The Everlasting Man

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1925

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Introduction and Part 1, Chapters 1-4

Part 1, Chapters 5-8

Part 2, Chapters 1-3

Part 2, Chapters 4-6 and Conclusion

Key Figures

Themes

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

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Discussion Questions

Index of Terms

Incarnation

The Incarnation is mentioned only a handful of times within the work, but it is of fundamental importance to Chesterton. The Incarnation, in Christian doctrine, is when one of the divine Trinity takes on a true, human body in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. The doctrine of the Incarnation asserts that Jesus Christ was both true God and true man, two natures united in a single person. In the Incarnation, God breaks into human history.

Human Nature

According to classical philosophy, and the Catholic tradition that incorporated that philosophy into its own teachings, every human being who has lived or ever will live has a definite nature. This nature is immutable and does not and cannot change by force or by choice; it is shared by every race, at every point in history, and although customs and civilizations may change, what actually makes a human being a human being does not. This means that we can trace what is common to all people throughout history.

Philosophy

Philosophy literally means “love of wisdom” in Greek. It is the desire and search for wisdom and for what is true and essential. Philosophy is an act performed by the human intellect. Since human nature is shared by all people, regardless of their beliefs, philosophy is common to all humans throughout history.

Religion

Religion is the act of worshipping a divine entity or transcendent force, and a system in which one’s various beliefs are held together in harmony. Chesterton asserts that there is only one true religion, Catholic Christianity, and only one God.

Monotheism

Monotheism is a belief system that posits the existence of a single source of divinity. The main monotheistic faiths are Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Other single-divinity systems are called henotheism or monolatry—in these systems, one recognizes or worships a single particular god, but without reference to whether or not other gods exist. Monotheism, by contrast, asserts that there can only be one God—that God is not one being among many, nor the highest being among many, but is actually the source of all existence. For Chesterton, monotheism is a philosophy as much as a religion, since even ancient Greek philosophers considered only one prime mover to be the source of all that exists.