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G. K. Chesterton on Fallacies

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Gilbert Keith Chesterton was an English writer, lay theologian, poet, philosopher, journalist, critic and Christian apologist. Chesterton converted from High Church Anglicanism to Catholicism in 1922. He authored nearly a hundred books and thousands of essays. Below he considers heterodoxy that is embraced as truth. Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions. — G.K. Chersteron ________________________________ A Prayer in Darkness by G.K. Chesterton This much, O heaven--if I should brood or rave,      Pity me not; but let the world be fed,      Yea, in my madness if I strike me dead, Heed you the grass that grows upon my grave. If I dare snarl between this sun and sod,      Whimper and clamour, give me grace to own,      In sun and rain and fruit in season shown, The shining silence of the scorn of God. Thank God the stars are set beyond my power,      If I must travail in a night of wrath,      Thank God my tears wi

G.K. Chesterton on Catholicism’s Critics

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It seems at times that anything negative said about the Church will be simply accepted without question. This creates a dizzying array of charges. The Church is both “inconsistent” and “legalistic;” “contaminated by worldly values” and “too removed from the world;” she has too much “sackcloth and ashes” and too much “pomp and ritualism.” No accusation is off-limits. As Chesterton wrote in 1908: Any stick [is] good enough to beat Christianity with. When Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you,” he added: “Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” (From Fr. Butler's Homily for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C .) _________________________________________ Prayer for the Church's Adversaries Almighty Jesus, Prince of Peace, you commanded us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. Let us pray for our adversaries and all who oppose the Church. Through the guidance of the Holy S

G.K. Chesterton's The House of Christmas

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There fared a mother driven forth Out of an inn to roam; In the place where she was homeless All men are at home. The crazy stable close at hand, With shaking timber and shifting sand, Grew a stronger thing to abide and stand Than the square stones of Rome. For men are homesick in their homes, And strangers under the sun, And they lay on their heads in a foreign land Whenever the day is done. Here we have battle and blazing eyes, And chance and honour and high surprise, But our homes are under miraculous skies Where the yule tale was begun. A Child in a foul stable, Where the beasts feed and foam; Only where He was homeless Are you and I at home; We have hands that fashion and heads that know, But our hearts we lost - how long ago! In a place no chart nor ship can show Under the sky's dome. This world is wild as an old wives' tale, And strange the plain things are, The earth is enough and the air is enough For our

G. K. Chesterton and C. S. Lewis Agree: What Every Christian Must Acknowledge

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Consider the following: Our original state of grace was forfeited when our first parents rejected God's love in favor of the Devil's lies. God loves us so much that even if you were the only person to have ever lived, Christ would have suffered and died just for you. We cannot deny God's love, but we can deny, ignore and perpetuate our own sinfulness. The former is inscrutable. The later, undeniable. G. K. Chesterton (1874-1836) and C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) were not collegial contemporaries save for a brief period when their respective philosophies illuminated (to varying degrees) the firmament of modern Christian apologetics. Reputedly, when  The Times  (of London) sent out an inquiry to famous authors inquiring, "What is wrong with the world today?", Chesterton honestly replied: Dear Sirs, I am. Yours, G.K. Chesterton Regarding our fallen nature and propensity to sin, C. S. Lewis was equally candid. His essay. " The problem with X... " discu

Chesterton on Conversion: A Brief Reflection

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Each generation is converted by the saint who contradicts it most. — G.K. Chersteron Thirty-five years after Chesterton wrote these words, Pope Paul VI in the encyclical Humanae Vitae said the following:  It is to be anticipated that perhaps not everyone will easily accept this particular teaching. There is too much clamorous outcry against the voice of the Church, and this is intensified by modern means of communication. But it comes as no surprise to the Church that she, no less than her divine Founder, is destined to be a "sign of contradiction." She does not, because of this, evade the duty imposed on her of proclaiming humbly but firmly the entire moral law, both natural and evangelical. Just as our divine Founder, Jesus Christ is a "sign of contradiction" to mankind, His Church, in proclaiming the Good News to every generation, finds herself contradicting the prevailing view of the age. May we, as members of Christ's mystical Body, convert by

Seven Thoughts by G. K. Chesterton on Religion That Grow in Relevance by the Day

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G. K. Chesterton, 1874-1936  Gilbert Keith Chesterton was an English writer, lay theologian, poet, philosopher, dramatist, journalist, orator, literary and art critic, biographer, and Christian apologist. He converted from High Church Anglicanism to Catholicism in 1922. Below is a selection of his quotes concerning religion: It has been often said, very truely, that religion is the thing that makes the ordinary man feel extraordinary; it is an equally important truth that religion is the thing that makes the extraordinary man feel ordinary. +++  The truth is, of course, that the curtness of the Ten Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion, but, on the contrary, of its liberality and humanity. It is shorter to state the things forbidden than the things permitted: precisely because most things are permitted, and only a few things are forbidden.  +++  One of the chief uses of religion is that it makes us remember our coming from darkness, t

Thought of the Day — G.K. Chesterton Refutes a Popular Indictment Against Catholics and Catholicism

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Many of the Church’s detractors criticize her in light of adherents who don’t “walk the walk.” When encountering such comments, we should remember this quote by G.K. Chesterton: Most Christians fail to fulfill the Christian ideal. This bitter and bracing fact cannot be too much insisted upon in this and every other moral question. But, perhaps, it might be suggested that this failure is not so much the failure of Christians in connection with the Christian ideal as the failure of any men in connection with any ideal. That Christians are not always Christian is obvious; neither are Liberals always liberal, nor Socialists always social, nor Humanitarians always kind, nor Rationalists always rational, nor are gentlemen always gentle, nor do working men always work. If people are especially horrified at the failure of Christian practice, it must be an indirect compliment to the Christian creed.  — G.K. Chesterton

Answering Gandhi’s Rebuke of Christians and Christianity

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Mohandas K. Gandhi The following quote attributed to Mohandas Gandhi has been used as a rhetorical cudgel against Christians, portraying them as vain, materialistic, hypocritical disciples: "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." — Mahatma Gandhi Another version attributed to Gandhi elaborates on how Christians are unlike Christ: "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ. The materialism of affluent Christian countries appears to contradict the claims of Jesus Christ that says it's not possible to worship both Mammon and God at the same time." Despite the ubiquity of this saying on the internet and elsewhere, I find no evidence that Gandhi uttered these words. First, whenever it is invoked, no source is provided. Second, Gandhi says, " your  Christ" and " your  Christians" as if he were addressing a follower of Jesus. Mohandas

Homily for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

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Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. Director, La Salette Shrine Enfield, NH ( Click here for today’s readings ) In today’s Gospel Jesus says he came to bring not peace but division, and he gives a short catalogue of family conflicts. If this makes you uncomfortable, you are in good company. No one likes this passage. After all, at every Mass we hear: “Lord Jesus Christ, you said to your apostles: Peace I leave you, my peace I give you.” In that context, today’s Gospel doesn’t make sense, some may even find it offensive. Where’s the reconciliation we so often read about in the New Testament? Matthew’s version of this saying is even stronger:   “Brother will hand over brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.” This is not about dysfunctional families, but about family crisis—caused by choice. It seems the stuff of advice columns. But it’s not just any choice. Jeremiah had enemies because he was saying what God tol