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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. What choice faces the modern religious philosopher, according to Chesterton?
(a) Accept a personal God or an impersonal force.
(b) Deny God or accept God.
(c) Deny God or deny God's connection with man.
(d) Deny or accept man's ability to raise himself to the heavens.

2. According to Chesterton, at the beginning of Chapter Two, what happens to the men who believe in themselves?
(a) They are never properly appreciated.
(b) They have difficulty maintaining that belief.
(c) They achieve far more than other men do.
(d) They end up in insane asylums.

3. What is the title of the essay that H. G. Wells wrote on skepticism?
(a) Doubts of the Instrument.
(b) Skepticism from a Philosophical Viewpoint.
(c) Understanding the Skeptical Mind.
(d) The Creeds and Hierarchies.

4. According to Chesterton, what is too big an undertaking for a book even of a larger scope?
(a) Proving the Christianity is true.
(b) Explaining the intricacies of Christianity.
(c) Proving that materialism is an insufficient worldview.
(d) Proving from every angle that any one faith is true.

5. "[T]he happiness depended on not doing something which you could at any moment do and which, very often, it was not obvious why you should not do." (Chesterton 2000, pg 215) What is Chesterton's opinion of this condition for happiness?
(a) He thinks it depends on the fairy tale.
(b) He thinks it is unjust.
(c) He thinks it is immaterial.
(d) He thinks it is just.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Chesterton think is the only cure for madness?

2. As Chesterton explains the origin of the word, the moon is the mother of which group of people?

3. In the middle of Chapter One, why does Chesterton say this book is a joke on him?

4. What is Chesterton's attitude toward fairy tales?

5. As revealed in Chapter Two, what is the secret of mysticism?

Short Essay Questions

1. Chesterton assumes that he and his reader will share the common ground of agreeing that an interesting, active life is preferable to simple existence. Is this a fair starting point? Why or why not?

2. The second problem with modern thought is that it is intellectually weak and helpless. What does Chesterton mean by this idea? How is it manifested in everyday life, much less intellectual circles?

3. What does a pragmatist believe and how does he compare to a determinist? What is Chesterton's opinion of pragmatism? How is pragmatism fundamentally separated from the truth?

4. 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?

5. 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?

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

7. 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?

8. 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?

9. Materialism is a much narrower belief than Christianity, in fact, more than any religion. What reasons does Chesterton give for this? How does it relate to the discussion of madness and sanity?

10. "But it is a much more massive and important fact that he [the materialist] is not free to raise, to curse, the thank, to justify, to urge, the punish, to resist temptation, to incite mobs, to make New Year resolutions, to pardon sinners, to rebuke tyrants, or even to say 'thank you' for the mustard" (Chesterton 2000, pg 185). What is the context for this statement? Does it logically follow from Chesterton's argument?

(see the answer keys)

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