Anabaptism Quotes & Sayings

From the very beginning of the movement in the sixteenth century, Anabaptists shared a deep suspicion of the so-called Schriftgelehrten - the university-trained scholars who, they claimed artfully dodged the clear and simple teachings of Jesus by appealing to complex arguments and carefully crafted statements of doctrine. In other words, they confused theological discussions with lived faith. — John D. Roth

Nothing terrible has ever happened except in our thinking. Reality is always good, even in situations that seem like nightmares. The story we tell is the only nightmare that we have lived. — Byron Katie

These were the underdogs, the outsiders, the pariahs, the sinners of his system. But the reason he was so concerned about them was that he felt the quality and strength of his entire system of organization depended on how he treated them. If he treated the pariahs well he would have a good system. If he treated them badly he would have a weak one. — Robert M. Pirsig

My experience is what I agree to attend to. — William James

With subjectivity in philosophy, anarchism in politics goes hand in hand. Already during Luther's lifetime, unwelcome and unacknowledged disciples had developed the doctrine of Anabaptism, which for a time dominated the city of Munster. The Anabaptists repudiated all law since they held that good men will be guided at every moment by the Holy Spirit, who can not be bound by formulas. From this premise they arrive at communism and sexual promiscuity; they were therefore exterminated after a heroic resistance. — Bertrand Russell

Don't fully trust anyone until he has stuck with a good cause which he saw was losing. — Morton Blackwell

Drugs don't have spiritual potential, human beings have spiritual potential. And it may be that we need techniques to move us in that direction, and the use of psychoactive drugs clearly is one path that has helped many people. — Andrew Weil

Fair speech may hide a foul heart. — J.R.R. Tolkien

It. Ah know Ah ain't." "Ah did think about it one day," Hicks said dreamily, "but then Ah forgot it and ain't thought about it since then." "No wonder things ain't no better," Joe commented. "Ah'm buyin' in here, — Zora Neale Hurston

Throughout history, Christians have faced the persistent temptation of confusing the language we use to talk about God with the essence of Christian faith. This stubborn human tendency to turn doctrine into an idol - to confuse a human creation with the truth itself - can easily lead people to wield doctrinal claims as a weapon against minority or dissenting perspectives. Thus, anyone who does not line up with a certain formulation of Christian faith is not only wrong, but also a heretic and therefore worthy of punishment or death. — John D. Roth

If you cannot reach a state of utter oneness with each other, how do you expect to solve anything? Separate the world will crumble; together the world will thrive. — Jennifer Ott

Disarmed citizens encourage crime and violence. Armed citizens encourage criminals to find a safer line of work. — Harry Browne

It's not easy, being the best at what he does but still having the humility and desire to be close to those around him. In private, Messi is a great leader, a great captain. Usually the best in any area see things differently but in this case Leo is still an ordinary person and that makes our relationship work. He's the leader of ARG, he has helped us to reach two finals in one year. I have great respect for Messi the person and player. — Javier Mascherano

If the Anabaptists teach us anything, it is that those who fear freedom and court the governments of this world in the interest of a more moral or "Christian" state are placing their faith in a broken reed. For the Anabaptists, there is only one way, the way of the cross, for the church to become "salt, light, and leaven" in any society and in every age. — William R. Estep

Finally, Christians were accused of being subversive, for they refused to worship the emperor and thus destroyed the very fiber of society. The apologists answered that it was true that they refused to worship the emperor or any other creature, but that in spite of this they were loyal subjects of the empire. What the emperor needs - they said - is not to be worshiped, but to be served; and those who serve him best are those who pray for him and for the empire to the only true God. — Justo L. Gonzalez

This is newness: every little tawdry
Obstacle glass-wrapped and peculiar,
Glinting and clinking in a saint's falsetto. Only you
Don't know what to make of the sudden slippiness,
The blind, white, awful, inaccessible slant.
There's no getting up it by the words you know.
No getting up by elephant or wheel or shoe.
We have only come to look. You are too new
To want the world in a glass hat. — Sylvia Plath

The danger from lightning is gone when the thunder is heard, and the worst is over when misfortune has arrived. — Ivan Panin

Last night I dreamed of Peace. — Dang Thuy Tram

anarchism is to Marxism-Leninism what Anabaptism was to the magisterial Reformation: a revolutionary movement predicated upon negating, rather than seizing control of, state power. — Mark Van Steenwyk

But all that really matters is what happens when the audience is watching. This is a truth all troupers know. — Patrick Rothfuss