The Everlasting Man - G.K. Chesterton
Public domain
Category: Misc. Non-fiction
Narrator: Unknown
Tags: Misc. Non-fiction, Spiritual & Religious
What, if anything, is it that makes the human uniquely human? This, in part, is the question that G.K. Chesterton starts with in this classic exploration of human history. Responding to the evolutionary materialism of his contemporary (and antagonist) H.G. Wells, Chesterton in this work affirms human uniqueness and the unique message of the Christian faith. Writing in a time when social Darwinism was rampant, Chesterton instead argued that the idea that society has been steadily progressing from a state of primitivism and barbarity towards civilization is simply and flatly inaccurate. Barbarism and civilization were not successive stages in the progress of the world, he affirms, with arguments drawn from the histories of both Egypt and Babylon., As always with Chesterton, there is in this analysis something (as he said of Blake) very plain and emphatic. He sees in Christianity a rare blending of philosophy and mythology, or reason and story, which satisfies both the mind and the heart.
