The Odd Shape

“For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” — Matthew 16:25 (KJV)

When Chesterton was young and not yet a believer, he read a lot of books attacking Christianity. And he noticed something strange.

Some critics said Christianity was too gloomy; others said it was too cheerful and comforting. Some said it made people too timid and soft; others said it made them too violent. Some said it had dragged people away from home and family; others said it forced home and family on them.

At first he thought: Christianity must be a very weird thing if it can be guilty of opposite faults at once. “A man might be too fat in one place and too thin in another; but he would be an odd shape.”

Then it struck him. Perhaps Christianity wasn’t the odd shape. Perhaps the critics were. Perhaps Christianity was the right shape, and it just looked too much of one thing to some people and too much of the opposite to others.

He found that Christianity has a way of holding two opposites together, both at full strength. He wrote that Christianity “got over the difficulty of combining furious opposites, by keeping them both, and keeping them both furious.” For example:

“One can hardly think too little of one’s self. One can hardly think too much of one’s soul.”

Courage is another example. Chesterton calls it “almost a contradiction in terms”: a strong desire to live that shows itself as a readiness to die. A soldier surrounded by enemies, or a climber cut off by the tide, will only survive by being willing to risk their life. Jesus said the same: whoever loses their life for his sake will find it.

Love is a paradox too. Chesterton says real charity means “pardoning unpardonable acts, or loving unlovable people.” If someone is easy to forgive, it hardly needs forgiveness.

So when someone says Christianity is too much of something, ask whether someone else says it is too much of the opposite. It might just be the right shape.

One thing to do this week: think of a criticism of Christianity you have heard. This week, try to find someone or something that criticises it for the opposite reason. Then ask: could Christianity be the right shape after all?