Orthodoxy

Rating:
Summary: Wordy, but well worth a read
Review: "Orthodoxy" is described by Chesterton as "a slovenly autobiography", a description that's really not too far off the mark. Instead of depending upon rigorous logic, the contents of this work are rather "mental pictures" of a sort, which is what the author states at the outset. This sort of approach is easy to attack by any contrarian skeptic, but I can't criticize Chesterton, as he and I are really cut from the same cloth. Loath to state the obvious, we both prefer to *illustrate* the truth via induction. This is a perfectly valid method of presenting ideas, it's just that it's easy to misunderstand and misrepresent. It's for this reason that this book probably wouldn't change someone's mind-kind of a litmus test for the open-minded, which, it turns out, self-proclaimed 'skeptics' or 'freethinkers' are anything but.

Chesterton makes two really good points throughout the book: 1) sanity lies in maintaining seemingly opposed extremes in a kind of dramatic tension. It's not balance, it's both at once. It's not a contradiction, it's a paradox. Christianity fits this like nothing else: singularity/plurality, freedom/servanthood, individuality/assimilation, etc., all are fused together in seeming contradiction of common sense. But don't we always find truth to be stranger than fiction? In contrast, monomania is a kind of insanity, like total belief in oneself, or the belief that one unfalsifiable human construct, like evolution, completely illuminates everything. 2) The importance of maintaining a kind of humble childlike wonder about the world, the universe, about existence itself. What if you saw a four-inch-long fully-functional helicopter hovering about? Wouldn't that be delightfully incredible? Not too long ago, after reading this book, it dawned on me, upon observing a dragonfly, that that was precisely what I was looking at. I'm not even talking about creationism, irreducible complexity, any of that. It is in fact, neither here nor there. Just the fact that such a marvelous thing should exist, by any means, is truly stupendous. It should inspire deeper thought about fundamental issues. The modern-day 'scientific' priesthood is perpetually at pains to systematically dismantle the ability to see things this way even as they proclaim it superficially.

The funny thing about Chesterton's writing is that he gets so wrapped up in his ideas that rather strange-sounding, apparent non-sequiturs come up every so often. A sample Chestertonism: "As a fact, anthropophagy [cannibalism] is certainly a decadent thing, not a primitive one. It is much more likely that modern men will eat human flesh out of affectation, than that primitive man ate it out of ignorance." Well, duh!? As in his Father Brown mysteries, Chesterton loves to toss off sweeping statements, and is a bit too shy of explicating his ideas with the utmost clarity sometimes; chalk it up to slovenliness, I guess.But for the most part his ideas are sound and his writing thought-provoking.

Rating:
Summary: A Spiritual and Philosophical Marksman
Review: "Joy...is the gigantic secret of the Christian...[Jesus] the
tremendous figure which fills the Gospels towers in this respect...above all the thinkers who ever thought themselves tall... never concealed His tears...He never restrained His anger...Yet He concealed something...shyness...There was something He hid from all men when He went up a mountain to pray...There was something that He covered constantly by abrupt silence or impetuous isolation. There was some one thing that was too great for God to show us when He walked upon our earth...His mirth." (Orthodoxy)

Beautiful, isn't it! Chesterton is the Ring Master of thoughts, able to take our fragmented ideas and tame them with a perfect balance of eloquence, poetry, and logic. He is also like a skilled combatant. How is a non-believer, or a non-catholic, able joust with this man's mind? His ideas are razor sharp, liberating for those who seek the truth but deadly for those who would dare wield their clumsy philosophy. And his delivery is nothing less than a masterful marksman--right at the heart of the matter.

Rating:
Summary: Wordy, but well worth a read
Review: "Orthodoxy" is described by Chesterton as "a slovenly autobiography", a description that's really not too far off the mark. Instead of depending upon rigorous logic, the contents of this work are rather "mental pictures" of a sort, which is what the author states at the outset. This sort of approach is easy to attack by any contrarian skeptic, but I can't criticize Chesterton, as he and I are really cut from the same cloth. Loath to state the obvious, we both prefer to *illustrate* the truth via induction. This is a perfectly valid method of presenting ideas, it's just that it's easy to misunderstand and misrepresent. It's for this reason that this book probably wouldn't change someone's mind-kind of a litmus test for the open-minded, which, it turns out, self-proclaimed 'skeptics' or 'freethinkers' are anything but.

