Rowan Williams Quotes

Thank God that at least in one place, all men are equal: in the church of God. I do not consider it any degradation to kneel side by side with a Negro in the house of our Heavenly Father.

Some respected and beloved brethren insist that the forming and organising of churches is, according to God's will, the only means of finding blessing in the midst of that confusion which is acknowledged to exist.

What I think is that we in the church - and especially I as an Archbishop - I'm responsible for maintaining our rules, and making sure we hold to unity in the Body of Christ.

I believe that the whole human race is the family of God.

Nationalism - in other words, the dividing of the church into bodies - consisting of such and such a nation, is a novelty, not above three centuries old, although many dear children of God are found dwelling in it.

Hold firmly that our faith is identical with that of the ancients. Deny this, and you dissolve the unity of the Church.

I believe in the goodness of man, and I believe we're all connected and that connection is through God. We have our differences. But if we will recognize that we like each other, that we are more common than uncommon, we will work toward what needs to be done to reconcile that.

If the Church is a living body united to the same head, governed by the same laws, and pervaded by the same Spirit, it is impossible that one part should be independent of all the rest.

God is One, all our lives have various and unique places in the harmony of the divine life.

It is impossible to deny that Christians and Muslims have a common agenda here: both faiths have at their heart the living image of a community raised up by God's call to reveal to the world what God's purpose is for humanity.

We, each and all, bishops, priests, and deacons of the holy Roman church, congregated in the city of Pisa for the purpose of ending the schism and of restoring the unity of the church, on our word of honor promise God, the holy Roman church, and this holy council now collected here for the aforesaid purpose, that, if any one of us is elected pope, he shall continue the present council and not dissolve it, nor, so far as is in his power, permit it to be dissolved until, through it and with its advice, a proper, reasonable, and sufficient reformation of the universal church in its head and in its members shall have been accomplished.

Everything we see, everything that exists, is part of God.

Out of chaos God made a world, and out of high passions comes a people.

If the greatest god is the stillness all the motions add up to, then we must ineluctably be included.

You and I are but specks of that rhythmic urge which is Brahma, which is Allah, which is God.

The great unity which true science seeks is found only by beginning with our knowledge of God, and coming down from Him along the stream of causation to every fact and event that affects us.

All are but parts of one stupendous whole, Whose body Nature is, and God the soul.

God bless the roots! Body and soul are one.

Common participation in the Eucharist can only be a final outcome of ecumenic dialogue, not the starting point.

Women don't need to have our own little corner of the church where we can feel precious or, alternatively, cranky. In every essential thing, as far as life in Christ is concerned, the differences between men and women are irrelevant.

I would like to reconcile the church and the circus. I wanted to transform the theatre... to get my message across that there is only one God - the living man - the person sitting next to you. That is my religion. I believe that there is a sense to life.

All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree.

What I found particularly fascinating and satisfying about the Hindu tradition was its spirit of inclusiveness. In Sanatan Dharma, or what is commonly called Hinduism, I discovered the basic truths of all religions in a way that the oneness of God and religion is comprehensively understood.

I hope the day that all the Christians are one. This is my dream.

One was a book I read by Mahatma Gandhi. In it was a passage where he said that religion, the pursuing of the inner journey, should not be separated from the pursuing of the outer and social journey, because we are not isolated beings.