Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

read book* *Different edition

Orthodoxy

4.3 of 5 stars 4.30 · rating details · 8,510 ratings · 597 reviews

Chesterton (The Man Who Knew Too Much) capped his brilliant literary career with this exploration of "right thinking," and how it led to his acceptance of the Christian faith. Although this is a very personal account of his conversion, Chesterton makes it clear he came to a rational decision based upon his scholarly examination of Christianity's arguments, intending to pro...more

Paperback, 168 pages

Published July 1st 2008 by Waking Lion Press (first published 1908)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Book of Mormon by The Church of Jesus Christ ...

Books (Besides the Bible) Recommended for Christian Readers

35th out of 1,900 books — 1,837 voters

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Favorite Christian Books

24th out of 762 books — 608 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Aug 01, 2011 jenn rated it 5 of 5 stars

I bought it because I heard this quote recently

"A child kicks its legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, "Do it again"; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough... It is possible that God says every morning, "D...more

44 likes · like · see review

Dec 11, 2012 Jonathan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Jonathan by: Steve aka Sckenda

Shelves: g-k-chesterton, personal-favourites, faith, non-fiction, humorous, classic-challenge, classic-literature

"Things can be irrelevant to the proposition that Christianity is false, but nothing can be irrelevant to the proposition that Christianity is true."

Certainly nothing is irrelevant to discussing Christianity when G.K. Chesterton writes a classic apologetics work. Orthodoxy is and is not a typical apologetics work. It defends the orthodox Christian world-view and it moreover discusses and reveals what Chesterton's own views and values were. As such Chesterton does not back away from discussing a...more

12 likes · like · see review

Feb 05, 2012 Clare Cannon rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: adults, non-fiction

A complex work of great scope that I will need to read a few more times. Chesterton uses metaphors to explain the meaning of his theses, and the reader must work to comprehend what they signify on different levels. I find it amazing that this was first published in 1908. Its ideas refer to - but are so independent from - the philosophies of that time, as though it were written today looking back on them rather than their contemporary.

I'll not write a comprehensive review, but just wish to list some of the things that particularly impressed me on first reading. Chesterton asserts that the only fitting way for us to consider the world is with a sense of wonder. Thus the world of fairy-tales with its magic and mystery is closer to reality than the most naturalistic world described by science. I agree! I need to think about this some more.

Then rather than focusing on the limitations placed on us in the world, we should consider the greatness of the world that has been given to us - with this whole world at our disposal, is it not natural that there should be a limit, the very boundaries of which ensure that we can 'dance and play on the top of the hill without the worry of falling off the cliff' - boundaries which allow us to live most fully and without fear?

On another theme he asserts that the problem with contemporary literature is that it is often centred around extraordinary, strange protagonists who do even more strange things, and so the reader finds them uninteresting because they cannot relate to them. The classics, he counters, wrote about ordinary people who did extraordinary things, and so they are interesting and the reader can relate. The same thought had occurred to me when bored with a contemporary novel, why does the protagonist have to be so strange? And the contemporary stories I love I now realise are often based on an ordinary character who has the courage to do something extraordinary. This would be worth exploring further, an article perhaps.

And I loved the last chapters when he writes with wonder of the person of Jesus shown in the Gospels, a God who is not afraid to let his tears be seen, and sometimes his anger, and yet who has a certain shyness and reserve that gives him an intriguing, attractive depth. I've often thought the same.

And so many more ideas that I'll need to consider slowly...(less)

5 likes · like · see review

Aug 01, 2008 Shane Avery rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: thought

It is with extreme reluctance that I condemn this work as worthless. The person who recommended it to me is one whose opinion and learning I respect greatly.

Chesterton seems to think (although I'm not entirely sure of anything in this book, inasmuch as the author refuses to write in anything but figurative language and metaphor. In fact, the term "mixed metaphor" is an entirely inappropriate descriptor. One would need to use exponents to keep track of the metaphors and smilies that he heaps upon...more It is with extreme reluctance that I condemn this work as worthless. The person who recommended it to me is one whose opinion and learning I respect greatly.