Chesterton makes two really good points throughout the book: 1) sanity lies in maintaining seemingly opposed extremes in a kind of dramatic tension. It's not balance, it's both at once. It's not a contradiction, it's a paradox. Christianity fits this like nothing else: singularity/plurality, freedom/servanthood, individuality/assimilation, etc., all are fused together in seeming contradiction of common sense. But don't we always find truth to be stranger than fiction? In contrast, monomania is a kind of insanity, like total belief in oneself, or the belief that one unfalsifiable human construct, like evolution, completely illuminates everything. 2) The importance of maintaining a kind of humble childlike wonder about the world, the universe, about existence itself. What if you saw a four-inch-long fully-functional helicopter hovering about? Wouldn't that be delightfully incredible? Not too long ago, after reading this book, it dawned on me, upon observing a dragonfly, that that was precisely what I was looking at. I'm not even talking about creationism, irreducible complexity, any of that. It is in fact, neither here nor there. Just the fact that such a marvelous thing should exist, by any means, is truly stupendous. It should inspire deeper thought about fundamental issues. The modern-day 'scientific' priesthood is perpetually at pains to systematically dismantle the ability to see things this way even as they proclaim it superficially.

The funny thing about Chesterton's writing is that he gets so wrapped up in his ideas that rather strange-sounding, apparent non-sequiturs come up every so often. A sample Chestertonism: "As a fact, anthropophagy [cannibalism] is certainly a decadent thing, not a primitive one. It is much more likely that modern men will eat human flesh out of affectation, than that primitive man ate it out of ignorance." Well, duh!? As in his Father Brown mysteries, Chesterton loves to toss off sweeping statements, and is a bit too shy of explicating his ideas with the utmost clarity sometimes; chalk it up to slovenliness, I guess.But for the most part his ideas are sound and his writing thought-provoking.

Rating:
Summary:

a "singular grace note in God's creative purpose"
Review:

Those who have read Chesterton realize that he is the sort of man with whom the world is blessed every 100 years or so. A master writer and wry philosopher, Chesterton provides in his book Orthodoxy one of the best summaries available concerning the life in Christ. Even though he found God calling him to the Church of Rome, readers from a wide range of backgrounds - evangelical Protestants of all "flavors", fundamentalists, Eastern Orthodox, Episcopalians, Baptists, Pentacostalists, Lutherans, and yes, Roman Catholics - will discover new insights into their walk with the Christ.

Chesterton has the ability to make us see things anew. In Orthodoxy, he helps us to see the Church in a new way, and he helps us to see afresh the One who founded His Church - Jesus Christ. The book is not an apologetic for Roman Catholicism, but rather one for orthodox Christianity itself.

Chesterton is simultaneously a master of the written word and one who knows his Master. To borrow a phrase (applied to something else, but applicable here) of Richard John Neuhaus, Chesterton is a "singular grace note in God's creative purpose". For those who have not read Chesterton, Orthodoxy is probably the best place to start, followed by The Everlasting Man, followed by the delighful (and insightful) Father Brown stories, followed by ...

Rating:
Summary: It won't convince nonbelievers
Review: A Catholic friend recommended "Orthodoxy" by way of trying to justify faith. While it is a very elegant and wittily written book, I can't say it meets that mark.

"Orthodoxy" is the very personal account of G.K. Chesterton's journey to the Christian faith. But because it is so personal, it doesn't explain faith objectively, but rather only to Chesterton's satisfaction. And having reached the same conclusion as Chesterton, I'm sure it is also to the satisfaction of most believers.

It is a little frustrating to read the parts where he sets about destroying straw men, or when he proves a point by changing the argument into a semantic one. On the other hand it's a pleasure to see him pick on the likes of Nietzsche. The ultimate lesson that comes from the book, though, is the tautology that faith can't be proven, which is why many good, honest folks don't have any.

To Chesterton, life is more romantic and, indeed, livable if you accept that some things are beyond human understanding, that there is no sense in trying to explain them, and that they might as well be explained by magic. He believed that "something that we have never in any full sense known, is not only better than ourselves, but even more natural to us than ourselves." This no doubt filled him with comfort because it would give rhyme and reason to lots of chaos in the world. But this attitude can also be interpreted as intellectual laziness, if not cowardice. It is much easier to believe, on faith, in "fairy tales" (as Chesterton proudly called them), than to accept the natural world, as inscrutable as it is, and seek valiantly to understand its mysteries before one's time is up.

So, while it is an enjoyable read, this book is likely doubly enjoyed by a believer who is looking for a reaffirmation of his faith. Non-believers will find it interesting, if undeservedly condescending.

Rating:
Summary: It won't convince nonbelievers
Review: A Catholic friend recommended "Orthodoxy" by way of trying to justify faith. While it is a very elegant and wittily written book, I can't say it meets that mark.

"Orthodoxy" is the very personal account of G.K. Chesterton's journey to the Christian faith. But because it is so personal, it doesn't explain faith objectively, but rather only to Chesterton's satisfaction. And having reached the same conclusion as Chesterton, I'm sure it is also to the satisfaction of most believers.

It is a little frustrating to read the parts where he sets about destroying straw men, or when he proves a point by changing the argument into a semantic one. On the other hand it's a pleasure to see him pick on the likes of Nietzsche. The ultimate lesson that comes from the book, though, is the tautology that faith can't be proven, which is why many good, honest folks don't have any.

To Chesterton, life is more romantic and, indeed, livable if you accept that some things are beyond human understanding, that there is no sense in trying to explain them, and that they might as well be explained by magic. He believed that "something that we have never in any full sense known, is not only better than ourselves, but even more natural to us than ourselves." This no doubt filled him with comfort because it would give rhyme and reason to lots of chaos in the world. But this attitude can also be interpreted as intellectual laziness, if not cowardice. It is much easier to believe, on faith, in "fairy tales" (as Chesterton proudly called them), than to accept the natural world, as inscrutable as it is, and seek valiantly to understand its mysteries before one's time is up.

So, while it is an enjoyable read, this book is likely doubly enjoyed by a believer who is looking for a reaffirmation of his faith. Non-believers will find it interesting, if undeservedly condescending.

Rating:
Summary: C.S. who?
Review: A great book even for its literary excellence alone. I've never read anyone which such a mastery of words. I don't understand why his guy isn't required reading in schools.
CS's Lewis' Mere Christianity is probably the most popular book on Christianity, outside the Bible, in the US. Perhaps because it can be read by little children. But before Mere Christianity, there was Orthodoxy and I would recommend it over Mere Christianity anyday.

Rating:
Summary: An amazing book, one of the best I ever read
Review: A sparkling defense of the one thing most people seem to think indefensible, Christian orthodox thought (You know, old school). This book is a positive, intelligent, funny defense of the faith. One of the best I've ever read.

Rating:
Summary: Chesterton is one of the greats!
Review: After finishing this book I had a question...why can't more books be like this?

Chesterton is a masterful writer with humor and wit that entertains and with a sharp mind and tongue that keeps you wanting to know more about his beliefs. He follows the belief that there is nothing more exciting or dangerous than having an orthodox christian belief. Writing from a Catholic perspective, he truly is one of the greatest authors of this century. No wonder CS Lewis admired him so much, Orthodoxy is a masterpiece of literature and storytelling.

Rating:
Summary: Leaves you wanting more!
Review: After reading the first paragraph, I thought, "I wish I had written this book."

Chesterton has the gift of thought and the gift of expression, a rare commodity in the age of chatter and blather. I found myself puffing to keep up with his logic!

I think the power of the book is found in the subtitle: romance and faith. Americans see God through the squint of Puritanism, so we see Him as merely a syllogism or a cosmic party pooper. We forget that our God was once accused of being a glutton and wine-bibber. I could see many alleged Christians doing likewise if He were here today. Chesterton breaths the life back into Adam's clay, and for this I thank him!