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ABCs of the Christian Life: The Ultimate Anthology of the Prince of Paradox
Aside from C. S. Lewis, no other Christian writer of the twentieth century has had more influence on faith and understanding than the enigmatic, larger-than-life G. K. Chesterton. This anthology combines twenty-six of the most essential passages from his works—from “A” for asceticism to “Z” for Zion—offering an unprecedented roundup of Chesterton’s ideas on the Christian life.
Why does it make good sense to be Catholic in the modern world?
How might a Christian balance the feasts of saints with Christ’s call to asceticism?
What is useful about holy foolishness?
What’s dangerous about “comparative religion”?
G. K. Chesterton, whose enduring legacy is as a Christian thinker and apologist, offers his thoughts on these topics and more in this unique anthology of his work. Chesterton converted to Catholicism midway through his career of writing some of his century’s most important spiritual and theological works, including Orthodoxy , Saint Thomas The Dumb Ox , and Saint Francis of Assisi . He is known for having written many memorable sentences—he was a master of witty one-liners—but as this book demonstrates for the first time, Chesterton also penned some of the best long passages of Christian literature in the history of the faith.
You’ll come away with a better understanding not only of Chesterton, but of the Christian faith as well.
Why does it make good sense to be Catholic in the modern world?
How might a Christian balance the feasts of saints with Christ’s call to asceticism?
What is useful about holy foolishness?
What’s dangerous about “comparative religion”?
G. K. Chesterton, whose enduring legacy is as a Christian thinker and apologist, offers his thoughts on these topics and more in this unique anthology of his work. Chesterton converted to Catholicism midway through his career of writing some of his century’s most important spiritual and theological works, including Orthodoxy , Saint Thomas The Dumb Ox , and Saint Francis of Assisi . He is known for having written many memorable sentences—he was a master of witty one-liners—but as this book demonstrates for the first time, Chesterton also penned some of the best long passages of Christian literature in the history of the faith.
You’ll come away with a better understanding not only of Chesterton, but of the Christian faith as well.
192 pages, Paperback
Published August 11, 2017
About the author
G.K. Chesterton
3,782 books5,956 followersGilbert Keith Chesterton was an English writer, philosopher, lay theologian, and literary and art critic.
He was educated at St. Paul’s, and went to art school at University College London. 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.
Chesterton was equally at ease with literary and social criticism, history, politics, economics, philosophy, and theology.
He was educated at St. Paul’s, and went to art school at University College London. 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.
Chesterton was equally at ease with literary and social criticism, history, politics, economics, philosophy, and theology.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 19, 2017
G.K. Chesterton is probably one of the most widely read Catholics after Augustine. However, even among Catholics, he is a polarizing figure. As Peter Kreeft pointed out in the Foreword, his writings are something you either love or hate. There is no middle ground. The reason many people dislike reading him so much is because his words can strike a nerve. They get right to the heart of the matter and tell the truth without pulling any punches. If you have never read any of G.K. Chesterton, I imagine you are wondering which work should I start with, because he has written thousands upon thousands of pages. Luckily, Ave Maria Press has recently published a book that I think makes the perfect introductory work. It is entitled ABCs of the Christian Life and has excerpts from many of his famous works.
ABCs of the Christian Life is laid out like one would expect for a book with this title. There are 26 chapters with each chapter representing a letter. The book begins with chapters on asceticism, Bethlehem, and Catholicism. We then take a detour and visit Charles Dickens, which I have to admit, I didn't expect to see him mentioned in this book. Other notable figures are St. Francis, St. Joan of Arc, St. Thomas Aquinas, and another surprising entry in Queen Victoria. In addition to people, the book also touches on concepts like insanity, miracles, and negativity. At the end of the book is an index that shows you the main work from which each chapter in this book was taken from, which is extremely helpful if you want to read further from that specific work.
Overall, I found this to be a fine introduction to the thoughts and works of G.K. Chesterton. I wouldn't necessarily say the book was a quick or easy read, because if so, then it wouldn't be a Chesterton book. What I do recommend for this book is to take your time reading through it. Don't try and read it in one sitting or even one day. Instead, try and read one chapter a day and let it marinate in your head. Once you finish the book, you are then ready to take on full works of G.K. Chesterton, and I would think back on chapters I liked and read those full works to start.
