Orthodoxy (1908) is a book by G. K. Chesterton that has become a classic of Christianapologetics. In it, Chesterton presents an original view of Christian religion. He sees it as the answer to natural human needs, the "answer to a riddle" in his own words, and not simply as an arbitrary truth received from somewhere outside the boundaries of human experience. G.K. Chesterton Gilbert Keith Chesterton (May 29, 1874 â June 14, 1936) was a prolific English writer of the early 20th century. ... See also: Timeline of Christianity Beliefs Jesus crucifixion as portrayed by Diego Velázquez. ... Apologetics is the field of study concerned with the systematic defense of a position. ...
The book is developed as an intellectual quest by a spiritually curious person who is looking for the ultimate truth about the meaning of life and ends up with his own truth, made exactly to fit human needs. "By coincidence", this truth is the same one proposed by Christianity.
In keeping with this detachment from dogmatic religion, the book has barely any quotation from Scripture or any authoritative statement by a religious authority. It is mostly presented as a free intellectual inquiry by somebody who is looking for an explanation of the mysteries of human existence and wants that explanation to be satisfactory to his own reason. The Bible (sometimes The Book, Good Book, Word of God, The Word, or Scripture), from Greek (Ïα) βιβλια, (ta) biblia, (the) books, is the classical name for the Hebrew Bible of Judaism or the combination of the Old Testament and New Testament of Christianity (The Bible actually refers to at least two...
The word orthodoxy, from the Greek ortho ('right', 'correct') and doxa ('thought', 'teaching'), is typically used to refer to the correct theological or doctrinal observance of religion, as determined by some overseeing body.
Apostasy, for example is a violation of orthodoxy that takes the form of abandonment of the faith, be it for some form of atheism or for some other faith, a concept largely unknown before the adoption of Christianity as the official religion of Rome.
The concept of orthodoxy is the most prevalent and even inherently pervasive in nearly all forms of organized monotheism, but orthodoxic belief is not usually overly emphasized in polytheistic or animist religions.
The book is developed as an intellectual quest by a spiritually curious person who is looking for the ultimate truth about the meaning of life and ends up with his own truth, made exactly to fit human needs.
In keeping with this detachment from dogmatic religion, the book has barely any quotation from Scripture or any authoritative statement by a religious authority.
It is mostly presented as a free intellectual inquiry by somebody who is looking for an explanation of the mysteries of human existence and wants that explanation to be satisfactory to his own reason.