G.K. Chesterton?

[Josiah14]

I was wondering how devout Orthodox Christians might approach the writing of G.K. Chesterton. I particularly consider the Fr. Brown stories.

I ask because I have a non-Orthodox friend who is into literature. While I know he/she will not read anything written by an Orthodox Author, I still wish to get a book as a gift that promotes Orthodox views and morals.

I have also considered some C.S. Lewis, since I believe a good amount (though not all) of what he writes tends to be in agreement with Eastern Orthodox teaching. The problem is that this person already has a lot of C.S. Lewis books.

I thank you for your input.

Forgive me, a sinner

 

[JeremiahsBulldog]

Chesterton was a deep thinker and a believer in tradition, who went so far as to convert to Roman Catholicism.

OK, so he didn't become Orthodox. But the apostles and fathers were not averse to reading even pagan writings, so long as they could accept from them only those things which agreed with Orthodoxy--and there's much in chesterton that agrees with Orthodoxy.

As for C. S. Lewis; he acknowledged Chesterton's book The Everlasting Man (a defense of Christianity) with inspiring his own conversion.

Hey, at least its better than Harry Potter.

 

[rusmeister]

Hmmm. Should've posted this in the general forum, Josiah. I didn't see it until now.
Check out this thread - it's a primer I started here to offer an Orthodox viewpoint.

http://christianforums.com/showthread.php?t=6362814

You can feel free to comment on that thread - I'd be happy to resurrect it and develop it further, if anyone is interested.
I'm a "resident Chestertonian" and have taken on myself to thoroughly study the man's works - and brother, did he do a lot of work!

CS Lewis is also wonderful, but his main error is more serious in my view than Chesterton's, and he does nothing to bring heterodox Christians closer to the Church, because he essentially holds it as not important (in his writings, at least). Lewis will point you to Christ, but he won't point you to the Church. Chesterton does both (although he sees it as the Catholic Church), but he's a more difficult read for beginners than Lewis.

 

[howdydave]

Howdy!

I love the Fr. Brown stories and don't see anything wrong with them.

How do you feel about A.C. Doyle and Sherlock Holmes? If you are going to approach it from a moralistic point of view, following the adventures of a RC priest is better than following the adventures of a junkie!

The preceeding sentence is what happens if you take your doubts to moralist extremes. Fiction is fiction!

 

[rusmeister]

Howdy!

I love the Fr. Brown stories and don't see anything wrong with them.

How do you feel about A.C. Doyle and Sherlock Holmes? If you are going to approach it from a moralistic point of view, following the adventures of a RC priest is better than following the adventures of a junkie!

The preceeding sentence is what happens if you take your doubts to moralist extremes. Fiction is fiction!

Chesterton actually wrote on Doyle and Holmes, and as always, he offers perspectives that we don't usually think about.
On Lying in Bed and Other Essays by ... - Ïîèñê êíèã Google
Sorry for the incredibly long link. You can try this one and scroll down:
On Lying in Bed and Other Essays by ... - Ïîèñê êíèã Google