FOREORDINATION, n. This looks like an easy word to define, but when I consider that pious and learned theologians have spent long lives in explaining it, and written libraries to explain their explanations; when I remember the nations have been divided and bloody battles caused by the difference between foreordination and predestination, and that millions of treasure have been expended in the effort to prove and disprove its compatibility with freedom of the will and the efficacy of prayer, praise, and a religious life, -- recalling these awful facts in the history of the word, I stand appalled before the mighty problem of its signification, abase my spiritual eyes, fearing to contemplate its portentous magnitude, reverently uncover and humbly refer it to His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons and His Grace Bishop Potter.

Famous Quotes / Ambrose Bierce

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Ambrose Bierce: "FOREORDINATION, n. This looks like an easy word to define, but when I consider that pious and learned theologians have spent long lives in explaining it, and written libraries to explain their explanations; when I remember the nations have been divided and bloody battles caused by the difference between foreordination and predestination, and that millions of treasure have been expended in the effort to prove and disprove its compatibility with freedom of the will and the efficacy of prayer, praise, and a religious life, -- recalling these awful facts in the history of the word, I stand appalled before the mighty problem of its signification, abase my spiritual eyes, fearing to contemplate its portentous magnitude, reverently uncover and humbly refer it to His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons and His Grace Bishop Potter."

Quotations about

Abase	Appalled	Awful	Battles
Bishop	Bloody	Cardinal	Caused
Compatibility	Consider	Contemplate	Define
Difference	Disprove	Divided	Easy
Efficacy	Effort	Eminence	Expended
Explain	Explaining	Explanations	Eyes
Facts	Fearing	Foreordination	Freedom
Gibbons	Grace	History	Humbly
Learned	Libraries	Life	Lives
Long	Looks	Magnitude	Mighty
Millions	Nations	Pious	Portentous
Potter	Praise	Prayer	Predestination
Problem	Prove	Recalling	Refer
Religious	Remember	Reverently	Signification
Spent	Spiritual	Stand	Theologians
These	Treasure	Uncover	Word
Written

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FOREORDINATION, n. This looks like an easy word to define, but when I consider that pious and learned theologians have spent long lives in explaining it, and written libraries to explain their explanations; when I remember the nations have been divided and bloody battles caused by the difference between foreordination and predestination, and that millions of treasure have been expended in the effort to prove and disprove its compatibility with freedom of the will and the efficacy of prayer, praise, and a religious life, -- recalling these awful facts in the history of the word, I stand appalled before the mighty problem of its signification, abase my spiritual eyes, fearing to contemplate its portentous magnitude, reverently uncover and humbly refer it to His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons and His Grace Bishop Potter. - Ambrose Bierce