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Summary: Orthodoxy and democracy
Review: G. K. Chesterton's book "Orthodoxy" argues forcefully that democratic reforms and revolutions must be founded on a fixed ideal, that the false concept of "progress" impedes real progress, that a doctrine of "Original Sin" is the only real basis for political equality, and many other things much worth thinking about. I highly recommend his chapters "The Suicide of Thought" and "The Ethics of Elfland" for a wonderful critique of modern philosophy. His style is superlative. Reading Chesterton is a joy.
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Summary: Classic apologetics text
Review: G.K. Chesterton came to his belief in Christianity through the "back door", so to speak. He found the existing philosophies of the time illogical, formulated his own, and then found that what his own philosophy resembled most of all was Christianity. Christianity, to Chesterton, gives one much more freedom than liberalism. While this is an often entertaining read, it takes an alert mind to grasp all that Chesterton is saying in this book. This is one of those texts, like Lewis' "Mere Christianity", that stands the test of time, and is worth having on one's shelf to peruse again and again for nuggets of wisdom.
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Summary: If You Read One Book of Apologetics, Make It This One
Review: GK has a way of bringing up ideas that seem revolutionary at first blush, but upon explanation wind up being obvious. Indeed, in his introduction, he describes his own spiritual journey that way: he likens himself to a British explorer setting sail in his yacht who winds up discovering England. He begins by explaining the limitations of reason, pointing out that men go mad not by losing their reason, but by losing everything except their reason. GK says poets seek to get their heads into the heavens, but rationalists seek to get heaven into their heads. This latter process can (not must) lead to madness. Next, GK considers the leading philosophies of his day-pragmatism, determinism, and Nietzche's theory of Will-in light of this excessive rationalism. He sums up neatly: "A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed. Nowadays the part of a man that a man does assert is exactly the part he ought not to assert himself. The part he doubts is exactly the part he ought not to doubt -- the Divine Reason." On the ensuing pages GK shows how Christianity alone provides the key for how one is to live. A few aspects of his arguments struck me as exceptional. His arguments are eminently reasonable, not mystical appeals to faith. His arguments consider the whole of man, from the broadest possible historical, psychological, and political perspectives. His arguments are balanced: he is unafraid to point out the weaknesses of his position and the strengths of another. Finally, his arguments are imbued with a gentility, humility and lightheartedness that are sorely lacking in our public debate. It is a rare thing to be persuasive on questions of religious belief and morality; GK not only manages to pull it off, he provides a few chuckles in the bargain.
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Summary: If You Read One Book of Apologetics, Make It This One
Review: GK has a way of bringing up ideas that seem revolutionary at first blush, but upon explanation wind up being obvious. Indeed, in his introduction, he describes his own spiritual journey that way: he likens himself to a British explorer setting sail in his yacht who winds up discovering England. He begins by explaining the limitations of reason, pointing out that men go mad not by losing their reason, but by losing everything except their reason. GK says poets seek to get their heads into the heavens, but rationalists seek to get heaven into their heads. This latter process can (not must) lead to madness. Next, GK considers the leading philosophies of his day-pragmatism, determinism, and Nietzche's theory of Will-in light of this excessive rationalism. He sums up neatly: "A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed. Nowadays the part of a man that a man does assert is exactly the part he ought not to assert himself. The part he doubts is exactly the part he ought not to doubt -- the Divine Reason." On the ensuing pages GK shows how Christianity alone provides the key for how one is to live. A few aspects of his arguments struck me as exceptional. His arguments are eminently reasonable, not mystical appeals to faith. His arguments consider the whole of man, from the broadest possible historical, psychological, and political perspectives. His arguments are balanced: he is unafraid to point out the weaknesses of his position and the strengths of another. Finally, his arguments are imbued with a gentility, humility and lightheartedness that are sorely lacking in our public debate. It is a rare thing to be persuasive on questions of religious belief and morality; GK not only manages to pull it off, he provides a few chuckles in the bargain.
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Summary: Misleading Title - Dated Book
Review: Having come recently to the Orthodox faith, I eagerly cracked the covers of G.K. Chresterton's ORTHODOXY, The Romance of Faith. What I found was a carmudgeon's rantings, which for the most part consisted of points that had faulty underpinnings. More disturbing still was the underlying racism and elitism woven throughout the fabric of this so-called testimonal on faith. Fortunatley for me, this book isn't even actually about Orthodoxy, but about Roman Catholicism, and Anglicanism, so my burgeoning faith is still safe from the likes of Chesterton.
