Chesterton at Calvary

Mr. Bernard Shaw from Heretics, Chapter IV In the glad old days, before the rise of modern morbidities,when genial old Ibsen filled the world with wholesome joy, and the kindly tales of the forgotten Emile Zola kept our firesides merry and pure, it used to be thought a disadvantage to be misunderstood. It may be doubted whether it is always or even generally a disadvantage. The man who is misunderstood has always this advantage over his enemies, that they do not know his weak point or his plan of campaign. They go out against a bird with nets and against a fish with arrows. There are several modern examples of this situation. Mr. Chamberlain, for instance, is a very good one. He constantly eludes or vanquishes his opponents because his real powers and deficiencies are quite different to those with which he is credited, both by friends and foes. His friends depict him as a strenuous man of action; his opponents depict him as a coarse man of business; when, as a fact, he is ne...

CHAPTER III of St. Francis of Assissi FRANCIS THE FIGHTER According to one tale, which if not true would be none the less typical, the very name of St. Francis was not so much a name as a nickname. There would be something akin to his familiar and popular instinct in the notion that he was nicknamed very much as an ordinary schoolboy might be called "Frenchy" at school. According to this version his name was not Francis at all but John; and his companions called him "Francesco", or "The little Frenchman" because of his passion for the French poetry of the Troubadours. The more probable story is that his mother had him named John when he was born in the absence of his father, who shortly returned from a visit to France, Where his commercial success had filled him with so much enthusiasm for French taste and social usage that he gave his son the new name signifying the Frank or Frenchman. In either case the name had a certain significance, as connecting...

II.—THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN KEY The very first thing I can ever remember seeing with my own eyes was a young man walking across a bridge. He had a curly moustache and an attitude of confidence verging on swagger. He carried in his hand a disproportionately large key of a shining yellow metal and wore a large golden or gilded crown. The bridge he was crossing sprang on the one side from the edge of a highly perilous mountain chasm, the peaks of the range rising fantastically in the distance; and at the other end it joined the upper part of the tower of an almost excessively castellated castle. In the castle tower there was one window, out of which a young lady was looking. I cannot remember in the least what she looked like; but I will do battle with anyone who denies her superlative good looks. To those who may object that such a scene is rare in the home life of house-agents living immediately to the north of Kensington High Street, in the later seventies of the last century, I...

Author and journalist GK Chesterton (1874 - 1936), perhaps the best Catholic apologist of his time, expounded upon the doctrine of his church while critiquing the the doctrine of his times, all in a voice of his characteristic humor and panache. In this 8-week class, we will discuss Chesterton’s philosophy through selections from his books, essays, poems, and fictional works. Prepare for the wit, provocation, and insight that led the avowed young atheist CS Lewis to a reluctant conversion — and perhaps find yourself a little converted, too.  Week 1: Who is GK Chesterton? The Man with the Golden Key (chapter two of Chesterton's autobiography) Who is this guy and why haven't I heard of him? by Dale Ahlquist Week 2: The turn of modernity to post-modernity Orthodoxy , chapters 1-3 Week 3: Elf-land Orthodoxy , chapters 4-5 Week 4: Heretics Introductory remarks on heresy  from Chesterton's Heretics Week 5: Heretics continued Chapter four fr...