Orthodoxy (Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading) - Softcover

Chesterton, G. K.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0760786313 ISBN 13: 9780760786314

Publisher: Barnes & Noble, 2007

Synopsis

Chesterton’s Orthodoxy is not an explanation “of whether the Christian Faith can be believed, but of how he personally has come to believe it.” He begins with a description of how he sets out to find a new anchor for his thought in an age of uncertainty and discovers at every step along the way that what he thought was new is exactly what the Church confesses in the Apostles’ Creed. While the motto of the modern world is “believe in yourself,” the movement of the Creed directs one’s belief outside oneself to a maker, a redeemer, and a sanctifier of heaven and earth—and to a community of believers. Chesterton notes that those “who really believe in themselves are all in lunatic asylums,” and this leads him to a remarkable exploration of madness, which he says is the absence, not of reason, but of imagination. Seeking freedom, he finds the Church—but he defines the Church, via the cross, as throwing its arms open rather than drawing a circle around itself.

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Review

If G.K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy: The Romance of Faith is, as he called it, a "slovenly autobiography," then we need more slobs in the world. This quirky, slender book describes how Chesterton came to view orthodox Catholic Christianity as the way to satisfy his personal emotional needs, in a way that would also allow him to live happily in society. Chesterton argues that people in western society need a life of "practical romance, the combination of something that is strange with something that is secure. We need so to view the world as to combine an idea of wonder and an idea of welcome." Drawing on such figures as Fra Angelico, George Bernard Shaw, and St. Paul to make his points, Chesterton argues that submission to ecclesiastical authority is the way to achieve a good and balanced life. The whole book is written in a style that is as majestic and down-to-earth as C.S. Lewis at his best. The final chapter, called "Authority and the Adventurer," is especially persuasive. It's hard to imagine a reader who will not close the book believing, at least for the moment, that the Church will make you free. --Michael Joseph Gross

From the Publisher

In the past few hundred years, some great Christian thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries have penned works of literature that continue to influence Christians today. Rediscover the cornerstones of the Christian faith with these classic works from some of the most influential Christian thought leaders.

About this edition

• Publisher: Barnes & Noble
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0760786313
• ISBN 13: 9780760786314
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 176