A strange, wonderful new world called Home
Today I began reading G K Chesterton’s Orthodoxy, in Trevin Wax’s edition. I’ve only read the introduction and first chapter, and am loving it so far. I’m intending to read the whole shebang, but that’s been my plan with lots of books!
The editor has broken up some long sentences and paragraphs to make the book easier to manage, and also gives valuable information about people and situations which Chesterton wrote about more than a century ago, so that the book remains accessible.
He tells us that Chesterton’s Orthodoxy is a good place to start in reading his many, many writings, but that you may need to read it more than once.
Chesterton begins by saying that everyone needs something fascinating and even forbidding, which is also secure. This thing, he says, is Christianity. What he is calling orthodoxy is the central Christian truths found in The Apostles’ Creed.
In Wax’s words, the author compares himself to a yachtsman who set sail for foreign lands only to succeed in discovering his homeland. When Chesterton set out to create a philosophy that aligned with what he saw as common sense in the world, he found to his surprise that Christianity had discovered these truths long before him.
I wonder if those who put their faith in Christ might find the new creation like this - a place that is strange and intriguing, but also safe and reassuring? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the heavenly kingdom was somewhere where there’s always more to discover, and somewhere you never ever want to leave?
Chesterton, G. K., & Wax, T. (2022). Orthodoxy: With Annotations & Guided Reading (p. 10). B&H Academic.