CHRISTIAN BIOGRAPHIES A-B

These Christians who once walked on this earth like we do today lived lives filled with the same struggles that we do today. Our world has so few examples of living the Christian life. Here are examples from the past on how to live a deeper Christian life in these latter days.

ABOUT ALEXANDRE VINET 

Alexandre Vinet may be considered as the most prominent thinker of XIXth century French-speaking Protestantism ; he was born in Lausanne on June 17, 1797. After reading theology at the Lausanne Académie, he went to Basel to teach French at a girls’ school, then he taught French literature at the local university. In 1836 the protestant and Parisian Société de la Morale Chrétienne (Society for Christian Morality) brought him a great success by awarding its prize to his Mémoire en faveur de la liberté des cultes (Essay in favour of freedom of worship) which is one of the great manifestoes of the time for religious freedom. From 1830 onwards his regular contribution to the Protestant Parisian periodical Le Semeur helped establish his reputation as a literary critic and his Discours sur quelques sujets religieux (Treatise on some religious topics), published in 1831, was re-edited several times and soon followed by other similar publications. These confirmed him as a religious thinker who deserved to be taken into account.

Although ordained at the beginning of his stay in Basel, Vinet was never in charge of a parish ; but this did not prevent his appointment as a Professor of practical theology at the Lausanne Académie. His competence earned him the reputation of being the most learned expert in this field in French-speaking countries, elsewhere in Europe and in North America. In 1842, his Essai sur la manifestation des convictions religieuses (Essay on the expression of religious beliefs) added a sharper polemical tone to his 1826 Mémoires. He defended without the slightest compromise the principle of a necessary and absolute separation between Church and State, even though the Reformed Church of his canton was a State Church. The purpose of the 1845 radical revolution in the canton of Vaud was precisely to make the ministers comply with its political orientation. As a result Vinet’s separatist theses became the programme of a number of ministers and some congregations who, in 1847, founded a free Church, independent from the State and quite distinct from the national Church. Although his health had much deteriorated, Vinet lived long enough to witness the establishment of a Church created according to his principles ; he died on 4 May, 1847.

Source: museeprotestant.org/en/notice/alexandre-vinet-1797-1847-2/

QUOTES BY ABOUT ALEXANDRE VINET 

THE COURAGE OF CHRISTIAN SORROW

"Resignation is the courage of Christian sorrow."

Alexandre Vinet (1797-1847) French-Swiss Theologian, Moralist 

THE LIGHT OF THE CONSCIENCE

"The light of conscience … enters the eyes of the soul, as the light of the sun enters the eyes of the body; and to open the former requires no greater effort than to open the latter."

Alexandre Vinet (1797-1847) French-Swiss Theologian, Moralist 

THE PLACE OF CHARITY

The place of charity, like that of God, is everywhere.

- Alexandre Vinet (1797-1847) French-Swiss Theologian, Moralist 

ABOUT ALEXANDRE VINET BOOKS AND SERMONS

Extraordinary Christianity : the life and thought of Alexander Vinet by Paul T Fuhrmann( Book 

Alexandre Vinet : histoire de sa vie et de ses ouvrages by Eugène Rambert( Book 

The life and writings of Alexander Vinet by Laura M Lane( Book

Étude sur Alexandre Vinet; critique littéraire by Louis Molines

Alexandre Vinet, notice sur sa vie et ses écrits by Edmond Henri Adolphe Scherer

Title: Homiletics : or, The theory of preaching ... /Author:Vinet, Alexandre Rodolphe, 1797-1847Note:New York : Ivison & Phinney; [etc., etc.], 1854 

Photo Credit: britannica.com/biography/Alexandre-Rodolphe-Vinet

ABOUT ANDREW BONAR  

Andrew Alexander Bonar (29 May 1810 in Edinburgh – 30 December 1892 in Glasgow) was a minister of the Free Church of Scotland, a contemporary and acquaintance of Robert Murray M'Cheyne and youngest brother of Horatius Bonar.

He was born at Paterson's Court in the Broughton district[3] of Edinburgh, the son of James Bonar (1758–1821), a solicitor with the Excise, and his wife Marjory Pyott Maitland (1753–1834).He was younger brother to James Bonar and Horatius Bonar.

Andrew Bonar studied divinity at the University of Edinburgh from 1831 and was ordained in 1835. His first position was as minister at Collace in Perthshire, from 1838 to 1856 (both in the Church of Scotland and the Free Church of Scotland). With Robert Murray McCheyne he visited Palestine in 1839 to inquire into the condition of the Jews there. Bonar joined the Free Church of Scotland in 1843. He served as minister of Finnieston Free Church, Glasgow, 1856 till his death. In 1874, the University of Edinburgh conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. He was the Moderator of the Free Church's General Assembly for 1878/79.

Bonar was identified with evangelical and revival movements and adhered to the doctrine of premillennialism. During the visit of Dwight L. Moody to Britain in 1874 and 1875, Moody was warmly welcomed by Bonar, despite the latter receiving considerable criticism from other Calvinist ministers in the Free Church.

He died at his home, 20 India Street in Glasgow, on 30 December 1892. He is buried in Sighthill Cemetery in north Glasgow.

Paterson Court was demolished in 1938. His Glasgow house was demolished in the 1960s.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Bonar

QUOTES BY ANDREW BONAR

OH BROTHER, PRAY IN SPITE OF SATAN

"0h brother, pray; in spite of Satan, pray; spend hours in prayer; rather neglect friends than not pray; rather fast, and lose breakfast, dinner, tea, and supper - and sleep too - than not pray. And we must not talk about prayer, we must pray in right earnest. The Lord is near. He comes softly while the virgins slumber." 

- Andrew Bonar (1810-1892) Church of Scotland Minister

REVIVALS BEGIN WITH GOD'S OWN PEOPLE

"Revivals begin with God's own people; the Holy Spirit touches their heart anew, and gives them new fervor and compassion, and zeal, new light and life, and when He has thus come to you, He next goes forth to the valley of dry bones... Oh, what responsibility this lays on the Church of God! If you grieve Him away from yourselves, or hinder His visit, then the poor perishing world suffers sorely!"

- Andrew Bonar (1810-1892) Church of Scotland Minister

PRAY FOR ENLIGHTENMENT AND REFRESHING

"God will not let me get the blessing without asking. Today I am setting my face to fast and pray for enlightenment and refreshing. Until I can get up to the measure of at least two hours in pure prayer every day, I shall not be contented. Meditation and reading besides.

