James Martineau
James Martineau
James Martineau was an English religious philosopher influential in the history of Unitarianism...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth21 April 1805
issues creative silence
All beneficent and creative power gathers itself together in silence, ere it issues out in might.
life-and-love heart grieving
I bow in reverence before the emotions of every melted heart....The more intense the delight in their presence, the more poignant the impression of their absence....When the tears of bereavement have had their natural flow, they lead us again to life and love's generous joy.
mind moral belief
Religion is the belief in an ever-living God, that is, in a Divine Mind and Will ruling the Universe and holding moral relations with mankind.
character temptation battle
Human character is never found "to enter into its glory," except through the ordeal of affliction. Its force cannot come forth without the offer of resistance, nor can the grandeur of its free will declare itself, except in the battle of fierce temptation.
spiritual lonely art
All spiritual strength for ourselves, all noble ties to one another, have their real source in that inner sanctuary where God denies His lonely audience to none. Its secrets are holy; its asylum, inviolate; its consolations, sure; and all are open to the simple heart-word, "Thou art my hiding-place.
blessed visits-you soul
When the blessed Spirit, that bloweth where it listeth, visits you and stirs the plumage of the soul, seek no cowardly shelter from it, but fling yourself upon it, and, though its sweep be awful, you shall be sustained. Only do this, do all, not in presumptuous daring, but in divine submission; in dependence, not on any strength that can be spent, but on the ever-living stay of all that trust in Him.
selfishness suffrage meanness
We can neither change nor overpower God's eternal suffrage against selfishness and meanness.
strong light secret-places
A mighty wind of resolution sets in strong upon him and freshens the whole atmosphere of his soul, sweeping down before it the light flakes of difficulty, till they vanish like snow upon the sea. He is imprisoned no more in a small compartment of time, but belongs to an eternity which is now and here. The isolation of his separate spirit passes away; and with the countless multitude of souls akin to God, he is but a wave of his unbounded deep. He is at one with Heaven, and hath found the secret place of the Almighty.
children bishops priests
The pinafore of the child will be more than a match for the frock of the bishop and the surplice of the priest.
time spirit moments
God has so arranged the chronometry of our spirits, that there shall be thousands of silent moments between the striking hours.
nature agency law
God is infinite; and the laws of nature, like nature itself, are finite. These methods of working, therefore, which correspond to the physical element in us, do not exhaust His agency. There is a boundless residue of disengaged energy beyond.
christian power baptized-in
There is no surer mark of a low and unregenerate nature than this tendency of power to loudness and wantonness instead of quietness and reverence. To souls baptized in Christian nobleness the largest sphere of command is but a wider empire of obedience, calling them, not to escape from holy rule, but to its full impersonation.
time heart should
We should count time by heart-throbs.
community morality moral
The health of a community is an almost unfailing index of its morals.