Hi everyone. Please allow me to share one of my favourite quotes from "The Atonement" by "Hosea Ballou". I trust you enjoy.
ONLY A FLY: "Unhappily, men have looked at Deity through the medium of a carnal mind, and have formed all their evil tempers in Jehovah; like the deceived astronomer, who fancied he saw a monster in the sun, occasioned by a fly on his glass. The creature being in the medium of sight, was supposed to be in the object beheld; and though it was small in itself, and would have appeared so, could it have been seen where it was; yet carrying it into the sun, it magnified to an enormous size. So it is with our vile and sinful passions, could we behold them in ourselves, and view them as they are, they would appear in their finite and limited sphere; but the moment we form those passions in Deity, they magnify to infinity. Let a council of astronomers be called, who are all deceived by the fly; let them consult on the bigness of the monster, calculate how long it has been growing, and how soon it may wholly absorb the sun; let them endeavour to account for its cause, and analyze its constitution, inform us of the degrees of heat its lungs sustain, and how many degrees hotter it is than iron can be heated in a furnace. But here is room for disagreement, which may give rise to great disputations. To one, it appears much larger than to another; they cannot judge alike, with regard to its age, nor how much larger it will grow; some are ready to dispute its being a living creature, fancying it may be an opaque body. They are all agreed that there is a phenomenon in the sun, but dispute, and even quarrel about its peculiarities. What would become of all their calculations, the moment they should discover the fly? All would be gone, at once, and the sun would be relieved of the burden of so ponderous a monster.
How many various calculations have divines made, on the fury and wrath which they have discovered in God! How much they have preached and written, on the awful subject; and how many ways they have invented, to appease such wrath and vengeance! When we come to see the error, and find those principled in ourselves, all these notions vanish at once. The fly on the glass might easily have been removed, or destroyed; but had there been a monster in the sun, what calculations could mortals have made to remove it; enmity in man may be overcome with love; but, did it exist in God, it must be infinite and eternal." Hosea Ballou.
:cloud9: I really hate calling you "Wart Hog", but welcome to the Tent, "Wart" :mshock:........nice post. Blessings....
Hi boss Hog :thumbsup:
Enjoy yourself in then tent :thumbsup:
:newb: :dsunny: :Egyptdance2: :boogie: :boydance: :welcome: :hiya:
willieH: Hi W-H [like my initials] :hithere:
"WART" an intro! :laughing7:
Does this mean that you
"BOGART" ...all the ...
"WARTS"? :pointlaugh:
:welcome: to TENTMAKER, new friend... :friendstu:
:Peace:
...willieH :cloud9:
Making fun of the name my mother gave me... shame for shame... just kidding. :winkgrin:
(http://dl7.glitter-graphics.net/pub/1325/1325457ax6wee0drx.gif) (http://www.glitter-graphics.com)
Hakuna Matata!
peacemaker
You'd be amazed at the resemblance. :thumbsup:
:welcome: to the Tent Wart Hog!
:hihat:
Paul