Or perhaps we should concentrate on [i]Crime and Punishment[/i]. At the very end of the book, we read as follows:
[blockquote]Under his (Raskolnikov’s) pillow lay the New Testament. He took it up mechanically. The book belonged to Sonia; it was the one from which she had read the raising of Lazarus to him. At first he was afraid that she would worry him about religion, would talk about the gospel and pester him with books. But to his great surprise she had not once approached the subject and had not even offered him the Testament. He had asked her for it himself not long before his illness and she brought him the book without a word. Till now he had not opened it.
He did not open it now, but one thought passed through his mind: “Can her convictions not be mine now? Her feelings, her aspirations at least….”…
But that is the beginning of a new story—the story of the gradual renewal of a man, the story of his gradual regeneration, of his passing from one world into another, of his initiation into a new unknown life. That might be the subject of a new story, but our present story is ended.[/blockquote]
One reason why I am not a reappraiser is because so many I knew started with the premise that, because we were so trapped in our genes and upbringing, Jesus Christ was unable to change anyone, gradually or otherwise. From there only accommodation with whatever prevailing culture be out there is left.
[blockquote]Therefore, if any one is in union with Christ, he is a new being! His old life has passed away; a new life has begun! (2 Corinthians 5:17)[/blockquote]
As the Jesuit John McKenzie noted, such a change can only be described as revolutionary. The power of that revolution should never be underestimated.
Or perhaps we should concentrate on [i]Crime and Punishment[/i]. At the very end of the book, we read as follows:
[blockquote]Under his (Raskolnikov’s) pillow lay the New Testament. He took it up mechanically. The book belonged to Sonia; it was the one from which she had read the raising of Lazarus to him. At first he was afraid that she would worry him about religion, would talk about the gospel and pester him with books. But to his great surprise she had not once approached the subject and had not even offered him the Testament. He had asked her for it himself not long before his illness and she brought him the book without a word. Till now he had not opened it.
He did not open it now, but one thought passed through his mind: “Can her convictions not be mine now? Her feelings, her aspirations at least….”…
But that is the beginning of a new story—the story of the gradual renewal of a man, the story of his gradual regeneration, of his passing from one world into another, of his initiation into a new unknown life. That might be the subject of a new story, but our present story is ended.[/blockquote]
One reason why I am not a reappraiser is because so many I knew started with the premise that, because we were so trapped in our genes and upbringing, Jesus Christ was unable to change anyone, gradually or otherwise. From there only accommodation with whatever prevailing culture be out there is left.
[blockquote]Therefore, if any one is in union with Christ, he is a new being! His old life has passed away; a new life has begun! (2 Corinthians 5:17)[/blockquote]
As the Jesuit John McKenzie noted, such a change can only be described as revolutionary. The power of that revolution should never be underestimated.