Chesterton seems to think (although I'm not entirely sure of anything in this book, inasmuch as the author refuses to write in anything but figurative language and metaphor. In fact, the term "mixed metaphor" is an entirely inappropriate descriptor. One would need to use exponents to keep track of the metaphors and smilies that he heaps upon one another in the attempt to explain his position) that Christianity, has achieved some miraculous balance, solved some insolvable paradox. Just what sort of paradox? I'm not entirely sure. He throws around labels like pessimist, optimist, anarchist, agnostic, atheist, anti-Christian, Modernist, rationalist, mild-rationalist, pagan, Christian, Christian Scientist, and quite many more, I assure you, without ever deigning so much as to provide even rough definitions of what he means. His argument is that Christianity leads to sanity, and anyone who argues otherwise is a damn (though thankfully not a damned) fool: "Perhaps, after all, it is Christianity that is sane and all its critics that are mad." (166)

But my favourite line has to be: "Our grandmothers were quite right when they said that Tom Paine and the free-thinkers unsettled the mind. They do. They unsettled mine horribly." (154) And it's those blasted "free-thinkers," according to Chesterton, who perpetrated this insidious and invidious idea that life itself is full of problems and uncertainty. For shame! It is only within the Christian context that one can find a worry-free and jolly existence. For you see, Christianity solves all of life's mysterious contradictions, for it is itself one giant and glorified contradiction. And just how does Christianity function thus? Here it is straight from the horse's mouth: "All that I am urging here can be expressed by saying that Christianity sought to keep two colours co-existent but pure. It is not a mixture like russet or purple, it is rather like a shot silk, for a shot silk is always at right angles, and is in the pattern of the cross." (174) Now why didn't I think of that?!

I recommend this work only to those who wish to learn how to write entirely in metaphor. Yet even this strained recommendation necessitates a caveat, best provided by Jack Nicholson's character in As Good as it Gets : "People who talk in metaphors oughta shampoo my Crotch."(less)

12 likes · like · see review

Jonathan I take this to be your statement of the book's thesis: "And it's those blasted "free-thinkers," according to Chesterton, who perpetrated this insidiou...more
updated Aug 01, 2008 07:06am

Jonathan All right, so ... reading Suzuki now, I'm having an even harder time understanding why you object so strongly to Chesterton's delight in metaphor, par...more
Aug 06, 2008 12:06pm

Mar 11, 2007 John rated it 5 of 5 stars

imagine walking into a dangerous and violent bar with the biggest, baddest ufc champion ever to grace the octagon. or walking into a house party with the hottest date ever. or entering a church basketball tournament with an nba caliber ringer on your team. i'm guessing that's what it would have felt like to walk with gk chesterton into a room full of skeptics and post-modern christian haters.

okay, that whole paragraph did not work. but this book deserves credit for being mostly a pre-modern wor...more

16 likes · like · see review

Jul 25, 2007 Fr.Bill M rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: christian-apologetics-polemics

This is an absolute must for either Catholics or Protestants, as Chesterton addresses an aspect of mere Christianity (it's profound and monumental common sensensicalness!) in a way that sparkles with wit, humor, and intellectual derring-do.

Incidentally, if you set yourself to reading it out loud, you will put yourself through a training in diction and oral expression that far surpasses anything you could ever hire.

12 likes · like · see review

Dec 15, 2011 Gwen Burrow rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: theology

I have to think of Chesterton as happy nitroglycerin. This book sends your head up into the clouds while driving your feet deep into the earth. It spins you dizzier than you've ever been, yet makes you walk straighter than you've ever walked.

Read this first in 2007, again in 2011.

12 likes · like · see review

Jul 06, 2007 Andrew rated it 4 of 5 stars

this review first appeared on [http://intraspace.blogspot.com]

i've finally finished reading his book 'orthodoxy'. it looks little, like a quick read, and then it isn't.

this book seems to have had a revival in the last couple of years. it's recommended by philip yancey, john eldridge mentions it a lot in his writings, and relevant media (purveyors of christian cool) have just released a version under their imprint. i suppose it was also considered a 'christian classic' before this recent press -...more

4 likes · like · see review

Jun 03, 2008 Skylar Burris rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: christianity

Chesterton is witty but dense; his reasoning requires concentration. If I am reading him and not paying close attention to the trajectory of his thought, I find myself saying, "What is he babbling about? What does this have to do with anything, let alone Christian orthodoxy?" If I am paying attention, however, I often find him extremely insightful, and I wish to highlight nearly ever line. I also find him quite contemporary; what he says seems to apply somehow to every age. This is not apologeti...more

7 likes · like · see review

Nov 20, 2009 Jamie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone who wants to understand why people would believe Catholicism

Recommended to Jamie by: C.S. Lewis, Peter Kreeft, Fulton Sheen

Shelves: catholic, christianity

I learned that the Orthodoxy of the Catholic faith is what keeps it (and the world) sane. It calls to us from our fairy tales while at the same time appealing to our logic.

I also learned why so many people, like C.S. Lewis, Scott Hahn, and J.R.R. Tolkien have made reference to G.K. Chesterton - he is brilliant. His mastery of the English language is second to none.

The only difficulty of this book is that it may come off as "high-brow" because it was written in the U.K. (and their English is diff...more

11 likes · like · see review

Aug 25, 2008 Briege rated it 5 of 5 stars

So far incredibly insightful and thought provoking.

3 likes · like · see review

Sep 14, 2012 anca dc rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, apologetics

Bucuria, care este mica publicitate a păgânului, este uriaşul secret al creştinului. Iar acum, când închid acest volum haotic, deschid din nou cartea mică şi stranie din care a purces întreg creştinismul; şi sunt urmărit de un fel de confirmare. Cutremurătorul personaj care umple paginile Evangheliilor se înalţă nemăsurat şi în această privinţă, ca în toate celelalte, deasupra tuturor gânditorilor care s-au crezut vreodată înalţi. Patosul său a fost natural, aproape detaşat. Stoicii, antici şi m...more

1 like · like · see review

May 28, 2012 Lady Jaye rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: classics, funny, favorites, non-fiction, autobiographical, christian-non-fiction, stars-5, read-in-2012

I am rereading this yet again.

UPDATED REVIEW:

"...and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear" 1 Peter 3: 15

That's what Mr. Chesterton set out to do with this book, and in my opinion he did it and did it excellently. Orthodoxy is the story of his personal journey to faith, and how his philosophy changed gradually until he decided to become a Christian with his eyes wide open.

I loved it. The text is not always clear...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 06, 2010 Chris rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When I first started reading this book, I was dumbfounded, and I quickly sensed my vulnerability. I’m used to reading challenging authors who work hard to drop-kick your old paradigms and hold you teeth-down to the grinding concrete they’re speeding recklessly over in pursuit of truth. I can sense when an author is sliding towards sensationalism and theatrics in his attempt to convince readers that their life is a sham and essentially a waste of time. I even like it when authors do that, because...more When I first started reading this book, I was dumbfounded, and I quickly sensed my vulnerability. I’m used to reading challenging authors who work hard to drop-kick your old paradigms and hold you teeth-down to the grinding concrete they’re speeding recklessly over in pursuit of truth. I can sense when an author is sliding towards sensationalism and theatrics in his attempt to convince readers that their life is a sham and essentially a waste of time. I even like it when authors do that, because I become so desensitized to it that much of authors’ fervent exhortation comes across my ‘reader’s-block’ as hardly a compunctive tickle. But Chesterton, called by Philip Yancey the ‘prophet of mirth’ for his playful manner, plays cat and mouse with his audience just about as well as I’ve ever experienced. He really spooked me initially, and though I think I finally fought my way out from under the crushing weight of some of HIS more untenable theses with some of my ideas intact, yet I’m not sure I’m the same person.

Chesterton makes you feel like you've never done any real thinking before this moment, or that until now you have been evading the truth all along to coddle your pet delusions. Remember those annoying kids from 3rd grade who would wait until you were resting your chin on your hand, and they’d ever so slightly bump your elbow, knocking out your chin rest? Well, I was one of those annoying kids, and I relished observing the resulting shift in balance that was enough to make the whole body jerk as it overcompensated to stay in charge. It is precisely in this way that Chesterton wakes a person from their philosophical stupor—by relentlessly poking at an idea that may not seem to underpin the whole system, but the whole comes crashing down to reveal what a small, unlikely, pitiful rivet held it all tenuously together. He is a jester that playfully and ironically disarms his opponents, then urbanely turns their own weapons against them to reveal the sharpness, or dullness, of their own points. There were times while reading that I found my arguments suddenly naked and defenseless before the might of even his most flippant, tongue-in-cheek remarks. I loved and hated it.

The reason why I hated it is obvious—it’s uncomfortable and cumbrous to get through because it’s so startlingly fresh and painfully alive—like rich blood to a sleepy limb. But he's fighting for us. He asserts our right as common men and women, mundane thinkers but strong in action, to make decisions befitting kings and queens of creation. We are born into a world that we must first be loyal to, because we are grateful, but we must also reform it into what it was meant to become. We have the right to dream, and we have the duty to act, and this is exactly what Chesterton's ideas free us to do. If there was ever a person that felt cowered by the giants of secular academics bloated with information, or left behind by the awful speed of cerebral athletes—then Chesterton is flying his beautiful banner of ideological democracy over you.

My more negative critique would touch on Chesterton's defense of Christianity as if it were the only thing of its type. In one sense it is, but only inasmuch as every religion is a unique blend of conservatism and progressivisim, of thinking and action, of love and truth. If Christianity is special as a balance of the gamut, then Bhudism/Islam can be thanked for being the extremes that help define the moderate, although I’m sure every belief system prefers to view itself as the mean and not the extreme. I'm not in agreement with the broad strokes which Chesterton paints non-Christian religions with, but I do love his idea of the perfectly balanced belief system (Christianity in his mind) being a precise balance of 'furious opposites'. This is nothing new in philosophical thought: Aristotle has his virtues, Hegel his dialectics, Jung his tension of opposites; but Chesterton's idea is somewhat original in that it preserves the full energy of his ‘opposites’ in equilibrium instead of abating their energies at an impasse.

I wasn’t sure about the title when I began this book, and I received different perspectives as to whether or not Chesterton meant it to be tongue-in-cheek. But, in my opinion, the author’s label is spot-on. It is an authentically orthodox perspective, but with an original expression of its rationale. There was nothing he espoused in the course of the book that wouldn’t accord with the Apostolic creed, or with a fundamentalist approach to faith. He describes his journey to discover faith as much nearer in actuality to a rediscovery of orthodoxy, much in the same way that a seafarer arrives back on his own continent of departure unawares, all the while thinking he discovered a new land. This work is indeed a reaffirmation of general orthodoxy (of Catholic doctrine more specifically), but his approach is extremely clever, having the power to make his audience appreciate the role of tradition and orthodoxy that may be already present in their lives.
In the end, I not only appreciated this book, but I felt that is was a wonderful reclamation of lost truth. Truth is not only discovered afar off through a telescope like a land we are journeying towards, but it is brought out from a back shelf and dusted off, dug up and unlocked from right beneath our feet. Truth is here! A Chesterton-like appreciation of orthodoxy, democracy, and tradition (all the same thing in his mind) might be in order for our generation of neophiles who are grasping for the far reaches of space, and losing what they have here to be crusted over with the slow deposit of forgetfulness and one day make rediscovery of local truth seem like landing in a new world.
(less)

4 likes · like · see review

Jun 06, 2010 LeAnn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Reviewing G.K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy is a daunting task, given the purpose of the book, his sophisticated and subtle commentary, and the nature of the subject. Nevertheless, I'll try to write a response that will enable potential readers to determine what Chesterton wrote about, why, and how successfully.

Already I find myself laboring to pull salient points and summarize arguments from Chesterton's book. The main thing to understand is that this book isn't an apologia for Christianity; I believ...more

3 likes · like · see review

Oct 26, 2007 Jason rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone interested in Christian apologetics or top notch rhetoric

Shelves: churchy-stuff

G.K. Chesterton is a rhetorical master, and nowhere is his virtuosity on better display than in Orthodoxy. This book is saturated with classical rhetorical devices, so it may be a bit heavy-handed for modernists. If you enjoy a clever turn of phrase and a top-notch wit, Chesterton is hard to beat.

