Christian History Home > Issue 75 > G.K. Chesterton: From the Editor - Diamonds and the Rough
G.K. Chesterton: From the Editor - Diamonds and the Rough
Elesha Coffman | posted 7/01/2002 12:00AM
Some historical figures manage to be both famous and obscure. John Newton, the slave trader who wrote "Amazing Grace," has been boiled down to a perennial sermon illustration. The Earl of Sandwich lives on only as a deli order. G.K. Chesterton pops up all over as the source for clever quotations, yet the American Chesterton Society leads off its website with an article titled, "Who is this guy and why haven't I heard of him?"
The reader who approaches Chesterton through his fine phrases has taken a good first step. Chesterton celebrated the perspective of "microscopists"—people who find big truths in tiny things—and his style invites microscopist reading.
Author Philip Yancey said, "I don't think you would study him for paragraphs. I don't think you would necessarily study him for great prose style. But for the wit and turn of words contained in one sentence, I don't think he has an equal anywhere." (For more of Yancey's thoughts on Chesterton, see page 44.)
Even so, Chesterton's verbal ... To view this item, you must be a member of ChristianHistory.net.
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