Like much of G.K. Chesterton's fiction, The Ball and the Cross is both witty and profound, cloaking serious religious and philosophical inquiry in sparkling humor and whimsy. It chronicles a hot dispute between two Scotsmen, one a devout but naive Roman Catholic, the other a zealous but naive athiest. 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.
