In Context
In Context: The Stories Behind 70 Memorable Sayings in Church History
Mary, the Mother of Jesus (died 1st Century). “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…” (spoken, ca. 4 B.C.).
Peter (died. ca. 64) “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” (spoken, ca. 30).
Paul (died ca. 65). “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.” (letter to the Corinthians, ca. 54).
John the Evangelist (fl. 1st Century) “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (Gospel of John, ca. 67).
Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch (died ca. A.D. 100) “I am the wheat of God and am ground by the teeth of the wild beasts that I may be found the pure bread of God.” (Letter to Rome, ca. 100).
Mathetes (fl. 2nd century). “What the soul is in the body, that are Christians in the world.” (Epistle to Diognetus, ca. 130).
Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna (ca. 70 – ca. 155) “Eighty and six years have I served Christ, and he never did me any injury; how then can I blaspheme my King and my Savior.” (spoken, ca. 155).
Justin Martyr (ca. 100 – ca. 165) “You can kill us, but you can’t hurt us.” (apologetic, ca. 160).
Perpetua (ca. 180 – ca. 202) “The dungeon became to me as it were a palace.” (martyr acta, ca. 202).
Cyprian (died 258) “He can no longer have God for his Father, who has not the Church for his mother.” (On the Unity of the Church, ca. 251).
Constantine. (ca. 280–337) “In Hoc Signo Vinces” [“Conquer by this” or, “In this (sign) you will win.”] (vision, 312).
Athanasius. (ca. 296–373). “For he was made man that we might be made God.” (On the Incarnation, ca. 321).
Basil the Great (ca. 330-379) “You who dress your walls, and let your fellow-creatures go bare, what will you answer to the Judge?” (sermon, ca. 370).
John Chrysostom (ca. 345 – 407) “They who belong to Christ destroy the property of Christ more than enemies and adversaries.” (On the Priesthood, ca. 381).
Augustine of Hippo (354-430) “…you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless, until they find rest in you.” (Confessions, ca. 397).
Jerome (Eusebius Hieronymus, ca. 342-420). “If Rome be lost, where shall we look for help?” (letter, ca. 409).
Boethius (ca. 470-524) “I think that ill fortune is of greater advantage to men than good fortune.” (The Consolation of Philosophy, 524).
Benedict of Nursia (ca. 480 – ca. 550 ) “Let them prefer nothing whatever to Christ.” (Rule, ca. 530).
Gregory the Great (ca. 540 – 604) “Now I confidently say that whosoever calls himself, or desires to be called, Universal Priest, is in his elation the precursor of Antichrist, because he proudly puts himself above all others.” (official correspondence, ca. 589).
Sixth Ecumenical Council (681) “…we likewise declare that in him [Christ] are two natural wills and two natural operations…” (Definition of Faith, September 17, 681)
Pirmin (ca. 724) “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth…” (Creed, ca. 724).
Bede (ca. 672-735) “…Grant me to come at length to yourself, the fount of all wisdom, and to dwell in your presence forever.” (The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, 731).
Theodulf of Orléans (ca. 760 – 821) “All glory laud and honor, to Thee, Redeemer, King.” (hymn, ca. 818).
Russian Ambassadors (987). “…we did not know where we were, on heaven or on earth…” (report to Prince Vladimir, 987).
Anselm (1033-1109) “You exist so truly, Lord my God, that you cannot even be thought not to exist.” (Proslogion, 1077).
Franks at Clermont (1095) God Wills it! (shouted 1095).
Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153). “The Christian glories in the death of the pagan…” (In Praise Of The New Knighthood, ca. 1135)
Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) “All praise be yours, my Lord, through all that you have made, And first my lord Brother Sun, Who brings the day; and light you give to us through him.” (sung ca. 1225).
Aquinas, Thomas (ca. 1224-1274) “I can write no more. All that I have written seems like straw.” (conversation, 1273).
Boniface VIII (ca. 1235-1303) “Furthermore, we declare, we proclaim, we define that it is absolutely necessary for salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman Pontiff.” (Unam Sanctam, 1302)
Julian of Norwich (ca 1342-ca 1416) “But all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.” (Showings, 1373)
Wycliffe, John (ca. 1324-1384) “To be ignorant of the Scripture is the same thing as to be ignorant of Christ.” (On the Truth of the Holy Scripture, 1378)
Hus, Jan (ca. 1369 – 1415) “Truth prevails over all.” (letter, 1413)
Kempis, Thomas á (ca. 1380-1471) “Of two evils we must always choose the least.” (The Imitation of Christ, ca. 1418)
Melanchthon, Philipp (1497-1560) “The Truth might fare better at a lower temperature.” (spoken 1519)
Erasmus (ca. 1467-1536). “[Luther has erred in two things] He has attacked the pope in his crown and the monks in their bellies.” (spoken 1520)
Tyndale, William (ca. 1494-1536) “If God spare my life, before many years I will cause a boy that drives the plough to know more of Scripture than you do.” (spoken ca. 1521)
Luther, Martin (1483-1546) “I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God. Amen.” (news account, 1521)
Zwingli, Ulrich (1484-1531). “…Do not put yourself at odds with the Word of God. For truly it will persist as surely as the Rhine follows its course.” (Sixty-Seven Articles, 1523).
