Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Spiritual Interlude

I supposed, given the purported purpose of this blog, I should occasionally include some spiritual content. This morning, I was listening to a podcast of the NPR program, Speaking of Faith. The guest was theologian Martin Marty. He was asked to name the most influential theologians of the 20th century. His first answer was Reinhold Niebuhr. The program then offered a reading of a quote from Niebuhr with which Marty concluded a speech he gave at the White House in 1998. Here it is:

"Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore, we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true, or beautiful, or good, makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore, we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, could be accomplished alone; therefore, we must be saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint; therefore, we must be saved by the final form of love, which is forgiveness."

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