Abstract

Roman civilization is at the heart of G.K. Chesterton’s historical imagination. Nowhere is this more evident than in his 1925 book The Everlasting Man, which challenged a materialist, evolutionary perspective on history and highlighted the distinctive place of the Christian Church in the development of civilization. By distinguishing between the ‘healthy heathenism’ of Rome and the ‘perverse paganism’ of Carthage, Chesterton shows how Rome became the setting for the Christmas story, which fulfills the natural religiosity of mankind and provides a center for the unified human story. Roman civilization as a chrysalis for Christianity is at the heart of Chesterton’s historical imagination.

Details

Title
Rome in the historical imagination of G. K. Chesterton’s Everlasting Man
Author
Hanssen, Susan 1 

 Department of History, University of Dallas, Irving, TX, USA 
Pages
24-35
Publication year
2020
Publication date
Feb 2020
Publisher
Taylor & Francis Ltd.
ISSN
23753234
e-ISSN
23753242
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2355997770
Copyright
© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.