For Thoughts On Fame by Hilaire Belloc

On Fame, from This And That and the Other

Fame is that repute among men which gives us pleasure. It needs much repetition, but also that repetition honorable. Of all things desired Fame least fulfills the desire for it; for if Fame is to be very great a man must be dead before it is more than a shoot; he therefore has not the enjoyment of it (as it would seem).

Because the Modern Phase has Arrived

Looks like we made it all the way to the end of The Great Heresies.  We started it around the first of  June with the Introduction, and then followed along as Belloc made his way through the biggies. First, the plan and then the following in succession: Arianism; Islam; Albegensianism; and Protestantism. And this weeks selection? The final chapter, The Modern Phase.

In every chapter, Belloc has thrown heaps and heaps of history at us.  It has really been enough to make your head spin, or at least mine anyway.

YIMC Book Club, “The Great Heresies,” Chapter 5

Another week, another pithy review of European History. I have to think that when Belloc wrote this book in 1936, he was at the height of his literary abilities. Once again there is a lot of events covered in this chapter, and once again "Old Thunder" manages to make it both educational and entertaining. And short too —now that takes skill!

 This week, we read "What Was The Reformation?"  Did you expect Belloc to  minimize the causes that led to the break-up of the Catholic Church? Well he doesn't do that, but tells it like it was.  The Church needed reforming, and he  does a great job explaining why. But he also explains what now seems to be a prophetic description of what is occurring within Protestant denominations today.

YIMC Bookclub, “The Great Heresies,” Chapter 4

"Why should we suffer? Why should we die?"

Ah, the eternal question. And in this chapter "The Albigensian Attack", Belloc gets to the heart of the matter of why the Incarnation came about, Christianity was founded, and why the Catholic Church exists. Because as we know, we are mere human beings. We die. And since the beginning, mankind has wanted to know "why?"

YIMC Book Club "The Great Heresies" Chapter 3

Vienna, as we saw, was almost taken and only saved by the Christian army under the command of the King of Poland on a date that ought to be among the most famous in history: September 11, 1683.

This is one of the sentences that hit home for me in this weeks chapter "The Great and Enduring Heresy of Mohammed." There is a lot going on in this chapter, for sure. I compare it to a Cliffs Notes version of the History of Western Civilization 630AD - 1683AD. Sure, Belloc's book may not be an unbiased, footnote toting, peer-reviewed, Ivy League approved, history text book, but that really wasn't his point here.

YIMC Book Club "The Great Heresies" Chapter Two

It's meat and potatoes time here at the YIM Catholic Bookclub. Old Thunder (Belloc) kicks off this chapter with these terse and direct words, "Arianism was the first of the great heresies." Where are the footnotes to back up this claim? You won't find any footnotes in Belloc's books. I suppose he is confident in making the claim because "everyone knows" this to be true.

Sure, I didn't, and maybe you didn't either. But I've stated before that I don't know everything, so if I were you I would make a note to myself to check out these assertions. Perhaps by reading the works of St. Athanatius, for example, or more recently the words of Cardinal John Henry Newman. But for now, let's just let Belloc draw back the veil on the early Church and see what almost happened to Christianity.

YIMC Book Club "The Great Heresies" Chapter 1

In last weeks introduction, Belloc spelled out why we should study heresy. This week, he explains the plan of his book and why he choose the five heresies that he did. Although the number of heretical ideas that assault Christianity are as numerous as sand is on a beach, Belloc argues that the five heresies he covers here should suffice in alerting us as to what we need to be aware of.

It's disclaimer time here at the book club: I'm fully aware that Belloc's book is provocative. And his point of view is that Christianity is seen in it's fullness in Catholicism. Period. This will likely irritate many modern readers, but so be it. As Belloc discussed in the introduction, heresy has become an unused word.

YIMC Book Club, “The Great Heresies,” Introduction

This week's reading is the introductory chapter of The Great Heresies by Hilaire Belloc. My first impression? This guy is smart. My next impression? There is heresy everywhere! Heck, it's behind every tree, rock, and corner.

First Belloc defines heresy as the removal of one or more aspects from a belief system. Think of a sphere of cheese, and then start taking bites out of it.  What used to be perfectly round is now not, and as such it no longer will roll smoothly. It is no longer whole, but retains some of the structure of the original. Thus,

On this account it can appeal to believers and continues to affect their lives through deflecting them from their original characters. Wherefore, it is said of heresies that "they survive by the truths they retain."