An Appraisal of Gilbert Keith Chesterton

Few men can boast of having been so inspirational and prophetic in their own time than G.K. Chesterton. Yet, who knows him nowadays ? Probably a handful of literature buffs and the tiny circle of Christian apologists and theology geeks. Without a doubt, that's a shame, a shame our article intends to bring an end to.

Unless you're among the aforementioned aficionados (as I most unfortunately am), you're probably wondering who the man is, and what's so important with him. Let Us introduce Gilbert Keith Chesterton to our distinguished readers.

We are dealing here with one of the greatest writers and intellectuals of the early XXth century. Chesterton (1874-1936) certainly was an impressive man, at the physical level to begin with: at first sight, he would present himself as tall (1m93) and plainly fat (130 kg) ; as he nicely summed it up himself: “Just the other day in the Underground I enjoyed the pleasure of offering my seat to three ladies.” He would dress accordingly; he usually wore a cape or large coat and a crumpled hat, with a swordstick in hand, sometimes waving it in the air, and a cigar more often than not hung out of his mouth.

His mind was in the likeness of his body. He was incredibly clumsy and absent-minded; he once famously telegraphed his wife: "Am in Market Harborough. Where ought I to be?" Yet he was a man of considerable charity, shining joy and he possessed an incredibly powerful, witty and sharp mind. His main job was to be a journalist, yet he distinguished himself very early as a novelist, apologist, polemist, and later a theologian, philosopher and poet (he was 24 when he first engaged publicly in a debate with popular thinkers which he sought to rebuke, with some success).

Baptized in the Church of England, he had a personal conversion to Christianity in adulthood, after a long quest for intellectual originality. He called himself an “orthodox Christian”, and he ended up converting to Roman Catholicism in 1922, quite to his own surprise.

After he became a Christian, he stood as a major and militant orthodox Christian controversialist; he opposed secular ideologies, like scientism, socialism & militant atheism, which were gaining particular strength because of the ideological, atheistic misuse of Darwin’s theory of evolution; and, at the same time, liberal Christian thinkers, who were ready to bargain the Christian faith in order to go along more easily with modernity. He would debate publicly, on the radio and in the newspapers; among his opponents were such men as Bernard Shaw, HG Wells & Bertrand Russell.

It seems like these debates could go on and on forever; yet he’s never boring. His main works are: Orthodoxy, Heretics, The Everlasting Man (that is, Christ), The Catholic Church & Conversion; they’re all full of joy, humor, wit, light as air, yet dealing skillfully with profound topics; even his adversaries have acknowledged the importance of Orthodoxy & Heretics.

He’s called “The Apostle of Common Sense” and “the Prince of Paradox”, two tools he used masterfully to show, in a burst of friendly, yet critical laughter, the absurdity of what he called “heresies”, and with communicative enthusiasm. Yet one of his fiercest and most constant adversaries, Bernard Shaw, a socialist and modernist, was one of his closest friends his whole life.

Chesterton is a reminder of a world where it was still possible to debate frankly on existential issues, and he is a powerful example of a thinker intensely and joyfully acting according to his thought. His wit and style are impressive as such, and we hope not to be mistaken when we say that he can be an inspiration to anyone who is not put off by seeking the truth and the happiness laying behind it. We hope that we have at least led him out of the shadow in which he's been unjustly kept from the view of our distinguished readers.

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