Introduction to GK Chesterton and the book Orthodoxy.
Listen online [here, part 1]!
Listen online [here, part 2]!
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Adult Faith Formation Series – Spring 2021 – Orthodoxy
by GK Chesterton
January 12th – Introduction to GK
Chesterton and Orthodoxy
The Christian ideal has not been tried and found
wanting.
It has been found difficult; and left untried. - GK Chesterton
I. Why this book?
1. Father’s experience reading
this book in seminary.
2. A good introduction to the
writings of GK Chesterton
3. After an adult faith formation
series on Flannery O’Connor, GK Chesterton is delightful.
II. Who is GK Chesterton?
Born, 29 May 1874. Died, 14 June
1936. Baptized as a child into the
Anglican Church of England but not raised in a devout family. As a child was fascinated with the
occult.
Married Frances Blogg in 1901 and
credited his wife with bringing him back to Orthodox Christianity – first
Anglicanism and eventually Catholicism (they converted in 1922). The couple
could not have children, but had a very close and loving marriage. It is reported that on several occasions he
sent a telegram to his wife Frances, writing such things as "Am in Market
Harborough. Where ought I to be?" to which she would reply,
"Home".
GK Chesterton was a journalist,
and is most famous for his weekly opinion column int “The Illustrated London
News,” which also accounts for his charming, polemical style and the many
references to various people and subjects of the day. Chesterton was also very famous for his
Father Brown stories, which have the priest-detective presenting the Christian
worldview as he solves various crimes and mysteries. Further, Chesterton had
studied art, and was a very talented sketch artist.
Chesterton as a large man, 6’4”
and about 286 lbs. Often defended smoking and drinking, in moderation, as well
as the enjoyment of food. He saw the true religion as an invitation to joy, and
an affirmation of all that is good in the world. His friend, Hilaire Belloc
says, “Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine, There's always laughter and good
red wine. At least I've always found it so. Benedicamus Domino!” GK Chesterton loved St Thomas Aquinas,
because St Thomas and the Dominican Tradition defends what is truly good in the
material world. The proper love of creation, leads us to love the Creator –
hence, Chesterton once said that St Thomas could, after the manner of “John of
the Cross” or “Teresa of Jesus,” be called “Thomas of the Creator.” This is key to understanding Chesterton’s
project – what is wrong with modern man is not that he loves the world too much
or that he enjoys life too much, but the great sin of the modern world is
pessimism and rejection of joy, wonder, and the goodness of creation. “Nor shall iron dooms make dumb, man
wondering ceaselessly. If it be not better to fast for joy, than feast for
misery.”
Chesterton dies of congestive
heart failure at the age of 62, his last words having been spoken to his
wife. Fr Ronald Knox preached the sermon
at his Requiem Mass, “All of this generation has grown up under Chesterton’s
influence so completely that we do not even know when we are thinking
Chesterton.” There was a popular
movement for the cause of sainthood of GK Chesterton, but this does not seem to
be going anywhere at the moment. In our
time, the strongest devotion to Chesterton seems to be in the USA – note
especially Dale Ahlquist and the Chesterton Society.
Writings: More academic books
like Orthodoxy and the Everlasting Man. Essays like Tremendous Trifles and
What’s Wrong with the World. Novels like The Ball and the Cross, Napoleon of
Notting Hill, and The Man Who Was Thursday.
Short Stories like The Father Brown Stories. Poems like The Ballad of
the White Horse and Lepanto. Many journalist writings. And countless others.
Extremely prolific thinker and writer. Chesterton
wrote around 80 books, several hundred poems, some 200 short stories, 4,000
essays (mostly newspaper columns), and several plays.
III. The circumstances of the
book “Orthodoxy”
A. Chesterton had written a book
“Heretics” in which he exposes the false theories of many of the prominent
thinkers and writers of his day. “Fallacies
do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions.”
B. The heretics Chesterton criticizes
are not generally Christian, but are heresies against reason and thought. They
include Rudyard Kipling (known for “The Jungle Book”), Bernard Shaw, and HG
Wells (“Time Machine” and “War of the Worlds”).
He also attacks Eugenics, Evolution, New Age Easternism, Neo-Paganism,
etc.
C. The book “Orthodoxy” defends
“Orthodox Christianity” – not “orthodox” as in Eastern Orthodox, but in the
sense of traditional, credal Christianity.
However, this book was written when Chesterton was still Anglican, a
full 14 years before converting to Catholicism.
D. The book is offered as an
intellectual auto-biography: Explaining how Chesterton himself came to
recognize that Orthodox Christianity is the true answer to the riddles of life
and human existence; what made Christianity appealing to himself. It has since become a classic of Christian
apologetics, though in a style quite different from most apologetic works. (note: Apologetics simply means defending
the faith against objections, and proving its doctrines to non-believers).
IV. Some pointers to help with the enjoyment of
Orthodoxy
A. Chesterton frequently
references other thinkers/writers of his day, or of the recent past. Most of
these are not particularly important, but some would be good to be familiar
with.
1. George Bernard Shaw: Known
simply as Bernard Shaw, he was very influential as a playwright, critic,
polemicist and political activist. Promoted eugenics and opposed religion. A
dear friend of Chesterton.
2. Leo Tolstoy: Famous for “War
and Peace” and “Anna Karenina,” Tolstoy is obsessed with pacifism and the
peasant class, Tolstoy does not really believe anything is worth fighting for,
nor does he believe in organized religion.
3. Friedrich Nietzsche: One of
the greatest enemies in Orthodoxy, Nietzsche is a nihilist who rejects absolute
truth and ultimately believes in nothing.
4. Rudyard Kipling: Famous for
“The Jungle Book,” Kipling is so focused on be a man of the world that he
forgets the beauty of his own culture.
5. HG Wells: Famous for “Time
Machine,” “The Invisible Man,” and “The War of the Worlds,” Wells is criticized
as an aimless progressive. One who believes that nothing can endure and that
all things must be in a constant state of change and progress. Politically, Wells was a socialist.
B. Notes about Chesterton’s
journalistic style:
1. Polemical, but charming: After
the book “Heretics” a certain critic, G.S. Street said, “I will begin to worry
about my philosophy when Mr. Chesterton has given us his.” Chesterton replies in Orthodoxy, “It was
perhaps an incautious suggestion to make to a person only too ready to write
books upon the feeblest provocation.”
2. Quick, clever, and paradoxical:
Called “the prince of paradox.” “Whenever possible Chesterton made his points
with popular sayings, proverbs, allegories – first carefully turning them
inside out.” (Time Magazine)
3. Adventure of Truth: “An adventure is only an inconvenience
rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.”
4. Joy, Gratitude, and Wonder: “I would maintain that thanks are the highest
form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” “The world will never starve for want of
wonders; but only for want of wonder.”
