Carpe Diem Redeemed Quotes

“As always, contrast is the mother of clarity, and the differences between the answers make a difference—and make a difference not only for individuals but for whole societies and civilizations.”
― Os Guinness, Carpe Diem Redeemed: Seizing the Day, Discerning the Times

“Time and history have meaning. Under the twin truths of God's sovereignty and human significance, time and history are going somewhere, and each us is not only unique and significant in ourselves, but we have a unique and significant part to play in our own lives, in our own generation, and therefore in the overall sweep of history.”
― Os Guinness, Carpe Diem Redeemed: Seizing the Day, Discerning the Times

“to be a victim and to respond through victimhood and victim playing are quite different things. No people on earth can claim to have been victims longer and more often than the Jews. But while the Jews have every reason to respond as victims, they resolutely refuse to play the victim card, and in their refusal they highlight the flaw in today’s rage for victim playing (more victimized than thou). Those who perceive themselves as victims and respond by portraying themselves as victims end by paralyzing themselves as victims. The reason is that in seeking to use the past as an instrument of power, victims remain prisoners of their past and never become free. They become prisoners of their own resentment. The Jews, by contrast, look forward, not back. In short, victim playing is disastrous and counterproductive both to the victims and to the victims’ society. Homosexuals may complain of homophobia and Muslims of Islamophobia, but Christians who play the victim card and complain of Christophobia have not understood the heart of their own gospel.”
― Os Guinness, Carpe Diem Redeemed: Seizing the Day, Discerning the Times

“the Enlightenment’s belief in continuous improvement and advance is no longer credible. It has stalled, and it did nothing to prevent the horrors of the Holocaust, the world wars, and the genocides in the twentieth century. Whether the progress hoped for was for human advance in general or the dream of economic betterment in particular, the evident frustration and cynicism in the younger generation stem from their bitter conclusion: The promised future may not be better than the past, yet the term progressive is still flaunted as self-evident.”
― Os Guinness, Carpe Diem Redeemed: Seizing the Day, Discerning the Times