ABCs of the Christian Life is laid out like one would expect for a book with this title. There are 26 chapters with each chapter representing a letter. The book begins with chapters on asceticism, Bethlehem, and Catholicism. We then take a detour and visit Charles Dickens, which I have to admit, I didn't expect to see him mentioned in this book. Other notable figures are St. Francis, St. Joan of Arc, St. Thomas Aquinas, and another surprising entry in Queen Victoria. In addition to people, the book also touches on concepts like insanity, miracles, and negativity. At the end of the book is an index that shows you the main work from which each chapter in this book was taken from, which is extremely helpful if you want to read further from that specific work.
Overall, I found this to be a fine introduction to the thoughts and works of G.K. Chesterton. I wouldn't necessarily say the book was a quick or easy read, because if so, then it wouldn't be a Chesterton book. What I do recommend for this book is to take your time reading through it. Don't try and read it in one sitting or even one day. Instead, try and read one chapter a day and let it marinate in your head. Once you finish the book, you are then ready to take on full works of G.K. Chesterton, and I would think back on chapters I liked and read those full works to start.
June 5, 2022
I would have been better off starting with his individual books then this, but it was a cheap buy. It’s basically just chapters from various books and it can be very difficult to grasp. Love Chesterton, just not this book specifically.
August 18, 2017
The ABCs of the Christian Life by G.K. Chesterton --- The Ultimate Anthology of the Price of Paradox (Ave Maria Press) Published August, 2017
Despite the somewhat unfortunate selection of the main title of Ave Maria Press, a read of this volume is certainly a worthwhile endeavor. A great Christian thinker and writer (but avowedly a staunch Catholic) his writiings and influence on a wide variety of people --- both believers and non-believers, both in his time up to the present day for the last 100 years, is unequalled by any other writer --- with the possible exception of C.S. Lewis (who, in turn, was heavily influenced by Chesterton). I call the main title misleading (and possibly disappointing), because might expect to find a handbook from CJK on how to live an authentically Christian life The subtitle (“Ultimate Anthology … “) is much more accurate in what this volume actually contains: A selection of excerpts from all of Chesterton’s writings using both biblical (and some non-biblical, but important terms nonetheless) from “A” to “Z” that illustrate the topics that were of prime importance to CKG, as he battled the times of Europe in the very late 19th to very early 20th Centuries, and the social and philosophical upheavals as modernism , hedonism and nihilism were in the forefront, while pushing emphatically to drive serious Christian thinking and philosophy from writings and public discourse. In his uniquely inimical style these short writings (rarely more than 3 -5 pages on topics like “Asceticism,” “Heretics,” and “Upon This Rock”), expounds on the Christian defense of the prevailing skepticism and hostility to religion of his day. Thus, this book serves both as a serviceable and inspiring introduction and guidebook on the writings of this unique churchman, thinker and writer to those familiar, and especially to those who want a good overview about what all the fuss with Chesterton is about. This compilation is well-worth a read to this very important thinker and writer.
Despite the somewhat unfortunate selection of the main title of Ave Maria Press, a read of this volume is certainly a worthwhile endeavor. A great Christian thinker and writer (but avowedly a staunch Catholic) his writiings and influence on a wide variety of people --- both believers and non-believers, both in his time up to the present day for the last 100 years, is unequalled by any other writer --- with the possible exception of C.S. Lewis (who, in turn, was heavily influenced by Chesterton). I call the main title misleading (and possibly disappointing), because might expect to find a handbook from CJK on how to live an authentically Christian life The subtitle (“Ultimate Anthology … “) is much more accurate in what this volume actually contains: A selection of excerpts from all of Chesterton’s writings using both biblical (and some non-biblical, but important terms nonetheless) from “A” to “Z” that illustrate the topics that were of prime importance to CKG, as he battled the times of Europe in the very late 19th to very early 20th Centuries, and the social and philosophical upheavals as modernism , hedonism and nihilism were in the forefront, while pushing emphatically to drive serious Christian thinking and philosophy from writings and public discourse. In his uniquely inimical style these short writings (rarely more than 3 -5 pages on topics like “Asceticism,” “Heretics,” and “Upon This Rock”), expounds on the Christian defense of the prevailing skepticism and hostility to religion of his day. Thus, this book serves both as a serviceable and inspiring introduction and guidebook on the writings of this unique churchman, thinker and writer to those familiar, and especially to those who want a good overview about what all the fuss with Chesterton is about. This compilation is well-worth a read to this very important thinker and writer.
