The Summit Study Hall: Recent Episodes
Dre Carlan
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“Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.”
-Pensées, Section XIV, #894
“The greatest of evils is civil war. It is bound to come if people want to reward merit, because everyone will claim to be meritorious. The evil to be feared if the succession falls by right of birth to a fool is neither so great nor so certain.”
-Pensées, Section V, #313
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“Lust and force are the source of all our actions; lust causes voluntary actions, force involuntary ones.”
-Pensées, Section V, #334
“The least movement affects all nature; the entire sea changes because of a rock. Thus in grace, the least action affects everything by its consequences; therefore everything is important.”
-Pensées, Section VII, #505
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“We know God only through Jesus Christ. Without this mediator all communication with God is broken off. Through Jesus we know God. All those who have claimed to know God and prove his existence without Jesus Christ have only had futile proofs to offer. But to prove Christ we have the prophecies which are solid and palpable proofs. By being fulfilled and proved true by the event, these prophecies show that these truths are certain and thus prove that Jesus is divine. In him and through him, therefore, we know God. Apart from that, without Scripture, without original sin, without the necessary mediator, who was promised and came, it is impossible to prove absolutely that God exists, or to teach sound doctrine and sound morality. But through and in Christ we can prove God’s existence, and teach both doctrine and morality. Therefore Jesus is the true God of men.”
-Pensées, Section VII, #546
“Not only do we know God by Jesus Christ alone, but we know ourselves only by Jesus Christ. We know life and death only through Jesus Christ. Apart from Jesus Christ, we do not know what is our life, nor our death, nor God, nor ourselves.”
-Pensées, Section VII, #547
“Let us weigh up the gain and the loss involved in calling heads that God exists. Let us assess the two cases: if you win you win everything, if you lose you lose nothing. Do not hesitate then; wager that he does exist.”
-Pensées, Section III, #233
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“For a lifetime can be divided into innumerable parts that do not depend on each other in any way. The fact that I existed a short while ago does not imply that I must exist at present unless some other cause re-creates me, as it were, in the present moment or, in other words, conserves me. It is clear to anyone who thinks about the nature of time that the same power and action is obviously required to conserve anything during the individual moments of its duration as would be required to create it for the first time, had it not already existed. Thus there is only a distinction of reason between conservation and creation, and this is one of the things that are evident by the natural light of reason.”
-Meditations of First Philosophy, Third Meditation
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“…I think it proper to remain here for some time in the contemplation of God himself—that I may ponder at leisure his marvelous attributes—and behold, admire, and adore the beauty of this light so unspeakably great, as far, at least, as the strength of my mind, which is to some degree dazzled by the sight, will permit. For just as we learn by faith that the supreme felicity of another life consists in the contemplation of the Divine majesty alone, so even now we learn from experience that like meditation, though incomparably less perfect, is the source of the highest satisfaction of which we are susceptible in this life.”
-Meditations of First Philosophy, Third Meditation
“I still continued, however, to hold in esteem the studies of the schools. I was aware that the languages taught in them are necessary to the understanding of the writings of the ancients; that the grace of fable stirs the mind; that the memorable deeds of history elevate it; and, if read with discretion, aid in forming the judgment; that the perusal of all excellent books is, as it were, to interview with the noblest men of past ages, who have written them, and even a studied interview, in which are discovered to us only their choicest thoughts; that eloquence has incomparable force and beauty; that poesy has its ravishing graces and delights; that in the mathematics there are many refined discoveries eminently suited to gratify the inquisitive, as well as further all the arts an lessen the labour of man; that numerous highly useful precepts and exhortations to virtue are contained in treatises on morals; that theology points out the path to heaven; that philosophy affords the means of discoursing with an appearance of truth on all matters, and commands the admiration of the more simple; that jurisprudence, medicine, and the other sciences, secure for their cultivators honors and riches; and, in fine, that it is useful to bestow some attention upon all, even upon those abounding the most in superstition and error, that we may be in a position to determine their real value, and guard against being deceived.”
-Discourse on Method, Part I
“For just as all the arts, though in their beginnings they are rude and imperfect, are yet gradually perfected by practice, from their containing at first something true, and whose effect experience evinces; so in philosophy, when we have true principles, we cannot fail by following them to meet sometimes with other truths; and we could not better prove the falsity of those of Aristotle, than by saying that men made no progress in knowledge by their means during the many ages they prosecuted them.”
-Principles of Philosophy, Introduction
“…we should ever bear in mind the infinity of the power and goodness of God, that we may not fear falling into error by imagining his works to be too great, beautiful, and perfect, but that we may, on the contrary, take care lest, by supposing limits to them of which we have no certain knowledge, we appear to think less highly than we ought of the power of God.”
-Principles of Philosophy, Part III
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“From all this I discover, however, that neither the power of willing, which I have received from God, is of itself the source of my errors, for it is exceedingly ample and perfect in its kind; nor even the power of understanding, for as I conceive no object unless by means of the faculty that God bestowed upon me, all that I conceive is doubtless rightly conceived by me, and it is impossible for me to be deceived in it. Whence, then, spring my errors? They arise from this cause alone, that I do not restrain the will, which is of much wider range than the understanding, within the same limits, but extend it even to things I do not understand, and as the will is of itself indifferent to such, it readily falls into error and sin by choosing the false in room of the true, and evil instead of good.”
-Meditations on First Philosophy, Fourth Meditation
“Therefore, I will suppose that, not God who is the source of truth but some evil mind, who is all powerful and cunning, has devoted all their energies to deceiving me.”
-Meditations on First Philosophy, First Meditation
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“Meanwhile whoever eventually happens to be the source of our being, and however powerful and deceptive they are, we still experience in ourselves a freedom such that we can always refrain from believing things that are not fully investigated and certain, and thereby we can take care that we are never mistaken.”
-The Principles of Philosophy, Part I, Ch. 6
“That there is freedom in our will and that we are able to assent or not assent, in many cases arbitrarily, is so evident that it should be counted among the first and most common notions that are innate in us. This was most evident above when, attempting to doubt everything, we reached a point at which we imagined some most powerful author of our origin who tried to deceive us in every way. Despite that, we experienced such freedom in ourselves that we were able to refrain from believing whatever was not fully examined and certain. Nor could there be any other things that are more self-evident and clear than what seemed to be beyond doubt at that time.”
-The Principles of Philosophy, Part I, Ch. 39
“Since we already acknowledge God, we perceive that he has such immense power that we believe it is criminal to think that there is anything we could ever do that was not pre-ordained by him. We can easily involve ourselves in great difficulties if we try to reconcile this pre-ordination by God with the freedom of our will and if we attempt to comprehend both at the same time.”
-The Principles of Philosophy, Part I, Ch. 40
“We shall avoid these difficulties if we remember that our mind is finite, and that the power of God—by which he not only knew eternally everything that exists or could exist, but also willed and pre-ordained them—is infinite. Therefore this power is sufficiently accessible to us to enable us to perceive clearly and distinctly that God possesses it; but it cannot be comprehended by us sufficiently to enable us to see how it leaves human actions free and undetermined. We are so conscious of our freedom and indifference that there is nothing that we comprehend more perfectly or evidently, and it would be absurd just because we do not comprehend one thing which, of its very nature, we know should be incomprehensible to us, to doubt something else of which we have a profound understanding and which we experience in ourselves.”
