The writer might describe in a purely historical spirit the whole of the Franciscan inspiration that was felt in the painting of Giotto, in the poetry of Dante, in the miracle plays that made possible the modern drama, and in so many things that are already appreciated by the modern culture. There would still be a great deal to be said about the man who tried to end the Crusades by talking to the Saracens or who interceded with the Emporer for the birds. It is quite true that even from so detached a standpoint his stature would still appear heroic. Francis for his self denial or unduly chide him for his chastity.

His religion can be regarded as a superstition, but an inevitable superstition, from which not even genius could wholly free itself in the consideration of which it would be unjust to condemn St. And in comparison with all these things, his ascetical theology can be ignored or dismissed as a contempory accident, which was fortunately not a fatal accident. He has been described as a sort of morning star of the Renaissance. He could be presented, not only as a human but a humanitarian hero indeed as the first hero of humanism. All those things that were first discovered by Tolstoy could have been taken for granted by St Francis. All those things that nobody understood before Wordsworth were familiar to St. Francis anticipated all that is most liberal and sympathetic in the modern mood the love of nature the love of animals the sense of social compassion the sense of the spiritual dangers of prosperity and even of property. He may say (what means very little) that St. He may describe this divine demagogue as being, as he probably was, the world’s one quite sincere democrat. At least, it would be the most difficult if the other two were not impossible.įirst, he may deal with this great and most amazing man as a figure in secular history and a model of social virtues. Between these the writer must make his selection and the third way, which is adopted here, is in some respects the most difficult of all. Francis of Assisi in modern English may be written in one of three ways.

Gk chesterton francis of assisi