Orthodoxy. G.K.Chesterton

Book Review.
Chesterton, G.K. Orthodoxy. The classic account of a remarkable Christian experience. Harold Shaw Publishers. 1994.
Comment. Henry.
In many of the books that I have read over the years there have been many quotes by G.K.Chesteron. When I was able to borrow this book from a friend I was quite excited to read it. If I had to write an exam on the contents of this book for credit in a course I would find that frightening. If I had the opportunity to audit a course on the contents I would do it in a heartbeat. I was really struck by the author’s humour. His content is profound and gave me much to ponder.

This book was written in response to a basic question: What is a person to believe? The starting point of the answer is an acceptance of the fact of sin.
Madness (insanity) is an amazing characteristic of humans. “Imagination does not breed insanity. Exactly what does breed insanity is reason.” (12) For a man to believe in himself is madness. “Mysticism keeps men sane.” (24)
The restraining of arrogance and the appetite of man is an aspect of humility. It is an attempt for man to make himself well. There is a danger that humility can make a man impotent. Mental modesty (humility) can lead to “intellectual helplessness”. (30) which in turn has the potential of eroding the intellect. To sum up our contention so far, we may say that the most characteristic philosophies have not only a touch of mania, but a touch of suicidal mania.” (35)
G.K. explains his belief in democracy. It involves two principles. The first is that “the things common to all men are more important than the things peculiar to any men”. (46) The second principle is “that the political instinct or desire is one of these things which they hold in common”. (46) The essence of democracy is best observed in fairy tales. “Fairyland is nothing but the sunny country of common sense.” (49) There is great value in being able to keep things simple when it comes to explaining and understanding the profound.
The pessimist and the optimist are discussed as they relate to patriotism. The pessimist “does not love what he chastises”. (71) The optimist “will not wash the world, but he will whitewash the world”. (71) It is optimism that can lead to reform. “What a man can believe depends on his philosophy, not upon the clock of the century.” (77) Nature should be enjoyed but it should not be worshipped. “Christian pleasure was poetic, (not prosaic) for it dwelt on the unnaturalness of everything in the light of the supernatural.” (83)
“It is very hard for a man to defend anything of which he is entirely convinced.” (87) Paradoxes of Christianity are examined, e.g. pacifism and aggression, being exclusive and being inclusive, etc. The mixture of two extreme things has the potential of the dilution of each with a resulting form of balance. This demonstrated with charity, e.g. “The criminal we must forgive, the crime we must not forgive.” (101)
Change is described as “the eternal revolution” (109) and is demonstrated by evolution and reform. “For the orthodox there can always be a revolution; for revolution is a restoration.” (117)
Modern language has produced mental laziness. Simple language, e.g. sentences with one syllable words, forces us to think. It is demonstrated that ‘liberal theologians’ are not as liberal as they think they are. There is much more liberalism in believing miracles than in rejecting them. A comparison of Buddhism and Christianity is made to dispel the suggestions that they are indeed similar. “Christendom has excelled in the narrative romance exactly because it has insisted on the theological free-will.” (147) “Orthodoxy- is the natural fountain of revolution and reform.” (149)
“My own case for Christianity is rational; but not simple.” (160) The agnostics have their facts wrong. An argument is presented for the rationality of believing in miracles. “Christianity satisfies suddenly and perfectly man’s ancestral instinct for being the right way up: satisfies it supremely in this: that by its creed joy becomes something gigantic and sadness something special and small.” (171)

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