Heretics: Heresy and Orthodoxy in the History of the Church

Written by G. K. Chesterton

Narrated by Stephen Johnston

In this galloping collection of twenty pointed essays, G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) nimbly punctures the philosophical pretensions of modern non-Christian thinkers and artists—heretics, as he calls them. Chesterton good-naturedly takes on contemporaries Rudyard Kipling, H. G. Wells, James McNeill Whistler, and even his good friend George Bernard Shaw, exposing the muddled logic of their popular ideas with his characteristic wisdom and razor-sharp wit. He also begins to lay the groundwork for Orthodoxy, his subsequent account of a rational and coherent Christian faith.

G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) was one of C. S. Lewis’ primary mentors in apologetics, and an influence even in his conversion. Novelist, poet, essayist, and journalist, Chesterton was perhaps best known for his Father Brown detective stories. He produced more than 100 volumes in his lifetime, including biographies of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Thomas Aquinas. His Everlasting Man, which set out a Christian outline of history, was one of the factors that wore down Lewis’ resistance to Christianity. Chesterton was one of the first defenders of orthodoxy to use humor as a weapon. Perhaps more important was his use of reason to defend faith.

About the Hendrickson Christian Classics series:
Acts of faith always start with a small “yes”—so how can you get better at hearing his call? Learning from trusted elders and writers in Christianity who walked before us is a fantastic way to begin! Whether you are looking to get more out of Scripture, be challenged by God’s relentless love, or gain a greater understanding for how Jesus reveals himself, the Hendrickson Christian Classics series will inspire and provoke you into a deeper relationship with the Lord.

Gain Fresh Insights and Perspectives
Whether you’re a new or longtime believer, get empowered and engaged in your walk with God by these inspirational Christian leaders who endured tremendous hardships, faced extreme persecution, and took consistent steps of faith!

The Hendrickson Christian Classics are for you if you want to:

• Learn how to experience the Holy Spirit’s presence daily
• Get a handle on Christian classics (like The Pilgrim’s Progress and others)
• Take your understanding of Scripture to a deeper level

Immerse yourself in these spiritual Christian classics!
Dive deep into these amazing masterworks and experience some of the greatest Christian classics, all masterfully narrated by Emmy Award winner Stephen Johnston:

• The Pilgrim’s Progress (by John Bunyan)
• Absolute Surrender (by Andrew Murray)
• The Practice of the Presence of God (by Brother Lawrence)
• How to Pray and How to Study the Bible (by R.A. Torrey)
• Heretics (by G.K. Chesterton)
• Humility (by Andrew Murray)
• In His Steps (by Charles Sheldon)
• The Imitation of Christ (by Thomas a Kempis)
• The Kneeling Christian (by Albert Richardson)
• Orthodoxy (by G.K. Chesterton)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers
• Release date: Nov 7, 2023
• ISBN: 9781683079170

G. K. Chesterton

G.K. Chesterton (1874–1936) was an English writer, philosopher and critic known for his creative wordplay. Born in London, Chesterton attended St. Paul’s School before enrolling in the Slade School of Fine Art at University College. His professional writing career began as a freelance critic where he focused on art and literature. He then ventured into fiction with his novels The Napoleon of Notting Hill and The Man Who Was Thursday as well as a series of stories featuring Father Brown.

Reviews for Heretics

[keigu_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

RH Blyth wrote that only Suzuki Daisetsu could talk of Zen without making him puke. Likewise for Chesterton on Christianity. This book is a gem. I particularly like the essay against cosmopolitanism in his chapter in Kipling, for it is the best criticism of the globe-trotting that most wealthy people (and that includes the middle class in the USA and other "developed nations)take for granted and start my book "The 5th Season - Poetry for the Re-creation of the World" with a quote from it. That might even be seen as the first statement of modern christian deep ecology. Note that I am what might be called a soft-shelled aetheist. Chesterton writes so well the only problem with reading him is that, if you are a critic and/or essayist you might never want to write again.

[gibbon_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Author of the "Father Brown" crime stories, Chesterton was not the most practical of men. While on a lecture tour he is said to have sent his wife a telegram saying "Am in Stow-on-the-Wold, where should I be? Love, Gilbert." Yet as a controversialist he was precise and deadly, which is why these hundred-year-old attacks on the ideas of Shaw, Wells, Ibsen and Kipling retain their interest. So much so that in an essay of 2005 Patrick Wright accused him of promoting an 'unsavoury xenophobia'. Who, looking at the state of England today, can doubt that Chesterton, had he not been dead seventy years, would have skewered the "Guardian" essayist neatly and decisively?

[manipledmutineer · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Classic Chestertonian fare.

