Though in my mostly chronological reading I am not even close to Chesterton's conversion to Catholicism, the television series by Dale Ahlquist introduced me to some arguments Chesterton apparently made in favor of Catholicism.
Let me start by noting that in books like 'Orthodoxy' and 'Heretics' I did not find anything particularly Catholic. This may be because I do not know enough about this Church. All in all, I was fairly surprised to hear Dale Ahlquist insist how much of the Catholic worldview was apparent in Chesterton's early works. He mentions, for example, Chesterton's stress on the family. Now I do know that Catholics make a point about families, but in my understanding Protestants too see the family as 'the cornerstone of society'.
Chesterton's two points that I understood were these: first Catholicism has an old tradition and continues the same, so that we do not have to be 'slaves' of the spirit of the times. This is a valid point against some Protestant churches, but then, the Catholic Church has also changes significantly after Vatican II (as I understand it). If I remember well, one of the epistles of the NT warns against the spirit of the age.
Chesterton's second point is about freedom: he sees the Catholic Church as broad, where Protestant Churches are too narrow for his taste. I must confess I do not understand this point; it seems to be something that can only be said from the inside, not from the outside. In one sense, though, it seems to me that narrowness is good: Jesus said we should enter through the narrow way.
Well, overall I am inspired to read yet more of Chesterton. I confess this television series wets my appetite for more Chesterton, but the overall 'Chesterton was so Catholic and so right' perspective throws me off a little. Better the man himself than his interpreters.
No comments:
Post a Comment