Author | G. K. Chesterton |
---|---|
Language | English |
Genre | Christian apologetics |
Publisher | The Bodley Head |
Publication date | 1908 |
Publication place | United Kingdom |
Pages | 299 |
OCLC | 1299383669 |
Preceded by | Heretics |
Text | Orthodoxy at Wikisource |
This article is part of a series on |
Conservatism in the United Kingdom |
---|
Orthodoxy is a 1908 book by G. K. Chesterton which he described as a "spiritual autobiography". It has become a classic of Christian apologetics. [1]
Chesterton considered this book a companion to his other work, Heretics , which was a collection of essays aimed at refuting prevalent secular views of his time and defending the Christian orthodoxy. [2] Orthodoxy was written expressly in response to G. S. Street's criticism of Heretics. In it, Chesterton states that "[Street] was not going to bother about his theology until I had really stated mine". [3] In the preface, Chesterton states the purpose is to "attempt an explanation, not of whether the Christian faith can be believed, but of how he personally has come to believe it." In Orthodoxy, Chesterton presents an original view of Christian religion. He sees it as the answer to natural human needs – the "answer to a riddle" in his own words – and not simply as an arbitrary truth received from somewhere outside the boundaries of human experience.[ citation needed ]
The book chronicles Chesterton's personal journey to adopting a Christian worldview. Rather than rationalizing alleged paradoxes, Orthodoxy instead embraces them as evidence for the worldview's validity. [4] The first chapter establishes the view that human needs innately conflict, and, along with Chapter 8, "The Romance of Orthodoxy", it explains Chesterton's belief that the Christian worldview is most effective in both explaining and satisfying those disparate needs. [5]
Chesterton began writing the book in response to Street's 1905 challenge, titled "Mr. Chesterton",[ citation needed ] and it was first published in 1908. [6] The book was written when Chesterton was an Anglican. He converted to Catholicism 14 years later. Chesterton chose the title, Orthodoxy, to focus on the plainness of the Apostles' Creed, though he admitted the general sound of the title was "a thinnish sort of thing". [3] Chesterton's choice to focus on the Apostles' Creed made Orthodoxy's apologetic appealing to Christians from various denominational backgrounds. [7]
Orthodoxy was influential in the conversion of Theodore Maynard to Roman Catholicism, [8] as well as in the ordination of Canon Bernard Iddings Bell. [9] In the magazine The Atlantic , critic James Parker recommends the book thus: "If you've got an afternoon, read his masterpiece of Christian apologetics Orthodoxy: ontological basics retailed with a blissful, zooming frivolity, Thomas Aquinas meets Eddie Van Halen." [10]
Arianism is a Christological doctrine considered heretical by all modern mainstream branches of Christianity. It is first attributed to Arius, a Christian presbyter who preached and studied in Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God the Father with the difference that the Son of God did not always exist but was begotten/made before time by God the Father; therefore, Jesus was not coeternal with God the Father, but nonetheless Jesus began to exist outside time.
The Christian countercult movement or the Christian anti-cult movement is a social movement among certain Protestant evangelical and fundamentalist and other Christian ministries and individual activists who oppose religious sects that they consider cults.
Gilbert Keith Chesterton was an English author, philosopher, Christian apologist, and literary and art critic.
Apologetics is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers who defended their beliefs against critics and recommended their faith to outsiders were called Christian apologists. In 21st-century usage, apologetics is often identified with debates over religion and theology.
Orthodoxy is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Churches accept different creeds and councils. Such differences of opinion have developed for numerous reasons, including language and cultural barriers. Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy are sometimes referred to simply as "Orthodoxy". In some English-speaking countries, Jews who adhere to all the traditions and commandments as legislated in the Torah are often called Orthodox Jews. Sunni Islam is sometimes referred to as "Orthodox Islam".
Father Brown is a fictional Roman Catholic priest and amateur detective. He is featured in 53 short stories by English author G. K. Chesterton, published between 1910 and 1936. Father Brown solves mysteries and crimes using his intuition and keen understanding of human nature. Chesterton loosely based him on the Rt Rev. Msgr John O'Connor (1870–1952), a parish priest in Bradford, who was involved in Chesterton's conversion to Catholicism in 1922. Since 2013, the character has been portrayed by Mark Williams in the ongoing BBC Television Series Father Brown.
Presuppositional apologetics, shortened to presuppositionalism, is an epistemological school of Christian apologetics that examines the presuppositions on which worldviews are based, and invites comparison and contrast between the results of those presuppositions.
