Difference between revisions of "G.K. Chesterton"

From Conservapedia
Jump to: navigation, search
(→‎Other external links)
m (Added Categories)
(7 intermediate revisions by 6 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
−
'''Gilbert Keith Chesterton''' (1874-1936) was a [[British]] [[writer]].
+
'''Gilbert Keith Chesterton''' (1874-1936) was a [[British]] [[writer]] and leading [[conservative]] intellectual.
  
−
He is known for his fictional works such as the ''Father Brown'' stories, as well as for his non-fiction writings offering an intellectual defense of the [[Christian]] faith.  Along with his friend [[Hilaire Belloc]] he is also known for his political viewpoint known as [[distributism]], which opposed both [[communism]] and modern [[capitalism]], and supported a decentralized economy of small property owners and small-scale [[entrepreneur]]s.
+
He is known for his fictional works such as the ''Father Brown'' stories, as well as for his non-fiction writings offering an intellectual defense of the [[Christian]] faith.  Along with his friend [[Hilaire Belloc]] he is best known as an exponent of  a British variety of conservatism known as [[distributism]], which opposed both [[socialism]] and large-scale [[capitalism]], and supported a decentralized economy of small property owners and small-scale [[entrepreneur]]s. He was a leader in the fight against socialism.
  
−
Chesterton was a long-time [[Anglican]], but was convinced by Belloc to convert to the [[Catholic Church]].
+
Chesterton was a long-time [[Anglican]], but was convinced by Belloc to convert to [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]].
  
 
His most influential Christian books include ''Orthodoxy'', and ''What's Wrong With the World'', which criticize modernist trends such as [[feminism]] and uphold the traditional Christian faith.
 
His most influential Christian books include ''Orthodoxy'', and ''What's Wrong With the World'', which criticize modernist trends such as [[feminism]] and uphold the traditional Christian faith.
 +
 +
Chesterton was well-known for his philosophical debates with renowned contemporaries such as [[Clarence Darrow]], [[Bertrand Russell]], [[George Bernard Shaw]], and [[H.G. Wells]]. Of Shaw, with whom Chesterton could be said to have had a friendly rivalry and battle of wits, Chesterton once said:
 +
 +
"After belabouring a great many people for a great many years for being unprogressive, Mr. Shaw has discovered, with characteristic sense, that it is very doubtful whether any existing human being with two legs can be progressive at all. Having come to doubt whether humanity can be combined with progress, most people, easily pleased, would have elected to abandon progress and remain with humanity. Mr. Shaw, not being easily pleased, decides to throw over humanity with all its limitations and go in for progress for its own sake. If man, as we know him, is incapable of the philosophy of progress, Mr. Shaw asks, not for a new kind of philosophy, but for a new kind of man. It is rather as if a nurse had tried a rather bitter food for some years on a baby, and on discovering that it was not suitable, should not throw away the food and ask for a new food, but throw the baby out of window, and ask for a new baby." - ''Heretics'', G.K.C.
 +
 +
== Quotes ==
 +
* "When men cease to believe in God, they will believe in anything."
 +
* "Nothing is more common, for instance, than to find such a modem critic writing something like this: 'Christianity was above all a movement of ascetics, a rush into the desert, a refuge in the cloister, a renunciation of all life and happiness; and this was a part of a gloomy and inhuman reaction against nature itself, a hatred of the body, a horror of the material universe, a sort of universal suicide of the senses and even of the self. It came from an eastern fanaticism like that of the fakirs and was ultimately founded on an eastern pessimism, which seems to feel existence itself as an evil.' Now the most extraordinary thing about this is that it is all quite true; it is true in every, detail except that it happens to be attributed entirely to the wrong person. It is not true of the Church; but it is true of the heretics condemned by the Church."
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
Line 16: Line 24:
 
{{DEFAULTSORT: Chesterton, G.K}}
 
{{DEFAULTSORT: Chesterton, G.K}}
 
[[Category:Authors|Chesterton, G.K.]]
 
[[Category:Authors|Chesterton, G.K.]]
−
[[Category:Writers]]
+
[[Category:Christian Apologists]]
 +
[[Category:conservatives]]
 +
[[Category:Anti-Communism]]

Revision as of 20:58, December 4, 2014

Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) was a British writer and leading conservative intellectual.

He is known for his fictional works such as the Father Brown stories, as well as for his non-fiction writings offering an intellectual defense of the Christian faith. Along with his friend Hilaire Belloc he is best known as an exponent of a British variety of conservatism known as distributism, which opposed both socialism and large-scale capitalism, and supported a decentralized economy of small property owners and small-scale entrepreneurs. He was a leader in the fight against socialism.

Chesterton was a long-time Anglican, but was convinced by Belloc to convert to Catholicism.

His most influential Christian books include Orthodoxy, and What's Wrong With the World, which criticize modernist trends such as feminism and uphold the traditional Christian faith.

Chesterton was well-known for his philosophical debates with renowned contemporaries such as Clarence Darrow, Bertrand Russell, George Bernard Shaw, and H.G. Wells. Of Shaw, with whom Chesterton could be said to have had a friendly rivalry and battle of wits, Chesterton once said:

"After belabouring a great many people for a great many years for being unprogressive, Mr. Shaw has discovered, with characteristic sense, that it is very doubtful whether any existing human being with two legs can be progressive at all. Having come to doubt whether humanity can be combined with progress, most people, easily pleased, would have elected to abandon progress and remain with humanity. Mr. Shaw, not being easily pleased, decides to throw over humanity with all its limitations and go in for progress for its own sake. If man, as we know him, is incapable of the philosophy of progress, Mr. Shaw asks, not for a new kind of philosophy, but for a new kind of man. It is rather as if a nurse had tried a rather bitter food for some years on a baby, and on discovering that it was not suitable, should not throw away the food and ask for a new food, but throw the baby out of window, and ask for a new baby." - Heretics, G.K.C.

Quotes

  • "When men cease to believe in God, they will believe in anything."
  • "Nothing is more common, for instance, than to find such a modem critic writing something like this: 'Christianity was above all a movement of ascetics, a rush into the desert, a refuge in the cloister, a renunciation of all life and happiness; and this was a part of a gloomy and inhuman reaction against nature itself, a hatred of the body, a horror of the material universe, a sort of universal suicide of the senses and even of the self. It came from an eastern fanaticism like that of the fakirs and was ultimately founded on an eastern pessimism, which seems to feel existence itself as an evil.' Now the most extraordinary thing about this is that it is all quite true; it is true in every, detail except that it happens to be attributed entirely to the wrong person. It is not true of the Church; but it is true of the heretics condemned by the Church."

References

  • Peters, Edward. "Introduction to G.K. Chesterton". Website retrieved July 3, 2007.
  • Pierce, Joseph. "G.K. Chesterton, Champion of Orthodoxy." Website retrieved July 3, 2007.

Other external links