How we cite our quotes: (Letter.Section.Paragraph)
Quote #7
There was even a bean salad, which to me looked distinctly Presbyterian, so anxiety had overspilled its denominational vessel. You'd have thought I died. (1.11.4)
You'll notice these little jokes throughout the novel. Here, Robinson playing on the different Protestant denominations in her little Iowa town.
Quote #8
…right worship is right perception… (1.12.11)
Seeing God in the right way is important to Ames. He doesn't want to be complacent in his faith. He wants his perception of God to stand the trials of doubt and criticism. That's a lifelong task: since God is transcendent, Ames has to constantly make sure he's not closing his mind to that ultra-reality that is God.
Quote #9
There are two insidious notions, from the point of view of Christianity in the modern world…One is that religion and religious experience are illusions of some sort (Feuerbach, Freud, etc.), and that other is that religion itself is real, but your belief and that you participate in it is an illusion. I think the second of these is the more insidious, because it is religious experience above all that authenticates religion, for purposes of the individual believer. (1.14.17)
Ames isn't anti-doubt, but he's not all about second-guessing the faith, either. You'll notice what he criticizes here is not professions of doubt but professions of certainty. He frowns on people who think they are 100% right and 100% sure of their faith.