- Andrew Bonar (1810-1892) Church of Scotland Minister  

ANDREW BONAR BOOKS AND SERMONS

• Bonar, Andrew A. (Andrew Alexander), 1810-1892: Andrew A. Bonar, D.D., diary and letters / (London : Hodder and Stoughton, 1894), also by Marjory Bonar
• Bonar, Andrew A. (Andrew Alexander), 1810-1892: The Biography of Robert Murray M'Cheyne (Gutenberg ebook)
• Bonar, Andrew A. (Andrew Alexander), 1810-1892: Christ and his church in the book of Psalms. (New York, R. Carter, 1877) 
• Bonar, Andrew A. (Andrew Alexander), 1810-1892: Christ and His church in the Book of Psalms. ... (New York : R. Carter & brothers, 1860) 
• Bonar, Andrew A. (Andrew Alexander), 1810-1892: A commentary on the book of Leviticus, expository & practical : with critical notes / (New York : R. Carter & bros., 1851) 
• Bonar, Andrew A. (Andrew Alexander), 1810-1892: A commentary on the book of Leviticus, expository and practical : with critical notes / (New York : R. Carter, 1856) 
• Bonar, Andrew A (Andrew Alexander), 1810-1892: Emilia Geddie (Glasgow: Charles Glass & Co. London :, 1871) (page images at Florida)
• Bonar, Andrew A. (Andrew Alexander), 1810-1892: The gospel pointing to the person of Christ. 6th thousand. (Kelso, J. & J.H. Rutherford, etc., etc., 1858) 
• Bonar, Andrew A. (Andrew Alexander), 1810-1892: Les juifs d 'Europe et de Palestine : voyage de MM. Keith, Black, Bonar et Mac Cheyne, envoyés par l'Église d'Écosse / (Paris : L.-R. Delay, 1844), also by Louis Gaussen and Robert Murray M'Cheyne 
• Bonar, Andrew A. (Andrew Alexander), 1810-1892, ed.: Letters. (Edinburgh, Oliphant, Anderson & Ferrier, [1904?]), by Samuel Rutherford
• Bonar, Andrew A. (Andrew Alexander), 1810-1892, ed.: Letters of Samuel Rutherford, (Edinburgh London, Oliphant, Anderson & Ferrier, 1891), by Samuel Rutherford
• Bonar, Andrew A. (Andrew Alexander), 1810-1892, ed.: Letters of Samuel Rutherford: (Third Edition), by Samuel Rutherford (Gutenberg ebook)
• Bonar, Andrew A. (Andrew Alexander), 1810-1892: Letters of Samuel Rutherford / (Edinburgh : Oliphants Ltd., [1904]), also by Samuel Rutherford
• Bonar, Andrew A. (Andrew Alexander), 1810-1892, ed.: Letters of Samuel Rutherford : with a sketch of his life / (New York : Robert Carter & Bros., 1863), 

Source: onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Bonar%2C%20Andrew%20A%2E%20%28Andrew%20Alexander%29%2C%201810%2D1892

Photo Credit: thearda.com/timeline/persons/person_37.asp

ABOUT ANTHONY FARIDNDON

Farindon, Anthony an eminent divine of the Church of England, was born at Sunning, in Berkshire, England, in 1596; was admitted scholar of Trinity College, in Oxford, in 1612, and was elected fellow in 1617. He took his M.A. degree in 1620, and, entering into holy orders, he became a tutor in his college. In 1634, being then B.D., he was called to be vicar of Bray, in Berkshire, and soon was made divinity-reader in the king's chapel at Windsor. 

During the Civil War he was ejected for conformity to the Church of England, and was reduced to such extremities as to be very near starving. Sir John Robinson, alderman of London, and some of the parishioners of Milk Street, London, invited him to be pastor of St. Mary Magdalen there, "which invitation he gladly accepted, and preached to the great liking of the royal party. In the year 1657 he published a folio volume of these sermons and dedicated them to his kind patron Robinson, 'as a witness or manifesto,' says he to him, 'of my deep apprehension of your many noble favors, and great charity to me and mine, when the sharpness of the weather and the roughness of the times had blown all from us, and well-nigh left us naked.'" He died at his house in Milk Street in September, 1658. Three posthumous volumes of his sermons (folio) were published (1658-1673) in 1663, a second folio volume of his sermons containing forty, and a third in 1673 containing fifty. He also left in manuscript several memorials of the life of Hales (q.v.) of Eton, his intimate friend. A new edition of his Sermons, with a Life of the Author by F. Jackson, appeared in London in 1849 (4 volumes, 8vo). They afford a "fine specimen of sterling English, and of rich and varied eloquence." See Wood, Athenae Oxonienses; Hook, Ecclesiastical Biography, 5:57; Jackson, Life of Farindon, prefixed to the new edition of his sermons. 

Source: blicalcyclopedia.com/F/farindon-anthony.html

QUOTES BY ANTHONY FARIDNDON

IF WE DO NOT TRUST AND RELY ON HIM

"Talk what we will of faith, if we do not trust and rely upon Him, we do not believe in Him."

- Anthony Farindon (1598–1658) English Royalist Divine 

ANTHONY FARIDNDON BOOKS BAND SERMON

Text Sermons of Anthony Faridndon - archive.org 

• Farindon, Anthony, 1598-1658: Forty sermons preached at the parish-church of St. Mary Magdalene, Milk-street, London / (London, Printed by F.G. for Richard Marriott, 1663) 
• Farindon, Anthony, 1598-1658: Sermons. Selections (London : Printed for Richard Marriot ..., 1647) (HTML at EEBO TCP)
• Farindon, Anthony, 1598-1658: Sermons. Selections (London : Printed by Tho. Roycroft for Richard Marriott, 1674) (HTML at EEBO TCP)
• Farindon, Anthony, 1598-1658: Sermons. Selections. 1672 (London : Printed by Tho. Roycroft for Richard Marriott, CIC DC LXXII [i.e. 1672]) (HTML at EEBO TCP)

Source: onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Farindon%2C%20Anthony%2C%201598%2D1658

Photo Credit: twmodules.com/tag/thanksgiving/

ABOUT ARCHIBALD A. HODGE

Pastor, preacher, missionary, theologian, educator, and churchman, Archibald Alexander Hodge (1823 – 1886) was the first-born son of Charles and Sarah Hodge. Born and raised in the pleasant and intellectually stimulating environment of Princeton, New Jersey, the young Hodge enjoyed the inestimable privilege of being nurtured in the home of Presbyterianism’s greatest biblical scholar and theologian in mid-nineteenth century America. Charles Hodge was a devoted husband and loving father to his children. The loving atmosphere that characterized the Hodge family home bore a rich spiritual harvest in the life of A. A. Hodge. Named after his father’s spiritual mentor and surrogate father, Archibald Alexander, A. A.’s life was embedded in the rich spiritual soil of the Calvinistic orthodoxy and redolent piety for which Princeton Theological Seminary was so well known.

A. A. Hodge graduated from Princeton College in 1841 and Princeton Theological Seminary in 1846. Having developed a love for missions, he and his young bride set sail to serve as Presbyterian missionaries in Allahabad, India. The couple ministered in India for only a few short years; health-related complications necessitated their return to the United States, whereupon A. A. served as a pastor in rural congregations in Maryland and Pennsylvania.

During these years A. A. began writing his major work, Outlines of Theology, which was first published in 1860 and later in a revised and enlarged edition in 1879. He was an emotional and captivating preacher whose popularity grew during the years of his pastoral charges. His gifts as a preacher, teacher, pastor, and author led to his receiving a call, in 1864, to serve as Professor of Systematic Theology at Western Theological Seminary in Allegheny, Pennsylvania.

In 1878 he returned to Princeton Theological Seminary as Professor of Didactic and Exegetical Theology. A beloved professor, he continued the theological legacy begun by Archibald Alexander and perpetuated by his father. His publications on The Atonement, a popular series of talks published as Lectures on Theology, and A Commentary on the Westminster Confession of Faith, all demonstrate his self-conscious commitment to the Reformed confessional heritage, as well as the purposeful integration of piety and learning that Princeton Theological Seminary was founded upon. He also co-authored with B. B. Warfield an important article on the inspiration of the Scriptures that remains a classic statement on the subject.

