Word on Fire has just released an annotated version of “The Everlasting Man” by G. K. Chesterton, one of the most influential books on the life and vocation of C. S. Lewis. David discusses this book with Dale Ahlquist, the book’s Editor and President of the Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton.
Show Notes
01. “Everlasting Importance”
- In 1962, the Christian Sentry asked C. S. Lewis about the books that shaped his vocational attitude and life philosophy. The first that he named was “Phantastes” by George MacDonald. The second was “The Everlasting Man” by G. K. Chesterton.
- Lewis wrote about the importance of this book in his conversion story in his biography, “Surprised by Joy”.
02. “Who is Dale Ahlquist?”
Q. Could you introduce yourself to the audience?
- Dale Ahlquist is the president of The Society of G. K. Chesterton, an organisation that has been in existence for 27 years. He has a show on EWTN called The Apostle of Common Sense, is the author of 6 books on Chesterton, and the editor of many more. He is the editor and publisher of Gilbert Magazine. Additionally, he is the founder of Chesterton Academy, a Catholic liberal arts high school.
03. “Who Was G. K. Chesterton?”
Q. For people who have been living in holes and have never heard of G. K. Chesterton, could you explain who he was, what he did, and why he is important?
- Chesterton is one of the most prolific writers who ever lived, writing one hundred books – including the popular “Fr. Brown” detective series – and thousands of essays. He shocked the world with his defence of Christianity, and then again when he converted to Catholicism in 1922. His influence on the writers of the 20th century was enormous.
- Word on Fire has an episode on G. K. Chesterton as a part of their “Pivotal Players” series.
04. “The Everlasting Man”
Q. Where does “The Everlasting Man” fit in Chesterton’s corpus? What was the background to it, and what does he say?
- “The Everlasting Man” was written in 1929, a few years after the publication of “The Outline of History” by H. G. Wells. Wells was a close friend of Chesterton, but a complete intellectual opponent.
If after all my Atheology turns out wrong and your Theology right I feel I shall always be able to pass into Heaven (if I want to) as a friend of G.K.C.’s. Bless you.
H. G. Wells
- Wells was a fantastic science-fiction novelist. He is the author of some of the most well-known sci-fi stories in history, including “The Invisible Man”, “The Time Machine”, and “The War of the Worlds”. However, his political, philosophical, and theological views were terrible. “The Everlasting Man” was G. K. Chesterton’s response to “The Outline of History”.
- Chesterton’s book is split into two books, which reflects the structure of the Bible. There is the pre-Christian era called “On the Creature Called Man”, and then the time after the Incarnation of Christ, which is named “On the Man Called Christ”. It is from this second section that C. S. Lewis derives a popular concept from…
Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
05. “The Annotated Version”
Q. Let’s talk about the annotated copy you recently published. What do people get out of this book that they wouldn’t get out of other editions?
- Along with Lewis recommending “The Everlasting Man”, Sheldon Vanauken also vouched for it in “A Severe Mercy”.
- Chesterton makes many references throughout the book, assuming his readers are as well-versed as he was. This copy includes footnotes at the bottom of the page that explain what he was talking about, along with commentary at the end of each chapter to pull the ideas together.
- When people typically start reading Chesterton, they either go for “Orthodoxy” or “The Everlasting Man”, and are unprepared for what they are about to read. Having an annotated version with summaries helps to make this a safer first read.
06. “Future Annotated Editions?”
Q. Will you be doing annotated versions of other Chesterton works in the future?
- Dale Ahlquist is considering doing annotated versions of the two other assigned books at Chesterton Academy, “St. Francis of Assisi” and “St. Thomas Aquinas: ‘The Dumb Ox'”.
07. “Launch Events”
Q. What are you doing to launch this book? Are there any events?
- This is the capstone book at Chesterton Academy for the student’s senior year. They begin freshman year by reading “The Iliad and the Odyssey”, which is referred to early on in “The Everlasting Man”.
08. “Book Club”
Q. I’ve heard that there is going to be a book club for “The Everlasting Man”. Can you talk about that?
- The Society of G. K. Chesterton is hosting an online book club which will take about half a year to complete, as they go through the work one chapter per week.
- The book will also be featured at the 43rd Annual Chesterton Conference in Philadelphia, PA in late July.
Wrap Up
More Information
- The Society of G. K. Chesterton has many resources and several books for sale. As a good distributist, Dale Ahlquist asked listeners to support their local bookstores.
A young man who wishes to remain a sound atheist cannot be too careful of his reading.
C. S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy
