G.K. Chesterton On Smoking

[brass]

GT, thanks for answering Buroak's query. The

<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_militant_and_church_triumphant">Church Militant</a>

is certainly a technical term that could be misconstrued if one isn't familiar with the theological context.
I've noticed that this site offers a group function that could possibly be used to form a book club. Assuming Kevin and the mods have no problems, would any of you be interested in forming a virtual book club to discuss some of GK's works? Say Orthodoxy or Heretics?
I'm up for it if just a couple of you are interested.
Pax

 

[buroak]

brass, That term did obviously throw me a bit. We sang "I'm In The Lord's Army" (which also sounds dodgy to the uninitiated) when I was a kid in Sunday School, but Church Militant was a concept the teachers never got round to in class.
I would be up for discussion of Chesterton.

 

[brass]

Let's not forget "Onward Christian Soldiers, Marching off to War"
OK, I sent a pm to Al to get their blessing for using a group for the discussion. If we three or four interested and approval, let's go for it. Otherwise, I have another website dedicated to such matters that we could use.

 

[buroak]

Let's not forget "Onward Christian Soldiers, Marching off to War"

Of course!
I hope we will get the go-ahead to conduct the discussion here. The great British authors of Chesterton's era are so enmeshed with smoking that there should be no conflict with the core of these forums.

 

[sparrowhawk]

I too hope we can contiue this line of discussion. There is great knowledge and wisdom in Church writing, and in particular the Church is responsible for much of the evolution of art during the Renaissance.

 

[brass]

We'll definitely continue the conversation. Since it is isn't pipe related, I'm looking into best options Al.

 

[kylef]

Just found this thread-I'm a huge fan of Chesterton.
For anyone still looking for recommendations, I'd give a nod to a book I'm just reading this morning: In Defense of Sanity.
It's a collection of a bunch of Chesterton's essays, and virtually all of them are between three and eight pages, or so. I'm on my third time through the book. He could (and did) write about virtually every subject, from the mundane to the profound. He's brilliant, articulate and frequently hilarious. One of my favorite lines from this book: "Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese."
Chesterton was a man almost completely at odds with trends of "modernity," as they were manifesting themselves around the turn of the twentieth century. As those trends have only gotten worse, in my opinion his writings are a great counterbalance to a lot of the dubious things our current society tries to impress on us.