rels 160 chesterton 1.pdf

8/14/2019 RELS 160 Chesterton 1.pdf

1/22

The Poetry of Faith


2/22

Review : challenges posed by the new

atheism

Chesterton on the sanity of the poet

The (true) fairytale of Christianity

Discussion


3/22

What has 'theology' ever said that is of

the smallest use to anybody? When has

'theology' ever said anything that is

demonstrably true and is not obvious?What makes you think that 'theology' is a

subject at all?

Today it is popular to assume that

theology is an unnecessary, impractical

extra.


4/22

Paranormal phenomena have a habit of

going away whenever they are tested

under rigorous conditions.

Implication: All phenomena, all

happenings, are ultimately normal. In

other words, the world is more like an

equation than it is like a poem or a story.


5/22

Terry Eagleton says Dawkins is rather like

a person who thinks a novel is a botched

piece of sociology.

What does this claim mean?

Is theology more like a novel or more likea piece of sociology?

Are novels of any practical importance?


6/22

New Atheists say, given what we all assume

about the world, theology has no practical

value.

One Response: Actually theology does fit withthose logical assumptions, thanks very much.

Chestertons Response: I sure hope we dont

all assume the world is quite so boring as an

equation!


7/22

The main problem for all seekers of

wisdom: How can we contrive to be at

once astonished at the world and yet at

home in it? (5).

Chestertons attempt at heresy became

Orthodoxy(7).


8/22

I believe in God the Father Almighty,

Maker of heaven and earth:

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord,

Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,

Born of the Virgin Mary,

Suffered under Pontius Pilate,

Was crucified, dead, and buried:

He descended into hell;

The third day he rose again from the dead;

He ascended into heaven,

And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;

From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost;The holy catholic Church;

The Communion of Saints;

The Forgiveness of sins;

The Resurrection of the body,

And the Life everlasting.

Amen.


9/22

We used to accept the fact of sin (9).

We still commonly accept the possibility

of mental collapse (insanity), which is

why Chesterton begins there.


10/22

The common view: imagination,

especially mystical imagination, is

dangerous to mans mental balance (10).

Chestertons view: Imagination does not

breed insanity. Exactly what does breed

insanity is reason (10).


11/22

Poetry is sane because it floats easily in

an infinite sea; reason seeks to cross the

infinite sea, and so make it finite. The

poet only asks to get his head into the

heavens. It is the logician who seeks to

get the heavens into his head. And it is

his head that splits (11).


12/22

Poet = a poetic disposition/attitude =

openness to the worlds infinite

possibilities, to realitys excess.

Logician = a logical disposition =

closed to any occurrence that doesnt

have a clear, logical cause (12).


13/22

The lunatics theory explains a large

number of things, but it does not explain

them in a large way (13).

As an explanation of the world,

materialism has a sort of insane

simplicity. It has just the quality of themadmans argument (15).


14/22

As long as you have mystery you have

health; when you destroy mystery you

create morbidity. The ordinary man has

always been sane because the ordinary

man has always been a mystic (19-20).


15/22

Fairytale Philosophy

The wisdom of which Chesterton remains mostcertain, he learned from fairy tales.

They have lessons (38).

But the main point is they do not apply necessity tothe natural world (39).


16/22

The Sharp Distinction

We have always in our fairy tales kept this sharpdistinction between the science of mental relations,in which there really are laws, and the science ofphysical facts, in which there are no laws, but only

weird repetitions. We believe in bodily miracles, butnot in mental impossibilities (39).


17/22

Fairytale Realism

Do things happen because of laws or because ofmagic? Which is the more realistic view?

What do we learn from childrens sense of wonder atthe ordinary (41)?


18/22

The Romance of Orthodoxy

Liberal ideas are not the ideas of truly free thinkers(104).

To believe in orthodoxy is to be open-minded (105-6).


19/22

The Realism of Orthodoxy

It is the instinct of Christianity to be glad that Godhas broken the universe into little pieces, becausethey are living pieces (109).

From the beginning, Christianity prefers the many tothe one, and thus it allows us to embrace reality fully.


20/22

Loose Ends

Christianity is a sword which separates and setsfree (110).

Even God is separate from Gods self, so that lovemay be possible (112).

Christianitys God is the supreme poet, floatingeasily in his infinite sea.


21/22

Genesis 1

Separation and multiplication is the creators work,and after each division he saw that it was good.


22/22

Next Time

Augustines recounting of his youth and the difficulty(but necessity) of speaking about God.

Have mercy so that I may find words.

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