Sin Quotes
"The sin nature of man is the only religious doctrine that can be scientifically, empirically verified. All you have to do is observe people." G.K. Chesterton (1874 – 1936) was an English writer, lay theologian, poet, philosopher, dramatist, journalist, orator, literary and art critic, biographer, and Christian apologist.
"Sin is the best news there is ... because with sin there's a way out. You can't repent of confusion or psychological flaws inflicted by your parents--you're stuck with them. But you can repent of sin. Sin and repentance are the only grounds for hope and joy, the grounds for reconciled, joyful relationships." John Alexander was a 21st century American pastor, teacher and author who devoted his life to the study of church and Christian community.
"There are only two kinds of people: sinners who think they are saints, and saints who know they are sinners." Author Unknown
“The Bible will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from the Bible.” Dwight L. Moody (1837 – 1899),was an American evangelist and publisher, and founder of the Moody Church, the Moody Bible Institute, and Moody Publishers.
"It is after you have realized that there is a real Moral Law, and a Power behind the law, and that you have broken that law and put yourself wrong with that Power--it is after all this, and not a moment sooner, that Chrsitianity begins to talk." C.S. Lewis (1898 – 22 November 1963), was a novelist, poet, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian, broadcaster, lecturer, and Christian apologist, best known for his works MERE CHRISTIANITY and THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA.
“The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that's the essence of inhumanity.” George Bernard Shaw (1856 – 1950) was a famed Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics.
“If nothing else, there's comfort in recognizing that no matter how much we fail and sin, death will limit our suffering.” Chuck Palahniuk (1962 - ) is an American novelist and freelance journalist.
“Sin has many tools, but a lie is the handle which fits them all.” Edmund Burke (1729 – 1797) was an Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist, and philosopher.
“Man's sin is in his failure to live what he is. Being the master of the earth, man forgets that he is the servant of God.” Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907 –1972) was a Polish-born American rabbi and one of the leading Jewish theologians and Jewish philosophers of the 20th century.
“It will never do to plead sin as an excuse for sin, or to attempt to justify sinful acts by pleading that we have an evil heart. This instead of being a valid apology, is the very ground of our condemnation.” Archibald Alexander (1772 – 1851) was an American Presbyterian theologian and professor at the Princeton Theological Seminary.
“One of the peculiar sins of the twentieth century which we've developed to a very high level is the sin of credulity. It has been said that when human beings stop believing in God they believe in nothing. The truth is much worse: they believe in anything.” Malcolm Muggeridge (1903 – 1990) was a British journalist, author, media personality, and satirist.
“God had one son on earth without sin, but never one without suffering.” Saint Augustine (354 – 430) was an early Christian theologian and philosopher whose writings influenced the development of Western Christianity and Western philosophy.
“Everything that used to be a sin is now a disease.” Bill Maher (1956 - ) is an American political satirist, writer, producer, television host, and stand-up comedian.
“All human sin seems so much worse in its consequences than in its intentions.” Reinhold Niebuhr (1892 – 1971) was an American theologian, ethicist, and seminary professor, best known as author of The Serenity Prayer.
“One leak will sink a ship: and one sin will destroy a sinner.” John Bunyan (1628 – 1688) was an English writer and preacher best remembered as the author of the religious allegory The Pilgrim's Progress.
“Sin is too stupid to see beyond itself.” Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809 – 1892) was Poet Laureate of Great Britain and Ireland during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular British poets.
“The reality of loving God is loving him like he's a Superhero who actually saved you from stuff rather than a Santa Claus who merely gave you some stuff.” Criss Jami (1987 - ) is an American poet, essayist, existentialist philosopher.
“Men will allow God to be everywhere but on his throne.
Many of the above quotes provide their own points of application. They do not necessarily represent the views of Orthodox Christianity; neither do they necessarily represent the views of Illustration Exchange.
Enter the Poison Garden
Have you ever heard of the Poison Garden?
The Alnwick Garden [located in Alnwick, UK] plays host to the small but deadly Poison Garden—filled exclusively with around 100 toxic, intoxicating, and narcotic plants. The boundaries of the Poison Garden are kept behind black iron gates, only open on guided tours.
Visitors are strictly prohibited from smelling, touching, or tasting any plants.
Entry to The Poison Garden is included with your day ticket but please note tours are subject to availability.
Wait, what?! A garden filled with nothing but poisonous plants?!
A combination of dark, ivy-covered tunnels and flame-shaped beds creates an educational garden full of interest and intrigue, where the most dangerous plants are kept within giant cages. ... The Poison Garden is home to around 100 species of dangerous, toxic and harmful plants, each of which has the potential to severely injure you! These are some of the most dangerous to look (but not touch) out for on your tour:
Laburnum
Atropa Belladonna
Helleborus Odorus
Monkshood
Ricinus communis
Giant Hogweed
Opium Poppy
Gympie- Gympie
… and hundreds more!
Aparently, though quite deadly, these poisonous plants can be quite beautiful and alluring ...
This world is a veritable poison garden filled with all manner of temptations and worldly pursuits that can quite literally kill us!
God calls us to wander through this Poison Garden circumspectly, careful to not "touch" the poison all around us.
Long story short, enter the Poison Garden careful to obey all the warning signs!
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23, ESV).
"Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—" (Romans 5:12, ESV).
"Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death" (James 1:15, ESV).
"But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" (Genesis 2:17, ESV).
Don't Eat the Cessna
Michel Lotito had an unusual appetite, diagnosed from an early age with Pica, a rare phsycological disorder, causing him to "compulsively swallow non-food items," everything from metal and wood to plastics and rubber.
Over the course of his life it has been reported that he consumed 11 bicycles, 7 shopping carts, 1 steel safe, 1 cash register, 1 washing machine, 1 television, and hundreds of meters of steel chains, turning his penchant for curious consumption into a lucrative entertainment career.
Lotito admitted that eating his first bicycle was not easy. "I started with the metal parts, and only after that came the rubber tires," Lotito recalled. "The tires were really difficult to eat. Metal has no taste, but rubber is very unpleasant."
However, these meals were nothing compared to his largest meal—a Cessna airplane. Yes, Lotito, over the span of a few years, is said to have consumed an entire airplane made of tons of aluminum, steel, and rubber.
Turns out, the French entertainer had a superhuman digestive system which was incredibly resilient enough to endure consuming just about anything.
After examining his stomach, he was told by doctors he was capable of consuming 2 lbs (907 grams) of metal per day due to his extra thick stomach lining and intestines.
Lotito may have been able to eat practically anything, but he still had to take care of himself in the process. Therefore, he had quite a useful technique to minimise any internal damage.
In 1980, a newspaper reported: 'Lotito must be very careful. He lubricates his system with mineral oil, for one thing. He also stretches the meal over several days. He chops all the metal into pellets, and washes them down with copious amounts of drinking water.'
Lotito's unusual appetite, though his body was uniquely suited to "endure" it, was neither healthy nor genuinely gratifying. Nothing in those nuts and bolts and tires could actually nourish or satisfy his body's physical needs. And no amount of feeding the desires of his mental disorder could satisfy the emptiness of his spirit. Like Lotito, we are self-deceived if we think otherwise.
The Bible teaches about the dangers of excessive or unnatural desires. Human cravings, when not aligned with God's will, can lead to emptiness, dissatisfaction, or even destruction. Just as eating metal is harmful to the body, indulging in desires outside of God's design are damaging to the soul.
“Each one is tempted when, by this own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then after desire has conceived it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death" (James 1:14-15).
"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind" (Ephesians 2:1-3, ESV).
"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16, ESV).