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The full text of G.K. Chesterton’s masterpiece, The Everlasting Man, with illuminating notes and commentary by the world’s greatest living expert on the writings of G.K. Chesterton.
The Everlasting Man: A Guide to G.K. Chesterton’s Masterpiece
By Dale Ahlquist
Word on Fire | March 18, 2024
Hardcover | 520 Pages | 5.5” x 8”
Retail Price: $29.95 (FREE U.S. Shipping!)
Winner of the CMA 2025 Book Award for Spirituality: Classical
Winner of the CMA 2025 Book Award for History (Second Place)
Your Life is a Story: G.K. Chesterton and the Paradox of Freedom
By Brady Stiller
Foreword by Dale Ahlquist
Word on Fire | March 18, 2024
Paperback | 224 Pages | 6” x 9”
Retail Price: $24.95 (FREE Book Bonus!)
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About The Everlasting Man: A Guide to G.K. Chesterton’s Masterpiece
Among the many masterpieces of G.K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man is his crowning achievement. It was the book that set a young atheist named C.S. Lewis on the path toward Christianity. Evelyn Waugh called it “a permanent monument” that “needs no elucidation.” And its lively prose and compelling defense of Christianity have dazzled readers ever since.
But a little elucidation, it turns out, is needed. Chesterton’s presentation of the story of humanity and religion is filled with obscure literary, historical, mythological, philosophical, and theological references—most of which are largely lost on today’s readers. And Chesterton’s paradoxical and apparently wandering style proves, at times, disorienting to newcomers.
In this groundbreaking guide—the first of its kind—one of the world’s leading authorities on Chesterton walks readers through the entirety of this great apologist’s text. Complete with an introduction, footnotes, running commentary, and a ribbon bookmark, Dale Ahlquist’s tour through Chesterton’s classic will draw new readers into his literary world—and old readers even deeper into his literary genius.
Among the many masterpieces of G.K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man is his crowning achievement. It was the book that set a young atheist named C.S. Lewis on the path toward Christianity. Evelyn Waugh called it “a permanent monument” that “needs no elucidation.” And its lively prose and compelling defense of Christianity have dazzled readers ever since.
But a little elucidation, it turns out, is needed. Chesterton’s presentation of the story of humanity and religion is filled with obscure literary, historical, mythological, philosophical, and theological references—most of which are largely lost on today’s readers. And Chesterton’s paradoxical and apparently wandering style proves, at times, disorienting to newcomers.
In this groundbreaking guide—the first of its kind—one of the world’s leading authorities on Chesterton walks readers through the entirety of this great apologist’s text. Complete with an introduction, footnotes, running commentary, and a ribbon bookmark, Dale Ahlquist’s tour through Chesterton’s classic will draw new readers into his literary world—and old readers even deeper into his literary genius.
About Your Life Is a Story:
G.K. Chesterton and the Paradox of Freedom
What is the meaning of life? Do we create meaning or find it? Every person, implicitly or explicitly, has a conception of the meaning of life, which is intimately connected to our view of human freedom. How we answer these questions determines the course of our lives and our fulfillment.
Drawing from the great writer G.K. Chesterton, Brady Stiller identifies four dominant philosophical positions on meaning in our day—determinism, existentialism, skepticism, and nihilism—and evaluates their answers to these ultimate questions, and how they fall short. Evoking Chesterton’s notion of paradox, Stiller proposes a philosophical position more true to reality—namely, that the meaning of life is both objective and subjective at the same time. By viewing life as a story with both determined and undetermined aspects, we are equipped to coauthor our stories with the divine author, discovering our role in the grand drama of creation.
What is the meaning of life? Do we create meaning or find it? Every person, implicitly or explicitly, has a conception of the meaning of life, which is intimately connected to our view of human freedom. How we answer these questions determines the course of our lives and our fulfillment.
Drawing from the great writer G.K. Chesterton, Brady Stiller identifies four dominant philosophical positions on meaning in our day—determinism, existentialism, skepticism, and nihilism—and evaluates their answers to these ultimate questions, and how they fall short. Evoking Chesterton’s notion of paradox, Stiller proposes a philosophical position more true to reality—namely, that the meaning of life is both objective and subjective at the same time. By viewing life as a story with both determined and undetermined aspects, we are equipped to coauthor our stories with the divine author, discovering our role in the grand drama of creation.
Here’s What People Are Saying...
About The Everlasting Man: A Guide to G.K. Chesterton’s Masterpiece
“Chesterton is arguably the greatest apologist of the Catholic literary revival, and The Everlasting Man is arguably his greatest work of apologetics. Dale Ahlquist is arguably the greatest apologist for Chesterton and the key figure in the Chesterton revival. There is, therefore, no better person to guide us through The Everlasting Man than Dale Ahlquist. He takes us further up and further in. He dives and delves deeper. He enables us to fathom the depths of Chesterton's brilliance as expressed in what is probably Chesterton's most brilliant work. I am so grateful to Word on Fire for publishing this indispensable book. It is an answer to prayer.”