-The Principles of Philosophy, Part I, Ch. 41
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“Thus the idea of God is the only one left about which to ask the question: does it contain something that could not have originated from me? By the word ‘God’ I understand some infinite substance, which is independent, supremely intelligent and supremely powerful, and by which both I, and everything else that exists (if anything else exists), were created. All these ideas are surely such that, the more carefully I examine them, the less likely it seems that they could have originated from myself alone. Therefore one should draw the conclusion from what has been said that God necessarily exists.”
-Meditations on First Philosophy, Third Meditation
“By reflecting on the fact that I doubted and that, consequently, my being was not completely perfect—for I saw clearly that it was a greater position to know than to doubt—I decided to find out where I learned to think about something that was more perfect than myself, and I knew clearly that this had to be from some nature that was in-fact more perfect. As regards the ideas I had of many other external things, such as the sky, the earth, light, heat and thousands of others, I did not have any comparable difficulty in knowing where they came from, because I did not notice anything in them that seemed to make them superior to me and therefore I was able to believe that, if they were true, they depended on my nature to the extent that they contained any perfection and, if they were not true, I got them from nothing, that is, they were present in me because of some deficiency in me. But the same would not apply to the idea of a being that was more perfect than me. To get such an idea from nothing was something manifestly impossible. And I could not have received it from myself either, because it was just as impossible for something that is more perfect to result from and depend on something less perfect as for something to proceed from nothing. Thus the only remaining option was that this idea was put in me by a nature that was really more perfect than I was, one that even had in itself all the perfections of which I could have some idea, that is—to express myself in a single word—by God.”
-Discourse on Method, Part IV
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“The present only has a being in nature; things past have a being in the memory only; but things to come have no being at all, the future being but a fiction of the mind, applying the sequels of actions past to the actions that are present; which with most certainty is done by him that has most experience, but not with certainty enough. And though it be called prudence when the event answers our expectation; yet in its own nature it is but presumption. For the foresight of things to come, which is providence, belongs only to him by whose will they are to come.”
-Leviathan, Part I, Ch. III
“Anxiety for the future time, disposes men to enquire into the causes of things: because the knowledge of them, makes men the better able to order the present to their best advantage.”
-Leviathan, Part I, Ch. XI
“No man can have in his mind a conception of the future, for the future is not yet. But of our conceptions of the past, we make a future; or rather, call past, future relatively. Thus after a man hath been accustomed to see like antecedents followed by like consequents, whensoever he sees the like come to pass to any thing he had seen before, he looks there should follow it the same that followed then. As for example: because a man hath often seen offenses followed by punishment, when he sees an offense in present, he thinks punishment to be consequent thereto. But consequent unto that which is present, men call future. And thus we make remembrance to be prevision or conjecture of things to come, or expectation or presumption of the future.”
-The Elements of Law, Ch. 4.7
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“Ignorance of the signification of words; which is, want of understanding, disposes men to take on trust, not only the truth they know not; but also the errors; and which is more, the non-sense of them they trust: For neither Error, nor non-sense, can without a perfect understanding of words, be detected.”
-Leviathan, Part I, Ch. XI
“All that is Necessary to Salvation, is contained in two Virtues, Faith in Christ, and Obedience to Laws. The latter of these, if it were perfect, were enough to us. But because we are all guilty of disobedience to God’s Law, not only originally in Adam, but also actually by our own transgressions, there is required at our hands now, not only Obedience for the rest of our time, but also a Remission of sins for the time past; which Remission is the reward of our Faith in Christ. That nothing else is Necessarily required to Salvation, is manifest from this, that the Kingdom of Heaven, is shut to none but to Sinners; that is to say, to the disobedient, or transgressors of the Law; nor to them, in case they Repent, and Believe all the Articles of Christian Faith, Necessary to Salvation.”
-Leviathan, Part III, Ch. XLIII
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“But whatsoever is the object of any man's appetite or desire, that is it which he for his part calls good; and the object of his hate and aversion, evil; and of his contempt, vile and inconsiderable. For these words of good, evil, and contemptible are ever used with relation to the person that uses them: there being nothing simply and absolutely so; nor any common rule of good and evil to be taken from the nature of the objects themselves; but from the person of the man, where there is no Commonwealth; or, in a Commonwealth, from the person that represents it; or from an arbitrator or judge, whom men disagreeing shall by consent set up and make his sentence the rule thereof.”
-Leviathan, Part I, Ch. VI
“And first, it is peculiar to the nature of Man, to be inquisitive into the Causes of the Events they see, some more, some less; but all men so much, as to be curious in the search of the causes of their own good and evil fortune.”
-Leviathan, Part I, Ch. XII
“From the very Creation, God not only reigned over all men Naturally by his might; but also had Peculiar Subjects, whom he commanded by a Voice, as one man speaks to another. In which manner he Reigned over Adam, and gave him commandment to abstain from the tree of cognizance of Good and Evil; which when he obeyed not, but tasting thereof, took upon him to be as God, judging between Good and Evil, not by his Creators commandment, but by his own sense, his punishment was a privation of the estate of Eternal life, wherein God had at first created him:…”
-Leviathan, Part III, Ch. XXXV
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“And this whole controversy concerning the predestination of God, and the freewill of man, is not peculiar to Christian men. For we have huge volumes of this subject, under the name of fate and contingency, disputed between the Epicureans and the Stoics, and consequently it is not a matter of faith, but of philosophy;...”
-The Elements of Law, Ch. 6.9
“Lastly, from the use of the word Freewill, no liberty can be inferred to the will, desire, or inclination, but the liberty of the man; which consists in this, that he finds no stop, in doing what he has the will, desire, or inclination to do.”
-Leviathan, Part II, Ch. XXI
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“Forasmuch as God Almighty. is incomprehensible, it follows that we can have no conception or image of the Deity; and consequently all his attributes signify our inability and defect of power to conceive any thing concerning his nature, and not any conception of the same, excepting only this: that there is a God. For the effects we acknowledge naturally, do necessarily include a power of their producing, before they were produced; and that power presupposes something existent that hath such power; and the thing so existing with power to produce, if it were not eternal, must needs have been produced by somewhat before it; and that again by something else before that: till we come to an eternal, that is to say, to the first power of all powers, and first cause of all causes. And this is it which all men call by the name of GOD: implying eternity, incomprehensibility, and omnipotency. And thus all men that will consider, may naturally know that God is, though not what he is; even as a man though born blind, though it be not possible for him to have any imagination what kind of thing is fire; yet he cannot but know that something there is that men call fire, because it warms him.”
-The Elements of Law, Ch. 11.2
“The true God may be Personated. As he was; first, by Moses; who governed the Israelites, (that were not his, but Gods people,) not in his own name, with Hoc Dicit Moses; but in Gods Name, with Hoc Dicit Dominus. Secondly, by the son of man, his own Son our Blessed Savior Jesus Christ, that came to induce all Nations into the Kingdom of his Father; not as of himself, but as sent from his Father. And thirdly, by the Holy Ghost, or Comforter, speaking, and working in the Apostles: which Holy Ghost, was a Comforter that came not of himself; but was sent, and proceeded from them both.”
