Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #62396 in Books
• Published on: 1986-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 398 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780898700794
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Customer Reviews

Chesterton's most famous work, and some oft-forgotten gems
This volume, the first in Ignatius Press's _Collected Works_ of Chesterton series, contains what is probably G. K. Chesterton's most famous work, _Orthodoxy_.

What many people do not know is that Orthodoxy was written only at the end of a long debate in the British press. Chesterton had been making a name for himself in English journalism for attacking the Spirit of the Age in turn-of-the-century England; his critics (rather justly) claimed that it was unfair for Chesterton to attack others' beliefs without stating what he himself believed. _Orthodoxy_ was the result.

This volume allows the reader to trace the story from the beginning, in the so-called "Blatchford Controversies", through the critique of Chesterton's contemporaries in _Heretics_ to its culmination in _Orthodoxy_. _Orthodoxy_ is definitely the star of the volume, but there are treasures to be found in the other works as well. Knowing something about the figures mentioned in _Heretics_ does help, but is not strictly necessary, as their heresies are alas still with us.

In my opinion, this volume is the perfect entre into Chesterton's thought, and would make a valuable edition for anyone concerned about clear thinking in regards to life, the universe, and everything.

Where is the Chesterton of today?
A hundred years ago in England, religion was under attack for being an obsolescence, an obstruction to the realization of human potential, the province of the unenlightened.

Along came Chesterton, irrepressible optimist and genial adversary (foes GB Shaw and HG Wells were counted among his many friends) who masterfully - some would say dizzyingly - used paradox to stand the arguments of the anti-religious on their heads.

This particular volume of GKC's invaluable work has much to recommend: 1) a collection of material that nicely encapsulates the controversy (HERETICS, wherein he points out the short-sightedness of his adversaries' positions, the unmatched ORTHODOXY, which set forth his own philosophy, and BLATCHFORD, a resource containing the seeds of the foregoing two books), 2) a wonderful introduction by David Dooley that describes the context and milieu of post-Victorian England, and 3) a high-quality sewn soft-cloth binding.

The drawback to Chesterton is that, as a journalist, his work does have a noticeable connection with the time of its original publication (in this case, 1904-1908)*. What is striking is how glaringly relevant the underlying issues he addresses are to our own time.

*For those who find this distracting, there are Annotated Editions of both Orthodoxy and Heretics available through Amazon.com

Chesterton Fan
This book is a must for anyone who is a Chesterton fan, or interested in Christian apologetics. "Orthodoxy" outlines
GKC's own spiritual development in a number of well reasoned arguments. "Heretics" is the thought provoking prelude to "Orthodoxy" and the "Blatchford Controversies" are the famous spiritual duel which occurred in the London newspapers between Blatchford and GKC.