Against the persecution of a tyrant the godly have no remedy but prayer.
John CalvinRead
Hence that dread and amazement with which as Scripture uniformly relates holy men were struck and overwhelmed whenever they beheld the presence of God. Men are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance until they have.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the profound impact of encountering the divine, highlighting human insignificance in the presence of God.
In this quote, John Calvin emphasizes the overwhelming experience holy men face when they come into contact with the divine presence of God. It suggests that true awareness of our own insignificance is often realized in the light of encountering something far greater than ourselves, which can evoke both dread and awe, and challenges us to reflect on our place in the universe.
Themes
GodInsignificancePresenceDivineHumility
In practice
Example use cases
During a sermon, a pastor might reference this quote to illustrate the importance of humility before God.
More from John Calvin
All quotes βThe pastor ought to have two voices: one, for gathering the sheep; and another, for warding off and driving away wolves and thieves. The Scripture supplies him with the means of doing both.
John CalvinRead
Man is never sufficiently touched and affected by the awareness of his lowly state until he has compared himself with God's majesty.
John CalvinRead
Whomever the Lord has adopted and deemed worthy of His fellowship ought to prepare themselves for a hard, toilsome, and unquiet life, crammed with very many and various kinds of evil.
John CalvinRead
For as the aged, or those whose sight is defective, when any book, however fair, is set before them, though they perceive that there is something written, are scarcely able to make out two consecutive words, but, when aided by glasses, begin to read distinctly, so Scripture, gathering together the impressions of Deity, which, till then, lay confused in our minds, dissipates the darkness, and shows us the true God clearly.
John CalvinRead
When God wants to judge a nation, He gives them wicked rulers.
John CalvinRead
Similar quotes
What I find very interesting is, we're not enthralled by the ancient world, and we've escaped all kinds of ancient preconceptions and assumptions and prejudices. But, nevertheless, we still make that connection between authoritative speech and male speech.
Mary BeardRead
We all suffer alone in the real world. True empathy's impossible. But if a piece of fiction can alow us imaginatively to identify with a character's pain, we might then also more easily conceive of others identifying with their own. This is nourishing, redemptive; we become less alone inside. It might just be that simple.
David Foster WallaceRead
Conventional economics is a form of brain damage. Economics is so fundamentally disconnected from the real world, it is destructive.
David SuzukiRead
I do not mean to moralise but to those who do, I would give this advice : if you mean ultimately to deprive the best things and states of all all honour and worth then continue to talk about them as you have been doing!
Friedrich NietzscheRead
The poetic notion of infinity is far greater than that which is sponsored by any creed.
Joseph BrodskyRead
It is never on account of its formal nature as a psychic act that faith is conceived in Scripture to be saving. It is not, strictly speaking, even faith in Christ that saves, but Christ that saves through faith. The saving power resides exclusively, not in the act of faith or the attitude of faith or nature of faith, but in the object of faith.
B. B. WarfieldRead