Quotes from Andrew Stephen Damick

Orthodoxy is marked by sobriety, not by emotional enthusiasm. It is also marked by a quite "ordinary" persistence in living the humble, consistent life of Christ, not by seeking out extraordinary experiences, especially supernatural ones.

If the true Church was really lost at some point, how can you know that your version of it is a true restoration? Falling back on sola scriptura does not solve this problem, since all the descendants of the Reformation, divided into hundreds of denominations and tens of thousands of independent congregations, all claim to be simply teaching the Bible.

The most damning charge against the doctrine is that it changes the words of Christ Himself: "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me" (John 15:26). Jesus did not say, "who proceeds from the Father and the Son," but only, "who proceeds from the Father.

Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and said to him, "Abba, as far as I can, I say my [daily prayers], I fast a little, I pray and meditate. I live in peace as far as I can. I purify my thoughts. What else can I do?" Then the old man stood up, stretched his arms towards heaven. His fingers became like ten lamps of fire and he said to him, "If you want, you can be all flame."18

I think one of the mistakes many of us (including myself) make when speaking with atheists, agnostics, or any person who does not share our faith is to believe that we can argue them into seeing the truth. I do not believe this is possible. I have never known anyone who was successfully argued into a true, lasting faith.