Bruce Shelley on Christianity and Jesus Christ

“Today, after two thousand years, Christianity is the faith, at least nominally, of one-third of the earth’s population. . . . no other person in recorded history has influenced more people in as many conditions over so long a time as Jesus Christ. The shades and tones of his image seem to shift with the needs of men: the Jewish Messiah of the believing remnant, the Wisdom of the Greek apologist, the Cosmic King of the Imperial Church, the Heavenly Logos of the orthodox councils, the World Ruler of the papal courts, the monastic Model of apostolic poverty, the personal Savior of evangelical revivalists” (Bruce L. Shelley, Church History in Plain Language (Rev. ed. by R.L. Hatchett), 517, 521).

History

“History . . . is thought in action. The history of the future will be thought in action. We can fully share in the history of the past only be reading, or by hearing, about it” (Eric Partridge, English, 11).

Teacher

“If a teacher cannot strike sparks from the anvil of young, impressionable, fresh and lively minds, then he should not be teaching. If he is so set upon his own ideas that he cannot, or will not, welcome the ideas of others, then he should not be teaching. If he cannot prepare for his pupils a plentiful supply of examples and exercises to supplement those example and exercises which the author of this or that Course has furnished, then he should not be teaching. As a teacher he would make an excellent undertaker. All those requisites which I have mentioned are well within the range of the averagely intelligent teacher” (Eric Partridge, English, 8).