Heretics / Orthodoxy

by G.K. Chesterton

This Nelson Royal Classic includes two famous classical works by G.K. Chesterton, Heretics and Orthodoxy. In response to the wrong doctrinal teaching of many of his contemporaries, G.K. Chesterton takes readers back to the "fundamentals" in Heretics. In the compelling work,Orthodoxy, Chesterton provides a look at what some have described as his own spiritual autobiography. Of these two books, they describe some of a Christian's core beliefs and capture the essence of the Christian experience. They remain an essential part of every Christian's library, and continue to challenge the way we conceive our faith and our world.

Genres: Philosophy, Christianity, Theology, Religion, Christian, Nonfiction, Catholic

311 pages, Hardcover

First published February 15, 2000

About the author

Gilbert Keith Chesterton was an English writer, philosopher, lay theologian, and literary and art critic.

He was educated at St. Paul’s, and went to art school at University College London. In 1900, he was asked to contribute a few magazine articles on art criticism, and went on to become one of the most prolific writers of all time. He wrote a hundred books, contributions to 200 more, hundreds of poems, including the epic Ballad of the White Horse, five plays, five novels, and some two hundred short stories, including a popular series featuring the priest-detective, Father Brown. In spite of his literary accomplishments, he considered himself primarily a journalist. He wrote over 4000 newspaper essays, including 30 years worth of weekly columns for the Illustrated London News, and 13 years of weekly columns for the Daily News. He also edited his own newspaper, G.K.’s Weekly.

Chesterton was equally at ease with literary and social criticism, history, politics, economics, philosophy, and theology.

Reviews

[J. Wootton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Within a very short length of time, Chesterton went from "a famous writer I'll get around to reading one of these days" to "that writer I'm always bringing in to conversations and trying to get other people to read," and this bundled edition of Heretics & Orthodoxy is largely at fault.

Orthodoxy is the better book of the two, by far, but Heretics lays extremely helpful groundwork for it: Heretics is more work to read and understand, but it can be valued by its own weight and your investment pays dividends when you get to Orthodoxy.

I can't recommend this double-collection of essays highly enough. Chesterton's style is clear like bright water on a muggy day and full of wit. I would not have wanted to debate with him, but I love reading him.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books provide Chesterton's answer to the criticisms of Christianity which were prevalent in his day. In Heretics, he examines the thoughts of philosophers, scientists, moralists and literati, and analyzes the faults in their arguments. In Orthodoxy, he offers a defense of his own particular religious stance, and shows us how he came to believe what he did. What's interesting is that despite his firmness about his own beliefs, he is still able to pick out the positives in the viewpoints of his opponents and treat them with some respect. His writing style is amazing. In spite of his humorous and seemingly casual tone his meaning is conveyed with incredible wit and seriousness; he is anything but off-the-cuff.

The only trouble I had with these books was their structure. In Heretics, the relationship or link between the separate chapters was not terribly obvious to me, but in Orthodoxy, it seemed that Chesterton put more effort into ordering the chapters in a meaningful way.

[Kjersti · Rating 5 out of 5]

G.K. Chesterton's prose is always great. The man was a rather brilliant individual, and his ideas are some of the most interesting - and most challenging - I've run into. He turns the world on its head, and you find you enjoy it... Aside from a few minor impracticalities anyway.
If you read these books, or even just one of them, prepare to have your mindset examined, rearranged and then put together again in a completely different way. Don't worry though, 90% of the time the result will be a vast improvement. Hold on tight my friend, you're in for quite the trip.

[Hamster · Rating 4 out of 5]

"We do not merely love ourselves more than we love duty; we actually love ourselves more than we love joy."

In Heretics Chesterton takes on the problem he saw in his contemporary culture. Many of his insights and takedowns are brilliant. Some are just as relevant today as ever, others feel a bit wrong or just no longer carry the same force today. The book feels pretty haphazardly put together, with the chapters only occasionally building on one another. Certainly not a perfect book, but well worth reading.

