[Gutenberg 470] • Heretics

The three great apologies of G.K. Chesterton in one volume: Heretics, Orthodoxy a principle which will probably be called a paradox. There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, ‘I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away.’ To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: ‘If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly won’t let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it.’” Chesterton was a man who continually showed us the use of orthodoxy in Christianity - most of all in his three great apologies: *Heretics* , *Orthodoxy* & *The Everlasting Man*.  In *Heretics* , he first points to the flaws in the beliefs of the moderns.  In *Orthodoxy* , he defends the values handed down through millennium of Christian dogma.  In *The Everlasting Man* , he tells the grand story of Christianity itself and the often ignored miracle of its appearance in the life of man. Chesterton was a great debater, often trading blows with modern thinkers such as George Bernard Shaw, H.G. Wells, Bertrand Russell and Clarence Darrow.  He became known as the “prince of paradox,” He was also a prolific writer, producing biographies on St. Augustine and St. Francis, and touched on many of the varieties of religion in his writings.  He wrote fiction as well, authoring the famous Father Brown books and the *Man Who Was Thursday*. Chesterton was certainly not the imitation of Christ in his personal life.  A large man fond of food and drink, he was almost childlike in wonder of the magic of the world, while expressing the wit of an ancient.  He gave no secret doctrine or systematic theology, but his “goodness” and basic “common sense” led many to the Church.  One commenter stated: first you read C.S. Lewis, then Chesterton, then you become Catholic.