Thielicke Quotes

#1. The great German scholar Helmut Thielicke once said that a person who speaks to this hour's need will always be skirting the edge of heresy, but only the person who risks those heresies can gain the truth.

Rob Bell

#2. 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

#3. 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

#4. 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

#5. Maybe the biggest thing that I've learned musically is that anything is possible. Things can work when maybe they don't seem like they can.

Kenny G

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

Helmut Thielicke

#7. Reason connot defeat emotion, an emotion can only be displaced or overcome by a stronger emotion.

Baruch Spinoza

#8. 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

#9. 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

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

Helmut Thielicke

#11. Faith finds strength, not in the thought of what you will do, but in the changeless faithfulness and love of Christ, who once again helps and assures you that those who wait on Him shall not be ashamed.

Andrew Murray

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

Helmut Thielicke

#13. 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

#14. 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

#15. ... and found her standing behind me. She smiled a little awkwardly with her hands clasped behind her back. She was lovely as a flower, and totally unconscious of it. I was suddenly short of breath, and I forgot myself, my irritation, my hurt.

Patrick Rothfuss

#16. 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

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

Helmut Thielicke

#18. Life is full of disparate details arbitrarily joined together by dreams, pain and yearning. I do not long for sense, but I call for emotion and imagination amidst this chaos.

Juhani Peltonen