This startling swiftness with which popular systems turn oppressive is the
third fact for which we shall ask our perfect theory of progress to allow. It must always be on the look out for every privilege being abused, for
every working right becoming a wrong. In this matter I am entirely on the side of the revolutionists. They are really right to be always suspecting
human institutions; they are right not to put their trust in princes nor in any child of man. The chieftain chosen to be the friend of the people
becomes the enemy of the people; the newspaper started to tell the truth now exists to prevent the truth being told. Here, I say, I felt that I was
really at last on the side of the revolutionary. And then I caught my breath again: for I remembered that I was once again on the side of
the orthodox.
Christianity spoke again and said: “I have always maintained that men were naturally backsliders; that human virtue tended of its own nature to rust
or to rot; I have always said that human beings as such go wrong, especially happy human beings, especially proud and prosperous human
beings. This eternal revolution, this suspicion sustained through centuries, you (being a vague modern) call the doctrine of progress. If
you were a philosopher you would call it, as I do, the doctrine of original sin. You may call it the cosmic advance as much as you like; I
call it what it is—the Fall.”
Orthodoxy, first published in 1908, by G. K. Chesterton, is in the public domain, and available from Project Gutenberg. The previous post in this series is here. Thanks for reading! Read Chesterton.
Musings on science, the Bible, and fantastic literature (and sometimes basketball and other stuff).
God speaks to us through the Bible and the findings of science, and we should listen to both types of revelation.
The title is from Psalm 84:11.
The Wikipedia is usually a pretty good reference. I mostly use the World English Bible (WEB), because it is public domain. I am grateful.
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The posts in this blog are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. You can copy and use this material, as long as you aren't making money from it. If you give me credit, thanks. If not, OK.
Sunday, October 18, 2015
Excerpts from Orthodoxy, by G. K. Chesterton, 43
Labels:
betrayal,
Chesterton,
G. K. Chesterton,
revolutionaries,
revolutions,
The Fall
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