The Christian Faith Quotes

“Doctrine severed from practice is dead; practice severed from doctrine is just another form of self-salvation and self-improvement. A disciple of Christ is a student of theology.”
― Michael S. Horton, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way

“Because of our common curse, no time, place, cultural movement, or civilization is capable of restoring paradise”
― Michael S. Horton, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way

“Louis Berkhof reminds us, “It should be observed that in theology it [revelation] never denotes a mere passive, perhaps unconscious, becoming manifest, but always a conscious, voluntary, and intentional deed of God, by which he reveals or communicates divine truth.”15”
― Michael S. Horton, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way

“God is the object of theology because he is also its self-revealing subject. Hidden in incomprehensible majesty, God reveals himself in a manner that is (1) accommodated to our capacities and (2) limited to that which God deems necessary for calling on his name, in Christ, within the context of the covenant of grace.”
― Michael S. Horton, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way

“The essence of the sin of our first parents was that they wanted to have an independent, autonomous existence and knowledge, no longer depending on “every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Mt 4:4).”
― Michael S. Horton, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way

“it is the goal of good theology to humble us before the triune God of majesty and grace.”
― Michael S. Horton, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way

“The Puritans, perhaps those most Franciscan Protestants of all, explained the importance of theology in the most practical terms possible: learning to die well.”
― Michael S. Horton, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way

“the biblical faith, which sympathizes more with Nietzsche than with many modern theologians”
― Michael S. Horton, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way

“against certain forms of postmodern theory, Christian theology affirms that there is a God’s-eye perspective from which genuine truth can be communicated, but, against the tendency of modern thought, it denies that anyone but God occupies this privileged perch. We must be satisfied with God’s Word and leave God’s sovereign knowledge to himself.”
― Michael S. Horton, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way

“there are some surprising similarities between pantheism and atheism. In fact, they are two sides of the same coin. Both embrace the view that being is univocal: in other words, that there is only one kind of reality or existence. In this perspective, there is reality (that which exists) and then there are particular beings who exist, such as divine and non-divine entities. In the “overcoming estrangement” paradigm of pantheism, the physical world is a weak projection of an eternal (real) world. In the atheistic paradigm (“the stranger we never meet”), the projection is reversed; in fact, the longing for transcendent meaning and truth reflects a form of psychological neurosis, nostalgia for a nonexistent “beyond” that paralyzes our responsibility in the present. In other words, pantheism assumes that the upper world is real and this world is mere appearance, while atheism assumes that this world is real and the upper world is nonexistent.”
― Michael S. Horton, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way

“The pursuit of autonomous metaphysics is idolatry.”
― Michael S. Horton, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way

“Faith is tested throughout our lives (James 1:3; I Peter 1:7). As the object of our faith proves Himself faithful throughout these trials, our faith grows. Even if we do not have God’s personal revelation about why we are suffering or how He is weaving our trials into a hidden pattern, we do have the revelation of God’s hidden purposes for us and for creation in Jesus Christ. God has demonstrated His faithfulness objectively, publicly, and finally in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.”
― Michael S. Horton, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way

“The more we understand God's truth, the more we are struck by the mystery.”
― Michael S. Horton, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way

“Not even the most hardened nihilist can live in the world of pure meaninglessness that his or her narrative presupposes. In their daily practice, the most ardent religious skeptics have to presuppose a basic order and intelligibility in reality that contradicts the creed of self-creation through random chance.”
― Michael S. Horton, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way

“The orthodox hold the mean between these extremes, maintaining that the providence of God is so occupied about sin as neither idly to permit it (as the Pelagians think) nor efficiently to produce it (as the Libertines suppose), but efficaciously to order and direct it.”18”
― Michael S. Horton, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way

“When the free will moves itself, this does not exclude its being moved by another, from whom it receives the very power to move itself.”
― Michael S. Horton, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way

“To affirm soli Deo gloria (to God alone be glory) is not to deny that both doctors and God are healers—one as the secondary or instrumental cause and the other as the primary or ultimate cause. In fact, it is only when we recognize God’s hand in everyday providence, through means, that we are able to attribute everything ultimately to his glory.”
― Michael S. Horton, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way

“Our natural reason tells us that good people finish first and cheaters never prosper. However, believers have no right to God’s common grace any more than they do to his saving grace. God remains free to show compassion on whomever he will, even to give breath, health, prosperity, and friends to those who breathe threats against him.”
― Michael S. Horton, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way

“Out of the lavishness displayed in the marvelous variety and richness of creation itself, God continues to pour out his common blessings on all people. Therefore, we neither hoard possessions as if God’s gifts were scarce nor deny ourselves pleasures as if God were stingy.”
― Michael S. Horton, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way