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QUOTATIONS: WORDS OF WISDOM
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The Hail & Fire Books Library is a free online resource for Biblical Christian books, excerpts, and quotations; Protestant, Puritan, Reformed, and Reformation era sermons and theological works; Roman Catholic and Protestant Christian polemical and apologetical works; bible translations |
and historical commentaries; histories; martyrologies; and works on eschatology (end times theology); in real text, audio, pdf, and scanned image formats. By using the Hail & Fire Library you agree to the following copyright notice. |
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ABOUT WORDS OF WISDOM: Words of Wisdom are select quotations from the writings of notable Christian Preachers, Protestant Reformers, Puritans, Martyrs, and even those who became known as the Church Fathers, because they uphold the biblical doctrines of true Christianity and refute a variety of unbiblical doctrines and traditions, including those which developed into medieval Roman Catholicism. Quotations are listed alphabetically by author's last name; click an individual author to read select quotations and to find links to books, audio books, and other resources.
"Take the Word of God as the only rule, and the perfect rule." – Hugh Binning
BROWSE QUOTES FROM CHURCH FATHERS
Read select quotations and words of wisdom gleaned from the writings of the Church Fathers, which uphold the biblical doctrines of true Christianity and refute the unbiblical doctrines and traditions that developed and formed medieval Roman Catholicism. Click individual authors to read select biblical quotations and to find links to notorious and unbiblical quotations, books, audio books, and other resources.
BROWSE QUOTES FROM REFORMERS, PURITIANS & MARTYRS
Read select quotations and words of wisdom from the writings of Protestant Christians, Reformers, Puritans, Preachers, and Martyrs, which uphold the biblical doctrines of true Christianity and refute a variety of unbiblical doctrines and traditions. Click individual authors to read select quotations and to find links to books, audio books, and other resources.
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ALEXANDER, JAMES W. (1804-1859) J. W. Alexander, or James Waddel Alexander, D.D., was a Presbyterian Christian Pastor of the Duane Street Church in New York. "It is a peculiarity of our warfare, that some of our most obstinate battles take place within the walls." |
ALLEINE, JOSEPH (1634-1668) Joseph Alleine was an English Puritan Divine and Nonconformist Pastor who was imprisoned twice for his continued preaching after the Uniformity Act of 1662. Alleine authored a number of excellent books and sermons. "Many wear the livery of Christ ... yet never stand to their colours, nor follow their Leader." | |||
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BARROW, ISAAC (1630-1677) Isaac Barrow, D. D. was Master of Trinity College at Cambridge from 1672 until his death in 1677. Prior to his being appointed to this position by Charles II, he held a Greek Professorship and the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics at Cambridge. It was his friend and former pupil, Isaac Newton, who succeeded to this chair after he chose to devote himself entirely to divinity. Read more » "What more proper entertainment can our mind have than to be purifying and beautifying itself, to be keeping itself and its subordinate faculties in order, to be attending upon the management of thoughts, of passions, of words, and of actions." |
BATES, WILLIAM (1625-1699) William Bates, D.D., was an English Presbyterian Minister and ejected Nonconformist under the Act of Uniformity in 1662. He was later a Chaplain to Charles II of England, and known as "The Queen's Puritan" under William and Mary. He preached the funeral sermons of Richard Baxter, Thomas Manton, and David Clarkson. "The principal duty of husbands and wives is, a tender care for the good of each other's souls." | |||
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BAXTER, RICHARD (1615-1691) Richard Baxter was an English Puritan Preacher, Minister, and Author. "Surely if we have any knowledge at all, we must needs know much reason to be humble; and if we know more than others, we must know more reason than others do to be humble." |
BECON, THOMAS (1512-1567) Thomas Becon, 1512-1567, was an English Protestant Christian Reformer and Chaplain to Archbishop Thomas Cranmer. "What is it to ask in the name of Christ, but only to confess that for our own dignity and worthiness we are not worthy to be heard, and therefore, desiring to obtain mercy, grace, favour, and remission of our sins, we approach unto the throne of God with our faithful prayers, not in our own name, but in the name of Christ." | |||
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BINNING, HUGH (1627-1653) Hugh Binning was a Scottish Covenanting preacher, ordained minister of Govan, near Glasgow, in 1650. He was only twenty-six years old when he died in 1653. "It is strange how untoward and froward we are ... we do not believe his threatenings, but fancy we receive his promises; or else, believing his threatenings we question his promises." |
BOSTON, THOMAS (1676-1732) Thomas Boston was born the son of Covenanter parents in Scotland. He was first a schoolmaster and afterwards a minister. Boston occassioned the Marrow Controversy within the Church of Scotland after reading The Marrow of Modern Divinity by Edward Fisher. He recommended the books reprinting in 1718 and was again involved in its reprinting in 1726, this time with his own preface and annotations in defence of the book's doctrines. "If thou shouldst be never so much concerned to get good seed, and never so faithful and diligent in sowing it; yet if after thou turn careless, and take not the way to cover it, by serious seeking to the Lord, that he may keep it in the hearts of people, and make it to prosper, the devil may pick it all up; and where is thy labour then." | |||
