The Size of Chesterton's Catholicism - by David W Fagerberg (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

English writer Gilbert Keith Chesterton was widely known not only for his newspaper columns, novels, poetry, plays, and detective stories, but also for his theological and Catholic apologetical works. This celebration of Chesterton's passion for his faith builds on his own words to reveal the Catholic paradox he was so fond of exploring and which he articulated with zeal, wit, and total lack of animosity. David W. Fagerberg draws on Chesterton's theological writings--avoiding secondary sources so that the reader can encounter his thought as directly as possible--to show how Chesterton championed a Catholicism of great robustness accessible by a thousand doors.

Through these doors, Fagerberg shows that Chesterton believed the Church to be a living institution that confounds its critics. He organizes Chesterton's material around seven themes, fashioning a mosaic from the illustrations and arguments found in these apolegetical works. We see how Chesterton responded to accusations that the Church avoids the world with his defense of ordinary life and to the allegation of blind obedience with a defense of doctrinal complexity. We explore his interest in paganism and ritual and learn his response to the objections of liberal Protestantism.

Chesterton is shown to be an apologist for a "catholic" Catholicism and he saw in every heresy an effort to narrow the Church. Chesterton said about the Church "that it is not only larger than me, but larger then anything in the world; that it is indeed larger than the world."

Fagerberg suggests that the ultimate apology Chesterton made for Catholicism is that it is capacious enough to accommodate the paradoxical combinations which reveal reality--that the Church is a trysting-place for all the truths in the world.

Review Quotes

"At a time when many Catholic institutions are rather desperately trying to retrieve the distinctive identity which they seem to have lost since the Second Vatican Council, David Fagerberg's intriguing analysis of Chesterton's theology provides a model apologetic which is robust, humorous, humble and amazingly universal." --Worship

"Chesterton's unwavering gratitude and love for the world in which we dwell and for the Faith which we profess comes alive in Fagerberg's closely observed and beautifully written study." --Lawrence S. Cunningham, University of Notre Dame

"Among the countless books on the great GKC, this gracefully written essay deserves a place of distinction . . . a notable achievement that deserves a wide readership." --First Things

"David Fagerberg . . . writes that Gilbert Keith Chesterton 'countered his ideological opponents with tenacity, zeal, eagerness, enjoyment, conviction, an incisive wit, and a complete lack of personal animosity.' His study of Chesterton as an apologist gathers passages from Chesterton's works and shows how they illustrate the 'capaciousness of Catholic paradox which he was so fond of exploring.'" --Theology Digest

"Fagerberg has written a hauntingly good book." --New Oxford Review

"This is an interesting and enjoyable book. In addition to Fagerberg's lively writing style, his outline is logical and well developed. Fagerberg clearly enjoys introducing Chesterton's words, and he presents a superb analysis of his hero's position on Catholicism. Those interested in G.K. Chesterton, Roman Catholicism in early 20th-century England, the dynamics of conversion, and religious apologetics will enjoy this book." --Church History

About the Author

David W. Fagerberg is a professor of theology and senior advisor of the Notre Dame Center for Liturgy, University of Notre Dame. He is the author of Theologia Prima: What Is Liturgical Theology? (2003).