-Leviathan, Part I, Ch. XVI
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“Such as accuse mankind of the folly of gaping after future things, and advise us to make our benefit of those which are present, and to set up our rest upon them, as having no grasp upon that which is to come, even less than that which we have upon what is past, have hit upon the most universal of human errors, if that may be called an error to which nature herself has disposed us, in order to the continuation of her own work, prepossessing us, amongst several others, with this deceiving imagination, as being more jealous of our action than afraid of our knowledge. We are never present with, but always beyond ourselves: fear, desire, hope, still push us on towards the future, depriving us, in the meantime, of the sense and consideration of that which is to amuse us with the thought of what shall be, even when we shall be no more.”
-Essays, Book I, Ch. III
“That which is eternal; that is to say, that never had beginning, nor never shall have ending, and to which time can bring no mutation. For time is a mobile thine, and that appears as in a shadow, with a matter evermore flowing and running, without ever remaining stable and permanent; and to which belong those words, before and after, has been, or shall be: which at the first sight, evidently show that it is not a thing that is; for it were a great folly, and a manifest falsity, to say that that is which is not yet being, or that has already ceased to be. And as to these words, present, instant, and now, by which it seems that we principally support and found the intelligence of time, reason, discovering, does presently destroy it; for it immediately divides and splits it into the future and past, being of necessity to consider it divided in two. The same happens to nature, that is measured, as to time that measures it; for she has nothing more subsisting and permanent than the other, but all things are either born, bearing, or dying. So that it were sinful to say of God, who is he only who is, that he was, or that he shall be ; for those are terms of declension, transmutation, and vicissitude, of what cannot continue or remain in being; wherefore we are to conclude that God alone is, not according to any measure of time, but according to an immutable and an immovable eternity, not measured by time, nor subject to any declension; before whom nothing was, and after whom nothing shall be, either more new or more recent, but a real being, that with one sole now fills the forever, and that there is nothing that truly is but he alone; without our being able to say, he has been, or shall be; without beginning, and without end.”
-Essays, Book II, Ch. XII
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“Beauty is a thing of great recommendation in the correspondence amongst men; 'tis the first means of acquiring the favour and good liking of one another, and no man is so barbarous and morose as not to perceive himself in some sort struck with its attraction…the first distinction that ever was amongst men, and the first consideration that gave some pre-eminence over others, 'tis likely was the advantage of beauty.”
-Essays, Book II, Ch. XVII
“…the beautiful souls are they that are universal, open, and ready for all things; if not instructed, at least capable of being so…”
-Essays, Book II, Ch. XVII
“The least forced and most natural motions of the soul are the most beautiful; the best employments, those that are least strained.”
-Essays, Book III, Ch. III
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“For if evils have no admission into us but by the judgment we ourselves make of them, it should seem that it is, then, in our own power to despise them or to turn them to good. If things surrender themselves to our mercy, why do we not convert and accommodate them to our advantage? If what we call evil and torment is neither evil nor torment of itself, but only that our fancy gives it that quality, it is in us to change it, and it being in our own choice, if there be no constraint upon us, we must certainly be very strange fools to take arms for that side which is most offensive to us, and to give sickness, want, and contempt a bitter and nauseous taste, if it be in our power to give them a pleasant relish, and if, fortune simply providing the matter, 'tis for us to give it the form. Now, that what we call evil is not so of itself, or at least to that degree that we make it, and that it depends upon us to give it another taste and complexion (for all comes to one), let us examine how that can be maintained.”
-Essays, Book I, Ch. XL
“Life in itself is neither good nor evil; it is the scene of good or evil as you make it.’ And, if you have lived a day, you have seen all: one day is equal and like to all other days. There is no other light, no other shade; this very sun, this moon, these very stars, this very order and disposition of things, is the same your ancestors enjoyed, and that shall also entertain your posterity.”
-Essays, Book I, Ch. XIX
“Evil appertains to man of course. Neither is pain always to be avoided, nor pleasure always pursued.”
-Essays, Book II, Ch. XII
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“Since God foresees that all things shall so fall out, as doubtless He does, it must then necessarily follow, that they must so fall out”: to which our masters reply: “that the seeing anything come to pass, as we do, and as God Himself also does (for all things being present with him, He rather sees, than foresees), is not to compel an event: that is, we see because things do fall out, but things do not fall out because we see: events cause knowledge, but knowledge does not cause events. That which we see happen, does happen; but it might have happened otherwise: and God, in the catalogue of the causes of events which He has in His prescience, has also those which we call accidental and voluntary, depending upon the liberty. He has given our free will, and knows that we do amiss because we would do so.”
-Essays, Book II, Ch. XXIX
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“…of all forms the most beautiful is that of man; therefore God must be of that form. No one can be happy without virtue, nor virtue be without reason, and reason cannot inhabit anywhere but in a human shape; God is therefore clothed in a human figure.”
-Essays, Book II, Ch. XII
“I know not if or not I am wrong, but since, by a particular favour of the divine bounty, a certain form of prayer has been prescribed and dictated to us, word by word, from the mouth of God Himself, I have ever been of opinion that we ought to have it in more frequent use than we yet have; and if I were worthy to advise, at the sitting down to and rising from our tables, at our rising from and going to bed, and in every particular action wherein prayer is used, I would that Christians always make use of the Lord’s Prayer, if not alone, yet at least always.”
-Essays, Book I, Ch. LVI
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“God knows all things; not only things actual but also things possible to Him and creature; and since some of these are future contingent to us, it follows that God knows future contingent things.”
-Summa theologiae, Question 14, Article 13
“Now God knows all contingent things not only as they are in their causes, but also as each one of them is actually in itself. And although contingent things become actual successively, nevertheless God knows contingent things not successively, as they are in their own being, as we do but simultaneously. The reason is because His knowledge is measured by eternity, as is also His being; and eternity being simultaneously whole comprises all time. Hence all things that are in time are present to God from eternity, not only because He has the types of things present within Him, as some say; but because His glance is carried from eternity over all things as they are in their presentiality. Hence it is manifest that contingent things are infallibly known by God, inasmuch as they are subject to the divine sight in their presentiality; yet they are future contingent things in relation to their own causes.”
-Summa theologiae, Question 14, Article 13
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“The beautiful is the same as the good, and they differ in aspect only. For since good is what all seek, the notion of good is that which calms the desire; while the notion of the beautiful is that which calms the desire, by being seen or known. Consequently those senses chiefly regard the beautiful, which are the most cognitive, sight and hearing, as ministering to reason; for we speak of beautiful sights and beautiful sounds. But in reference to the other objects of the other senses, we do not use the expression "beautiful," for we do not speak of beautiful tastes, and beautiful odors. Thus it is evident that beauty adds to goodness a relation to the cognitive faculty: so that "good" means that which simply pleases the appetite; while the "beautiful" is something pleasant to apprehend.”
