A Brief Apology


excerpted from 'The Battleground, Syria and Palestine' by Hillaire Belloc

This interesting piece is taken from the complete preface to Belloc's "The Battleground, Syria and Palestine".

He demonstrates here an attitude I attempt and aspire to emulate. Unapologetically faithful. Indeed, he seems to poke gentle fun at those who mock him for his beliefs. He humbly turns the mocking back on itself, and reveals it to be a fraud born of fear - they are afraid to believe.


"This book needs a brief apology. The writer has not only taken for granted that there is a God, but also design in the Universe and in the story of Mankind."

"He has affirmed a special design in the story of Syria and particularly of Israel, reaching a climax at the Crucifixion. He even seems to imply the Divinity of his Saviour."

"All this must sound so unusual today that it may be thought an affectation, deliberately assumed to startle and offend. Such a feeling will be enhanced by the discovery that he takes the Gospel of St. John to have been written by St. John and even allows some historical value to the Old Testament."

"The sole excuse he offers for his extravagance is that the present generation is tolerant of novel ideas, and that therefore he may hope for indulgence."

HILAIRE BELLOC
Kings Land

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