Books › The Everlasting Man
The Everlasting Man
First published 1953 · 592 pages
A jovial, mind-bending stroll through human history that turns the familiar world upside down to reveal its hidden magic.
What it feels like
Reading this feels like sitting in a firelit pub with a brilliant, jovial philosopher who is determined to show you that the world you thought was ordinary is actually a wild, impossible miracle. The pace is steady and deliberate, demanding that you pause frequently to untangle its dense, sparkling paradoxes. The prose is a masterclass in rhetorical acrobatics, constantly flipping conventional wisdom on its head to expose the limits of pure materialism. The mood is expansive and intellectually stimulating, suffused with a deep, triumphant awe at the strangeness of human nature and the radical uniqueness of the Incarnation. It will deeply delight readers who crave robust intellectual sparring, historical wonder, and the thrill of seeing the universe through a lens of profound, joyful mystery.
- Mood
- intellectually stimulating
- expansive
- awe-inspiring
- luminous
- Tone
- witty
- paradoxical
- earnest
- jovial
- triumphant
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- the mystery of human nature · the romance of orthodoxy · the limits of materialism · historical wonder · the strangeness of the familiar
- The writing
- Bursting with rhetorical flourishes, vivid metaphors, and a signature love of paradox, the sentences demand to be savored and chewed over.
- The arc
- Begins with a playful dismantling of secular assumptions and builds toward a soaring, triumphant awe at the radical uniqueness of the Christian story.
- Who it's for
- Thinkers and seekers who enjoy philosophical history, robust intellectual sparring, and discovering the miraculous hidden within the mundane.
Content notes
- discussions of ancient pagan practices
- religious exclusivity
About the book
The Everlasting Man is inspired by H. G. Wells’ The Outline of History, which explains the history of mankind and religion as solely a product of natural selection and other material causes. In contrast, G. K. Chesterton presents the case for Christianity throughout history, by illustrating firstly, the uniqueness of man amongst the animals, and secondly, the uniqueness of Christ and the Church amongst other religions and philosophies. Written in Chesterton’s typical style, already familiar to readers of Orthodoxy and Heretics, and ripe with humor and symbolism, The Everlasting Man doesn’t aim to be a scholarly history treatise. Rather, like the title of Wells’ work, Chesterton merely presents us his outline of history. It is in this outline that his Christian, specifically Catholic, perspective contrasts with secular views common in modern times.
Description from Open Library.
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