The Christian tradition

Abstract

“The world is a beautiful and terrible place. Deeds of horror are committed every minute and in the end those we love die. If the screams of all the earth’s living creatures were one scream of pain, surely it would shake the stars. But we have love. It may seem a frail defence against the horrors of the world, but we must hold fast and believe in it, for it is all we have.” —P. D. James (1920-2014) “When it came down to reality, what mattered except the lives of those who love? All that was precious was made up of actions and of love, of belief in the purpose beyond the habits of living from day to day.” —Anne Perry (1938-) “Others are succeeding in making modern life easier and easier. In fact, insufferably easy. And so, out of love of humankind and incapable of making anything easier...I have realized that my contribution to our times should be to create difficulties everywhere.” —Johannes Climacus (S. Kierkegaard) (loose translation). “The great and sad mistake of many people...is to imagine that those whom death has taken, leave us. They do not leave us. They remain. Where are they? In darkness? Oh, no! It is we who are in darkness. We do not see them, but they see us. Their eyes, radiant with glory, are fixed on our eyes...Oh, invisible consolation! Though invisible to us, our dead are not absent. They are living near us, transfigured—into light, into power, into love.” —Karl Rahner (1904-1984) “A professor is one who talks in someone else’s sleep.” —W. H. Auden (1907–1973)