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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Chesterton's stated purpose in Chapter VI, the Paradoxes of Christianity

2. In Chesterton's example of a man's interaction with the tiger, what does evolution not tell the man?

3. At the beginning of Chapter VI, The Paradoxes of Christianity, what does Chesterton call the most common problem with the world?

4. Why does Chesterton say there is no equality or inequality in nature?

5. According to Chesterton, most things are allied with oppression. What is the one area where he sees a line past which oppression has no effect?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Chesterton say is the most sensible ideal for nature? Is this a valid ideal? Why or why not?

2. What is the first time that Chesterton felt he had stumbled onto a path that was familiar to some? How did Christianity mirror his own thoughts?

3. What argument does Chesterton make for keeping joy and anger separate? What is the danger in letting them meld together to produce some form of contentment?

4. Why, according to Chesterton, do modern thinkers find it advantageous to modernity to change the vision of heaven constantly? What effect does this have on man's mind?

5. Why did Chesterton begin to question the attacks on Christianity? What did he find as he questioned?

6. Christianity holds that any man who depends on a luxurious life is fallen and corrupt. What effect does this belief have on the believer, according to Chesterton?

7. What nearly persuaded Chesterton to become a Christian? Why was this thought frightening?

8. Why does Chesterton detest the religion of the Inner Light, of looking within oneself for God? What relation does this abhorrence have to Christianity?

9. The Church holds to some strict doctrines regarding man and his actions. Why is she so strict? Is it possible for her to swerve in her beliefs?

10. Chapter V, The Flag of the World, begins with a young girl's idea that "An optimist is a man who looks after your eyes, and a pessimist is a man who looks after your feet" (Chesterton 2000, pg 223). How does Chesterton explain this?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Christianity is orderly so that good things can run wild. As Chesterton asserts, is this true? If so, how is it true? Give examples from the text to support your argument.

Essay Topic 2

Why does God exult in what appears to humans as monotony? Does this lead to a sense of infancy or dullness misunderstood? What is Chesterton's reaction to this perception of God?

Essay Topic 3

Compile the examples Chesterton gives from Bernard Shaw's writings and speeches. What kind of thinker is Shaw? How does he differ from Chesterton? How is he similar?

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