Orthodoxy is noteworthy for its substantive content as well. In this book, G.K. defends Christianity against the amoral relativism of his day (the turn of the 20th Century). His primary foil is George B...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jul 26, 2008 Frank rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is an old classic that I finally got around to read. Chesterton is called the "Apostle of Common Sense" and he has a lot of common sense in this book but I must admit it was boring. I kept falling asleep reading it. Maybe I'm not the old classic reader I thought. I found the book just rambled on about nothing for great importance. There was good bits of information in it but I didn't find it worth the effort to ferrit them out. I tossed my book out. I still like Chesterton but this book did...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 09, 2011 Chauncey Lattimer added it · review of another edition

Excellent read! In his introduction, Philip Yancey suggests this very book - of the very many that he has written - as the starting point for those wanting to become familiar with the work of Chesterton. His humor is unique. His writing style engaging.

In Chesterton's words, "It is the purpose of the writer to attempt an explanation, no of whether the Christian Faith can be believed, but of how he personally has come to believe it."

Favorite quote: "It is impossible without humility to enjoy any...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 28, 2009 Ben rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I first heard of GK Chesterton by watching EWTN's show about him. It mainly highlighted some themes and would give a bunch of his quotes. I found his words very intriguing, so I began listening to one of his better known works, Orthodoxy. It is available on Project Gutenberg here:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16769/...
However, I find it more convenient to listen to it on librivox:
http://librivox.org/orthodoxy-by-gk-c...

I have listened to it a few times now and pick up more each time I listen. I...more

like · see review

Jan 24, 2009 Bob Myer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

One of the most interesting, convincing cases made for orthodox Christian theology, but made in a distinctly non-dogmatic way. Though the text is 100 years old (I believe it was published in 1908), the arguments still make sense - indeed, perhaps make more sense - today. Mr. Chesterton uses logic to show just how illogical rationalist beliefs are, and then links his own ideas (and ideals) gained over time to orthodox Christian beliefs.

While some may think that this text is too difficult to tackl...more

1 like · like · see review

Apr 22, 2013 Allan Descheneau rated it 4 of 5 stars

While trying to fill my new Kindle Paperwhite I’ve been scanning the free downloads section and came across “Orthadoxy” by GK Chesterton. It wasn’t even close to what I expected, but I came away very glad I read it.

Too.Much.For.Brain.

It is not a systematic theology (as I thought it would be) book but a testimonial of the intellectual process by which the author turned from frustrated agnostic into a faithful Christian. It was a very interesting, enjoyable read full of great imagery and creative...more

like · see review

Feb 24, 2013 Jordan Jeffers rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book in one tweet

Dead, cape-wearing English guy from early 1900s still wiser/funnier than anyone you know. #apologetics #iwishpeoplestillworecapes

Favorite quote

But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again" to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again" to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may b

...more

This book in one tweet

Dead, cape-wearing English guy from early 1900s still wiser/funnier than anyone you know. #apologetics #iwishpeoplestillworecapes

Favorite quote

But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again" to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again" to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.

Review

Reading G.K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy is a bit like wandering through an art museum. There are a lot of pretty things to look at, a lot of artists whose names you kind of recognize but don't actually know anything about, and at the end of it you buy something pretty from the gift shop to hang up in your room. Only it doesn't seem quite as cool in your house as it did when you were there.

I got Chesterton's most famous book for Christmas this year. Because Christian apologetic books from the early 1900s are the sort of thing I ask for (suck it Nike+ FuelBand!). It's filled with stunningly beautiful passages like the one quoted above, references to other early 20th century thinkers I know nothing about, and lots of sound, practical apologetics that I mostly forgot about the second I put the book down. Chesterton was sort of like C.S. Lewis 1.0; he has a way of putting things that just make so much sense you feel stupid for not having thought of it yourself. Also, they both abbreviated their first and middle names. And as far as names go, "Gilbert Keith" pretty much wipes the floor with "Clive Staples."

Also, Chesterton used to wear a cape around all the time. This was as weird in his time as it is now.

Nerd book rating

8 wizard staffs (out of 10)

Plenty of obscure references and biting wit. Worth a read, even for you non-Christians out there.

