Book Review: Saint Francis of Assisi by G. K. Chesterton

Saint Francis of Assisi by G. K. Chesterton

In an unconventional biography, G. K. Chesterton looks at the personality of Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscan order who lived in the late 1100s and early 1200s. Chesterton's professed aim is to make Francis more accessible to people who do not know anything about him. He does not give the standard biography's history of the man within his own world. Chesterton makes reference to Francis's time and also Chesterton's time, almost in equal measures. He presents the universal truths and the particular character of Francis, how both have persisted through the eight hundred years after his life ended (Francis died in 1226). 

Francis was a romantic in a medieval sense--he admired the troubadours of his time and was drawn to military service as a way to be a hero, a righter of wrongs or defender of those in need. He was a bit disillusioned with soldiering and worked for his father, a cloth merchant. His desire to help others led him into conflict with his father, getting to the point where Francis renounced his father's goods, threw off his clothes, and went out into the world a pauper. He was in the ruins of a church when he heard a voice asking him to rebuild the church. Francis took the request literally and started gathering stones and begging for resources to restore the building where he heard the voice. His life surely seemed odd to a lot of people but he did have a few acquaintances join him in his life of begging and working to restore the Faith among the Christians. Love and joy were central to Francis's work, leading him into an extraordinary life.

Chesterton relates these and other incidents in Francis's life with a lot of commentary about how various people in Chesterton's own time would understand them. Chesterton brings out the unique worldview of Francis as a contrast to how others (then and now) see him. He gives a good idea what Francis was like and what motivated him in doing the amazing things he did.

Chesterton's style is very witty in both senses of the term, intelligent and funny. He has a playful writing style, with paradoxes and puns helping to bring out the points he makes. The book is a delight to read and I look forward to rereading it, though I should try out more of his many other works first.

Recommended.