Chesterton's Seventh Chapter Analysis

With this ability Christians are able to be proud humans as God’s greatest creation, and at the same time be ashamed for their sins they commit against him. People will choose to mock Christianity because of this, but they just end up contradicting themselves. They will say that the Christian’s outlook on the world is to rosy or that it is to gloomy. This is where Chesterton’s extreme paradoxical view of the world really starts to show. He believes all of nature follows in a paradox format and what Christianity does best is embrace it. The seventh chapter is about progress and the paradoxes between people’s beliefs on progress and true progress. He talks about the different ideas there are about progress. Some people believe that the

With this mindset, progress becomes a moving target and therefore less progress is made. To Chesterton this is what makes Christianity great. It always has a never changing that everyone of every age can concentrate on and move towards. This goal is to restore the original vision of Eden. Chesterton talks about the general beliefs of people and how they think in chapter eight. He again explains how paradoxes in people’s thinking makes their beliefs look like nonsense. An example is how liberals don’t believe in miracles and yet it isn’t a liberal idea at all. Not believing in miracles is based on the pre-established philosophy of materialism, which has been around for many years. Another belief of people that makes no sense to Chesterton is that all religions are the same thing with differences on the surface. A very common comparison people make are the similarities between Buddhism and Christianity. Chesterton says that the things the two religions have in common are small and unimportant. Buddhists look to their inner selves for salvation, while Christians look to God as an outside source for salvation. Christians realize they aren’t God like and need his

"If he does read it, he will find that in its pages I have attempted in a vague and personal way, in a set of mental pictures rather than in a series of deductions, to state the philosophy in which I have come to believe. I will not call it my philosophy; for I did not make it. God and humanity made it; and it made me." In this quote Chesterton is talking to Mr. Street for who was the one that inspired him to write this book. This quote tells the reader and Mr. Street that the book will be about how he came about believing in Christianity. Chesterton refers to it as his “philosophy” because everyone in the modern age has their own philosophy. He doesn’t take up a modern philosophy, but rather trusts in Christianity. "The Buddhist is looking with a peculiar intentness inwards. The Christian is staring with a frantic intentness outwards." Chesterton uses this quote to convey the massive difference between Buddhism and Christianity. It is strange to Chesterton to be looking inward at oneself to try and find answers to life. In Christianity we look out to God to provide us what we need in our life. Chesterton also uses this to disprove the belief that Buddhism is like Christianity. "There is a thought that stops thought. That is the only thought that ought to be stopped. That is the ultimate evil