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The Catholic Church and Conversion

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Like Orthodoxy, which is arguably Chesterton's best non-fiction book, this is an exciting book with a dull title. Orthodoxy, however, had a somewhat better subtitle: "The Romance of Faith". In his 1936 autobiography, Chesterton admitted that he thought Orthodoxy was a bad title and had always meant to change it but never got around to it. He makes no such comments on this book.

Until now, the only way to get this book was in Collected Works Volume III which collects the so-called and little-known "Catholic" books written after his conversion in 1922. Most have better titles like The Thing, The Well and The Shadows and Where All Roads Lead, but this is the book that knocked me out.

I found out about these books through The Apostle of Common Sense, a book and video series that ran on EWTN by Dale Ahlquist, president of the American Chesterton Society. He briefly describes thirteen of G.K.'s non-fiction works (and the Father Brown detective series), and quotes from them. That last was the clencher, as this book seemed overflowing with bon mots and Chestertonian whimsey. Who but GK would list these as the three stages of conversion: 1. Patronizing the Church; 2. Discovering the Church; 3. Running Away from the Church?

GK said of his brother Cecil that "we often argued but never quarreled". Like much of GK, this book may provoke some lively arguments. But it's not simply for those interested in Rome and conversion, title to the contrary. What Ignatius has done is given us a quick read (under 150 pages) at a great price (under ten bucks) of some nearly unknown Chesterton. And when GK enters the ring, it's certain to enliven any philosophical discussion.

Due to what might be predominantly attributed to his wit, candor, and jovial tone, Chesterton's work is always enjoyable to read. It might be said that it is when he takes on an apologist's role to convey his convictions that Chesterton is at his best. He has been criticized, however, for being too confident in his own beliefs while intolerant with regard to the beliefs of others. Nonetheless, it is difficult to criticize a man for his confidence in what he perceives to be truth when he is so good at making it almost impossible to deny the truth that he writes of. This is what Chesterton does in The Catholic Church and Conversion; he presents that which is easy to ignore but hard to deny.

As a Protestant that has derived so much pleasure from the works of Chesterton I could not bring myself to overlook even one title, particularly one which I knew would correct the ignorance of any of my personal preconceived perceptions. In The Catholic Church and Conversion, Chesterton points out why it was inevitable that he and so many others have converted and will convert to Catholicism. Again, it is hard to deny the truths this author speaks of, especially when it is coupled with examples derived from common human experience. While Chesterton would probably respond that I only further justify his position by saying so, I must say that this work is not only true in terms of conversion to Catholicism but to Christianity in general. Chesterton's purpose, though, was not to defend all denominations of Christianity but to justify the legitimacy of the Catholic Church as Christianity, and does a magnificent job refuting common fallacies while presenting his case. So much so that one is forced to consider the legitimacy of their personal denomination if it is anything other than the Roman Catholic Church.

Ultimately, The Catholic Church and Conversion is yet another beautiful work of G.K. Chesterton that should be read by all. This might be particularly true of those that perceive Roman Catholicism to be something other than Christianity when compared to any denomination of Protestantism. At least give Chesterton, a passionate Roman Catholic convert, an opportunity to present why it is that he is so passionately so. It is a short, quick read and thoroughly enjoyable at that.

As a child I learned that the Roman Catholic Church was a very evil organization. The reasons for this fact were so many and so obvious that it was never necessary to actually list what those reasons were. The badness of Catholics was known and accepted by all intelligent people, hence why bother explaining the reasons for it? One might as well write books on why the earth is round or why basic arithmetic is true. To this day, I've seen much written against the Catholic Church but very few reasons for being against the Catholic Church. Most of those reasons were written by G. K. Chesterton in "The Catholic Church and Conversion".

That's because Chesterton begins the book in the logical way, by tackling common complaints about the Catholic Church. While this book was written almost a century ago, those complaints haven't changed much. Anti-Catholic bigots are as much behind the times as they often accuse Catholics of being. Hence any apologist today could sort Catholic-bashing into two classes, just as Chesterton did. The first class would contain statements like:

"Catholics believe that the Pope is infallible."

"Catholics worship the Virgin Mary."

"The Church has more money (or more land) than any other organization in the world."

"Catholics believe that all non-Catholics go to Hell."

"Catholics believe that all sex is wrong unless it's intended to conceive a child."

etc...

The problem with these types of arguments, as Chesterton says, is that they're untrue. Anyone who has the slightest desire to know the truth could learn it by asking a Catholic acquaintance or reading a book. The problem is that the enemies of the Church would rather not know the truth.

For those who do get the basic truth about Catholicism by one means or another, there are obstacles that an intelligent person could actually take seriously, and those are Chesterton's main focus in this book. The chief obstacle is that the Catholic Church is simply too large. It's claims to possessing the universal truth about God and Man, sin and salvation, life, death and afterlife, are so all-encompassing that it's frightening. Chesterton says:

"To accept that the Catholic Church is right is one thing. To accept that is always right is another thing."

Any thinking person who who decides to investigate anti-Catholic propaganda will determine that it is false, and probably in the course of doing so will see strong arguments for the Church. Actually accepting the full doctrine of the Church is a different class of decision. I would know, since I'm a Protestant who currently wrestles with my choice of church. But anybody in any Christian denomination or none should take the challenge presented in this book by one of the greatest writers of all times.

I discovered G.K. Chesterton about a year ago and I've had the pleasure of reading several of his books: "Orthodoxy", "What's Wrong With The World", "The Man Who Was Thursday", "Eugenics And Other Evils" and now "The Catholic Church And Conversion". The latter book was thoroughly disappointing.

Perhaps my expectations were too high; in the introduction Dale Ahlquist writes that G.K. Chesterton doesn't set out to defend Catholicism piece by piece. However, as I read the book, the only defence Chesterton seems to offer is the fact that the Catholic Church has been around longer than Protestantism and that it has survived the fashionable fads that have risen up against it like Theosophy. Chesterton contends that Catholicism will survive the new religions as well.

I went into reading this book "blind" as it were. I know several basic differences that set Catholics apart from other Christians but I hoped Chesterton would explain the essential tenets of the Catholic Church. It would be best to read this with more extensive background knowledge of Catholicism than I had at the time or else many things will be lost to the reader as they were for me.

I had also hoped that Chesterton would comment on several very important issues that have been a cause of frustration among the Christian world. For example, the infallibility of the Pope, the veneration of Mary, the Apocrypha. Chesterton really doesn't touch any of these issues. The whole book reads more like a rant.

I love Chesterton's wit, whimsy and wisdom, but this book was a disappointment.