An active spokesman against the dangers of nationalized government-sponsored public education based upon a foundation of scientific naturalism, A. A. Hodge supported an amendment to the United States Constitution that would affirm recognition of the lordship of Jesus Christ over the United States government. His outlook predates modern evangelicalism’s interest in the integration of faith with learning and the development of a Christian worldview which seeks to integrate all aspects of the created order under Christ’s lordship.

Additional publications by A. A. Hodge include an important intellectual and spiritual biography of his father, The Life of Charles Hodge. A compassionate man with a burden for the lost, Archibald Alexander Hodge’s life-long passion for missions and earnest preaching of the gospel — often with tears streaming down his cheeks — endeared him to his students, congregations, and community. He lived as a man who walked with God and whose life was spent bringing others into the same true and living way.

[James M. Garretson in Princeton and the Work of the Christian Ministry, Volume 2 (Banner of Truth, 2012)]

SOURCE: banneroftruth.org/us/about/banner-authors/a-a-hodge/Truth, 2012)] 

QUOTES BY ARCHIBALD A. HODGE

IF PROFESSING CHRISTIANS ARE UNFAITHFUL  

"If professing Christians are unfaithful to the authority of their Lord in their capacity as citizens of the State, they cannot expect to be blessed by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in their capacity as members of the Church."  

- A. A. Hodge (1823 –1886) American Presbyterian Leader

TENDS TO DEFILE THE IMAGINATION  

"Nothing in the world so tends to defile the imagination, to pervert the affections, and to corrupt the morals, as self-consciousness. You know it is connected with every disease and morbid action of the body. ...All self-consciousness is of the very essence and nature of sin."   

- A. A. Hodge (1823 –1886) American Presbyterian Leader

NO TRUTH IS RIGHTLY UPHELD

"No one truth is rightly held till it is clearly conceived and stated, and no single truth is adequately comprehended till it is viewed in harmonious relations to all the other truths of the system of which Christ is the centre."

- A. A. Hodge (1823 –1886) American Presbyterian Leader

 ARCHIBALD A. HODGE BOOKS AND SERMONS 

• Hodge, Archibald Alexander, 1823-1886: [Encheiridion theologias (romanized form)] / (Athenais : ek tou typografeiou tes Lakonias, 1874)  
• Hodge, Archibald Alexander, 1823-1886: Addresses delivered at the funeral of Lyman Hotchkiss Atwater ... : in the First Presbyterian church, Princeton, N.J., Tuesday, February 20, 1883 [and] A memorial discourse, delivered in the college chapel on the evening of baccalaureate Sunday, June 17, 1883 / (New York : A.D.F. Randolph & Co., [1883]), also by James McCosh and Noah Porter  
• Hodge, Archibald Alexander, 1823-1886: The atonement. (Philadelphia, Presbyterian Board of Publication, [1867]), also by Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (Old School) Board of Publication  
• Hodge, Archibald Alexander, 1823-1886: Banau duwinyddiaeth. (Dinbych, Gee, 1878)  
• Hodge, Archibald Alexander, 1823-1886: The church and its polity / (London ; New York : T. Nelson, 1879), also by Charles Hodge and William Durant  
• Hodge, Archibald Alexander, 1823-1886: A commentary on the Confession of faith : with questions for theological students and Bible classes / (Philadelphia : Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School Work, [1885?]), also by Henry Boynton Smith, Charles Hodge, and Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Board of Publication  
• Hodge, Archibald Alexander, 1823-1886: A commentary on the Confession of Faith : with questions for theological students and Bible classes / (Philadelphia : Presbyterian Board of Publication, 1869), also by Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Board of Publication  
• Hodge, Archibald Alexander, 1823-1886: The life of Charles Hodge ... professor in the Theological seminary, Princeton, N.J., (New York, C. Scribner's sons, 1880) 
• Hodge, Archibald Alexander, 1823-1886: The life of Charles Hodge ... : professor in the Theological seminary, Princeton, N.J. / (New York : C. Scribner's Sons, 1880)  
• Hodge, Archibald Alexander, 1823-1886: Outlines of theology / (Philadelphia : Presbyterian Board of Publication, c1860) )

Source: onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Hodge%2C%20Archibald%20Alexander%2C%201823%2D1886

Photo Credit: christianfocus.com/contributors/254/f-b-meyer

ABOUT AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO

St Augustine, Bishop, Doctor of the Church. Born at Tagaste (Algeria) in 354; died at Hippo (Tunisia) in 430. He taught in Carthage, Rome, and Milan. Baptised in 387, together with his son, after a long inner struggle and under the influence of St Ambrose (Feast:7 Dec.) and the prayers of his mother, Saint Monica (c/f 27 August). Bishop of Hippo for thirty-four years. Lived a communal life with his clergy and served the many needs of his people at a time of political and cultural collapse. Honoured as a model pastor and as a preacher and writer whose thought has had an enduring influence in Christian history.

Augustine, a Roman African, was born in 354 in Tagaste, North Africa, (in present-day Algeria) to a pagan father named Patricius and a Christian mother named Monica. He may have been a Berber by race but his family name, Aurelius, suggests his family had Roman citizenship from the Edict of Caracalla in 212.

Teenage years: Latin literature and a hedonistic lifestyle

At 11, Augustine was sent to school at Madaurus, a Roman colony, also in present-day Algeria, where he became familiar with Latin literature, came home for two years and then went to study rhetoric in Carthage (in present-day Tunisia). At Carthage he got into a hedonistic lifestyle.

“I came to Carthage, and all around me in my ears were the activities of impure loves. I was not yet in love, but I loved the idea of love” (Confessions 3:51). He began a relationship that lasted thirteen years with a young woman whom he never names: she became his concubine. “It was a sweet thing to be loved, and more sweet still when I was able to enjoy the body of a woman” (Confessions 3:51). She gave birth to his son Adeodatus, who died when he was about eighteen.

After teaching grammar at Tagaste (373-4), Augustine moved to Carthage where he conducted a school of rhetoric for the next nine years (374-383) and then went to Rome. where an introduction to the prefect of the City of Rome, Symmachus, eventually secured him the post of professor of rhetoric at the imperial court at Milan in 384. Although he was interested in Manichaeism, this began to change at Milan, where he became interested in Neoplatonism. Augustine lived for fifteen years with a woman who remains unknown and with whom he had a son, named Adeodatus.

His mother Monica had followed him to Cartage, persuaded him to put away his concubine and was pressuring him to become a Christian. But it was the bishop of Milan, Ambrose, who had most influence over Augustine. Ambrose was a master of rhetoric like Augustine himself, but older and more experienced.

Conversion

This quotation from the beginning of the Confessions of Saint Augustine sums up the intellectual and spiritual journey of this extraordinary man. “You have made us for yourself, O Lord and our heart is restless until it rests in you.“

He was influenced by reading the life of Saint Anthony of the Desert, who when he read “Go, sell all you have, and give to the poor, and come and follow me”, did just that. While experiencing the pulls and tugs of this crisis, Augustine was sitting one day in a garden and heard the voice of a child repeating a chant: Tolle, lege! Tolle, lege! “Take up and read! Take up and read!” Interpreted this as a call from God to take up the Bible, he did so and read from the passage in Romans 13:13-14: “Let us live decently as people do in the daytime: no drunken orgies, no promiscuity or licentiousness, and no wrangling or jealousy. Let your armour be the Lord Jesus Christ; forget about satisfying your bodies with all their cravings.” He did not need to read any further. A light of serenity pierced his darkness and all doubt melted away from him (Confessions 8:29).

