Classic Christian Thinkers: An Introduction

by Kenneth Richard Samples

We need to read about the past in order to understand the present. People without a grasp of history are like a person without a memory.

The idea is that evil and suffering can be viewed as a type of therapy that God uses to purify and mature his people. Thus at least some forms of adversity can be used by God to produce spiritual growth in his creatures.

moral transformation comes through crisis events

God is a necessary Being, meaning that he cannot not exist or must exist. In contrast, all creation is contingent being; it can exist or not exist, but it cannot bring itself into existence.

human good works are the fruit, not the root, of salvation.

Check out this quote inspired by Luther.

"Faith alone saves, but saving faith is never alone."

heresy was viewed as a form of treason because it could lead to the breakdown of society.

Subtle but negative changes in attitude can inevitably impact habits and then one's broad moral actions in life.