


44. No one should be judge in his own case.


45. Nothing can be done at once hastily and prudently.


46. Pardon one offense, and you encourage the commission of many.


47. Prosperity makes friends, adversity tries them.


48. Speech is a mirror of the soul: as a man speaks, so is he.


49. The fear of death is more to be dreaded than death itself.


50. The judge is condemned when the criminal is absolved.


51. The loss which is unknown is no loss at all.


52. There are some remedies worse than the disease.


53. To do two things at once is to do neither.


54. Treat your friend as if he might become an enemy.


55. We desire nothing so much as what we ought not to have.


56. What is left when honor is lost?


57. While we stop to think, we often miss our opportunity.


58. You should go to a pear tree for pears, not to an elm.


59. A gift in season is a double favor to the needy.


60. Hares can gambol over the body of a dead lion.


61. As men, we are all equal in the presence of death.


62. We simply rob ourselves when we make presents to the dead.


63. The end always passes judgement on what has gone before.

On Pride - A A Allen

Pride takes five forms. Pride of FACE. (How much better we DO look than those around about us!) Pride of PLACE. (Don't ask THAT of one in my POSITION!) Pride of RACE. (We come of an excellent family, you know, and must uphold the family honor at any cost.) Pride of PACE. (Everyone should be able to see that we are the most capable and efficient person available. No one else could keep up with us!) And then that last and WORST of all the forms of pride -- pride of GRACE! Proud of our spiritual accomplishments; proud of the length of our fasts; proud of visions and dreams and revelations; proud of the gifts we think we possess; feeling that we must be a special favorite with God; yes, even proud of our humility! Whatever form our pride may have taken, puffing us up like a toy balloon, the first thing that must be done, before we can have real power with God, is "I MUST DECREASE."

A. A. Allen - The Price of God's Miracle Working Power

On Church and On Evolution - G K Chesterton

When the world goes wrong, it proves rather that the Church is right.

It would be better to walk past a church as if it were a pagoda than to stand permanently in the porch, impotent either to go inside and help or to go outside and forget.

In order to strike, in the only sane or possible sense, the note of impartiality, it is necessary to touch the nerve of novelty. I mean that in one sense we see things fairly when we see them first.

George Wyndham once told me that he had seen one of the first aeroplanes rise for the first time and it was very wonderful but not so wonderful as a horse allowing a man to ride on him.

If we have got into that state of mind about a horse as something stale, it is far better to be frightened of a horse because it is a good deal too fresh.

there is something purely acoustic in much of that agnostic sort of reverence.

But evolution really is mistaken for explanation. It has the fatal quality of leaving on many minds the impression that they do understand it and everything else; just as many of them live under a sort of illusion that they have read the Origin of Species.

It is the simple truth that man does differ from the brutes in kind and not in degree; and the proof of it is here; that it sounds like a truism to say that the most primitive man drew a picture of a monkey and that it sounds like a joke to say that the most intelligent monkey drew a picture of a man.

Art is the signature of man.

a certain childish directness is needed to see the truth about the childhood of the world.

Strictly speaking of course we know nothing about prehistoric man, for the simple reason that he was prehistoric. The history of prehistoric man is a very obvious contradiction in terms.

If a bishop were to say that Adam was Preadamite, we might think it a little odd. But we are not supposed to notice such verbal trifles when sceptical historians talk of the part of history that is prehistoric. The truth is that they are using the terms historic and prehistoric without any clear test or definition in their minds. What they mean is that there are traces of human lives before the beginning of human stories; and in that sense we do at least know that humanity was before history.