Orthodoxy
G. K. Chesterton's 1908 "spiritual autobiography", a classic of Christian apologetics.
At a glance
Key ideas
The maniac, The suicide of thought, The ethics of Elfland …
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- Chesterton sets out not whether the Christian faith can be believed, but how he personally came to believe it.
- He presents it as the answer to natural human needs, "the answer to a riddle".
- Rather than explaining away its paradoxes, he embraces them as evidence that it is true.
- He wrote it as an Anglican, 14 years before he became a Catholic.
Why it matters
- Because it rests on the plain Apostles' Creed, its case appeals to Christians of many denominations.
Key facts
- Author
- G. K. Chesterton1
- Published
- 19081
- Origin
- A reply to G. S. Street's 1905 challenge to state his own theology, after Heretics1
- Companion to
- Heretics (1905)1
Key ideas
-
The maniac1
Materialism is coherent but very narrow, and it destroys freedom.
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The suicide of thought1
The modern world is full of virtues gone wrong; pure scepticism defeats itself.
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The ethics of Elfland1
Fairy tales keep the line between necessary laws of reason and facts that could have been otherwise.
-
Loving without a reason1
The person who loves a place without a reason is the one who will improve it.
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The romance of orthodoxy1
Rules make adventure possible, as walls let children play safely on an island.
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