Now at last someone is taking him seriously! Most of the rest of the story is a series of comic events in which the two enemies wander about seeking a spot for their duel.' MacIan and Turnbull become friends as they protect each other from interference from the modern world, which has trivialized their views over life's most important question (the existence of God) and outlawed their honorable duel. For twenty years no one had paid the slightest attention to his Bible bashing. When MacIan challenges Turnbull to a duel to the death, Turnbull is overjoyed. This act of rage occurs when MacIan sees posted on the shop's window a sheet that blasphemes the Virgin Mary, presumably implying she was an adulteress who gave birth to an illegitimate Jesus. The two meet when MacIan smashes the window of the street office where Turnbull publishes an atheist journal. James Turnbull is a short, red-haired, gray-eyed Scottish Lowlander and a devout but naive atheist.

In the introduction Martin Gardner notes that it is a 'mixture of fantasy, farce and theology.' Gardner continues: 'Evan MacIan is a tall, dark-haired, blue-eyed Scottish Highlander and a devout Roman Catholic. and the humor and melodrama of its crazy plot.LibriVox recording of The Ball and the Cross, by G. Gardner alerts readers as well to the pleasures of its 'colorful style. Appraising the book's many intriguing philosophical qualities, Mr. Martin Gardner's superb introduction to The Ball and the Cross reveals the real-life debate between Chesterton and a famous atheist that provided inspiration for the story, and it explores some of the novel's possible allegorical meanings. Their fanatically held opinions-leading to a duel that is proposed but never fought-inspire a host of comic adventures whose allegorical levels vigorously explore the debate between theism and atheism. The plot of The Ball and the Cross chronicles a hot dispute between two Scotsmen, one a devout but naive Roman Catholic, the other a zealous but naive atheist. Serialized in the British publication The Commonwealth in 1905-06, Chesterton's second novel first appeared in book form in America in 1909, delighting and challenging readers with its heady mixture of fantasy, farce, and theology. Chesterton's fiction, The Ball and the Cross is both witty and profound, cloaking serious religious and philosophical inquiry in sparkling humor and whimsy.

The ball and the cross by gk chesterton