Christ, our Light

Christian Quotation of the Day

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

  1. What is the Christian Quotation of the Day?

    The Christian Quotation of the Day (CQOD) is an Internet-based service that publishes a challenging, inspiring, or thought-provoking quotation from a broad selection of Christian writers and thinkers each day.

  2. Who provides CQOD?

    I do, with the indispensable help of the Gospel Communications Network. I am Robert McAnally Adams, and I function as the curator of the quotation collection. I am a long-term Dallas, Texas, resident, an engineer by trade, who is constantly amazed at the mercy of God in my life.

    Gospel Communications provides the platform and host for CQOD at no charge to this ministry. CQOD itself has no budget at all. I am committed to bringing this service to the users free of charge.

  3. Does CQOD really change every day?

    Yes. Each day at midnight, automated systems at GospelCom.net change the CQOD to a new one stored according to date, 365 days per year. Quotations are prepared several weeks in advance and placed online prior to use as the CQOD.

  4. Can I receive CQOD via e-mail?

    Yes. To receive the Christian Quotation of the Day in your daily e-mail, post a message to cqotd-subscribe@cqod.com, any subject, no message body. At the same time that the CQOD is changed by the automated systems at GospelCom.net, the CQOD is mailed to the CQOD mailing list.
    You can start a subscription for an alternate address, for example "john@host.domain", just add a hyphen and your address (with '=' instead of '@') after the command word: cqotd-subscribe-john=host.domain@cqod.com
    If you have problems with this procedure, write to me, and I will take care of it.

  5. How can I stop my e-mail subscription to CQOD?

    To terminate an existing subscription, post a message to cqotd-unsubscribe@cqod.com
    If the address you are writing from is not the address at which you are receiving CQOD for example "john@host.domain", just add a hyphen and your address (with '=' instead of '@') after the command word: cqotd-unsubscribe-john=host.domain@cqod.com
    If you have problems with this procedure, write to me, and I will take care of it.

  6. I am having trouble receiving CQOD by email.

    If you are having trouble receiving the Christian Quotation of the Day, please write to me so that we can get the problem corrected.

  7. Do you ever take anyone off the CQOD mailing list?

    Regretfully, yes. In order to control the number of email error messages that come to me daily, I track the errors by email address. When the number of daily consecutive errors exceeds ten, I remove the email address from the mailing list, presuming that it represents an abandoned account. If you have stopped receiving CQOD, and have verified that you are receiving email, please write to me so that we can get your account restored.

  8. What is the purpose of CQOD?

    The purpose of CQOD is,
    1. the glorification of God;
    2. the enrichment of the Christian life, through the propagation of Christian teachings and thought; and,
    3. the fulfillment of a personal calling.

    To His glory, God has raised up voices of wisdom and faith throughout the Christian era, to teach, to admonish, to encourage, and to strengthen the believers. In this sense, CQOD is a form of worship.

    The Christian life is today under intense attack by the forces of evil. CQOD is presented in support of the Christian life, through the words and ideas of great Christian writers and thinkers of the past.

    Finally, CQOD is the fruit of a spiritual journey, not yet finished, but progressing now with a surer objective. It expresses a need of my own to serve the Kingdom in a way that I have been prompted to do. As usual, God causes each thing to happen for the benefit of all, and I have benefited tremendously through this project.

  9. For whom is CQOD intended?

    CQOD is presented expressly and specifically for Christians, particularly those interested in learning more about what the great writers of Christianity thought, how they justified their faith, how faith justified them, what were their great spiritual struggles, what thoughts and beliefs sustained them, and what instruction they received from the Holy Spirit in their lives.

    CQOD is not specifically intended as an evangelistic tool, nor are the quotations necessarily going to be uniformly profitable for non-believers. If you are not a Christian, CQOD is not really for you. I refer you to the Scriptures, wherein you can find all you need. Do not hesitate. I urge you to take the time to find out why the life of Christ is the only one worth following.

