“One nearby church chided passers-by with its sign that read, ‘Be patient. It takes time for grass to become butter.’ I needed the patience called for by the sign to figure out what that meant” (R. C. Sproul, Jr., Eternity in Our Hearts: Essays on the Good Life, 74).

“That the [Nicene] Creed says x is sufficient reason to assert that x is true, theologically” (Stephen R. Holmes, Listening to the Past: The Place of Tradition in Theology, 161).

“It is fuel for the fire to point out that western culture is in radical decline. I do not deny it. I recognize that things are getting ugly in the world–precisely because they are already ugly in the church. When another teenage gunman treating his school like a video game is greeted with a yawn, when sodomites become a protected class, when a million and a half babies are killed every year, we can safely conclude that the salt has lost its savor” (R. C. Sproul, Jr., Eternity in Our Hearts: Essays on the Good Life, 59).

“You think a friend is an easy thing to be? If you are truly his friend, you will discover otherwise” (Chaim Potok, The Chosen, 142).

“The work of the Spirit, as well as being fundamentally eschatological, is also essentially immanent: the Spirit works within creation, establishing the creation’s ability to be itself to the praise of its Creator” (Stephen R. Holmes, Listening to the Past: The Place of Tradition in Theology, 158).

“The biblical vision, however, can inspire us to obedience. When we know the kingdom will grow, when we know that God is faithful in His covenants, when we know that He has promised to be God to us, to our children, and to as many as are afar off, when we know that Christ not only came to conquer the world but that He has already overcome it–then we move forward in the faith. We move forward believing the good news of the Kingdom of Christ. We don’t send our little children out to drag their heathen classmates onto the boat; we prepare them for the larger task of raising their own children to be a light to a world that is not triumphing but perishing. Eschatology then becomes more than a theological parlor game. It is the very spring in our step, the very hope that is within us, the very vision that we are to pass onto His blessings–that He is in the midst of blessing to a thousand generations” (R. C. Sproul, Jr., Eternity in Our Hearts: Essays on the Good Life, 58).

“[Reuven Malter’s father speaking to his son] Reuven, as you grow older you will discover that the most important things that will happen to you will often come as a result of silly things, as you call them–‘ordinary things’ is a better expression. That is the way the world is” (Chaim Potok, The Chosen, 110).

“Only the fool living under the sun determines to ‘Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.’ What then do we make of those under the Son who claim ‘Evangelize, evangelize, evangelize, for tomorrow we are raptured?’ No one wants to come out against evangelism, especially me. It may very well be that in the providence of God the threat of an impending rapture, and of a tribulation to follow, may actually have motivated a few folks to spread the Good News. Wouldn’t it just be like God to use such a thing to bring His sheep into His fold? There’s a true sign of the sovereignty of God–He is strong enough to use even a dispensational eschatology for His glory. On the other hand, it may be that one day all their apologetical labors will fall on deaf ears when they come to be seen by the world as those whose patron saint is Chicken Little” (R. C. Sproul, Jr., Eternity in Our Hearts: Essays on the Good Life, 55).

“He [Reuven Malter’s father] put the radio on the night table. A radio brought the world together, he said very often. Anything that brought the world together he called a blessing” (Chaim Potok, The Chosen, 50).