The Everlasting Man
by Gilbert Keith Chesterton · first published 1925
71% recommend29% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Chesterton examines human history and what sets humanity apart, written from a religious perspective yet accessible to skeptics. It is short and thought-provoking, and it rewards atheist readers as well.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
<p><i>The Everlasting Man</i> is inspired by <a href="https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/h-g-wells">H. G. Wells’</a> <i>The Outline of History</i>, which explains the history of mankind and religion as solely a product of natural selection and other material causes. In contrast, <a href="https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/g-k-chesterton">G. K. Chesterton</a> 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.</p> <p>Written in Ches
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The title of this article reminded me of a thought provoking book by GK Chesterton, "The Everlasting Man", obviously he write from a religious perspective but one discussion raised a question that I had not considered before. Why do we assume primitive man was any less intelligent or artistic than we are…
on “Did Neanderthals make art?” ↗…Christianity. The apologetics of C.S. Lewis (Screwtape Letters, The Problem with Pain, The Great Divorce), Augustine's Confessions and City of God, Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton and G.K. Chesterton's Everlasting Man. These are seldom read (or known) by young people today and I see that as a tragedy. Western spirituality was demolished and nothing substantial has emerged to fill the void left, besides a coterie…
on “Why read Dostoevsky? A programmer's perspective” ↗St. Augustine - Confessions (first spiritual autobiography) or City of God G. K. Chesterton - The Everlasting Man
on “Ask HN: Which is the best spiritual book you have read?” ↗…(starting from Begin digression), there's an exploration of anthropomorphic metaphors that might interest you: http://www.wall.org/~aron/blog/god-and-time-iv-impassibility... Also, have you read The Everlasting Man by G.K. Chesterton? It has some ideas found in your comment regarding the Incarnation and it is overall a fun read.
on “No One Knows Why Humans Can Walk” ↗…is a lie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSzF2OG2ejI. GK Chesterton has a lot of interesting things to say about Pagans also http://www.online-literature.com/chesterton/heretics/12/, and his book The Everlasting Man is worth reading for the way that it uses pagan tropes to point towards Christianity.
on “The data are clear: The boys are not all right” ↗…usual brilliant arguments often turn into very lazy, stupid ones where his religion is the topic. But every writer has their blind spots. An example of GKC being very funny while very serious: Even The Everlasting Man, about Jesus, has its moments of brilliance (from my atheist perspective). From its first chapter The Man in the Cave, about our prejudices vs what we actually know about early humans: 'So far as any…
on “A Convivial Chap Led Easily Astray: On G. K. Chesterton” ↗How can there be 71 comments and not one mention of G. K. Chesterton? Go out, right now, and check out The Everlasting Man and Orthodoxy from your local library. I would also throw out there Shop Class as Soulcraft by Matthew Crawford, as something to inspire makers & engineers without being a technical book. If you like…
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite books? I'm bored” ↗…it, of course, it is the Gospel that is the riddle and the Church that is the answer. But whatever be the answer, the Gospel as it stands is almost a book of riddles..." I really recommend reading The Everlasting Man from Chesterton, if you are interested on understanding (not trying to change your beliefs or anything, you can read it just to get a better understanding of Christians beliefs).
on “558M-year-old fossils identified as oldest known animal” ↗…same direction. So ideas (such as dying/rising gods) could potentially arise in paganism, yet still have some truth, and then be subsumed by Christianity. I highly recommend GK Chesterton's book "The Everlasting Man", its a short read and still worthwhile even for atheists or those of other faiths as the author is brilliant.
on “The data are clear: The boys are not all right” ↗May I suggest Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis or The Everlasting Man by G. K. Chesterton?
on “Sam Bankman-Fried and the effective altruism delusion” ↗…you meant: Not that the "misnomer" arose in the Victorian era, but that the Victorian era was the last era in which you would expect to encounter this "misnomer". As a counterpoint, I recommend reading Everlasting Man, by G. K. Chesterton. If humans are just animals, they're the most bizarre animal we've ever seen.
on “Behaviors reveal sophisticated tool use and possible “pranking” among pachyderms” ↗I have taken boatloads of psychedelics in my life. If I could do my life over again I would have traded every single trip for having read Orthodoxy and the Everlasting Man by Chesterton before I was 25. Tripping gives you zero insights into the divine, it is not revelation, you don't get closer to God. There are real answers, but we as civilization have been deliberately…
on “What happens when clergy take psilocybin” ↗…feels very contrived and it feels like preaching to the choir. As part of the choir there is a lot I agree with, but I don't quite get the point of his fiction. But Chesterton's non-fiction books, The Everlasting Man, Orthodoxy, What's Wrong With the World and Heretics are some of the best and most insightful books I have ever read, and they really took me by surprise because I did not expect them to be what they…
on “George Bernard Shaw by G. K. Chesterton (1909)” ↗The Everlasting Man, by G.K. Chesterton.
on “Ask HN: What book had a big impact on you as a child or teenager?” ↗I’m reading heretics currently! Curious why you listened to Against Eugenics and Other Evils as opposed to Everlasting Man? Seems like Heretics and Orthodoxy and Everlasting Man are the three works that people read most often by Chesterton.
on “Free public domain audiobooks” ↗