Justo L. González > Quotes

“The notion that we read the New Testament exactly as the early Christians did, without any weight of tradition coloring our interpretation, is an illusion. It is also a dangerous illusion, for it tends to absolutize our interpretation, confusing it with the Word of God.”
― Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation

“History is not the pure past; history is a past interpreted from the present of the historian.”
― Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation

“One point is certain: In many Gnostic circles women had a prominence they did not have in society at large. Part of the reason for this was that, since it is the spirit and not the body that is important, the shape of one’s body has little to do with eternal realities. Also, in many of the genealogies of eons with which Gnostics explained the origin of the world, there were female as well as male eons. It is quite possible that it was partly in response to this feature in Gnosticism that orthodox Christianity began restricting the role of women in the church, for it is clear that in first-century Christianity women had roles in the church that the second century began to deny them.”
― Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation

“Error never shows itself in its naked reality, in order not to be discovered. On the contrary, it dresses elegantly, so that the unwary may be led to believe that it is more truthful than truth itself. IRENAEUS OF LYONS”
― Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation

“If this were simply a story about the past, it would be appropriate to write, at the conclusion of Acts 28 as at the conclusion of a film, "The End." But since the story is unfinished, it is more appropriate to conclude it with, "RSVP," like an invitation that awaits a response. This is what Luke demands from us: not satisfied curiosity about the past, but a response here and now. RSVP!”
― Justo L. González, The Story Luke Tells: Luke's Unique Witness to the Gospel

“Christians are no different from the rest in their nationality, language or customs. . . . They live in their own countries, but as sojourners. They fulfill all their duties as citizens, but they suffer as foreigners. They find their homeland wherever they are, but their homeland is not in any one place. . . . They are in the flesh, but do not live according to the flesh. They live on earth, but are citizens of heaven. They obey all laws, but they live at a level higher than that required by law. They love all, but all persecute them.”
― Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation

“Es indudable y evidente que no son cristianos si creemos lo que ha dicho el Señor: los cristianos viven en santidad, ellos viven en iniquidad; los cristianos aman a Dios, ellos aman al mundo; los cristianos son humildes, ellos son orgullosos; los cristianos son amables, ellos son impulsivos; los cristianos tienen el sentir que hubo también en Cristo Jesús,19 ellos están muy lejos de alcanzarlo. Por lo tanto son tan cristianos como son arcángeles. Sin embargo, creen que lo son y pueden presentar numerosas razones para probarlo. En primer lugar, durante toda su vida los han llamado así, y fueron bautizados hace muchos años; han adoptado «las ideas cristianas», comúnmente llamadas fe cristiana o católica; usan «formas de culto cristianas», como lo hicieron sus padres antes que ellos, y, finalmente, viven una «buena vida cristiana» al igual que el resto de sus vecinos. ¿Quién, entonces, se atreverá a pensar o decir que estas personas no son cristianas? Sin embargo, no tienen un ápice de auténtica fe en Cristo o de verdadera santidad interior. ¡Jamás han experimentado el amor de Dios o fueron hechos partícipes del Espíritu Santo!20 17. ¡Pobre gente! No hacen otra cosa que engañarse a sí mismos. Ustedes no son cristianos; son entusiastas en grado sumo. Me podrán decir: «Médico, cúrate a ti mismo».21 De acuerdo, pero primero deben conocer qué enfermedad tienen. Toda su vida se reduce al entusiasmo, en el sentido de que viven imaginando que recibieron la gracia de Dios cuando no es así. Como consecuencia de este tremendo error, continúan equivocándose día tras día, hablando y actuando bajo una apariencia que en verdad no les pertenece. De aquí surge esa incoherencia tan palpable y visible que atraviesa todas sus acciones, y que es una extraña mezcla de paganismo real y cristianismo imaginario. Sin embargo, como tienen a la gran mayoría de su lado, guiándose por los números siempre podrán argumentar que son las únicas personas en su sano juicio, y que son dementes quienes no compartan sus ideas. Pero esto no altera la verdadera naturaleza de las cosas. Ante los ojos de Dios y de sus ángeles, y aun ante los hijos de Dios en la tierra, ustedes no son otra cosa que dementes, entusiastas nada más.”
― Justo L. González, Obras de Wesley, Tomo I-II