  10. Is CQOD associated with any particular denomination?

    No. CQOD's only official association is with its host, Gospel Communications Network, which has been kind enough to grant space, support, and bandwidth to this ministry. They have my profoundest gratitude. Both they and CQOD are non-denominational.

    Even a casual reading of the quotations selected for CQOD will reveal a central theme that governs their selection. Educated readers will identify that theme as Evangelical in character. That is my personal persuasion. But this should not be used as a means for classifying or pigeon-holing CQOD. Many quotations come from writers who were not even remotely Evangelical. While most of the views expressed in CQOD are identifiably so, CQOD is not even exclusively Protestant; many Catholic writers are also quoted in CQOD. Of course, almost all the pre-Reformation writers are Catholic, but there are several post-Reformation Catholic writers represented, such as Cardinal Newman.

  11. Where do you get all those quotations?

    From three sources,
    • my own reading,
    • submissions from readers,
    • a quotation collection prepared by my late father, Robert MacColl Adams.
    Of all these, the last is far the most significant. My father was a lifelong intellectual and a prodigious reader. Beginning in the late 1950's, he began to assemble a notebook containing the quotations that he had collected from his reading. At his passing into glory, in 1985, this notebook had grown to 3200 typewritten pages, well in excess of 10,000 quotations. An accurate count is not yet available, but its ramifications in our family became so notorious that it was always referred to as the Notebook, which he could always be relied upon to be laboring upon when not otherwise occupied, and selections from which could be dragged out at a moment's notice.

    While the quotation collection is eclectic, reflecting his own intellectual tastes, many of the quotations are of a theological character. For he was a devout Christian, with an abiding interest in Christian theology. Accordingly, about a quarter of the quotations in the collection are Christian in nature. These were the statements that he had encountered in his reading that had made him think and reflect profitably on Christian truths. He also wrote, himself, and what he wrote reflects the depth of his belief, the width of his reading, and far-ranging projection of his intellect and knowledge. A sample of that writing is now included in this site.
    I shall write more about this subject in the future.

    For several years, I have pondered the question how to present this gargantuan labor to the world. It did no good sitting on the shelf. In 1995, I became interested in the WWW, and it occurred to me that this might be a reasonable vehicle for the Notebook. I was moved to create CQOD on January 8, 1996, and with very little effort, it began to attract attention. By June of 1996, there began to be an intense demand for an email service for distributing CQOD. It did not take long for the demands of the email list and the daily traffic on the web page to outstrip the capacities of the private server where it resided, and on October 6, 1996, CQOD moved to GospelCom, where its growth has continued unimpeded.

  12. How are the quotations selected?

    Good question. I select quotations based on the following criteria:
    • adherence to Scriptural truth,
    • authenticity,
    • value to the contemporary Christian life,
    • compactness of expression,
    • personal meaning to me.
    The first one is, to me, clearly the most important. I will not voluntarily propagate error, and conformity to the clear teachings of the Scriptures seems to me the minimum standard for any expression that calls itself Christian. Now, I am far from inerrant on this point, and if you believe that a quotation published by this service contradicts Scripture, I would be happy to discuss it with you, subject to the already heavy demands on my time through the email responses to this service. You may even be right, which is an even more important reason to let me know.

    I cannot deny that the last of these criteria is an important factor. Often, I run across quotations that meet the first four criteria but strike me as "so what?" I am afraid that the last criterion is utterly subjective. But, I do the best I can to apply the criteria objectively.

  13. Do you change the quotations?

    Yes. Often it is necessary, in order to obtain a reasonable length excerpt, to take phrases or whole sentences out. I also modernize spelling, and occasionally untangle problematical grammar. I like to leave enough of the writer's original diction for the reader to appreciate its beauty, as well as its sense. For old writers, this is sometimes difficult to do, and one often ends up with a compromise. I err on the side of letting the original language of the writer speak for itself.

  14. What are the notations above the quotations about?

    The superscript is from the liturgical calendar, and it does not necessarily have anything to do with the quotation of the day, although I often try to match the theme of the quote with the feast or commemoration being celebrated. The liturgical calendar being used is from the Anglican Church. To find out more, see the web page at 
        http://www.oremus.org/liturgy/etc/ktf/index.html
    I chose this calendar because it contained celebrations for a strikingly large number of the writers that appear in CQOD.

