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“‘Brother, our will is quieted by virtue
Of charity, that makes us wish alone
For what we have, nor gives us thirst for more.
If to be more exalted we aspired,
Discordant would our aspirations be
Unto the will of Him who here secludes us;
Which thou shalt see finds no place in theses circles,
If being in charity is needful here,
And if thou lookest well into its nature;
Nay, ’tis essential to this blest existence
To keep itself within the will divine,
Whereby our very wishes are made one;
So that, as we are station above station
Throughout this realm, to all the realm ’tis pleasing,
As to the King, who makes his will our will.
And his will is our peace; this is the sea
To which is moving onward whatsoever
It doth create, and all that nature makes.’”
Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy, “Paradiso,” Translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Canto III, 70-87; Spoken by Piccarda (Piccarda Donati, a relative of Dante’s wife), describing why she is content on the first, and lowest, heavenly sphere (the lunarary sphere of the Breakers of Vows).
“I don’t know why I should be taking all this trouble
To protect you from the fool you are.”
Says Edward; T. S. Eliot, The Cocktail Party (New York: Harcourt Brace, 1950), I.1, p. 47.
“And let it be remembered, that our works do not precede us to the bar of God so as to open the door of heaven, nor yet as heralds to clear our way there; but simply as witnesses, to give in their evidences, and deposit their attestation to the reality of our election, redemption, and conversion.”
Augustus Montague Toplady (1740-1778); “Christ our Passover.”
“But when you are come to that town [Vanity] and shall find fulfilled what I have here related, then remember your friend [Evangelist], and quit yourselves like men; and ‘commit the keeping of your souls to God, as unto a faithful Creator.’”
John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress, chapter 13.
“We know that the same power God displayed in creating the universe is at His disposal to assure our salvation. He showed that power in the Exodus from Egypt. He displayed His power over death in the resurrection of Christ. We know that no part of creation can frustrate His plans for the future. There are no maverick molecules loose in the universe that could possibly disrupt His plans. “
R. C. Sproul, Essential Truths of the Christian Faith (Wheaton: Tyndale, 1992), 40.
“There is indeed much about this property to whet his appetite if only the price suites him: easy access to Rome, good communications, a modest house, and sufficient land for him to enjoy without taking up too much of his time. Scholars who take to the country, like himself, need no more land than will suffice to clear their heads and refresh their eyes, as they stroll around their grounds and tread their single path, getting to know each of their precious vines and counting every fruit tree.”
Pliny the Younger writes to his friend, Baebius Hispanus, who is selling a piece of property in Italy. Pliny would like to recommend to him the historian, Seuetonius Tranquillus, as a potential buyer; Pliny the younger, Letters, 24, 1-4 (trans. B. Radice).
“His house is as empty of religion as the white of an egg is of savor.”
Faithful and Christian talking about having met Talkative and how his earnestness in religion is nothing but . . . talk; John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress, ch. 12.
“Thank God you have escaped her . . . Nay, I know not whether I did wholly escaper her or no . . . I shut mine eyes because I would not be bewitched with her looks (Job 31.1); then she railed on me, and I went my way.”
Faithful, retelling to Christian his encounter with Wanton; strange that Faithful would marvel at how deeply and permanently lust has impacted him; John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress, ch. 11.
“When Christian had travelled in this disconsolate condition some considerable time, he though he heard the voice of a man, as going before him, saying, ‘Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will hear no evil; for thou art with me (Ps. 23.4).’”
Christian in the Valley of the Shadow of Death; John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress, ch. 10.
“Thus he went on, and I heard him there sigh bitterly; for, besides the dangers mentioned above, the pathway was here so dark, that ofttimes when he lift up his foot to set forward, he knew not where, nor upon what, he should set it next. “
Christian in the Valley of the Shadow of Death; John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress, ch. 10.
