Catholicism: The Pivotal Players — Season 1, Episode 5: G.K. Chesterton: The Evangelist

Episode synopsis

Gilbert Keith Chesterton is one of the most sparkling and effervescent figures in the great Catholic tradition. A physically large man with an even larger intellect and imagination, he embodied the wealth and capaciousness of Catholicism. If one is ever tempted to see Catholic Christianity as something cramped, crabby, and puritanical, he should read even one paragraph of Chesterton. Reading Chesterton is a bit like opening a bottle of champagne: intoxicating, sparkling, rare. Which words can best describe Chesterton’s take on the world? Joyful, playful, rambunctious, joking, realist, traditionalist, balanced, and sane. He felt that something had gone dreadfully wrong with the modern world and that classical Christianity would set it right.

About Catholicism: The Pivotal Players

Bishop Robert Barron reveals the truth behind influential people in the Catholic Church.

More episodes from Season 1

• E1St. Francis of Assisi - The Reformer
• E2St. Thomas Aquinas: The Theologian
• E3St. Catherine of Siena: The Mystic
• E4Bl. John Henry Newman: The Convert
• E6Michelangelo: The Artist
• E7St. Augustine of Hippo: The Teacher
• E8St. Benedict of Nursia: The Monk
• E9Fulton J. Sheen: The Communicator
• E10Flannery O’Connor: The Storyteller
• E11St. Ignatius of Loyola: The Founder
• E12Bartolomé de las Casas: The Activist