  15. What disclaimers are offered with CQOD?

    None. The authors quoted are completely responsible for what they write. I am completely responsible for the selections.

  16. What caveats are offered with CQOD?

    Only one -- chew before you swallow. Please note: the material recorded within CQOD is not Scripture and does not have the authority of Scripture.

  17. Have you ever made a mistake in selecting a quotation?

    Yes.

  18. Why don't you include a Scripture reading, or make CQOD more like a traditional devotional?

    The short answer to this question is that CQOD is what it is, and that is all I am prepared to present. If another kind of devotional material is desired, the reader is referred to any of several excellent compilations available on GospelCom:

    The long answer is this: many people have suggested that I add Scripture to CQOD. It must be granted that the value of daily Scripture study is hard to over-estimate, and there is no doubt that it would be an important addition to CQOD. The trouble is, how would it be selected? Simply to follow a calendar of Scripture readings, whether derived from a liturgical book or designed on my own, unconnected with the daily quotation, seems to miss some of the value. Moreover, there are several such services available from among the devotionals on the Internet. On the other hand, to attempt to coordinate the daily scripture selection with the daily quotation (a) involves a work load that I am not prepared to shoulder at this point, and (b) opens the door to a subtle kind of error: proof-texting, the practice of excerpting isolated passages of Scripture in support of a particular idea or point of view. The latter, derived from the perfectly legitimate practice of citing Scriptural support for sound doctrine or interpretation, will inevitably twist and ultimately destroy the meaning of the Scripture fragment in its new context, in order to support an idea or thesis that, even if sound, may not be strongly related to the Scripture in question. I have avoided that snare by refraining from citing Scripture in CQOD. This has been my thinking on the subject, and I intend to proceed on the basis of the light I currently possess.

  19. What sort of quotations do not make it into CQOD?

    (Jocular) On a lighter note, I do run across quotations that are amusing, that make me think, that have that quality of knowledge of truth that is arresting and challenging, but which nevertheless are not suitable for publicatiuon in CQOD. Here are some quotations that did not make it, for one reason or another:
    To preach more than half an hour, a man should be an angel himself, or have angels for hearers.
    ... George Whitefield

    No. I would never want any preachers to think that their time was limited with me (even if it is true).

    The whole of theology... takes it for granted that Man is what is of most importance in the Universe of created beings. Since all theologians are men, this postulate has met with little opposition.
    ... Bertrand Russell

    No, I don't think I will include this one.

    From the beginning, we are presented with a dilemma by the Gospels: Such a Person never could have lived; Such a Person never could have been invented! Which horn will you choose?
    ... Nathaniel Micklem

    Hmmm.

    The profession of the truth by not a few is the greatest dishonour and disparagement that can be cast upon it. The best service that many can do it is by forsaking it, and declaring that the belief of it is inconsistent with their cursed, wicked lives.
    ... John Owen

    Well said, but I think that brother Owen was angry that day.

    I hate the devil and I would kill him, but I see there are several clergymen present, and they have their families to support.
    ... Melville D. Landon

    A keen eye, that one!

    The observances of the Church feasts and fasts are tolerably well kept, upon the whole, since the rich keep the feasts and the poor keep the fasts.
    ... Sydney Smith

    Not the right attitude, I think.

    I hope the reader will forgive my levity. Choosing quotations for CQOD does have its lighter side, and I do run across many quotations, especially from my father's Notebook, that I would love to publish, but which would not be appropriate for CQOD. Ah, well.

    Blessings and peace be upon you!

Compilation Copyright, 1996-2008, by Robert McAnally Adams,

Curator, Christian Quotation of the Day.
Logo image Copyright 1996 by Shay Barsabe, "Simple GIFs", by kind permission.
Send comments to curator@cqod.com.

Gospel.com Community Member

Report problems to curator@cqod.com.