Quotes by Miroslav Volf

About Miroslav Volf:

Miroslav Volf is a Croatian Protestant theologian and public intellectual who is often recognized as "one of the most celebrated theologians of our day". Having taught at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in his native Osijek, Croatia (1979–80, 1983–90), and Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California (1990–1998), Volf currently serves as the Henry B. Wright Professor of Theology at Yale Divinity School and Director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

To live with integrity, it is important to know what's right and what's wrong, to be educated morally. However, merely KNOWING is not enough. Virtuous character matters more than moral knowledge. The reason is simple: like the self-confessing apostle...

Miroslav Volf

Absolute hospitality would in no way amount to the absence of violence. To the contrary, it would enthrone violence precisely under the guise of nonviolence because it would leave the violators unchanged and the consequences of violence unremedied.

Miroslav Volf

Because the Christian God is not a lonely God, but rather a communion of three persons, faith leads human beings into the divine communion. One cannot, however, have a self-enclosed communion with the Triune God- a "foursome," as it were-- for the Ch...

Miroslav Volf

Honoring everyone contains the promise of possibility.

Miroslav Volf

There are no unforgivable sins.

Miroslav Volf

For many Americans, Osama bin Laden is the paradigmatic Muslim, an absurd conviction for anyone who has lived with Muslims.

Miroslav Volf

Prejudice is a form of untruthfulness, and untruthfulness is an insidious form of injustice.

Miroslav Volf

Some of the worst violence in the world today between estranged religious and ethnic groups happens not on the battlefields. It happens smack in the middle of living rooms and between people who share a lot, who have a lot in common.

Miroslav Volf

Some Jews and Muslims accuse Christians of being idolatrous for believing in the Trinity. My response to both groups is that they fundamentally misunderstand the Christian understanding of the Trinity.

Miroslav Volf

Christians believe that there will be a Judgment Day at the end. And it is my belief that on that day justice will be done and there will be a reconciliation between those who have profoundly injured one another takes place.

Miroslav Volf

Christianity and Islam are today the most numerous and fastest growing religions globally. Together they encompass more than half of humanity. Consequence: both are here to stay.

Miroslav Volf

I think evangelicals would do better if they concentrated less on bolstering the formal authority of the Scripture - which I certainly would want to affirm - and more on displaying how biblical texts can shape lives in salutary ways, how they are fru...

Miroslav Volf

Out of 3,500 students in my high school, I was the only openly professing Christian kid. Obviously there were challenges. 'Only old and stupid people believe.'

Miroslav Volf

Theology is not only about understanding the world; it is about mending the world.

Miroslav Volf

For any victim, particularly us Americans, it is difficult to see ourselves through the eyes of our offender. But for any victim it is the most salutary thing to do.

Miroslav Volf

Forgiveness flounders because I exclude the enemy from the community of humans even as I exclude myself from the community of sinners. But no one can be in the presence of the God of the crucified Messiah for long without overcoming this double exclu...

Miroslav Volf

Naked need is the occasion for God's giving, not a need adorned with the clean, elegant robes of respectability and good works.

Miroslav Volf

I do believe that Muslims and Christians and Jews pray to the same God. And yet they understand who God is in significantly different ways.

Miroslav Volf

The significance of the crucifixion is not only what God does for us; consistently throughout the New Testament the crucifixion is portrayed as the pattern that we are to follow. It is a model of social behavior toward the other as well as a statemen...

Miroslav Volf

To affirm that God is God is to want to live in a particular way.

Miroslav Volf

Author Bio

  • NameMiroslav Volf
  • DescriptionCroatian theologian
  • BornSeptember 25, 1956
  • ProfessionTheologian