Another shot of G.K.
In lieu of my forgetfulness last week, and to honor the request of my dear friend AEC, I decided to post another G.K. Chesterton quote this weekend. Today's is from his classic work Orthodoxy. This is probably Chesterton's most widely known book, and with good reason. It is a summary of what led G.K. to become the "Knight of Faith" he most certainly was.
From Orthodoxy, Chapter 2 "The Maniac":
This chapter is purely practical and is concerned with what actually is the chief mark and element of insanity; we may say in summary that it is reason used without root, reason in the void. The man who begins to think without the proper first principles goes mad; he begins to think at the wrong end. And for the rest of these pages we have to try and discover what is the right end. But we may ask in conclusion, if this be what drives men mad, what is it that keeps them sane? By the end of this book I hope to give a definite, some will think too definite, answer.
But for the moment it is possible in the same solely practical manner to give a general answer touching with in actual human history keeps men sane.
Mysticism keeps men sane.
As long as you have mystery you have health; when you destroy mystery you create morbidity. The ordinary man has always been the same because the ordinary man has always been a mystic. He has permitted the twilight. He has always had one foot in earth and the other in fairyland. He has always left himself free to doubt his gods; but (unlike the the agnostic of today) free also to believe in them. He has always cared more for truth than consistency.
If he saw two truths that seemed to contradict each other, he would take the two truths and the contradiction along with them. His spiritual sight is stereoscopic, like his physical sight: he sees two different pictures at once and yet sees all the better for that. Thus he has always believed that there was such a thing as fate, but such as thing as free will also. Thus he believed that children were indeed the kingdom of heaven, but nevertheless ought to be obedient to the kingdom of earth. He admired youth because it was young, and age because it was not.
It is exactly this balance of apparent contradictions that has been the whole buyoancy of the healthy man. The whole secret of mysticism is this: that man can understand everything by the help of what he does not understand.
PLEASE buy Orthodoxy or Heretics this week. Read them and learn.
What is “Mere Conservatism”?
The basic ideas, ideals, and values that generally define and characterize the central tenets of what today might be termed "modern conservative thought."
We believe that a proper understanding of history, economics, and theology leads to certain conclusions. Many of these are the same conclusions our Founding Fathers arrived at in constructing a "more perfect union."
All ideas and opinions are welcome; not all are correct.
Mere Conservatism Links:
Econ Part I | Econ Part II
Intro | Theology | History
RJ Speaking at Acton 2010
Rudy the Dog barks at "change"
Read all of R.J.’s columns here
RJ's Social Network
Wall Street Journal
Blogroll
- Acton Power Blog
- Adam In The City
- Andrew Belle
- Big Government
- Big Hollywood
- Black and Red
- Conservative Daily Blog
- Dad's blog
- Dennis Prager (The Master)
- Desiring God (John Piper)
- Doug Giles (Clash Radio)
- Hugh Hewitt
- Jihad Watch
- Michael Medved
- Milton Friedman
- Mom's blog
- My LOST blog
- Only Good Movies
- Patriots Corner
- Say NO to ACORN
- Stiletto Blog
- Subscribe via RSS
- The Straight Hype
- Twitter Me
Columnists You Need to Read
- Ann Coulter
- Charles Krauthammer
- Christopher Hitchens
- George Will
- Jonah Goldberg
- Karl Rove
- Mark Steyn
- Marvin Olasky
- Thomas Sowell
- Tony Blankley
- Walter E. Williams
News/Politics
- Drudge Report
- Fact Check
- Fox News
- Hot Air
- Jerusalem Post
- National Review
- Newt Gingrich
- Nolan Chart
- Real Clear Politics
- The Savage Nation
- Townhall
- Washington Times
- Weekly Standard
Thinktanks
- Acton Institute
- American Enterprise Institute
- Cato Institute
- Center For Health Transformation
- Heritage Foundation
Archives
Categories
- Abortion (3)
- Afhganistan (2)
- Baseball (4)
- Books (4)
- Chesterton (2)
- Climate Change (7)
- Cultural Issues – Linked Article (202)
- Economics – Linked Article (100)
- Education (13)
- Election News (11)
- Entertainment News (17)
- Environment Issues (12)
- Food (1)
- Foreign Policy (12)
- Gay Marriage (4)
- Health Care (37)
- Historical – Linked Article (14)
- Hollyweird (2)
- Immigration (5)
- Iran (5)
- Iraq – Linked Article (2)
- Islam (12)
- Israel – Linked Article (1)
- Liberal Commentary (5)
- Liberty and Freedom (42)
- Local – Chicago (1)
- Mainstream Media Update (19)
- Mere Conservatism (11)
- Movie Review (9)
- Music (2)
- Original Columns (93)
- Pakistan (1)
- Political Scandals (29)
- Politics – Linked Article (170)
- Public vs. Private Sector (8)
- Quotes and Sayings (21)
- Race Issues (18)
- Religion (8)
- Social Justice (3)
- Sports (4)
- Supreme Court (5)
- Taliban (1)
- Tax Issues (1)
- Terrorism – Linked Article (15)
- Uncategorized (604)
- United Nations Stuff (1)
February 7th, 2010 - 22:44
Wow, what a fantastic excerpt, RJ. Thanks so much!
I am so glad that you called GKC a “Knight of Faith”. What a powerful title this is! Abraham, Mary the Mother of God, and Gilbert Keith Chesterton: each is about as different than the other as is possible. Then how did each one live that makes them all worthy of being called “Knights of Faith”? As I understand it, Kierkegaard called Mary and Abraham knights of faith because both displayed such incredible faith in such difficult circumstances, and both expected the absurd to happen. Abraham knew that God would provide a sacrifice, even as he raised the knife to slay Isaac, and Mary answered the angel by saying, “I am the Lord’s Servant”. She was to give birth to the Messiah and she accepted this freely and faithfully, having faith that she would be blessed by God.
And now we come to Chesterton, can he compare to Mary or Abraham? I say, along with RJ, that he definitely can. GKC did not live two lives, one as a journalist and one as a Catholic; his Catholic faith permeated, soaked through, and entirely transformed his writing and lecturing career. He lived during such a complex and confusing time, what with evolution, nihilism, Nietchze’s “Death of God”, WWI, Marxism, Social Darwinism, and a slew of other socio-economic transformations in the world from 1900 to his death in 1934. But Chesterton never faltered! He always expected the absurd from God; he always expected that faith in Christ would win the day, and it did. By making a leap of faith early on in his life, by devoting himself to God’s service through all of his ambitious endeavors, and by tirelessly defending the faith, we can honestly call Chesterton a “Knight of Faith”.
It is for passages like this that Chesterton’s title of “Master of Paradox” truly makes sense. What is incredible about GKC is that he always shows the greatest truth through the most confusing and paradoxical examples. For example: “Man can understand everything by the help of what he does not understand.”
I think I could honestly think about this sentence for hours and still not get all of the wisdom that is in it.
When we see ourselves: conscious, feeling beings who are capable of reason, we are faced with something that is basically impossible to understand. Why do we exist? Why is there not nothingness? This universe is complex, beautiful, and orderly; then why is it this way?
These questions reveal that we do not understand everything while at the same time they show that we actually do get it. The reason we do exist is because God didn’t want nothingness, the reason that the universe exists is because God’s Word is powerful and perfect and glorious, and the reason we humans have minds and souls and hearts is so that we can love each other and love God! When we accept the fact that we know nothing, then the Creator-God makes Himself known to us. And this is a glorious paradox.