And here we have already exposed the reason why no Christian Church can take up the position recommended to it on the strength of a declaration attributed to Abraham Lincoln. This declaration is to the effect that a simple requirement of love to God and our neighbor constitutes a sufficient foundation for a church, and the churches would profit by making the profession of such love, or of the wish or purpose to cherish such love, their sole qualification for membership. The moment a church took up such a position, however, it would cease to be a Christian Church: the core of Christianity is its provision for salvation from sin.
Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say 'infinitely' when you mean 'very'; otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.
They asserted, however, that the sum and substance of their fault or error had been that they were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves by oath, not to some crime, but not to commit fraud, theft, or adultery, not falsify their trust, nor to refuse to return a trust when called upon to do so. When this was over, it was their custom to depart and to assemble again to partake of food -but ordinary and innocent food.
It is easy to denounce the practice of memorizing and reciting creeds as boring. However, it is children who complain that cleaning teeth morning and evening is repetitive and boring. When you stop these basic activities you begin to see the difference they make. By marginalizing the church, the West has deprived itself of finding life's meaning and purpose. It has deprived itself of the institution that cultivated its moral character.
Christianity is incompatible with the thought of humanism or paganism. Let those who still have not seen this, and who still do not believe in the possibility of Christian scholarship, be warned…. Christian scholars today face a choice. Either they acknowledge that nothing in this temporal world can be withdrawn from the claim of the Christian religion and that this religion will not be content with the role of decorative superstructure atop a scholarship that is at bottom and in essence idolatrous. Or they should withdraw from a field where they are deeply convinced the banner of Christ's kingship cannot be boldly planted. No other choice exists. Tertium ultra non datur—there is no other alternative