The Everlasting Man

G K Chesterton

“There are two ways of getting home, and one of them is to stay there. The other is to walk round the whole world till we come back to the same place.” – G K Chesterton

The Everlasting Man is a two-part history of civilization, Christ, and Christianity, by G. K. Chesterton. Originally published in 1925, it is to some extent a deliberate rebuttal of H. G. Wells’ Outline of History, disputing Wells’ portrayals of human life and civilization as a seamless development from animal life and of Jesus Christ as merely another charismatic figure. Whereas Orthodoxy detailed Chesterton’s own spiritual journey, in this book he tries to illustrate the spiritual journey of humanity, or at least of Western civilization. Considered to be Chesterton’s finest work, he traces evolution not in terms of biology, but in terms of civilization. Chesterton’s insights will leave the reader to wonder if the assertions of materialist history are true, or if we are overlooking another aspect of civilization, in which humanity has always been evolved. Beginning with primordial life in the cave, Chesterton questions if our ancestors were mere primitives, or if humans were effectively ‘hard wired’ from the beginning to be a spiritual animal. Chesterton will take the reader on a lightning tour through Ancient Greece, Rome, and the Middle East in order to examine Christianity and polytheistic movements which existed side by side.