Luther, Katherine “Katie” von Bora (-1552). “I will stick to Christ as a burr on a topcoat” (dying words, 1552).
Askew, Anne (1521-1546) “I came not hither to deny my Lord and Master.” (spoken 1546)
Latimer, Hugh (ca. 1485-1555) “Be of good cheer, Ridley; and play the man. We shall this day, by God’s grace, light up such a candle in England, as I trust, will never be put out.” (spoken 1555)
Knox, John (1505-1572) “A man with God is always in the majority.” (spoken before 1572, engraved on the Reformation Monument, Geneva, 1917)
James I of England, VI of Scotland (1566–1625). “I will make them conform themselves, or I will harry them out of the land.” (spoken 1604)
Grotius (1583-1645). “…the greatest precaution should be used against involving the innocent in danger…” (The Law of War and Peace, 1625)
Comenius, Jan Amos (1592-1670). “They [schools] are the terror of boys and the slaughter-houses of minds.” (The Great Didactic, 1633-38).
John Winthrop (1587-1649). “We shall be as a city upon a hill.” (sermon, 1630)
Westminster Assembly (1647) “What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy him forever.” (Westminster Shorter Catechism, 1647)
Pascal, Blaise (1623-1662). “The heart has its reasons which reason does not know.” (Pensées, ca. 1660)
Penn, William (1644-1718) “No Cross, No Crown.” (No Cross, No Crown, 1669)
Ken, Thomas (1637-1711) “Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.” (hymn, 1674)
Bunyan, John (1628-1688) “…As Christian came up to the cross, his burden loosed from off his shoulders, and fell from off his back…” (Pilgrim’s Progress, 1678)
Baxter, Richard (1615-1691) “I preached as never sure to preach again, And as a dying man to dying men.” (Poetical Fragments, 1681)
Brother Lawrence (Nicholas Herman ca. 1605-1691) “We ought not to be weary of doing little things for the love of God, who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed.” (interview, ca. 1692)
Bach, Johann Sebastian (1685-1750). “None else but the glory of God.” (student’s notebook, ca. 1738)
Böhler, Peter (1712-1775). “Preach faith till you have it and then because you have it you will preach faith.” (spoken 1738)
Wesley, John (1703-1791) “I look upon all the world as my parish” (personal letter, 1739)
Newton, John (1725 – 1827) “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.” (hymn, 1772)
Carey, William (1761-1834) “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.” (sermon preached May 31, 1792)
Judson, Adoniram (1788-1850) “The prospects are as bright as the promise of God,” (personal letter, ca. 1818)
Kierkegaard, Søron (1813-1855) “Christ being an absolute explodes all the relativity whereby we humans live.” (journal, 1850)
Garnet, Henry (1815-1882) “I would as soon attempt to enslave Gabriel or Michael as to enslave a man made in the image of God, and for whom Christ died.” (Discourse Delivered in the House of Representatives, 1865)
Stanley, Henry Morton (1841-1904). “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” (newspaper account, 1871)
Crosby, Francis “Fanny” J. (1820-1915) “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine; O, what a foretaste of glory divine!” (hymn, 1873)
Kuyper, Abraham (1837-1920) “There is not one square inch of the entire cosmos of which Christ the Sovereign Lord of all does not say ‘This is Mine.’” (speech, 1880)
Dalberg-Acton, John Emerich Edward (1834-1902). “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” (letter, 1887)
Chesterton, Gilbert Keith (1874-1936) “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult, and left untried.” (What’s Wrong with the World, 1910)
Flanagan, Father Edward (1886-1949). “There are no bad boys.” (spoken 1921).
Sundar Singh (1889-ca. 1929) “Those who joyfully take up My cross are themselves upborne by it, and, ever supported by that cross, they enter heaven at last.” (At the Master’s Feet, 1921).
Solzhenitsyn, Alexander (1918- ) “Bless you, prison, for having been in my life!” (The Gulag Archipelago, 1973).