— Joseph Pearce, author of Wisdom and Innocence: A Life of G.K. Chesterton
“St. John Paul II once wrote that ‘Jesus Christ is the answer to the question that is posed by every human life.’ One hundred years ago, G.K. Chesterton set out to unpack this idea in his spiritual odyssey, The Everlasting Man. If it is true that Chesterton was one of the most complete writers of the twentieth century, then The Everlasting Man is the most complete book Chesterton ever wrote. Dale Ahlquist, arguably the world’s greatest living expert on the writings of G.K. Chesterton, has given us an opportunity, with helpful notes and ongoing commentary, to delve deeply into the genius of Chesterton on the most fundamental questions of the human experience. Hard to categorize, The Everlasting Man is a philosophical, theological, historical, and literary masterpiece. I actually read this book in my undergraduate years, before my conversion to the Catholic Church, and it was a huge stepping stone in my own crossing of the Tiber. I am thrilled that this epic work is being republished again. The reader will not be disappointed!”
— Bishop James Conley, Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska
“When people ask me what three books to read to understand the world, I always tell them Manzoni’s The Betrothed, because it contains all social thought; Undset’s Kristen Lavransdatter, because it contains all moral theology; and Chesterton’s Everlasting Man, because it contains all human history. Why? All human history converges on the Incarnation and then proceeds from it. Chesterton stands alongside St. Augustine in opening our eyes and hearts to this reality, and Dale Ahlquist has done nothing short of heroic work in at last giving mankind an edition worthy of the masterpiece.”
— Christopher Check, president of Catholic Answers
“G.K. Chesterton’s robust and rollicking The Everlasting Man is one of those volumes that is everlastingly fresh and up to date. Nevertheless, many of Chesterton's contemporary references can make the text confusing for the modern reader. Dale Ahlquist, Chesterton’s supreme commentator and promoter, provides the notes and explanations that illuminate the obscure references for a new generation of readers. This volume should be on the required reading list for every high school and college student.”
— Fr. Dwight Longenecker, blogger, speaker, and author of Beheading Hydra and Immortal Combat
Here’s What People Are Saying...
About The Everlasting Man: A Guide to G.K. Chesterton’s Masterpiece
“Chesterton is arguably the greatest apologist of the Catholic literary revival, and The Everlasting Man is arguably his greatest work of apologetics. Dale Ahlquist is arguably the greatest apologist for Chesterton and the key figure in the Chesterton revival. There is, therefore, no better person to guide us through The Everlasting Man than Dale Ahlquist. He takes us further up and further in. He dives and delves deeper. He enables us to fathom the depths of Chesterton's brilliance as expressed in what is probably Chesterton's most brilliant work. I am so grateful to Word on Fire for publishing this indispensable book. It is an answer to prayer.”
— Joseph Pearce, author of Wisdom and Innocence: A Life of G.K. Chesterton
“St. John Paul II once wrote that ‘Jesus Christ is the answer to the question that is posed by every human life.’ One hundred years ago, G.K. Chesterton set out to unpack this idea in his spiritual odyssey, The Everlasting Man. If it is true that Chesterton was one of the most complete writers of the twentieth century, then The Everlasting Man is the most complete book Chesterton ever wrote. Dale Ahlquist, arguably the world’s greatest living expert on the writings of G.K. Chesterton, has given us an opportunity, with helpful notes and ongoing commentary, to delve deeply into the genius of Chesterton on the most fundamental questions of the human experience. Hard to categorize, The Everlasting Man is a philosophical, theological, historical, and literary masterpiece. I actually read this book in my undergraduate years, before my conversion to the Catholic Church, and it was a huge stepping stone in my own crossing of the Tiber. I am thrilled that this epic work is being republished again. The reader will not be disappointed!”
— Bishop James Conley, Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska
“When people ask me what three books to read to understand the world, I always tell them Manzoni’s The Betrothed, because it contains all social thought; Undset’s Kristen Lavransdatter, because it contains all moral theology; and Chesterton’s Everlasting Man, because it contains all human history. Why? All human history converges on the Incarnation and then proceeds from it. Chesterton stands alongside St. Augustine in opening our eyes and hearts to this reality, and Dale Ahlquist has done nothing short of heroic work in at last giving mankind an edition worthy of the masterpiece.”
— Christopher Check, president of Catholic Answers
“G.K. Chesterton’s robust and rollicking The Everlasting Man is one of those volumes that is everlastingly fresh and up to date. Nevertheless, many of Chesterton's contemporary references can make the text confusing for the modern reader. Dale Ahlquist, Chesterton’s supreme commentator and promoter, provides the notes and explanations that illuminate the obscure references for a new generation of readers. This volume should be on the required reading list for every high school and college student.”
— Fr. Dwight Longenecker, blogger, speaker, and author of Beheading Hydra and Immortal Combat
About the Authors
Dale Ahlquist
The Everlasting Man: A Guide to G.K. Chesterton’s Masterpiece
The Everlasting Man: A Guide to G.K. Chesterton’s Masterpiece
Dale Ahlquist is considered one of the world’s leading authorities on the life and writings of G.K. Chesterton. He is President of the Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton, editor and publisher of Gilbert magazine, creator and host of EWTN’s long-running series The Apostle of Common Sense, and founder of the Chesterton Schools Network.