Christian tradition is a collection of traditions consisting of practices or beliefs associated with Christianity. These ecclesiastical traditions have more or less authority based on the nature of the practices or beliefs and on the group in question. Many churches have traditional practices, such as particular patterns of worship or rites, that developed over time. Deviations from such patterns are sometimes considered unacceptable by followers or are regarded as heretical. There are certain Christian traditions that are practiced throughout the liturgical year, such as praying a daily devotional during Advent, erecting a nativity scene during Christmastide, chalking the door on Epiphany Day, fasting during Lent, waving palms on Palm Sunday, eating easter eggs during Eastertide, and decorating the church in red on Pentecost.
The rule of faith is the name given to the ultimate authority in Christian belief or fundamental hermeneutic (interpretive) standard. It was used by Early Christian writers such as Tertullian. The phrase is sometimes used for early creeds.
Christian apologetics is a branch of Christian theology that defends Christianity.
Conservative Christianity, also known as conservative theology, theological conservatism, traditional Christianity, or biblical orthodoxy is a grouping of overlapping and denominationally diverse theological movements within Christianity that seeks to retain the orthodox and long-standing traditions and beliefs of Christianity. It is contrasted with Liberal Christianity and Progressive Christianity, which are seen as heretical heterodoxies by theological conservatives. Conservative Christianity should not be mistaken as being necessarily synonymous with the political philosophy of conservatism, nor the Christian right.
The Everlasting Man is a Christian apologetics book written by G. K. Chesterton, published in 1925. It is, to some extent, a deliberate rebuttal of H. G. Wells' The Outline of History, disputing Wells' portrayals of human life and civilisation as a seamless development from animal life and of Jesus Christ as merely another charismatic figure. Chesterton detailed his own spiritual journey in Orthodoxy, but in this book he tries to illustrate the spiritual journey of humanity, or at least of Western civilisation. The author Ross Douthat credits that, "Chesterton's somewhat loosey-goosey outline of history doubles as the best modern argument for Christianity I've ever read. You have to give in to the Chestertonian style, but if you do, be careful—you might just be converted."
Branch theory is an ecclesiological proposition that the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church includes various different Christian denominations whether in formal communion or not. The theory is often incorporated in the Protestant notion of an invisible Christian Church structure binding them together.
Heresy in Christianity denotes the formal denial or doubt of a core doctrine of the Christian faith as defined by one or more of the Christian churches.
Christianity in late antiquity traces Christianity during the Christian Roman Empire — the period from the rise of Christianity under Emperor Constantine, until the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The end-date of this period varies because the transition to the sub-Roman period occurred gradually and at different times in different areas. One may generally date late ancient Christianity as lasting to the late 6th century and the re-conquests under Justinian of the Byzantine Empire, though a more traditional end-date is 476, the year in which Odoacer deposed Romulus Augustus, traditionally considered the last western emperor.
Heretics is a collection of 20 essays by English writer G. K. Chesterton published by John Lane in 1905. In it, Chesterton quotes at length and argues extensively against atheist Joseph McCabe and delivers diatribes about his close personal friend and intellectual rival George Bernard Shaw, as well as about Friedrich Nietzsche, H. G. Wells, Rudyard Kipling, and an array of other major intellectuals of his day, many of whom he knew personally. His topics range from cosmology to anthropology to soteriology, and he argues against French nihilism, German humanism, English utilitarianism, the syncretism of "the vague modern", Social Darwinism, eugenics, and the arrogance and misanthropy of the European intelligentsia. Together with Orthodoxy (1908), this book is regarded as central to Chesterton's corpus of moral theology.
The theology of John Calvin has been influential in both the development of the system of belief now known as Calvinism and in Protestant thought more generally.
The Ball and the Cross is a novel by G. K. Chesterton. The title refers to a more worldly and rationalist worldview, represented by a ball or sphere, and the cross representing Christianity. The first chapters of the book were serialized from 1905 to 1906 with the completed work published in 1909.
Stratford Caldecott was a Catholic author, editor, publisher, and blogger. His work spanned subjects as diverse as literature, education, theology, apologetics, economics, environmental stewardship, sacred geometry, art, and culture. His books include Secret Fire, Radiance of Being, Beauty for Truth's Sake, All Things Made New, and Not as the World Gives. He was a founding editor of the online journal Humanum and a contributor for several online and print journals. He was inspired by the Catholic author J. R. R. Tolkien and became known as a Tolkien scholar.