“That Word, which had created the world out of nothing, was certainly capable of producing the reformation the entire church needed, and to which the Protestant movement remained a preamble.”
― Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 2: The Reformation to the Present Day

“There is a close relationship between faith and reason, for one cannot function without the other. Reason builds its arguments on first principles which cannot be proven, but are accepted by faith. For the truly wise, faith is the first principle, the starting point, on which reason is to build.”
― Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation

“The earliest Christians did not consider themselves followers of a new religion. All of their lives they had been Jews and they still were. This was true of Peter and the twelve, of the seven, and of Paul. Their faith was not a denial of Judaism but was rather the conviction that the messianic age had finally arrived.”
― Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation

“the most important document of Leo’s pontificate, his bull Rerum novarum, issued on May 15, 1891. The subject of that bull was one with which few popes had dealt before: the proper relations between laborers and their employers. In the bull, Leo shows that he is aware of the inequities that have resulted from the contrast between “the enormous fortunes of a few individuals, and the extreme poverty of the masses.” Therefore, he writes, the time has come “to define the mutual rights and obligations of the rich and the poor, of capital and labor.” Such relations have become all the more tragic since labor organizations have disappeared in recent times, and “a small group of very rich people have been able to throw upon the masses of poor laborers a yoke that is little better than slavery itself.” Although it is an error to believe that between the rich and the poor there can only be class war, it is true that the defense of the poor merits special attention, for the rich have many ways to protect themselves, while the poor have no other recourse than the protection of the state. Therefore, laws should be such that the rights of the poor are guaranteed. In particular, this refers to the right of every laborer to a salary sufficient to sustain him and his family, without being forced to work beyond a fair limit. All this is to be done because “God seems to lean in favor of those who suffer misfortune.”
― Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 2: The Reformation to the Present Day

“The nature of Constantine’s conversion has been the subject of many debates. Shortly after the events told in this chapter, there were Christian authors—one of whom we shall meet in the next chapter—who sought to show that the emperor’s conversion was the goal toward which the history of the church and of the empire had always been moving. Others have claimed that Constantine was simply a shrewd politician who became aware of the advantages to be drawn from a “conversion.”
― Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation

“This triune God created humankind according to the divine image. But the human creature itself is not the image of God; that image is the Son, in whom and by whom we have been created.”
― Justo L. González, A History of Christian Thought: In One Volume

“Según Jesús, era necesario que el Hijo del Hombre —él mismo— sufriera y muriera antes de ser exaltado a su posición de juez. Esto es, según los evangelios sinópticos, lo que enseñaba Jesús acerca de sí mismo.”
― Justo L. González, Jesucristo es el Señor: El señorío de Jesucristo en la iglesia primitiva

“Luther came to the conclusion that the “justice of God” does not refer, as he had been taught, to the punishment of sinners. It means rather that the “justice” or “righteousness” of the righteous is not their own, but God’s. The “righteousness of God” is that which is given to those who live by faith. It is given, not because they are righteous, nor because they fulfill the demands of divine justice, but simply because God wishes to give it. Thus, Luther’s doctrine of “justification by faith” does not mean that what God demands of us is faith, as if this were something we have to do or achieve, and which God then rewards. It means rather that both faith and justification are the work of God, a free gift to sinners. As a result of this discovery, Luther tells us, “I felt that I had been born anew and that the gates of heaven had been opened. The whole of Scripture gained a new meaning. And from that point on the phrase ‘the justice of God’ no longer filled me with hatred, but rather became unspeakably sweet by virtue of a great love.”
― Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 2: The Reformation to the Present Day

“At this point, the notion of apostolic succession became very important. What was argued was simply that, if Jesus had some secret knowledge to communicate to his disciples—which in fact he did not—he would have entrusted that teaching to the same apostles to whom he entrusted the churches. If those apostles had received any such teaching, they in turn would have passed it on to those who were to follow them in the leadership of the various churches. Therefore, had there been any such secret teaching, it should be found among the direct disciples of the apostles, and the successors of those disciples, the bishops. But the truth was that those who could now—that is, in the second century—claim direct apostolic succession unanimously denied the existence of any such secret teaching. In conclusion, the Gnostic claim that there is a secret tradition with which they have been entrusted is false.”
― Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation

“Now I begin to be a disciple. . . . Let fire and cross, flocks of beasts, broken bones, dismemberment, come upon me, so long as I attain to Jesus Christ. IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH”
― Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation

“Luke had a theological reason for this, for in his view the story he was telling shall not come to an end before the end of all history.”
― Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation

“As a result, much of what Luke has to say on the matter of gender lies hidden under layers of interpretation that we have received from earlier generations. It is therefore urgent, for the good of the church, that we continue unearthing what has been hidden. In this task, the many women who today are devoted to the careful study of the biblical text are making an important contribution.”
― Justo L. González, The Story Luke Tells: Luke's Unique Witness to the Gospel

“throughout the whole history of Christianity there has been a tension between the past and the present, between the given and the sought, between revelation as a deposit in some sense and revelation as the goal of an endeavor, between the faith to be conserved and the truth to be acquired. The tension has not been resolved by the centuries of Christian thought, but a solution cannot be attempted without taking them into account.”
― Justo L. González, A History of Christian Thought Volume I: From the Beginnings to the Council of Chalcedon

“To be priests does not mean primarily that we are our own individual priests, but rather that as part of the priestly people of God we are priests for the entire community of belief, and that they are priests for us—while all of us, as the believing community, are priests for the world. Rather than setting aside the need for the community of the church, the doctrine of the universal priesthood of believers strengthens it. It is true that access to God is no longer controlled by a hierarchical priesthood. But we still stand in need of the community of believers, the body of Christ, in which each member is a priest for the rest, and feeds the rest. Without such nourishment, an isolated member cannot live.”
― Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 2: The Reformation to the Present Day

“In the midst of such political chaos, persecution continued, although its impact depended upon the policies set by each emperor in each region. In the West, most of the territory was under the effective control of Constantine and Maxentius, and neither of these two emperors enforced the decrees against Christians, which they saw as the work of their rival Galerius. Galerius and his main protégé, Maximinus Daia, continued persecuting Christians.”
― Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation

“Due partly to the influence of the Genevan Academy and partly to the Institutes, Calvin’s theological influence was soon felt in various parts of Europe. Eventually, a number of churches appeared—in the Netherlands, Scotland, Hungary, England, France, and so forth—that followed the teaching of the Genevan reformer, and are now known as Reformed or Calvinistic. Significantly, in most of these countries Calvinism was joined with a zeal for reforming society that did not exist in Lutheran lands, for Calvinists were convinced that it was their duty to make the civil government conform to the law of God. Thus, one of the most lasting consequences of Calvinism—and one that Calvin most likely would never have imagined—was a series of revolutions that opened the way for the modern world.”
― Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 2: The Reformation to the Present Day

“great deal of the friction between Christians and Pharisees was due to the similarity of their views, rather than to their difference. Moving among the common people, Jesus and his followers had more opportunities to rub shoulders with the Pharisees than with the Sadducees.”
― Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation

“On studying Luther’s life and work, one thing is clear: the much-needed reformation took place, not because Luther decided that it would be so, but rather because the time was ripe for it, and because the Reformer and many others with him were ready to fulfill their historical responsibility.”
― Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 2: The Reformation to the Present Day

“In his Word we can never go astray. We can never be deluded or confounded or destroyed in his Word. If you think there can be no assurance or certainty for the soul, listen to the certainty of the Word of God. The soul can be instructed and enlightened ... so that it perceives that its whole salvation and righteousness, or justification, is enclosed in Jesus Christ."8”
― Justo L. González, A History of Christian Thought, Vol. 3: From the Protestant Reformation to the Twentieth Century

“Error never shows itself in its naked reality, in order not to be discovered. On the contrary, it dresses elegantly, so that the unwary may be led to believe that it is more truthful than truth itself.”
― Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation

“And any religious or moral deviations on Constantine’s part were seen in the same light, as the unfortunate actions of one who, while inclined to become a Christian, was not one of the faithful. Such a person could receive the advice and even the support of the church, but not its direction. This ambiguous situation continued until Constantine’s final hour.”
― Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation

“But when the synod gathered, the bishop of Tucumán, a friend of the accused, wrenched the documents from the archbishop’s hands and burned them in the oven of a bakery. In”
― Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation

“Martin is usually represented in the act of sharing his cape with the beggar. This is also the origin of the word chapel—for centuries later, in a small church, there was a piece of cloth reputed to be a portion of Martin’s cape. From that piece of cape—capella—the little church came to be called a “chapel,” and those who served in it, “chaplains.”
― Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation