Orthodoxy

A classic of Christian apologetics, the branch of Christian theology which seeks to offer reasoned defenses for Christianity against its objectors, G. K. Chesterton’s “Orthodoxy” is one of the author’s most enduring works. A self-described pagan and agnostic in his youth, Chesterton describes in this work how he came to believe in the importance of his own personal belief in Christianity. As he describes in his preface to the book, “It is the purpose of the writer to attempt an explanation, not of whether the Christian Faith can be believed, but of how he personally has come to believe it. The book is therefore arranged upon the positive principle of a riddle and its answer. It deals first with all the writer’s own solitary and sincere speculations and then with all the startling style in which they were all suddenly satisfied by the Christian Theology.” Meant as a companion to Chesterton’s “Heretics” upon its first publication in 1908, this book makes the compelling argument that one needs faith to live happily in society. This edition includes a biographical afterword.