Brady Stiller
Your Life is a Story: G.K. Chesterton and the Paradox of Freedom
Your Life is a Story: G.K. Chesterton and the Paradox of Freedom
Brady Stiller was the valedictorian of the University of Notre Dame class of 2020, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences and theology. He earned a master’s degree in nonprofit administration from the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame. He was the first researcher to study materials of the G.K. Chesterton Collection at its new home at the Notre Dame London Global Gateway in the U.K. He also had a role in founding the Chesterton Academy in Covington, Louisiana.
About the Authors
Dale Ahlquist
The Everlasting Man: A Guide to G.K. Chesterton’s Masterpiece
Dale Ahlquist is considered one of the world’s leading authorities on the life and writings of G.K. Chesterton. He is President of the Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton, editor and publisher of Gilbert magazine, creator and host of EWTN’s long-running series The Apostle of Common Sense, and founder of the Chesterton Schools Network.
Brady Stiller
Your Life is a Story: G.K. Chesterton and the Paradox of Freedom
Brady Stiller was the valedictorian of the University of Notre Dame class of 2020, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences and theology. He earned a master’s degree in nonprofit administration from the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame. He was the first researcher to study materials of the G.K. Chesterton Collection at its new home at the Notre Dame London Global Gateway in the U.K. He also had a role in founding the Chesterton Academy in Covington, Louisiana.
“In reading Chesterton ... I did not know what I was letting myself in for. A young man who wishes to remain a sound Atheist cannot be too careful of his reading.”
— C.S. Lewis on The Everlasting Man
Contents
The Everlasting Man:
A Guide to G.K. Chesterton’s Masterpiece
Acknowledgments
Editor’s Introduction
Prefatory Note
Introduction: The Plan of This Book
Part One: On the Creature Called Man
1: The Man in the Cave
2: Professors and Prehistoric Men
3: The Antiquity of Civilisation
4: God and Comparative Religion
5: Man and Mythologies
6: The Demons and Philosophers
7: The War of the Gods and Demons
8: The End of the World
Part Two: On the Man Called Christ
1: The God in the Cave
2: The Riddles of the Gospel
3: The Strangest Story in the World
4: The Witness of the Heretics
5: The Escape from Paganism
6: The Five Deaths of the Faith
Conclusion: The Summary of This Book
Appendix I: On Prehistoric Man
Appendix II: On Authority and Accuracy
Study Questions
Bibliography
Your Life is a Story:
G.K. Chesterton and the Paradox of Freedom
Introduction
Foreword by Dale Ahlquist
PART I
Your Life Is a Story: The Christian Worldview and the Paradox of Freedom
1: Your Life Is a Story: The Worldview of G.K. Chesterton
2: The Genre of Romance
3: The Story of Salvation History
4: The Trajectory of the Human Story
5: Story and the Paradox of Freedom
6: Fictional Illustrations: The Surprise and The Man Who Was Thursday
PART II
The Four Worldviews
7: The Polarities of Subjectivity and Objectivity Across Worldviews
8: Determinism: Pure Objectivity
9: Existentialism: Pure Subjectivity
10: Skepticism: Doubt of the Fundamentals
11: Nihilism: The Fallout of Inadequate Worldviews
Conclusion
Works Cited
Contents
The Everlasting Man:
A Guide to G.K. Chesterton’s Masterpiece
Your Life is a Story:
G.K. Chesterton and the Paradox of Freedom
Acknowledgments
Editor’s Introduction
Prefatory Note
Introduction: The Plan of This Book
Part One: On the Creature Called Man
1: The Man in the Cave
2: Professors and Prehistoric Men
3: The Antiquity of Civilisation
4: God and Comparative Religion
5: Man and Mythologies
6: The Demons and Philosophers
7: The War of the Gods and Demons
8: The End of the World
Part Two: On the Man Called Christ
1: The God in the Cave
2: The Riddles of the Gospel
3: The Strangest Story in the World
4: The Witness of the Heretics
5: The Escape from Paganism
6: The Five Deaths of the Faith
Conclusion: The Summary of This Book
Appendix I: On Prehistoric Man
Appendix II: On Authority and Accuracy
Study Questions
Bibliography
Foreword by Dale Ahlquist
Introduction
PART I
Your Life Is a Story: The Christian Worldview and the Paradox of Freedom
1: Your Life Is a Story: The Worldview of G.K. Chesterton
2: The Genre of Romance
3: The Story of Salvation History
4: The Trajectory of the Human Story
5: Story and the Paradox of Freedom
6: Fictional Illustrations: The Surprise and The Man Who Was Thursday
PART II
The Four Worldviews
7: The Polarities of Subjectivity and Objectivity Across Worldviews
8: Determinism: Pure Objectivity
9: Existentialism: Pure Subjectivity
10: Skepticism: Doubt of the Fundamentals
11: Nihilism: The Fallout of Inadequate Worldviews
Conclusion
Works Cited
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WordOnFire.org | Privacy | Contact
1-866-928-1237 | support@wordonfire.org
Word on Fire Catholic Ministries is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit ministry.