2,000 Years of Christ's Power, Part One Quotes

“Christ chose us “You did not choose Me,” Christ says, “but I chose you” (John 15:16). Such grace is beyond description. What were we, apart from Christ’s choice of us, when we were empty of love? What were we but sinful and lost? We did not lead Him to choose us by believing in Him; for if Christ chose people who already believed, then we chose Him before He chose us. How then could He say, “You did not choose Me,” unless His mercy came before our faith? Here is the faulty reasoning of those who say that God chose us before the creation of the world, not in order to make us good, but because He foreknew we would be good. This was not the view of Him Who said, “You did not choose Me.” We were not chosen because of our goodness, for we could not be good without being chosen. Grace is no longer grace, if human goodness comes first. Listen, you ungrateful person, listen! “You did not choose Me, but I chose you.” Do not say, “I am chosen because I first believed.” If you first believed, you had already chosen Him. But listen: “You did not choose Me.” And do not say, “Before I believed, I was already chosen on account of my good works.” What good work can come before faith, when the apostle Paul says, “Whatever is not from faith is sin” (Rom. 14:23)? What then shall we say when we hear these words, “You did not choose Me”? We shall say this: We were evil, and we were chosen that we might become good by the grace of Him who chose us. For salvation is not by grace if our goodness came first; but it is by grace – and therefore God’s grace did not find us good but makes us good. Augustine of Hippo Commentary on John 15:16”
― Nicholas R. Needham, 2,000 Years of Christ's Power Vol. 1: The Age of the Early Church Fathers

“If you have ever come across a thick wood of ancient trees that have grown to a fantastic height, blocking out the sky with a mass of branches, then the height of the forest, the loneliness of the place, and your sense of wonder at finding such a deep and solid gloom in the outdoors, will convince you that a deity dwells there. A cave which has penetrated deep into the mountain that rests over it, creating a hollow of amazing extent – not by human labours, but by the process of nature – will strike into your soul some sense of the divine. We venerate the sources of important streams; we build altars at spots where a mighty river bursts forth suddenly from the earth; we worship hot springs; we consider holy the dark or bottomless waters of pools. And if you come across a human being who is never terrified by dangers, never influenced by cravings, happy in the midst of adversity, calm amid the storm, viewing the human race from a higher standpoint and the gods from their own standpoint, do you not think that a feeling of veneration for this person will arise within you? Do you not think you will say to yourself, “Here is a mind so great, so awesome, that it cannot be placed on the same level as the feeble body it dwells in”? A divine power has descended into that body. A soul that is lifted up above the things of earth and is well ordered, passing through any experience with a proper view of its littleness, simply smiling at all the things we fear or pray for – that soul is moved by a heavenly energy. A soul so uplifted cannot stand at such a height unless it is upheld by a deity.”
― Nick R. Needham, 2,000 Years of Christ's Power Vol. 1: The Age of the Early Church Fathers

“Irenaeus’s account of Polycarp: I can tell the very place in which the blessed Polycarp used to sit when he preached his sermons, how he came in and went out, the manner of his life, what he looked like, the sermons he delivered to the people, and how he used to report his association with John and the others who had seen the Lord, how he would relate their words, and the things concerning the Lord he had heard from them, about His miracles and teachings. Polycarp had received all this from eyewitnesses of the Word of life, and related all these things in accordance with the Scriptures.”
― Nick R. Needham, 2,000 Years of Christ's Power Vol. 1: The Age of the Early Church Fathers

“Origen insisted that God’s law must come before human law. Christians did not try to overthrow the Pagan rulers of the Empire by force, Origen argued, but where the Empire’s laws conflicted with God’s, Christians would disobey the Empire, follow God, and peacefully suffer the consequences.”
― Nick R. Needham, 2,000 Years of Christ's Power Vol. 1: The Age of the Early Church Fathers

“The Germans who remained Pagan – the Franks, Angles, Saxons and Jutes – worshipped Wotan (or Wodin) as their chief god, together with other deities such as Thor (god of thunder), Tiwaz (god of war), Freya (goddess of fertility), and Saeter (a water-god). We derive the names of most our days from these Germanic gods: Tuesday (Tiwaz’s day), Wednesday (Wodin’s day), Thursday (Thor’s day), Friday (Freya’s day), Saturday (Saeter’s day).”
― Nicholas R. Needham, 2,000 Years of Christ's Power Vol. 1: The Age of the Early Church Fathers

“The depth of Scripture The Christian Scriptures are so deep that, even if I studied them to the exclusion of all else, from early childhood to worn-out old age, with ample leisure and untiring zeal, and with greater capacity of mind than I possess, each day I would still discover new riches within them. The fundamental truths necessary for salvation are found with ease in the Scriptures. But even when a person has accepted these truths, and is both God-fearing and righteous in his actions, there are still so many things which lie under a vast veil of mystery. Through reading the Scriptures, we can pierce this veil, and find the deepest wisdom in the words which express these mysteries, and in the mysteries themselves. The oldest, the ablest, and the most ardent student of Scripture, will say at the end of each day: “I have finished, and yet my studies have only just begun.” Augustine of Hippo Letter 137”
― Nicholas R. Needham, 2,000 Years of Christ's Power Vol. 1: The Age of the Early Church Fathers

“grace”
― Nicholas R. Needham, 2,000 Years of Christ's Power Vol. 1: The Age of the Early Church Fathers

“Cyril of Jerusalem3 taught his catechumens that: no doctrine concerning the divine and holy mysteries of the faith, however casual, may be taught without the backing of the holy Scriptures. We must not let ourselves be drawn aside by mere plausibility and cleverness of speech. Do not even give absolute belief to me, the one who tells you these things, unless you receive proof from the divine Scriptures of what I teach. For the salvation that flows from faith derives its power, not from clever human reasonings, but rather from the demonstration of the holy Scriptures.”
― Nicholas R. Needham, 2,000 Years of Christ's Power Vol. 1: The Age of the Early Church Fathers