July 8, 2017
A selection of readings from various writings by Chesterton on various topics relating to Catholic Christian life from A to Z.
I knew prior to reading this book that Chesterton was a Catholic Christian, but I did not realize that this book was primarily directed at readers who are also Catholic. I just saw Chesterton’s name and pounced on the title. (Now that I know this and see the name of the publisher, I realize I should have possibly realized my mistake earlier.) Many of the topics reflect this, such as A being a writing on Asceticism and C for Catholic, F for Saint Francis, J for Saint Joan, and U for Upon This Rock (a defense for the Catholic church being the one true church). As a Protestant Christian, I didn’t always see eye to eye with Chesterton on some of these readings. Of course, others of his writings I completely love and agree with, like the selections from his Orthodoxy and his Heretics which are featured in several letters. So for me this collection of writings was hit or miss, but I can see Catholic Christians at whom this is aimed enjoying it much more. (I kinda wish Catholic was in the title to avoid this confusion and better ensuring it got into the right hands.) I broke down the reading to two letters a day, which usually worked out to about 10 or so pages of reading, and for Chesterton, that’s plenty to chew on for one day. Some of the selections are a bit longer and a few are just two pages long, but all take concentration to read. On average, just reading one a day would turn this into a nice almost month long daily read for those who want some more brain stimulation than the average devotional writing provides.
I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I knew prior to reading this book that Chesterton was a Catholic Christian, but I did not realize that this book was primarily directed at readers who are also Catholic. I just saw Chesterton’s name and pounced on the title. (Now that I know this and see the name of the publisher, I realize I should have possibly realized my mistake earlier.) Many of the topics reflect this, such as A being a writing on Asceticism and C for Catholic, F for Saint Francis, J for Saint Joan, and U for Upon This Rock (a defense for the Catholic church being the one true church). As a Protestant Christian, I didn’t always see eye to eye with Chesterton on some of these readings. Of course, others of his writings I completely love and agree with, like the selections from his Orthodoxy and his Heretics which are featured in several letters. So for me this collection of writings was hit or miss, but I can see Catholic Christians at whom this is aimed enjoying it much more. (I kinda wish Catholic was in the title to avoid this confusion and better ensuring it got into the right hands.) I broke down the reading to two letters a day, which usually worked out to about 10 or so pages of reading, and for Chesterton, that’s plenty to chew on for one day. Some of the selections are a bit longer and a few are just two pages long, but all take concentration to read. On average, just reading one a day would turn this into a nice almost month long daily read for those who want some more brain stimulation than the average devotional writing provides.
I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
July 8, 2017
I have wanted to read Father Brown for a while but for one reason or another not done so. When I noticed that this book was by the same author- Chesterton I was very interested to see what his writing was like and how readable. I am delighted to report that much of it was very interesting and informative. The only place where I felt it was difficult was in the mentioning of Saint Thomas and sadly as there are roughly a dozen further investigation on my part did not make things any clearer.
Aside from this i have been encouraged to read more works by Chesterton and have bought one or two of those mentioned in this book which I especially enjoyed.
I was given this book by NetGalley and this is my voluntary review.
Aside from this i have been encouraged to read more works by Chesterton and have bought one or two of those mentioned in this book which I especially enjoyed.
I was given this book by NetGalley and this is my voluntary review.
October 27, 2025
Highly enjoyable "sampler pack" of writing from this famous author. There is a written excerpt for every letter of the alphabet: some are serious, some are humorous, and some make you want to go read the whole book they came from! This is a great way to get to know Chesterton better, which was a goal here for 2025
December 13, 2018
I am a latecomer to the works of Chesterton. It has only been the last year or so that I have started taking a serious look at his works. The more I read, the more I learn, the more I appreciate about the man, his mind, his works, and his faith. But this book was not exactly what I expected, and yet it was almost exactly what I needed to read at the time. The book contains excerpts from Chesterton’s writings on a variety of topics to fit the alphabet.The sections in the book are:
Foreword
Publisher’s Note
A Asceticism
B Bethlehem
C Catholicism
D Charles Dickens
E Ephemera
F St. Francis
G Gospel
H Heretics
I Insanity
J St. Joan
K Kensington High Street
L Lying in Bed
M Miracles
N Negativity
O Orthodoxy
P Primitive Revelation
Q Questing
R Religions Compared
S Suicidal Thinking
T St. Thomas Aquinas
U Upon This Rock
V Queen Victoria
W Words
X Sex
Y Yes
Z Zion
Sources
I have read other books over the years that work on the A to Z model. Specifically Kathy Shaidle’s A Catholic Alphabet: The Faith from A to Z. And I have been working on an A to Z book of prayers for my children. But this book is not just a simple collection of short snippets. The eBook comes in at over 150 pages and the paperback almost 200. Peter Kreeft in the introduction states:
“Whenever I assign Chesterton to my college students, some love him and some hate him. One student explained very candidly why he hated reading him: “His mind is a rapier, and he’s dueling with me, and he cuts my clothes to ribbons and makes me feel naked and stupid.” I replied: “That’s exactly right. Don’t you just love that?” He thought I was kidding. I told him to read Psalm 139.”
