The Danger of Unsanctified Head-Knowledge
15 Feb
“Let us pray that we may be delivered from a cold, speculative, unsanctified head-knowledge of Christianity. It is a rock on which thousands make shipwreck to all eternity. No heart becomes so hard as that on which the light shines, but finds no admission. To be an ignorant heathen, and bow down to idols and stones, is bad enough. But to be called a Christian, and know the theory of the Gospel, and yet cleave to sin and the world with the heart, is to be a candidate for the worst and lowest place in hell. It is to be as like as possible to the devil.”
~ J.C. Ryle
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke volume 2 , [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1998], 67.
What a great site! What I appreciate most about Ryle is that you never have to guess what he’s getting at – he’s not an obscure writer. He always lays his cards on the table, so to speak. I’ve quoted him now and then at my own site: http://www.reiterations.wordpress.com.
I hope this site stays up and running for years to come.
Thanks Richard!
One thing I’ve noticed with Ryle over the few years I’ve been reading him, is that he is incredibly quotable, hence the creation of this site.
I look forward to providing the body of Christ many more years of nuggets from the great Bishop of Liverpool.
“Though he (Ryle) be dead, he yet speaks.”
This is something that should inspire one to turn the the cross and the justification of Christ.
II Corinthians 5:21
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
In Bible College, we called this affliction “theologitis,” some of the symptoms of which were: swollen cerebrum, sensitive skin, inflamed temper, hardened arteries, and the like.