I'm so thankful for the active obedience of Christ. No hope without it.
John Gresham MachenRead
Faith is indeed intellectual; it involves an apprehension of certain things as facts; and vain is the modern effort to divorce faith from knowledge. But although faith is intellectual, it is not only intellectual. You cannot have faith without having knowledge; but you will not have faith if you have only knowledge.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Faith requires both intellectual understanding and knowledge, but it transcends mere intellect.
In the quote, John Gresham Machen emphasizes that faith is not merely an intellectual exercise; it encompasses a deeper understanding that includes knowledge as a foundation but goes beyond it. He argues that while one cannot have true faith without knowledge, mere intellectual understanding alone is insufficient to foster real faith, highlighting the necessity of a more profound, experiential element in the belief system.
Themes
FaithKnowledgeIntellectBeliefUnderstanding
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about the significance of belief in challenging times, one could use this quote to illustrate how faith transcends knowledge.
More from John Gresham Machen
All quotes →What I need first of all is not exhortation, but a gospel, not directions for saving myself but knowledge of how God has saved me. Have you any good news? That is the question that I ask of you. I know your exhortations will not help me. But if anything has been done to save me, will you not tell me the facts?
John Gresham MachenRead
The more we know of God, the more unreservedly we will trust him; the greater our progress in theology, the simpler and more child-like will be our faith
John Gresham MachenRead
Vastly more important than all questions with regard to methods of preaching is the root question as to what it is that shall be preached.
John Gresham MachenRead
I see with greater and greater clearness that consistent Christianity is the easiest Christianity to defend
John Gresham MachenRead
Christ died"--that is history; "Christ died for our sins"--that is doctrine. Without these two elements, joined in an absolutely indissoluble union, there is no Christianity.
John Gresham MachenRead
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