-Summa theologiae, Question 27, Article 1
“I answer that, good is the cause of love, as being its object. But good is not the object of the appetite, except as apprehended. And therefore love demands some apprehension of the good that is loved. For this reason the Philosopher (Ethics IX, 5.12) says that bodily sight is the beginning of sensitive love: and in like manner the contemplation of spiritual beauty or goodness is the beginning of spiritual love. Accordingly knowledge is the cause of love for the same reason as good is, which can be loved only if known.”
-Summa theologiae, Question 27, Article 2
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“Is an action good or evil because of its end?
It seems not.
…the goodness of an act is something existing in it. But the end is an extrinsic cause. Therefore, action is not called good or evil because of the end. Moreover, it can happen that a good activity is ordered to a bad end, as when someone gives alms in order to be praised, and conversely a bad activity can be ordered to a good end, as when someone steals in order to give to the poor. Therefore, the action is not good or evil because of the end.”
-Summa theologiae, Question 18, Article 4
“Are moral acts specified by being good or evil?
It seems that they are not.
Good and evil are found in acts conformably with things, as has been said. But things are not specified by good and evil, for good and bad men are in the same species. Therefore, neither should the good and evil in acts make them specifically different. Moreover, since evil is a privation it is a kind of non-being, but non-being cannot be a difference, according to the Philosopher in Metaphysics 2.3. Therefore, since the difference constitutes the species, it seems that an act is not constituted in some species from the fact that it is evil. So good and evil do not make human acts specifically different.”
-Summa theologiae, Question 18, Article 5
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“Does a man have free choice in his actions or does he choose necessarily?
It seems that he chooses necessarily, not freely.
For it is said in Jeremiah 10.23 ‘that the way of a man is not his, neither is it in a man to walk and direct his steps’. But that with respect to which a man has freedom is his, as constituted, as it were, within his dominion. Therefore, it seems that a man does not have free choice of his way or of his acts.”
-On Human Choice, Disputed Question on Evil, 6.1
“Moreover, he who does what he does not wish to do does not have free choice; but man does what he does not will; Romans 8.16: ‘The evil that I hate, I do.’ Therefore a man does not have free choice in his actions.”
-On Human Choice, Disputed Question on Evil, 6.22
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“In all ordered efficient causes, the first is the cause of the intermediate and the intermediate the cause of the last, whether there be one or many intermediates. The cause being removed, that of which it is the cause is removed. But if in efficient causes there is an infinite regress, none of the causes will be first. Therefore all the others are removed, since they are intermediates. But this is manifestly false. Therefore we must recognize that there is a first efficient cause that is God.”
-Summa contra Gentiles, Book I, Ch. 13
“We have shown above that there is one first being possessing the full perfection of existence whom we call God and who from the abundance of his perfection grants being to all existing things. Thus not only is he the first of beings but the principle of all others. He grants existence to other things, not out of any necessity of nature, but of his free will, as is clear from the foregoing. The result is that he is the Lord of all things he has made, for he rules over what is subject to his will. He has perfect dominion over the things produced by him, since in producing them he requires no external agent nor foundation of matter, since he is the cause of universal being.”
-Summa contra Gentiles, Book III, Ch. 1
“Is God simple?
It seems that he is not.
From one simple thing only one thing comes, for a thing causes something the same as itself, according to the Philosopher. But a multitude of things proceeds from God. Therefore he is not simple.”
-On the Divine Simplicity, Question 7, Article 1
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“‘To have been’ is not ‘to be in the future’; ’to be’ is not ’to have been’ or ’to be in the future’; yet through eternity you have been, and are, and will be. How is it that your eternity is always a whole? Is it that in your eternity nothing is past in the sense that it is not now, or future, as though it were not already existing? So it is not that you existed yesterday, or will exist tomorrow, but that yesterday, today, and tomorrow, you simply are. Or rather, you exist neither yesterday, today, nor tomorrow, but you exist directly right outside time. For yesterday, today, and tomorrow are nothing else but time; you however, though nothing can be without you, are not in place or time; but all are in you. Nothing holds you, but you hold all things.”
-Proslogion Ch. 19
“You then fill and enfold all things, you are before and beyond all things. You are before all things because before they were, you already existed. In what way are you beyond all things? How are you beyond those things that have no ending? Is it that without you they would not exist at all, while even if they return to nothing, your existence is in no way less? That is one way in which you are beyond them. Is it that they can be thought to have an end, but that cannot in any way be thought of you? In that way they do indeed have an end and you do not. And clearly that which does not have an end is beyond that which has some kind of end. In that way you go beyond even eternal things, since your eternity and theirs is entirely present to you; while they do not have their eternity that is still to come, nor do they now have what for them is past. Thus you are always beyond them, for that which they have not reached is where you always are, or rather it is always present to you.”
-Proslogion Ch. 20
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“Still, Lord, you hide from my soul in your light and beauty, and therefore it still lives in darkness and in misery. I look all round, but I do not see your beauty. I listen, but I do not hear your harmony. I smell, but I do not gather your fragrance. I taste, but do not know your savour. I touch, but do not feel your yielding. For, Lord God, it is in your own unutterable manner that you have these things; you have given them to what you have created in a manner which can be felt, but the senses of my soul have been hardened, dulled, and blocked by the ancient sickness of sin.”
-Proslogion Ch. 17
“By you the world is renewed and made beautiful with truth, governed by the light of righteousness.”
-Prayer to the Holy Cross
“For if each good thing is delightful, think carefully how delightful must be that good which holds within it the joy of every good, and not such a good as we experience in created things, but as different as Creator is from creature. For if life that is created is good, how good must the life of the Creator be? If salvation that is wrought is joyful, how joyful must that salvation be that saves all things? If the wisdom that knows everything that is made is lovable, how lovable must that wisdom be that made all things out of nothing? Finally, since there is so much and such deep delight in delightful things, how much better and deeper is the delight which is in him who made these delights?”
-Proslogion Ch. 24
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“For in being entirely and supremely righteous, even in this you are kind to the wicked, just because your goodness is entire and supreme. For you would be less good if you were kind to none of the wicked, for better is he who is good to both good and evil men, than he who is good only to good men. And better is he who is good to the wicked by both punishing and sparing them, than he who only punishes them. So you are compassionate because you are entirely and supremely good. And although one can see why you should deal out good to the good and bad to the bad, what is indeed to be wondered at is why you who are entirely righteous and want for nothing should give good gifts to your wicked and guilty sons. How deep is your goodness, O God.”
-Prologion Ch. 9
“When you punish the wicked, this is just, because it is what they deserve; but when you pardon them, this is just, not because of their deserts, but because it assorts well with your goodness. For in sparing the wicked you are just according to your own nature, not according to ours; in the same way as when we say you are compassionate it is not according to your nature but according to ours.”
-Prologion Ch. 10
“To sin—how evil and bitter that is. Sins—how easy to commit, how hard to give up. Sinners—so misled by sins—are caught by their fetters. Understand, O understand how evil and bitter it is to have lost the Lord.”
