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John tells Jesus that he and other disciples have forbidden a man from casting out devils in Jesus’ name, and Jesus tells him that he was wrong to do this. The man was doing good, irrespective of his not belonging to the community of disciples following Jesus. There is no call for exclusivity, so long as people are working faithfully for and toward the good. Jesus displays an ecumenical attitude here. Different faiths, different churches, can peacefully co-exist and work alongside each other for the greater good [ … ]

Saint Thomas Aquinas’ philosophy was grounded in Aristotelianism, but he was also heavily influenced by the works of Augustine. He sought to reconcile the insights of reason with the truths of revelation, arguing that faith and reason are complementary rather than contradictory [ … ]

The poem reflects George Herbert’s characteristic preoccupation with the nature of sin, divine grace, and human helplessness in the face of God’s justice and mercy. The poem is a layered meditation on spiritual struggle to reconcile personal sinfulness with the hope of redemption [ … ]