21 September 2020

Luther and Lewis

When men accord us praise and honor, we ought to profit by the example of the Mother of God and at all times arm ourselves with this verse to make the proper reply and to use such honor and praise correctly. We should open say, or at least think in our heart, “O Lord God, Thine is this work that is being praised and celebrated. Thine be also the name. Not that I have done it, but Thou, who art able to do all things, and holy is Thy name.”—Martin Luther, Magnificat, AE 21:330.

And indeed the only way in which I can make real to myself what theology teaches about the heinousness of sin is to remember that every sin is the distortion of an energy breathed into us—an energy which, if not thus distorted, would have blossomed into one of those holy acts where of ‘God did it’ and ‘I did it’ are both true descriptions.—C. S. Lewis, Business of Heaven, p. 239.

No comments: