If G.K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy: The Romance of Faith is, as he called it, a "slovenly autobiography," then we need more slobs in the world. This quirky, slender book describes how Chesterton came to view orthodox Catholic Christianity as the way to satisfy his personal emotional needs, in a way that would also allow him to live happily in society. Chesterton argues that people in western society need a life of "practical romance, the combination of something that is strange with something that is secure. We need so to view the world as to combine an idea of wonder and an idea of welcome." Drawing on such figures as Fra Angelico, George Bernard Shaw, and St. Paul to make his points, Chesterton argues that submission to ecclesiastical authority is the way to achieve a good and balanced life. The whole book is written in a style that is as majestic and down-to-earth as C.S. Lewis at his best. The final chapter, called "Authority and the Adventurer," is especially persuasive. It's hard to imagine a reader who will not close the book believing, at least for the moment, that the Church will make you free. --Michael Joseph Gross
Review
"Whenever I feel my faith going dry again, I wander to a shelf and pick up a book by G.K. Chesterton."
--from the foreword by Philip Yancey, author of What's So Amazing About Grace? and The Jesus I Never Knew
"My favorite on the list [of top 100 spiritual classics of the twentieth century] is Chesterton's Orthodoxy. It offers wonderful arguments for embracing religious traditions, but it also has humor you don't typically find in religious writing."
--Philip Zaleski, author and journalist
Named by Publisher's Weekly as one of 10 "indispensable spiritual classics" of the past 1500 years.
"Chesterton's most enduring book.... Charming."
Review
"Whenever I feel my faith going dry again, I wander to a shelf and pick up a book by G.K. Chesterton."
--from the foreword by Philip Yancey, author of What's So Amazing About Grace? and The Jesus I Never Knew
"My favorite on the list [of top 100 spiritual classics of the twentieth century] is Chesterton's Orthodoxy. It offers wonderful arguments for embracing religious traditions, but it also has humor you don't typically find in religious writing."
--Philip Zaleski, author and journalist
Named by Publisher's Weekly as one of 10 "indispensable spiritual classics" of the past 1500 years.
"Chesterton's most enduring book.... Charming."
Book Description
A Timeless Argument for Traditional Christianity
If you think orthodoxy is boring and predictable, think again. In this timeless classic, G. K. Chesterton, one of the literary giants of the twentieth century, presents a logical and personal reasoning for Christianity in model apologetic form. Gilbert Keith Chesterton was a self-described pagan at age 12 and totally agnostic by age 16. Yet, his spiritual journey ultimately led to a personal philosophy of orthodox, biblical Christianity. The account of his experiences, Orthodoxy bridges the centuries and appeals to today's readers who face the same challenges of materialism, self-centeredness, and progress.
"Hope means hoping when things are hopeless, or it is no virtue at all. And faith mean believing the incredible, or it is no virtue at all."
--G.K. Chesterton
A unique book, Orthodoxy addresses our faith struggles and how we communicate our faith to others. Through philosophy, poetry, reason and humor Chesterton leads us on a literary journey toward truth.
This edition includes a foreword by Philip Yancey who, like C. S. Lewis and other leading Christian writers, found this book to be pivotal his Christian experience. Yancey credits Chesterton with helping to revive and define his faith.
Download Description
The real trouble with this world of ours is not that it is an unreasonable world, nor even that it is a reasonable one. The commonest kind of trouble is that it is nearly reasonable, but not quite. Life is not an illogicality; yet it is a trap for logicians. It looks just a little more mathematical and regular than it is; its exactitude is obvious, but its inexactitude is hidden; its wildness lies in wait.
From the Publisher
Although he gained renown for his Father Brown stories, G.K. Chesterton is also considered to be the father of modern popular spiritual writing. Orthodoxy is his spiritual autobiography. Since it was first published in 1908, it has not lost its power as a timeless argument for the simple plausibility of an orthodox Christianity.
From the Inside Flap
A Timeless Argument for Traditional Christianity
If you think orthodoxy is boring and predictable, think again. In this timeless classic, G. K. Chesterton, one of the literary giants of the twentieth century, presents a logical and personal reasoning for Christianity in model apologetic form. Gilbert Keith Chesterton was a self-described pagan at age 12 and totally agnostic by age 16. Yet, his spiritual journey ultimately led to a personal philosophy of orthodox, biblical Christianity. The account of his experiences, Orthodoxy bridges the centuries and appeals to today's readers who face the same challenges of materialism, self-centeredness, and progress.
"Hope means hoping when things are hopeless, or it is no virtue at all. And faith mean believing the incredible, or it is no virtue at all."
--G.K. Chesterton
A unique book, Orthodoxy addresses our faith struggles and how we communicate our faith to others. Through philosophy, poetry, reason and humor Chesterton leads us on a literary journey toward truth.
This edition includes a foreword by Philip Yancey who, like C. S. Lewis and other leading Christian writers, found this book to be pivotal his Christian experience. Yancey credits Chesterton with helping to revive and define his faith.
From the Back Cover
"Whenever I feel my faith going dry again, I wander to a shelf and pick up a book by G.K. Chesterton."
--from the foreword by Philip Yancey, author of What's So Amazing About Grace? and The Jesus I Never Knew
"My favorite on the list [of top 100 spiritual classics of the twentieth century] is Chesterton's Orthodoxy. It offers wonderful arguments for embracing religious traditions, but it also has humor you don't typically find in religious writing."
--Philip Zaleski, author and journalist
Named by Publisher's Weekly as one of 10 "indispensable spiritual classics" of the past 1500 years.
"Chesterton's most enduring book.... Charming."
About the Author
Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) was an English journalist, poet, biographer, historian, debater, radio personality, and novelist. One of the literary giants of the twentieth century, Chesterton constantly participated in public life, debating George Bernard Shaw and H.G. Wells, and maintaining on-going witty arguments with leading journalists and critics of his time. He is the author of more than 100 books on a wide variety of subjects; he is best known for his much-loved Father Brown series of detective stories and this apologetic classic.
Orthodoxy: The Classic Account of a Remarkable Christian Experience FROM THE PUBLISHER
Chesterton's classic explanation of the essentials of the Christian faith and of his pilgrimage to belief. Written in 1908, it displays all the intellectual clarity and literary skill of one of this century's greatest and most thoughtful authors. 'He is as much a political writer as George Orwell. Politics, in the narrow, as well as the widest, sense, informs and inspires his writing, which is why he remained all his life a journalist, to the despair of those who recognized the enormous scale of his gifts. But that is what Chesterton wanted to be, a 'jolly journalist'...because he thought his message important, and from Fleet Street it could reach the people who needed it most, and who perhaps had the best chance of understanding it.'—P.J. Kavanagh
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