Heretics (Henderickson Christian Classics) - Hardcover

Chesterton, G. K.

4.18

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9781598563054: Heretics (Henderickson Christian Classics)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 159856305X ISBN 13: 9781598563054

Publisher: Hendrickson Pub, 2007

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Heretics is the companion volume to the previously published Orthodoxy in Hendrickson's Christian Classics series. In Heretics G. K. Chesterton unmasks the heresies of contemporary thinking by exposing the faulty thinking of popular notions, especially apparent in the arts. An often overlooked book that contains some of Chesterton's strongest writing, the author takes on the "heresies" of modern thought, such as negativism, relativism, neo-paganism, puritanism, aestheticism, and individualism. The book includes one of his best essays: "On Certain Modern Writers and the Institution of Family."

This 1905 collection of articles focuses on the era's "heretics" those who pride themselves on their superiority to conservative views. Chesterton's companion volume to Orthodoxy asseses such artists and writers as Kipling, Shaw, Wells, and Whistler with the author's characteristic wisdom and good humor.

Chesterton was one of the spiritual influences on C. S. Lewis. Readers who appreciate the writings of Lewis will want to explore the writings of those who influenced him, including Chesterton. Heretics is now available from Hendrickson in a re-typeset and redesigned version as a welcome addition to the successful Christian Classics series.

Hendrickson Christian Classics
Every Christian library needs the classics--the timeless books that have spoken powerfully to generations of believers. Hendrickson Christian Classics allows readers to build an essential classics library in affordable modern editions. Each volume is freshly typeset for reading comfort, while thoughtful new introductions place each in historical and spiritual context. Attractive, classically bound covers look great together on the shelf. Best of all, value pricing makes this series easy to own. Planned to span the spectrum of Christian wisdom through the ages, Hendrickson Christian Classics set a new standard for quality and value.

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About the Author:

G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936) was one of C. S. Lewis' primary mentors in apologetics, and an influence even in his conversion. Novelist, poet, essayist, and journalist, Chesterton was perhaps best known for his Father Brown detective stories. He produced more than 100 volumes in his lifetime, including biographies of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Thomas Aquinas. His Everlasting Man, which set out a Christian outline of history, was one of the factors that wore down Lewis' resistance to Christianity. Chesteron was one of the first defenders of orthodoxy to use humor as a weapon. Perhaps more important was his use of reason to defend faith.

Review:

Heretics is one of Chesterton s most important books. It is also one of his most neglected books. Perhaps the reason has to do with the title. The word heretic conjures up frightful images of controversial characters being barbecued for their beliefs. It smacks of intolerance. The very word dogmatic is perceived as being intolerant. But Chesterton says that man is the animal who makes dogmas. Trees have no dogmas. Turnips are singularly broad-minded. There is something ironic about tolerance being an ideal, and that it is connected to religious freedom. In reality, tolerance has done more to suppress religion than has any persecution. It has left us not only afraid to debate about our beliefs, it has made us afraid even to discuss them. As Chesterton says, We now talk about the weather, and call it the complete liberty of all creeds. This strange silence about religion leaves the impression that religion is not important. There is one thing that is infinitely more absurd and unpractical than burning a man for his philosophy. This is the habit of saying his philosophy does not matter, and this is done universally in the twentieth century... A man s opinion... on Botticelli matters; his opinion on all things does not matter. Chesterton says that we can t get away from the fact that we have a general view of existence, whether we like it or not. It affects and involves everything we say or do, whether we like it or not. And our general view of things is based on our ultimate view of things. Religion is never irrelevant. This book is not an attack but a defense, a defense of the ancient truths that are under attack by modern heretics. Chesterton claims to have gained a deeper appreciation of the Christian Faith through the simple exercise of defending it. He says he never realized the great philosophic common sense of Christianity until the anti-Christian writers pointed it to him. Heresy, it turns out, is usually a distinct lack of common sense. A heresy is at best a half-truth, but usually even less than that. A heresy is a fragment of the truth that is exaggerated at the expense of the rest of the truth. The modern world praises science and hygiene and progress. These are all very well and good, but they have been elevated at the expense of larger truths, such as faith and tradition and permanent ideals. In this book, Chesterton takes on George Bernard Shaw, H.G. Wells, and other heretics whose names may not be familiar, even if their heresies are still exceedingly familiar. The original objection to Heretics, which in fact compelled Chesterton to write Orthodoxy, is that his own criticisms of others were not to be taken seriously unless Chesterton himself declared what he stood for. This is perhaps why Heretics is considered the negative for which Orthodoxy is the positive. But any reasonable reader can see that Chesterton s criticisms are a defense of a well-defined position. By criticizing moral and artistic relativism, he is defending identifiable and absolute standards. By criticizing egoism and the cult of success, he is defending humility. By criticizing skepticism, morbidity and muddle-headedness, he is defending faith, hope, and clarity. Clarity. The truth which Chesterton is defending should be obvious. But because Chesterton has to defend it, it obviously isn t obvious. The heretics have obscured the truth, they have distracted us, they have won us over with lies. The first lie is that truth doesn t matter. --Dale Ahlquist, American Chesterton Society

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