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Orthodoxy

By: G. K. Chesterton
Narrated by: John Lee
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Publisher's Summary

Written by G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy addresses foremost one main problem: How can we contrive to be at once astonished at the world and yet at home in it? Chesterton writes, "I wish to set forth my faith as particularly answering this double spiritual need, the need for that mixture of the familiar and the unfamiliar which Christendom has rightly named romance."

Chesterton likens orthodox Christianity to a man who set out in a boat from England and was quite excited to land on an island only to soon discover he had, in fact, landed on England. "I am the man who with the utmost daring discovered what had been discovered before." This is Chesterton's autobiography. It is his story of finding the familiar and unfamiliar in Christianity. It is his hunt for the gorgon or griffin and in the end discovers a rhinoceros and then takes pleasure in the fact that a rhinoceros exists but looks as if it oughtn't.

In Orthodoxy, 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.

Public Domain (P)2011 Tantor

Critic Reviews

"Whenever I feel my fiath going dry again, I wander to a shelf and pick up a book by G. K. Chesterton." (Philip Yancey)

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Intriguing philosophy/ Well read.

Chesterton highlights the poetic and symbolic power of orthodoxy. He argues that progress must be rested within an orthodox frame for it to have lasting meaning.

This is a great read for a Christian who would like a new way to look at their faith and its connection to conservative belief.

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Absolutely brilliant

Loved it. Brilliant. Love the way he turns a phrase to make you both laugh and think deeply at the same time about life, modern thinking and the Christian faith.

I would have some small disagreements on his views of Calvinism however. But that is not the main subject of this book. I absolutely love 98% of the book. I think John Piper wrote a terrific article or two about Chesterton and Orthodoxy at Desiring God.org. He put it much better than I can.
Very highly recommend this book. I think everyone should read it, to think deeply about the wonder and mystery of ordinary life in God's world, to recognise the absurdity of the thinking of the modern world, and to simply enjoy Chesterton's brilliant use of language, illustrations and turns of phrase. He really is a genius. I really enjoyed this book. I will need to listen to it again I think to fully appreciate it. But I loved it.

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Timeless

Time and again listening to this book I thought it could have been written this year. An excellent work to make sense of the world. The most interesting point is that in its own way, orthodoxy is more interesting and demanding than heresy

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