Showing results by author "G.K. Chesterton" in All Categories

Chesterton's compilation of essays in Heretics discusses the difference in Orthodoxy and Heretics, rational vs. irrational, and denial vs. affirmation. He questions the reason for the existence of man and the universe and calls out many prominent figures in the artistic and literary fields for their unorthodox ideas; thus labeling them heretics. He will have you thinking of favorite authors like Rudyard Kipling, Oscar Wilde, and H.G. Wells in a new light, challenging their ideals and morals.

G. K. Chesterton was a famous English writer, Christian thinker, and philosopher that lived between 1874 and 1936. Here are three of his finest nonfiction works collected in a single volume: What's Wrong with the World, Orthodoxy, and Heretics. Within the audio of this collection, you’ll discover how Chesterton sets forth one of the most telling critiques of contemporary religious notions ever, and how he accepted his opponents’ challenge to set forth his own reasons for accepting the Christian faith.

First published in 1911, The Innocence of Father Brown contains stories involving one of the greatest characters in the history of detective fiction: Father Brown. He is a Roman Catholic priest who has an uncanny insight into human evil. Rather than the large serial villains in, for example, Sherlock Holmes stories, the mysteries Father Brown solved were more local murders by small-town crooks, narrowing the suspect list down to those in the area of the crime.

A "very short Catholic priest" who does "...not seem to know which was the right end of his return ticket," Father Brown is the embodiment of the phrase 'looks can be deceiving.' Arguably the second best-known crime-solver in English literature, this unassuming man of the cloth solves case after case with ease.

In this 1905 collection of essays, G. K. Chesterton contests the growing intolerance for religious thinking and theological debate. He calls out friends and contemporaries - George Bernard Shaw, Rudyard Kipling, and H. G. Wells, among others - who hold divided views on art, literature, and politics but universally dismiss orthodox opinions on God and the cosmos.

In "The Incredulity of Father Brown," G.K. Chesterton treats us to another set of bizarre crimes that only his "stumpy" Roman Catholic prelate has the wisdom and mindset to solve. As usual, Chesterton loves playing with early twentieth-century class distinctions, "common-sense" assumptions, and the often anti-Catholic biases of his characters. He loves showing, through his characters, how those who hold themselves superior to the "fantasies" of Brown's Catholic faith themselves devolve into superstitious blithering when faced with the tiniest of mysteries.

These four stories test Father Brown in many ways, creating headaches a plenty. However, Father Brown is nothing if not redoubtable and whilst Chesterton's stories are, in his own words, "very slight and improbable", his method is all his own. Bill Wallis captures perfectly the mood and tone of Father Brown in this collection.

After the success of Heretics, G. K. Chesterton was challenged and compelled to share the story of his pilgrimage to faith. The result is this bracing, watershed religious autobiography in which he follows the doctrines determined in the Apostle’s Creed to deliver a personal, yet universal, defense of Christianity. Ultimately, the literary giant answers the question - not of whether divinity can be believed - but rather, how he himself came to believe it.

The Great Detective Library: 101 Legendary Detective Novels & Stories is a captivating anthology that brings together the finest works from the world's most renowned sleuths. Featuring iconic characters such as Hercule Poirot, Father Brown, Nero Wolfe, Sherlock Holmes, Inspector Alan Grant, Albert Campion, Miss Marple, and many others, this collection offers a comprehensive journey through the evolution of detective fiction.

This audiobook is wonderfully narrated by British actor Nigel Peever, who brings the story to life. Published by Chesterton Books.

In The Napoleon of Notting Hill, his first novel, G. K. Chesterton creates a witty satire of staid government, set in a London of the future. Auberon Quinn, a common clerk who looks like a cross between a baby and an owl and is often seen standing on his head, is one day told that he has been randomly selected to be His Majesty the King. He decides to turn London into a medieval carnival for his own amusement - with delightful results.

Detective fans of all races and creeds, of all tastes and fancies will delight in the exploits of this wise and whimsical padre. You will be enchanted by the scandalously innocent man of the cloth, with his handy umbrella, who exhibits such uncanny insight into ingeniously tricky human problems. This collection includes 12 mysteries solved by Father Brown.

During the first three decades of the 20th century, eugenics, the scientific control of human breeding, was a popular cause within enlightened and progressive segments of the English-speaking world. This prophetic volume counters the intellectual nihilism of Nietzsche, while simultaneously rebuking Western notions of progress - biological or otherwise. Chesterton expands his criticism of eugenics into what he calls "a more general criticism of the modern craze for scientific officialism and strict social organization."

Considered by many to be one of G.K. Chesterton’s greatest works, The Everlasting Man (first published in 1925), along with many of Chesterton’s other works, were heavily influenced by his own spiritual journey into Christianity. Published in 1925, The Everlasting Man is said to be a rebuttal of H.G. Wells’ The Outline of History, in which Chesterton delves into the history of religion and the spiritual exploration of Western society while defending any objections to Christianity.

The Innocence of Father Brown is the first collection of short stories featuring G.K. Chesterton's beloved detective, Father Brown, a humble and unassuming Catholic priest with a sharp mind for solving mysteries. Unlike the typical detectives of his time, Father Brown relies on his deep understanding of human nature, morality, and logic to unravel even the most perplexing cases. This complete collection includes classic stories such as The Blue Cross, where Father Brown first crosses paths with the brilliant thief Flambeau, and The Secret Garden, a dark and puzzling murder mystery.

Diminutive, bespectacled, and endearing, Father Brown only appears unworldly. But the cherubic parish priest is privy to the inner workings of the most surprising of sinners. And as an amateur sleuth, he intuits motives for Essex's unsolvable crimes. One of the most beloved characters in 20th-century detective fiction, the kindly cleric leverages his unrivaled insights into human nature to decipher 12 ingenious mysteries from the witty and clever mind of G. K. Chesterton.

G. K. Chesterton's classic biography of St. Francis. Visit ChestertonBooks.com to see other books in our G. K. Chesterton series. "St. Francis was above all things a great giver; and he cared chiefly for the best kind of giving which is called thanksgiving.... He knew that the praise of God stands on its strongest ground when it stands on nothing. He knew that we can best measure the towering miracle of the mere fact of existence if we realize that but for some strange mercy we should not even exist...." - G. K. Chesterton

"Nothing more strangely indicates an enormous and silent evil of modern society than the extraordinary use which is made nowadays of the word orthodox. In former days the heretic was proud of not being a heretic. It was the kingdoms of the world and the police and the judges who were heretics. He was orthodox. He had no pride in having rebelled against them; they had rebelled against him. The armies with their cruel security, the kings with their cold faces, the decorous processes of State, the reasonable processes of law - all these like sheep had gone astray...."

Gilbert Keith Chesterton has become synonymous with modern Christian apologetics. But his impact goes beyond just those interested in a defense of Christian thought. His writings have influenced such diverse authors as C.S. Lewis, Marshall McLuhan, and Jorge Luis Borges, and remains a subtle and unseen presence in contemporary Catholic thought. At his funeral, Ronald Knox said "All of this generation has grown up under Chesterton's influence so completely that we do not even know when we are thinking Chesterton."

The Sherlock Holmes & Father Brown Collection, read by Jonathan Keeble (as Sherlock) and Nicholas Boulton (as Father Brown), includes unabridged recordings of the complete short stories featuring Sherlock Holmes, and Books 1-4 featuring Father Brown, two of the most iconic amateur detectives in literature.