Orthodoxy, by G.K. Chesterton
I am vividly aware this book has been reviewed probably thousands upon thousands of times, I am writing about it nonetheless, probably for the same reason so many other people have written about it…it is worth doing.
As an avid reader, I must state that this book is not for everyone. I have read reviews by Christians who suggest that it is a, “Must read.” While I generally agree with the sentiment, I also recognize that this is a difficult book. Many of the things said require a lot of thought. Not only do they require a lot of thought, but you have to be able to maintain a large mental log of points, because Chesterton takes about seventy pages to develop his thesis. Not only that, but understanding some of his metaphors require some heavy mental boulder rolling, but it is calorie burning work, so it is certainly worth the effort.
The first seventy pages will cause many to wonder, “Where is he going with all these odd fractured points?” I did this exact thing numerous times during my read, but he kept me going with many worthwhile quotable quotes, and barn-burning statements. On occasions he rev’s his thesis’ engine with unique and entertaining humor. All the while his observations made me feel as if I was seeing the world through the eyes of a six year old philosophical savant who also happened to be writing probably one of the greater apologetics penned.
When at first you try to wrap your mind around his thesis you will probably feel like a car does when it gets its front end wrapped around a tree. I hope you have a lot of bondo and carnauba wax. The scope of this book reminded me of project “Deep Impact,” where NASA hit a comet with a satellite, due to the difficulty of Chesterton’s thesis which was almost as complex to resolve as hitting a philosophical comet 83 million miles away. Somehow he does it though, with striking clarity, if you are able to not jump off his train of thought.
Chesterton literally mows the forest of humanist philosophy with the fortitude and efficiency of Paul Bunyan. His axe takes two or three trees at a blow, and does not relent from cover to cover. I was stunned to realize that he had cut down trees which have found root and re-growth in the some of the institutional church today. And herein lies the reason I want to recommend this book. There are many things we believe with nonchalance, because we have been told to believe them. We need to get our truth from truth, and Chesterton expends all his effort like a blacksmith in the foundries of war by reminding us that Christ is the truth.
There has never been a book of theology, or apologetics, that made me cheer or cry…but this one did. At one point I jumped out of my chair and pumped my fist and wished to high heaven there was someone to share the moment with me. The last two chapters actually had my eyes leaking a bit, and my heart threatened to beat itself out of my ribcage. It is far from often, dare I say never, that apologetics does this. Either I am twisted weird, or this book was actually that good.
The one thing I observed is that Chesterton keeps his quotes from the bible to a bare minimum, but I think he does this for a reason. I almost can picture that the thesis and conclusion are like the great pyramid of Egypt that he is slaving to build, and once built he places at its top, a great golden pinnacle which is the scripture he references. I think that it actually makes the passages he quotes beautiful in a unique way. Almost as if he is endeavoring to give the bible its right place at the top, by building his analysis underneath the power of the word. Another way of looking at it is like he is a man holding a torch aloft in a dark cave for many to find their way back to the light.
This is definitely a great book to read, Orthodoxy is one of the most adventurous and daring books on Christian Apologetics ever written, hands down.
Since this book is largely Chesterton’s personal testimony, it is worth being reminded that, “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lived unto the death.” -Revelation 12:11
This book is posted online for free at this catholic website, I however never recommend reading books online, it is bad for the future employment of wood chips, and I am an equal opportunity wood chip employment advocate, unless of course you cannot afford it, or plan to buy it later anyhow. If you are also a revolutionary like I am you can buy the real deal here, from the American Chesterton Society.