Orthodoxy is almost a spiritual autobiography, with Chesterton using his own story to work towards a defense and explanation of Christianity. His insights again are consistently brilliant, but this book also has much better structure.

To briefly rant, I've been in three classes that all required I only read "Ethics of Elfland" (and one other chapter in one case). Teachers/professors out there, please stop that. That chapter is not the only place where Chesterton talks about art. He has more interesting and bolder things to say about art in other chapters of Orthodoxy (and in Heretics, for that matter). Chesterton's views on art are worth discussing, but we do him a disservice when everyone limits him to one overused chapter.

But anyways, Orthodoxy is probably a 4.5 star book, and Heretics is about 3.5 stars, so for this combo I'll let them meet in the middle and give it 4 stars.

[John David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chesterton accomplishes what he sets out to do: remind the reader that heretics are real and that they say untrue things, and to defend the veracity and resiliency of orthodoxy. Chesterton offers a compelling defense of his own Christian faith and thoughtfully explores a variety of other subjects along the way such as patriotism, imagination, and democracy. All the while his critiques of modernity and materialism are piercing. And for my part, I love all the word play.

“This, therefore, is, in conclusion, my reason for accepting the religion and not merely the scattered and secular truths out of the religion.
I do it because the thing has not merely told this truth or that truth, but has revealed itself as a truth-telling thing. All other philosophies say the things that plainly seem to be true; only this philosophy has again and again said the thing that does not seem to be true, but is true. Alone of all creeds it is convincing where it is not attractive.”

[Patricia Vaccarino · Rating 5 out of 5]

G.K. Chesterton’s Heretics and Orthodoxy is two books, two collections of essays, in one volume, containing some of the most powerful thinking that the world has ever seen. Chesterton is often categorized as a “Catholic” writer but that is a shallow assessment. From Dickens to Whistler, Chesterton lambasts the great thinkers of his time and in some cases makes mincemeat of notable writers including, but not limited to, Robert Browning, Rudyard Kipling H.G. Wells and George Bernard Shaw.

He reveals Friedrich Nietzsche as the fool that he really was by calmly asserting that Nietzsche’s “upper man” or “overman” never explicitly defines the real human being that evolution ought to produce. Nietzsche is not only a flawed thinker but weak. Chesterton has great fun with Tolstoy who he dismisses as a dandy praising peasants from his mighty high position as a gentleman landholder, a snob and an aristocrat.

The entire body of Chesterton’s work is mired in paradox. Every sentence is rich with contextual meaning. If you are reading his work from a Catholic perspective or for Catholic enrichment, you will find fulfillment. (Dorothy Day held his work to be a key influence in her profound conversion to Catholicism.) The depth of his work is cradled in the true meaning of Catholicity—which means wholeness. The essence of exploring wholeness in our thinking is by understanding paradox and the very nature of our paradoxical world. The world is black. The world is white. Both truths can coexist in the same world and in the same mind. And that doesn’t mean the world is grey.

At times, Chesterton is very funny. He holds Joan of arc in high regard and offers her praise: “She did not praise fighting, but fought. She was not afraid of the army, while Nietzsche was afraid of a cow. Tolstoy only praised the peasant but she was the peasant. Nietzsche only praised the warrior, but she was the warrior.”

Chesterton inspired me to think about the mystery of life instead of being mired in the current junky books that are being unleashed on our culture. Even though Heretics and Orthodoxy was my beach book for the summer, it was not an easy read, but admittedly, I am strange. I love the way my brain works and I love to think. If you are sick to death of the garbage that is currently being churned out by today’s publishing world, C.K. Chesterton is just the antidote. While I read slowly, and I can only stress: I read slowly, I found myself grimacing as though I had swallowed bitter medicine, but in the end, I was completely cured from thinking like an idiot.

[Kyler Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is among the most powerful books that I own. Chesterton speaks happily and heartily about a wonderful array of philosophies thrown up by men and then proceeds with intriguing style to convey and demonstrate his own. Both the meaning of his words and the art with which they are assembled have been helpful teachers to me. The examples he offers are not infrequently surprising and apt. As a strong man he had helped to strengthen me.

