{"id":99689,"date":"2017-03-25T11:56:13","date_gmt":"2017-03-25T18:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?p=99689"},"modified":"2017-03-25T12:03:25","modified_gmt":"2017-03-25T19:03:25","slug":"chestertonian-reflection-blasphemy-annunciation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2017\/03\/chestertonian-reflection-blasphemy-annunciation.html","title":{"rendered":"A Chestertonian reflection on blasphemy and the Annunciation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

All that the most terrible blasphemer has to say is tame and timid compared with what we have to say. You may sweep the gutters for foul jokes, but you cannot say anything more frightful than that God was made flesh. Piety has anticipated all profanities. All the profane speakers I have ever heard have only been engaged in expounding and elaborating in detail, and perhaps with some dullness, the plain epigram of the Incarnation. The saints made the joke; the blasphemers only explain it. You may laugh if you see fit; but before you were the heavens laughed louder than you, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.\u201d \u2013 G. K. Chesterton, (London) \u201cDaily News\u201d, January 11, 1908<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Blasphemy is the silliest of the sins and only diminishes the blasphemer.<\/a> It sure can\u2019t diminish God, because he already diminished himself as much as conceivably possible. <\/p>\n

You want to stage an \u2018abort Jesus\u201d protest? Knock yourself out. The actual God has beaten you to your insults against Mary\u2019s gynecology by actually spending nine months in her womb and dodging an abortion at the hands of Herod. <\/p>\n

You want to hurl a string of profanities at God or declare a \u201cBlaspheme the Holy Spirit\u201d contest? He already put up with that from his enemies, who insulted him as he was gasping out his last breaths on the cross. The whole thing about the Incarnation is that what was the final taunt against God as a miserable failure has now been turned, not into a taunt back at us (the suckers of hell\u2019s lies who killed him with extreme prejudice) but into our liberation. <\/p>\n

The Incarnation is the reduction of God down to the size of a peasant you can finally tell off to his face with as much swearing, violence, and orgiastic hatred as the human race can muster. Want to beat him till his lacerated flesh is one open wound? Done! Still not happy and want crown him with thorns just for the sake of gratuitous cruelty? Done and done. Want let fly with a torrent of F bombs and insults about his parentage and mental health and everything else? It was all said at the foot of the Cross and has been said over and over monotonous by his enemies for 2000 years. Magician. Liar. Son of a whore. Demon-possessed. Fraud. The whole nine yards. It was the inevitable consequence of the Incarnation. <\/p>\n

God became man so man could finally tell God how much and how deeply he hated his living guts and then torture him to death with as much sadistic glee as he could think of. God became man to let all that wash over him and to drink it all in. He became sin so that we might become like him, full of mercy for that sin and dysfunction and pure pathetic fury. <\/p>\n

You can blaspheme if you like, but you won\u2019t accomplish anything new or creative. It\u2019s all been done to death. You\u2019ll just make yourself believe yourself Big in a race with a God who already made himself the smallest. You\u2019ll think you are winning the game when you aren\u2019t even in the right ballpark.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why the Cross was \u201ca stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Greeks\u201d. No self-respecting God would put up with that. He\u2019d smite the swarming vermin who disrespected his dignity that way. He didn\u2019t. Therefore he can\u2019t be God.<\/p>\n

Yeah. About that:<\/p>\n

Gloria in Profundis
\nby G.K. CHESTERTON
\nThere has fallen on earth for a token
\nA god too great for the sky.
\nHe has burst out of all things and broken
\nThe bounds of eternity:
\nInto time and the terminal land
\nHe has strayed like a thief or a lover,
\nFor the wine of the world brims over,
\nIts splendour is split on the sand.<\/p>\n

Who is proud when the heavens are humble,
\nWho mounts if the mountains fall,
\nIf the fixed stars topple and tumble
\nAnd a deluge of love drowns all-
\nWho rears up his head for a crown,
\nWho holds up his will for a warrant,
\nWho strives with the starry torrent,
\nWhen all that is good goes down?<\/p>\n