And also:
“Someone said that G. K. Chesterton’s sayings are like potato chips: it’s impossible to eat just one. They are gloriously addictive. GKC is a gold mine, and here are some gold potato chips.”
There is definitely gold in this book, and the more of Chesterton that I read the more I want to read. I personally do not recall having Chesterton assigned in school, and checking my list of books read, I did not read any full volumes of his works. The more the pity. I can only imagine what life would be like if I had begin reading Chesterton 20, or 30 years ago. With that being said I strongly encourage you to pick up this book and give it a read.
The chapter that impacted me most was the one on Negativity. It is too large to share but if you are perusing a physical copy of the book jump there. This is an excellent read but be warned because each chapter is taken from another book, either as a section or whole chapter. So, your wish list or your ‘to be read pile’ might grow exponentially as you work your way through this volume. But is that such a terrible thing?
A wonderful volume, great for fans of Chesterton’s work, and serves as a great introduction for those of us less familiar. A great little read!
Read the review on my blog Book Reviews and More and reviews of other books by or about G.K. Chesterton.
Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2018 Catholic Reading Plan!
Foreword
Publisher’s Note
A Asceticism
B Bethlehem
C Catholicism
D Charles Dickens
E Ephemera
F St. Francis
G Gospel
H Heretics
I Insanity
J St. Joan
K Kensington High Street
L Lying in Bed
M Miracles
N Negativity
O Orthodoxy
P Primitive Revelation
Q Questing
R Religions Compared
S Suicidal Thinking
T St. Thomas Aquinas
U Upon This Rock
V Queen Victoria
W Words
X Sex
Y Yes
Z Zion
Sources
I have read other books over the years that work on the A to Z model. Specifically Kathy Shaidle’s A Catholic Alphabet: The Faith from A to Z. And I have been working on an A to Z book of prayers for my children. But this book is not just a simple collection of short snippets. The eBook comes in at over 150 pages and the paperback almost 200. Peter Kreeft in the introduction states:
“Whenever I assign Chesterton to my college students, some love him and some hate him. One student explained very candidly why he hated reading him: “His mind is a rapier, and he’s dueling with me, and he cuts my clothes to ribbons and makes me feel naked and stupid.” I replied: “That’s exactly right. Don’t you just love that?” He thought I was kidding. I told him to read Psalm 139.”
And also:
“Someone said that G. K. Chesterton’s sayings are like potato chips: it’s impossible to eat just one. They are gloriously addictive. GKC is a gold mine, and here are some gold potato chips.”
There is definitely gold in this book, and the more of Chesterton that I read the more I want to read. I personally do not recall having Chesterton assigned in school, and checking my list of books read, I did not read any full volumes of his works. The more the pity. I can only imagine what life would be like if I had begin reading Chesterton 20, or 30 years ago. With that being said I strongly encourage you to pick up this book and give it a read.
The chapter that impacted me most was the one on Negativity. It is too large to share but if you are perusing a physical copy of the book jump there. This is an excellent read but be warned because each chapter is taken from another book, either as a section or whole chapter. So, your wish list or your ‘to be read pile’ might grow exponentially as you work your way through this volume. But is that such a terrible thing?
A wonderful volume, great for fans of Chesterton’s work, and serves as a great introduction for those of us less familiar. A great little read!
Read the review on my blog Book Reviews and More and reviews of other books by or about G.K. Chesterton.
Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2018 Catholic Reading Plan!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews