Failure to believe stems from moral failure to recognize the truth, not from want of evidence, but from willful neglect or distortion of the evidence.
Interpretation
Believing in the truth requires moral integrity and a willingness to acknowledge evidence, rather than ignoring or twisting facts.
This quote by D. A. Carson emphasizes that the root of disbelief is often not a lack of evidence, but rather a conscious choice to distort or overlook the truth. It suggests that our moral compass plays a critical role in our ability to accept and recognize reality, highlighting the psychological barriers that can prevent individuals from embracing truths that may be uncomfortable or challenging to their beliefs.
In practice
In a discussion about the importance of honesty in journalism, this quote can illustrate how personal integrity affects the portrayal of facts.
Both God's love and God's wrath are ratcheted up in the move from the old covenant to the new, from the Old Testament to the New. These themes barrel along through redemptive history, unresolved, until they come to a resounding climax - in the cross.
It is a cheap zeal that reserves its passions to combat only the sins and temptations of others.
Many of us in our praying are like nasty little boys who ring front door bells and run away before anyone answers.
There is a certain kind of maturity that can be attained only through the discipline of suffering.
The kingdom of heaven is worth infinitely more than the cost of discipleship, and those who know where the treasure lies joyfully abandon everything else to secure it.
Imagination is a God-given gift; but if it is fed dirt by the eye, it will be dirty. All sin, not least sexual sin, begins with the imagination. Therefore what feeds the imagination is of maximum importance in the pursuit of kingdom righteousness.
What a sense of security in an old book which Time has criticized for us!
I always pass on good advice. It is the only thing to do with it. It is never of any use to oneself.
God has bestowed upon you intelligence and knowledge. Do not extinguish the lamp of Divine Grace and do not let the candle of wisdom die out in the darkness of lust and error. For a wise man approaches with his torch to light up the path of mankind.
... with men it's rush, rush, rush, every minute. I'm glad I'm a sedentary spider." "What does sedentary mean?" asked Wilbur. "Means I sit still a good part of the time and don't go wandering all over creation. I know a good thing when I see it, and my web is a good thing. I stay put and wait for what comes. Gives me a chance to think.
Gratitude develops faith. The surest path out of a slump is marked by the road sign "thank you, God."
Truth will rise above falsehood as oil above water.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.