-Prayer to St. John the Baptist
“...you were on fire with so much love that in your goodness you prayed for the evil men that surrounded you.”
-Prayer to St. Stephen
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“Lord Jesus Christ by the Father’s plan and by the working of the Holy Ghost of your own free will you died and mercifully redeemed the world from sin and everlasting death.”
-Prayer Before Receiving the Body and Blood of Christ
“The son of man in his goodness came of his own free will to save that which was lost;...”
-Prayer to St. Mary (2)
“You are able to bind and loose as you will; you are able to heal and raise up as you will; you can give the kingdom of heaven to whom you will.”
-Prayer to St. Peter
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“...certainly that than which nothing greater can be thought cannot exist only in the understanding. For if it exists only in the understanding, it is possible to think of it existing also in reality, and that is greater. If that than which nothing greater can be thought exists in the understanding alone, then this thing than which nothing greater can be thought is something than which a greater can be thought. And this is clearly impossible. Therefore there can be no doubt at all that something than which a greater cannot be thought exists both in the understanding and in reality.”
-Proslogion, Ch. 2
“If that than which nothing greater can be thought, can be thought of as not existing, then that than which nothing greater can be thought is not the same as that than which nothing greater can be thought. And that simply will not do. Something than which nothing greater can be thought so truly exists that it is not possible to think of it as not existing.
This being is yourself, our Lord and God. Lord my God, you so truly are, that it is not possible to think of you as not existing. And rightly so.”
-Proslogion, Ch. 3
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“But how absurd it is to say that the occurrence of temporal events is the cause of eternal prescience! Yet the opinion that God foresees the future because it is destined to happen is the same as believing that events of a single occurrence are the cause of that supreme Providence.”
-The Consolation of Philosophy, Book V, Ch. III
“It cannot be that what is foreseen as a future event does not come to pass. It would be as if we believed that what Providence foreknows as future events is not going to happen, they were not predestined in their own nature. You will easily be able to see it in this way; we see many things before our eyes as they happen, like the actions we see charioteers performing in order to control and drive their chariots, and other things of this sort. But no necessity forces any of them to happen in this way, does it?”
-The Consolation of Philosophy, Book V, Ch. IV
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“Perhaps your eyes are attracted by the way precious stones reflect the light. But if there is any special quality in this brilliance, it is in the light of the precious stones, not of men, so that I am astonished that men can admire them. Surely there is nothing devoid of life to give it movement, and devoid of structure, which living rational nature can justifiably consider beautiful? Such things may be works of the Creator and may draw some minimal beauty from their own ornamental nature, but they are of an inferior rank to you as a more excellent creature, and cannot in any way merit your admiration.”
-The Consolation of Philosophy, Book II, Ch. V
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“When wickedness rules and flourishes, not only does virtue go unrewarded, it is even trodden underfoot by the wicked and punished in the place of crime. That this can happen in the realm of an omniscient and omnipotent God who wills only good, is beyond perplexity and complaint.”
-The Consolation of Philosophy, Book IV, Ch. I
“And so sovereign Providence has often produced a remarkable effect — evil men making other evil men good. For some, when they think they suffer injustice at the hands of the worst of men, burn with hatred for evil men, and being eager to be different from those they hate, have reformed and become virtuous. It is only the power of God to which evils may also be good, when by their proper use He elicits some good result.
-The Consolation of Philosophy, Book IV, Ch. VI
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“Each future thing is anticipated by the gaze of God which bends it back and recalls it to the presence of its own manner of knowledge; it does not change, as you think, with alternate knowledge of now this and now that, but with one glance anticipates and embraces your changes in its constancy. God receives those present mode of knowledge and vision of all things not from the issue of future things but from His own immediacy.”
-The Consolation of Philosophy, Book V, Ch. VI
“Take the case of those who believe that foreknowledge does not impose necessity upon the future, and that freedom of the will is not infringed by foreknowledge. I would like to know why you consider their reasoning ineffective. For the only source of your proof of the predestination of the future is your belief that what is foreknown cannot but happen. Therefore, if—as you were only just now saying—if foreknowledge does not impose any predestination on the future, why is it that acts of the will are forced to be predestined? But for the sake of argument, so that you may see what follows, let us say that there is no foreknowledge. In this case, actions of the will are not forced to be predestined, are they?...Again, let us say that there is foreknowledge, but that it does not impose any predestination on things; the same freedom of the will remains, I think, absolute and uninfringed.”
-The Consolation of Philosophy, Book V, Ch. IV
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“This world would never have coalesced into one form out of such diverse and antagonistic parts had there not been one who could unify such diversity.”
-The Consolation of Philosophy, Book III, Ch. XII
“I could never believe that events of such regularity are due to the haphazards of chance. In fact I know that God the Creator watches over His creation. The day will never come that sees me abandon the truth of this belief.”
-The Consolation of Philosophy, Book I, Ch. VI
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“...how do prophets see the future, if there is not yet a future to be seen? It is impossible to see what does not exist. In the same way people who describe the past could not describe it correctly unless they saw it in their minds, and if the past did not exist it would be impossible for them to see it at all. Therefore both the past and the future do exist.”
-Confessions, Book XI, Ch. 17
“It might be correct to say that there are three times, a present of past things, a present of present things, and a present of future things. Some such different times do exist in the mind, but nowhere else that I can see. The present of past things is the memory; the present of present things is direct perception; and the present of future things is expectation. If we may speak in these terms, I can see three times and I admit that they do exist.”
-Confessions, Book XI, Ch. 20
“It is not that God’s knowledge varies in any way, that the future, the present, and the past affect that knowledge in three different ways. It is not with God as it is with us. He does not look ahead to the future, look directly at the present, look back to the past. He sees in some other manner, utterly remote from anything we experience or could imagine. He does not see things by turning his attention from one thing to another. He sees all without any kind of change. Things which happen under the condition of time are in the future, not yet in being, or in the present, already existing, or in the past, no longer in being. But God comprehends all these in a stable and eternal present. And with him there is no difference between seeing with the eyes and ‘seeing’ with the mind, for he does not consist of mind and body. Nor is there any difference between his present, past, and future. God’s knowledge has no change or variation. ‘With him there is no alteration, or shadow of movement.’”
-City of God, Book XI, Ch. 21
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“I used to ask my friends ‘Do we love anything unless it is beautiful? What, then, is beauty and in what does it consist? What is it that attracts us and wins us over to the things we love? Unless there were beauty and grace in them, they would be powerless to win our hearts.’”
-Confessions, Book IV, Ch. 13
“For beauty does not depend on mere size, but on the symmetry and proportion of the component parts.”
-City of God, Book XI, Ch. 22
“Then there is the beauty and utility of the natural creation, which the divine generosity has bestowed on man, for him to behold and to take into use...How could any description do justice to all these blessings? The manifold diversity of beauty in sky and earth and sea; the abundance of light, and its miraculous loveliness, in sun and moon and stars; the dark shades of woods, the color and fragrance of flowers;...Then there is the mighty spectacle of the sea itself, putting on its changing colors like different garments, now green, with all the many varied shades, now purple, now blue.”
-City of God, Book XXII, Ch. 24
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“...evil is nothing but the removal of good until finally no good remains.”
