94 Quotes by Miroslav Volf

Love properly understood is God – the font of all creation and the ultimate goal of all desires; God properly understood is love.

For Christians, faith is a precious good, the most valuable personal and social resource. When it is left untapped, the common good suffers – not just the particular interests of Christians.

I don’t think we need to agree with anyone in order to love the person. The command for Christians to love the other person, to be benevolent and beneficent toward them, is independent of what the other believes.

Faith is the way we as receivers relate appropriately to God as the giver. It is empty hands held open for God to fill.

If it is true that the dual command of love is the common ground of the two faiths, the consequences are momentous. We no longer have to say, “The deeper your faith, the more you will be at odds with others!” To the contrary, we must say, “The deeper your faith, the more you will live in harmony with others!” A deep faith no longer leads to clashes; it fosters peaceful coexistence.

To live in sync with who we truly are means to recognize that we are dependent on God for our very breath and are graced with many good things; it means to be grateful to the giver and attentive to the purpose for which the gifts are given.

God’s gifts aim at making us into generous givers, not just fortunate receivers. God gives so that we, in human measure, can be givers too.

The cure against Christian violence is not less of the Christian faith, but, in a carefully qualified sense, more of the Christian faith. I don’t mean, of course, that the cure against violence lies in increased religious zeal; blind religious zeal is part of the problem. Instead, it lies in stronger and more intelligent commitment to the Christian faith as faith.

By embracing the “outcast,” Jesus underscored the “sinfulness” of the persons and systems that cast them out.