Helmut Thielicke Quotes

#1. What is the greatest deficiency among human Chrsitians? They have an inadequate view of human suffering.

Helmut Thielicke

#2. Speaking figuratively, the study of theology often produces overgrown youths whose internal organs have not correspondingly developed. This is a characteristic of adolescence. There is actually something like theological puberty.

Helmut Thielicke

#3. A church is in a bad way when it banishes laughter from the sanctuary and leaves it to the cabaret, the nightclub and the toastmasters.

Helmut Thielicke

#4. When God forgives us for hitting Him with a club we should manage to put up with the pin pricks we get from our fellows.

Helmut Thielicke

#5. Man is not valuable because he loves God. Man is valuable because God loves him.

Helmut Thielicke

#6. The Christian stands, not under the dictatorship of a legalistic 'you ought,' but in the magnetic field of Christian Freedom, under the empowering of the 'You may.'

Helmut Thielicke

#7. The Gospel must be repeatedly forwarded to a new address because the recipient is repeatedly changing places of residence.

Helmut Thielicke

#8. The doubters are always more blessed than the mere fellow travelers in faith. For they are the only ones who fully learn that their Lord is stronger than any doubt and any hell of despair.

Helmut Thielicke

#9. When the drama of history is over, Jesus Christ will stand alone on the stage. All the great figures of history ... will realize that they have been but actors in a drama produced by another.

Helmut Thielicke

#10. A theological thought can breathe only in the atmosphere of dialogue with God.

Helmut Thielicke

#11. Tell me how much you know of the sufferings of your fellow man and I will tell you how much you have loved them.

Helmut Thielicke

#12. The gospel must be preached afresh and told in new ways to each generation, since every generation has its own unique questions. The gospel must constantly be forwarded to a new address, because the recipient is repeatedly changing his place of address.

Helmut Thielicke