For in dread of such falling and failing
\nThe fallen angels fell
\nInverted in insolence, scaling
\nThe hanging mountain of hell:
\nBut unmeasured of plummet and rod
\nToo deep for their sight to scan,
\nOutrushing the fall of man
\nIs the height of the fall of God.<\/p>\n

Glory to God in the Lowest
\nThe spout of the stars in spate-
\nWhere thunderbolt thinks to be slowest
\nAnd the lightning fears to be late:
\nAs men dive for sunken gem
\nPursuing, we hunt and hound it,
\nThe fallen star has found it
\nIn the cavern of Bethlehem.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All that the most terrible blasphemer has to say is tame and timid compared with what we have to say. You may sweep the gutters for foul jokes, but you cannot say anything more frightful than that God was made flesh. Piety has anticipated all profanities. All the profane speakers I have ever heard have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[270],"class_list":["post-99689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-exalted-felicitations-of-the-day"],"yoast_head":"\nA Chestertonian reflection on blasphemy and the Annunciation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"All that the most terrible blasphemer has to say is tame and timid compared with what we have to say. You may sweep the gutters for foul jokes, but you\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2017\/03\/chestertonian-reflection-blasphemy-annunciation.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Chestertonian reflection on blasphemy and the Annunciation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"All that the most terrible blasphemer has to say is tame and timid compared with what we have to say. You may sweep the gutters for foul jokes, but you\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2017\/03\/chestertonian-reflection-blasphemy-annunciation.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic and Enjoying It!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-03-25T18:56:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-03-25T19:03:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark Shea\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Shea\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2017\/03\/chestertonian-reflection-blasphemy-annunciation.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2017\/03\/chestertonian-reflection-blasphemy-annunciation.html\",\"name\":\"A Chestertonian reflection on blasphemy and the Annunciation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-25T18:56:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-03-25T19:03:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5\"},\"description\":\"All that the most terrible blasphemer has to say is tame and timid compared with what we have to say. You may sweep the gutters for foul jokes, but you\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2017\/03\/chestertonian-reflection-blasphemy-annunciation.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2017\/03\/chestertonian-reflection-blasphemy-annunciation.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2017\/03\/chestertonian-reflection-blasphemy-annunciation.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Chestertonian reflection on blasphemy and the Annunciation\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/\",\"name\":\"Catholic and Enjoying It!\",\"description\":\"Mark Shea's Blog: So That No Thought of Mine, No Matter How Stupid, Should Ever Go Unpublished Again!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5\",\"name\":\"Mark Shea\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mark Shea\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/author\/markshea\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Chestertonian reflection on blasphemy and the Annunciation","description":"All that the most terrible blasphemer has to say is tame and timid compared with what we have to say. You may sweep the gutters for foul jokes, but you","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2017\/03\/chestertonian-reflection-blasphemy-annunciation.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Chestertonian reflection on blasphemy and the Annunciation","og_description":"All that the most terrible blasphemer has to say is tame and timid compared with what we have to say. You may sweep the gutters for foul jokes, but you","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2017\/03\/chestertonian-reflection-blasphemy-annunciation.html","og_site_name":"Catholic and Enjoying It!","article_published_time":"2017-03-25T18:56:13+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-03-25T19:03:25+00:00","author":"Mark Shea","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark Shea","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2017\/03\/chestertonian-reflection-blasphemy-annunciation.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2017\/03\/chestertonian-reflection-blasphemy-annunciation.html","name":"A Chestertonian reflection on blasphemy and the Annunciation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-03-25T18:56:13+00:00","dateModified":"2017-03-25T19:03:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5"},"description":"All that the most terrible blasphemer has to say is tame and timid compared with what we have to say. You may sweep the gutters for foul jokes, but you","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2017\/03\/chestertonian-reflection-blasphemy-annunciation.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2017\/03\/chestertonian-reflection-blasphemy-annunciation.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2017\/03\/chestertonian-reflection-blasphemy-annunciation.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Chestertonian reflection on blasphemy and the Annunciation"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/","name":"Catholic and Enjoying It!","description":"Mark Shea's Blog: So That No Thought of Mine, No Matter How Stupid, Should Ever Go Unpublished Again!","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5","name":"Mark Shea","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mark Shea"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/author\/markshea"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99689\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}