#paradise

Since both the departed saints and we ourselves are in Christ, we share with them in the 'communion of saints.' They are still our brothers and sisters in Christ. When we celebrate the Eucharist they are there with us, along with the angels and archangels. Why then should we not pray for and with them? The reason the Reformers and their successors did their best to outlaw praying for the dead was because that had been so bound up with the notion of purgatory and the need to get people out of it as soon as possible. Once we rule out purgatory, I see no reason why we should not pray for and with the dead and every reason why we should - not that they will get out of purgatory but that they will be refreshed and filled with God's joy and peace. Love passes into prayer; we still love them; why not hold them, in that love, before God? ↗

— N.T. Wright

#communion-of-saints #paradise #prayer #praying-for-the-dead #purgatory

ALL WHO HAVE THEIR REWARD ON EARTH, THE FRUITS OF PAINFUL SUPERSTITION AND BLIND ZEAL, NOUGHT SEEKING BUT THE PRAISE OF MEN, HERE FIND FIT RETRIBUTION, EMPTY AS THEIR DEED ↗

— John Milton

#paradise-lost #men

The Expulsion from Paradise is eternal in its principal aspect: this makes it irrevocable, and our living in this world inevitable, but the eternal nature of the process has the effect that not only could we remain forever in Paradise, but that we are currently there, whether we know it or not. ↗

— Franz Kafka

#existentialism #forever #heaven #paradise #present

In monasteries, seminaries, retreats and synagogues, they fear hell and seek paradise. Those who know the mysteries of God never let that seed be planted in their souls. ↗

— Omar Khayyám

#hell #paradise #religion #soul #religion

Pandora's Box could not be unopened, no one could return to Eden. ↗

— Selena Kitt

#destiny #disillusionment #doom #doomed #eden

[Über das Paradies:] Die fünf Bücher Mose, die Genesis und der Koran beschäftigen sich eingehend mit dieser hysterischen Geographie. Die muslimische Variante ist jedoch am gelungensten und lohnt wirklich die Lektüre: Bäche, Gärten, Flüsse, Quellen, Blumenbeete, jede Menge Früchte und wunderbare Getränke, großäugige Houris, allzeit jungfräulich, liebenswürdige junge Menschen, Betten im Überfluß, prächtige Kleider, wunderbare Stoffe, außergewöhnlicher Schmuck, Gold, Perlen, Parfums, kostbares Geschirr ... es fehlt nichts in diesem Werbeprospekt des ontologischen Fremdenverkehrsamtes. ↗

— Michel Onfray

#paradise #religion #religion

إن مريد الآخرة يعمل لها ، ولا يبالي على أي حال كان الناس ↗

— ابراهيم الربيش

#paradise #religion #religion

Perhaps there is only one cardinal sin: impatience. Because of impatience we were driven out of Paradise, because of impatience we cannot return. ↗

— W. H. Auden

#cannot #cardinal #driven #impatience #only

He who builds a masjid in the way of Allah, God will build a house for him in the paradise. ↗

— Abu Bakr

#build #builds #god #him #house

The symbolic view of things is a consequence of long absorption in images. Is sign language the real language of Paradise? ↗