-Confessions, Book III, Ch. 7
“...’evil’ is merely a name for the privation of good.”
-City of God, Book XI, Ch. 22
“For you evil does not exist, and not only for you but for the whole of your creation as well, because there is nothing outside it which could invade it and break down the order which you have imposed on it. Yet in the separate parts of your creation there are some things which we think of as evil because they are at variance with other things.”
-Confessions, Book VII, Ch. 13
“But God, who is supremely good in his creation of natures that are good, is also completely just in his employment of evil choices in his design, so that whereas such evil choices make a wrong use of good natures, God turns evil choices to good use. Thus when the Devil, who was good as God created him, became bad by his own choice, God caused him to be cast down to a lower station and to become a derision to the angels of God; and this means that the Devil’s temptations prove to be for the benefit of God’s saints, though the Devil longs to injure them thereby.”
-City of God, Book XI, Ch. 17
“The truth is that one should not try to find an efficient cause for a wrong choice. It is not a matter of efficiency, but of deficiency; the evil will itself is not effective but defective. For to defect from him who is the Supreme Existence, to something of less reality, this is to begin to have an evil will. To try to discover the causes of such defection — deficient, not efficient causes — is like trying to see darkness or to hear silence. Yet we are familiar with darkness and silence, and we can only be aware of them by means of eyes and ears, but this is not by perception but by absence of perception.”
-City of God, Book XII, Ch. 7
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“...we recognize a God who is supreme and true and therefore we confess his supreme power and foreknowledge. We are not afraid that what we do by an act of will may not be a voluntary act, because God, with his infallible prescience, knew that we should do it.”
-City of God, Book V, Ch. 9
“There are those who use the name ‘destiny’ to refer not to the conjunction of stars at the moment of conception, or birth, or beginning, but to the connected series of causes which is responsible for anything that happens. ...For in-fact they ascribe this orderly series, this chain of causes, to the will and power of the supreme God, who is believed, most rightly and truly, to know all things before they happen and who leaves nothing unordered. From him come all powers, but not all wills.”
-City of God, Book V, Ch. 8
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“Now God supremely exists, and therefore he is the author of every existence which does not exist in this supreme degree. No existence which came from nothing can claim to be equal to him; nothing could exist in any way, if it had not been created by him.”
-City of God, Book XII, Ch. 5
“Forms are of two kinds. There is one sort of form given externally to material substances; potters, for instance, woodworkers, and craftsmen of that kind, fashion and paint forms resembling the bodies of living creatures in the pursuit of their art. There is another kind of form which operates internally; this form supplies the efficient causes, and it derives from a secret and hidden decision of a living and intelligent nature, which, being itself uncreated, is responsible for the creation not only of the natural, physical forms, but also of the souls of living creatures. The first kind of form may be ascribed to the artist or craftsman concerned; the second belongs to God alone, who alone is artist, maker, and creator. He needed no material from the world, nor help from angels, when he made the world itself, and created the angels.”
-City of God, Book XII, Ch. 26
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“...everything which happens was always so in the past, will be the same again in the future, and is happening now across the world;...each of us lives only the present moment, and the present moment is all we lose.”
-Meditations, 12.26
“Remind yourself too that each of us lives only in the present moment, a mere fragment of time: the rest is life past or uncertain future.”
-Meditations, 3.10
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“‘No nature is inferior to art’: in-fact the arts imitate the variety of natures. If that is so, then the most perfect and comprehensive of all natures could not be surpassed by any artistic invention. Now all arts create the lower in the interests of the higher: so this is the way of universal nature too.”
-Meditations, 11.10
“Everything in any way beautiful has its beauty of itself, inherent and self-sufficient: praise is no part of it. At any rate, praise does not make anything better or worse. This applies even to the popular conception of beauty, as in material things or works of art. So does the truly beautiful need anything beyond itself? No more than law, no more than truth, no more than kindness or integrity. Which of these things derives its beauty from praise, or withers under criticism? Does an emerald lose its quality if it is not praised? And what of gold, ivory, purple, a lyre, a dagger, a flower, a bush?”
-Meditations, 4.20
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“Say to yourself first thing in the morning: today I shall meet people who are meddling, ungrateful, aggressive, treacherous, malicious, unsocial. All this has afflicted them through their ignorance of true good and evil. But I have seen that the nature of good is what is right, and the nature of evil what is wrong;...”
-Meditations, 2.1
“What comes from men is welcome for our kinship’s sake, but sometimes pitiable also, in a way, because of their ignorance of good and evil: and this is no less a disability than that which removes the distinction of light and dark.”
-Meditations, 2.13
“You know from experience that in all your wanderings you have nowhere found the good life—not in logic, not in wealth, not in glory, not in indulgence: nowhere. Where then is it to be found? In doing what man’s nature requires. And how is he to do this? By having principles to govern his impulses and actions. What are those principles? Those of good and evil—the belief that nothing is good for a human which does not make him just, self-controlled, brave, and free: and nothing evil which does not make him the opposite of these.”
-Meditations, 8.1
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“All that happens has been fated by the Whole from the beginning and spun for your own destiny.”
-Meditations, 4.26
“...that this has happened to you, was prescribed for you, and is related to you, a thread of destiny spun for you from the first by the most ancient causes.”
-Meditations, 5.8.5
“Whatever happens to you was being prepared for you from everlasting, and the mesh of causes was ever spinning from eternity both your own existence and the incidence of this particular happening.”
-Meditations, 10.5
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“...departure from the world of men is nothing to fear, if gods exist; because they would not involve you in any harm. If they do not exist, or if they have no care for humankind, then what is life to me in a world devoid of gods, or devoid of providence? But they do exist, and they do care for humankind...”
-Meditations, 2.11
“To those who ask, ‘Where then have you seen the gods? What conviction of their existence leads you to this worship of them?’, I reply...that I have not seen my own soul either, and yet I honor it. So it is with the gods too: from my every experience of their power time after time I am certain that they exist, and I revere them.”
-Meditations, 12.28
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“For there were no days and nights and months and years before the heaven was created, but when he constructed the heaven he created them also. They are all parts of time, and the past and future are created species of time, which we unconsciously but wrongly transfer to the eternal essence; for we say that he "was," he "is," he "will be," but the truth is that "is" alone is properly attributed to him, and that "was" and "will be" only to be spoken of becoming in time, for they are motions, but that which is immovably the same cannot become older or younger by time, nor ever did or has become, or hereafter will be, older or younger, nor is subject at all to any of those states which affect moving and sensible things and of which generation is the cause. These are the forms of time, which imitates eternity and revolves according to a law of number.”
-Timaeus
“Time, then, and the heaven came into being at the same instant in order that, having been created together, if ever there was to be a dissolution of them, they might be dissolved together. It was framed after the pattern of the eternal nature, that it might resemble this as far as was possible; for the pattern exists from eternity, and the created heaven has been, and is, and will be, in all time. Such was the mind and thought of God in the creation of time.”