Baptism and Return to Africa

Augustine then formed a lay community near Milan at Cassiciacum. His friend Alypius whom he knew from Tagaste was also a member and both along with Adeodatus were baptised by Ambrose at Easter 387. In August 387 Alypius was in the company of Augustine, Monica, Adeodatus, Navigius (the brother of Augustine) and Evodius (a North African companion) when they travelled to the port of Ostia with the intention of sailing back to North Africa to establish a lay community at Tagaste. Monica, however, died at Ostia on the way and was buried there.

Augustine and Alypius lived a community life for a while at Tagaste (388-391). His friend Possidius, who later wrote a life of Augustine, was also a member of that community and later bishop of Calama. But this community life ended unexpectedly when Augustine was pressed into priesthood by the aging bishop and community at Hippo. Five years later he became bishop of Hippo. Alypius too became a priest and became bishop of Tagaste, where he remained till his death in 430. Augustine lived a monastic or community life at the episcopal residence in Hippo.

Synods, Sermons, Writings, and Letters

The next thirty years were turbulent for the Church: the Vandals were destroying the Latin culture; the city of Rome was losing its influence; and there were controversies with the heresies of Donatism and Pelagianism in the Church of North Africa. Bishop Augustine spent a lot of time attending synods and meetings of bishops in Carthage and other cities of North Africa. He also wrote many letters both within and outside Africa. The range of his writings is vast: the two best known works are his Confessions, an account of his own path to God and The City of God, which was occasioned by the fall of Rome to Alaric and the Visigoths in 410. But there are also Expositions on the Psalms, and works On the Trinity, On Grace and Free Will, On Original Sin and a host of others.

Death

Augustine was seventy-six when the Vandals came through Gaul and Spain to North Africa and were at the gate of the city of Hippo as he lay dying inside and they took it over as their capital after he died. His mortal remains were taken first to Sardinia and then to Pavia in Lombardy, northern Italy, where they can still be seen today. Along with Saints Jerome, Ambrose, and Gregory the Great he is regarded as one of the four doctors of the Western Church.

Influence

The vastness of his theological work and the fact that it was catalogued and preserved has meant that every generation of Christian thinking has been able to be in dialogue with the issues he treated right up to the present day.

Pope Benedict XVI, who in 1953 wrote his doctoral thesis on “The People and the House of God in Augustine’s Doctrine of the Church”, dedicated three catecheses on Augustine and his spirituality at his Wednesday audiences in January 2008 that are well worth reading.

Source: catholicireland.net/saintoftheday/st-augustine-of-hippo-354-430-bishop-and-doctor-of-the-church/

QUOTES BY AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO

THE CONVERSION OF ST. AUGUSTINE  

"I was weeping in the most bitter contritition of my heart, when I heard the voice of children from a neighboring house chanting, "take up and read; take up and read." I could not remember ever having heard the like, so checking the torrent of my tears, I arose, interpreting it to be no other than a command from God to open the book and read the first chapter I should find. Eagerly then I returned to the place where I had laid the volume of the apostle. I seized, opened, and in silence read that section on which my eyes first fell: "Not in revelry and drunkenness, not in licentiousness and lewdness, not is strife and envy; but put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts." No further would I read, nor did I need to. For instantly at the end of this sentence, it seemed as if a light of serenity infused into my heart and all the darkness of doubt vanished away."  

- Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Bishop, Theologian and Philosopher 

FIND SATISFACTION IN HIM WHO MADE YOU

"Find satisfaction in him who made you, and only then find satisfaction in yourself as part of his creation." 

- Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Bishop, Theologian and Philosopher 

TRUST THE PAST TO THE MERCY OF GOD

"Trust the past to the mercy of God, the present to His love, and the future to His providence.”

- Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Bishop, Theologian and Philosopher 

FORGIVENESS IS THE REMISSION OF SIN

"Forgiveness is the remission of sins. For it is by this that what has been lost, and was found, is saved from being lost again."

- Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Bishop, Theologian and Philosopher 

WHAT IS MORE PROFITABLE TO A LIFE?  

"What can be more excellent than prayer; what is more profitable to our life; what sweeter to our souls; what more sublime, in the course of our whole life, than the practice of prayer!"  

- St. Augustine (354-430) Theologian and Philosopher

WE WANT TO REACH THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN

"We want to reach the kingdom of God, but we don't want to travel by way of death. And yet there stands Necessity saying: 'This way, please.' Do not hesitate, man, to go this way, when this is the way that God came to you."

- Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Bishop, Theologian and Philosopher 

LAY FIRST THE FOUNDATION OF HUMILITY

"Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility.

- Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Bishop, Theologian and Philosopher 

A JOY NOT GIVEN TO THE UNGODLY

"There is a joy which is not given to the ungodly, but to those who love Thee for Thine own sake, whose joy Thou Thyself art. And this is the happy life, to rejoice to Thee, of Thee, for Thee; this it is, and there is no other."  

- Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Bishop, Theologian and Philosopher 

THIS IS THE HAPPY LIFE, TO REJOICE IN THEE  

"There is a joy which is not given to the ungodly, but to those who love Thee for Thine own sake, whose joy Thou Thyself art. And this is the happy life, to rejoice to Thee, of Thee, for Thee; this it is, and there is no other."      

- St. Augustine (354-430) Theologian and Philosopher

IF HE LOSES THE ETERNAL BLESSINGS

"A man may lose the good things of this life against his will; but if he loses the eternal blessings, he does so with his own consent."

- Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Bishop, Theologian and Philosopher 

PROMISED FORGIVENESS FOR YOUR REPENTANCE   

"God has promised forgiveness to your repentance, but He has not promised tomorrow to your procrastination."  

- Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Bishop, Theologian and Philosopher 

PRIDE CHANGED ANGELS INTO DEVILS 

"It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels."  

- St. Augustine (354-430) Theologian and Philosopher

MEN PASS THEMSELVES WITHOUT WONDERING   

"Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering."  

- Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Bishop, Theologian and Philosopher 

WHO CAN MAP OUT THE VARIOUS FORCES AT PLAY  

"Who can map out the various forces at play in one soul? Man is a great depth, O Lord. The hairs of his head are easier by far to count than his feeling, the movements of his heart."  

- Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Bishop, Theologian and Philosopher 

IF YOU PLAN TO BUILD A TALL HOUSE VIRTUES  

"If you plan to build a tall house of virtues, you must first lay deep foundations of humility."  

- Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Bishop, Theologian and Philosopher 

ADMONISH EVIL-DOERS

"At times one hesitates to reprove or admonish evil-doers, either because one seeks a more favorable moment or fears his rebuke might make them worse, and further, discourage weak brethren from seeking to lead a good and holy life, or turn them aside from the faith. In such circumstances forebearance is not prompted by selfish considerations but by well advised charity. What is reprehensible, however, is that while leading good lives themselves and abhorring those of wicked men, some, fearing to offend, shut their eyes to evil deeds instead of condemning them and pointing out their malice. To be sure, the motive behind their malice is that they may suffer no hurt in the possession of those temporal goods which virtuous and blameless men may lawfully enjoy; still there is more self-seeking here than becomes men who are mere sojourners in this world and who profess the hope of a home in heaven." 

- Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Bishop, Theologian and Philosopher 

I HAVE NO DIFFICULTY BELIEVING IN MIRACLES

"I never have any difficulty believing in miracles, since I experienced the miracle of a change in my own heart."  

- Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Bishop, Theologian and Philosopher 

NOTHING WHATEVER PERTAINING TO GODLINESS  

"Nothing whatever pertaining to godliness and real holiness can be accomplished without grace."  

- Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Bishop, Theologian and Philosopher 

MANKING IS DIVIED INTO TWO SORTS

 Mankind is divided into two sorts: such as live according to man, and such as live according to God. These we call the two cities… The Heavenly City outshines Rome. There, instead of victory, is truth" 

- Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Bishop, Theologian and Philosopher 

SATISFACTION IN HIM WHO MADE YOU

"Find satisfaction in Him who made you, and only then find satisfaction in yourself as part of his creation."

- Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Bishop, Theologian and Philosopher  

AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO BOOKS AND SERMONS

Augustine of Hippo Sermons - PDF Books 

• Rereading the Renaissance: Petrarch, Augustine, and the Language of Humanism (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, c1998), by Carol E. Quillen (page images at HathiTrust)

           Augustine, of Hippo, Saint, 354-430 -- Influence -- Congresses

• Saint Augustine, Father of European and African Civilization (New York: New Benjamin Franklin House, 1985) (PDF at wlym.com)
• Augustine, by James J. O'Donnell (HTML at Georgetown)
• Confessions, by Saint Augustine of Hippo, trans. by Albert C. Outler (multiple formats with commentary at CCEL)
• Confessions, by Saint Augustine of Hippo, ed. by James J. O'Donnell (HTML at Georgetown)
• Confessions, by Saint Augustine of Hippo, trans. by E. B. Pusey
  • HTML at sacred-texts.com
• Saint Augustin, by Louis Bertrand, trans. by Vincent O'Sullivan (Gutenberg text)
• A Third Testament: A Modern Pilgrim Explores the Spiritual Wanderings of Augustine, Blake, Pascal, Tolstoy, Bonhoeffer, Kierkegaard, and Dostoevsky, by Malcolm Muggeridge (multiple formats with commentary at plough.com)
• Three Conceptions of Mind: Their Bearing on the Denaturalization of the Mind in History (New York: Columbia University Press, 1926), by Alejandro A. Jascalevich (page images at HathiTrust)
• Julien d'Eclane, exegete. ([Paris], [1916]), by Adhémar d' Alès (page images at HathiTrust; US access only)
• Blazh. Avgustin, kak oblichitelʹ otrit︠s︡atelʹno-rat︠s︡īonalisticheskago vozzri︠e︡nīi︠a︡ na khristīanskoe uchenīe o Sv. Troĭt︠s︡i︠e︡. (Ri︠a︡zanʹ, 1907), by N. I. Ostroumov 
• Die Dekalogkatechese des hl. Augustinus. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des Dekalogs. (Kempten, Verlag der Jos. Kösel'schen Buchhandlung, 1905), by Paul Rentschka 
• The all-present God; a study in St. Augustine. (St. Louis, B. Herder Book Co., [1954]), by Stanislaus J. Grabowski (page images at HathiTrust; US access only)
• Le catholicisme de Saint Augustin / (Paris : Lecoffre, 1920), by Pierre Batiffol
• Die Erkenntnislehre des Aurelius Augustinus. (München, 1913), by Aloys Kratzer
• Vita Aurelii Augustini ecclesiae doctoris iconibus olim illustrata rudiori nunc calamo explicata /, by Wilibaldus Mair and Wilhelm Eder (page images at HathiTrust)
• Descrizione del monumento di S. Agostino conservato nella Cattedrale di Pavia. (Milano : Tip. di S. Giuseppe, 1879), by Duomo di Pavia 
• Preliminary studies for the interpretation of Saint Augustine's concept of Providence, ([Worcester, Mass. Holy Cross College], 1953), by Johannes Götte
• The Augustinian concept of Authority, ([Worcester, Mass. Holy Cross College], 1954), by H. Hohensee (page images at HathiTrust; US access only)
• La cité de Dieu de la Bibliothèque de Macon. Pourchasse et recouvrance des très belles miniatures du XV. siècle dérobées à ce manuscrit. (Paris, A. Picard, 1906), by Léonce Lex (page images at HathiTrust; US access only)
• Tvorenīi︠a︡ Blazhennago Avgustina, Episkopa ipponīĭskago. (Kīev : Tip. G.T. Korchak-Novit︠s︡kago, 1879-<1895>), by Saint Augustine of Hippo, Russian Imperial Collection (Library of Congress) DLC, and Kyïvsʹka dukhovna akademii︠a︡ 
• Augustinus over het Godsrijk; beschrijving van den inhoud der twee en Twintig Boeken met inleiding en aanteekeningen. (Haarlem, H.D. Tjeenk Willink & Zoon, 1914), by Herman Thomas Karsten (page images at HathiTrust; US access only)
• Saint Augustin, Melanchthon, Neander; three biographies. (New York, Funk & Wagnalls, 1886), by Philip Schaff (page images at HathiTrust; US access only)
• A study of the vocabulary and rhetoric of the letters of Saint Augustine / (Washington, D.C. : The Catholic University of America, 1923), by Wilfrid Parsons 

Source: onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/browse?type=lcsubc&key=Augustine%2C%20of%20Hippo%2C%20Saint%2C%20354%2D430%20%2D%2D%20Influence&c=x

Photo Credit:  commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saint_Augustine_of_Hippo._Line_engraving_by_P._Cool_after_M._Wellcome_V0031645.jpg

ABOUT AUSTIN PHELPS 

Austin Phelps (January 7, 1820 – October 13, 1890), was an American Congregational minister and educator. He was for 10 years President of the Andover Theological Seminary and his writings became standard textbooks for Christian theological education and remain in print today.

Austin Phelps was born in West Brookfield, Massachusetts. His father, Eliakim Phelps was a clergyman and the principal of a girls’ school in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Eliakim Phelps was later pastor of a Presbyterian church in Geneva, New York, where he was installed as in 1830, and in 1835 he was elected Secretary of the American Educational Society of Philadelphia.

After preparing for college at the age of twelve Austin studied at Hobart College from 1833 to 1835, then at Amherst for six months. He was by far the youngest boy in his class and was intensely unhappy. In 1835 he rejoined his family in Philadelphia where he finally obtained a degree in 1837 from the University of Pennsylvania.

He studied theology at Union Theological Seminary (including six months of Hebrew studies under Isaac Nordheimer), at the Yale Divinity School, and later at Andover. In 1840, he was licensed to preach by the Third Presbytery of Philadelphia. In 1842, he was pastor of the Pine Street (Congregational) Church in Boston when he met and married in the autumn of that year Elizabeth Stuart (August 13, 1815 – November 30, 1852). She was the eldest daughter of Moses Stuart, president of Andover Theological Seminary. His wife Elizabeth Stuart, aside from Jacob Abbott, was one of the earliest writers of books for girls, publishing the four volume Kitty Brown series of books for girls under the pen name H. Trusta and other books. They had three children, Mary Gray (b. 1844), Moses Stuart (b. 1849) and Amos Lawrence (b. 1852).

In the spring of 1848 he moved his family to Andover, Massachusetts, where he became professor of sacred rhetoric and homiletics at Andover Theological Seminary. In 1869 he was selected as president of Andover, a role he served in until 1879 when failing health forced him to resign.

- Source: wikiwand.com/en/Austin_Phelps

QUOTES BY AUSTIN PHELPS

WE ARE NEVER MORE LIKE CHRIST

"We are never more like Christ than in prayers of intercession."  

