Over the course of the modern era, whether fairly or not, orthodoxy has
come to be associated with glumness and austerity. Thus, those coming
across Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton might assume they are in for a dull
and obtuse recitation of doctrine and dogma. They will, however, be
delightfully surprised by Chesterton’s wit, feistiness, and zest for
life.
It is Chesterton’s contention that, rather than stifling
the individual, it is through orthodoxy that man is liberated to both
accept and embrace the contradictions of this life for what they really
are in all their wonder and horror. It is the heretic that is unable to
rise to a level that would give him a perspective that would enable him
to appreciate things as they actually are since the heretic is
ultimately beholden unto these very forces of life. Chesterton muses,
“Thoroughly worldly people never understand even the world; they rely
altogether on a few cynical maxims which are not true (22).”
Often,
believers are accused of being close minded. However, Chesterton
contends that Christians are no more close minded than the adherents of
any other outlook. Chesterton writes, “For we must remember that the
materialist philosophy...is certainly much more limiting than any
religion...The Christian is quite free to believe that there is a
considerable amount of settled order and inevitable development in the
universe. But the materialist is not allowed to admit into his spotless
machine the slightest speck of spiritualism or miracle (41).”
As a
result, the heterodox mind must increasingly withdrawal from a world
that declares the glory of God in order to maintain the consistency of
the fiction it has constructed. For example, in illustrating views
regarding the existence of sin, Chesterton offers the following humorous
illustration, “If it be true...that a man can feel exquisite happiness
in skinning a cat, then the religious philosopher can only draw one of
two deductions. He must either deny the existence of God, as all
atheists do; or he must deny the present union between God and man, as
all Christians do. The new theologians seem to think it a highly
rationalistic solution to deny the cat (24).”
Those adverse to
traditional religious notions have constructed elaborate epistemological
systems in an attempt to justify their unbelief. However, Chesterton
assures, such intellects (though formidable by human standards in terms
of the facts such minds have accumulated) actually bear a startling
resemblance to the insane.
Like the insane, rationalists view
themselves as the source of all meaning. In the struggle and strain to
understand everything, Chesterton notes, the consistent rationalist is
actually driven mad as they end up losing everything but their reason.
Chesterton observes, “The man who begins to think without the proper
first principles goes mad; he begins to think at the wrong end...But we
may ask in conclusion, if this be what drives men mad, what is it that
keeps them sane (48)?”
The answer provided by Chesterton is none
other than the mystical imagination found in religious orthodoxy. The
thing about the cosmos human beings occupy is that is both physically
and epistemologically too complex for the finite mind to fully
comprehend. The only thing we can do is appreciate what we can and to
accept that there is a power beyond us. Chesterton notes, “The real
trouble with this world of ours is not that it is an unreasonable world,
nor even that it is a reasonable one. The commonest kind of trouble is
that it is nearly reasonable but not quite (148).”
Chesterton
further likens the spiritual realm to two wild horses threatening to
bolt off into the extremities of either direction with only the church
adhering to orthodoxy capable of reining in these powerful tendencies
that are good and pure when kept together as a team but result in
heartache and ruin if not kept working together in tandem. Ironically,
Chesterton claims, though often depicted as scatterbrained the best
poets (actually quite sensible and businesslike) are often the ones
embodying the spirit necessary for handling this awesome responsibility.
For what the average person desires above all else is a life of
practical romance defined by Chesterton as “the combination of something
that is strange with something that is secure (16).” And what is any
more mysterious and secure at the same time than God Himself?
Written
in the early years of the twentieth century, some of the authors
mentioned by Chesterton might seem obscure to readers not that familiar
with general literary history. However, the fact that they have been
forgotten while Chesterton is still embraced as a foremost defender of
the faith is a positive testament to the relevance of Chesterton’s
ruminations that, though written nearly a century ago, ring with a truth
that sounds as if they just rolled off the presses.
by Frederick Meekins