7 Quotes by R. Joseph Hoffmann

The fact is, the great intellectuals of the western religious tradition from Augustine to Aquinas and Peter Abelard became philosophically dominant. The intellectual tradition was preserved. The great intellectuals of the Islamic tradition like Averroes and Avicenna became heretics whose influence disappeared under the weight of rote preaching and practice. Islam as a result has a moral code, a legalistic system of right and wrong, but no evolved ethical tradition.

The reason I could never be an atheist is because when they get together they have literally nothing to talk about.

The attraction of New Year is this: the year changes and in that change we believe that we can change with it. It is far more difficult however to change yourself than turn the calendar to a new page. We are creatures of faith, like it or not.

Rightly understood the New Year festival is an act of faith. It is easier for the year to change than to change ourselves. But we believe that somehow, magically, one will lead to the other.

Even if atheists were right--that prayer is wishful thinking--they are right only in relation to God, not in relation to wishing. The importance of prayer is that it is an expression of our spiritual nature, and when we wish for love, peace,for our own good and the good of others we define ourselves as more than flesh and blood. We define ourselves as hoping, loving, and imagining beings who crave to know the source of our being.

It's rather simple. God deliver us from people who know so little that they will kill for what little they know.

The greatest sin in the world is to say 'I love you' without realising that God snd his angels are listening and judging. If you do not feel their presence you are not in love. You have no right to be in love.