Hoyt & Roberts, comps. Hoyt’s New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations. 1922.
Doctrine
For his religion, it was fit
To match his learning and his wit;
’Twas Presbyterian true blue;
For he was of that stubborn crew
Of errant saints, whom all men grant
To be the true Church Militant;
Such as do build their faith upon
The holy text of pike and gun;
Decide all controversies by
Infallible artillery;
And prove their doctrine orthodox,
By Apostolic blows and knocks.
Butler—Hudibras. Pt. I. Canto I. L. 189.
What makes all doctrines plain and clear?—
About two hundred pounds a year.
And that which was prov’d true before
Prove false again? Two hundred more.
Butler—Hudibras. Pt. III. Canto I. L. 1,277.
He was the word that spake it,
He took the bread and brake it;
And what that word did make it,
I do believe and take it.
Donne—Divine Poems. On the Sacrament. Flesher’s Ed. 1654. P. 352. Found earlier in Camden’s Remains.
’Twas God the word that spake it,
He took the bread and brake it,
And what the word did make it,
That I believe and take it.
Queen Elizabeth. In Clark—Ecclesiastical History. Life of Queen Elizabeth. P. 94 (edition 1675), quoting the queen when asked her opinion of Christ’s presence in the Sacrament. Foxe—Acts and Monuments. Fuller—Holy State. Bk. IV. P. 302. (Ed. 1648). Rapin—History of England. Vol. II. P. 42. 1733. Given also “Christ was the word.” Generally attributed to Anne Askew. Also to Lady Jane Grey in Sir H. Nicolas’ Life and Remains.
O how far remov’d,
Predestination! is thy foot from such
As see not the First Cause entire: and ye,
O mortal men! be wary how ye judge:
For we, who see the Maker, know not yet
The number of the chosen; and esteem
Such scantiness of knowledge our delight:
For all our good is, in that primal good,
Concentrate; and God’s will and ours are one.
Dante—Vision of Paradise. Canto XX. L. 122.
The Athanasian Creed is the most splendid ecclesiastical lyric ever poured forth by the genius of man.
Benj. Disraeli—Endymion. Ch. LIV.
You can and you can’t,
You will and you won’t;
You’ll be damn’d if you do,
You’ll be damn’d if you don’t.
Lorenzo Dow—Chain (Definition of Calvinism).
And after hearing what our Church can say,
If still our reason runs another way,
That private reason ’tis more just to curb,
Than by disputes the public peace disturb;
For points obscure are of small use to learn,
But common quiet is mankind’s concern.
Dryden—Religio Laici. L. 445.
Carried about with every wind of doctrine.
Ephesians. IV. 14.
Die Theologie ist die Anthropologie.
Theology is Anthropology.
Feuerbach—Wesen des Christenthums.
Thus this brook hath conveyed his ashes into Avon, Avon into Severn, Severn into the narrow seas, they into the main ocean. And thus the ashes of Wickliffe are the emblem of his doctrine, which now is dispersed all the world over.
Fuller—Church History. Sec. II. Bk. IV. Par. 53. Wickliffe’s body was burned, the ashes thrown into the brook Swift, by order of the Council of Constance, 1415.
Shall I ask the brave soldier, who fights by my side
In the cause of mankind, if our creeds agree?
Shall I give up the friend I have valued and tried,
If he kneel not before the same altar with me?
From the heretic girl of my soul should I fly,
To seek somewhere else a more orthodox kiss?
No! perish the hearts, and the laws that try
Truth, valour, or love, by a standard like this!
Moore—Irish Melodies. Come Send Round the Wine.
“Orthodoxy, my Lord,” said Bishop Warburton, in a whisper,—“orthodoxy is my doxy,—heterodoxy is another man’s doxy.”
Joseph Priestly—Memoirs. Vol. I. P. 572.
Live to explain thy doctrine by thy life.
Prior—To Dr. Sherlock. On his Practical Discourse Concerning Death.
The Avon to the Severn runs,
The Severn, to the sea,
And Wickliff’s dust shall spread abroad
Wide as the waters be.
Daniel Webster—Quoted in an Address before the Sons of New Hampshire. (1849).
As thou these ashes, little brook! will bear
Into the Avon, Avon to the tide
Of Severn, Severn to the narrow seas,
Into main ocean they, this deed accurst,
An emblem yields to friends and enemies
How the bold teacher’s doctrine, sanctified
By truth, shall spread throughout the world dispersed.
Wordsworth—Ecclesiastical Sketches. Pt. II.