Chapter 1: The Introduction in Defence of Everything New
Chesterton begins this wonderful little book with a discussion of holding on to both wonder and familiarity at the same time.
First he provides his motivation for writing this book. It is a way for him, in a series of “mental pictures,” to describe that particular philosophy that he has come to believe. As he points it, it is not his philosophy since he did not make, but rather “God and humanity made it; and it made [him].”
And just as promised, Chesterton delights us with a story; a mental picture. It is one of an English yachtsmen who sets off for adventure in discovery of new lands. And when he finds it, as he sets off to stake his claim, he realizes that he hasn’t discovered anything new at all, but instead he finds himself in his old land.
For Chesterton this provides immense joy and comfort. The ability to still find wonder and discovery without the bother of leaving home. This becomes his metaphor for the way in which he discovered the Christian faith. He thought he was going against the grain, an original, cutting a new path, hot on the pursuit of truth only to discover that what he ended up finding had been founded 1800 years earlier and he had all of Christendom behind him.
Chesterton closes out this chapter with this poignant paragraph:
I did strain my voice with a painfully juvenile exaggeration in uttering my truths. And I was punished in the fittest and funniest way, for I have kept my truths: but I have discovered, not that they were not truths, but simply that they were not mine. When I fancied that I stood alone I was really in the ridiculous position of being backed up by all Christendom. It may be, Heaven forgive me, that I did try to be original; but I only succeeded in inventing all by myself and inferior copy of the existing traditions of civilized religion. The man from the yacht thought he was the first to find England; I thought I was the first to find Europe. I did try to found a heresy of my own; and when I had put the last touches to it, I discovered that it was orthodoxy.
Have you ever found yourself in a similar situation? Believing you had discovered something new and unique only to find out that you were the last in a long line of adventurers?
To join in on the online discussion of this book over the next several weeks, navigate on over to the Mere Orthodoxy blog and dive right in. We might just discover some new wonders while searching for new lands and end up discovering we never left our own backyard.
Previous posts in this series:
- Orthodoxy – G.K. Chesterton – Part 1
You can also see my initial contribution in the comments section here.