We Christians often act like heathen. We preach that it is wonderful to be a Christian, that Heaven is to be gained and Hell shunned. Then when one of our loved ones dies, we act as if it were all a lie. Our actions say that this world is better than the next, that death is a tragedy, and we ask querulously in our unbelief, Why? Why? Why?… Shame on us! When we weep and lament at the death of our loved ones [beyond God’s-honoring grief], we often make void our testimony, cast reflection upon the Bible and irreverence on Heaven. For the Christian, death is not a tragedy but a glorious promotion – not the sad end, but the glorious beginning.
— John R. Rice (1895–1980), Evangelist
Topics: Eternity & Hope Beyond Death, Grief & Comfort, Faith & Trust
Occasions: For Reflection
John R. Rice
Der US-amerikanische baptistische Evangelist und Autor John R. Rice (1895–1980) war eine führende Stimme des christlichen Fundamentalismus des 20. Jahrhunderts. Er begründete die einflussreiche Publikation „The Sword of the Lord“, forderte kompromisslose theologische Abgrenzung und geriet insbesondere wegen seiner Schriften zur Verteidigung der Rassentrennung sowie patriarchaler Rollenbilder in die Kritik. Heutigen Bibellesern begegnen vor allem seine praktischen Ausführungen zu beharrlichem Gebet und persönlicher Evangelisation.
All quotes by John R. Rice (9)
I ask myself: what does hell mean? I maintain: it is the inability to love.
Fyodor Dostoevsky
God has put eternity into our hearts and filled it with longing.
John Piper
C.S. Lewis
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
Jim Elliot
Martin Luther King Jr.
Whoever knows Easter cannot despair.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Helmut Thielicke
Charles Haddon Spurgeon