The Strangest Story in the World: G.K. Chesterton & the Incarnation

The Strangest Story in the World: G.K. Chesterton & the IncarnationC.S. Lewis famously credited G.K. Chesterton’s The Everlasting Man as a key step in his turn from atheism to Christian faith. The book audaciously surveyed the broad sweep of human history, then zeroed in on the Incarnation of Christ. How, Chesterton asked, could such a mysterious and startling event come to be known as the center point of history? And how did this intellectual mystic offer a fresh path into this story for so many? In this episode, we dive into one of Chesterton’s greatest works and explore the mystery of the incarnation of Jesus Christ alongside Dale Ahlquist, one of the world’s leading experts on G.K. Chesterton:“Philosophy and religion come together for the first time when Jesus comes. Why is that so strange? Because the spiritual life and the intellectual life have finally run into each other in a big way. And how does it come? It comes in the most unexpected way possible.”Our 100th podcast episode illustrates what we do here at the Trinity Forum: keeping the Christian intellectual tradition alive, while also nurturing new growth – for our own time, and for future generations.This podcast is an edited version of our Online Conversation recorded in 2024. You can access the full conversation with transcript here.Learn more about Dale Ahlquist.Authors and books mentioned in the conversation: The Everlasting Man, by G.K. ChestertonC.S. LewisEvelyn Waugh G. K. Chesterton: The Apostle of Common Sense, by Dale Ahlquist Orthodoxy, by G.K. ChestertonThe Everlasting Man: A Guide to G.K. Chesterton’s Masterpiece, by Dale AhlquistGeorge MacDonaldC.S. LewisCharles DickensWilliam ShakespeareJ.R.R. TolkienThe Benedict Option, by Rod DreherAlan JacobsH.G. Wells Roger Kipling George Bernard ShawRelated Trinity Forum Readings:The Strangest Story in the World, by G.K. ChestertonBright Evening Star’, by Madeleine L’EngleBabbette’s Feast, by Isak DinesenThe Gift of the Magi & Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen, by O. Henry Why God Became Man, by AnselmThe Spirit of the Imagination: Selections from Samuel Taylor Coleridge, with an introduction by Malcolm GuiteHandel's Messiah The Oracle of the Dog, by G.K. ChestertonThe Golden Key, by George McDonaldRelated Conversations:Waiting on the Word with Malcolm GuiteAdvent: The Season of Hope, with Tish Harrison WarrenRenewing the Joy of Advent, with Hannah AndersonTo listen to this or any of our episodes in full, visit ttf.org/podcast and to join the Trinity Forum Society and help make content like this possible, join the Trinity Forum SocietySpecial thanks to Ned Bustard for our podcast artwork.