We Protestants automatically assume that the Pharisees are the Catholics. They are the self-righteous people who have made Christianity a form of legalistic religion, thereby destroying the free grace of the Gospel. We Protestants are the tax collectors, knowing that we are sinners and that our lives depend upon God's free grace.

The truth is that, to me, a likeable character is a character that is really flawed, so I don't know what people mean when they say 'likable.'

salvation does not bypass the history and memory of guilt, but rather builds upon and from it.

It's silly to try to escape other people's faults. They are inescapable. Just try to escape your own.

Nobody's heart is perfect.

the argument for the perfectibility of humankind rests on a logical fallacy. Thus: man is by definition imperfect, say those who would perfect him. But those who would perfect him are themselves, by their own definition, imperfect.

What confronts us, now the excitement's over, is our own failure.

Who can fathom the secrets of the human soul?" I said. "None of us is exempt from sin.

This is a pattern humankind has repeated many times over the course of its history. When there is a crisis, whether real or imagined, culprits—whether real or imagined—must be found and eliminated.

The sin of fallen man is this: Man seeks the benefits of God while at the same time fleeing from God Himself.

Sometimes I wonder will God ever forgive us for what we've done to each other? Then I look around and I realize God left this place a long time ago.

Because still, in spite of everything, I have not enough faith in God. He has given me so much - which I certainly do not deserve - and I still do so much that is wrong every day.