We have not advanced very far in our spiritual lives if we have not encountered the basic paradox of freedom…that we are most free when we are bound. But not just any way of being bound will suffice; what matters is the character of our binding. The one who would be an athlete, but who is unwilling to discipline his body by regular exercise and by abstinence, is not free to excel on the field or the track. His failure to train rigorously denies him the freedom to run with the desired speed and endurance. With one concerted voice, the giants of the devotional life apply the same principle to the whole of life: Discipline is the price of freedom.
— D. Elton Trueblood (1900–1994), Theologe
Topics: Freedom & Truth, Growth & Character
Occasions: For Reflection
D. Elton Trueblood
David Elton Trueblood war ein US-amerikanischer Theologe, Religionsphilosoph und Autor des 20. Jahrhunderts, der unter anderem an der Stanford University und dem Earlham College wirkte. Geprägt von der Tradition der Quäker, initiierte er die ökumenische Laienbewegung „Yokefellows“, warnte vor einer gesellschaftlichen Entwurzelung christlicher Werte und stieß durch seine Abkehr vom strikten Pazifismus auf innerkirchliche Kritik. Heutigen Bibellesern vermittelt er Impulse für intellektuelle Redlichkeit im Glauben, geistliche Disziplin und das Priestertum aller Gläubigen.
All quotes by D. Elton Trueblood (7)
The Father’s love does not force itself on the beloved.
Henri Nouwen
Martin Luther King Jr.
In essential unity; in nonessentials liberty; in all this charity.
Rupertus Meldenius
Tim Keller
William Temple
To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was yourself.
Diane H. Moody
Don't allow anybody to make you feel that you're nobody.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom.
Søren Kierkegaard