- Austin Phelps (1820–1890) American Congregational Minister

THE TEXT OF THE NEW LIFE SERMON

"Prayer is the preface to the book of Christian living; the text of the new life sermon; the girding on of the armor for battle; the pilgrim's preparation for his journey. It must be supplemented by action or it amounts to nothing."

- Austin Phelps (1820–1890) American Congregational Minister and Educator

THE DESTINY OF EVERY MORAL BEING

"In the destiny of every moral being there is an object more worthy of God than happiness. It is character. And the grand aim of man's creation is the development of a grand character, and grand character is, by its very nature, the product of probationary discipline."

- Austin Phelps (1820–1890) American Congregational minister and Educator

CHRISTIANITY IS THE ONLY SYSTEM OF FAITH

"Christianity is the only system of faith which combines religious beliefs with corresponding principles of morality. It builds ethics on religion."

- Austin Phelps (1820–1890) American Congregational Minister and Educator

AUSTIN PHELPS BOOKS  AND SERMONS 

• Phelps, Austin, 1820-1890: English style in public discourse with special reference to the usages of the pulpit, (New York : C. Scribner's sons, 1891) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Phelps, Austin, 1820-1890: English style in public discourse with special reference to the usages of the pulpit, (New York, C. Scribner's sons, 1899) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Phelps, Austin, 1820-1890: English style in public discourse with special reference to the usages of the pulpit, (New York, C. Scribner's sons, 1883) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Phelps, Austin, 1820-1890: English style in public discourse with special reference to the usages of the pulpit, (New York : C. Scribner's sons, 1915, c1911) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Phelps, Austin, 1820-1890: English style in public discourse : with special reference to the usages of the pulpit / (New York : C. Scribner's Sons, 1912, c1883) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Phelps, Austin, 1820-1890: Hymns and choirs: (Andover, W. F. Draper; Boston, Gould and Lincoln; [etc., etc.], 1860), also by Daniel Little Furber and Edwards Amasa Park (page images at HathiTrust)
• Phelps, Austin, 1820-1890: Hymns and choirs: or, The matter and the manner of the service of song in the house of the Lord. (Andover, W.F. Draper; Boston, Gould and Lincoln, 1860), also by Daniel Little Furber and Edwards Amasa Park 
• Phelps, Austin, 1820-1890: Hymns and choirs: or, The matter and the manner of the service of song in the house of the Lord, ([New York : AMS Press, 1971]), also by Daniel Little Furber and Edwards Amasa Park (page images at HathiTrust)
• Phelps, Austin, 1820-1890: The last leaf from Sunny Side. (Boston, Phillips, Sampson and Company., 1853), also by H. Trusta (page images at HathiTrust)
• Phelps, Austin, 1820-1890: The last leaf from Sunny Side. (Boston, Phillips, Sampson, 1854 [c1853]), also by H. Trusta (page images at HathiTrust)
• Phelps, Austin, 1820-1890: The last leaf from Sunny Side / (New York : Sheldon, 1860), also by H. Trusta (page images at HathiTrust)
• Phelps, Austin, 1820-1890: The last leaf from Sunny Side / (Boston : Phillips, Sampson, 1856, c1853), also by H. Trusta (page images at HathiTrust)
• Phelps, Austin, 1820-1890: The last leaf from Sunny Side / (Boston : Phillips, Sampson, and company, 1853), also by H. Trusta (page images at HathiTrust)
• Phelps, Austin, 1820-1890: Men and books; or, Studies in homiletics; lectures introductory to The theory of preaching, (New York, C. Scribner's sons, 1885) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Phelps, Austin, 1820-1890: Men and books, or, Studies in homiletics : lectures introductory to The theory of preaching / (New York : C. Scribner's Sons, 1882) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Phelps, Austin, 1820-1890: Ministerial culture. (Andover, Draper, 1868) 
• Phelps, Austin, 1820-1890: My note-book : fragmentary studies in theology, and subjects adjacent thereto / (New York : Scribners', 1891) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Phelps, Austin, 1820-1890: My portfolio : a collection of essays / (New York : Charles Scribner, 1882) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Phelps, Austin, 1820-1890: My study, and other essays, (New York, C. Scribner's sons, 1886) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Phelps, Austin, 1820-1890: The new birth; or the work of the Holy Spirit. (Andover, W.F. Draper, 1878) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Phelps, Austin, 1820-1890: The new birth; or, The work of the Holy Spirit. (Boston, Graves, [1866]) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Phelps, Austin, 1820-1890: The new birth : or, The work of the Holy Spirit / (Boston : Gould and Lincoln, 1867, c1866) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Phelps, Austin, 1820-1890: The new Sabbath hymn and tune book : for the service of song in the house of the Lord. (New York : Mason ; Boston : Mason & Hamlin ; Chicago : Root & Cady, 1873), also by Francis Wayland, Edwards Amasa Park, and Lowell Mason 
• Phelps, Austin, 1820-1890: The Old Testament : a living book for all ages / (London : Hodder & Stoughton, 1879) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Phelps, Austin, 1820-1890: Our country its possible future and its present crisis / (New York : The American Home Missionary Society, c1885), also by Josiah Strong and American Home Missionary Society (page images at HathiTrust)

Source: onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Phelps%2C%20Austin%2C%201820%2D1890

Photo Credit:  quotesgram.com/austin-phelps-quotes/

ABOUT BILLY GRAHAM

Evangelist Billy Graham took Christ literally when He said in Mark 16:15, “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.”

Mr. Graham preached the Gospel to more people in live audiences than anyone else in history—nearly 215 million people in more than 185 countries and territories—through various meetings, including Mission World and Global Mission. Hundreds of millions more have been reached through television, video, film, and webcasts.

Beginning with the 1949 Los Angeles Crusade, which vaulted Mr. Graham into the public eye, he led hundreds of thousands of individuals to make personal decisions to live for Christ, the main thrust of his decades-long ministry.

Born November 7, 1918, four days before the Armistice ended World War I, Mr. Graham was reared on a dairy farm in Charlotte, N.C. Growing up during the Depression, he learned the value of hard work on the family farm, but he also found time to spend many hours in the hayloft reading books on a wide variety of subjects.

In the fall of 1934, at age 15, Mr. Graham made a personal commitment to Christ through the ministry of Mordecai Ham, a traveling evangelist, who visited Charlotte for a series of revival meetings.

Ordained in 1939 by Peniel Baptist Church in Palatka, Fla. (a church in the Southern Baptist Convention), Mr. Graham received a solid foundation in the Scriptures at Florida Bible Institute (now Trinity College of Florida). In 1943 he graduated from Wheaton College in Illinois and married fellow student Ruth McCue Bell, daughter of a missionary surgeon, who spent the first 17 years of her life in China.

After graduating from college, Mr. Graham pastored The Village Church of Western Springs (now Western Springs Baptist Church) in Western Springs, Ill., before joining Youth for Christ, an organization founded for ministry to youth and servicemen during World War II. He preached throughout the United States and in Europe in the immediate post war era, emerging as a rising young evangelist.

The Los Angeles Crusade in 1949 launched Mr. Graham into international prominence. Scheduled for three weeks, the meetings were extended to more than eight weeks, with overflow crowds filling a tent erected downtown each night.

Many of his subsequent early Crusades were similarly extended, including one in London that lasted 12 weeks, and a New York City Crusade in Madison Square Garden in 1957 that ran nightly for 16 weeks.

