Baptists and GK Chesterton

Could someone explain to me the Protestant fascination with Chesterton?

The man was a staunch Catholic that had no love for Protestantism.

I realize he was a great thinker, but there are many orthodox Christian thinkers that are Protestant, so why the love for ol' GK?

I find this especially puzzling for the Reformed Baptists that seem to have a serious love affair with him.

 

Good reads, perhaps, but not something I would ever quote from the pulpit or even recommend.

Again, there are many "good reads" that are strong Protestant writers (Schaeffer, for instance). Why use someone who is not, for all intents and purposes, Christian?

As for CS Lewis, don't get me started. His "mere Christianity" has been taken to such an extent that it has damaged Christianity. For instance, justification has been so distorted that even the Catholic version is considered Christian (which it is far from).

That said, as far as I've read, Lewis was never hostile to Protestantism, whereas Chesterton was.

 

Gotcha. Yeah, it seems like folks use them just to seem intellectual. I hate to sound so uncharitable, but that's my take.

 

Hardly a Baptist rut. It's an orthodoxy thing. I have no problem with Presby, Baptist or none of the above. I have a problem using folks that aren't what would qualify as Christian by the standards put forth in scripture.

Schaffer, by the by, is Presby. Even Tozer, despite some of his mystical leanings, is fine by me. Heck, I don't agree with Wesley on a lot of things but find him a good Christian theologian. MacArthur, even as a dispy, is someone I could fully recommend. If I only read what I fully agreed with I'd only be reading my own stuff.

As for reading them, I have no problem with that. I have Orthodoxy and Mere Christianity on my Kindle and started them, but I have a bad ADD problem with reading books. I tend to start them and then get side tracked by another book.

I find reading these writers (Chesterton, Lewis, or Greek philosophers) to be informative and they even have good ideas at times, but I would never quote or recommend them from the pulpit, let alone have some misplaced adoration for them. Perhaps I could recommend them to a Christian I know is strong in the faith, but not without a large caveat.