[deusvitae · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Book itself: unfortunately, I got to the introduction only after reading it through; knowing that this book came before Orthodoxy, and that it was written by 1905, would have been useful throughout the reading.Nevertheless, Chesterton plows forward in this book in his unique style, often turning conventional wisdom on its head as he looks at things from a quite different perspective. The book is loosely about the "heresies" of many of the popular figures of Chesterton's day-- G. B. Shaw, Kipling, and even many of the political figures of the day. Chesterton, as a Catholic, ventures forth with a creative defense of the Christian viewpoint/system in light of the growing influence of modernism. Both Chesterton and C.S. Lewis have provided useful apologetic material for our present day, and Chesterton's material has one benefit-- he writes these things before either WWI or WWII, while Enlightenment triumphalism and modernism were reaching their full effect and not dented by the relativism that would seep in after the horrible years. Many of his comments are quite good and worth hearing out; the reader will likely find many quotables in this text, since Chesterton, if nothing else, is eminently quotable. Sometimes he goes a bit far; he is quite wed to English superiority, and the past century has proven some of his predictions wrong. Much of his material presupposes an understanding of turn of the century England and its empire, and thus many of his references lose a modern audience. Nevertheless, he clearly saw the challenges and the fallacies of Enlightenment triumphalism and the modernist movement afoot. As the last Romantic, Chesterton might just help us find a way forward through the philosophical wreckage of our own day.Kindle edition: I had few difficulties with this ebook. A few spelling mistakes that might be on account of the OCR. Make sure that you go back to the beginning and read the introduction, since Chesterton's references are quite time-specific.

[ari4joki · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The prickly old polemicist at his trade. Chesterton's writing is hugely interesting. Even when he is clearly wrong, I need to really think how to refute him. Sometimes it is in his postulates or axioms, never in his rhetoric. (Note that when I say "he is clearly wrong", I am only repeating Chesterton's words: after all, he says that a heretic is one that disagrees with him.)

[ben_a_11 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Chesterton is a one-of-a-kind marvel. Everyone knows him for apologetics, but his literary criticism is likely better. His observation that Kipling love the soldier not because he loves strength, but because loves work is a better key to Kipling than I have found in any other critic. And, as mere asides, one gets jewels of observation like the following: "Nietzsche...attributes to the strong man that scorn against weakness that exists only among invalids." This is cruelly accurate, confirmed by Nietzsche himself in Ecce Homo: "Alcohol is bad for me: a single glass of wine or beer in one day is sufficient to turn my life into a vale of misery .... [I] cannot advise all more spiritual natures earnestly enough to abstain entirely from alcohol. Water is sufficient.I do not recall how I came to own this book. It is, I now realize on re-reading, the first edition. Likely, then, it was a gift from my mother; making it perhaps the only time Chesterton changed hands as a Hannukah present. Recommended. 1.27.06

[quietedwaters · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Chesterton was a jovial, good-natured man, known for his raucous laughter and his love for naps and good beer. But Chesterton was also criticized for his joy, particularly criticized for how many jokes he made at his opponents’ expense. Heretics exhibits that style of jovial criticism, as in its pages Chesterton contests the philosophies and the philosophers of his day, but does so with wit and flair.

The chapters of this book are each devoted to a different writer or thinker of Chesterton’s day, as he tears down their ideas one at a time. Some names are recognizable today, while others have disappeared into the forgotten past.

I give this book a rating of 3 out of 5 with some regret, because I found great enjoyment in its pages. But the primary weakness of the book is its strong ties to the past; many of the ideas and persons described within are no longer known to today’s society. While the chapter on H. G. Wells still carries some interest for today’s reader, there is little need for us to dwell on the weaknesses of the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

As to the book’s strong suits, I thought the opening to be one of the most profound I have ever read. Chesterton described our modern world turned on its head, as illustrated by our use of the words “orthodoxy” and “heretic”:

"The word 'heresy' not only means no longer being wrong; it practically means being clear-headed and courageous. The word 'orthodoxy' not only no longer means being right; it practically means being wrong. All this can mean one thing, and one thing only. It means that people care less for whether they are philosophically right. For obviously a man ought to confess himself crazy before he confesses himself heretical."

Chesterton also wrote profoundly about the modern tendency to focus on evils and weaknesses, without pointing men and women toward any idea of what is good: “The human race, according to religion, fell once, and in falling gained knowledge of good and of evil. Now we have fallen a second time, and only the knowledge of evil remains to us.”

I could continue to share dozens more quotes — the Kindle tells me I’ve highlighted 89 different passages in the book — but instead I encourage you to read Heretics yourself.

This book will require more labor to read than any of today’s books, but the effort is worth your time. Chesterton was a brilliant social critic, and a fantastic wordsmith. If you are up for the challenge, Heretics will provide you with handfuls of pithy quotes, a picture of Chesterton’s coherent Christian worldview, and an example of how to winsomely critique the false ideas of your peers. It has not the accessibility of C. S. Lewis or even of Chesterton’s own Orthodoxy, but Heretics is a fascinating, if more difficult, read.