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BRIDGE, WILLIAM (1600-1670) William Bridge, M.A. was an English Puritan Preacher, Fellow of Emanuel College, Cambridge, and Pastor of the Church of Christ in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England. "A strong Christian will use that for his edification which seems to be against him; but the weak Christian will use that against himself which is in truth for him." |
BROOKS, THOMAS (1608-1680) Thomas Brooks was an English Puritan Christian Preacher. "Consider that the trials and troubles, the calamities and miseries, the crosses and losses that you meet with in this world, are all the hell that ever you shall have." | |||
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BUNYAN, JOHN (1628-1688) John Bunyan was a Protestant Christian Preacher, Nonconformist, and the author of that well known allegorical work, "The Pilgrim's Progress, From this World to that which is to Come." Bunyan was born the son of a laborer in Elstow, England in 1628. He started out life as a 'worldling', but was at length converted to Christ and spent considerable time in prision for preaching the Gospel. "It is possible for souls that can scarce give a man an answer, but with great confusion as to method; ... to have a thousand times more grace ... than some who by the virtue of the gift of knowledge, can deliver themselves like angels." |
CALVIN, JOHN (1509-1564) John Calvin was a French Protestant Reformer and Pastor. Calvin was forced to flee France and live in Switzerland due to the heavy Roman Catholic persectution of Protestantism in France. Calvin ultimately ended up in Geneva and is the famous author of the "Institutes of the Christian Religion" (1536), as well as his Bible Commentaries. He is also know as Jean Calvin (French) and Giovanni Calvino (Italian). "There is no ambiguity in this conclusion, 'Without me ye can do nothing.' He does not say that we are too weak to be sufficient for ourselves, but reducing us to nothing, excludes every idea of ability, however diminutive." | |||
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FLAVEL, JOHN (1627-1691) John Flavel was an English Puritan Preacher and Minister of the Gospel at Dartmouth, England. Flavel was ejected as a Nonconformist Pastor under the Act of Uniformity (1662). In 1665, under the Five Mile Act, he was evicted from Dartmouth and moved to Slapton, five miles away, to continue his preaching. In 1671 he was able to return temporarily to Dartmouth. "True piety can, by no means, entirely lay itself open to the eyes of men; public actions and appearance may support its credit, but secret exercises must maintain its life, and supply its purest enjoyment." |
FRITH, JOHN (1503-1533) John Frith was an English Protestant Reformer and Christian Martyr under the Roman Catholic Church. Frith was schooled at Cambridge and tutored by the Catholic Bishop Stephen Gardiner, who later played a role in his death. Frith was acquainted with fellow Protestant Reformers and Martyrs Thomas Bilney (1495-1531) and William Tyndale (1484-1536). Read more » "I thought it expedient therein to write my mind, trusting, by that means, to bring again the blind hearts of many unto the right way, and I doubt not but that the elect and chosen of God that know their Shepherd's voice, and have the spirit to judge all things, shall easily perceive whether this be conformable to their master's voice, and shall hereby be admonished to leave their wandering in the dark and loathsome ways which lead unto death, and to walk without stumbling in the comfortable light." | |||
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HENRY, MATTHEW (1662-1714) Matthew Henry was an English Presbyterian Minister and Bible Commentator. Henry was the son of Philip Henry, a Nonconformist Pastor who was ejected under the Act of Uniformity in 1662. Henry served as a minister in Chester (1687) and Hackney (1712). He is best known for his Complete Commentary on the Bible in six volumes, which was partially finished by thirteen other Nonconformist ministers after his sudden death in 1714. The preachers Charles Spurgeon and George Whitefield were admirers of Henry's Commentary. "Consider how creditable a meek and quiet spirit is. Credit or reputation all desire, though few consider aright either what it is, or what is the right way of obtaining it; and particularly it is little believed what a great deal of true honor there is in the grace of meekness, and what a sure and ready way mild and quiet souls take to gain the approval of their Master, and of all their fellow-servants who love him, and are like him." |
HUS, JOHN (1372-1415) John Huss was a Bohemian or Czech Protestant Christian Reformer who was Martyred under the Roman Catholic Church. Huss is also known as John Hus and Jan Hus. "No one is held to believe anything except what he is moved by God to believe but God moves no man to believe what is false." | |||
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JAMES, JOHN ANGELL (1785-1859) John Angell James was an English Congregational Minister and an ardent Abolitionist of Slavery. James served as a preacher at Carrs Lane Independent Chapel (1805) and was a founder of the Evangelical Alliance and Congregational Union of England and Wales. He was also a chairman of Spring Hill College in Birmingham. "A good Christian cannot be a bad husband or father and, as this is equally true in everything, he who has the most piety will shine the most in all the relationships of life." |
LUTHER, MARTIN (1483-1546) Martin Luther was a German Protestant Christian Reformer, formerly a Catholic monk and priest. "Through so many commentaries and books the dear Bible is buried, so that people do not look at the text itself. It is far better to see with our own eyes than with other people's eyes." | |||
