11+ Jaroslav Pelikan Quotes On Religion, Marriage And Catholic Tradition

Professor Jaroslav Pelikan was an American historian of religion and a professor at Yale University. He was an expert in the history of Christianity and wrote several books on the subject. He was also a scholar of the history of ideas and a noted theologian. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Jaroslav Pelikan on religion, love, marriage.

If Christ is risen, nothing else matters. And if Christ is not risen-nothing else matters. — Jaroslav Pelikan

Regardless of what anyone may personally think or believe about him, Jesus of Nazareth has been the dominant figure in the history of western culture for almost twenty centuries... It is from his birth that most of the human race dates its calendars, it is by his name that millions curse and in his name that millions pray. — Jaroslav Pelikan

Tradition is the living faith of the dead. Traditionalism is the dead faith of the living. — Jaroslav Pelikan

Tradition is the living faith of dead people to which we must add our chapter while we have the gift of life. Traditionalism is the dead faith of living people who fear that if anything changes, the whole enterprise will crumble. — Jaroslav Pelikan

An agnostic position is one that leaves open the question whether there exists a god or gods, professing to find such a question unanswered or unanswerable. For the atheist, the question has been answered, and in the negative. — Jaroslav Pelikan

Both Socrates and Jesus were outstanding teachers; both of them urged and practiced great simplicity of life; both were regarded as traitors to the religion of their community; neither of them wrote anything; both of them were executed; and both have become the subject of traditions that are difficult or impossible to harmonize. — Jaroslav Pelikan

Tradition is the living faith of the dead; traditionalism is the dead faith of the living. Tradition lives in conversation with the past, while remembering where we are and when we are and that it is we who have to decide. Traditionalism supposes that nothing should ever be done for the first time, so all that is needed to solve any problem is to arrive at the supposedly unanimous testimony of this homogenized tradition. — Jaroslav Pelikan

The only alternative to tradition is bad tradition — Jaroslav Pelikan

Unlike most readers in Antiquity who read their books aloud, we have developed the convention of reading silently. This lets us read more widely but often less well, especially when what we are reading-such as the plays of Shakespeare and Holy Scripture-is a body of oral material that has been, almost but not quite accidentally, captured in a book like a fly in amber. — Jaroslav Pelikan

Jesus Christ is too important to be left to the theologians. — Jaroslav Pelikan

The church is always more than a school. But the church cannot be less than a school. — Jaroslav Pelikan

Life Lessons by Jaroslav Pelikan

1. Jaroslav Pelikan's work emphasizes the importance of understanding the history and context of religious traditions in order to appreciate their relevance and meaning.
2. He also highlights the value of interdisciplinary approaches to religious studies, and the need to draw on multiple sources and perspectives.
3. Finally, he stresses the importance of engaging with religious texts in a critical and thoughtful manner, in order to gain a deeper understanding of their significance.