Non-nerd book rating

5 cold, frosty beers (out of 10)

A lot of obscure references and biting wit. Spend twenty minutes going through his Goodreads quote page, instead. It's worth the time.

(less)

like · see review

Jan 10, 2013 louisa added it

Shelves: to-finish

I spent the almost end of the noisiest (and one of the best) quiet retreat I have ever been on curled up in a chair in the abbey's library laughing, braying aloud as I read this book.

"In the fairy tale an incomprehensible happiness rests upon an incomprehensible condition" (100).

"There is the great lesson of 'Beauty and the Beast;' that a thing must be loved before it is lovable" (88-89).

"Oscar Wilde said that sunsets were not valued because we could not pay for sunsets. But Oscar Wilde was wro...more

1 like · like · see review

Dec 29, 2012 Paul rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: gk-chesterton-books

It's a good apologetics book overall. Chesterton does from time to time overstate his case and makes hyperbolic pronouncements that can be misleading if not seen in the context of his whole viewpoint. His method of painting the picture of the evidences that lead him to believe in Christianity makes for fairly stimulating reading, rather than the feeling of being bored by a dry logic argument. I did however think Chesterton over-emphasized the Transcendent side of Christianity's doctrines about G...more

like · see review

Dec 12, 2012 Megan Larson rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: theology, thoughtful, philosophy

"The man who cannot believe his senses, and the man who cannot believe anything else, are both insane, but their insanity is proved not by any error in their argument, but by the manifest mistake of their whole lives. They have both locked themselves up in two boxes, painted inside with the sun and stars; they are both unable to get out, the one into the health and happiness of heaven, the other even into the health and happiness of the earth. Their position is quite reasonable; nay, in a sense...more

like · see review

Nov 20, 2012 Carlos rated it 5 of 5 stars

One of the Top 3 books of my entire life. Brilliant description of how Chesterton got intrigued and eventually came to the conclusion that the 'Orthodoxy', as proposed by Catholic Church, is the true and greatest adventure one can live in his life.

As he put "People have fallen into a foolish habit of speaking of orthodoxy as something heavy, humdrum, and safe. There never was anything so perilous or so exciting as orthodoxy.It was sanity: and to be sane is more dramatic than to be mad.

It was the...more

like · see review

Nov 12, 2012 Patrick rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: religion

This book is short but not quick, and a little like E.F. Schumacher's "A Guide for the Perplexed" in that regard. People who call "Orthodoxy" both witty and dense are right; seemingly every page in this "slovenly autobiography" has a metaphor woven through it. But the thing is that Chesterton's metaphors work. Chesterton was writing -- both for himself and for an educated audience -- about how he came to accept the truth of Christianity.

As an American reading this intellectual and spiritual memo...more This book is short but not quick, and a little like E.F. Schumacher's "A Guide for the Perplexed" in that regard. People who call "Orthodoxy" both witty and dense are right; seemingly every page in this "slovenly autobiography" has a metaphor woven through it. But the thing is that Chesterton's metaphors work. Chesterton was writing -- both for himself and for an educated audience -- about how he came to accept the truth of Christianity.

As an American reading this intellectual and spiritual memoir more than a hundred years after it was first published, I could have done with fewer references to landmarks of England. Fortunately, helpful footnotes in the 172-page edition from Harold Shaw Publishers that I was reading taught me that Hanwell was a "progressive" asylum for the mentally ill, Brixton was a prison, and Pimlico was not the horse track in Maryland but a resort area in suburban London.

With footnotes bulldozing confusion away as needed and a willingness to read just a few pages at a time, I found that my patience was amply rewarded. Chesterton delivers the goods. The nut of his "charioteer" argument is famous because it deserves to be: "People have fallen into a foolish habit of speaking of orthodoxy as something heavy, humdrum, and safe," he writes. The problem? "There never was anything so perilous or so exciting as orthdoxy. It was sanity, and to be sane is more dramatic than to be mad. It was the equilibrium of man behind madly rushing horses, seeming to stoop this way and that, yet in every attitude having the grace of statuary and the accuracy of arithmetic." Christian doctrine and dogma, in other words, are not burdensome; they are necessary.