The compelling case for Christianity made here is of course logical but the weakness of reason has also been demonstrated, namely madness, which I have tasted. Indeed, both in the general throughout the book and in the instances where it is dealt with specifically the position of mysticism was enlightening although once I began to understand it I found it was not entirely foreign. I have already told friends that I am looking forward to my second reading and repeat it here. I certainly do not understand all the fundamentals that this work contains and even less of the nuances I'm sure.

In the end, I am of the opinion that this is a particularly honorable and respectful writing that offers lucid perspectives on various pieces of the world (that there are pieces, Mr. Chesterton is quite sure, the more so for the wielding of the sword of truth) that are properly frightening or funny as the case may be.

[Adrian K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

"If we were to-morrow morning snowed up in the street in which we live, we should step suddenly into a much larger and much wilder world than we have ever known. And it is the whole effort of the typically modern person to escape from the street in which he lives. . . . He is forced to flee, in short, from the too stimulating society of his equals—of free men, perverse, personal, deliberately different from himself. The street in Brixton is too glowing and overpowering. He has to soothe and quiet himself among tigers and vultures, camels and crocodiles. . . . What we dread about our neighbours, in short, is not the narrowness of their horizon, but their superb tendency to broaden it. And all aversions to ordinary humanity have this general character. They are not aversions to its feebleness (as is pretended), but to its energy. The misanthropes pretend that they despise humanity for its weakness. As a matter of fact, they hate it for its strength." (On Certain Modern Writers and the Institution of the Family, pp. 96-97)

[Grant Goad · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED these two books. In Heretics, Chesterton fights against the intellectual enemies of the faith of his time. He does so by dismantling their argumentation and showing the inconsistencies which are glaringly evident. He, like Churchill, does not pull punches when disagreements arise.

He wrote Orthodoxy to bring a brighter and more positive conclusion to Heretics. He speaks of the beauty of the faith found in orthodox thought. Overall, I enjoyed these books and will be reading more from him!

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the spirit of the majority of Chesterton's arguments, this was a book full of thoughts and ideas but also a book that lacked thoughts and ideas and replaced them with an orthodox faith. It was all at once an ok book and not ok at the same time.

Really, Heretics is so outdated as he calls out his contemporaries, I only really recognized George Bernard Shaw's name. Orthodoxy was better, but somewhat pedantic.

[Brian Meadows · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book on must-read Christian book lists. G. K. Chesterton is often quoted. However, it was a far different book than I expected. G. K Chesterton is very intelligent, well educated, and philosophical. The first part, _Heretics_, is a calling out of many of his contemporaries on their statements that were widely accepted but are really untrue upon close examination. Since this book was originally written in 1905, most of us today are not as familiar as the author assumes with those who he is writing about. In order to really appreciate this work in depth, one would need to go through a deep study of the life and works of H. G Wells, Bernard Shaw, Rudyard Kipling, George Moore, Lowes Dickinson, Wordsworth, Plato, Gladstone, Shakespeare, Matthew Arnold, Auguste Comte, Frederic Harrison, Ibsen, Augustine, W. B Yeats, William Morris, Swinburne, Oscar Wilde, Walt Whitman, Tolstoy, Sir Alfred Harmsworth, a Mr. Pearson, Thackeray, Talleyrand, Nietzche, Voltaire, Dickens, a Mr. McCabe, Robert Blatchford (who provoked him to these writings with his attack on Christianity), and many others. It's a long list with some familiar names but he drops their names with very little explanation like we were very familiar with them all. I was not about to spend years studying each one in depth in order to fully understanding where the author was coming from. It was necessary to take him at his word, follow his thinking, and draw from the context what I could. There are still nuggets of wisdom there to be had.

The second work in this two-part set, _Orthodoxy_, is a bit better as it is a sort of biography of his journey from agnosticism and paganism to Christianity. Most of the arguments are philosophical in nature rather than strictly Biblical - although after he gets done weaving through his thought process, he arrives at solid core Christianity as his thought-out conclusion.

