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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. As the determinist is confronted with the problem of sin, what does Chesterton say that he believes in?
(a) Enforcing the power of free will.
(b) Enforcing the necessity of certain acts.
(c) Asserting that the world is a closed system.
(d) Changing the environment.

2. According to Chesterton, what is the only thing a poet desires?
(a) The ability to cross the infinite sea.
(b) A world to stretch out in.
(c) A raft to float on.
(d) An understanding of the heavens.

3. According to Chesterton at the beginning of the first chapter, why did he write the book?
(a) In response to a challenge.
(b) Because he had to work through his religious beliefs.
(c) As a personal challenge to himself.
(d) Because he had a well-crafted argument for Christianity.

4. What conclusion does the complete skeptic eventually reach?
(a) There are no answers to be found.
(b) No one else can think for him.
(c) He will never find the answers.
(d) He has no right to think for himself.

5. Who does Chesterton name as the only great English poet to go mad?
(a) Shakespeare.
(b) Cowper.
(c) Dryden.
(d) Poe.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Chesterton think that materialism is much narrower than Christianity?

2. What does evolution destroy, according to Chesterton?

3. Why does Chesterton say that someone might be entertained by reading the book Orthodoxy?

4. Using the standards of the moralists, why does Chesterton say that the universe cannot be called large?

5. How does Chesterton define tradition in political terms?

Short Essay Questions

1. Considering the fact that elf land is more rational than the scientific world is, why does Chesterton say that magic flourishes in elf land?

2. The only authority for Chesterton's argument is the Apostles' Creed. Is this more or less effective than appealing to the Bible as the sole authority?

3. Why does Chesterton claim that fairyland is more rational than the scientific world? Does the sense of wonder remain?

4. Chesterton explains that a madman's mind moves in a small, perfect circle. What does he mean with this picture? How does it relate to the movements of a sane man's mind?

5. Chesterton says that a perfect view of the world combines a searching mind with the feeling of being welcomed. What does this mean? How does it relate to Christianity?

6. As he begins to talk about fairy land, what does Chesterton argue about rationalism? How does this open the door to excitement in the world?

7. In Chapter IV, The Ethics of Elfland, what does Chesterton give as the first two principles of democracy? How does he convey a sense of wonder even in these principles?

8. Humility is chiefly understood chiefly as a restraint on a man's arrogance and boasting. What is Chesterton's argument concerning humility? What example does he give to illustrate a humble view of the world?

9. In Chapter III, The Suicide of Thought, what is Chesterton's opinion of the skeptic? Why does the skeptic not have the right to speak out against anything? Why, contrarily, is he always speaking out against things?

10. In Chapter I, Introduction in Defense of Everything Else, Chesterton states that he hates the defense of something that cannot be proved or disproved. How is this important for the rest of the book?

(see the answer keys)

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