Today, Mr. Graham’s ministry is known around the globe. He preached in remote African villages and in the heart of New York City, and those to whom he ministered have ranged from heads of state to the simple living bushmen of Australia and the wandering tribes of Africa and the Middle East. Beginning in 1977, Mr. Graham was given the opportunity to conduct preaching missions in virtually every country of the former Eastern bloc, including the former Soviet Union.

In 2013, Mr. Graham had the vision for proclaiming the Gospel across the United States and Canada, prompting the implementation of My Hope with Billy Graham, a grassroots evangelism outreach combining personal relationships with the power of modern media. Based upon a pioneering outreach that had already resulted in millions of decisions for Christ around the world since 2002, churches and individual Christians across the two countries were encouraged and equipped to pray and reach out to friends, family and neighbors using a powerful new film from BGEA. Approaching 95 years of age, Mr. Graham recorded a new video message, called “The Cross,” for the project, which was made available for use in homes and churches as a tool for sharing the Gospel.

Mr. Graham founded the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) in 1950, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn., until relocating to Charlotte, N.C., in 2003. Through BGEA’s ministry, Mr. Graham started:

the weekly “Hour of Decision” radio program, which was heard around the world for more than 60 years; television programs that are still broadcast today on national Christian networks. a syndicated newspaper column, “My Answer,” which is carried by newspapers both nationally and internationally; and “Decision” magazine, the official publication of the Association, which has a circulation of more than 425,000, making it one of the most widely circulated religious periodicals in the world;

Mr. Graham wrote 33 books, many which became top sellers. His autobiography “Just As I Am,” published in 1997, achieved a “triple crown,” appearing simultaneously on the three top best-seller lists in one week. In it, Mr. Graham reflected on his life, and decades of ministry around the world. From humble beginnings as the son of a dairy farmer in North Carolina, he shared how his unwavering faith in Christ formed and shaped his career.

Mr. Graham’s most recent works included “Where I Am: Heaven, Eternity, and Our Life Beyond” (2015), “The Reason for My Hope: Salvation” (2013), “The Heaven Answer Book” (2012), “Nearing Home: Life, Faith and Finishing Well” (2011) and “Storm Warning” (2010). “Nearing Home” was selected as the 2012 Christian Book of the Year by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. Of his other books, “Approaching Hoofbeats: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” (1983) was listed for several weeks on The New York Times best seller list; “How to Be Born Again” (1977) had the largest first printing in publishing history at the time with 800,000 copies; “Angels: God’s Secret Agents” (1975) sold one million copies within 90 days; and “The Jesus Generation” (1971) sold 200,000 copies in the first two weeks.

Mr. Graham’s counsel was sought by presidents, and his appeal in both the secular and religious arenas is evidenced by the wide range of groups that have honored him, including numerous honorary doctorates from many institutions in the U.S. and abroad.

Recognitions include the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation Freedom Award (2000) for contributions to the cause of freedom; the Congressional Gold Medal (1996); the Templeton Foundation Prize for Progress in Religion (1982); and the Big Brother Award for his work on behalf of the welfare of children (1966). In 1964 he received the Speaker of the Year Award and was cited by the George Washington Carver Memorial Institute for his contributions to race relations. He was recognized by the Anti-Defamation League of the B’nai B’rith in 1969 and the National Conference of Christians and Jews in 1971 for his efforts to foster a better understanding among all faiths. In December 2001 he was presented with an honorary knighthood, Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE), for his international contribution to civic and religious life over 60 years.

Mr. Graham was listed by the Gallup organization as one of the “Ten Most Admired Men in the World” whom it described as the dominant figure in that poll since 1948—making an unparalleled 61st appearance and 55th consecutive appearance in 2017. He also appeared on the covers of Time, Newsweek, Life, U.S. News and World Report, Parade and numerous other magazines and was the subject of many newspaper and magazine feature articles and books.

Mr. Graham lost his wife of nearly 64 years, Ruth Bell Graham, in June of 2007. Together they had three daughters, two sons, 19 grandchildren, 44 great-grandchildren and 9 great-great-grandchildren. Mr. Graham lived in their home in the mountains of North Carolina until his death on Feb. 21, 2018.

Source: billygraham.org/about/biographies/billy-graham/

QUOTES BY BILLY GRAHAM

KNOWING WE WILL BE WITH CHRIST FOREVER

“Knowing we will be with Christ forever far outweighs our burdens today! Keep your eyes on eternity!”

- Billy Graham (1918-2018) American Evangelist

GROW MORE AND MORE TO BE LIKE CHRIST

"Being a Christian is more than just an instantaneous conversion - it is a daily process whereby you grow to be more and more like Christ."

- Billy Graham (1918-2018) American Evangelist

WE ARE THE BIBLES THAT PEOPLE ARE READING

We are the Bibles the world is reading; we are the creeds the world is needing; we are the sermons the world is heeding.”

- Billy Graham (1918-2018) American Evangelist

WORLD EVENTS ARE MOVING VERY RAPIDLY NOW

“World events are moving very rapidly now. I pick up the Bible in one hand, and I pick up the newspaper in the other. And I read almost the same words in the newspaper as I read in the Bible. It’s being fulfilled every day round about us.”

- Billy Graham (1918-2018) American Evangelist

THE STORY DOES NOT END WITH THE CROSS

"The story does not end with the cross, for Easter points us beyond the tragedy of the cross to the empty tomb. It tells us that there is hope for eternal life, for Christ has conquered evil and death and hell. Yes, there is hope.”

- Billy Graham (1918-2018) American Evangelist

SOMEONE RECENTLY ASKED ME

“Someone asked me recently if I didn’t think God was unfair, allowing me to have Parkinson’s and other medical problems when I have tried to serve him faithfully. I replied that I did not see it that way at all. Suffering is part of the human condition, and it comes to us all. The key is how we react to it, either turning away from God in anger and bitterness or growing closer to him in trust and confidence.”

- Billy Graham (1918-2018) American Evangelist 

BILLY GRAHAM BOOKS AND SERMONS

Calling Youth to Christ (1947)

America's Hour of Decision (1951)

I Saw Your Sons at War (1953)

Peace with God (1953, 1984)

Freedom from the Seven Deadly Sins (1955)

The Secret of Happiness (1955, 1985)

Billy Graham Talks to Teenagers (1958)

My Answer (1960)

Billy Graham Answers Your Questions (1960)

World Aflame (1965)

The Challenge (1969)

The Jesus Generation (1971)

Angels: God's Secret Agents (1975, 1985)

How to Be Born Again (1977)

The Holy Spirit (1978)

Evangelist to the World (1979)

Till Armageddon (1981)

Approaching Hoofbeats (1983)

A Biblical Standard for Evangelists (1984)

Unto the Hills (1986)

Facing Death and the Life After (1987)

Answers to Life's Problems (1988)

Hope for the Troubled Heart (1991)

Storm Warning (1992)

Just As I Am: The Autobiography of Billy Graham (1997, 2007)

Hope for Each Day (2002)

The Key to Personal Peace (2003)

Living in God's Love: The New York Crusade (2005)

The Journey: How to Live by Faith in an Uncertain World (2006)

Wisdom for Each Day (2008)

Nearing Home: Life, Faith, and Finishing Well (2011)

The Heaven Answer Book (2012)

The Reason for My Hope: Salvation (2013)

Where I Am: Heaven, Eternity, and Our Life Beyond the Now (2015)

Photo Credit: equip.sbts.edu/publications/magazine/magazine-issue/spring-2018-vol-86-no-1/7-things-every-christian-can-learn-billy-graham-2/

ABOUT BLAISE PASCAL

Blaise Pascal French: (19 June 1623 – 19 August 1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and Catholic writer.

