Apologetics Library

Orthodoxy

By G. K. Chesterton, first published in 1908

AuthorG. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)
First published1908, according to the publisher’s own printing record.1 Britannica gives 1909.2
DedicationTo my mother
This textThe John Lane, Bodley Head printing of 1934, as transcribed by Project Gutenberg
Checked againstA scan of the 1909 John Lane printing. I compared the two word by word, and the differences I found were scanning errors.
LengthAbout 63,000 words in 9 chapters
CopyrightPublic domain in the US, as a work published before 19313

A critic dared G. K. Chesterton to state his own philosophy, and this book is his answer. “I did try to found a heresy of my own; and when I had put the last touches to it, I discovered that it was orthodoxy.”4

By orthodoxy he means “the Apostles’ Creed, as understood by everybody calling himself Christian until a very short time ago.”4 He was an Anglican when he wrote it and became a Roman Catholic in 1922.2 The book sets aside the question of which church speaks for that creed.4

Chesterton argues from how the world looks to a thinking person: why logic alone can’t keep a mind sane, and why Christianity’s critics keep contradicting each other. For artifacts and manuscripts, see the Evidence Catalog.

If you only have half an hour, read The Suicide of Thought. It’s where he argues that doubt, pushed far enough, turns on reason itself: “There is a thought that stops thought.”5

Contents

  1. Introduction in Defence of Everything Else
  2. The Maniac
  3. The Suicide of Thought
  4. The Ethics of Elfland
  5. The Flag of the World
  6. The Paradoxes of Christianity
  7. The Eternal Revolution
  8. The Romance of Orthodoxy
  9. Authority and the Adventurer

By Casey Case (the introduction only) · Sources last checked November 1, 2026

Sources

  1. G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy (London: John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1934), printing record: “First published in 1908,” as transcribed by Project Gutenberg. ↩︎
  2. Britannica Editors, “G.K. Chesterton,” Encyclopaedia Britannica, October 9, 2026. ↩︎
  3. Peter B. Hirtle, “Copyright Term and the Public Domain,” Cornell University, updated January 1, 2026. ↩︎
  4. Chesterton, Orthodoxy, Chapter I, “Introduction in Defence of Everything Else.” ↩︎
  5. Chesterton, Orthodoxy, Chapter III, “The Suicide of Thought.” ↩︎