User:P.B. Pilhet

ABOUT ME

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For the most part, my work here at WikiChristian is janitorial-related. I'm an administrator, which means that I have a few extra maintenance tools to help keep the site free of vandalism and spam. So, if you would like to request a page be deleted (or restored from deletion), a page to be protected from editing, or a vandal to be blocked, then just leave me a note. As of March 13, 2007, I'm also a bureaucrat here, which simply means that I may grant or remove certain restricted editing permissions for other users. If you would like access to a restricted feature (such as the ability to move pages), then feel free to ask me.

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MY ESSAYS:

• Contraception: An Appeal
• The Christian Altar

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FAVORITE QUOTES:

From the Word of God

• "Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'" -- Matthew 19:26 (NIV)

• "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." -- John 1:1 (NIV)

• "While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, 'Take it; this is my body.' Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it. 'This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,' he said to them." -- Mark 14:22-24 (NIV)

• "Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. " -- 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 (NIV)

• "Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread [the Eucharist] and to prayer." -- Acts 2:41-42 (NIV)

• "...In [the ark] only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ..." -- 1 Peter 3:20-21 (NIV)

• "In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not administered by hand, by stripping off the carnal body, with the circumcision of Christ. You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead." -- Colossians 2:11-12 (NAB)

• "We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." -- Romans 6:4 (NIV)

• "Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength." -- Acts 9:18-19 (NIV)

• "We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first." -- Hebrews 3:14 (NIV)

• "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?... You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone." -- James 2:14, 22 (NIV)

• "Gaze not about the lanes of the city and wander not through its squares; avert your eyes from a comely woman; gaze not upon the beauty of another's wife— through woman's beauty many perish, for lust for it burns like a fire. With a married woman dine not, recline not at table to drink by her side, lest your heart be drawn to her and you go down in blood to the grave." -- Sirach 9:7-9 (CCDT)

• "Go not after your lusts, but keep your desires in check. If you satisfy your lustful appetites they will make you the sport of your enemies. Have no joy in the pleasures of a moment which bring on poverty redoubled..." -- Sirach 18:30-32 (CCDT)

• "And the man who dishonors his marriage bed and says to himself 'Who can see me? Darkness surrounds me, walls hide me; no one sees me; why should I fear to sin?' Of the Most High he is not mindful, fearing only the eyes of men; He does not understand that the eyes of the LORD, ten thousand times brighter than the sun, Observe every step a man takes and peer into hidden corners. He who knows all things before they exist still knows them all after they are made. Such a man will be punished in the streets of the city; when he least expects it, he will be apprehended." -- Sirach 23:18-21 (CCDT)

• "Wine is very life to man if taken in moderation. Does he really live who lacks the wine which was created for his joy? Joy of heart, good cheer and merriment are wine drunk freely at the proper time. Headache, bitterness and disgrace is wine drunk amid anger and strife." -- Sirach 31:27-29 (CCDT)

• "When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?' 'Yes, Lord,' he said, 'you know that I love you.' Jesus said, 'Feed my lambs.' Again Jesus said, 'Simon son of John, do you truly love me?' He answered, 'Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.' Jesus said, 'Take care of my sheep.' The third time he said to him, 'Simon son of John, do you love me?' Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, 'Do you love me?' He said, 'Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.' Jesus said, 'Feed my sheep.'" -- John 21:15-17 (NIV)

By C.S. Lewis

• "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen. Not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."

• "Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person's ultimate good as far as it can be obtained."

• "Love may forgive all infirmities and love still in spite of them: but Love cannot cease to will their removal."

• “There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, "All right, then, have it your way.”

• "Love is the great conqueror of lust."

• "A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word 'darkness' on the walls of his cell."

By G.K. Chesterton

• "The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected."

• "The act of defending any of the cardinal virtues has today all the exhilaration of a vice."

• "I believe what really happens in history is this: the old man is always wrong; and the young people are always wrong about what is wrong with him. The practical form it takes is this: that, while the old man may stand by some stupid custom, the young man always attacks it with some theory that turns out to be equally stupid."

• "War is not 'the best way of settling differences'; it is the only way of preventing their being settled for you."

• "It is terrible to contemplate how few politicians are hanged."

• "There are some desires that are not desirable."

• "Art, like morality, consists of drawing the line somewhere."

• "Psychoanalysis is a science conducted by lunatics for lunatics. They are generally concerned with proving that people are irresponsible; and they certainly succeed in proving that some people are."