He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen. Pascal's earliest mathematical work was on conic sections; he wrote a significant treatise on the subject of projective geometry at the age of 16. He later corresponded with Pierre de Fermat on probability theory, strongly influencing the development of modern economics and social science. In 1642, while still a teenager, he started some pioneering work on calculating machines (called Pascal's calculators and later Pascalines), establishing him as one of the first two inventors of the mechanical calculator. 

Like his contemporary René Descartes, Pascal was also a pioneer in the natural and applied sciences. Pascal wrote in defense of the scientific method and produced several controversial results. He made important contributions to the study of fluids, and clarified the concepts of pressure and vacuum by generalising the work of Evangelista Torricelli. Following Torricelli and Galileo Galilei, he rebutted the likes of Aristotle and Descartes who insisted that nature abhors a vacuum in 1647.

In 1646, he and his sister Jacqueline identified with the religious movement within Catholicism known by its detractors as Jansenism. Following a religious experience in late 1654, he began writing influential works on philosophy and theology. His two most famous works date from this period: the Lettres provinciales and the Pensées, the former set in the conflict between Jansenists and Jesuits. The latter contains Pascal's Wager, known in the original as the Discourse on the Machine, a fideistic probabilistic argument for God's existence. In that year, he also wrote an important treatise on the arithmetical triangle. Between 1658 and 1659, he wrote on the cycloid and its use in calculating the volume of solids.

Throughout his life, Pascal was in frail health, especially after the age of 18; he died just two months after his 39th birthday. 

Religious Conversion

In the winter of 1646, Pascal's 58-year-old father broke his hip when he slipped and fell on an icy street of Rouen; given the man's age and the state of medicine in the 17th century, a broken hip could be a very serious condition, perhaps even fatal. Rouen was home to two of the finest doctors in France, Deslandes and de la Bouteillerie. The elder Pascal "would not let anyone other than these men attend him...It was a good choice, for the old man survived and was able to walk again..." But treatment and rehabilitation took three months, during which time La Bouteillerie and Deslandes had become regular visitors.

Both men were followers of Jean Guillebert, proponent of a splinter group from Catholic teaching known as Jansenism. This still fairly small sect was making surprising inroads into the French Catholic community at that time. It espoused rigorous Augustinism. Blaise spoke with the doctors frequently, and after their successful treatment of his father, borrowed from them works by Jansenist authors. In this period, Pascal experienced a sort of "first conversion" and began to write on theological subjects in the course of the following year.

Pascal fell away from this initial religious engagement and experienced a few years of what some biographers have called his "worldly period" (1648–54). His father died in 1651 and left his inheritance to Pascal and his sister Jacqueline, for whom Pascal acted as conservator. Jacqueline announced that she would soon become a postulant in the Jansenist convent of Port-Royal. Pascal was deeply affected and very sad, not because of her choice, but because of his chronic poor health; he needed her just as she had needed him.

Suddenly there was war in the Pascal household. Blaise pleaded with Jacqueline not to leave, but she was adamant. He commanded her to stay, but that didn't work, either. At the heart of this was...Blaise's fear of abandonment...if Jacqueline entered Port-Royal, she would have to leave her inheritance behind...[but] nothing would change her mind. 

By the end of October in 1651, a truce had been reached between brother and sister. In return for a healthy annual stipend, Jacqueline signed over her part of the inheritance to her brother. Gilberte had already been given her inheritance in the form of a dowry. In early January, Jacqueline left for Port-Royal. On that day, according to Gilberte concerning her brother, "He retired very sadly to his rooms without seeing Jacqueline, who was waiting in the little parlor..." In early June 1653, after what must have seemed like endless badgering from Jacqueline, Pascal formally signed over the whole of his sister's inheritance to Port-Royal, which, to him, "had begun to smell like a cult."[36] With two-thirds of his father's estate now gone, the 29-year-old Pascal was now consigned to genteel poverty.

For a while, Pascal pursued the life of a bachelor. During visits to his sister at Port-Royal in 1654, he displayed contempt for affairs of the world but was not drawn to God. 

The Memorial

On the 23 of November, 1654, between 10:30 and 12:30 at night, Pascal had an intense religious experience and immediately wrote a brief note to himself which began: "Fire. God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, not of the philosophers and the scholars..." and concluded by quoting Psalm 119:16: "I will not forget thy word. Amen." He seems to have carefully sewn this document into his coat and always transferred it when he changed clothes; a servant discovered it only by chance after his death. This piece is now known as the Memorial. The story of a carriage accident as having led to the experience described in the Memorial is disputed by some scholars.[39] His belief and religious commitment revitalized, Pascal visited the older of two convents at Port-Royal for a two-week retreat in January 1655. For the next four years, he regularly travelled between Port-Royal and Paris. It was at this point immediately after his conversion when he began writing his first major literary work on religion, the Provincial Letters.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaise_Pascal

QUOTES BY BLAISE PASCAL

HE SHOWS US BOTH GOD AND OUR WRETCHEDNESS

"Knowing God without knowing our own wretchedness makes for pride. Knowing our own wretchedness without knowing God makes for despair. Knowing Jesus Christ strikes the balance because He shows us both God and our own wretchedness."

- Blaise Pascal (1623- 1662) French Mathematician, Physicist, Religious Philosopher

WE CAN ONLY KNOW GOD WELL BY KNOWING OUR INIQUITIES

"God is none other than the Savior of our wretchedness. So we can only know God well by knowing our iniquities... Those who have known God without knowing their wretchedness have not glorified Him, but have glorified themselves."

- Blaise Pascal (1623- 1662) French Mathematician, Physicist, Religious Philosopher

DIVINE THINGS MUST BE LOVED TO BE KNOWN

"Human things must be known to be loved; but Divine things must be loved to be known."

- Blaise Pascal (1623- 1662) French Mathematician, Physicist, Religious Philosopher

IF I BELIEVE IN GOD AND LIFE AFTER DEATH

"If I believe in God and life after death and you do not, and if there is no God, we both lose when we die. However, if there is a God, you still lose and I gain everything.” 

- Blaise Pascal (1623- 1662) French Mathematician, Physicist, Religious Philosopher

BLAISE PASCAL BOOKS AND SERMONS

The Works of Blaise Pascal available in old English or French (Puritan Publications is working to republish Pascal’s Pensees and Letters):

• Pensees – Section 1: Thoughts on Mind and Style
• Pensees – Section 2: The Misery of Man Without God
• Pensees – Section 3: Of the Necessity of Wager
• Pensees – Section 4: Of the Means of Unbelief
• Pensees – Section 5: Justice and the Reason of Effects
• Pensees – Section 6: The Philosophers
• Pensees – Section 7: Morality and Doctrine
• Pensees – Section 8: The Fundamentals of the Christian Religion
• Pensees – Section 9: Perpetuity
• Pensees – Section 10: Typology
• Pensees – Section 11: The Prophecies
• Pensees – Section 12: Proofs of Jesus Christ
• Pensees – Section 13: The Miracles
• Pensees – Section 14: Polemical Fragments

Photo Credit: theblessedrebellion.wordpress.com/2011/06/11/intro-biographical-sketch-of-blaise-pascal-pt-1/