Democracy or Aristocracy of the Dead

“Tradition means giving a vote to most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead.”-Orthodoxy, Ch.4, “The Ethics of Elfland”, G.K. Chesterton

I deeply appreciate much of what G.K. Chesterton has written. I have quoted the above by Chesterton concerning Tradition and Democracy and for many years I agreed with it until one day I was listening to a lecture, Tradition and Culture*, by Fr. Patrick Reardon and my mind, with some hesitation, was changed. Fr. Patrick pointed out that if Chesterton’s statement were true, then we could one day out vote our ancestors. Fr. Patrick then went on to say that he believed in the aristocracy of the dead, which I think expresses a more Orthodox approach to Tradition. Every generation is not simply rediscovering what our ancestors believed and voting for it again. If this were the case then we might just discover something different and vote for that instead. We might even say we share something with our ancestors, but decide to add to what they have given to us in the name of progress. No, we receive the Truth (Jesus Christ) from our ancestors, our Fathers, and preserve and pass it along unchanged to our own children.

In this same lecture Fr. Patrick pointed out that our culture is the generation of Esau who sold his birthright for one bowl of porridge. Our culture has sold out for the temporary pleasures and passions of our fallenness.

*I have heard Fr. Patrick give this lecture twice. I think the first lecture given for Touchstone Magazine’s Evening Lecture series was better than the second lecture given for the Anglican Colloquium which can be heard on Ancient Faith Radio, linked above. The first lecture can be purchased from Orthodox Tapes by calling (479) 750-3808 evenings before 9:00 Central Time.