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And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

-The Apostle Paul, Romans 8

I don’t know about you, but for however many times that I have read this famous passage, I miss its most profound comfort—Paul’s use of the completed tense of “glorification.” He looks at the hot mess of ou... See more

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8For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God;+ 9it is not from works, so no one may boast.

Harper Bibles • The New American Bible: The Leading Catholic Resource for Understanding Holy Scripture

We do not attain anything by our own holiness but by ten thousand surrenders to mercy. A lifetime of received forgiveness allows us to become mercy. Mercy becomes our energy, our meaning. Perhaps we are finally enlightened and free when we can both receive mercy and give it away—without payment or punishment.

Richard Rohr • Receiving God’s Mercy

IN THE REBBE’S OFT-REPEATED words—paraphrasing the Mishnah408—”hamaaseh hu ha’ikar,” which means that the essential thing is the deed, not abstract study. Otherwise, teachings and words, no matter how beautiful, wise, or aesthetic, are devarim beteilim “empty expressions” and their

Rabbi Mendel Kalmenson • Positivity Bias

is, however, necessary to put our whole trust in GOD, laying aside all other cares, and even some particular forms of devotion, though very good in themselves, yet such as one often engages in unreasonably, because these devotions are only means to attain to the end.

Brother Lawrence • Practice and Presence of God

Using his unquestioned religious authority, Muhammad instituted a mandatory tithe called zakat, which every member of the Ummah had to pay according to his or her means. Once collected, the money was then redistributed as alms to the community’s neediest members. Zakat literally means “purification,” and was not an act of charity but of religious d

Reza Aslan • No god but God (Updated Edition): The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam

We bestow of Our Mercy on whom We please, and We suffer not, to be lost, the reward of those who do good. 57 But verily the reward of the Hereafter is the best, for those who believe, and are constant in righteousness.

Abdullah Ali • The Meaning of the Holy Qur'an: Complete Translation with Selected Notes

As to those who hold fast by the Book and establish regular prayer,—never shall We suffer the reward of the righteous to perish.

Abdullah Ali • The Meaning of the Holy Qur'an: Complete Translation with Selected Notes

By discarding his own qualities and attributes through a radical act of self-annihilation, the Sufi enters fully into the qualities and attributes of God. He does not become God, as fana is so often misunderstood by Sunni and Shi‘ite Muslims; rather, the Sufi is drowned in God, so that Creator and creation become one. This concept of Divine Unity i