By St. Augustine (354 - 430 AD)

• "I inquired what iniquity was, and found it to be no substance, but the perversion of the will, turned aside from Thee, O God, the Supreme, towards these lower things."

• "He was created of a mother whom He created. He was carried by hands that He formed. He cried in the manger in wordless infancy, He the Word, without whom all human eloquence is mute."

• "Longing desire prayeth always, though the tongue be silent. If thou art ever longing, thou art ever praying."

• "Salvation is God's way of making us real people."

• "What you see is the bread and the chalice; that is what your own eyes report to you. But what your faith obliges you to accept is that the bread is the Body of Christ and the chalice is the Blood of Christ."

• "'And he was carried in his own hands.' But, brethren, how is it possible for a man to do this? Who can understand it? Who is it that is carried in his own hands?... For Christ was carried in His own hands, when, referring to His Own Body, He said, 'This is My Body.' [Mark 14:22] For He carried that Body in His Own hands."

St. Ignatius of Antioch (35 or 50-between 98 and 117 AD)

• "See that ye all follow the bishop, even as Jesus Christ does the Father, and the presbytery as ye would the apostles; and reverence the deacons, as being the institution of God. Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop. Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is [administered] either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude [of the people] also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church. It is not lawful without the bishop either to baptize or to celebrate a love-feast; but whatsoever he shall approve of, that is also pleasing to God, so that everything that is done may be secure and valid." (NOTE: This confirms that the three clerical levels of bishops, priests ["presbyters"], and deacons existed during the time of the apostles, which is when Ignatius wrote this letter. This is also the first recorded time that "Catholic" is used to describe God's Church. Also note the reference to the Eucharist. Ignatius was gloriously martyred by being thrown to lions after he refused to renounce the Faith.]

By Origen of Alexandria (185 - 254 AD)

• "I wish to admonish you with examples from your religion. You are accustomed to take part in the divine mysteries [Sacraments], so you know, when you received the body of the Lord, you reverently exercised every care lest a particle of it fall, and lest anything of the consecrated gift perish. You account yourselves guilty, and rightly do you so believe, if any of it be lost through negligence. But if you observe such caution in keeping His Body, and properly so, how is it that you think neglecting the word of God a lesser crime than neglecting His Body?"

By St. Athanasius (295 - 373 AD)

• "You shall see the Levites bringing loaves and a cup of wine, and placing them on the table. So long as the prayers of supplication and entreaties have not been made, there is only bread and wine. But after the great and wonderful prayers have been completed, then the bread is become the Body, and the wine the Blood, of our Lord Jesus Christ... Let us approach the celebration of the mysteries. This bread and this wine, so long as the prayers and supplications have not taken place, remain simply what they are. But after the great prayers and holy supplications have been sent forth, the Word comes down into the bread and wine -- and thus is His Body confected."

By Tertullian (160 - 220 AD)

• "The Sacrament of the Eucharist, which the Lord commanded to be taken at meal times and by all, we take even before daybreak in congregations... We take anxious care lest something of our Cup or Bread should fall upon the ground..."

By St. Justin Martyr (103 - 165 AD)

• "I will also relate the manner in which we dedicated ourselves to God when we had been made new through Christ; lest, if we omit this, we seem to be unfair in the explanation we are making. As many as are persuaded and believe that what we teach and say is true, and undertake to be able to live accordingly, are instructed to pray and to entreat God with fasting, for the remission of their sins that are past, we praying and fasting with them. Then they are brought by us where there is water, and are regenerated in the same manner in which we were ourselves regenerated. For, in the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing with water. For Christ also said, "Except ye be born again, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."

• "There is then brought to the president [presbyter] of the brethren bread and a cup of wine mixed with water; and he taking them, gives praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and offers thanks at considerable length for our being counted worthy to receive these things at His hands. And when he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all the people present express their assent by saying Amen. This word Amen answers in the Hebrew language to genoito [so be it]. And when the president has given thanks, and all the people have expressed their assent, those who are called by us deacons give to each of those present to partake of the bread and wine mixed with water over which the thanksgiving was pronounced, and to those who are absent they carry away a portion. And this food is called among us Eukaristia [the Eucharist], of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins [Baptism], and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Saviour, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh."

"With God All Things Are Possible" Matthew 19:26