Great stuff, that, and it would later be echoed by writers as diverse as C.S. Lewis, who made Aslan good but not tame, and Frank Sheed, who wrote a classic of Catholic apologetics called "Theology and Sanity."

Chesterton also packed "Orthodoxy" with bon mots like this one: "The main point of Christianity was this: that Nature is not our mother; Nature is our sister." Unlike Oscar Wilde or Dorothy Sayers, however, Chesterton never drops a well-turned phrase without going on to explain it. That he explains his thinking zestfully and without condescension is another mark in his favor. Chesterton was a happy warrior, and while I could not finish reading one of his other books ("The Man Who Was Thursday"), I'm glad I finally decided to read this one.(less)

like · see review

Jul 21, 2012 Liz added it · review of another edition

Orthodoxy was one of the first Chesterton books I read after some Father Brown mysteries. It is undoubtedly my favorite. I quote from it regularly. The chapter on The Ethics of Elfland alone is worth the price of the book. This particular edition is really helpful because it "fills in the blanks." It gives footnotes for those people, terms, etc. who would have been familiar to Chesterton and his contemporaries, but which are now not well known.

This book had a huge influence on many people of Che...more

like · see review

Jan 27, 2012 Russell rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"I did try to found a heresy of my own; and when I had put the last touches to it, I discovered that it was orthodoxy." Chesterton write of his own conversion, it’s a personal foray into his reasoning, his discoveries and his faith. The beautiful paradox is that it's quite universal.

For me, this is my favorite introduction to Chesterton. He's witty, insightful, brilliant, and an engaging author. I've read Manalive, and a collection of Father Brown stories, and had wondered at his ability to dri...more "I did try to found a heresy of my own; and when I had put the last touches to it, I discovered that it was orthodoxy." Chesterton write of his own conversion, it’s a personal foray into his reasoning, his discoveries and his faith. The beautiful paradox is that it's quite universal.

For me, this is my favorite introduction to Chesterton. He's witty, insightful, brilliant, and an engaging author. I've read Manalive, and a collection of Father Brown stories, and had wondered at his ability to drive paradox and mystery into the common, and derive the common from appears to be a paradox and mystery. This book explains a good deal of his drive and way of thinking.

I'm amazed it took me this long to find Chesterton, on the other hand, I'm not sure I would have appreciated him as much as I do now. I know of and have read some of his contemporaries, Shaw, Wells, Russell, Belloc, and I am quite familiar with those he inspired, like C.S. Lewis and several of the Inklings, but somehow Chesterton didn’t register with me. Surely I had passed him by, but never noticed. Fortunately, I've made his acquaintance, and given his prolific output, I have much to read from him still. Almost one of those "when the student is ready" moments ;)

One thing struck me while reading this book, just how little things have changed since his time. The standard objections to Christianity have barely changed form, Chesterton answers a number of them I still see today, and his answers are still worth considering. Had I a highlighter, I would have worn it out.

Chesterton leaps, twirls and bounces, and if you let him, he'll grab onto your hand and pull you along at breakneck pace, only to arrive where you started, allowing for you being completely different. His mad passion drives his reason, and his reason harnesses his passion, and I merely hitched a ride to a completely familiar place, seen for the first time. See? Even writing about him lends one to start dabbling in the art of paradox and juxtaposition!

In the end, I found I learned more about my religion than I expected, more about Chesterton than I had hoped, and left a deeper appreciation of joy than looked for.

I simply cannot recommend this book enough!
(less)

like · see review

Nov 15, 2011 Marlan rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really liked this book (GK Chesterton's philosophical explanation of why he is a Christian), but that doesn't mean I agreed with all of it.

I liked it because it contained a large number of phenomenally quotable portions, paragraphs or ideas that I found immensely intriguing or persuasive. He himself said it was not meant to be a work of perfect logic, but more just a walk through why he believes what he believes. Because of that, it is infused with an earnestness that, while off-putting someti...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
wrong book cover	2	66	Jun 04, 2009 11:53pm

combine
Other Editions (159)

More editions...