Some of the terminologies have taken new shades of meaning in the century plus since he wrote these books. This is especially true in the area of politics. A prime example is his use of the word liberal. He proudly proclaims himself to be liberal, but if he were to see the socialist, anti-Christian bent of many who proclaim themselves to be liberals today, I don't think he would be so quick to wear that mantle. There have been comments on his works that the writings are still true today. That is so if you sort out the real nuggets from the rest of what he writes, but one needs to interpret what he writes in light of the time in which he wrote it.

The author loves paradoxes and is pointing out many things by their use. He was a brilliant man and a prolific writer. His nuggets of truth are so quotable not only because of their truth but also because of his gift of wording his thoughts.

[z · Rating 5 out of 5]

- Chesterton's "Heretics/Orthodoxy" used to be on my reading list each year, but I confess I haven't looked at it in three years.
- every reading I glean something new, though, and my impression of the book has changed every time, and this time round I found the formerly enchanting passages to be even better while the thrust of his arguments unsatisfactory, particularly in "Orthodoxy." For all his opinions on embracing mystery and/or paradox, he sure appears eager to find a reasonable, logical explanation for mystery. On a related note, there's also a pretty dismissive tone in his work that I hadn't noticed before, personally dismissive toward the people he is engaging, people he skewers and simultaneously pleads to view him favorably.
- every gift is necessary, though. so it'll remain on my annual reading list.

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chesterton really slowed me down. His points are very deep, and I had to at times, re-read a page or two to fully grasp his point. It's somewhat mindblowing that these books written in 1905 and 1908, are so incredibly relevant today. I will say that at times I despised this book for how slowly I crawled my way through it, but in the end, I feel like celebrating it based on its depth and relevance.

[Tommy Grooms · Rating 4 out of 5]

G.K. Chesterton’s Heretics has a simple premise: what we believe and why can't be unimportant. Chesterton analyses his contemporaries and points out the flaws in their premises. Unfortunately I know I didn’t get as much from it as I could by virtue of being born in 1990 and not 1890. Much more accessible is Chesterton’s Orthodoxy, as his critiques of modern philosophy in that work are more generalized and perfectly relevant today. The book is somewhat autobiographical, as most of the best arguments for Christianity are wont to be. Chesterton lays out his intuitions and hard-thought philosophical conclusions about the world and how he increasingly discovered that Christianity had already beaten him to it. Chesterton is a master at sussing out the inconsistencies of many of our assumptions, and Orthodoxy is among the best arguments for the legitimacy of a belief in Christianity that I’ve ever read.

[cellomerl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Masterful use of English but it was somewhat exhausting to read all the paradoxes; rather like flipping an endless series of switches in an old mechanical relay: on, off, on, off. Or maybe forward, reverse, forward, reverse. I’ve never read any author quite like Chesterton. Every sentence seemed like a presentation of opposites. Despite my new-found love for Catholic apologetics, it took a long time to read this book because it takes some effort to follow his admirably non-linear thinking, just doesn’t move along very quickly. But it’s definitely worth reading just to see how normal Christians were battling Marxist absurdities even in the pre-WWI Edwardian era.

[Michael Vincent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though it may be a cultural and literary gap, in Chesteron's attempt to be witty and literary, he comes off as flighty and "over the top." An answer to Christopher Hitchens in that he uses similar irony and sarcasm, though much more fair. I guess you 'had to be there." In both books, he writes as if 'it was an 'inside' joke." I confess in his effort to be entertaining and literary, I was more confused than encouraged. 6-23-08

[William Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Orthodoxy is the stronger of the two works, it uses the power of paradox to present the heart and whimsy of the Christian faith appealing to lived experience, in combination with the wholesome, the true, the beautiful presented as word pictures. It reads like poetry, but appeals to good old fashioned common sense. It’s brilliant, the kind of book you can read over and over again and get something new each time. Would read.

