The Story of Christianity Quotes

“That Word, which had created the world out of nothing, was certainly capable of producing the reformation the entire church needed, and to which the Protestant movement remained a preamble.”
― Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 2: The Reformation to the Present Day

“If the inner man is such that he finds his delight in the law of God because he has been created in the divine image in order to have communion with Him, it follows that there will be no law or word which will delight that inner man more than the Word of God. ULRICH ZWINGLI”
― Justo L. González, Story of Christianity: Volume 2: The Reformation to the Present Day

“God’s Word, besides telling us something, creates something in us and in all creation. That creative and powerful Word is Christ, whose incarnation is both God’s greatest revelation and God’s greatest action. In Jesus, God was revealed to us. And also in Jesus, God overcame the powers of evil that had held us in subjection. God’s revelation is also God’s victory.”
― Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 2: The Reformation to the Present Day

“Luther came to the conclusion that the “justice of God” does not refer, as he had been taught, to the punishment of sinners. It means rather that the “justice” or “righteousness” of the righteous is not their own, but God’s. The “righteousness of God” is that which is given to those who live by faith. It is given, not because they are righteous, nor because they fulfill the demands of divine justice, but simply because God wishes to give it. Thus, Luther’s doctrine of “justification by faith” does not mean that what God demands of us is faith, as if this were something we have to do or achieve, and which God then rewards. It means rather that both faith and justification are the work of God, a free gift to sinners. As a result of this discovery, Luther tells us, “I felt that I had been born anew and that the gates of heaven had been opened. The whole of Scripture gained a new meaning. And from that point on the phrase ‘the justice of God’ no longer filled me with hatred, but rather became unspeakably sweet by virtue of a great love.”
― Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 2: The Reformation to the Present Day

“What did the Aztec population understand when the first Franciscan missionaries spoke to them? How have women heard a gospel preached mostly by men?”
― justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 2: The Reformation to the Present Day

“The very word denomination points to one of the main characteristics of the Protestant Christianity resulting from the North American experience. The word itself indicates that the various churches are seen as denominations, that is, as different names given to Christians. In a religiously pluralistic society where tolerance was necessary for political survival, and in view of the bloodshed that dogmatism had caused elsewhere, North American Protestants tended to think of the church as an invisible reality 323 consisting of all true believers, and of the visible churches or denominations as voluntary organizations that believers create and join according to their convictions and preferences.”
― Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 2: The Reformation to the Present Day

“As is usually the case, those who lived at the time did not fully comprehend the enormous consequences of the events they witnessed.”
― Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 2: The Reformation to the Present Day

“Due partly to the influence of the Genevan Academy and partly to the Institutes, Calvin’s theological influence was soon felt in various parts of Europe. Eventually, a number of churches appeared—in the Netherlands, Scotland, Hungary, England, France, and so forth—that followed the teaching of the Genevan reformer, and are now known as Reformed or Calvinistic. Significantly, in most of these countries Calvinism was joined with a zeal for reforming society that did not exist in Lutheran lands, for Calvinists were convinced that it was their duty to make the civil government conform to the law of God. Thus, one of the most lasting consequences of Calvinism—and one that Calvin most likely would never have imagined—was a series of revolutions that opened the way for the modern world.”
― Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 2: The Reformation to the Present Day

“To be priests does not mean primarily that we are our own individual priests, but rather that as part of the priestly people of God we are priests for the entire community of belief, and that they are priests for us—while all of us, as the believing community, are priests for the world. Rather than setting aside the need for the community of the church, the doctrine of the universal priesthood of believers strengthens it. It is true that access to God is no longer controlled by a hierarchical priesthood. But we still stand in need of the community of believers, the body of Christ, in which each member is a priest for the rest, and feeds the rest. Without such nourishment, an isolated member cannot live.”
― Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 2: The Reformation to the Present Day

“On studying Luther’s life and work, one thing is clear: the much-needed reformation took place, not because Luther decided that it would be so, but rather because the time was ripe for it, and because the Reformer and many others with him were ready to fulfill their historical responsibility.”
― Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 2: The Reformation to the Present Day

“the most important document of Leo’s pontificate, his bull Rerum novarum, issued on May 15, 1891. The subject of that bull was one with which few popes had dealt before: the proper relations between laborers and their employers. In the bull, Leo shows that he is aware of the inequities that have resulted from the contrast between “the enormous fortunes of a few individuals, and the extreme poverty of the masses.” Therefore, he writes, the time has come “to define the mutual rights and obligations of the rich and the poor, of capital and labor.” Such relations have become all the more tragic since labor organizations have disappeared in recent times, and “a small group of very rich people have been able to throw upon the masses of poor laborers a yoke that is little better than slavery itself.” Although it is an error to believe that between the rich and the poor there can only be class war, it is true that the defense of the poor merits special attention, for the rich have many ways to protect themselves, while the poor have no other recourse than the protection of the state. Therefore, laws should be such that the rights of the poor are guaranteed. In particular, this refers to the right of every laborer to a salary sufficient to sustain him and his family, without being forced to work beyond a fair limit. All this is to be done because “God seems to lean in favor of those who suffer misfortune.”
― Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 2: The Reformation to the Present Day