After the success of Heretics, G. K. Chesterton was challenged and compelled to share the story of his pilgrimage to faith. The result is this bracing, watershed religious autobiography in which he follows the doctrines determined in the Apostle’s Creed to deliver a personal, yet universal, defense of Christianity. Ultimately, the literary giant answers the question—not of whether divinity can be believed—but rather, how he himself came to believe it.

One of the twentieth century’s most influential works, Chesterton’s dynamic and oftentimes sharply witty testimony remains a masterpiece of Christian apologetics.

Revised edition: Previously published as Orthodoxy, this edition of Orthodoxy (AmazonClassics Edition) includes editorial revisions.

This is the original 1933 edition of G. K. Chesterton's study of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Chesterton's Saint Aquinas is a man of mystery. Born into a noble family, Aquinas chose the life of a humble friar. Lumbering and shy, his classmates dubbed him "the Dumb Ox" - but he grew up to lead a revolution in Christian thought. Possessed of the rarest brilliance, he found the highest truth in the humblest object, and led a life of almost unparalleled genius. 

The three great apologies of G.K. Chesterton in one volume: Heretics, Orthodoxy & The Everlasting Man. 

Gilbert Keith Chesterton has become synonymous with modern Christian apologetics.  But his impact goes beyond just those interested in a defense of Christian thought.  His writings have influenced such diverse authors as C.S. Lewis, Marshall McLuhan, and Jorge Luis Borges, and remains a subtle and unseen presence in contemporary Catholic thought.  At his funeral, Ronald Knox said “All of this generation has grown up under Chesterton’s influence so completely that we do not even know when we are thinking Chesterton.”  Before his conversion from atheism to knowing God, C.S. Lewis, the author of Mere Christianity & The Great Divorce, said “in reading Chesterton, as in reading MacDonald, I did not know what I was letting myself in for. A young man who wishes to remain a sound atheist cannot be too careful of his reading. There are traps everywhere —"

Chesterton wrote in a time when materialism and new forms of political theory were soon to cause havoc in the western world.  His was a voice calling for restraint - pointing back to the fundamentals of Christian doctrine, the purpose and value of which was being lost in the noise and commotion of the post industrial age.  Describing the rush towards less familiar and attractive ideologies, Chesterton wrote: “In the matter of reforming things, as distinct from deforming them, there is one plain and simple principle; a principle which will probably be called a paradox. There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, ‘I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away.’ To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: ‘If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly won’t let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it.’”

Chesterton was a man who continually showed us the use of orthodoxy in Christianity - most of all in his three great apologies: Heretics, Orthodoxy & The Everlasting Man. 

In Heretics, he first points to the flaws in the beliefs of the moderns.  In Orthodoxy, he defends the values handed down through millennium of Christian dogma.  In The Everlasting Man, he tells the grand story of Christianity itself and the often ignored miracle of its appearance in the life of man.

Chesterton was a great debater, often trading blows with modern thinkers such as George Bernard Shaw, H.G. Wells, Bertrand Russell and Clarence Darrow.  He became known as the “prince of paradox,” He was also a prolific writer, producing biographies on St. Augustine and St. Francis, and touched on many of the varieties of religion in his writings.  He wrote fiction as well, authoring the famous Father Brown books and the Man Who Was Thursday.

Chesterton was certainly not the imitation of Christ in his personal life.  A large man fond of food and drink, he was almost childlike in wonder of the magic of the world, while expressing the wit of an ancient.  He gave no secret doctrine or systematic theology, but his “goodness” and basic “common sense” led many to the Church.  One commenter stated: first you read C.S. Lewis, then Chesterton, then you become Catholic.

G.K. Chesterton was a master essayist. But reading his essays is not just an exercise in studying a literary form at its finest, it is an encounter with timeless truths that jump off the page as fresh and powerful as the day they were written.

The only problem with Chesterton's essays is that there are too many of them. Over five thousand! For most GKC readers it is not even possible to know where to start or how to begin to approach them.

So three of the world's leading authorities on Chesterton - Dale Ahlquist, Joseph Pearce, Aidan Mackey - have joined together to select the "best" Chesterton essays, a collection that will be appreciated by both the newcomer and the seasoned student of this great 20th century man of letters.

The variety of topics are astounding:  barbarians, architects, mystics, ghosts, fireworks, rain, juries, gargoyles and much more. Plus a look at Shakespeare, Dickens, Jane Austen, George MacDonald, T.S. Eliot, and the Bible. All in that inimitable, formidable but always quotable style of GKC. Even more astounding than the variety is the continuity of Chesterton's thought that ties everything together. A veritable feast for the mind and heart.

While some of the essays in this volume may be familiar, many of them are collected here for the first time, making their first appearance in over a century.