[Emily Tobergte]

I read Heretics while on vacation in Spain and practically inhaled it. I started Orthodoxy post vacation and stalled out. Since then I have moved houses, lost a sister, given birth, celebrated that child's first birthday, and started a job. I don't think I can even remember most of what I read.

I can safely say, though, that there were some amazing and beautiful bits and I will read it again when I can actually focus.

[Δημήτριος Καραγιάννης · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful, thought-provoking book that makes you ponder the place of humans and their beliefs in the cosmos. Chesterton delves into religion, morality and several other areas or human life and perfectly captures dilemmas and paradoxes such as modernity versus tradition, orthodoxy versus paganism and others.

[Alex McDougall · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a more interesting read than I expected. It's 50% apologetic, 50% philosophical, and 100% witty.. definitely recommend this book for that CS-Lewis like articulation of the truth in clever ways that go under our noses.. also he's a big paradox guy (that is to say, a good Catholic)👍🏼

[Tylar Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful and strong defense of orthodoxy and Christianity against heresies and vain philosophies. Much needed in our modern day! I’d recommend all my friends if you have the time to give this a read! Especially in a time when everything seems turned on its head!

[Ethan Nunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is two of the greatest volumes for philosophy and apologetics I’ve ever read.

[Chris Curran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heretics is an interesting look at some people from the early 1900s.
Orthodoxy is a great book!

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it, but I must admit by the end I felt Chesterton's constant wittiness to be a tad nauseating.

[Jayson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chesterton is tremendously witty. He is deep and at times esoteric with his writtings which is what took me so long to get through this book. Definitely not a light read. He has some great one-liners, as well as some paragraphs and analogies that really make you rethink some concepts such as 'progress'. These two books I found to be still relevant in the 21st century, although there were a couple typos.

[Gloria · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Heretics, Chesterton was against particular philosophies. Readers/critics said it criticized without offering an alternative, so Chesterton wrote another book: Orthodoxy.

I found Heretics to have more humor in it than Orthodoxy, though I think he used humor throughout both books. Others may catch the humor in Orthodoxy more than I did this read-through.

Heretics
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Orthodoxy

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Sean Hadley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Orthodoxy (2023.01.28)

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, as a more philosophical look at theology. It reminded me a lot of some of Lewis's writings, although I think I tend to prefer his over Chesterton's.

[Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hooray! It took me most of a school year, but I finally finished these two works by Chesterton.

I really enjoyed them; most of the time lag was because it was a little hard to get into his style...he uses lots of analogies and metaphors, and sometimes you have to stop and go back to WHAT he is talking about in the first place. Also, in Heretics, he's responding to other known figures of his time, some of whom are less known today...or at least their opinions that Chesterton is responding to are less known. The other part of the time lag is that it was a heavy book that was hard to hold while doing other things and, of course, I am always more easily drawn in by fiction than nonfiction and narratives than essays.

I actually enjoyed Orthodoxy more than Heretics, despite a feeling that the latter is more well known--I didn't need to know anyone's opinions but his to understand Orthodoxy, plus it had a more narrative and personal feel.

Overall, I found myself in agreement with Chesterton on many things...not everything, but a lot of his essentials, and I found his reflections on Christianity very useful.

[Daniel Lower · Rating 5 out of 5]

Note: This is the copy of Orthodoxy I own. This review is not for Heretics.

An excellent exploration of the Christian faith. Chesterton is a master of the English language, in my opinion, and it is evident here. Witty and intelligent writing that shows Chesterton's strongly Catholic-leaning views (Anglican, officially, when he wrote it) without displaying disrespect for his philosophical opponents (e.g. Mr. George Bernard Shaw.) The book is not one for those seeking a complete logical explanation of the faith--it is a book to pick up if you want to read a whimsical, literary exploration of Christianity. On occasion Chesterton's views may strike as odd or too old-fashioned, but his fervor for the faith remains evident. Overall a good read and one I recommend for any Christian, be they conservative or liberal, Catholic or not.