My father was a better bricklayer than I am a theologian. I am still in too much of a hurry. But if the work I have done in theology is of any use, it is because of what I learned on the job, that is, you can lay only one brick at a time.

I fear that much of the Christianity that surrounds us assumes our task is to save appearances by protecting God from Job-like anguish. But if God is the God of Jesus Christ, then God does not need our protection. What God demands is not protection, but truth.

In the Crusades, getting the Holy Land back was the goal, and any means could be used to achieve it. World War II was a crusade. The firebombing of Tokyo by Doolittle and the carpet bombing in Germany, especially by the British, showed that.

I simply cannot get over what a surprising and wonderful life God has given me.

We complain of the increased tempo of our lives, but our frenetic lives are just reflection of the economic system that we have created.

Civil religion is the attempt to empower religion, not for the good of religion, but for the creation of the citizen.

If I were a person who was non-American, I would think humanitarian intervention is just another name for United States imperialism.