Genres

Religion

146 users

Religion > Christianity

139 users

Christian

129 users

Non Fiction

116 users

Philosophy

100 users

Classics

72 users

Religion > Theology

61 users

Religion > Faith

43 users

Christianity > Catholic

33 users

Spirituality

31 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About G.K. Chesterton

Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) cannot be summed up in one sentence. Nor in one paragraph. In fact, in spite of the fine biographies that have been written of him (and his Autobiography), he has never been captured between the covers of one book. But rather than waiting to separate the goats from the sheep, let’s just come right out and say it: G.K. Chesterton was the best writer of the twent...more Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) cannot be summed up in one sentence. Nor in one paragraph. In fact, in spite of the fine biographies that have been written of him (and his Autobiography), he has never been captured between the covers of one book. But rather than waiting to separate the goats from the sheep, let’s just come right out and say it: G.K. Chesterton was the best writer of the twentieth century. He said something about everything and he said it better than anybody else. But he was no mere wordsmith. He was very good at expressing himself, but more importantly, he had something very good to express. The reason he was the greatest writer of the twentieth century was because he was also the greatest thinker of the twentieth century.

Born in London, Chesterton was educated at St. Paul’s, but never went to college. He went to art school. In 1900, he was asked to contribute a few magazine articles on art criticism, and went on to become one of the most prolific writers of all time. He wrote a hundred books, contributions to 200 more, hundreds of poems, including the epic Ballad of the White Horse, five plays, five novels, and some two hundred short stories, including a popular series featuring the priest-detective, Father Brown. In spite of his literary accomplishments, he considered himself primarily a journalist. He wrote over 4000 newspaper essays, including 30 years worth of weekly columns for the Illustrated London News, and 13 years of weekly columns for the Daily News. He also edited his own newspaper, G.K.’s Weekly. (To put it into perspective, four thousand essays is the equivalent of writing an essay a day, every day, for 11 years. If you’re not impressed, try it some time. But they have to be good essays, all of them, as funny as they are serious, and as readable and rewarding a century after you've written them.)

Chesterton was equally at ease with literary and social criticism, history, politics, economics, philosophy, and theology. His style is unmistakable, always marked by humility, consistency, paradox, wit, and wonder. His writing remains as timely and as timeless today as when it first appeared, even though much of it was published in throw away paper.

This man who composed such profound and perfect lines as "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried," stood 6’4" and weighed about 300 pounds, usually had a cigar in his mouth, and walked around wearing a cape and a crumpled hat, tiny glasses pinched to the end of his nose, swordstick in hand, laughter blowing through his moustache. And usually had no idea where or when his next appointment was. He did much of his writing in train stations, since he usually missed the train he was supposed to catch. In one famous anecdote, he wired his wife, saying, "Am at Market Harborough. Where ought I to be?" His faithful wife, Frances, attended to all the details of his life, since he continually proved he had no way of doing it himself. She was later assisted by a secretary, Dorothy Collins, who became the couple’s surrogate daughter, and went on to become the writer’s literary executrix, continuing to make his work available after his death.

This absent-minded, overgrown elf of a man, who laughed at his own jokes and amused children at birthday parties by catching buns in his mouth, was the man who wrote a book called The Everlasting Man, which led a young atheist named C.S. Lewis to become a Christian. This was the man who wrote a novel called The Napoleon of Notting Hill, which inspired Michael Collins to lead a movement for Irish Independence. This was the man who wrote an essay in the Illustrated London News that inspired Mahatma Gandhi to lead a movement to end British colonial rule in India. This was a man who, when commissioned to write a book on St. Thomas Aquinas (aptly titled Saint Thomas Aquinas), had his secretary check out a stack of books on St. (less)

More about G.K. Chesterton...

Books by G.K. Chesterton

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Orthodoxy

2 trivia questions

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from Orthodoxy

“Love is not blind; that is the last thing that it is. Love is bound; and the more it is bound the less it is blind.” — 235 people liked it

“The poet only asks to get his head into the heavens. It is the logician who seeks to get the heavens into his head. And it is his head that splits.” — 194 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Orthodoxy
avg rating	preview: Orthodoxy Goodreads rating: 4.30 (8510 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/87665.Orthodoxy?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348323220l/87665.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/87665.Orthodoxy?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton[/url]

Orthodoxy

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website