He was one of those men who possess almost every gift, except the gift of the power to use them.
Charles KingsleyRead
We have used the Bible as if it was a mere special constable's handbook — an opium-dose for keeping beasts of burden patient while they were being overloaded — a mere book to keep the poor in order.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote critiques the misuse of the Bible as a tool for social control rather than as a source of genuine spiritual guidance.
In this quote, Charles Kingsley expresses his concern that the Bible has often been treated as a manual for maintaining societal order and pacifying the oppressed, rather than being valued for its spiritual and moral teachings. He likens its use to a sedative for the marginalized, suggesting that it has been manipulated by those in power to prevent revolt and maintain their dominance, thus losing its true purpose as a source of hope and ethical guidance.
Themes
BibleSocial ControlOppressionSpiritualityCritique
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about the role of religion in society during a public lecture on ethics.
More from Charles Kingsley
All quotes →Beauty is God's handwriting — a wayside sacrament; welcome it in every fair face, every fair sky, every fair flower, and thank for it Him.
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Take comfort, and recollect however little you and I may know, God knows; He knows Himself and you and me and all things; and His mercy is over all His works.
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Being forced to work, and forced to do your best, will breed in you temperance and self-control, diligence and strength of will, cheerfulness and content, and a hundred virtues which the idle will never know.
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Do today's duty, fight to-day's temptation; and do not weaken and distract yourself by looking forward to things which you cannot see, and could not understand if you saw them.
Charles KingsleyRead
You must not talk about 'ain't and can't' when you speak of this great wonderful world round you, of which the wisest man knows only the very smallest corner, and is, as the great Sir Isaac Newton said, only a child picking up pebbles on the shore of a boundless ocean.
Charles KingsleyRead
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