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MEAD, MATTHEW (1629-1699) Matthew Mead was an English Puritan Christian. "If, as the Apostle saith, 'the preaching of Christ is to the world foolishness,' then it is no wonder that the disciples of Christ are to the world fools. ... For the whole of godliness is a mystery. ... He is the true Christian that is the world's fool." |
NEWTON, JOHN (1725-1807) John Newton was a Protestant Christian Pastor in the Church of England, a Preacher, and Writer; formerly a slave trader. "The Bible is the grand repository ... It is the complete system of divine truth, to which nothing can be added, and from which nothing can be taken, with impunity. Every attempt to disguise or soften any branch of this truth, in order to accommodate it to the prevailing taste around us, either to avoid the displeasure, or to court the favour, of our fellow mortals, must be an affront to the majesty of God, and an act of treachery to men." | |||
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OWEN, JOHN (1616-1683) John Owen, D.D., was an English Nonconformist Minister, Puritan Preacher, and Chancellor of Oxford University. "The outward administration of this ordinance considered materially, extends only to the washing away the filth of the flesh; but it signifies the answer of a good conscience; a conscience purged from sin, and quickened by virtue of the resurrection of Christ to holy obedience." |
PARR, ELNATHAN (1597-1632) Elnathan Parr was a Protestant Christian Minister of the Word of God. "The more plentifully the Lord gives the means, the more fearful is our blindness, and the nearer we are to judgment, if we make not good use of it. When John the Baptist preached repentance, and the kingdom of God, he said, Now is the axe laid, etc. (Matthew 3:10 or Luke 3:9), as if he should have said: Howsoever God has hitherto spared, yet when the Son from the Father's bosom shall teach, he that hears not now, shall be hewn down, and cast into the fire. How culpable in this way our English nation is, is too manifest, and what we have cause to expect, for it I tremble to write." | |||
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SIBBES, RICHARD (1577-1635) Richard Sibbes was an English Puritan Preacher. "Suffering brings discouragements, because of our impatience. 'Alas!' We lament, 'I shall never get through such a trial.' But if God brings us into the trial he will be with us in the trial and at length bring us out, more refined. We shall lose nothing but dross (Zechariah 13:9). From our own strength we cannot bear the least trouble, but by the Spirit's assistance we can bear the greatest." |
SPURGEON, CHARLES (1834-1892) Charles Haddon Spurgeon, or Charles H. Spurgeon, was a well known English Baptist Preacher and Author, known as the "Prince of Preachers." "When [man] cannot any longer deny that he is guilty of sin, he says that it was only a very little one; and it is long before you can get him to admit that sin is exceedingly sinful; indeed, no human power can ever produce genuine conviction in the heart of a single sinner; it must be the work of the Holy Spirit." | |||
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TAYLOR, THOMAS (1576-1632) Thomas Taylor, D. D. was an English, Protestant Christian clergyman who was schooled at Cambridge, fellow of Christ's College, and incumbent of St Mary Aldermanbury's in London (1625). When Taylor was 25 he preached before Queen Elizabeth I at St Paul's Cross in London. "Carnal friends persuade a man not to be too busy." |
TYNDALE, WILLIAM (1494-1536) William Tyndale was an English Protestant Christian Reformer, Apologist, Bible Translator, and Martyr at the stake under the Roman Catholic Church. Tyndale is also known as William Tindal and William Tynsdale. He is famous for his translation of the Bible into English. "For we love not God first, to compel him to love again; but he loved us first, and gave his Son for us, that we might see love and love again, saith St John in his first epistle." | |||
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WATSON, THOMAS (1620-1686) Thomas Watson was an English Puritan Divine and a Nonconformist Preacher under the Act of Uniformity 1662. Watson was schooled at Cambridge, pastor of St Stephen's in Walbrook (1646), and the well known author of such works as "The Godly Man's Picture" and "The Doctrine of Repentance." Watson suffered a temporarily imprisonment in 1651 for participating in a plot to restore Charles II to the throne of England, but was released in early 1652. "There are two things, which I have always looked upon as difficult: the one is, to make the wicked sad; the other is, to make the godly joyful." |
WILBERFORCE, WILLIAM (1759-1833) William Wilberforce was a Protestant Christian author, an English politician and Member of Parliament for Yorkshire (1784-1812), a philanthropist, and a leading abolitionist in England. In 1807 Wilberforce saw the successful passing of the Slave Trade Act that abolished the slave trade in the British Empire. "No one expects to attain to the height of learning, power, wealth or military glory without vigorous resolution, strenuous diligence and steady perseverance. Yet we expect to be Christians without labour, study, or inquiry. This is the more preposterous as Christianity [is] a revelation from God ... containing doctrines, motives, practical principles and rules. ... Reason dictates, revelation commands 'faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.' ... Yet ... with the Bible in our houses we are ignorant of its contents." | |||
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WILSON, THOMAS
Thomas Wilson was an English Protestant Christian Preacher. "Study, not to be more knowing, but to be more holy, and to make others so. ... It is one thing for a man to fill his understanding and memory with truths, and another, to nourish his heart with them." | ||||