-Timaeus
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“But I should like to know whether you mean that there are certain ideas of which all other things partake, and from which they derive their names; that similars, for example, become similar, because they partake of similarity; and great things become great, because they partake of greatness; and that just and beautiful things become just and beautiful, because they partake of justice and beauty?”
-Parmenides
“The lovers of sounds and sights, I replied, are, as I conceive, fond of fine tones and colors and forms and all the artificial products that are made out of them, but their minds are incapable of seeing or loving absolute beauty...and he who, having a sense of beautiful things has no sense of absolute beauty, or who, in another lead him to a knowledge of that beauty is unable to follow—of such a one I ask, Is he awake or in a dream only?...”
-Republic, 5.476b-c
“Why then, Socrates, do I lose attention and go to sleep and have absolutely no ideas of the least value, when any one speaks of any other poet; but when Homer is mentioned, I wake up at once and am all attention and have plenty to say?”
“The reason, my friend, is obvious. No one can fail to see that you speak of Homer without any art or knowledge. If you were able to speak of him by rules of art, you would have been able to speak of all other poets; for poetry is a whole.”
-Ion, 532b
“There is poetry, which, as you know, is complex and manifold. All creation or passage or non-being into being is poetry or making, and the processes of all art are creative; and the masters of arts are all poets or makers. Still, you know that they are not called poets, but have other names; only that portion of the art which is separated off from the rest, and is concerned with music and metre, is termed poetry, and they who possess poetry in this sense of the word are called poets”.
-Symposium, 205
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“Now of the divine, he himself was the creator, but the creation of the mortal he committed to his offspring. And they, imitating him, received from him the immortal principle of the soul; and around this they proceeded to fashion a mortal body, and made it to be the vehicle of the soul and constructed within the body a soul of another nature which was mortal, subject to terrible and irresistible affections-first of all, pleasure, the greatest incitement to evil;...”
-Timaeus
“...those who make pleasure their good are in equal perplexity; for they are compelled to admit that there are bad pleasures as well as good...and therefore to acknowledge that bad and good are the same?”
-Republic, 6.505c
“...there is an absolute beauty and an absolute good, and of other things to which the term “many” is applied there is an absolute; for they may be brought under a single idea, which is called the essence of each.”
Republic, 6.507b
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“Mortal souls, behold a new cycle of life and mortality. Your genius will not be allotted to you, but you will choose your genius; and let him who draws the first lot have the first choice, and the life which he chooses shall be his destiny.”
-Republic 10.617d-e
“...but let him know how to choose the mean and avoid extremes on either side, as far as possible, not only in this life but in all that which is to come. For this is the way to happiness.”
-Republic, 10.619a
“Even for the last comer, if he chooses wisely and will live diligently, there is appointed a happy and not undesirable existence.”
-Republic, 10.619b
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“...the sensible God who is the image of the intellectual, the greatest, best, fairest, most perfect-the one only begotten heaven.”
-Timaeus
“Would you, or would you not say, that absolute knowledge, if there is such a thing, must be a far more exact knowledge than our knowledge; and the same of beauty and of the rest?
And if there be such a thing as participation in absolute knowledge, no one is more likely than God to have this most exact knowledge?
But then, will God, having absolute knowledge, have a knowledge of human things?”
-Parmenides
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Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.”
Mark 8:34
Then Peter and John laid their hands upon these believers, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Acts 8:17
But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his name!
1 Peter 4:16
But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went.
Acts 8:4
May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus.
Romans 15:5
When he reached the place where the road started down the Mount of Olives, all of his followers began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen.
Luke 19:37
Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord.
Psalms 119:1
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...They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them.
1 Peter 2:8
“But have you not heard? I decided this long ago. Long ago I planned it, and now I am making it happen...”
2 Kings 19:25
Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18
So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.
Romans 8:1
O Lord, I will honor and praise your name, for you are my God. You do such wonderful things! You planned them long ago, and now you have accomplished them.
Isaiah 25:1
So he will do to me whatever he has planned. He controls my destiny.
Job 23:14
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Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.
Proverbs 31:30
Why is your lover better than all others, O woman of rare beauty? What makes your lover so special that we must promise this?
Song of Songs 5:9
You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.
1 Peter 3:4
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As Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.”
Mark 1:10-11
“But I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me.”
John 15:26
I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.
Galatians 3:5
Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.
Galatians 3:14
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
2 Corinthians 13:14
God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ...
1 Peter 1:2
“Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
Matthew 28:19
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Scripture referenced:
I am not afraid of ten thousand enemies who surround me on every side.
Psalms 3:6
Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.
Ephesians 6:13
Don’t think of them as enemies, but warn them as you would a brother or sister.
2 Thessalonians 3:15
Don’t rejoice when your enemies fall; don’t be happy when they stumble.
Proverbs 24:17
“But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!”
Matthew 5:44
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Scripture referenced:
Without wise leadership, a nation falls; there is safety in having many advisers.
Proverbs 11:14
If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
Romans 12:8
King Jotham became powerful because he was careful to live in obedience to the Lord his God.
2 Chronicles 27:6
“So guard yourselves and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock—his church, purchased with his own blood—over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as leaders.”
Acts 20:28
“Give them someone who will guide them wherever they go and will lead them into battle, so the community of the Lord will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”
Numbers 27:17
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Scripture referenced:
Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised...
Galatians 3:19
Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.
Romans 12:21
My suffering was good for me, for it taught me to pay attention to your decrees.
Psalms 119:71
I have refined you, but not as silver is refined. Rather, I have refined you in the furnace of suffering.
Isaiah 48:10
We are confident that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in the comfort God gives us.
2 Corinthians 1:7
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Scripture referenced:
I was appointed in ages past, at the very first, before the earth began.
Proverbs 8:23
What do you know about tomorrow? How can you be so sure about your life? It is nothing more than mist that appears for only a little while before it disappears.
James 4:14
...I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,
Philippians 3:13
Look at those who are honest and good, for a wonderful future awaits those who love peace.
Psalms 37:37
Your throne, O Lord, has stood from time immemorial. You yourself are from the everlasting past.
Psalms 93:2
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Scripture referenced:
“So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”
Luke 11:13
“We are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit, who is given by God to those who obey him.”
Acts 5:32
“Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.”
John 3:6
Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life?
2 Corinthians 3:8
“He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.”
John 14:17
Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to you.
2 Timothy 1:14
So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:3
“But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.”
John 14:26
“Brothers,” he said, “the Scriptures had to be fulfilled concerning Judas, who guided those who arrested Jesus. This was predicted long ago by the Holy Spirit, speaking through King David.”
Acts 1:16
Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God?...
1 Corinthians 6:19
But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.
1 John 2:27
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Scripture referenced:
For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.
Colossians 2:9
All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.
1 John 4:15-16
Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?
1 Corinthians 3:16
“And when you swear ‘by the Temple,’ you are swearing by it and by God, who lives in it.”
Matthew 23:21
Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven...
Lamentations 3:41
I lift my eyes to you, O God, enthroned in heaven.
Psalms 123:1
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Scripture referenced:
We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need...
Colossians 1:11
May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus.
Romans 15:5
We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love.
2 Corinthians 6:6
Finishing is better than starting. Patience is better than pride.
