Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes

Religion always remains higher than everyday life. In order to make the elevation towards religion easier for people, religion must be able to alter its forms in relation to the consciousness of modern man.

What, then, can we in England do for Religion ? All that in us lies to secure a form of Christianity in harmony with progress, liberty, and knowledge. How can this be obtained? By making the Church of England a church of intellectual freedom and a church of the people. What men cry, can this church of an Episcopal sect, this last obstinate remnant of a dead social system, this institution of feudalism and fierce obstruction, this church of dominant classes, dark with memories of persecution and intolerance; can such a church as this become a church of freedom and a church of the people. Yes, it can. It is for the people to decide

Christianity and Judaism have gone through the process of enlightenment, making them creative and constructive elements in society.

Religion will not regain its old power until it can face change in the same spirit as does science.

One form of religion perpetually gives way to another; if religion did not change it would be dead. ... Each time the new ideas appear they are seen at first as a deadly foe threatening to make religion perish from the earth; but in the end there is a deeper insight and a better life with ancient follies and prejudices gone.

Christ is the prince of Reformers and Radicals.

Violence and religion have often gone together, but it's not a perfect correlation, and it doesn't have to be a permanent connection, because religions themselves change.

There is an ideology problem in Islam. We need to revolutionize our religion.

My goal for the Arab world is to change the status quo, which is horrible politically, religiously, economically, in every way.

Every reform was once a private opinion, and when it shall be a private opinion again it will solve the problem of the age.

Reform is born of need, not pity. No vital movement of the people has worked down, for good or evil; fermented, instead, it carried up the heaving, cloggy mass.

We Muslims are conspiring against ourselves. We’re in crisis and we’re dragging the rest of the world with us. If ever there was a moment for Islamic reformation, it is now.

The young Iranian people are seeking to fulfill their material needs, but they are also trying to realize some great aspirations and ideals such as the administration of social justice and the elimination of corruption, poverty and retardation from society. These ideals and objectives, which have emerged from Islamic teachings and precepts, will pave the way for opening a new chapter in the history of the Iranian nation.

Civilization and religion do not necessarily move with equal pace.

What is taking place in the Muslim world is an internal struggle. We are now living in the twilight of the Islamic reformation. It is inevitable. It may be slowed, but it cannot be stopped.

An idea consisting of a social crime in one age becomes the very religion of humanity in the next

For most people reform meant relief from ecclesiastical extortions.

… science is the great instrument of social change, all the greater because its object is not change but knowledge, and its silent appropriation of this dominant function, amid the din of political and religious strife, is the most vital of all the revolutions which have marked the development of modern civilization.

We would be in trouble as a society if there wasn't a constant pressure to make reforms and to be just.

All religions undergo historical face lifts.

Religion is important for humanity, but it should evolve with humanity. The first priority is to establish and develop the principle of pluralism in all religious traditions. If we, the religious leaders, cultivate a sincere pluralistic attitude, then everything will be more simple. It is good that most religious leaders are at least beginning to recognize other traditions, even though they may not approve of them. The next step is to accept that the idea of propagating religion is outdated. It no longer suits the times.

Religions have approved themselves; they have ministered to sundry vital needs which they found reigning. When they violated other needs too strongly, or when other faiths came which served the same needs better, the first religions were supplanted.

We need a revival in the country,” Paul said. “We need another Great Awakening with tent revivals of thousands of people saying, 'reform or see what's going to happen if we don't reform.'

The deeper question... is not whether ancient religious forms can reform... but whether new forms of nature-related spirituality might emerge.

At the present moment two things about the Christian religion must surely be clear to anybody with eyes in his head. One is, that men cannot do without it; the other, that they cannot do with it as it is.