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Summary: A Masterpiece
Review: I feel sort of silly trying to review a book by Chesterton so I'll just say this: I have read this book twice. The first time I read it I was so disappointed in it that I became angry for having wasted my time. To my eventual benefit I wrote scathing remarks in the margins of each page. A decade later I picked it up again and that's when things got weird. As I read it a second time I got the distinct impression that I was reading a vastly different book. Had the contents magically changed? My scathing margin notes remained the same, however, and I could vaguely discern which passages from Chesterton they were allegedly referring to. I could even, with the help of my notes, reconstruct what I had once thought Chesterton was "hopelessly trying to say." Since my second reading I have come to regard it as one of my favorite writings. This is truly a masterpiece written by one of the most gifted and imaginative minds we've produced.
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Summary: I wanted to like this book
Review: I myself recently returned to the Catholic church, and I really wanted to like Chesterton's book. And I did *enjoy* it. His style is entertaining, and as a long-time C. S. Lewis fan I now know where Lewis got his own style. But in the end, what Chesterton seemed to have written was not Why I am a Christian or Why I am a Catholic, but Why I am a European. And he seems to have thought this amounted to the same thing. His dismissal of Islam as being cruel and suited to people from dry places is astonishing. His dismissal of knowing God within as leading to....Tibet is likewise astonishing! A lot of his argument seems to be prejudice dressed up as reasons. That he likes romance and adventure, and finds Christianity romantic and adventurous is all very well, but if Christianity is true, it is intended for Tibet and the dry places of the earth as well as the cozy English countryside that he loves.
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Summary: Who Should Read This?
Review: I really liked this book, but to recommend something without discretion is not always wise.
I would recommend this book to the person who feels poisoned by the eminent despair and boredom of modern thinking.
Secondly, I would recommend it to the thoughtful and sincere agnostic as an aid in his or her efforts in searching for the answer.
Lastly, I would recommend it to the thoughtful Christian (and I would like to encourage all fellow Christians to be thoughtful). I feel that I should also note this: Chesterton was not concerned so much with elaborate arguments and defenses of Christian faith when he wrote this book, rather it is a challenge to our basic assumptions upon which the vast majority of our arguments lie.
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Summary: I'd like to see Chesterton take on Oprah Winfrey!
Review: I think perhaps the best way to describe G. K. Chesterton is the way he described the character Sunday in his book "The Man Who Was Thursday": "He's such a bounder." Truly, Chesterton, like Sunday, had a huge personality, but his hugeness was the hugeness of a balloon. There is nothing stuffy or monolithic about Chesterton's works. They are never dull or heavy. They seem to breathe with vigor and vitality. Chesterton was indeed a great man. He has a greatness of spirit like few other authors I have read; sometimes I think if he took on the whole of the modern world it would be the world that got the beating.
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Summary: Witty, Wise, and Wonderful: May Be the Best Apology Ever
Review: I think this book is one of the greatest apologies for the Christian faith ever penned; possibly even better than C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity". Rather than attempting to build an airtight logical argument from the ground up in which the reader is forced to accept the premises of Christianity or be logically inconsistent, Chesterton builds his apologetic on the idea of wonder and imagination. He attempts to show that anyone who enjoys an imaginative, romantic, adventure filled life owes it to themself to look into the Christian faith, because this is exactly what it offers. He offers a frank disclaimer at the beginning of the book in which he says that anyone who does not want this kind of life need not read this book because it has nothing to offer them. He constantly attempts to make the reader see the mystery and the glory of normal, everyday things and then argues that Christianity offers the best possible scenario for holding together the mysterious with the mundane. The fact that the book is focused on mystery, romance, and imagination, however, is not to say that Chesterton rejects logic or good critical thinking altogether. To the contrary, he delightfully skewers, slices, and dices the inconsistency and ridiculousness of a great deal of worldly wisdom and the popular thinking of his age, which, as it turns out, does not look all that different from a great deal of the accepted wisdom of our own. Chesterton, however, recognizes that logic has it's limits, and that it cannot fully appeal to or account for all that makes us human. The book is filled with many wonderful passages, and there are parts of the book where it seems like every line you read is a quotable quote. So, with Chesterton's disclaimer in mind, if you are looking for an eminently readable, and unique defense of the Christian faith you owe it to yourself to get this book.
On a final note, I feel the need to respond to the reader who accuses Chesterton of being racist and elitist in this book. I'm wondering if the reader read the same book I did, as I found nothing that I can recall that was racist or elitist at all, and anyone who knows anything about Chesterton at all will know that he was neither of these things. Chesterton was one of the greatest spokesmen of all time for the importance of ordinary people and common values and morality, and, especially in his later life, was an outspoken opponent of racist practices and groups like eugenics and the Nazi party.
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