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Originally Posted by Ohio
I still have to finish his excellent paper, and as one who has had his yard completely tunneled under by star-nosed moles, I know firsthand what huge mountains those molehills really are.
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For some reason I prefer Tomes' footnotes to his articles. Here is his footnote (#26) on G.K. Chesterton:
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Originally Posted by Tomes
26. Under the heading, “God Himself is a Society," the noted journalist and Christian apologist G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936) wrote the following: "There is nothing in the least liberal or akin to reform in the substitution of pure monotheism for the Trinity. The complex God of the Athanasian Creed may be an enigma for the intellect; but He is far less likely to gather the mystery and cruelty of a Sultan than the lonely god of Omar or Mahomet. The god who is a mere awful unity is not only a king but an Eastern king. The heart of humanity, especially of European humanity, is certainly much more satisfied by the strange hints and symbols that gather round the Trinitarian idea, the image of a council at which mercy pleads as well as justice, the conception of a sort of liberty and variety existing even in the inmost chamber of the world. For Western religion has always felt keenly the idea "it is not well [good] for man to be alone." The social instinct asserted itself everywhere as when the Eastern idea of hermits was practically expelled by the Western idea of monks. So even asceticism became brotherly; and the Trappists were sociable even when they were silent. If this love of a living complexity be our test, it is certainly healthier to have the Trinitarian religion than the Unitarian. For to us Trinitarians (if I may say it with reverence)—to us God Himself is a society. It is indeed a fathomless mystery of theology, and even if I were theologian enough to deal with it directly, it would not be relevant to do so here. Suffice it to say here that this triple enigma is as comforting as wine and open as an English fireside; that this thing that bewilders the intellect utterly quiets the heart: but out of the desert, from the dry places and the dreadful suns, come the cruel children of the lonely God [i.e. radical Moslem adherents of Islam]; the real Unitarians who with scimitar [a sword with a curved blade, originating in the Middle East] in hand have laid waste the world. For it is not [good] well for God to be alone." G. K. Chesterton: Orthodoxy (emphasis added). Writing in the era before political correctness was fashionable, Chesterton talks about, “the lonely god of Omar or Mahomet” and refers to the jihadist-Moslem conquests of history with the words, “out of the desert…come the cruel children of the lonely God.” Chesterton’s inference is clear—a “lonely God” is characteristic of Islam and not of Christianity.
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The lonely despotic God of Islam reminds me of my comments some time back noting that the book of Proverbs thrice states that in the counsel of many, the king's plans are ensured of success and safety. Compare that with Lee's "lonely apostle of the age" who is responsible for doling out advice to everyone but who is apparently immune to all outside counsels, and answerable only to God. "Even when he's wrong he's still right". Lonely, indeed.