When prayer fades out, power fades out. We are as spiritual as we are prayerful; no more, no less.
E. Stanley JonesRead
The purpose of religion is not so much to get us into heaven, or to keep us out of hell, but to put a little bit of heaven into us, and take the hell out of us. This has always been the greatest responsibility of religion.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Religion aims to improve our inner selves rather than merely focusing on the afterlife.
E. Stanley Jones emphasizes that the true purpose of religion transcends the traditional views of heaven and hell. Instead of being solely about gaining eternal reward or avoiding eternal punishment, religion should transform individuals, instilling a sense of peace, love, and goodness within, effectively making our earthly lives more heavenly while dispelling negativity and despair.
Themes
ReligionHeavenHellPurposeTransformation
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech on the importance of spiritual growth, one could reference this quote to highlight the transformative power of religion.
More from E. Stanley Jones
All quotes →A Johns Hopkins doctor says that 'we do not know why it is that the worriers die sooner than the non-worriers, but that is a fact.' But I, who am simple of mind, think I know we are inwardly constructed, in nerve and tissue and brain cell and soul, for faith and not for fear. God made us that way. Therefore, the need of faith is not something imposed on us dogmatically, but it is written in us intrinsically. We cannot live without it. To live by worry is to live against Reality.
E. Stanley JonesRead
Worry and anxiety are sand in the machinery of life; faith is the oil.
E. Stanley JonesRead
An individual gospel without a social gospel is a soul without a body and a social gospel without an individual gospel is a body without a soul. One is a ghost, the other a corpse.
E. Stanley JonesRead
To implant fear in the minds of children is a crime. If parents try to rule the child by fear, then fear rules the child.
E. Stanley JonesRead
Prayer is commission. Out of the quietness with God, power is generated that turns the spiritual machinery of the world. When you pray, you begin to feel the sense of being sent, that the divine compulsion is upon you.
E. Stanley JonesRead
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What we call truths are just those errors that we cannot give up.
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