G. K. Chesterton, a model for joyful evangelization

From a recent Catholic News Agency piece about Dale Ahlquist's new book, The Complete Thinker: The Marvelous Mind of G.K. Chesterton:

The author of a new book on G.K. Chesterton says the 20th-century
author and Catholic convert is a model for joyful evangelization who can
help unify the fractured modern worldview.

“Chesterton is the model evangelist,” American Chesterton Society
President Dale Ahlquist told CNA Oct. 18. He had a way to connect with
“virtually any kind of audience.”

“He never lets his charity contradict his truth. He always puts them together,” Ahlquist said.

“That’s one of the great weaknesses of our world: you have some people
who care only about truth and doctrine, others who care only about
charity and pity, and they don’t let the two combine with each other.
Chesterton always combines the two.”

Ahlquist’s new book, “The Complete Thinker: The Marvelous Mind of G.K.
Chesterton,” was released this October (Ignatius Press, $17.95).

Chesterton lived from 1874 to 1936. Under the influence of his wife
Frances, he became a devout Anglican Christian. He converted to
Catholicism in 1922.

He wrote literary essays, novels, poetry, plays, philosophical works
and Christian apologetics. His short stories include the Father Brown
mystery series. He enjoys a reputation as a witty writer with a love of
finding truth in apparent paradox. He influenced the thinking of many
converts and writers.

“He wrote about everything,” Ahlquist said. “He has this amazing, wide reach.”

Ahlquist said his new book is intended to help get the reader “inside
of Chesterton’s head.” He aims to help people “think in a consistent
way” across disciplines and modes of life.

“The modern world, Chesterton points out, has become one wild divorce
court where everything has been separated from everything else,” he
explained.

“We have separated the arts from the sciences and the humanities from
the sciences. We have separated religion from politics and religion from
economics. We expect all these things to operate in their own
watertight compartments, and yet we don’t see how anything fits together
anymore.”

Read the entire piece. Also see the recent CWR interview with Ahlquist: "G. K. Chesterton, the Complete Thinker". Also see, on Ignatius Insight:

G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936) Author Page | Ignatius Insight





• Articles By and About G. K. Chesterton

• Ignatius Press Books about G. K. Chesterton

• Books by G. K. Chesterton