Quotes of the Day for April 24, 2026 – Thoughts on theology for all
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 15 hours ago
“Today… we often take theology out of the theanthropic mystery of the Church in which it was sung by the Fathers. We transfer it to the field of mere academic discussions, where each person, remaining an individual, an isolated authority, states his opinion and goes his way. The resultant “theology,” however, is not the very theology of the Church…The divine Spirt breathes in the organism of human speech. Thus it becomes possible for man to utter words of God, to speak of God. Theology becomes possible – theologia, i.e. logos peri theou. Strictly speaking, theology grows possible only through revelation.” (Archimandrite Vasileios, Georges Florovsky)
“Philosophy is a discipline which is based entirely on reason, and which therefore has its source solely in man’s faculty of natural reflection. Theology uses reason as an instrument, but is based on data which does not come from reason itself but from Revelation…Another problem a philosophical mindset creates is the rejection of paradox. As a rule, philosophy—and its offspring: logic, mathematics, and science—is concerned with examining our world in minute detail. A common assumption, one that persists to this day, is that everything will eventually be explained if given enough time. Theology possesses an innate intellectual humility concerning God and the universe that philosophy often lacks.” (Jean-Claude Larchet, Fr. Joseph Lucas)
“…theology is essentially a spiritual pursuit. Reliance on the self in spiritual matters is the beginning of one’s fall…Theological insight results primarily from one’s relationship with God, which, contrary to book learning, is open to all—clergy and laity, monastics and those living in the world, men and women, the highly educated and the uneducated…Both theology and phronema [mind of Christ] are ultimately knowledge of God gained through spiritual experience, not through the exercise of the mind…true theology flows from true prayer. Doctrine and manner of life are not assimilated by our rational faculties alone. God gives these gifts to us when we follow His path, seeking deep healing for our hearts and souls and the acquisition of the Holy Spirit…Theology cannot be separated from the life of prayer and the practice of virtue…The true theologian is the one who prays.” (Dr. Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou, Dynamis 2/21/2021
“Formal theologizing is an activity that should always be at the service of—and subject to the correction of—the Church. If its object is not to glorify God, the only Creator and Savior, then we have strayed off the path. Humility and prayer provide the necessary sustenance for any faithful theological inquiry, “professional” or otherwise.” (Edith M. Humphrey)
“To many the idea of the poet as a theologian may seem like a contradiction in terms: poets may indeed at times touch on theological themes, but we do not normally expect theologians to express their theological vision in poetry. The loss is ours, for over the course of centuries of the study of theology we have all too often narrowed down the ways in which we think theology should be conducted, and we have lost sight of a famous aphorism of Saint Ephrem’s younger contemporary Evagrius, with which our saint would heartily have agreed: ‘If you see a theologian, you will pray in truth; if you pray in truth, you will be a theologian’. Accordingly we should not be surprised to find good theology in a poet…” (Sebastian Brock)