Gilbert Keith Chesterton Chesterton (1874-1936) was a firmly committed Roman Catholic, an unashamed anti-Calvinist, and a richly gifted writer. Yet Chesterton made John Piper more of a Calvinist.
Given John Piper’s excellent thoughts on Chesterton’s famous book Orthodoxy, I returned to the book last night. The power at home was out from 4 PM until about midnight thanks to a massive storm that rumbled through the D.C. area knocking down huge trees (+100,000 people are still without power as I write). Last night, illuminated by the faint blue glow of a battery-powered LED lamp, I opened Orthodoxy. Here’s one excerpt:
“Mysticism keeps men sane. As long as you have mystery you have health; when you destroy mystery you create morbidity. The ordinary man has always been sane because the ordinary man has always been a mystic. He has permitted the twilight. He has always had one foot in earth and the other in fairyland. He has always left himself free to doubt his gods; but (unlike the agnostic of to-day) free also to believe in them. He has always cared more for truth than for consistency. If he saw two truths that seemed to contradict each other, he would take the two truths and the contradiction along with them. His spiritual sight is stereoscopic, like his physical sight: he sees two different pictures at once and yet sees all the better for that. …
The whole secret of mysticism is this: that man can understand everything by the help of what he does not understand. The morbid logician seeks to make everything lucid, and succeeds in making everything mysterious. The mystic allows one thing to be mysterious, and everything else becomes lucid. …
Buddhism is centripetal, but Christianity is centrifugal: it breaks out. For the circle is perfect and infinite in its nature; but it is fixed for ever in its size; it can never be larger or smaller. But the cross, though it has at its heart a collision and a contradiction, can extend its four arms for ever without altering its shape. Because it has a paradox in its centre it can grow without changing. The circle returns upon itself and is bound. The cross opens its arms to the four winds; it is a signpost for free travelers.”
-Gilbert K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy (Radford, VA: Wilder Pubs, 1908/2007) 17-18.
Tony Reinke 
Do you recommend this book as solid reading or do you find things in it that you disagree with outright?
Thanks for this Tony. The image of you reading in the dark was charming–I suspect the effulgence from the written page outshone your little light.
Chesterton is so important. It’s no wonder that Lewis admired him so. If you haven’t read his *Heretics* yet, don’t hesitate. His writing packs a wallop. Spend some time too in his Father Brown mysteries. Pure delight.
In Domino,
TB
The Seeking Disciple: See the Piper link for the concerns.
Tom … I’m all over it, thanks for this. Another reader mentioned to me how they love the FBM. Sounds like a fun read. Looks like his complete words (Ignatius) are out of print.
T
Dear Tony,
If you go to the Ignatius site, you can still round up his works. Amazon also has some of them in stock.
Try and find the hardcovers, which are still available, even on Amazon and the Ignatius site.
The Advanced Book Exchange has some tempting deals too on the Ignatius hardcovers.
And, last but not least, who could resist a visit to the American Chesterton Society: http://www.chesterton.org
“A child kicks his legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, “Do it again”; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, “Do it again” to the sun; and every evening, “Do it again” to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.” GK Chesterton, *Orthodoxy* Chapter 4
I should perhaps mention that I am part of a reading circle called, The Nigglings, which meets routinely to discuss the writings of four authors: G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, George Macdonald, and J.R.R. Tolkien. We have met consistently for three years now, having traversed a wide literary field. I can’t tell you how rich it has been. And there is still so much more to discover.
Praise the God of Heaven for good books!
TB
I love Chesterton. I’m currently reading his autobiography, published just a few months after his death in 1936, at 62. Such a wonderful, insightful, elliptical style…
FYI, Chesterton was an Anglican when he wrote “Orthodoxy”; he did eventually convert to Roman Catholicism. This post is over a year old, but I hope you are still reading GKC.