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Orthodoxy (Paperback)

~ (Author) "The only possible excuse for this book is that it is an answer to a challenge..." (more)
Key Phrases: Inner Light, Bernard Shaw, King of England (more...)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (97 customer reviews)
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  Hardcover, June 29, 2006 $9.95 $5.20 $5.04
  Paperback, December 31, 2004 $5.99 $4.46 $4.31
  Paperback, July 1995 $10.16 $3.95 $2.70
  Audio, CD, April 30, 2006 $18.24 $17.86 $14.15
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com 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 --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.


Review

"Whenever I feel my faith going dry again, I wander to a shelf and pick up a book by G.K. Chesterton."
--from the foreword by Philip Yancey, author of What's So Amazing About Grace? and The Jesus I Never Knew

"My favorite on the list [of top 100 spiritual classics of the twentieth century] is Chesterton's Orthodoxy. It offers wonderful arguments for embracing religious traditions, but it also has humor you don't typically find in religious writing."
--Philip Zaleski, author and journalist

Named by Publisher's Weekly as one of 10 "indispensable spiritual classics" of the past 1500 years.
--Publisher?s Weekly

"Chesterton's most enduring book.... Charming."
--World



From the Hardcover edition. -- Review --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 168 pages
  • Publisher: Ignatius Press (July 1995)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0898705525
  • ISBN-13: 978-0898705522
  • Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (97 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #326,093 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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G.K. Chesterton
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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The only possible excuse for this book is that it is an answer to a challenge. Read the first page
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Inner Light, Bernard Shaw, King of England, Joan of Arc, Marcus Aurelius, New Jerusalem, Anatole France, George Herbert, Matthew Arnold, North Pole
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97 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (97 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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128 of 135 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, humorous, intelligent, and full of surprises, July 8, 1998
Portly, fun loving, witty G.K. Chesterton decided to write this book as a companion volume to his book HERETICS. Since HERETICS had criticised contemporary philosophies, ORTHODOXY was written to present an alternative viewpoint, and is therefore both affirmative in tone and autobiographical in many places. A sampling of his chapter titles gives some idea of Chesterton's sense of fun as well as his unusual approach to the matter of Christianity. Chapter one is "In Defense of Everything Else" (one pictures Chesterton with a whimsical, impish smile on his face as he wrote this). There are also chapters on "The Suicide of Thought", "The Ethics of Elfland" (a really superb chapter), "The Maniac", and "The Paradoxes of Christianity". In this easily readable book (only 160 pages in the small paperback edition), Chesterton shows that theological reflections and philosophical ruminations need be neither boring nor incomprehensible. This was jolly good fun to read, being both funny and intellectually stimulating. Highly recommended.
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46 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant defence of the Christian faith., November 13, 1998
By A Customer
This book is Chesterton's defence of orthodox Christianity. It is partly autobiographical, in the sense that Chesterton describes various insights into the nature of reality, and various puzzles about reality, and then shows how (to his astonishment) the Christian faith accounts for the insights and answers the puzzles.

The following quote expresses this idea:

"This, therefore, is, in conclusion, my reason for accepting the religion and not merely the scattered and secular truths out of the religion. I do it because the thing has not merely told this truth or that truth, but has revealed itself as a truth-telling thing. All other philosophies say the things that plainly seem to be true; only this philosophy has again and again said the thing that does not seem to be true, but is true. Alone of all creeds it is convincing where it is not attractive; it turns out to be right, like my father in the garden."

But don't just take my word for it! You can read it online from the G.K.Chesterton web page and then buy the book!

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41 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Fit only for unscientific children, I guess. (Like me), October 23, 2000
By David Marshall (Nagasaki, Japan) - See all my reviews
Orthodoxy is written for the poet and the child in each of us (The latter being that part of us Jesus said can inherit the Kingdom). Orthodoxy is, at the same time, one of the wisest, and funniest, books I have ever read; almost up to the level of Everlasting Man. It seems to me he does give a logically challenging, if rather whimsical, argument for the Christian faith here. And having read many of the most famous skeptics of our time, his argument remains no less timely, powerful, and suggestive.

How do I explain the reaction of the reader below, then, who appears intelligent, but finds "Little that is intellectually bearable" in this book, and could not even read it through once without throwing it down in disgust? For one thing, Chesterton's approach is not scientific, but psychological. For those to whom science is the only god, a little prior reading might be worthwhile -- John Polkinghome or Hugh Ross on evidences for the Creator in modern cosmology, for example. Let Scott Peck's People of The Lie search your heart. Or even try my book, Jesus and the Religions of Man, which offers empirical evidence of a more historical nature for the truth of the Christian claims. Let the facts presented in these books take the edge of your arrogance.

Then, maybe, go for a walk through Mt. Rainier National Park when the huckleberries are reddening in the fall, or skin dive in Hawaii. Or walk through a dark forest on a clear night when the stars are out. Observe and wonder. Become a child again. Laugh at your certainties and prejudices a little. Then try reading this book again.

"(Skepticism) discredits supernatural stories that have some foundation, simply by telling natural stories that have no foundation." "The only fun of being a Christian was that a man was not left alone with the Inner Light, but definitely recognized an outer Light, fair as the sun. . .""To be allowed to make love to the moon and then to complain that Jupiter kept his own moons in a harem seemed to me a vulgar anti-climax." You still don't see the relevence or wisdom of such teachings? Oh, well. Chesterton did warn, "If a man would make his world large, he must be always making himself small. . . It is impossible without humility to enjoy anything -- even pride." This book, I guess, is no exception.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Fairy tales, optimism, and other religions all point to Catholicism
I learned that the Orthodoxy of the Catholic faith is what keeps it (and the world) sane. It calls to us from our fairy tales while at the same time appealing to our logic... Read more
Published 19 days ago by Jamie Beu

5.0 out of 5 stars Poor Intro for a Classic
Chesterton is a classic, who deserves the best in terms of publication and commentary, including footnotes and a proper introduction. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Don Petersen

5.0 out of 5 stars Would give six stars!
There really should be a six star option for this brilliant book.

The tendency toward insanity for mathematicians in comparison with the relative mental/spiritual... Read more
Published 1 month ago by David G. Moore

5.0 out of 5 stars Great addition to any library!
Many other reviewers have done a better job than I could in explaining why this books should be read - its one of the most intelligent books ever written. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Marie Martin

5.0 out of 5 stars G.K. Chesterton - Orthodoxy. Excellent read and Defense Of Faith.
G.K. Chesterton ' Orthodoxy Book-Softcover,170 pages, introduction by Phillip Yancey, ISBN 0-385-01536-4 ,2001 Imagebooks/double day Edition :

Is a Excellent... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Jose Lopez

5.0 out of 5 stars Orthodoxy
I'll be honest and say that a lot of Christian books I have read have been dull or void of passion. This book is neither. I have read a few G.K. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Travis Smith

5.0 out of 5 stars C.S. Lewis with more wit and humor
Lewis is one of my all-time favorite authors and thinkers. So, when I read in his autobiography the impact that Chesterton had on him, I had to pick up a copy of one of his... Read more
Published 4 months ago by A. Tyler

5.0 out of 5 stars Insanely Sane
Chesterton is a thinker who hits the nail on the head and leaves you excited to say, "that is what I've often thought! Read more
Published 4 months ago by Terri J. Rice

5.0 out of 5 stars What a great book!
This book put a smile on my face. The thoughts he records here are all things I wish I could have thought of. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Chad Liddle

5.0 out of 5 stars As Promised
Product was in excellent condition and received well within the time limits, would definitely but from this vendor again.
Published 7 months ago by W. Chambers

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