Ecclesiastes 7:8
Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
Colossians 3:12
And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved...
2 Peter 3:15
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Scripture referenced:
And he said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day.
Luke 24:46
But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
Romans 5:8
Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
Romans 8:34
For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.
Romans 6:7
As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died.
Galatians 6:14
Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life.
2 Corinthians 5:14
So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates to make his people holy by means of his own blood.
Hebrews 13:12
He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.
2 Corinthians 5:15
For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.
1 Thessalonians 4:14
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16
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Scripture referenced:
May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God.
Philippians 1:11
For God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn.
Romans 11:29
God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.
1 Peter 4:10
Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Romans 12:2
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Ephesians 2:10
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Scripture referenced:
...always obey your parents...
Colossians 3:20
A wise child accepts a parent’s discipline; a mocker refuses to listen to correction.
Proverbs 13:1
“Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”
Exodus 20:12
So give your father and mother joy! May she who gave you birth be happy.
Proverbs 23:25
For I, too, was once my father’s son, tenderly loved as my mother’s only child.
Proverbs 4:3
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Scripture referenced:
Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.
Romans 12:10
In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together...
1 Peter 3:7
Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude.
1 Peter 3:8
“Do not take advantage of foreigners who live among you in your land. Treat them like native-born Israelites, and love them as you love yourself. Remember that you were once foreigners living in the land of Egypt...”
Leviticus 19:33-34
“...Love your neighbor as yourself...”
Mark 12:31
For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.
Matthew 7:2
No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.
1 John 4:12
And may you treat me with the faithful love of the Lord as long as I live...
1 Samuel 20:14
“This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.”
John 15:12
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Scripture referenced:
An honest answer is like a kiss of friendship.
Proverbs 24:26
A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need.
Proverbs 17:17
And Jonathan made David reaffirm his vow of friendship again, for Jonathan loved David as he loved himself.
1 Samuel 20:17
“There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
John 15:13
For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.
Romans 5:10
...He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end.
John 13:1
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Scripture referenced:
Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God.
1 John 3:4
The godly are directed by honesty; the wicked fall beneath their load of sin.
Proverbs 11:5
Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin.”
John 8:34
He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.
1 John 2:2
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23
Godliness guards the path of the blameless, but the evil are misled by sin.
Proverbs 13:6
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Scripture referenced:
You are reasonable people. Decide for yourselves if what I am saying is true.
1 Corinthians 10:15
For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will.
2 Corinthians 8:3
“Do what you think is best,” the armor bearer replied. “I’m with you completely, whatever you decide.”
1 Samuel 14:7
“Why can’t you decide for yourselves what is right?”
Luke 12:57
“Look, today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse!”
Deuteronomy 11:26
“Tell all the people, ‘This is what the Lord says: Take your choice of life or death!”
Jeremiah 21:8
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Scripture referenced:
“Do not nurse hatred in your heart...”
Leviticus 19:17
Wrongdoers eagerly listen to gossip; liars pay close attention to slander.
Proverbs 17:4
A king detests wrongdoing, for his rule is built on justice.
Proverbs 16:12
Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.
Romans 12:21
Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.
Ephesians 4:31
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Scripture referenced:
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.
1 Corinthians 13:4-5
Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
1 Corinthians 13:7
Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear...
1 John 4:18
Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.
1 Peter 4:8
Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.
Ephesians 4:2
Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them...
Romans 12:9
Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning.
2 John 1:6
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Scripture referenced:
Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow.
Psalms 25:4
Make me walk along the path of your commands, for that is where my happiness is found.
Psalms 119:35
Those who follow the right path fear the Lord; those who take the wrong path despise him.
Proverbs 14:2
Who are those who fear the Lord? He will show them the path they should choose.
Psalms 25:12
Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
Proverbs 3:6
Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.
Psalms 119:105
Let those who are wise understand these things. Let those with discernment listen carefully. The paths of the Lord are true and right, and righteous people live by walking in them. But in those paths sinners stumble and fall.
Hosea 14:9
A wise person chooses the right road; a fool takes the wrong one.
Ecclesiastes 10:2
The path of the virtuous leads away from evil; whoever follows that path is safe.
Proverbs 16:17
Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path.
Proverbs 4:26
My steps have stayed on your path; I have not wavered from following you.
Psalms 17:5
The Lord is good and does what is right; he shows the proper path to those who go astray.
Psalms 25:8
All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.
Isaiah 53:6
So follow the steps of the good, and stay on the paths of the righteous.
Proverbs 2:20
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Scripture referenced:
“But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!”
Matthew 5:44
“But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too. ”
Mark 11:25
“If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.”
Matthew 6:14
Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
Ephesians 4:32
Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
Colossians 3:13
“and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.”
Matthew 6:12
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Scripture referenced:
“I tell you the truth, all sin and blasphemy can be forgiven,”
Mark 3:28
But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
1 John 1:9
“I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.”
Isaiah 43:25
“Brothers, listen! We are here to proclaim that through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins.”
Acts 13:38
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
Romans 3:23
All their past sins will be forgotten, and they will live because of the righteous things they have done.
Ezekiel 18:22
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Scripture referenced:
Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
1 Peter 5:7
“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’”
Matthew 6:31
“Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?”
Matthew 6:26
Look at those who are honest and good, for a wonderful future awaits those who love peace.
Psalms 37:37
For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.
Ephesians 4:4
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Scripture referenced:
Look, the winter is past, and the rains are over and gone.
Song of Songs 2:11
God keeps such people so busy enjoying life that they take no time to brood over the past.
Ecclesiastes 5:20
My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
2 Corinthians 5:17
...I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,
Philippians 3:13
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Scripture referenced:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
Jeremiah 29:11
Everything has already been decided. It was known long ago what each person would be. So there’s no use arguing with God about your destiny.
Ecclesiastes 6:10
Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18
and he said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul, for you will surely stand trial before Caesar! What’s more, God in his goodness has granted safety to everyone sailing with you.’
Acts 27:24
You guide me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny.
Psalms 73:24
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Scripture referenced:
Now may the Lord of peace himself give you his peace at all times and in every situation. The Lord be with you all.
2 Thessalonians 3:16
“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33
So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.
Romans 8:6
And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
Colossians 3:15
You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
Isaiah 26:3
I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13
“Go in peace,” the priest replied. “For the Lord is watching over your journey.”
Judges 18:6
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Scripture referenced:
Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have.
Philippians 4:11
Better to have little, with fear for the Lord, than to have great treasure and inner turmoil.
Proverbs 15:16
So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.
1 Timothy 6:8
Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”
Hebrews 13:5
Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth.
1 Timothy 6:6
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Scripture referenced:
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
Philippians 4:6
But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
Matthew 6:6
And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.
Romans 8:26
But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer.
Psalms 66:19
Never stop praying.
1 Thessalonians 5:17
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Scripture referenced:
As soon as they arrived, they prayed for these new believers to receive the Holy Spirit.
Acts 8:15
Many who became believers confessed their sinful practices.
Acts 19:18
Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.
Ephesians 6:18
What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever?
2 Corinthians 6:15
And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had.
Acts 2:44
And the believers were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
Acts 13:52
And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.
1 John 4:21